Praat Engels Osseblief!!!

Hello! I'm in Maseru for two days trying to attain optimum health since I have had a very stubborn cough for some time now. I have to take an antibiotic for a week unfortunately, but that's life. I also had to obtain an inhaler for the first time in a decade. My asthma is unfortunately exacerbated in this climate. But I hope to be at 100% soon.

Last month was very busy for me. I've been working hard even though it's winter right now and most people are having a bit of a break. I had a workshop for my cooperative members on HIV and Nutrition which went very well. A village health worker performed the condom demonstrations for both male and female condoms (she's Masotho so it was entirely in Sesotho) and nurse from the clinic presented some information on services available for the community. I liked it because I wasn't the one talking the entire time. It was more of a discussion. I have yet to get the feedback forms translated so we'll see what my community wants to learn about next!

Next month school starts again which will keep me busy :) And in September my parents and Aunt Shellie and Aunt Susan will be meeting me in Cape Town for vacation. Gerhardt is going to meet us there as well which will be perfect.

Besides that I have a blog to copy here. I had intended to post in early June so forgive me, but I think it's necessary to post still because of a couple events that should be documented.

Righty-o take care!

-Emily


June 18th 2010
Classifieds

My spirits are high in Lesotho at the moment. Most of it is due to the fact that I am leaving for vacation this weekend. I am so excited to leave the country for longer than just a day trip across the border. I am also excited to see my Afrikaner friends in Jo’burg and to attend 2 World Cup games! My friend and fellow PCV Rocio and I are going to Ellis Stadium for the Spain vs. Honduras game on Monday June 21 and Ghana vs. Germany on Wednesday at Soccer City Stadium. Soccer City is where the kick-off game was last Friday. It’s too bad it was a draw, but I loved watching it in my camp town nonetheless. I’ve been looking forward to World Cup for so long and now it finally is here. I love the energy that has permeated the media and general spirit of most people in Lesotho.

Unfortunately I have some strange and sad news to report as well. I went through a hell and back ordeal where my host brother ran away. I felt as though it was my fault because, well I have to tell the story from the beginning to tell you why I felt that way... I have multiple plots where I grow vegetables at my site. I do it because I like gardening and because I don’t have access to much fresh produce in my village. My host family’s sheep has gotten into the garden multiple times and have eaten quite a few vegetables. I priced the materials it would cost to build a fence and I cannot afford it. I also shouldn’t have to build the fence because the sheep should be watched when they are let out of their corral. They simply shouldn’t have the opportunity to invade the garden, but they do. The last time they did they ate the rest of my lettuce, my spinach and my beloved broccoli plant. I was devastated because winter has just arrived and the lettuce that was left was the last I would have been able to use before our first frost. Everything has died that isn’t a winter crop so I couldn’t plant more lettuce, etc… I told my host grandmother about it and I was angry. I was the angriest I have been in this country. I asked her why she hasn’t respected me enough to take care of her sheep and on and on. (The sheep have never invaded her garden since I have lived here). So that night she castigated the kids and threatened to beat my host brother Bokang because watching the sheep is part of his responsibility. The next morning he pretended to go to school, but instead ran away. No one knew where he was and I cried most of the day because I was so worried. The general feeling was that he crossed the border into South Africa. World Cup is here and the influx of drug dealers, thieves, and general “bad guys” in South Africa is no doubt significant. Bokang is about 10 years old and while he is a resilient Masotho child he is no match for the “bad guys” in South Africa. The possibility of him being hurt was real and I was so worried. Also feeling as though I was responsible didn’t help either. I know that I wasn’t to blame. I didn’t yell at him, I didn’t threaten to beat him, but my issue with the sheep was the instigator of the entire dramatic situation. Thankfully he was found the next day at an extended family’s home nearby (not in South Africa) and he returned home a day after that. It was the second worst experience of my entire life. Maybe I worried too much, but the possibility of harm coming to him seemed very real to me at the time.

Another incident that happened recently is more strange than sad. My host sister’s Mom is now staying at the family compound with us for reasons I don’t entirely understand. Actually the fact that she hasn’t been living with us the entire time is what doesn’t make sense to me. She is mentally ill and has other medical problems. She had been living in South Africa prior to this, but I don’t know in what she was employed. She periodically has “fits” where she laughs for no reason. That in itself isn’t awful and one gets used to it eventually. It’s not frightening or demonic laughter and is just something I try to ignore. Last week she had a fit where she started shrieking instead of laughing. I thought someone was harming her or that she was in pain, but nothing and nobody in our environment seemed to be causing it. She started writhing on the ground and rolling back and forth very fast. Between the yelling and shrieking she was spitting and making other strange noises and I was scared. Thankfully a volunteer was staying with me and we came inside and locked the doors. We watched her through my window until she sat up and looked straight at us. We didn’t leave the house the rest of the night to be safe because she took off shortly after looking at us through the window and ran away somewhere. She came back the next day while I was at the house alone reading and she appeared normal. I’m not sure what to do about the incident as of now, but I’m generally being cautious around her.

Today I am getting over a small cold that I hope will be gone by the time I leave for South Africa. I’ve had the cold almost all week and I think it’s because the weather has gotten significantly colder over a period of just a few days. The temperature has been dropping below freezing in my house at night. It snowed last Tuesday in my village. I didn’t think it would snow here in the lowlands! It’s not fair that I don’t get the beauty of the mountain scenary, but I still get snow. It’s not that bad though and I’m still happy that it’s not summer. :)

Well it’s time to take care of some work-related business on this lovely Saturday. Be well everyone! And watch the World Cup!!!!!!!! I still can’t believe Switzerland beat Spain…or that RSA tied Mexico, or Germany lost to Serbia and that the US tied with Slovenia last night. What the heck is going on? This World Cup has been full of surprises.