It’s officially day 4 in Lesotho! After two days of city hopping starting in Philly to NY to Dakar (Senegal) to Johannesburg to Bloemfontein to (finally!) Maseru, the Lesotho capital, we were about ready to collapse. Surprisingly the flight wasn’t too bad. I was lucky enough to have an empty seat next to me the first leg so it was nice to spread out a bit. The worst part was attempting to haul my luggage the entire way. I honestly believe I must have carried more than my body weight. I had a 34kg suitcase, plus a 21kg backpack on my back, not to mention a carry on bag and a backpack somehow on my front. But everyone was struggling so at least we could go through it together. The hotel in Johannesburg was so luxurious; they gave us wine and cheese right as we walked through the door. We all decided to live it up because it was going to be the last time we were in any type of place that nice. Finally making it to Lesotho was very tiring, but we immediately perked up as soon as we reached our training site. We were greeted with beautiful Basotho singing and dancing by our teachers. It was a very emotional moment. Hearing their voices and receiving welcoming hugs from complete strangers really made me feel like I was meant to be exactly where I was. I think I will always remember exactly what it felt like to get off the bus that first day.

So far we’ve been here for a few days and it’s been structured classes from sun up to sun down (I’m not kidding). We’ve been able to go to Maseru to use the internet cafes but not too often. Next week is our last week here and then we move to host families for the next six weeks. This is where we’ll learn more about how people live. We will all be living in rural areas with no running water or electricity (this is where you take pity on me and send me stuff) so it’ll give us a taste of how actually life for the next 2 years will be. It does sound bad but really, I can’t wait. This is all for now, but I’ll try to update this again before I leave for the village.

Today was my last day at home. It was so hard to leave everyone, it seems like the last two weeks were just constant teary goodbyes. I am extremely excited about Lesotho, but it's a very melancholy feeling knowing I won't be seeing all the people I love for over two years.

Staging began this afternoon in Philly. Our group is pretty small, only 25 people. Even though we've only had a few hours together, everyone seems really cool so far. There is so much enthusiasm and energy, we're all ready for staging to be over so that we can just get on the plane and get there already. So far staging has been mostly an ongoing seminar about Peace Corps- and not yet country specific. Some parts are pretty cheesy- but it's not too bad. The staff seems really cool and everyone's got a great attitude.

The only thing i'm not looking forward to is getting all of our shots. We have to get them a mere few hours before the 17 hour flight to Johannesburg. Apparently the rabies vaccine is a real treat and should make for a really miserable flight.

Just before I forget, I should mention that everything that I post on this blog is solely an expression of my own values and opinions, and does not reflect the views and opinions of the Peace Corps in any way.