DONESIES! I got my ‘R’ (RPCV—for Returned) on December 21! It was a surreal feeling…filling out paperwork with parker…getting it done…and then going right back to my normal life in Lesotho, even though i’m not technically a volunteer anymore. I spent christmas in the south and had a great time meeting a number of the [...]
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So I’m officially in Maseru with Parker for our COS(close of service)…sitting in the VRC(volunteer resource center…aren’t anagrams fun?), waiting for tomorrow when we can get things started. It’s nice having free internet, which comes with the added luxury of enabling images…Parker just came in all the way from Mokhotlong…currently he’s telling me how awful [...]
First off, there are new pictures. Click here. Covers the Botswana adventure(animals, cut feet, and salty hoodrat things,in summary), as well as some pictures from the school, especially of the library, which i’m particularly proud of. Why this sudden outburst of generosity after i’ve been so quiet for so long? In a word or four, [...]
Well, that’s unfortunate in a way. I came here hoping to extend upon a post i thought i made a few weeks ago…but I either dreamed that one up or lost it here on the interwebz. The post expounded on the following quote, sent to me by my mother: William H. Murray: “Until one is [...]
Well I’ve been pretty darned lazy about posting, and it’s not for having nothing to say. Life’s been jam-packed with all kinds of interesting stuff since my last post. No excuses, I’m just the worst. 2 weeks ago was my COS(Close/Continuation of Service) conference with my fellow ED ’10s. There was awesome lodging, great food, [...]
Got a kick out of a chain e-mail today… smiles abound while I read the following: ——————————– Thank you Mr. President! A friend actually called the Michigan Dept. of Human Services, but got a busy signal. However, he found on the website for them in the link below and sure enough, on the right side [...]
So, most of us peace corps volunteers spend a good bit of our time criticizing foreign aid. Not only is criticizing other organizations an effective way to inflate our own egos, it’s also REALLY easy and fun. Most of the NGOs in Southern Africa are, quite unfortunately, pretty easy targets. After spending nearly 2 years [...]
People are dumb. It’s not until we start to see the light at the end of the tunnel that we really start to appreciate what we’ve got going for us. July, for me, was a great month. I hosted a 4th of July party at my house that had everything anyone could ever ask for [...]
Woke up this morning and it was cold, like normal. Stupid cold, but I’m well past that affecting my wake-up ceremony. There was a beautiful lunar eclipse last night that i was fortunate to see from start to finish. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, so i watched the shadow of the earth slowly [...]
Peace Corps helped me to come across an incredible article about Lesotho today. No matter what challenges we face, the spirit of what we do is the same. It’s easy to forget about the successes when you feel swamped with troubles, but the truth is, every volunteer has an impact. We tend to forget about [...]
Whether you’re 21, 51, or 101, Life is just too short. Norm Maguire was a lifetime friend of my Father’s. Since the 4th grade, they’ve been virtually joined at the hip, and he’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. When my father moved to europe for business, Norm [...]
Howdy guys! I’m Password protecting my next post Shoot me an e-mail if you want to read it!
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
I’ve mentioned before that Africa gives one time…time to contemplate, time to zone out, time to be useless. Needless to say it’s a pretty great place for me to pass the time! I’ve been here over a year now, and there’s one place in particular i’ve spent more time than anywhere else in Lesotho…a very [...]
BBC Africa wakes me up in the mornings these days. The shortwave signal is clear at my site this time of year and the news has finally moved on from Egypt. I won’t dare pretend that the Egypt story isn’t a great, interesting, and time-worthy story, but waking up at 6:00am to the same depressing [...]
Howdy guys! It’s been a while, but i’m getting off my lazy bum and updating you all on what’s going on in Lesotho. It’s been a while so this’ll be a long post. VISITING AMERICA! I didn’t mention anything on the blog so we could surprise my mom, but my Dad helped to bring me [...]
“Not to take sides is to effectively weigh in on the side of the stronger” -William Sloane Coffin Jr. Preface: What honest, soul-searching individual has not at some point been frustrated by the concept of religion? Balancing our own personal moral perspectives with that of any institutionalized perspective is by it’s very nature a contradiction [...]
Maputsoe is the most populous city in Lesotho that is not a camp-town(district capital). As far as dirty little border towns go, it no doubt ranks quite high. Congested, trash-ridden, smelly, and altogether unpleasant, it’s a town that makes a lot of volunteers, well….cringe. Being an American in downtown Maputsoe means exposing yourself to countless [...]
November 11th marked my one year anniversary with Lesotho! It’s been a crazy year, full of lots of ups and downs. These last few months have been some of the toughest in my life, but the lessons I’m learning can never be forgotten. My dad gave me three phone calls this week, each of them [...]
Update: The Library link is up and running. Look for “Library Project” up above. Howdy gang. Well, Tarsha and Khotso’s event was a huge success. We ran around like a couple of crazies for a long, long, time now, and It sure paid off. There were about 80 attendees at the event. Kids, students, [...]
Howdy gang.
Well, Tarsha and Khotso’s event was a huge success. We ran around like a couple of crazies for a long, long, time now, and It sure paid off. There were about 80 attendees at the event. Kids, students, herd-boys, people living with AIDS, and many more came out, enjoyed some food and some good [...]
It still hasn’t rained. Some times the clouds will come, looking promising, but all they bring is a hurricane of dust and wind. It’s dry, everyone is coughing. If you’re outside at the wrong time, you get blasted by a wall of dust and dirt…kinda makes you want to stay inside. I wrote this entry [...]
It still hasn’t rained. Some times the clouds will come, looking promising, but all they bring is a hurricane of dust and wind. It’s dry, everyone is coughing. If you’re outside at the wrong time, you get blasted by a wall of dust and dirt…kinda makes you want to stay inside.
I wrote this entry last [...]
Things are still going good on this end. We had our first day of rain since June 16th just last week. It didn’t rain much, but it’s a start. A lot of people are telling me that we should expect a drought this year. I’m crossing my fingers, hoping they don’t know what they’re talking [...]
Things are still going good on this end. We had our first day of rain since June 16th just last week. It didn’t rain much, but it’s a start. A lot of people are telling me that we should expect a drought this year. I’m crossing my fingers, hoping they don’t know what they’re talking [...]
Hey guys! I’m getting ready for school but realized it’s been a while since i’ve posted. Here’s some fun statistics for ya. HIV Prevalence Rate in Lesotho: about 24% HIV Prevalence Rate for 16-48 year olds: 48% Peace Corps volunteers: about 90 Students at my school: 180 My typical class size: 30(very small i’m lucky) [...]
Hey guys! I’m getting ready for school but realized it’s been a while since i’ve posted. Here’s some fun statistics for ya.
HIV Prevalence Rate in Lesotho: about 24%
HIV Prevalence Rate for 16-48 year olds: 48%
Peace Corps volunteers: about 90
Students at my school: 180
My typical class size: 30(very small i’m lucky)
Average class grade on my last [...]
Unfortunately there’s a lot of talk going on in our program questioning whether or not secondary education projects fit the image of ‘sustainability’ for Lesotho. For anyone that doesn’t quite know, sustainability means…well, honestly, i have no idea, but it’ something along the lines of making sure that the impact you have continues after you [...]
Unfortunately there’s a lot of talk going on in our program questioning whether or not secondary education projects fit the image of ’sustainability’ for Lesotho.
For anyone that doesn’t quite know, sustainability means…well, honestly, i have no idea, but it’ something along the lines of making sure that the impact you have continues after you leave [...]
Whoo! Summer break is already sneaking away on me. I’ve stayed awesomely busy lately. I was a little worried that I’d be so bored out of my mind during the break that I’d be having time to dwell on how much I miss home and get positively depressed. Never happened. World cup has been great. [...]
Whoo! Summer break is already sneaking away on me.
I’ve stayed awesomely busy lately. I was a little worried that I’d be so bored out of my mind during the break that I’d be having time to dwell on how much I miss home and get positively depressed. Never happened.
World cup has been great. I made [...]
Hey guys! Here’s a real quick update on my life happenings and stuff! The last day of school was on a Thursday, the 10th. I woke up that morning, confused. My world-band radio is set to go off at 6:30 am. The last several weeks i’d just gotten static, but for some reason, the BBC [...]
Hey guys! Here’s a real quick update on my life happenings and stuff!
The last day of school was on a Thursday, the 10th. I woke up that morning, confused. My world-band radio is set to go off at 6:30 am. The last several weeks i’d just gotten static, but for some reason, the BBC was [...]
Hey gang! First a quick update on the weather in Ha Lejone! The sun doesn’t rise now until around 6:50am, which makes it really hard to be motivated to wake up in the mornings. The temperature doesn’t help to inspire me to leave my bed, either. Today I slept in until a record(for a school [...]
Hey gang!
First a quick update on the weather in Ha Lejone! The sun doesn’t rise now until around 6:50am, which makes it really hard to be motivated to wake up in the mornings. The temperature doesn’t help to inspire me to leave my bed, either. Today I slept in until a record(for a school day) [...]
Hey guys! Real quick, I put up some pictures of my trip from Morija to Malealea. Click Here. It’s late, I’m tired, and testing begins this friday, so i’m stressin, too. This topic probably deserves a much better post, but i figured i’d get it down while it’s still fresh in my head. ___________________________ Today [...]
Hey guys!
Real quick, I put up some pictures of my trip from Morija to Malealea. Click Here.
It’s late, I’m tired, and testing begins this friday, so i’m stressin, too. This topic probably deserves a much better post, but i figured i’d get it down while it’s still fresh in my head.
___________________________
Today my school had a [...]
Howdy Gang. It’s been brought to my attention that I have not posted in some time! Don’t worry, I’m doing great…I’ve just been too lazy to put up a good, deserving post lately. I’m not too lazy to put up a crappy one, though! ________________________________ I have just returned from a 2 day hike from [...]
Howdy Gang. It’s been brought to my attention that I have not posted in some time! Don’t worry, I’m doing great…I’ve just been too lazy to put up a good, deserving post lately. I’m not too lazy to put up a crappy one, though!
________________________________
I have just returned from a 2 day hike from Morija to [...]
As a Peace Corps volunteer, I am not permitted to drive in country. Hitching is seriously discouraged, unless it is the only way you can get from point A to point B. Riding in the back of an open-back truck is forbidden. That leaves the option of public transport. Taxis, Kombis, Quantums, Shuttles, Buses….the mode [...]
He woke up cold, not knowing the time. The wind was blowing, the cold pressing through the cracks in the door and the windows. The hands of his watch were barely glowing in the darkness, but he made out that it was just after 3:00am. His thoughts were too slow to care, [...]
It’s been a while since I’ve done a legitimate post. I know, I seem to throw that line down in the beginning of every post, but the good news is that means I’m staying busy (guilty: I always say that, too). I get home from school and am usually too exhausted/hungry/cold to put my thoughts [...]
Hey guys! It’s getting late, but I wanted to let you know that I uploaded some pictures to the interwebz.
Here’s the link.
Been staying painfully busy with grading papers. Being a teacher sucks at times. The kids are doing well so far, but since I wasn’t there to invigilate I’m pretty suspicious about [...]
Definitely been staying busy since my last post. On march 21st, I went down to Maseru for phase 3 training. For about ten days, the ED ‘10 group got together and shared ideas and attended sessions on our new lives in Lesotho. Phase 3 ended with a 2-day workshop with our supervisors on secondary projects.
My [...]
Howdy guys, sorry I haven’t updated in a while. I’ve got stories to share, but don’t have the time to get them down now. Still, I want to let you know what’s going on in my life, so I’ll try to get some quick thoughts down.
It’s been a busy week at school, getting ready for [...]
First I should mention, the hike went great. There were four of us in all, Tarsha, Khotso, Emile, and myself. We trekked 39 km, or 24.2 miles, through some of the most beautiful mountains ever. Khotso and Emile would stop when we found a herd-boy(Basotho cowboy…with blankets instead of a hat and usually minus a [...]
I was just informed this morning that i’m going to a teacher’s workshop in Hlotse tomorrow. Thanks for the warning, guys! I had already asked for Friday off, and now my kids will be missing two days of classes as I won’t be available. I’m giving them work to do but it’s still [...]
Hey guys! Staying up late tonight(it’s almost 10:00…i’m kind of a party animal), uploading some pictures right now. They are of the school, students, and the inside of my home. They should be good to go by the time anyone reads this. I’d recommend going to the flickr page so you can see the descriptions [...]
I’d like to pay respects to a lost friend, Mario Jankowski, who passed away this last weekend. As one of my greatest friends’ father, the man played a huge role in my life, taking me places and showing me things i otherwise never would have gotten to see. He was a generous man with passion [...]
I’m not getting through very well to my students, I’m afraid. I gave a quiz this last Friday in science, a challenge in its own right. I can’t give handouts so I have to have all the questions written on a relatively small chalkboard, trying to make sure the kids don’t cheat while I write [...]
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