Well the depth of work that I have to do before I fly out Tuesday is a lot, but not really too much, if I just settle down and do it. The problem is getting me to settle down to do it! We will see what the next day and a half offer as I get things ready to go! Currently my suitcase is open and there is 1/8 of the suitcase full, so this is a start! I packed for Peace Corps the night and into the morning of my departure for a two year trip. Thus, I think I can handle packing for two weeks! Watch, I’ll arrive without any underwear! Yes, I’ve done that before! Now off to attack the perpetual to-do list again! 

I currently have 6 sheets of paper each one a to-do list, all things that should be done before I fly out on Tuesday night. Currently it is Friday night, so I still have some time, but I’m gonna have to be skillful about the next few days.  I’m really trying to work on focusing on prioritizing and getting things accomplished. It is quite easy for me to let my mind become a jumble of ideas and worries and suddenly 7 hours have passed and nothing has been done!   So now I’m working on journaling and prioritizing to get my work to move forward. Well we will see in a few days where these newest tactics have taken me and what things are left for me to do when I get back! I think the thing will become how much work am I going to take with me and then how much will I realistically get done while on vacation? Besides logistics, I’m super looking forward to Lesotho and seeing Sj at the airport! Already trying to prepare myself not to cry as much as I did when I left 10 months ago! P.S. I’m not a pretty crier! 

As those close to me know, I am one of the biggest planners in the world! And yes the possibility of me coming back from Lesotho with a ring on my finger has already been discussed in depth with Ntate! Now it’s trying to find “the ring.” I do not like traditional engagement rings and have no desire to have a giant rock on my finger! So it’s finding something that we/I like that is also in our price range. Oh and I’m super cheap and making sure that the budget is kept or at least doing everything in my power to make sure it is kept. Sj would happily spend an endless amount of money on something for me, but the answer is no way! I would make him return it! And now I’ve told a lot of colleagues at work that I will be getting a ring, so I’ve once again opened my mouth and am now putting added pressure on this special occasion. Jeez, why do I do that to myself, over and over again? So time will tell how this unfolds, we are both looking and looking hopefully the perfect ring will appear:) 9 days till I get on a plane to go back to Lesotho!

So, I know I have not written in quite a while! I was very fortunate to find a job within my field of early childhood education and have been working my bum off ever since! So time is flying by and the long distance relationship between Ntate and I has been working! I know most people including my mother are skeptical on the long distance thing, but honestly we are even closer now. I call him 3 or 4 days per week and then there is always fb, email, and texting! To make a long story short, I’m going back to Lesotho at Christmas. I will be spending two weeks with Sj and friends and family back in the mountain kingdom.  I can’t really begin to say how excited and scarred at the same time, I am to be going back! Peace Corps most definitely was one of the best experiences of my life to date, but I also feel callused and hardened in some ways from the situation. Will going back open wounds that were just beginning to heel? Oh time will tell, but I know that I am over the moon at seeing my other half and getting to spend time in honestly one of the most beautiful places on earth! What will I do for my two week stay? I’m hoping for a whole lot of nothing! One of my favorite things to do as a PCV was hang out with Ntate and his family! I really couldn’t have asked for a more accepting family to be joining. Unlike my own side of the family, Sj’s family has always welcomed me with open arms! So there will be cooking and hanging out for Christmas and then hopefully Sj & I will get away for a few days.  I just really plan on eating a lot of my favorite foods from Southern Africa and enjoying the view and seeing as many of the wonderful people from my PCV life as humanly possible! Sorry if this seems like a rambling entry, it is. I just needed to start writing again. I plan on documenting my time in Lesotho and attempting to express the thoughts in my head!

Well it’s been almost 6 months since I finished Peace Corps. It’s very strange to me that that much time has actually passed, i feel like it takes me a second and i can feel right as if I’m back in a preschool classroom in Morija or taking a walk with Sejake. The transition home wasn’t too bad, really.  However, I had some health problems that weren’t diagnosed in Lesotho that I’ve been dealing with and will hopefully be fully well soon. I am very thankful that I feel like myself again and that I’m ready to move forward. Currently the big question is what am I going to do this year? I can’t go to graduate school until 2012 and there just aren’t a lot of jobs that I really want to do here.  I have been fortunate to step back into things that I really enjoy like helping with my old dance studio.  Dance is and always will be very important to me:) Currently, I’m working at a local restaurant serving and training to assist managerially. It isn’t exactly what I want to do by any means, but it’s a job for the moment to keep me busy and give me some form of schedule in my life. I have been wavering back in forth since coming home about going back to Lesotho. Sejake is there and of the two of us for the moment he has the better job and the start of a career. So I have been saying that I will go back to Lesotho, but the question is when and for how long? I would love to go back and work, but we will see if that ends up being in the cards for me. As much as I want to just jump and leap into life in Lesotho and just see where it ends up, it also scares the bejesus out of me about how things will work out. I will forever be a planner and how do you plan for the unknown?   I know you can’t!

Extreme Mountain Bike Race Coming to Lesotho: Hey everyone, I know I have been MIA in the U.S. for the past few months after finishing Peace Corps, but I need to rectify that, but first must share this link. A dear friend of Sejake & I is organizing this amazing mountain bike race through Lesotho. Congrats Chris on making your dream a reality! Just had to share this great idea and amazing experience for those that are avid bike riders. Lesotho’s mountainous terrain and high altitude really make this race challenging!

Another NY Times article about Lesotho's medical response to HIV/AIDS

A nice New York Times video about an American pediatric AIDS doctor working in Lesotho. P.S. I’m home safe and sound! I promise updates and the “Reading Lesotho” video soon!

Ke qetile/I’m finished! I am officially a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV)! Friday was officially my last day, but I have spent the weekend back at Morija with Sejake’s family finishing up some project things. Now Sejake and I are suppose to go to Johannesburg today and I don’t think I’m ready yet. Feeling overwhelmed and that I need another day to get ready to go. So we will see. I’m not flying out until Wednesday night and I have my kleenex ready. I am so excited and nervous about going home, but I am so sad about leaving! Peace Corps has been an amazing roller coaster ride and I am so happy that I was able to have this experience. It has been a lifetime of experiences rolled into two years! Picture is from last sunday. MNF threw me a farewell party. Here I am in my seshoeshoe from MNF and standing with the Mats’ela men. Kamohelo (Sejake’s nephew), Sejake, me and Ntate Lebohang (Sejake’s dad). Lehakisi, Sejake’s sister is missing, she had to work:( XOXO

Me on the computer working at Sejake's Me and my 3 chocolate truffle cake Sejake & I after finishing cake book translations I'm working on My birthday was Friday, so a few of these pictures are from then and then the others are of work! It’s super work mode until I finish Peace Corps! Happy Valentine’s!

‘Malehlohonolo Ndumo Foundation or MNF receiving books!  What a great but long day! Thank you so much Parker family and Sentebale for allowing us 4,000 of the over 8,000 books sent to Lesotho!

Currently at Sejake’s family’s house and they have fresh homemade bread.  I just had a little, but now I am stuffed!  Bread or bohabe is one of my favorite things here!  And Basotho love their bohabe!  They make an amazing steamed bread too, oh and fat cakes… Well as you can see after two years, I haven’t gotten sick of the food:) Now the goal is to not eat too much, so I look skinnyish for a week and then I gain 10lbs from eating all of my favorite American foods! Haha, we’ll see how this goes! So things are coming along here!  I am still working on translations and the video.  But fingers crossed it will all be done by the 18th.  Then the next week I am to Maseru for Close of Service (COS) and then it’s off to Joburg for a few days with Sejake and then home sweet home!!! It’s weird sometimes if I close my eyes, I am back home in central Illinois and I feel like I have never left.  Will things really be much different Stateside?  I am really unsure, but so so so looking forward to family, friends and hanging out! What are my plans for when I am home?  Who knows, but I know that there will be hours of watching episodes of So You Think You Can Dance, Glee and just about anything else I can get my hands on.  Also visiting schools for grad school is also a plan for the next few months.  I also have a few places that I would love to travel to, if money isn’t so tight.  so looking forward to the possibilities! XOXO

So my time in Lesotho is starting to tick away.  I plan to COS February 25th and then be in the U.S. March 3rd:) I’ve started making lists of things to sell and planning more goodbye parties.  I still have a lot of work to finish, specific

Trying to get more videos up. Here is a video of my Morija Area ECCD teachers singing at the ECCD graduation in Morija November 27th, 2010.  It was a nice, but long day! I promise there are a lot more videos that I want to get up asap!

So proud!: ‘Malehlohonolo Ndumo Foundation is an organization that I have had the opportunity to work with in Lesotho.  I believe that it is the first Basotho initiated literacy project in the country.  ‘M’e Polo Ndumo is the spear head and she is a force of nature!  I met them in February 2010 and they were just beginning to start the registration process within Lesotho to become a non-profit.  Now in basically a year, they have written a constitution, become registered in Lesotho and now have a website.  So proud to be working with them! Can’t wait to see all of their literacy initiatives come into action! This Tuesday I will be working with the foundation and Sentebale, a large non-profit in Lesotho working with OVCs and vulnerable children, to collect 4,000 books for MNF. I will continue to work with MNF in the future!  They are an inspiration!

Check this out!: Maseru was a buzz last week as they were casting for this movie, which will start shooting in Lesotho in March. My incredibly talented boyfriend Sejake helped with casting and hopes to be a part of the crew in March, if it works with his lecturing schedule! So proud of him!!! And so happy that Lesotho is being represented and shown to the world!

Happy New Year Everyone! I had a really nice time with Sejake’s family at Christmas and then had a fun New Year’s Eve visiting friends during the day. Well it looks like I will be a PCV for a little bit longer. The library development video that I am doing with Sejake still isn’t finished. So we will keep working on it and now my new COS date is February 25th. So looking forward to seeing friends and family back home! I do have a real love for Lesotho and it is going to be very hard temporarily leaving Sejake here, but it’s what I need to do for me! I am really proud of myself for making it to the end of my service and all the things that I have accomplished! I really have to thank the U.S. government and Peace Corps for this opportunity. I could have never done this on my own! So I will spend the next 45 days, finishing projects and buying souvenirs! I plan on selling or mailing most of my belongings home, so that my suitcase will be filled with Lesotho! Love you all and promise more videos, pictures and descriptions of what I am up to soon! Picture is of Mantloaneng ECCD staff and me

Oh the weather outside is frightful I’ve heard how bad the weather has been in the Midwest, sorry to all of my family and friends dealing with it!  Here it has been raining cats and dogs.  I haven’t even been able to do my laundry because it is sunny for a bit and then the dark clouds begin to roll in.  Today, I bit the bullet and did some laundry any way.  However before I knew it, I heard thunder.  Boo, so now my clothes are scattered on hangers around my little house.  Hmm wonder when they will dry? When it rains here even in Summer, the temperature drops significantly.  Thus, I’m back to wearing jeans, boots and perhaps even a scarf when it is really pouring outside. Just looked at the forecast and it looks like rain for the next week.  Well hopefully, I can get a lot of work done before Christmas and that we have a sunny summery Christmas here!  I will be spending Christmas night with Sejake’s family.  We are going to have a bbq!  I’m looking forward to it and have already decided I’m making deviled eggs!  Yummmm!!!!! We will actually sleep over at Sejake’s family’s house and then spend Sunday, Boxing Day here, having a Christmas lunch.  Praying for warm sunny weather!  You can’t imagine how much I miss you all right now, but just know that I do! Sending Holiday Greetings to All!!!

Surprise! Morija Area ECCD graduation was this past Friday.  It was a wonderful day of excited kids and a long ceremony, it ended with my 35 Morija area ECCD teachers giving me thank you gifts for being with them for two years.  I received a seshoeshoe skirt, Lesotho tshirt, cow hair sandals, a set of 6 glasses and some money.  I cried of course and felt so thankful!  Then on Saturday was Mantloaneng’s own holiday/graduation party, I received a few more surprises such as a Basotho hat and blanket.  This is me on Saturday right after receiving the gifts.  I was also wearing my gifts from the day before, I looked so Mosotho!!!  Once again I cried as you can see from my eyes.  I feel loved! In other news, the electricity to my house is temporarily out.  So my dear 5 year old ibook, just doesn’t stay charged the way it used to, thus you will probably be hearing way less of me for a while.  I promise more pictures & video asap!

Hey all here are pics from shooting this week!  Enjoy!  Thanks Kaitlin for taking these wonderful photos! Kaitlin and I are taking a shooting break and eating chicken feet that Kaitlin’s counterpart wanted us to try. 

So this is a quick post letting you know where I will be this week.  Sejake and I are going to be filming a short movie about library development in Lesotho.  We are leaving in 2 hours to first go to a friend of Sejake’s wedding and then off to spend the week at PCVs houses and to visit and film 6 ECCD, primary and secondary schools.  It will be a long, but very successful week of work.  I’m really excited that my idea is actually becoming a reality!  Thanks to my awesome and incredibly talented boyfriend Sejake who is donating his talents to make this film with me and to the PCPP grant that is helping with expenses.  Big hug to you all and thank you so very much for the continued support!  I can’t explain how much it means to me!!! Love you all!

So, I’m getting closer to deciding where I am going in Lesotho for year three. I talked a lot to Sejake last night and my friends Jack & Mira during their visit this weekend. I think I’m going to move from my cute little house with electricity, a fridge, and a hot shower to not having any of those things. I really want to try and have the smaller community experience that I didn’t have for the past two years. It will be a bit of an adjustment not having electricity, but I can get a solar panel and car battery, so that my cellphone and computer can be charged. In other news, my Sesotho is getting better by the day! Perhaps by the end of year three, I can say I am moderately fluent:) I even was lucky enough to represent Peace Corps at the Morija Festival this past weekend. I spoke to the Queen of Lesotho in Sesotho and English about myself, my projects and PC in general in Lesotho. It was kind of exciting. There is a picture of us together floating around, I’ll have to get it soon, so you believe me:) XOXO

So now I am reconsidering extending, it’s a super long story.  But I am really worried about Sejake not being able to get a visitor’s visa to the U.S.  I had no idea how difficult it was.  Apparently the government is worried about visitors coming and never leaving our beautiful and crazy country.  Thus, the extension discussion is back on the table.  This week PC Lesotho has been awesome!  They gave me three options of potential sites because I would like to move to another part of Lesotho and have a new CHED job.  They are totally on the ball and being super supportive!  Will let you know how it goes, but hopefully within the next week or so I will have a tentative new placement! Love you all and I am so blessed to have you all in my life!

It was late afternoon and I hadn’t had the time to eat my lunch.  So I was standing waiting for the mini-bus taxi and eating my roasted chicken from the grocery store.  I finished and threw the bones in a cardboard box.  No more than two minutes later, I saw a ragged looking man going around the taxi rank going through the garbage.  He walked up to the box that I had thrown my chicken bones in and proceeded to clean them even better and try to suck the marrow out of the bones.  It was a real humbling experience to see such hunger right in front of me.  The man quickly threw my chicken bones back in another box and found a half-eaten pear and walked away.  

Sometimes Peace Corps comes to take photos and video of volunteers.  They came to Lesotho twice last year, I believe, to talk to a few volunteers.  My friend Brice was one of them.  I have worked with Brice extensively on the ALP container for 2010.  He is an awesome volunteer and a great person!  Go Brice!

I think these pictures express my proudest accomplishment here in Lesotho thus far.  I worked with my Morija area ECCD teachers to write a small Friends of Lesotho grant for 500 Rand.  With just this little bit of money, we were able to buy 45 litres of paint, 5 paintbrushes, and 4 dyes to color the white paint.  30 ECCD centres were painted with these supplies and I believe there is still white paint left over. Once the paint supplies were distributed, the Bo-‘M’e divided themselves in sub-areas of Morija and spent the winter painting each others’ schools.  My goal for the project was to have the alphabet painted on the walls of all the schools, but oh the teachers went beyond just the ABCs.  They painted trees, children, shapes, numbers and the list goes on and on.  The Bo-‘M’e have really expressed how proud they now feel of their ECCD centres and that the children, parents and community members have all taken notice of their brightly colored schools! Yay!!! Also, the Bo-‘M’e are feeling more comfortable to try and speak English with me.  This is HUGE!  Again many of the preschool teachers that I work with have not finished high school.  They feel intimidated of little white girl me, so sad!  But now finally after almost 2 years they are opening up.  All of the pictures are of my visit to three freshly painted ECCD centres in the Morija area today.  It was so fun speaking in my developing Sesotho, while they responded in their developing English.  Overall, what an amazing day!!!

Yesterday, I saw four car accidents while on my way to and from Maseru.  None of these accidents were more than bumper scrapes, but jeez.  Living in a developing country can lead to such things as crazy driving or people that do not have driver’s licenses driving! I have heard though that the roads and driving in Lesotho is not as bad as in other countries!  So that’s a good thing:) The picture is of the mini-bus that was carrying my Morija area ECCD teachers on their trip to Mokhotlong in September.  Fortunately everyone is okay, but some of the Bo-‘M’e are still recovering!  It was a one car accident and was the driver’s fault, it has been hypothesized that he fell asleep behind the wheel. 

Lesotho ED 09’  This was at our farewell party in Nazareth at the beginning of October I love my group and I am so lucky to have been living the PC experience with them for two years! We are missing a few in this picture, you know who you are!  xoxo

So I am back from Cape Town, it was a short and sweet trip.  Sejake and I ate some really yummy food and got to see some of his great friends!  The GRE went okay, why I am I so bad at this type of test?  So now my counterpart and I are in full swing working with NGOC to organize the princess of Lesotho’s birthday party this weekend.  It’s going to be held at my main ECCD centre Mantloaneng ECCD.  400 kids from all over Lesotho, 3 jumping castles, it is going to be a very fun, but tiring day! I spent yesterday going around with NGOC to buy some supplies and then today will be spent decorating and preparing for tomorrow’s event.  I have not met the princess, so I’m kind of excited about meeting the 8 year old royalty and her 3 year old brother, who will be the future King.  And then on Sunday, Sejake and I are going to his friend’s wedding in Morija.  I’m looking forward to it.  Every wedding I have been to here has been quite different from the other.  Basotho really like to go all out for parties, so I’m sure it will be quite nice, probably nicer than any wedding I could ever afford:) I’m also currently having trouble with a wisdom tooth.  I talked to the PCMO yesterday and we agreed that if it is not better by Monday, I will call and request a dental appointment.  I’m too busy today anyway to go to the dentist!  I hope it magically gets better on it’s own, but we will see.  None of my wisdom teeth have come in and I was told they never would, but oh I think this one is wanting to! What else? What else?  Oh I think I have decided to finish Peace Corps.  Tentatively at the moment my Close of Service (COS) date is December 9th.  I was really considering extending, but I haven’t been able to find a new site and job yet and time’s a wasting.  I really feel like I am going to finish on a really high note and am really looking forward to seeing my family and friends back in IL!

Basotho do not need lawnmowers they just stake their cows and let them go to town.  I think it’s a great idea! Yes there is a cow in front of my house.  This is the very first time I have ever seen this in my yard!  Normally, Bo-Ntate come and use a sickle at my house, because me and my neighbors have a huge yard and it just grows and grows.  The men come and cut it down for fodder for their animals.  Pray for rain, it’s just about time for the rain to start, but everything is so so dry here and the cows are scary skinny!  Poor things! Dad, can we do this in town?  Do you think the Mayor would mind?  But you know this means we have to get a cow or two.  I promise I will take care of them:)

The Power of Women Helping Women I have wanted to share this story and video with you for a while.  I simply wasn’t sure how best to put it in words.  However, today I will try to tell you this empowering story.  In July, I was sitting amongst the ECCD Bo-‘M’e at Mantloaneng ECCD.  We were having a normal meeting.  My counterpart was leading the discussion and thus all I heard was Sesotho.  Let me just say, my Sesotho is improving daily, but it is still easy for me to veg out if I am not directly involved in the conversation.  All of a sudden a ‘M’e was sharing something and she was in tears.  Basotho really are not very big criers, in my experience, so I was shocked and curious about what was going on.  Soon my counterpart asked me if I understood that the ‘M’e was sharing how a few men are breaking into her house and raping her.  I was flooded with emotion and shock.  How could this happen?  Before I could even respond, the Bo-‘M’e were planning to get together at the ‘M’e’s house and see what we can do to help her.  When the day arrived at the beginning of August around 15 local ECCD teachers went to the ‘M’e’s village. At the ‘M’e’s house, we sang songs and talked with the woman’s brother-in-law who was also there to give his support against these crimes.  We also investigated the woman’s house.  Her yard and house are kept in good condition, however the windows and door no longer lock properly.  Thus, breaking in is pretty easy.  The video that I have posted shows some of my teachers talking about what we can do for our fellow teacher and friend.  In the end, we decided to get her burglar bars on her windows and doors. Burglar bars are required for PCV housing in Lesotho and they really do make a house very secure.  The money for the bars will have to be raised through fundraisers as none of us have the money to pay out of pocket. On the same day, we also had a pitso or meeting with the chief of the teacher’s village.  We all shared our concerns for our friend.  We also wanted him and the fellow community members to know that this is happening and to ask them to do what they can to prevent it.  From what I understand there were two men involved and one is now in jail for another rape.  I believe the other man is known by my teacher, but has not been brought to the police yet.  Currently, we are still raising funds for the burglar bars. Overall, I was inspired by this woman’s strength to share her story with us.  All over the world, these types of incidences are seen as shameful and many go unreported.  Then seeing how the Bo-‘M’e came together to help their friend in her time of need.  I feel very blessed to be working with the Morija area ECCD teachers and empowered by their caring spirit towards one another.  

So I posted a lot yesterday because I was in Maseru to do some errands for a project that I’m working on. Today it is 10:19am as I start to write this blog and I am simply unable to go to work. The past week has been exhausting and on Sunday I got news that a combi with many of my ECCD teachers, including my counterpart, over turned in TY.  Thankfully everyone is okay as far as I know, but car accidents are often times fatal here.  Simply said, I am emotionally drained. I think many PCVs think that I am hard at work right now because I am at site, but it hasn’t been the case in the past week.  I have successfully cleaned my house and made nutritious food and occasionally studied for the GRE, but that’s it.  I’m officially calling today my last day of break and I need to get back into the swing of things.  Just needed to say this outloud! See, we all have these days, don’t we?

Mesapela Primary School library I was visiting the school and wanted to show off this new 2010 ALP library.  They received books in March and the library is already running.  The library is in the timetable, so classes visit the library on a regular basis!  Don’t mind the talking in the background, we were having a random conversation! Thanks to RPCV Merrill who worked with this school to get the library up and running.  I know she didn’t have to do too much work because the school did most of it!  Another ALP success!

Here are my ECCD teachers playing.  We were having a big celebration, so the day was filled with song and food.  They are so hilarious!

As some of you may know a PCV in Lesotho was shot and killed on Friday night.  It was in the middle of my ED 09’s Close of Service Banquet.  This terrible incident shook PC Lesotho to the core, but we are continuing on.  To Tom’s family and friends, I am so very sorry for your loss.  Even though I didn’t know Tom so well, I did have the pleasure to meet him and see his passion for life.  On Monday, a memorial service was held.  It was an amazing tribute to a truly inspiring volunteer and human being.  The impact of Tom’s time in Lesotho was so evident, not only be the memories told by PCVs, but also Tom’s Basotho counterparts and friends who came from TT.  Now the training centre is a refuge and Peace Corps volunteers are holding tightly to one another, while PC staff takes care of our needs the best that they can.  A counselor from PC Washington is here right now; she has been speaking individually and with specific groups to discuss this all and to help us process it.  PC Safety and Security staff is also helping to work with local authorities to follow the criminal case to the end. All things considered, I’m more certain than ever that my decision to become a PCV was the best decision I could ever make.  The support that PC has given us is amazing; they truly are trying to do everything in their power to make us feel comfortable and cared about.  I really feel that if I had gone with any other volunteer organization, I wouldn’t have had the same assistance in such a time of crisis. To the PCV & RPCV Lesotho community and the global PC community, we are such a strong family!  The way that volunteers have come together to help one another has been so powerful!  The emails and bog postings with words of condolences helps us all to carry on. As today becomes yesterday and PCVs here go back to their sites, travel to Washington for further support or perhaps even finish their services early, we all will continue on with the memory of Tom in our hearts and the beautiful experience of living in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho. Rest in Peace Tom

Can you tell what this is? It is a little toy car/train engine that is made out of two tomato crates put together and then plastic containers for the wheels.  Hopefully this will be the next project my Morija area teachers take on! The truth is that in most ECCD centres around Lesotho there are simply zero toys and educational materials.  I’ve been trying to find examples of things that we can make out of everyday items.  Found this in an old resource that ECCD PCVs had put together in 2000.  I showed a few of my teachers one day, I saw one make a sketch of the idea.  The next time I saw her she had made this example!  I was so happy she had liked the idea and taken the initiative to make it for her centre!  Yay a little sucess! 

I’m not entirely sure if you can understand what is going on in the picture.  I was in the taxi rank a few weeks ago in Maseru and I came across these two boys, who had made their own combi (mini-bus taxi) out of boxes and were playing while real taxis and people rushed by.  The taxi rank is always a very busy and crowded space.  It was just nice to see children making a place for themselves to play.  So cute!

This is the song the Bo-‘M’e at the Litabaneng Area ECCD workshop sang to me as I was leaving.  Do you hear “Ausi Bokang”?  Ausi Bokang is my name and the song is saying thank you to me in Sesotho for coming and being with them at the workshop. 

During the week of July 26th, I was asked to attend and participate in the Litabaneng Teachers’ workshops in Maseru.  The Litabaneng area in southern Maseru is home to approximately 35 ECCD teachers.  During Winter break many ECCD areas around Lesotho gather to make educational materials for their classrooms and brush up on ECCD curriculum and lesson planning.  I was asked to bring ideas for material producation.  I really wasn’t sure what the teachers would want to do, so I made a few math matching games and then gathered a few more ideas to bring.  Thus, I had a big bag full of ideas and I was just waiting to see what would interest the teachers. I could never have imagined their enthusiasm and energy.  Many of the teachers are newer and literally have empty classrooms, so they were really excited by all the ideas.  Before I knew it there was a giant assembly line and all the teachers were busy making games and books for everyone.  Each teacher worked on a section of the materials and then they would put them all together at the end, so that each teacher would get a set of puzzles, book, math cards etc.. It was amazing!  This was by far the best working experience I have had within Lesotho to date.  I didn’t do anything besides bring ideas and share my experiences.  However, their work ethic was inspiring so soon I was right in the middle of mass production educational material making.  I mainly helped out by coloring:) By the end of my three days with the women we had learned 3 new English songs “Where is Thumbkin”, “The Intsy Bitsy Spider”, which they call Eentsy Weentsy Spider and then “Clap Clap Clap your Clappies Out” and made numerous educational materials including number matching puzzle cards, number cards, a book of “The Intsy Bitsy Spider”, a recreated book of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, butterflies made from toilet paper rolls, a shapes memory game, and 2 puzzles.  I hope that I am not forgetting anything! I also read aloud “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”.  They loved it and decided on their own to rewrite and draw it themselves.  Then we photocopied the entire recreated book for each teacher that attended.  Let it be said that these teachers pooled their own money for photocopies and materials.  I was only used as a resource.  All the pictures are from the workshop.  I have video too, but will have to load it some time soon! 

This Tuesday, I attended a meeting with many of my fellow ECCD teachers.  After we finished and I was cleaning up, I came into Mantloaneng ECCD’s kitchen to find that all the Bo-‘M’e had broken into song.  I think I have taken pictures of this before, but now we have video. 

Here is Elissa’s house in Southern Lesotho.  I videotaped during my visit.

Two weeks ago, I visted Becky in Southern Lesotho.  Here is the view from her door.

Hi Everyone, Sorry it’s been a little while since I have written! Surprisingly July has been quite busy, even though school is out for Winter break! The week of the 5th of July, I traveled to my friend Becky’s site in Mohale’s Hoek. She is actually quite far south and I was excited to see the mountains up close. To get to her house I had to stay in Maseru at the PC training centre and then take an early morning taxi to the mini-buses that go to Qacha’s Nek. The mini-bus or sprinter leaves around 5:30am, so I had to get up at 4:15 and take a taxi at 4:45 to make sure that I was able to get a seat. Otherwise, I could have been standing for about 5 hours. This specific morning, only one sprinter came instead of two, so we were crammed in and there were a lot of people standing! So thankfully I had gotten there early! Once on the way, the drive went rather quick and before I knew it, I was off at the Ha Mosi stop. Becky’s site is about an hour in from the main road, so I had to wait for a car or trunk to drive me in. Luckily, a trunk came almost as soon as I was off the Sprinter, so I didn’t have to wait long. Once at her site, I met Becky and another volunteer who was also going to help with the library workshop. Becky is finishing her PC service in just a few weeks, so we were helping her finish her libraries that she received in the 2010 ALP shipment. We prepared for the workshop and also helped Becky finish organizing all the books. The workshop went quite well and the teachers that she is working with are all very motivated and excited to get books! Overall, I had a great time and I was excited to see southern Lesotho for the first time!!! Photos are of Becky at her house and the workshop

The weekend after Moshoeshoe’s Day, Sejake and I went to Bloemfontein.  My entire ED 09 group was also going to celebrate a friend’s birthday.  I had a great time hanging out with everyone and meeting Sejake’s Uncle and family. Here is Sejake with his baby cousin.  She is so terrified of Sejake for some reason. She will literally close her eyes if she sees him.  It is hysterical!  And for me, she danced and babbled away!  Too funny!!! Also I have been craving blueberries, but I have yet to see them in Lesotho.  So in Bloem I was able to get a little cup of them, so good.  Here I am enjoying!

Morija area ECCDs celebrating Moshoeshoe’s Day King Moshoeshoe united the Basotho people in the early 1800s and is the founding father of Basotholand now called Lesotho Aren’t the preschoolers cute!  My job here really isn’t too bad:)

Here are some pictures from the beginning of March, I hope there aren’t any repeats. 1. A boy in Morija on his home made stilts 2. Pictures of Ha Toloane ECCD and ‘M’e Marethabile.  She is an incredible teacher and her kids are great!  3. VAC (Volunteer Action Committee/Council) having a 5 hour meeting!  It was exhausting, but thanks to co-chair Kevin we made it!!!  We each represent one of the 10 districts of Lesotho.  We are the link between PC staff and PCVs!

Cooking with Sejake and Jackie On Sunday, I was cooking mexican, since tortillas are expensive here store boughten.  I make them myself.  However rolling out 12 tortillas gets tiring, so thankfully Sejake is my roller outer.  It takes him about an hour to do all 12 tortillas to perfection.  I then fill the yummy tortillas with cooked red lentils (cooks down to “refried beans” adding mexican spices and chopped onion and green pepper) then I add shredded cheese, canned mexican tomatoes (so good), avocado (if I can find one cheap enough in Maseru) and plain yogurt as sour cream on top! Being close to Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, means that I can get most of the food items I need to make comfort food! Mmmmmmmm

I know that I am very behind on updating you all on my life, but I think I am going to start with the most current events and then work backwards! On Tuesday I went to Ladybrand in South Africa, which is only about a 10 minute drive from Maseru, Lesotho.  I went with my friend Anna, who is a volunteer in Morija with another oganization, coincidently she is from Chicago.  Anyway, she had found this spa in Ladybrand and their prices were reasonable, so on Tuesday we went and had a full body massage, spent time in their jacuzzi and got pedicures.  It was such a nice day, since I had never had a professional massage or pedicure before.  Yes, we got to wear white robes:) I am trying to treat myself in small ways since my extra money is running out (Mom I’m okay really!).  We also had breakfast at the best restaurant called Living Life.  It is this shabby chic cafe that makes tons of yummy desserts.  I had afrikans pancakes with spinach and feta inside (like crepes) and for dessert I had a mini-lemon meringue pie!  It is such a cute place and I just enjoy going and spending a few hours there drinking coffee, eating delicious food and hanging out with friends!  It’s amazing how just going out to lunch can revive you! I promise more updates soon and I still need to videotape my house for you all, so you can really see it! XOXO The picture is the entrance at Living Life, sorry it’s not the best quality, but I hope you can get the idea.

Yes it flurried last Tuesday morning.  I had to take a picture to prove that it really does snow in Africa.  Picture is taken from my door and that is my neighbor’s house.