Love my new copper colored VIZIO java that I got for an early Christmas present for myself. Check it out in Consumer Reports in December.

So, as all of you now probably know, I am back in Los Angeles having called it done at a year. And yes, that means I was back in June but haven't posted anything since January. I took the first couple of months in Rehoboth adjusting to life back in the US and helping plan various bachelorette and wedding festivities on both coasts. After moving permanently back to LA to join Ric and my friends I started the job hunt. Let me just say I really am not cut out for it. The uncertainty the ebbs and flows of finding a job that you want and then not getting it, but all ended up perfectly with a fantastic job in advertising and now it is on to the day-to-day life that still seems a little like I'm on vacation. To be continued....

Exciting new purchase: 42" VIZIO XVT flatscreen tv to watch the Patriots kill the Broncos!!!! Yay. Just wish Mr. Cassell could have done that last week. Oh well, we can't have everything.

Hello Everyone,

I have been extremely delinquent in posting on the blog as well as mass emails, so I’m going to try and remedy that to some extent now with a big one! I have now officially been in Lesotho for seven months, which I still find hard to believe at times. Time has gone so fast and simultaneously incredibly slowly. Here a couple of stats from my first months here:

1: Number of PCVs who have fallen into their pit latrines

7300: Number of feet above sea level my site in Mokhotlong was

1: Number of birthday parties I attended at a diamond mine

7: Number of hours on a crowded bus with LARGE bo ‘m’e (women) and livestock it took to get from my first site to Maseru (the capital)

1: Number of PCVs that have had tea with Prince Harry since my arrival

84: Number of PCVs in Lesotho

23.5: Percent of people in Lesotho who are infected with HIV, of those who test or admit to it

Endless: Number of times of heard “Hey Sweetie/Mommy/Darling, etc” and still continue to get angry over it

5.5: Number of pounds of almonds I have eaten (Thank you, Mum, and keep them coming!)

3: Number of countries I have visited (including Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland)

2: Average number of hours per day I work and still manage to feel exhausted at night

1.5: Members of the Lesotho Royal family I have met (the .5 is the 1 yr old heir to the throne)

3: Number of taxis it used to take to get from Mokhotlong to Maseru

1: Number of roofs that have landed in my front yard after being blown off my neighbors’ roof by the wind

4: Number of Sesotho names given to me (Keratiloe, Relebohile, Lerato, Palesa) – however I now go by Keratiloe

60: Number of books I have read

As you may have noticed from my stats, my big news is that I have changed sites!! I am now in the foothills (read NOT in the very highest mountains) in a larger camptown called Butha Buthe. I am really excited and much happier already with my new home and job capacity. I am working with Population Services International, which is an international organization based in D.C., that does work all over the globe. I’m working with their New Start program which is all about HIV VCT, or voluntary counseling and testing. This is much more of what I was interested in when I joined the PC and what I had hoped to have been doing to I am really excited to get started. I will know much more about my day-to-day activities and job in the coming months, so I’ll keep you all posted, but please if you have any questions/comments/suggestions keep ‘em coming! Last week I got to go on outreach with our field educators, who present information on HIV/AIDS to rural communities in surrounding areas and then test anyone who is interested. It was incredibly interesting to say the very least. One of the very first people who tested was an incredibly elderly gentleman who came back dancing (literally) and proceeded shake my hand and to tell me in broken English that he was very excited, as he danced because he had received excellent news. It was very cute and a very positive experience to start of my new job. A few other interesting tidbits from that day of outreach include a younger man dressed entirely in the royal blue coveralls that are ubiquitous here and a fuzzy zebra print cowboy hat. He was a vision of sartorial splendor!

The new job really is my greatest excitement but I have to say that coming from a pretty remote place has made me appreciate many of the things that are now available to me such as cheddar cheese, yogurt and soft serve ice cream!!! Butha Buthe is much larger than Mokhotlong was and also has a border post to SA very close so there are quite a few amenities I’m not used to, but there are certainly no complaints here.

I have been incredibly delinquent in reporting on other adventures of the end of 2007, so I will do my best to fill in some of the gaps now. At the end of our “lockdown” (when we are limited to only the district we live in) in November several of my friends and I went on a brief vacation to Swaziland. It was a bit rushed, but great to get out of the country and see some of South Africa and Swaziland. Unlike Lesotho there are lots of crafts in Swaziland, so we spent some time sorting through those, which was endless fun and we had the distinct delight of going on a game drive in one of their national parks, which was spectacular! We were able to see lions, rhinos, elephants, many different varieties of Springboks and other deer/elk-like creatures, zebras and a lone hippo. It was fantastic!! After some intense weather, we made it back to Lesotho in one piece and had 10 days of training, where, unfortunately one of our group was medically separated, but I was, thankfully, able to plug into her spot in Butha Buthe and take over where she left off.

After a couple of weeks of hanging out and sorting things out before Christmas, I went to visit a friend in another camptown, TY, outside Maseru to spend time with friends and have some good food. I came out of the mountains of Mokhotlong and promptly got burned at the hotel pool where we hung out and had pizza (not a bad Christmas). After subjecting some unwilling friends to watching RENT I headed back to Mokhotlong and moved sites. So quite a lot of changes happening.

Also, with the change of site comes a change in address, surprise, surprise! But ALL MAIL IS NOW WELCOME!!!!! YAY. Please send something..anything!

Jane Hollinshead, PCV

US Peace Corps

P.O. Box 385

Butha Buthe 400

Lesotho

SOUTHERN AFRICA

Miss you all tons and keep me up to date on all of your happenings!

Love,

Jane

Things I would LOVE to receive:

-HARIBO gold gummy bears

-Plain unsalted almonds

-CLIF mojo bars (particularly PB pretzel)

-cake mixes/cookie mixes & cake frosting!!

-Twizzlers

-AAA batteries

-Tuna of ANY variety

-Air packed Salmon if you find it

-Chocolate Caramel Chai or other chai varieties

-

Hi Everyone,

I am finishing up 10 days of training here in Maseru with the rest of my CHED (community health and economic development) group. Like most trainings this one has had its moments both good and bad... I have to admit that living staying in a summer camp-like setting certainly doesn't always put one in the best frame of mind! But we have a wonderful new program director who has also made it very enjoyable. And there is the always-fun counterpart/supervisor workshop that we just completed during which we learned that some Basotho people believe that Peace Corps Volunteers are parolees... That was certainly a new one. I had heard a couple of totally ridiculous rumors, but apparently now the US is shipping us out because we were felons at home. Gotta love those misconceptions!

Before training four of my friends and I also got a chance to finally get out of the country for a few days. Lockdown is finally over!!!! Yaay. We spent 2 days in Swaziland and 2 days basically driving there and back, but it was completely worth it. We spent a lot of time craft shopping (Christmas presents are headed your way) and on our second day we had a chance to visit one of the game parks and see some animals. That was a whole lot of fun as you can see, but a bit nerve-wracking at the same time! All in all very relaxing and enjoyable.

Tomorrow I go back to my site and the mountains. Schools have closed for summer break so I don't have my after-school HIV/AIDS club each week and work is pretty sparse on the ground but there are always gardens to plant, laundry to wash (ugh) and my cat to keep me entertained. I always seem to have tons to say until I sit down and write a post so please let me know if you have specific questions you want me to answer here.

****NO MAIL FOR THE TIME BEING****

As much as I adore receiving mail and I have lobbied hard for it in the past, there are some logisitical things going on in Lesotho (fines/new customs taxes, etc), so it's best if no one sends me any mail for the moment.

I miss you all to bits. Please keep me up-to-date on your goings ons. I'm news starved!!!

Love,

Jane

Hi All,

Well, only 2 more weeks until I am no longer restricted to my district but am free to move about the country, which will certainly improve my frame of mind! I was actually allowed to come into Maseru, the capital, for a committee meeting which was very kind of my boss and has provided a much needed respite from the wilds of Mokhotlong. The wonders of hot showers, KFC, cheddar cheese and socializing with other PCVs!!!

Life is here is good, but is often a day-to-day thing. Everything takes work and some days I just don't have any. Overall it has gotten better since I was first here and I had a really difficult time. My work is still frustrating on many levels, but I don't think that is going to be changing anytime soon and at least I HAVE work, which is more than can be said for many of my friends. My wonderful grandfather has subscribed me to the Economist which has proven to a weekly highlight (if it arrives as it should) along with many of you who have kindly taken the time to put pen to paper.

In 3 weeks I'm going for a quick vacation (4 days) with 4 of my girlfriends to Swaziland before coming back to Maseru for 10 days of In-Service training, which is keeping me motivated along with a weeklong trip to Cape Town in January.

I'm afraid I am not at my most articulate or interesting at the moment, but I am thinking of you all often and would love to hear from you. Please let me know if you have questions about what I'm doing or otherwise.

Love you all,

Jane

Hey Everyone!

So it isn’t November yet but amazingly there turns out to be an internet café in Mokhotlong, which not surprisingly makes me very happy even if it is insanely expensive compared to elsewhere in the country.

Where to start…the first two months of life as a volunteer has been all sorts of things. Difficult, challenging and lonely are certainly the first things that comes to mind. I live in a village about 3.5-4 miles out side the Mokhotlong camptown (sort of like a secondary city, but not large enough to be called that). I live right of the main tarred road which can be good or bad depending on the situation. I live in a house with a tin roof and two rooms: a kitchen and a bedroom. I have no running water or electricity which is fine since I had adjusted to living without them during training, though I certainly wouldn’t have turned them down if my site had them! I work almost exclusively in town so I walk in each day which is great exercise (especially since I am living at an elevation of about 7300ft!) but it is also often like running the gauntlet. Without fail there are children yelling from me to give them some sweets or give them some money. Usually repeated endlessly no matter my response in English or Sesotho. On the particularly bad days I have adults asking for money and sweets as well, which sorely tries my patience to say the least. Added to these fun requests are the constant screams of “Lekhooa” which means white person wherever I go. I try to be nice and respond politely but day after day it can wear on a persons nerves and the TOTAL lack of privacy does not contribute to a great mood. It is also common to be asked where you are coming from and where you are going to and when a person you just met can come to visit you. The adjustment is ongoing for me but the concept of privacy and personal space is just not a part of Basotho culture so one can’t get mad because they don’t understand why those questions irritate/make me uncomfortable.

I am assigned to the Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sports & Recreation as a Youth Development Volunteer. There is a youth center in town that I help out at with computer skills and I am going to start teaching Life Skills once a week as well. One of the interesting facts of Youth Development work is that in Lesotho youth are defined as young people from 15-35 so I often end up teaching people who are older than me. I also work with an afterschool HIV/AIDS group at the local primary school once a week which I have found incredibly rewarding. And I’m taking over another project from a departing volunteer about an hour outside Mokhotlong that is installing an irrigation system for the garden of an HIV/AIDS support group. The only challenge about this project is that is basically requires walking about 8 miles each way to check up on it, so I will definitely be getting a workout!

Mokhotlong was once called “the loneliest place in Africa”and it can often seem that way, but the people here are very friendly and other than the constant begging have been very welcoming. It is often described as sort of a Wild West town and it is a very apt portrayal. Unlike most of the rest of the camptowns in Lesotho men in gumboots wearing the ubiquitous blanket on horses mix with all kinds of vehicles. Most of the shops in town have hitching posts in front of them and you will find more horses and donkeys arrayed outside than you will see twenty year old Toyota Carollas and pickup trucks. It often provides a funny dichotomy. The other day I watched as tourist (there are a small few) in a brand new shiny Range Rover pulled up next to a very old ntate in gumboots and a blanket riding on a donkey. It was rather comical.

Until it started raining this week it has also been incredibly windy and dusty which often does not make my “commute”into town on foot particularly pleasurable. However as we get into Spring towards Summer we are getting more and more rain which helps and is very welcome as there was an extremely bad drought last year and people here depend on the rain for their food supply. About a month ago it also brought out the peach trees which was amazing. I went away for the weekend and came back to hillside filled with puffs of pink. Each house has a couple of peach trees and it looked from far away like there were little drifts of cotton candy next to each house.

I don’t think about it everyday but it often amazes me at how truly remote and isolated the Mokhotlong is. I really get NO news unless I’m told by my wonderful friends and family who call me. The BBC world service comes in sometimes but not very reliably so it often feels like living in a vacuum, which can be good but can also heighten the loneliness. My ipod is my constant companion and keeps me from total silence and I have acquired a very cute kitten named “Seponge”or sponge in Sesotho (as in love sponge) who is extremely affectionate which wards of the isolation as well.

This has run incredibly long, so I will wrap it up now, but please let me know if you have any other questions that you want me to answer. If you get the urge to call me or send a package I would be eternally grateful. I look forward to both mail and phone calls with absurd delight. I miss you all tons and please send me updates on what is going on with your lives!!!

Love and hugs,

Jane

To call: I recommend Pinzoo.com for a cheap and reliable calling card. My phone number is 011-266-585-33-249.

To mail: Jane Hollinshead, PCV, US Peace Corps, Private Bag 42, Mokhotlong 500, Lesotho, SOUTHERN AFRICA

**If you want me to get something fairly quickly International Priority Mail is best and they have flat rate boxes available. Otherwise it may take several months before I get packages send by other methods. And as an alternative to marking religious items on the customs forms other good options are used clothing, used books and/or school supplies.

Things I would love to get:

Magazines!!!! InStyle, People, Us, Glamour, anything great and trashy/fashion related

Gummie bears, worms, etc./Twizzlers

Other candy

Almonds

Pictures/other things to put on the wall

Air packed Tuna in water

Hi Everyone!

Yes, it has officially been a month since I last posted. Training was hectic and incredibly busy especially at the end, so I didn't have much time to post. We wrapped up our time in the village which was sad but the time had come. There was a great feast and insane amounts of food..as always. All the trainees then returned to the Training Center in Maseru to prepare for a 5 day visit to our permanent sites (where we will be for the next 2 years). I will be in Mokhotlong. Mokhotlong is in the mountains..it's cold. The irony that is my life continues!! I have to admit I was not so psyched about my placement at first but I'm working on purchasing all of the warm bedding available in the entire capital. I'm going to be a veritable Princess and the Pea but with blankets! We are all back in Maseru again getting ready for our swearing in as official Peace Corps Volunteers tomorrow. So, it will be several months again before I get to post anything again as there is no internet access in Mokhotlong. I promise when I get back to somewhere that has internet I will have some interesting tales to tell and post. Until then please feel free to send me lots of fun packages at my new address:

Jane Hollinshead, PCV

U.S. Peace Corps

Private Bag 42

Mokhotlong 500

Lesotho

SOUTHERN AFRICA

or call me!!! at: 011-266-585-33249 (I have fantastic phone service)**

**Several people I know have had great success with the teleworld card on www.therichcom.com for 5 cents a minute. Try it out!

-Candy (gummy bears/worms, swedish fish, Nips)

-Trail mix

-Hot chocolate

-Luna bars

-Crystal Light on the go, Gatorade

-Taco seasoning, fajita seasoning

-Ziploc bags of all sizes

Hi again,

I can't believe that is has been a month since I got to Lesotho! It seems like a year. Since I last posted (extensively) I have started to cook for myself, learned more Sesotho, visited a current PCV (Peace Corps volunteer) at her site and climbed a mountain. Not bad for 2 weeks!

For someone who has lived by herself for the last three years the last couple of weeks has been trying. I have certainly had difficulty with being over-scheduled and not being allowed/given much alone time. Thankfully, that has changed somewhat. Individual alone time is not really a part of Basotho culture so setting boundaries for myself has been essential. We are now cooking on our won which helps with a sense of autonomy. By cooking I also mean a 2 burner gas stove...period. Luckily it's cold enough that a fridge isn't necessary - you just put things in tupperware (yes, they have it here)and put it on the floor. The summer will suck though as food items (of any kind) generally only last for ~2 hours. Yikes! Anyhow, food, one of my favorite topics. I already miss certain things desperately like sushi - ahhh, for a bite of raw fish. Jos, I dream about that last meal at Katsu-ya!! Yum. But surprisingly, you can get most non-specialty items in the capital. Obviously, once I am at my permanent site I won't have consistent access to the variety of items they have there but it's still pretty good. Lots of apples, oranges, pears and bananas as well as tomatoes (yay), avocados! (double yay), peppers, eggplants, onions, etc. So far I have made homemade pasta sauce, lentil stew and lots of peanut butter sandwiches, tuna sandwiches and cereal. But we all visited current volunteers this week to see what the reality of life was like and I had some fantastic bbq chicken pizza, pancakes and mexican food. It's amazing what you can do with very little and a dutch oven!

Sesotho is going okay. I felt like I was progressing fairly fast but it seems to have slowed down a bit which is frustrating. My 'M'e came into my room yesterday and asked why I didn't speak Sesotho and I tried to explain that after several hours of Sesotho lessons as well as other training that I just don't have the energy once I got home. I'm not 100 percent sure she got what I said. It can be extremely frustrating/irritating since you want to take advantage of the homestay but you also want to maintain your sanity!

Speaking of sanity I seem to keep mine most days but a couple of days this week it has been a judgement call. Training seems to be designed to create stress.A good cry and watching Sweet Home Alabama on my ipodgot me through this week but it's sort of a touch ang go thing everyday. Other volunteers tell us that that is just life as a PCV...yaay for preparation.

We all (the trainees) visited current PCVs at their sites to see what it's really like once you are out of training. It was fun and certainly interesting (email me for some interesting details). It certainly makes the next 2 years look like an adventure.

Before I sign off I wanted to quick describe the amazing landscape here. I have been told it's very similar to that of Southern Colorado and Northern Arizona, but all I can say is that it's BEAUTIFUL. Not at all what I had expected, but still gorgeous. It will be very flat farmland and then it will rise up into these huge mesas and rock formations or there will be a hill that looks like a mini-mountain plunked in the middle of a really flat area. The sky is immense and usually deep blue and cloudless. The stars and moon at night are spectacular. There is no light pollution, so they look so close that you could touch them (ugh, corny I know, but true). I went out last night and the moon was almost full adnit was so bright it literally acted as a floodlight over the whole valley. Gorgeous!

I'm running long again so let me know if there are other items you are interested in hearing about and I will get on it. And I've added a list of things I would LOVE to receive if you so choose, so check it out below.

XOXO

Jane

Things I want/need:

-maple syrup (plastic bottle if possible)

-capers

-spices (of all kinds)

-Ziploc bags (quart, 1 gallon, 2 gallon & the new XL sizes)

-hand sanitizer

-hand wipes (Smart & Dri, etc - particularly in the travel pack size)

-air packed tuna and salmon (LOTS please)

-any interesting teas (Might Leaf has some amazing ones)

-Hellman's/Best Foods(depending on East/West coast) Mayo in the plastic bottle

-Crystal Light "on the go" packets - Raspberry, Tropical, Lemonade

-Any great/interesting books you have read lately!

And again my address is:

Jane Hollinshead

US Peace Corps

PO Box 554

Maseru, 100

LESOTHO

AFRICA

Padded envelopes work best and don't forget to put religious phrases on the outside. So things don't get stolen it's best to write religious materials or school supplies on the customs form. THANK YOU in advance for any and all mail!

xo jbh

I, once again, don't have very much time since I have run off and find a map of Lesotho(very important to me as many of you know!)but I will be back in Maseru and have access to the internet on Saturday. I'm planning on writing out a huge blog post then, so sorry to leave you with so little but check back in on Saturday and you will get TONS of info on my mental state, what I've been doing and all that wonderful goodness!!

XOXO

Jane

Hi everyone,

Just as disclaimer: i'm working with a serioulsy crappy keyboard so there are going to be alot of typos &spacing issues,so please excuse me.

I just finisehd my first full week ofliving in the village. All I can really say is...good God it was cold!! No seriously, itsnowed on Wed. forthe first timesincethe 1960s! Of course,me, the hot-weather loving person that I am, in the middle of a snowstorm my 2nd week in Lesotho. The irony is fabulous.

I am living in a villageaboutanhour outsidethe capital, Maseru. There is no running water or electricity which, surprisingly, hasn't been as huge an adjustment asI thought it would be. MInd you, I*'m not quite at the point where I lovemy pit latrine yet, but it's a work in progress. Bucket bathing is also not asdifficult as DI anticipated, but it might be that the novelyt hasn't quite worn off yet. Also, I have never appreciated central lheating more than this week. During one of our Sesotho lessons another trainee turned to me and announced that she had 17 pieces of clothing on-I haed about the same number on. I have made peace with looking like the Michelin man during the winter months (june-augt).

I live with a fantastic family who are great they try to get me to speak Sesotho but I'm not always cooperative. There is my 'm'e (mother) Mamotlatsi, ntate (father) Zakaria, ausi (sister) Masochele, abuti (brother) Motlatsi and abuti PUle. They have been wonderful and my 'm'e especially has lbeen teaching me all osrts of wonderful things like steaming and baking bread and making Moroho (boiled greens) and Lesheleshele (sort of like Basotho cream of wheat). The village has TONS of donkeys, chickens, cows and sheep and mostof them roam freely..particularly the damn chickens. The roosters will pretty much start crowing at 4am and continue through untill 8am. Even for me, who many of you know I am the best of sleeepers, this presenta a challeng & huge source of irritation ona daily basis. Oh, and the donkeys often add to the chorus- seriously, the noises THEY make is remarkable..there truly is no description.

When the volunteers arrived we all got Sesotho names and I am now called Keratiloe (kee-ra-teel-way) which means "you are loved" or "beloved" which was very sweet of my family to have named me- especially since they weren't alerted to my sunny personality in the morning as of yet. I am working hard on my Sesotho but it's hard and draining and often frusterating but I would like to think that there has been some progress.

I've gotten a couple of questions about m6y typical day. This has obviously changed drastically in the last week, but herere goes.

Typically, I wake upat ~6:15 and then resist getting out of the warm cocoon of my sleeping bag (even though I sleep in head-to-toe fleece) until 6:45. At 6:45 I creep out of and turn on my heater and do a quick turn around my room with my broom (cleanliness is HUGE - particularly sweeping- for the BAsotho). About 7am I get hot bath water from my 'm'e adan I bath which is cold and always includes rotatingt in front of my gas heater like I'mo on a spit. At 7:30 I hlep my 'm'e with breakfast and then eat. I leave my house at 8 to walk 5 mins to the school where I and the other 5 youth & small business volunteers have Sesotho untiol 10. At 10 we have a very civilized tea break and theis weekt the Peace Corps driver came and picked us up to take us to a aneighboring village where we meet up iwth the other 14 volunteers and have a session on some aspect of HIV/AIDS in Lesotho until 12:30. 12:30-2 we have lunch and then another HIV/AIDS related session(these change weekly) until l4pm. AT 4 the dirver takes usl back to our village and I either learn to do a chore (handwash clothes) or cook something. I help prepare dinner and might fit some studying in utnil ~7 when we have dinner. At 7:30-8 we finish dinner and I either help wash dishes or go to my room to warm up by my heater. By now I'm ehausted and it's ptich black outside so most nights I'min bed and asleep by 8:45/9. I'm sure this will change but for now this has been what I have been doing.

I had another page to write from, but my hands are tired and I will do it next time. Hope everyone is well I miss you all TONS!! Please shoot me an email or post a comment on here with any questions you have for me or just send me an emaill letting me know what you are up to!

Missing you all (and appreciate the summer warmth for me)

XOXO

JANE

So, I only have five minutes left of internet, so this is going to be REALLY brief.

Item 1: I got a cell phone. Yaaaay! I don't know if it will work at my site, but it will be on at all times, so PLEASE give me a call at 011-266-585-33249. Both 7-11 and novatel.com have cheap phone cards to Lesotho.

Item 2: Seriously nervous about going to the village today as my Sesotho is extremely limited, but I guess that is the point.

Item 3: It's still in the early stages of planning, but some of my friends and I are planning on going to Durban for New Years, so if any of you want New Years on the beach let me know!!

Gotta run, but hopefully I will have more time next time I'm in town.

XOXO

Jane

Lumelang bo-‘me le bo-ntate!!!

Hi Everyone,

So a lot has happened since the night before I left and last posted. I don’t even know where to start there has been so much going on!

I flew to Washington D.C. for staging on June 12th. It was pretty informative but mostly general Peace Corps policies and general information and no country-specific orientation. We had staging with a group that was going to Swaziland since Lesotho and Swaziland are similar enough countries and the Country Directors’ requested that we have them together.

On the Thursday, June 14th we flew out of Dulles to Johannesburg. Unfortunately, one of the volunteers got sick on the way to the airport and we had to send her to the hospital, so we started our trip out with a bang!! Luckily she was fine and has now joined us here in training. After a lovely, but surprisingly quick, 16 hour flight we got to Johannesburg and discovered that about half of us had lost pieces of luggage (1 of 2 for me) and we wouldn’t be able to make our connecting flight to Bloemfontain (a small city in South Africa close to Lesotho). As a result, we ended up taking a 6 hour bus ride from Jo’burg to Lesotho and arriving in very early hours of Saturday morning, June 16th.

First of all, it’s freezing!!! The nights get down to about 30 degrees Farenheit, but luckily it warms up, particularly in the sun, during the day (up to 50-60 degrees). We are all adjusting to the cold, but they have kept us warm with lots of gas heaters.

The first two days we were basically allowed to sleep and walk into the center of Maseru (Lesotho) but we are now on a pretty packed schedule from 7:30am breakfast until 7:30pm dinner with Sesotho lessons, HIV/AIDS sessions, safety & security and tons of culture/history with 7 shots so far thrown in for good measure. We are leaving tomorrow for the start of our CBT or Community Based Training where we live with families in villages outside of Maseru. I'm a little stressed out about the language barrier, but hopefully that will force the learning curve.

I have a lot more to write, but I'm running out of time for the moment. Please send me your questions and I will do my best to answer all of them. I will hopefully come into town tomorrow and add a little more! Don't forget mail is always welcome too.

XOXO

Jane

So, I am officially in meltdown mode. My parent's living room is no longer recognizable and there is everything from a Leatherman to long johns strewn hither and yon. I'm just over the allotted weight for luggage and doing my best not to totally breakdown.

I leave for my staging in Washington D.C. in a couple of hours and then my entire group of volunteers leaves from there for Lesotho on June 14th.

Many of you have asked for my mailing address while I am in Lesotho, so here it is (at least for the first 3 months):

Jane Hollinshead

U. S. Peace Corps

P.O. Box 554

Maseru, 100

LESOTHO

I welcome any and all mail you would like to send!! But before you send anything, a couple of tips:

1. Packages are best sent in padded envelopes as boxes tend to get taxed significantly more.

2. It's always best to write "religious materials" or "bibles" on the customs form. Otherwise, it is quite common for packages to get stolen. Feel free to write religious phrases on the outside as well (I can't WAIT to see what that results in from some of you!).

3. Please number any packages and/or letters that you send, so I will know if one or more have not arrived.

I have to run off since, as usual, I have left EVERYTHING until the last minute, but please write me!! I will try to update this as often as possible and let everyone know what I am doing. If you have any questions, etc. that you would like me to address shoot me an email and I will put it in my next post.

Love,

Jane

I'm leaving June 13th for Lesotho as a Peace Corps Community Health and Economic Development Volunteer, so I figured I should start a blog so keep everyone up-to-date on my travels and work. Right now all I am focusing on is selling and packing my worldly possessions and eating as much sushi as possible. I'm new to this blogging thing, so please excuse any slip-ups in web etiquette.