Hello to anyone still reading this! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written. There is just so much to write about!

I can't promise any details, but I'd love to update you on some of the things that are happening here in Lesotho.

1. One year in Lesotho! I am 50% finished my Peace Corps service as of June 6, 2009.
2. I met my best friend in Mozambique a few weeks ago. What a great time!
3. The farming group, library, art club and community group are coming along. (More details on each of these projects to come...)
4. My knee injury healed so I've started running again. (Anyone want to run the Soweto half marathon with me?)

Hello everyone! I hope you are well and enjoying your winter. I think about you all more often than you know.
I've been in Lesotho 8.5 months now. Some days that seems like a very long time, but only when I think about home and the things I'm missing. Overall, I'm really enjoying my time here.
What am I doing?
Farming Group:
Work with the farming group is slow. It's the growing season here and people are busy. However, I'm hoping that once winter begins people will have more time to focus on building/improving their organization in preparation for the inspection to become organically certified.



Community Library:
Since I first arrived, young girls have been arriving at my doorstep asking for books, so, I've been running an informal book exchange from my house. However, my community has always wanted to create a library and with the completion of the school cooking house, my community is free to focus on another project. My village is very excited to create a community library and I'm excited to be part of something that is so obviously needed and wanted. More on this to come...



Art/Crafting Club/Small business:
It's my belief that good development comes from the creativity of the people themselves. In my village children are rarely encouraged to think creatively, to ask why, to discover who they are as people and think about what they want in life. It's something small, but I'm going to start teaching arts and crafts (with help from community members) to youth here.

I'm excited! I've taught art before, but I'm especially excited to incorporate issues affecting youth here into the assignments.



Future projects:
I have a great relationship with a motivated community. There are so many possibilities, but the focus of anything I do will always be good, sustainable development. More info to come...

I'm not sure what to say to sum up life here for the last few months, but things are going well. I love my village and I'm looking forward to working with the community. So far I have spent most of my time in village becoming part of the community and learning as much as I can.

People from my community have taught me a lot. For example, I now know how to collect dung (not as easy as you think), carry it on my head over a river and up a giant mountain and then start a fire with it.


Since I couldn't possibly tell you everything that has happened over the last few months, here are some highlights:

The intense wind blew off part of my roof, which left the inside of my house only slightly less windy than the dust bowl.

Mateanong got a 6 inch snow in September, which came in with such violence that I thought the world might end. (I measured the accumulation by the amount of snow on back of the sheep outside my window.)

I walked 30 miles in one day...long story.

I accidentally attended a funeral...

I killed 2 mice with my laundry detergent...

While I was standing in my doorway holding a butter wrapper wondering what to do with it a dog came out of no where and attempted to eat my hand along with the wrapper. (Don't worry Dad, the skin wasn't broken so I don't have rabies.)

Khotso!

This is the first time I've had internet access in the last four months (I'm in Maseru for training) so there is so much to say! I'll have to come back later over the next week or so and give you more information, but I wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you.

I've been in Lesotho 6 months now and at my site for 4 months and I'm really enjoying my time here. I feel incredibly blessed to have been placed in such a wonderful community. (I'll post pictures in the next week or so.)

My little sister from Ha Makebe -- Ausi Nthandeki

My supervisor and counterpart at my new site -- Ntate Mhau

Yes, the food at the village feast was this good.

The view from my doorstep in Ha Makebe.


It's official! I'm now a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Tomorrow I leave for my permanent site to start my two years of service. I'm incredibly excited to finally be working with my community, but I'm also a little nervous about starting something new.
What will I do in the next three months? Mostly observe. It is my job to listen and learn -- to know my community and my organization.

Here are a few random pictures of Lesotho. I haven't been able to load any pictures yet so I am not the photographer for any of these pictures, but hopefully they give you a bit more of an idea about what life is like here. If you want to see more pictures follow the link to Kelly's site and then click on her link to photos.

Thank you Kelly!

Are we there yet?

I left Tuesday morning for my new home in the mountains of Lesotho. The drive to my village is breathtaking...(and lunch taking, but we'll get to that later). After an 11 hour ride I finally arrived at my site.

After moving everything into my newly re-mudded/dunged (still wet) rondaval, my counterpart, supervisor and I were attempting to fix my gas heater when a chicken decided to enter my home. After a furry of feathers and clucks, my counterpart finally caught the chicken, but not before my room had a chicken feather carpet. Though, I think all the excitement combined with a very intense car ride finally got to me. Immediately after the chicken vacated my home, I ran outside and threw up. Ah, welcome home.

I am living in a rondaval which overlooks the Mokhotlong River. The mountains which surround the village are dramatic and stunning. The highest peaks are snow-covered. It is about a two and a half hour ride to the camptown from my village. The ride is fairly pleasant though -- I only feared for my life a couple times. However, on the weekends there is no vehicle into town. So, often I will make the 4 hour trek to town on foot. After seeing the path (walking on the road would take twice as long) which starts off with a steep drop down the mountain side, I am convinced that I will either be in the best shape of my life or dead by the end of service.

I'm back in Maseru now to take my language test (tomorrow) and finally swear in as a Peace Corps Volunteer (Wednesday). Thursday will be the first day of my two years at site. I still hope to update you all on a semi regular basis, but I know communication will become much more difficult now.

My time on the internet is running out, but I love and miss you all. Salang Hantle.

Our training group left our villages Friday, which meant saying good-bye to our host families. It was harder than I expected. I am incredibly blessed to have such a great family in my life.

Tomorrow I will have a workshop with my future supervisor and then on Tuesday I will ride across the country to view my site. This includes moving into my rondaval, meeting my community and being introduced to my new work site.

Unfortunately, I injured my back so moving will be even more of a challenge. However, while recovering at the t-house I met one of the volunteers in my district (Violeta) who immediately put me at ease about my new site. It sounds peaceful and beautiful.

It will take about 8-10 hours to get to my site if everything goes according to plan. Some of you are probably wondering why it will take so long to travel what seems like a relatively short distance, but if you happen to be looking at a topographical map or one showing the lack of paved roads in the region, I'm sure you'll understand.

Next Sunday I have my Sesotho language assessment test. Assuming I pass, I will then officially swear in next week. Then, I will move to my site permanently.

These next two weeks will be intense, but it's exciting to finally be going somewhere permanent.

As always, thank you all for your support...you're thoughts, prayers, e-mails... I am very aware that I could not be here if it weren't for all of you.

Site Announcements!

Today, while dining with the US Ambassador to Lesotho, our training group was surprised with site announcements! So, I now know the village I will be living in for the next two years and I have a general idea of the work I will be doing.

I will be in the eastern highlands of Lesotho in a small remote village helping local farmers with improved permaculture techniques as well as small business and HIV/AIDS education. I will also be assisting with non-formal education of local herd boys. (For security reasons I am enouraged not to post my exact site online, but if you're curious, send me an e-mail.) I only have limited information so far, but I'll tell you more after my site visit in a couple weeks.

I am very excited about this placement. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers.

WEEK ONE IN MY TRAINING VILLAGE

As I write this I am sitting cross-legged in front of my small gas powered space heater, trying not to catch my long underwear on fire. I am writing by candlelight (with the help of a headlamp) and I'm snacking on a few apricot cookies left over from the plane ride here two weeks ago.

Outside the weather is menacing -- hail and lightening. It's funny to think that just this morning I thought the light rain and pigeons on my tin roof were noisey...

This past week has been intense with training, family time and general adjustment to my village, but it's also been a lot of fun.

I feel so blessed to have the most amazing host family. They make me laugh constanntly and they make me feel like I belong with them.

I also live close to another trainee who has inspired me to start running again. So, this week, I have been able to watch the sun rise over my small mountain village every morning.

There is so much more I would love to tell you, but time on the internet is so limited. Please keep me in your thougts and prayers...especially about site placement which will happen in the next few weeks. This is when I will find out where I will be living for the next two years!

A Quick Update

Tomorrow my training group and I will leave the small compound we've been living in in Maseru. We will be divided into groups, with each person living with a different host family in a traditional rondavel. This is where I will stay for the remainder of training.

I've heard the village I will be living in is beautiful, though, I think it would be difficult to find a place in this country that isn't. I'm also looking forward to living without electricity and running water. 'M'e has already given us a lesson on how to take a bucket bath and I've bought a large pack of candles for the incredibly dark nights. It gets dark very early here and when the sun goes down, it is very cold. People keep reminding me that July is the coldest month here, but I think I'm still in denial. Despite the cold mornings and nights, the sun here is very intense and when it is clear, the days have gotten very warm.

I'm very excited to be out of the city, but this also means I'll have even less access to the internet...but please keep writing me!

In the future I plan to write these posts in advance so I am not pressured by the clock, but for right now, please bear with me as I give you little glimpses into life here. Please also check out the blogs I've linked on the right hand side. I am here with a talented group of people who run very informative blogs. I think some even have pictures. I'll try to post pictures sometime in the future...but it may take awhile.

**Thank you to everyone who left comments on my previous entry. I'm so thankful for your words of encouragement.

Greetings from Lesotho

Lumela!
I've been in Maseru a little over a day now. It feels wonderful to finally be in the place I've been dreaming about for what seems like a lifetime. As the plane flew over South Africa I could see huge snow covered mountains in the distance and I knew that beautiful sight must be my new home.

The trainers here have already been very busy introducing our group to the country. I have everything to learn, but, so far, I am only excited for the future.

Finally, a blog entry from Africa!

I'm in South Africa now and will soon fly to Maseru, Lesotho. I left New York Wednesday night and my plane touched down in Senegal to refuel early this morning. I was sure I wouldn't be able to see Senegal because we arrived before the sun came up. However, as I waited for people to board, daylight came and I was able to see Dakar. It was early morning and hundreds of fishing boats were just leaving the coast for the morning -- what a great sight for a reunion with Africa!

My family wanted to make sure we had at least one day to spend all together before I left. So yesterday we got up early and went to a benefit breakfast for a historic home in my community. Then, my family and I went hiking in Shenandoah River State Park. It was beautiful! It was nice to be able to spend the whole day with my family.

FAQs

These are just some of the most commonly asked questions. If you have questions I have not answered here, please feel free to ask, though, there is a lot I don't know yet.

Where is Lesotho located?
Lesotho, called the Kingdom in the Sky, is an enclave country (meaning it is completely surrounded by another country) in southern Africa. It is roughly the size of Maryland. It is also located in the mountains, giving it the highest low point of any country in the world.

Will it be hot?
Lesotho has a temperate climate and so its seasons change from cold in the winter to hot in the summer. Since Lesotho is located below the equator, winter in Lesotho is summer for those in the United States. So, I will be leaving home in the hot, humid summer and arriving in Lesotho in the cold, dry winter.

What will you be doing?
My assignment with the Peace Corps is as a Community Health and Economic Development Advisor. This encompasses a lot of different areas, including nutrition and agriculture. I have a general idea of the work I will be doing, but I will not know specifically until I am with my community.

What will be your accomodation?
I will spend most of the first 2.5 months in training living with a host family. After training I will most likely be living in a rondavel (round house) made of stone with a thatched roof. I probably won't have electricity or running water, but I will have access to what I need.

Will you learn another language?
Yes, I will be learning Sesotho, which is spoken throughout Lesotho.

Did you get to choose your placement?
The Peace Corps allowed me to state my regional preference, but in the end where a person is placed is determined by the needs of the host country. *If you are considering Peace Corps, please refer to the official website for more information on the process. http://www.peacecorps.gov/

How long is your committment?
Peace Corps volunteers are in country for a total of 27 months. The first 2-3 months are spent in training, followed by two years of service. Most volunteers seem to feel that two years is "...a long time to be away, but a short time to be here".

What are you bringing?
Because of airline restrictions, I am allowed 2 larger bags and 1 small carry on. I may post a packing list here at some point for future Lesotho volunteers.

Have you been to Africa before?
Yes, I spent a summer working with an after school program in Namibia. I lived with a host family (thank you, Kukuri family!) and took Herero language and cultural classes (thank you Naf!).

Are you excited?
YES!

I debated starting a blog for a long time. I even started one months ago and deleted it, thinking I probably wouldn't maintain it in Lesotho anyway. Though, after a year of reading about the beautiful moments my friend experienced as she taught in Sudan, I feel as though this form of communication can be personal.

I still have a little under a month left in the US and, yes, I've been busy packing, making phone calls, researching everything Lesotho related and making lists...about everything, but I know the most important thing I can do in this time is to be wholly present in the life I'm living now.

I've been trying to memorize everything -- the way the trees sway and the dirt smells. There have been a million little moments where I think "this small thing...this is what I'll miss".

Lately I've found myself staring at the sunset over the field across from my lane home on my evening runs. It has always been beautiful, but lately the way the land lies and the way the small random trees rise in the distance gives me a sense of Africa. Of course Lesotho will probably not look this way, but this image always brings me a sense of peace.

I keep thinking how wonderful it is to be able to love this place and leave it not because I have to, but because I know I'm supposed to.