The good news is that Jason has a JOB! After a few months of waiting and several interivews, he was offered two jobs in two days! He accepted the offer at Robert Half International and started today. Yipee! He enjoyed his last week of unemployment, except that this past week felt different than the 4 months prior because it felt more like a vacation! :)

He is working in the City of Industry. We've started the house hunt, but it's not as much fun as I thought it'd be. There is so much to think about (like being near a freeway, railroad, ugly power poles, good schools, the price of the house, the size of the house, whethere there is a good sized back yard...apparently people like concrete and swimming pools better than grass, etc.) The good thing is that the current commute isn't bad. It only took him 15 minutes to get there this morning. :) So we'll probably stay here at grandpa's for a while, save up some money and find a good house/neighborhood.

So here is how our last week went. Friday- new job for Jason, Monday- new dog, Tuesday- new car. The dog was an accident. We went "looking" without the intent to buy and fell in love. Our new addition is named Ntja (which means dog in Sesotho) and she is a Queensland Heeler Mix. The car was on purpose. Now that Jason has a full time job, we needed a second car, an unfortunate reality of living in LA. Our friend Brad helped us out and we got a really good deal on a 2008 used Toyota Pruis. So far we are happy with the decision (especially at the gas pump...Volvo $45, Prius $20).

This is Monday and here's hoping for another good week (but not quite so eventful). I'm on Spring Break (well at least the schools I sub at are) and this is the only time I have not been looking forward to it! Anyway, now its my turn for the job hunt. So far I'm not too excited about my prospects, but who knows come August districts might find out that they need to hire teachers!

I just wanted to let you know the good news! I hope you're all doing well.

I just realized that I'll have to be more creative with my titles since we can actually post on the same day we write blogs! :)

Since we've been home for 5 weeks I thought it was time we update our blog. It was fun surprising our families by coming home early. We really enjoyed spending the holidays with family and are having fun being able to hang out with friends. Just last night I realized that it is fun to be able to go out in the dark. Though, I do miss the starry skies of Lesotho. The stars were truly amazing there.

We're trying to get back into the swing of things. I've told several people that it feels like we're on vacation (we have been house jumping and packing a lot of overnight bags), but we don't have the relax and enjoy yourself feeling of being on vacation because the reality is-- we're not! Jason has been job hunting on the internet. He even had a phone interview this morning. We'll see what comes out of that. If anything it was good interview practice! As for me, I am substitute teaching. I only got one day in before the school break, but hope it will pick up when school re-open next week. We've been catching up on movies and some TV shows (on DVD) that we've missed. I started reading again, which is nice. It took me almost a month to get back into it.

We recently found out the name of the new volunteer (Kelly) who is now living in our old home. It has been fun communicating with her via facebook.

On a sad note, (not to the point of crying) we lost all of our latest photos from Lesotho. Jason put them on my Mom & Dad's computer and deleted them off of the memory card. Then that computer got a virus and they had to reformat it. So they're gone for good. I was pretty upset at first, but I guess I still have the memories... just no photos to share with others. Its also unfortunate because we also lost the latest photos of the new classrooms at Jason's school. Maybe we can convince Kelly to take the trek over there and take photos!

Happy New Year! We look forward to seeing what's in store for us!

So just a funny comment from the South African border gaurd- Barack Obama is apparently from Lesotho. He was born in Mafeteng and is the brother of the border gaurd. AND what's even better is that once he is president no one will need a passport to enter the US. Pretty cool huh?

For those of you that don't have facebook and don't already know- We have sad news. Our cat died on his journey to his new home. Since we didn't have a carrier, he travelled in a box. The students also took him when we weren't there so we don't know how they "packaged" him up. He could have died from heat exhaustion, shock or even suffocation. We don't know and of course we played the “what if” game (e.g What if we had taken him to his new home, etc.) and felt guilty. But that of course only makes us feel worse. We are pretty upset about it. We had said our good byes, but we thought he'd live a bit longer. Its sad to think that the kids had to deal with burying him and of course opening up the box to find a dead cat. They also cried as they were burying him. :( The house is definitely lonely without the cat and I see him all over the house now. I guess its good that we are leaving soon. Miss you all!

“Parting is such sweet sorrow” This was the quote on the wall today at Jason’s farewell bash. It is actually SO true. We are ready to go home to see friends and family, but it is sad to leave here. Lesotho has been our home for two years. We will miss it!

This week has been a whirlwind of emotions. My school closed today. Schools out for summer! I’m done grading. I’m only left with filling in one set of reports which should be done in no time. In fact I’ll probably finish just after I write this blog.

It has been some time since our last post, and that is mostly because we haven’t had much going on. Things were winding down. I, in fact, was quite bored for a couple weeks. I read a lot, took a nap every day, and played Jason’s game boy. Well those times are long gone. My students wrote their exam a week ago and since then we have been pretty busy.

Last Saturday we went for one last hoorah at Lord Fraser’s guest house in Wepener (our haven in times of needing some good food) with some other PCVs. It’s so unfortunate that they raised their prices. You can no longer get a good steak for 70 Rand ($7-8), it is now R85! I guess they knew that we have to get used to more expensive prices! I bet that Jason and I will think EVERYTHING is expensive when we first get back especially if we convert it into Rand!

On Sunday, my school hosted a launching for the Makaota Development fund. It is for students headed to tertiary education. There were lots of speeches and singing, then some good food. Jason got to witness the cow being slaughtered and got some good shots. I helped prepare the meat with the women by cutting the meat into smaller pieces. They had to stay up late but I wussed out.

I spent almost the whole day on Monday grading papers because I had to proctor exams Tuesday through Thursday… BORING (both the grading and the proctoring). The worst part was that I actually caught a boy cheating. Somehow he had gotten a copy of the test ahead of time, prepared answers, and brought the sheet to the exam room.

Wednesday was my farewell bash. There’s always a ceremony with Basotho, so the students danced, sang, and people gave speeches. It was nice and I truly felt appreciated. I received a Basotho hat and blanket, as well as a shield (for decoration) and a straw mat with several Basotho cultural items attached… you’ll understand when you see it. After the ceremony a bunch of kids wanted to take photos with me. Wearing the blanket and hat, I felt like the prom queen. I guess it helped that all the students were oohing and ahing at me. Any time you wear something cultural they just eat it up. On the days I need a confidence boost, I wear my seshoeshoe and EVERYONE tells me that I am beautiful. I wish there was something like that I could wear back home!

Just today, we went to one of Jason’s schools for his farewell bash. There was of course more singing, dancing and don’t forget the speeches. He also got a blanket and we were both given sandals that have cow hair as the straps. Trust me you will LOVE them. He was also given some other trinkets from his teachers like a straw tray, a coffee mug (written Farewell Jason and Jannel….who is Jannel?!?), and a mat with our names and a map of Lesotho stitched on it.

As we were waving good-bye to all the kids and of course listening to them talk about how great we are, it definitely felt like this is coming to an end. By the way moms, they also thanked you for giving birth to us, so you both got shout outs in our farewell ceremony! We will miss these people and will never forget what great moments we have shared here.

The sweet part of this good-bye though, is that we get to see all of you in just a few short weeks. We are counting down the days! Miss you all and can’t wait to get big hugs!

Alright, so some of my friends say, "You need to blog more" so here goes.

We are in Maseru today. I didn't have classes yesterday, so we came in and took care of some things like turn in some sponsorship applications for students at my school, close our Lesotho bank accounts, and print some photos. All things on my list are just about accomplished except that I can't find pink label stickers for my library. Jason said I can just send them once I get home. We have told everyone not to send any more packages or letters because at this point we might not get them! The bank took about 3 hours because we had to wait in line for 2 1/2. That was pretty boring, but at least that is done.

We're trying to wrap everything up. Yesterday Jason had to go to town to complain at the hardware store. The contractors have stopped construction because of waiting for materials. The hardware store said they would deliver the goods yesterday. We haven't heard yet if they did. We've still got our fingers crossed that it will be finished before we leave.

I have seen the exam that my students wrote and I think it seems pretty easy. I was pleased with the questions. I believe they were prepared and think that they should have done well. SO we'll find out in January how they did. I've already given the school secretary a self-addressed, stamped envelope for them to send me a copy of the results.

That's it for now. Look forward to see you all. Only 43 more days!

Hey everyone. Just wanted to show you a little bit of what is going on at the school. It is about 3/4 of the way done with the exterior of the 2 classrooms. I have almost completed all the play equipment. All I have to do is finish the Tire Climb thingee and I will be done. I am pretty exctied that it is looking so good and going so well. Sorry I don't have the time or energy to write more. But know that I love and miss you allJason

This is just a short posting to tell about a funny comment I overheard today. During lunch time I heard a male teacher say to a female student, "Hey what have you been eating? Your 'mountains' are getting bigger." So you can figure out what 'mountains' are. I couldn't help but smile. At home he could get sued for a comment like that or even lose his job. Supposedly here, the 'mountains' aren't considered sexual and only 10% of guys are aroused by breasts here (so our Peace Corps trainers told us). Anyway, just wanted to share the highlight of my day. Jason's been in Maseru so yes, I am bored.

The good news is that all my grading is done! I won't have another big stack like that ANY more. Even when they write fourth quarter exams, I'll only have half the work I've had before because I won't have form C papers to grade. Its all winding down and it feels so good.

I just realized that its been a while since we've updated a blog and though I don't really have much interesting to say... I know I'll hear complaints if we don't do this! :)

We are coming down to the end. This is my final week of teaching Form C classes. They write the English portion of the national exams next week Monday & Tuesday. After that I will only have 10 teaching periods per week. I have high ambitions of updating my resume, writing my Description of Service (DOS) for Peace Corps, and my site journal (something I'm supposedly supposed to have been doing all along for the volunteer who replaces me...oops). I think will all the extra free time those things will get done in no time. It feels great to almost be done. I have high hopes for my students.

We just found out that it is not likely that we will be replaced by a couple. So what will likely happen is that they will still put two volunteers in our area. They will just have separate housing. I'm sure one will be totally jealous of the other because our house has running water and electricity, but the volunteer who replaces Jason will have neither of those. Hopefully the two volunteers get along and they can have sleepovers and enjoy the electricity together!

Jason is in Maseru and schools were closed last week for independence break, so I don't have an update on the building. But, soon we'll take pictures of the progress and let you know what's happening. The walls were waist high before schools closed, so I'm sure they are just about done now.

Well I better get back to my last (for this quarter) pile of compositions. Can't wait to see you all. I'm looking forward to all the hugs we'll be getting.

Well we have now completed our COS (close of service) conference. They do it early so that everyone knows all the logistics of things we have to do before we can get our “R” (as in Returned Peace Corps Volunteer). Getting on a computer has been a long line. For some reason there are a TON of volunteers in town. The seniors- our group (23 volunteers), the juniors- the CHED group (16 volunteers) were here for their one year re-connect, some of the sophomores- the ED group (not sure how many of them are here) are here for reasons I don't know, and even some of the freshman- the newest CHED group who've only been official volunteers for a month are also here. Back when we were new, we weren't allowed to come to Maseru for the first 3 months! Anyway all those people share 4 computers! I am typing this off line so that I don't waste any valuable time on the internet..

The conference was emotional, but no I didn't cry (but you can guess who did). They were trying to prepare us for the readjustment back to the states. Our boss calls it “reverse culture shock.” I don't know if they were trying to make us nervous or just trying to make us realize how difficult it will be. Apparently I'm going to want to talk about my time here and all of you won't understand (so they say). I mean I guess that's true because you didn't experience what we've experienced and your lives have continued and we haven't been a part of them at least not regularly and physically. So I guess you could say I am a little apprehensive about coming home. I mean I am excited to see everyone, but nervous about integrating. Not to mention finding a job in a time of economic decline. The pressure is more on Jason because I will most likely teach and therefore, he has to find a job first because that will determine our location.

So that's what I'm feeling right now. Pretty soon we'll start packing up our home and getting rid of stuff we're not taking with us. I guess now I can just focus on all the compositions I have to grade. I did an estimate the other day about how many I'll have completed by the time I am done and the grand total was 2,400! And that is compositions alone! I know you are all jealous and wish you could say you've accomplished such a feat! Love you all and can't wait to see you!

Well I am in the middle of grading compositions-- so not fun. I have only finished one class, which means I am left with 90. The bad thing about it is that my form C students (76 of them) are already going to write another test this coming Wednesday and its another composition and letter. So basically if I finish this weekend, which I really should do, then more papers will almost immediately fall into my lap. The only good thing about it is that THIS IS THE LAST ONE for my form C students! WOO HOO!! After we end this quarter they write their national exams. I REALLY hope that they all pass English. They write on October 13th and 14th. So if you want to say an extra prayer for me and them on that day, we'd appreciate it! Oh yeah and don't forget that we are 9 hours ahead, so you can pray the day before. I'm not sure if post-dated prayers work, but the results won't be out until at least January, so it couldn't hurt!

Here is an update on the cat-- It has now been just over 2 weeks since he sliced open his belly (which we had a nurse friend visit this week and confirmed that the bump is probably a hernia). Unfortunately, the stitches opened up this week. The worst part is that this time we can't stitch him again. We tried, but I couldn't hold him down. He was WAY more squirmish and part of the skin was beginning to attach to the stuff underneath. It was bleeding a lot more and we just couldn't do it. SO... we are now letting nature take its course. We are no longer keeping him inside. We'll see if it heals. He is still active and does all the normal cat things.

That's it for my news. Jason's building is supposed to start next week. We're a little worried that it won't get finished, but we are still hoping for the best. He is just about finished with the renovations. He is only left with some final touches for the playground. For all those who donated, the photos I had printed are on their way to Lesotho and soon will be sent back to the states accompanied by an official thank you card. We haven't forgotten about you, but we're on African time!

Love you and miss you all. 89 days and counting!

August 26, 2008 (written by Jason)

Adventures of the Field Vets!

So this week Janeen and I felt like we needed yet another challenge in this road that has been our Peace Corps experience. Actually it was our cat that felt like we needed this experience. You see Tau, our cat, likes to go out at night and carouse with the ladies. Not a problem on most nights but Thursday of last week he came home with a huge gash on his belly.

The sad part was that I didn't know that it was a gash. I just thought that he might have cut himself or something. It wasn't until the following afternoon that Janeen discovered the disgusting truth. He cut himself pretty bad. The cut was about an inch long and it was pussing and being all gross. I thought that the best option at the time would be to super glue it shut. I remember hearing a radio program about how it was originally invented for that.

Well needless to say that did not work. It sure made a mess of his fur though. Got all caught up into one big knot. It was at this stage that we decided that we should stitch. Before we left Jeremy Ramsey gave me about 15 minutes of training in sutures. Using this knowledge we thought that it would be best to attempt that.

So that is what we did. Janeen held the cat down as he squirmed and cried and kicked. I went in with some suture kits that Jeremy provided. It was pretty awful. The stitches we not so bad but the skin in which they were going into was pretty tore up and so I had to go higher than I would have liked. It was not an experience that I wanted to repeat.

Unfortunately that is exactly what we had to do the next day. The rest of the super glue failed and we needed to finish the job. So again Janeen held the cat till her hands cramped and I stitched the cats stomach back together.

It is just another story that I can tell at those job interviews I hope to have when we return home in just a few months time. Which reminds me 100 days from today we fly home. Crazy right.

All the best

Jason

So have I told you that neither Jason nor myself have ever had any training as veterinarians? Well we have not, surprising I know. Jason came home last night and had the brilliant idea of super-gluing the cat's skin back together. He had all our friends (we had other PCVs over for dinner last night) convinced that actually super glue was invented for medicinal purposes and this was bound to work. Well it sorta worked. We glued the skin together and covered it with gauze and an ace bandage, which unfortunately the cat took that off. We examined the area again to find that there was still a small area that needed to be glued together. We tried once more to glue it together, this time upsetting the cat causing him to run from us. He immediately started licking the area and in doing so, ripped open the skin again. Then it was actually bleeding and quite a mess. We were able to glue part of it back together before going to bed and again we put the gauze and ace bandage on him. We also gave him some ibuprofen in cheese to ease the pain. He managed to get the bandage off in the middle of the night. We put it back on and when we got back from town, it was off yet again. We cleaned the wound and put some ointment on it. There is still a section that needs to be glued back together, but we wanted to wait until the ointment seeped into the skin a bit. Since we've been home he has been rather lethargic and has thrown up at least 5 times. It is so pitiful. I am a little afraid of having children because I feel so terrible for the cat. Imagine how I'd feel if my child was in pain!

The good news is that he is still walking around (with less energy than normal), still eating, and still using the litter box. Either tonight or tomorrow we will try one more time with the super glue. I just talked to my parents on the phone and they said that in the olden days people used to stitch it themselves. I guess we could try that, but that makes me a little queezy. At least with super glue the process is over quickly. Plus, I'm not sure we can get the cat to stay still long enough for stitches.

So that's the story with the cat. Tonight Jason made an awesome dinner. We got some special ingredients: bean sprouts, bock choy and tofu. They were fresh at the Chinese market this morning. Its always nice to get some good variety.

Well I've typed two blogs in two days. Don't get used to this-- on Tuesday my students write compositions. I'll try to remember to post some examples of student work so you can understand my situation!

Hello everyone! This has been an eventful week. All my students wrote a test (the one that is easy to grade- reading comprehension and grammar) on Tuesday and I am just about finished up with those.

Next Tuesday they will write the one that is not so fun to grade- the composition and letter. Though,I do have one less class now. There are some new teachers in training and my form B language class was taken away. They were really upset, but I think they are OK now. I still teach them literature and see them twice a week. Jason and three other PCVS (Becky, Sasha, and Anne Marie) are doing workshops about

libraries. This morning they met with my teachers. It was good because they were able to reiterate some of the things that I've been saying and I think it helped my teachers with ideas of how to run the library once I am gone. We even had some of the students come in for a short while when they talked about care of books.

Jason went to the bank this week with the builder and his principal to withdraw the money for the new building. It was a frustrating day because they spent 3 1/2 hours being given the run around at the bank.

We had a pretty eventful Wednesday night. One of the teacher's windows were broken, students run a muck and it was complete chaos at night study. The full version of why & all the aftermath is about 2 pages typed and it is not a very uplifting story, so I don't want to post it on the blog. If your interested- email me and I will email you the whole story.

We are approaching the three month mark of coming home. With that said, packages should no longer be sent. We of course have LOVED & enjoyed everything sent. Now that we are thinking about coming home- we are also thinking about what to do with the things we have accumulated. Up until now we have been putting up letters

on our walls, and we pretty much wallpapered the entire room. Sometimes the cards have fallen down and we just recently decided that at this point we'll just leave them down, and not put up new ones! We would still appreciate some snail mail, but now that we have internet- its not as important!

We're basically wrapping things up and preparing our minds to go back to the states. I did almost cry at assembly the other day because I enjoy the days when the songs are lively. It makes for a happy start of the day. So I got to thinking that I would miss that and I would miss the students and then I got teary eyed. I had to put a stop to that though because I had to make an announcement and I didn't want to be crying as I told the students to collect their ties at short break!

Anyway, we miss you and are counting the days until our arrival--104!

Right now I feel sick to my stomach. Our cat has had an abnormal bump on his stomach since we've had him. We think it might be a hernia or something. It doesn't seem painful and we don't really have the means to take him to a vet. Anyway... last night he cut the skin off the edge of the bump and now part of his innards are exposed. It is so sad to look at him because he moves so gingerly and you can tell he is in pain. We still don't have the means to take him to a vet. Jason is in town right now at a workshop. When he left this morning, we knew he had injured himself, but didn't think that the skin was fully removed. Jeremy taught Jason how to suture before we left. Maybe when he gets home, he'll attempt that. I'm just sitting here, trying not to think about it because when I do I feel so helpless and sad. I mean I know I was going to have to say good-bye to him in a few months, but this almost seems worse. I mean if Jason can't suture him then what do we do? Would euthanizing him be better than letting him get sick? I really don't want to be thinking these things! :(

August 19th, 2008 (written by Jason)

Hey all! So good to hear from so many of you regarding our newly acquired internet access. Yes we are probably more excited than you about it and are really looking forward to more consistent communication with many of you. As many of you know, we will be coming home in about 4 months time and it would really mean a lot if you would send us e-mails, wall postings (Facebook) and comments on our blog. It is really encouraging to hear from you and we love reading every little note or diddy. Many of you have asked about how my projects have been going and in a nutshell summary “GREAT!!” The community really rallied behind the project and gave a 110% to it. A laundry list of improvements got done in just 3 ½ weeks. We repaired broken floors in 2 classes. Added or expanded floors in 2 classes. Repaired ceilings in 2 classes. Repaired and painted roofs or 2 buildings. Added and fixed a sidewalk. Painted the outside and inside 2 buildings. Repaired broken windows. Replaced 4 old, broken doors. Added steps to the 1st grade classroom. Cleaned up the school grounds. Mended broken flower garden plots. Built play areas for all grade levels. Dugout the foundation area for a new building. And provided temporary employment to almost 30 community members. It is really a dramatic difference that has been made at the school and would not have been possible if not for the generous giving of all of you! You have made this school something that the students, teachers, and community can be proud of. As the saying goes here “We give you hands”. But that is only phase 1. Now we are moving onto the next element in the school improvement project. This is the building of a new building altogether. A whole bunch more of you contributed to this project and we were with the help of Friends Of Lesotho we were able to get the entire $8,500.00 here. I deposited the check on Friday and we are going to order materials this week on Wednesday. It is going to be close but we are pushing for the buildings to be up in less than 3 months. We are going to be building 2 new buildings. The first will be to small classrooms to get the standard 5 class out of the chicken house and into something more befitting of children. The second will be a small office for the principal and deputy to share and use when hosting district officials and dignitaries and for storing textbooks, heaters and other school equipment. Neither building will be overly elaborate but they will be nice and functional. You will also notice that I have posted some new pictures and a few YouTube videos. These are just some random things that I have seen whether at school or on vacation. The descriptions by them should be enough but if you have questions on what they are, please feel free to comment.

Hope all of you are happy and healthy. All our love. Jason and Janeen

Well we are back in Lesotho and have been for a few weeks. This is the first time we have had internet access for about a month or so. Today I have looked at Mike and Heidi’s engagement photos, pictures of Drew, and photos of Rachel & Kevin’s wedding. All that reminds us that we’ll be home in just about 3 ½ months! We are so excited!

Here is the short version of our vacation update: It was WAY too much driving. Of all the days we were gone, we only had 3 days that were not spent travelling. We did get to see a lot; the dunes in Namibia, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, Chobe National Park in Botswana, etc. Even though I was coming back to the immediate start of school I was happy to be in one place for a while! J

We’re back in the swing of things. Jason is working on a playground now as the last phase of his remodeling project. He just got the check for the building project deposited today. So next week they’ll get started building and hopefully we’ll see the finished project before we leave! Anyway, the kids are LOVING the playground. He’s built monkey bars, 2 swings, and is in the middle of building a fort-like structure. The kids are staying after school to play, which he says they never do.

Next week is when my grading starts. They write course works before their quarter exam (which is Sept 17th). Once 3rd quarter is over there is a short break (Sept 26-Oct 6). Once independence break is over, I don’t have to teach ½ my classes anymore because they write the national exams. The final exam is Nov. 7 and that won’t be as bad to grade because it will only be ½ the normal work load! It seems that time will just fly by.

That is the short update. We hope everyone is doing well! Miss you and love you lots!

So after begging and pleading with you to give, you all responded and gave. We have collected the amount of money needed at this time (and for all time) and we are super apprecitative to all of you. I will write more later but just want you to know that I am done asking for stuff and now I just get to share with you.

All the best

Jason

“Measure twice, cut once.”

Jason's shop teacher taught him this, but we both seemed to forget this important piece of advice when getting windows for his school. If there were a window box with 16 window panes, you would think that each window is the same measurement, right? WRONG! They were only similar, but different enough to where the windows Jason purchased and had cut in town were not the right size. So we have learned two things -- 1. Measure twice, cut once (we learned it the HARD way) and 2. How to cut glass (Jason is pretty darn good now!)

Anyway, things are going well. We have been busy this winter with renovations at Jason's school. As soon as I finished grading I've headed out with him every day. We've painted, cut glass, repaired windows, built a movable wall to separate classes that meet in the same building, and that is only what WE'VE done. There have been several men and women from the community helping out. At the end of last week some of the community members were around as we were finishing working for the day and they said, “This is not Phechela Primary School. This is Phechela High School!”meaning that the school looks too nice to be a primary school.

We're headed out to our vacation next week. We're going to Namibia and Botswana. I'm excited to see the sand dunes in Namibia and more wild animals. We've been on two game drive type trips and the animals are so amazing!

Once we get back, it will be time for school to start again. For me, this quarter will start strangely because the students didn't finish writing exams last quarter. They are left with at least 2 days of exams. There was a nation-wide taxi strike and they didn't want the students to get stuck here, so the administration released them early. I'm not sure if they will write exams the first day back or what. We'll see.

On a final note I just want to mention that lambs are sooooooooooo cute. I'm not sure why, but here lambs are abundant in the winter season. I don't know if people breed them at a certain time or it is just nature. I would think that they would adjust and be born in warmer months since winter can be pretty harsh here. Anyway, they are adorable and every time I see one I almost always stop to watch them for a few minutes.

I better sign off now. I am supposed to meet Jason at school to work. He had to go to town this morning for some final supplies. Its now that we are missing Home Depot and cars that will take us where we want to go whenever we want to go!

July 6th, 2008 (written by Jason)

So it has been an incredible journey to get where we are today. I have been asking, begging pleading and what not. But today I am happy to announce we are almost there. This e-mail I received just the other day that informed us how close we are. Here is the e-mail in almost its entirety.

Hello Jason, As of June 9th, I had deposited $2,000 in the bank for Pachela School (NGO). Just this week, I received $2,152 in several checks, and before that, checks for $1000, $100, $100 and $3000. I’ll try to make a deposit later this week and send a summary report to you and our Donations Committee...Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks. John H. FOL TreasurerThis is huge news for us and we are so excited to say that we are just $148 away from being done with the fund raising portion of the project. It is a great place to be in. I am so pumped and it has all been because of all of you back home. So if you have been waiting to make that donation, now is the time. Even if it is just 20 bucks. That will get us about 1/7th of the way there. So here is that information again.Make checks out to Friends of Lesotho. Memo line can say something like

"Pechela-Samuelian". If the checks are already made out with a different

memo line, just have them include a brief note explaining what the checks

are for.

Mail them to our Treasurer:

FOL

c/o John Hollister

4110 Denfeld Ave.

Kensington, MD 20895 I will post some more pictures of our progress and what has been going on at the school with the remodel. It is going really well without getting into all the details of it.

So anyway, we will talk to you all later. We do love and miss you all.

All the best,Jason

June 29th, 2008 (written by Jason)

So we have officially started the renovations of Phechela Primary School. Here is a small flavor of what it is that we are working on. We have painted 2 out of 5 classrooms, we have repaired a sidewalk in front of the office, we have begun to paint the outside of the std. 6 and 7 building, we have repaired and extended the floors in the the std. 3-4 classrooms and we have completely painted, cleaned and organized the office. This was all in just the first week!

The people I am working with are so great. They are dedicated to making this school the best that it can be and are working so hard to accomplish that. And this is good because we have a lot more work to do. We still need to fix all the floors, repair the cracked walls, build and install 2 folding walls (I am designing and building them which is both fun and a little scary), repair the bathroom floors and walls, finish painting the interior and exteriors of the classrooms, and build and install some play equipment. I want to have all of this done by the middle of July but I don't know if that will be possible. We are certainly going to try though.

Otherwise, all is well. There is supposed to be a big taxi strike this week so we probably won't be traveling to much. We loved all the little messages about our anniversary. Thanks to all of you who remembered to drop a little note. I will try and get on to post some pictures in the next few weeks but I don't know how much I will able too. So be patient. I will get to it. All the best

Jason

Just a short update: Jason started renovations on his school this week. Its going well. The workers are motivated and the school is looking great! Today is our fourth anniversary and we are going to pamper ourselves and head to Lady Brand, which is in South Africa. We are getting massages and eating good food that we don’t have to cook and clean up after! J

There is supposed to be yet another stay away starting on Monday. Apparently there will be a nation wide transport strike. I’m not sure what they are upset about this time. There have been several stay aways since we’ve been here. I’m not sure that they are effective, but I guess its better than violence and riots!

Not that the transport strike affects me much being that I now have loads of grading to do. They wrote my exam on Wednesday and pretty much all of Thursday I spent grading non-stop so that I can enjoy this weekend. I of course brought some along, but I intend to do it at a leisurely pace. Once I am finished I can help more at Jason’s school. I got to help one day this week. We painted a classroom. There is so much more to do!

Well the countdown is ON! We have about 5 months left. And for those of you who haven’t heard we are headed home December 4th! Miss you all!

June 19th, 2008 (written by Jason)

So after all the pleading and begging and what not we are almost there on the second of my two projects. Many different people have contributed to the success of the amount of money raised thus far and I have been blown away that total strangers are contributing to what could be construed as frivolous during this difficult economic period. You may not realize what you have done, but you have literally changed the world for an entire village and it is all possible because you decided that you wanted to do something to change the cycle of poverty.

However, the work is not over yet. We are just about $1000 dollars short of our second goal of $8500. This project is going to build 2 new classrooms, furnish them and make them a comfortable environment to learn in. It is such a super opportunity that the returned volunteer organization Friends of Lesotho has decided to help sponsor this project so that we could make all donations tax deductible. It is such a great thing that they have decided to do for us and we are so thankful for their help.

So if you have been waiting to give, now is the time. We are in the home stretch and as Janeen and I only have about 6 more months in country, we need to get cracking. If we can get the rest of the funds by mid-July, their should be plenty of time to get the school building built and ready to use for the next school year (which starts next January). This might be the only time where you can see you money directly at work from a charitable donation. It really is an exciting opportunity.

For those that have already donated to the other project, we will begin our renovation this coming Monday the 23rd. I will try my hardest to post updates of pictures and stories about how the progress of the restoration of the school is going. Also be looking in the mail for special thank you letters and pictures to those of you that have donated. I really do appreciate all that you gave.

For those of you that still want to make a donation, here is the information on where to send your donation.

Make checks out to Friends of Lesotho. Memo line can say something like "Pechela-Samuelian". If the checks are already made out with a different memo line, just have them include a brief note explaining what the checks are for.

Mail them to the Treasurer:

FOL

c/o John Hollister

4110 Denfeld Ave.

Kensington, MD 20895

We really do love all that you have done for our community and can't wait to show you all the pictures and tell you all the stories that have been building up over the last 2 years. We miss you all!

All the best

Jason

June 3rd, 2008 (written by Jason)

So I just finished a wonderful book called The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Now this is not a book that I would recommend to everyone. This book is really just for people who want to understand how society at large works. This can be useful in a number of contexts. If you are in business, it can be helpful understanding how social epidemics can be created or sustained in any number of fields. For common people, you can see how you fit into the schema of this complex world and how you can be part of the next major revolution.

I am saying this because that is where I am most interested. I am interested in finding how normal people play into starting social epidemics. What I mean is how are we, you, me everyone going to be part of the next major revolutions of the world. The revolutions I am talking about are the renewable energy revolution, the expansion of peoples in developing countries, and the openness and interconnected nature of our societies. It is by thinking about these things and getting the right people at the right time that we will see the threshold tip on a number of these issues and many more I don't have the energy or knowledge to discuss.

I do think that you should all start thinking about how you can affect change on a daily basis. I know for many of you, you feel trapped in your daily existence and that it can difficult to think about anything other than just day to day issues. However, if you do just a little analysis of your situation, invest a little time and energy into yourself and your education into something that interests you and then you use that to the best way you know how you may be the start of something big. I guess all that I am saying is don't forget to dream. If you are young or old remember that it is the dreamers that change the world. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that we would one day walk hand in hand white and black. JFK had a dream that we would see a man walk on the moon. Steve Jobs has the dream that each person on the planet might one day own and operate an ipod. Whether you dream is financially motivated or socially or based on a social imperative that you feel called to change, then think realistically about how you will achieve this.

Make connections. Utilize friends and families. Think big and who knows. You may have thought that you were done but really you were just getting started!I know I haven't really said anything about me or Janeen but this is what we are directly going through. We have to be the ones who push for this country. Many people here have lost that ambition to dream and change. It is part of the mission of Peace Corps to spread an alternative to just eating the same thing everyday or changing the way that you see yourself as part of the world. I feel that I am doing that here, but I also feel that we need to be reminded of this ourselves as we have been known to fall into complacency as well.

I hope I have inspired you today to to the best with what you can, where you are. If not, I hope that I haven't bored you too much!

All the best,

Jason

May 30th, 2008 (written by Jason)

So it is cold again. It isn't freezing yet, no snow or anything, but it is definitely cold. This means that we are once again back to eating lots of soup, drinking lots of tea and wearing lots more clothes. It is funny how the weather has such a direct impact on whether or not we will stay up past 7 p.m.

It also doesn't help that the electricity has been really inconsistent. It has been going off at nights due to the energy shortage that South Africa is experiencing. He is the hilarious part. Lesotho generates enough energy to meet its needs. However because of agreements that were made when the damns were being built, Lesotho must buy back the energy from South Africa that they are generating. Does this not seem absolutely crazy to anyone else? Therefore, when South Africa is running short on energy, which they are a lot lately, they pull from our grid.

It makes for long nights especially when the sun is usually fully set by half past 5. This has really affected our sleeping patterns too. We had been getting used to staying up at night watching DVD's and avi files that are swapped around Peace Corps, on our laptop. However, if you have ever tried to do anything on a laptop on battery alone (especially one that is 5 years old) it doesn't last very long. This week we were pleasantly surprised that on Wednesday night we were able to watch a whole movie and stay up past 9. This is a really big deal when it comes to sleep.

Seriously, think about it. If you sleep 8 hours a night and go to bed a 8, you wake up at 4 a.m. This being my normal waking time lately. Now, 4 a.m. in America and 4 a.m. in Lesotho are to totally different things. At home, I could get up make a cup of coffee, turn on the computer or TV and veg out until it is time to jump in the shower. All the while being nice and cozy warm in a heated home. 4 a.m. here entails laying in bed tossing and turning waiting for the sun to come up and provide the smallest amount of warmth so that your unheated house becomes slightly more bearable.

Now I know I am embellishing a little bit but really there is nothing to do at 4 a.m. that would not be absolutely freezing. I could go out and hang out with the herd boys as they take the cattle, sheep, donkies, etc. to be watered and fed. This would not be all that great though as they usually only know enough English to ask for money or if I have some cigarettes (which I don't. I quit years ago.). Those boys also tend to be pretty stinky because they use their blanket as their sleeping blanket, handkerchief, and a number of other things I would rather not think about. On top of that they very rarely wash those blankets. I know this as I have sat next to, walked by, and seen the green fog that comes off things in cartoons, coming from those blankets. Blech!

So needless to say I am a little sleep deprived. SO this is probably just ranting and raving but that is cool. Sorry if I offend anyone. I am seriously just telling it like it is. Life here can be stinky and hard. This is the truf!

All the best

Jason

May 10th, 2008 (written by Jason)

So I am so happy to announce that the first of the two projects has been filled. The Peace Corps Partnership has been fully funded! So awesome! This is really amazing as we are getting that much closer to being 100% ready to go with our schools restoration. It is really fun because now I get to look at stuff and think, “Oooh we could use that! Yeah that would go great in the 1st grade class”. So needless to say I am really excited!

I also want to take this time to brag on some people. Both of our families (Janeen's and mine) have been so amazing during our time here. You really have no idea how much you mean to us and to see the interest you have taken in our projects has been really cool. I won't really get into specifics now, but you all know who you are.

One really cool thing to report on though is how my own little sister did not take my last blog lying down. Her and her friends got together and decided that they were going to take my advice and do some fundraisers for the school. They even started a little web-page which is super awesome. It is www.raisetheirroof.org So if you get a chance check out some of the things that they are planning. Like I said it is not the big stuff but the little stuff that change the world. So take my little sisters lead and do your own fundraising events!

I will hopefully have some updated information on how to send money to the building project this next week. It is really easy and it will be tax deductible which is dope-a-licious!

Other news with me:

This week we (3 friends and I) put on another series of workshops. The workshop is actually the funniest part of why we get together. It is actually just a blast hanging out with these other resource teachers. It is super fun!

Otherwise, ditto on what Janeen said. Super fun stuff that is Lesotho!

All the best

Jason

May 10, 2008 (written by Janeen)

Well I as I am writing I am pretty restless. Jason and I went to bed last night around 8:30. Yes, its early but the electricity had gone out and we were tired from a long week. We were rudely awakened at 12:30 when our neighbor decided to turn on his music full blast. Finally at around 1 or so Jason decided to go and ask them to turn it down. Fortunately they did. We eventually fell back asleep until 3 when they decided to turn it back up again. This time Jason went over and turned it down himself. That STILL didn't work. The volume continued to increase again until finally at 4 AM it started to rain and boy was I giving thanks to the Lord! I've never been so happy to hear rain!

I also had a fundraiser yesterday evening where I taught students how to line dance. It didn't quite work out as I had planned. More students paid the entrance fee than were willing to dance so I think they may have thought it was a show. We only charged a 1 Maluti entrance fee, so I don't feel too bad. Very unfortunately I found out as the event was starting that I am supposed to pay 100 Maluti for the use of the school hall. Which means that after all the hard work of running around setting things up and figuring out the electricity (the hall's electricity was out-it's a prepaid system so we had to rig up several extension cords to get electricity from a classroom), I will only have raised 16 Maluti (roughly equivalent to $2). I am going to complain to my principal. He's not the one running the hall, but he may get the fee waived. The guy in charge had a school prefect come and tell me about the fee right as the event was starting. I understand that the hall is supposed to be used to make money, however, I am trying to get supplies for a school club. So it doesn't really make sense to me.

Anyway, we are in Maseru again because Jason put a new operating system on our computer and we can't access all the old files on our computer. He wants to search the internet to see if he can find a remedy for this problem. I was also up for accompanying him since we have had problems with both water and electricity this week. I'm not sure if we've mentioned before but both South Africa and Lesotho are experiencing power shortages so there are rolling black outs. We've spent the last 3 nights in candle light. The pump broke this week so we didn't have water for a few days. So life has been pretty rustic. Last week when we were here it had been over a month since I had showered, not bathed, showered. Let me tell you--- showers are NICE! Maseru is not safe from the power outages, but at least I can shower again.

This blog sounds a little negative and whiny but I have one more not fun thing to share. As of Friday I now have 78 letters, 176 compositions, and 283 literature essays to grade. Oh so much fun. Do you feel bad for me yet???? :) When I am finished, I am going to post the best and worst composition so that all of you can get a feel of what a joy it is to grade compositions! :)Other than that things are going well. I am just busy working.

We are really excited that one of Jason's projects is now fully funded. He has two projects. 1)Listed on the Peace Corps website- to refurbish one of his schools. and 2)Not listed on a website and at this time information on donating is not available, but his parents have started raising funds to build the same school a new classroom block (2 classrooms) so that the standard 5 students do not have to meet in the old chicken coop. I'm sure I am just being repetitive because I think he has explained all this before. We are just really excited that the funds are available and the students will have a more conducive learning environment. The teachers work hard and the school deserves this. So, if you didn't donate to the first project. There is still a chance! For those of you who have donated already THANK YOU! :) We don't know who you are yet, because Peace Corps has those records, but we will know soon and you will get a proper thank you from us and the school!

Despite the negativity in this blog, we are doing OK. Rough days come and go, but there are some good days too. Like for example, I have been pretty upset about one of my classes because many students were not trying and not doing assignments. Well this week every single one of them did their assignments. I was SO excited and they were too. They all cheered and I even ululated, which made them laugh. I rewarded them by doing a "listening comprehension" activity (aka listen to a couple songs on my ipod and discuss what is being said). Sometimes its harder to remember the positive things, though.

By the way, we are going to become an aunt and uncle for the first time pretty soon! Make sure you all give Drew extra hugs and kisses for us!

We miss you all and hope that you all are doing well.