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.