The 2nd Year Peace Corps Bucket List

Here is what I wish to accomplish this next year of my service:

1. Check out the Dinosaur Footprints outside of Hlotse

2. Party at the Pelican overnight

3. Get Tested for HIV at an HIV testing event

   
   
   

4. Use my Peace Corps Airhorn for non-life-threatening situation

5. Go to Mozambique and do weird things

6. Check out the Cherry Festival in Ficksburg

7. Attend the Cultural Festival in Morjia

8. Play Paintball at the Kome Caves Beer Fesitval

   
   
   

9. Gamble at Lesotho Sun, and make money

10. Go Sledding in the winter

11. Drink Hot Chocolate at the Highest Bar in Africa

    
    
    

12. Complete the Mokhotlong Marathon in dead last

    
    
    

13. Eat at the highest restaurant in Africa

14. Swim with King Letsie at Lehakoe gym in Maseru

15. Play Racquetball at the gym (Rent rackets at Game, then return after playing)

16. Get music from random kombis and hitches

17. Overnight in all ten districts

18. Make Joala (Lesotho beer)

19. Eat the Family Bucket at KFC in Butha Buthe

20. Gorge on the Lesotho Sun Breakfast Buffet

21. Have a good time at the club “Good Times”

22. See Ficksburg

23. Make a youtube video demonstrating the wide variety of accents for Sesotho

24. New Years Celebrations in the Capital

25. Check out clarens

26. Abseil in Semongkong

27. Pee of a cliff and get a picture

This is a working list, and some things may have been completed. 

Have a great new year! I know I will with all these things to do!

A Year Unfocussed

I have now been in Lesotho for one year and three months with one year remaining left of my service. In this post, I am going to depict what has technically changed.

I have seen two groups of Peace Corps Volunteers go. The CHED 11 and ED 12 have left us. The ED 12 volunteers are the ones who trained us, and basically mentored us through our first year, always giving their interesting perspectives on life in Lesotho. Both groups gave us little tidbits on how to deal with winter, how to hitch from town to town, and most importantly how to open a quart of beer with another quart. It is kind of weird with them gone.

I used to have a cat. Then it got eaten. Its name was Ghost. Now it is a ghost. Now I have a dog. It was the one who ate the cat. I call it Chompy.

I have seen two groups of Peace Corps Volunteers come. The HY 13 and ED 14 have come as fresh faces with all the awe and excitement that we all come into Lesotho in our first year. Everything is new and entertaining. The very first day I was at the ED 14 training, a fellow trainee was elated to see a child riding a donkey and documented the event by camera. It was infectiously energizing to hear all the questions and ideas of their future service. I am really looking forward to getting to know many of them in the following year. I am also excited to finally be among the expert (old) volunteers.

When I give handshakes, I can’t help but do it the Mosotho way. I even hold hands with BoNtate now just because it seems so normal. 

I have completed a full year of teaching. I work at school from 8am-4pm every weekday and therefore accumulated 1520 hours of school time. Each week, I teach 23, 40-minute periods of math or science. Therefore in the 1520 hours I was at school, I have taught 583 hours. My hourly pay for being at school is 17.4 Rand per hour or $1.74 per hour. I have been on school field trips, visited many other schools, given out marked over 1,080 official exams for my four classes. Teaching is an extremely tiring, and rewarding job. I was a new teacher this past year, but now I know how things work and I am more than ready to handle this upcoming school year. The Legend of Sir Shawn lives on.

I have been sick, pretty intensely. I had intestinal bacteria, and essentially died for two weeks. It was partially because I was too stubborn to ask for help, or take medicine. I think if I am ever sick again, I won’t hesitate to call our Peace Corps Medical Office for assistance.

I have become quite excellent at Sesotho. In the beginning I would struggle, and often say absurdly incorrect things like, “I speak Sesotho like a Vagina” instead of “like a baby.” The words are quite similar. But now I feel confident enough to hold conversations with a variety of people on varying levels. Now when I am in taxis and Basotho think of me as the “lehooa” (white person) who doesn’t know Sesotho, I confront them with a witty Sesotho idiom such as, “you eat the wire” which means “you are crazy.” Then ignorant faces become astonished ones, then enthusiastically elated. I now get defensive when someone will ask me, or question if I know Sesotho.

I respond equally and to either Sir Shawn or Tebatso.

I have been through an unimaginable amount of media. I have completed Avatar: The Last Airbender, Avatar: The Legend of Korra, Community, Arrested Development, Death Note, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Once Upon a Time (I regret), Futurama, Heroes, Modern Family, The Mindy Project, Newsroom, The Walking Dead, and True Blood. I cannot mention all the movies I have watched, but there have been plenty. Life with a solar setup is quite grand; I would recommend volunteers to invest in one in their country of service. I am only realizing now that I apparently watch way too many animated shows.

I have travelled to many different locations. My first vacation was in Port Elizabeth with a few Peace Corps friends. I had a competition for the Innovation Challenge in Pretoria. My father and I traveled to Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Kruger National Park. I have been to eight out of the ten districts in Lesotho, which include Mokhotlong, Butha Buthe, Leribe, Berea, Maseru, Mafeteng, Mohale’s Hoek, and Thaba Tseka. I have yet to visit Quthing and Qacha’s Nek. I have even hit up some important spots such as Sani Pass (highest pub in Africa), and Tsehlenyane (triple pool waterfall).

I rarely cooked in the States, and now I am a pretty creative chef. I have made casseroles, wontons and dumplings, samosas, plenty of pasta sauces, breads, cookies, etc. Perhaps I will utilize these skills when I return. This year, I plan on perfecting my newly attained abilities.

I have eaten at every restaurant in Maseru except one. Lancer’s Inn here I come. Reviews are also to come.

Yes, this year has been a very good one.

Is Lesotho in the Goldilocks Zone?

We all know how important water is. Hamma, the original blood bender from the Southern Water Tribe in the Avatar Universe, once said, “Where there is life, there is water.”

Physicists understand the importance of water in what is known as the Goldilocks zone when looking for hospitable planets. If the Exoplanet is too far from or too close to the parent star, liquid water won't exist. At the moment, liquid water is something that does not exist in my village, and many places in Lesotho. 

In this post, I will compare how we use water in Lesotho and the US. There are 4 categories that will be discussed: Showers, Dishes, Clothes, and Toilets.

Showers:

How long is your average shower?

I know mine was about 40 minutes. I wouldn’t even use soap. I would just stand there, thinking about how I would get to space, why I don’t have super powers, or even where I should eat. That was about 88 gallons per shower. I know...I was wasteful, and not even that clean, but lets look beyond that. Side note...I drove a prius. Continuing....

In the United States, showerheads are limited to 2.2 Gallons per minute. The average shower time in the states is 10 minutes for a male, and 18 minutes for a female. Therefore the average person uses 31 Gallons of water per shower.

To get ready in Lesotho, we bucket bathe. I heat up 1 scoop of water and mix it with 2 scoops of cold water to get that perfect temperature. The scoop that most Basotho and I use is 1.5L. Therefore my bucket baths amount to 4.5L or 1.2 Gallons.

To summarize, a typical American will get ready with 31 Gallons of water, and a typical Mosotho will get ready with 1.2 Gallons.

Basotho use 96.1% less water to bathe than Americans.

Dishes:

The average dishwasher in The States uses 45 gallons per load.

To wash the same amount of dishes, I use 4 scoops of water, which is 6L or 1.55 Gallons.

Basotho use 96.6% less water to wash the same amount of dishes as Americans.

Clothes:

A typical top-loading dishwasher uses about 40 gallons per load.

For the same amount of laundry, My ‘M’eighbor (She is my ‘M’e and my neighbor) uses about 40L or 10.3 Gallons.

Basotho use 74.3% less water to wash the same amount of clothes as Americans. 

Toilets:

The average American flush of the glorious porcelain throne is about 1.6 Gallons per flush. The average person visits the toilet about 7 times a day for his or her diverse excretory needs. That’s a total of 11.2 gallons in a day.

In the remote villages of Lesotho, we do not use water for our business. Instead we have outdoor pit latrines. For those 7 times the average Basotho and I use the latrine, we use zero water. We also have convenient indoor “pee” buckets designed for that nighttime urgent awakening.

Basotho use 100% less water than Americans to relieve themselves.

Lets calculate:

Here is a math problem.

If Joe Americano and Abuti Tebatso (my Sesotho name) have a typical day, as in they use the bathroom 7 times in the day, they each wash one load of laundry, they each wash the same amount of dishes, and they each get ready in the morning by either showering or bucket bathing, how much less water does Abuti Tebatso use?

Joe Americano will use 127.2 Gallons. (Average American) 

Abuti Tebatso will use 13.1 Gallons. (Average Mosotho)

Basotho use 89.7% less water than Americans.

Take Away

Right now in Fobane, and many places in Lesotho there is a water shortage. The country has been rampaged by a drought for many years now, and it has had its toll. Crops are not as bountiful, rivers are drying out, and dust storms are becoming the norm. I use less than one bucket a week, which is 20L. And that is without trying to conserve. I feel like a water bender in the middle of the desert. Without water, I am wary to bathe. I am wary of cooking pasta or accumulating dishes. I am wary to wear fresh clothes because that means I need to wash more. There is a lot more to worry about than whether the new Hunger Games Movie will be sold out. Therefore if you are reading this, I urge you to try your best to be less wasteful with the most precious of resources in life. 

I am very fortunate to be living in Fobane though. My fellow neighbors, teachers, and principal ask me how I am, and are also concerned if I have enough water. Even students offer to fetch water for me from far away sources. 

Pula, Pula, ska tsamaea. 

Rain, rain, don't go away. 

The Good. The Bad. The Rat. The Ntate.

The Conversation

On the way back from TY, when I land at my stop I have a pleasant 45 minute walk to my house. Now usually I enjoy listening to my epic, relaxing music while whistling to myself but a ‘M’e who got off the taxi with me was in an awfully chatty mood which got me talking too. I was expecting the typical conversation, which is:

“Hello. How are you?”
“I am good and you?”
“I am well. Where are you from?” “Ntate Ntate Ntate”

This may be a grandiose fantasizing about the exchange, but it went more like this:

“Abuti, when you first came here, you were weak and scared.”
“Oh, yes ‘M’e”
“But now, you are strong, you are a man. You speak Sesotho. You know how to walk to TY. You are not scared. You are no longer the boy we saw last year.”
“Thank you ‘M’e.”
“You know Fobane. You are Mosotho. Now you are Ntate.”

This woman, in just a few sentences, encouraged me so intensely, during an especially offsetting time. She was right, she witnessed my transformation. I am not saying I have changed in personality, but my confidence at least within Lesotho and in travelling has transcended my original expectations.

And perhaps the following little, terrible annoyances and unfortunate hilarities that have recently plagued me can attest and validate the transformation this woman has seen in me.

The Rat

One day I had to poop. It was a bright, beautiful morning and I made my way for the outdoor latrine. Recently my father visited and encouraged me to buy a real toilet seat, and my latrine is pretty much brand new. I always consider my latrine situation to be pretty much 2nd world, which is all I ask and aim for. While sitting and doing my business (which usually I am mighty quick) a gigantic field rat scurried under my latrine door. I freaked out pants at my ankles rushing to try and open my door to exit. The rat jumped on my left ran around the seat approached me from the right and ran back out the door. I gave myself a quick wipe and pulled my pants back up and ran. I haven’t visited my latrine since.

The Flying Solar 

While working in my house with a few students on some maths (yes we say maths) problems on a windy day, my solar just leapt from the ground still attached to the car battery. It was as if there was a very small dense boxy child playing with a very heavy expensive rectangular kite. Then as I ran to attend the issue and bring in my “precious” the wires ripped off and the solar darted down towards the primary school. Luckily the wind died down and I was able to retrieve it and tend to its wounds.

The Taxi Door

While on my way back from TY, a motor commute of just about 15 minutes, the sliding door of the taxi (American large minivan) flew off while we were driving. We went back for it and quickly expunged the issue, but it was still quite an unexpected event.

Software Update

The ios7 update recently came out for the iPad and iPhone. Internet in town is generally good enough for things, but these updates are insanely big and blunderingly slow to download. While working on some kindle issues, my iPad update got all the way to 99%, and said processing. I was getting a bit excited, and suddenly the power goes out. When the power goes out, the modem and router go out. And that means the Internet. Which means, iTunes forces a re-download from scratch. I’ll update soon enough, and then learn what the real world is like!

The Haircut

The other day, I decided it was time to end my days as Rubeus Hagrid, and get back to my number 3 clean cut style that has permeated my being since senior year of high school. My hair wasn’t exactly terribly long, but it was long enough to the point where my students were confused as to why it was sticking out from all sides. They don’t exactly experience bed head, because they are forced to have a clean shaved head for school. So when one day I had to explain what bed head was, I realized that meant that my students now know that I do not bucket bathe every morning, even though I smelled tolerable in comparison to their constant quinching (farting).

In Hlotse (my camp town) I went to some random street barber, and although I have come across difficulties where the barbers usually don’t know how to cut lahooa (white person) hair, I figured most people would eventually figure it out. My haircut took a grand total two hours to complete. The barber was amazingly perplexed by what sat in front of him, and his clippers were so dull that they only tugged at the hair on my scalp. He could barely make a dent in my luscious locks when he took out an afro pick and sat my hair atop it and tried to shave off parts of my individual hairs that way. To his surprise this method proved fruitless. I knew it was just his clipper, and I kept telling him it was broken, but he disregarded my concern and tried for about 1.5 hours. I eventually paid him off 5 Rand for his dedicated service and ran to another barber. At this moment my hair was patchy on the top of my head and the sides were completely untouched. I had an elderly grandpa style hair cut, except instead of a nice smooth bald top, it was patchy and misshapen. I found a new barber, and told him if he can finish my haircut in 5 minutes I would pay him an extra 5 rand. He annihilated my originally invincible hair and gave me a perfect number 2 cut. He even adjusted my glorious widow’s peak. This man was a true hero.

These things have been quite fetter-some, but Peace Corps Volunteers prevail in the face of unworldly non-compliance, and now so do I.

Food Critic

Now that I have been a volunteer for just about a year, I have had a few too many opportunities (always for work) to visit the grand capitol of Lesotho. Maseru is a wondrous town filled with only the finest eateries known to Peace Corps Volunteer kind. My friends in Richmond have frequently mentioned how I should make a food/restaurant blog giving out my own opinions. Now that I am in Africa, for some reason this idea seems even more plausible. Therefore, this post will divulge into all the fine culinary establishments I have either heard of, or visited in Maseru.

Piri Piri          ✔✔✔✔✔

This is the restaurant all volunteers need to try. Whether you are visiting Maseru for the first time, or are a veteran explorer of the city, without a doubt all worthy people are encouraged to participate in what is personally considered the best place to eat in Maseru. Living in village, without a fridge or electricity, coming across delectable portions of meat can be tricky. The Portuguese steak for 110 Rand, is a steal to send your taste buds back to your favorite home-grown local steak house. Now I’m not one for a sauce on my steak, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. And make sure to get this steak as rare as you comfortably can. The pork chops were also cooked to perfection with a thick piece of succulent fat coating the sides. For those unimpressed vegetarians, where a steak may not be considered an option, the spinach was delicious. Desserts are certainly an option, where you can entertain your tongue with chocolate volcanoes to cool refreshing lemon cheesecakes. If you are looking for a change in your wining and beering, check out the different Mozambican varieties at this fine restaurant.

Please, try this restaurant. I would even consider it difficult to find food in America that could match the quality and perfection of the cooking found in Piri Piri.

Mimmo’s Italian Deli.    ✔✔

Now I am a critic of Italian restaurants in general. Most pastas are pretty replicable. This goes along with pizzas or most Italian concoctions. Although many volunteers think this restaurant is great, I will have to say che (no in Sesotho). If you want a real Alfredo, or marinara sauce visit Alyssa in Katse Dam. I got an Alfredo pasta, and it was essentially a soup. I even took the cream soup back home, thickened it up myself and made a better version of the attempted Alfredo. I have heard the pizza is pretty great, but I think if you want good pizza for your money, go to Romans in Maseru mall, where the pizza is saucy, cheesy, crusty, and a buy one get one free deal for each pizza. I do have to say that this restaurant has a very nice, homey appeal, and has a nice escaped feel away from the busy city. But food-wise, perhaps I will give it another chance, if I am in an adventurous mood. Regardless, being a volunteer cooking can sometimes be a drag. Half of the time we resort to eating quick non-messy foods like cereal (I reuse my bowl way too many times) and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. So even though Mimmo’s doesn’t exactly have your favorite pasta all’amatriciana (my favorite) its still amazing to go somewhere, and have a pseudo-olive garden experience after having been in village for far too long.

Café 72.     ✔✔✔✔

Located in what is racistly named (not actually) White City in Maseru, this restaurant offers a wide variety of refreshingly, impossible-to-find-in-Lesotho- cuisine. Yokels in America would call this a hipster meets classy restaurant. Its one of those restaurants you introduce your friends, and they think its going to be expensive because it says organic; or the kind of restaurant where your friends don’t believe you that this restaurant’s burger tastes better than their favorite McDonald’s one. The food is well proportioned and moderately priced. Iceberg lettuce isn’t even known at this restaurant, which can elaborate on how excellent the food is. I recommend a spiced hot chocolate, with its fragrances of nutmeg and cinnamon; your night is destined to be right. Bacon wrapped chicken, white fish marsala, nice looking burgers, etc. Although I haven’t been here for brunch, I know this place is the place in Maseru for it.

Fuli      ✔✔✔

Although I cannot attest for how amazing the Chinese Restaurant in Lesotho sun is (I’ve heard beyond grand things) this local, small Chinese, take-out, drunk-food restaurant is perfect for your wallet and your stomach. Fuli is located towards the Maseru South African Border, and is extremely cheap, quick, and delicious. Although sometimes the chicken can have an odd slimy texture, I would guess most times it would be on point. Only problem is, try not to order too much. It all sounds good, but I can guarantee you, it would be almost impossible, and uncomfortable to eat that much. It would be recommended that you order one or two dishes that way you can have leftovers and variety in your food. Definitely get the spring rolls.

Ocean Basket   ✔✔✔

Perhaps having been here for almost a year has eliminated my pickiness for sushi, but for a landlocked country in a drought and few rivers, Ocean Basket has some of the finest, freshest tuna and salmon known to PCV-kind. The wasabi is extra intense, and this restaurant even gives you bread with your sushi. Unique deliverance, means for an epic sushi luncheon. It's even pretty good for being a chain!

There are far more restaurants worthy of mentioning, and perhaps that will be in another food post in my blog. But since going to Maseru restaurants happen much rarer than I have elaborated, food for a PCV really is determined by how determined, and creative he or she can be. I left America with virtually no real cooking experience, and with a very critical appetite. I have learned so much from so many people, and have successfully made an astonishing amount of amazing food. Now I don’t know, with little over a year left, when I come back will I continue cooking or continue eating out two meals a day? 

Everything is food. 

Voluntetal Development

Day 1:

Sperm travels a long, arduous way to the Fallopian Tube. The strongest sperm fertilizes the Egg and a Zygote is formed. The genetic information in the zygote is ready to be incorporated, and changed.

I travel a long and arduous way to Lesotho. When I land, and arrive in my host family’s house, a Peace Corps Trainee is formed. My knowledge of what a volunteer was, and my idea of Lesotho was ready to be tested, and changed.

Days 2-6:

The zygote is tested within its first few days. It travels into the fallopian tubes, and goes through a number of rapid mitotic cell divisions. It now has a permanent location, and can start growing with regular sustenance from its mother.

I quickly adapt to life in the training village. I change the way I bathed (I now bucket bathe), I changed the way I ate, (I started eating a lot of papa, maize meal), and I changed my name to Tebatso Mapiloko. I now had a semi-permanent location in the Makola village. I started getting regular training and Sesotho language instruction from Peace Corps.

Week 3:

The microscopic fetus now has a beating heart and has its own blood separate from its mothers. It gains its own experiences now having minor neuralation with the creation of its brain and spinal chord. Its gastrointestinal tract starts to take shape.

After traveling with the help of other volunteers to Mokhotlong and back I now gained a more personal sense of what Lesotho was going to be like separate of how Peace Corps taught. I had regular bouts of diarrhea or constipation.

Week 4:

The fetus is about 10,000x larger than the fertilized egg.

I lost 10lbs...

Week 5: 

Fetal buds form indicating where arms and legs will shape. The lower jaw forms along with the larynx with the rudimentary ears and eyes.

I became quite skilled at walking up and down mountains and rocks with flip-flops. I started cooking for myself. I also visited my future home, Fobane, where I saw and rudimentarily experienced the village for 2 days during site visit. My teachers heard my premature thoughts and opinions about Lesotho and service, and I started understanding a bit more Sesotho.

Week 6:

The fetus weighs about 1/1000th of an ounce, and has webbed fingers and toes. Its palate and nose develop.

I ate at least 16oz of turkey on thanksgiving. I went swimming at the ambassador’s house, and webbed fingers could have been useful. I smelled and tasted so much on my favorite holiday.

Week 8:

Every organ is in place, and bones begin to replace cartilage. Fingerprints form, and the baby can start hearing.

I started practice teaching, and I was nervous. I began to develop my own personality and method for teaching. I listened to feedback on how to change and adapt to better teaching styles.

Week 10-11:

The baby can turn its head, frown, smile, and hiccup. The baby can “breathe” the amniotic fluid and urinate. It can grasp objects, all organ systems function, and the baby has a skeletal structure, nerves, and circulation. Now it just needs to grow.

I swore in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I frowned because I am would no longer going to see all my friends in training regularly. I smiled because my adventure finally began. I hiccupped during my first week alone in Fobane, stumbling to make my place my own. I had all the tools, and knowledge. But I was just there to learn; I was not yet ready to start projects. I also started urinating on my garden.

Week 12:

The baby is now able to experience pain. It’s vocal chords are complete. The genitalia are now clearly either male of female.

I walked 3 hours to my friend’s village up a mountain, then 3 hours back down a mountain. I was extremely sore the next day. I was now essentially fluent, or capable in Sesotho. I slaughtered a chicken, and therefore I became a man.

Month 4:

The fetus now makes active movements. The heart beats 120-150 times per minute, and brain waves are very detectable.

I read all of Harry Potter waiting for school to start January 28th. I immediately started teaching strong, and started a tutoring club, which has remained, pretty effective, yet difficult to manage. I teach about 120-150 kids a day, and my fellow teachers beat about 120-150 students a day.

Month 5:

Sweat and oil glands are now functioning. The mother can feel the fetus kicking, and the heartbeat can be heard with a stethoscope. The baby can dream.

I started playing soccer on the Fobane Teacher’s team. They can play soccer a lot better than I can. I was getting about 10 hours of sleep per night. Our Peace Corp Phase III workshop and vacations were coming up, so we new volunteers were getting a bit antsy.

Month 6:

The fetus now has a startle reflex, and there is a rapid brain development. A baby born at this time can survive, but the chances of complications and death are high.

I went to my final Phase III training workshop where I got to see all my training friends and host family. I was startled to hear about a lot of people’s experiences, and how different and similar they were to my own. I learned a lot during the workshop, and refreshed a new sense of what it was to be a volunteer. Mike, Kyle, Laura and I went to South Africa for the first time in a rented private vehicle. Our chances of complications and death on this vacation to Port Elizabeth were high (driving on the left), but we survived unscathed, and fattened up from amazing food.

Month 7:

The fetus develops regular breathing rhythms, a partially self-controlled temperature, and has more control over body functions and movements.

I have now been teaching for about 3 months, so I got into a rhythm with teaching and my schedule. I now know all my teachers, and many of my villagers. I am much more integrated and aware of my presence in the community. At cultural day, I was able to control my body movements to sort of dance in a traditional way. This will take more time.

Month 8:

Antibodies are built up in the fetus, and the skin begins to thicken. The baby is able to use all 5 senses. The baby continues to grow and gain fat.

I created my Random Hacks of Kindness video (more to come in future blog) and went to Pretoria to give a presentation on my idea and form a team to create an innovative application for smart phones. With my new sense of security and having travelled in South Africa, I travelled through Johannesburg and survived. I gained back my 10lbs.

Month 9:

The baby prepares for birth by sliding its head toward the birth canal. It continues to grow.

I attended the PDM and HIV workshop where I learned properly, and effectively how to start my projects to help develop Fobane. My counterpart and I have planned to organize a large HIV testing event in my village, and we start the beginning of August.

Birth:

After having spent 9 months in Lesotho, and only 6 months after Phase I, and then only 3-4 months after Phase III, I now feel capable, and integrated enough to begin what I intended on doing when I joined the Peace Corps. Although I have not been entirely active in pursuing projects, it was crucial to take this time, step back, and observe. Our premature ideas of volunteerism can be considered forceful, culturally insensitive, ineffective, and unsustainable. Therefore, gaining respect in my village, learning Sesotho, and adapting to life here will have hopefully made the next year and a half of my service that much easier to start projects that my community has expressed a need for. I look forward to the challenge of true volunteerism, now that I feel more like a Mosotho man. 

Toilet Paper, Lizards, Cosmos, and a Booze Cruise

Story 1:

One day I was at my local shopong, and decided to buy 4 toilet paper rolls, instead of my usual one in awhile. A student sees me, and my purchases and says, “Sir, you eat a lot.”

Story 2:

I had a gigantic episode in my Form B (9th Grade) class. I dislike saying the word hate, but there are many students in their I would like to hire a hitman to do my bidding, also I think I hate them. Half the class are angels, smart happy cute kids who just want high fives and for me to tell them “Good Job!” But the other half, are vile creatures, constantly picking their noses and talking, passing notes and screaming and have ugly mean faces. I tried making them sit on the floor, making them do push ups, stand in the corner, do squats. I tried talking and reasoning with them. This time, I tried disappointment. I was in the middle of class teaching, no one paid attention. I then yelled, and told them that I will no longer be teaching, only writing notes and had a very somber face. I wrote notes as fast as I could, didn’t look one of them in the eye, any question was met with an ignored shoulder. I kept this up for two days. On the third day, another teacher said he needed to punish (beat) the boys in my class for misbehaving. I told him to not worry, I would handle it. I made the boys lie down on the ground (Basotho hate to sit, or even kneel on the floor) and I told them to go to sleep. They were furious. As I continued being a terrible teacher, I saw a lizard climb on one of the boy’s legs. A girl yells “Moholutsoane!” Every boy and girl screamed as loud as they could and ran outside, in the chaos people trampled each other, and the lizard, and all I could do was try to stare and act cold and bitter. I desperately wanted to laugh. After that day, the kids have been very nice, but also 10 of my students got moved to the new class we created to make classes smaller so I’m not sure if my punishments helped them to be better, or the fact that I have mostly only have the good ones left.

Story 3

An Immaculate Debate

Recently we had a school come for debate, they are called Immaculate HS. They have electricity, and a computer lab, and a science lab. There school is quite immaculate. They are a bit better off than us. But we had the debate of the century at Fobane HS. The topic for the older students was Should Lesotho be merged into South Africa, my Fobane students were given the agreeing side, while Immaculate was given the opposing side. Each side was so well prepared (I helped my side of course) and I was judging so I had to be fair (which I was). Left and Right there were interruptions, students yelling, “Point of Correction” and so forth. It was pouring rain, and the tin roofs were making so much noise, adding only intensity to the debate. At one point, a girl on the Immaculate side said, “South Africa’s economy is not as great as you are saying. People there come to Lesotho for jobs. Just look in front of you.” And she points to me. One of my favorite students, Cosmos, stands up and essentially says, “Screw you, He is American!” Everyone freaked out in the hall. That declarative sentence made my living in Fobane just instantly better. Although we lost that debate, I think my school officially won me over. 

Story 4:

Recently, Worker’s day happened (May 1st) and what an amazing holiday that is. It was essentially an excuse for my fellow teachers and I to have a “booze cruise” on the way to Tsehlenyane National Park. Now, normally it would take me only three hours to travel to the park on my own, with slow public transport. Somehow, it took my teachers and I 61⁄2 hours to reach there. We were supposed to leave at 7am, and we left at 9am. Not too bad. We stopped every 10, 20 minutes because my teachers have the tiniest bladders known to mankind when they are drinking. Every time the car stopped, my teachers would leave the vehicle and “Fahla Moholutsoane” which is “blind the lizard” which is the way people say urinate here. After relieving themselves, we would all dance outside the vehicle for a good 5 minutes, I would learn a few Basotho dances, and then the teachers would leave to go buy more beer. I had no idea, that preparing my liver in college was the most appropriate thing to do to prepare for Peace Corps Lesotho, because it is a challenge to keep up with all my friends here. One time we actually drove for 40 minutes straight, but then I heard someone saying, “Shawn o hloka ho hlatsa.” I learned that to “hltatsa” means to vomit, so I quickly said I was fine, but apparently that was an excuse for everyone to again, leave the vehicle to pee and dance. Once we made it to the park, we were forced to pay 30 Maloti to enter. No teacher really wanted to, I didn’t either, but we travelled 6 hours I figured I might as well. I only make about 2000 Maloti here, or about $200 a month, while my teachers make 9000 Maloti a month. Somehow I paid to enter, but a few of them, and my principal escaped the fee and jumped the fence! They said it was too expensive for them to pay, but they bought more beer somehow. An enjoyable, crazy ride. But it was an amazing way for me to bond more with my teachers! 

Technology Breakdown

Option #1

Come from America to Lesotho bringing an Unlocked Blackberry

Because the phone is brought from America, you skip the cost of the purchase. Therefore you are left with just the cost of the BB plan costs 50R/month. In 24 months, your total cost will be 24*50 = 1200 Rand.

This comes out to be only

R1200 Total,
50 Rand per month
2.3% of your monthly salary

Option #2

Come from America to Lesotho, but buy a Blackberry in Country

The cheapest blackberry sold in Lesotho is 1500 Rand, (at a private shop) while at the Vodacom store, the cheapest found is 1800 Rand. These models are not 3G compatible, and the 3G compatible ones can be found starting at 2200 in the store. In 24 months, if you buy the cheapest phone and the blackberry plan, you will spend R1500-1800 + R1200 = R2700 – 3000 total in the two years.

This comes out to be only

R2700 – 3000 Total,
112.5 – 125 Rand per month
5.1% – 5.7% of your monthly salary

Option #3

Come from America to Lesotho, bringing an unlocked Android/iPhone

The iPhone/Android can range in how much you will spend total widely. It depends whether you are a light user, or a heavy user.

The following are my own, arbitrary, but educated estimations of data usage per category of light, medium, and heavy usage. Now the payments can be confusing so bare with me. Each data bundle payment only lasts a total of 7 months. (stretches to 8 depending on when you purchase).

 So a light user only used 20Gb, but if they buy 2 data bundles each of 10Gb, it will only last 14 months, meaning they are left with an additional 10 months to buy more data. So a light user, it is recommended that they buy 6 bundles, of 4Gb each. I have described which bundles are better to buy for each case of light, medium, or heavy user.

A light user will use 0.8Gb/month-totaling 20Gb in 24 months 6, 4Gb bundles = R3900-4080

A medium user will use 1.2Gb/month-totaling 28Gb in 24 months 2, 10Gb bundles and 3, 4Gb bundles = R4800 – 5040

A heavy user will use 1.4Gb/month-totaling 34Gb in 24 months 3, 10Gb bundles and 1, 4Gb bundle = R4900 - 5180

Therefore, this comes out to be only

R3900-5180 Total,
162.5 – 215.8 Rand per month, 7.3% – 9.8% of your monthly salary

Now remember, with the blackberry, those prices are fixed. That is exactly what you will be paying. But the iPhone/Android, you may be able to pay less, or you may be paying more. For the heavy user, I really tried using a large amount so I hope that is the top amount anyone using an iPhone/Android in Lesotho will spend; but if you are constantly downloading movies who knows how much you can spend. The data bundles can be on sale for lower prices, so the prices above can even dip depending on if you are lucky to buy data at the right time. For instance right now, you are able to buy 4Gb for about half the price. I kept the prices as fixed prices.

I myself am a medium user, although I plan to purchase in the heavy user way because it is a small difference in spending. I am always on Facebook, posting pictures of food, talking on Whatsapp, kakao calling, shazaaming, stumble uponing, redditing, updating my apps, downloading new apps, and browsing on safari. I am still considered a medium user.

Now the above was an unbiased breakdown of the pricing in this technology. Below, I explain the differences in using a Blackberry and an iPhone/Android. I may show that I am a bit fond of “true” smart phones.

Blackberry

Benefits

• You can cheat the system, and download large files without being detected by the 5Mb limit per download

• Easy payments of 50 rand each month

• Not as flashy as iPhone/Android, will get less attention

• Blackberry Messenger 

 Sucky Things

• 5Mb limit per download means, no Youtube, no Audio calls through skype/kakao, no video chatting.

• Not as reliable, some volunteers have issues, some do not

• No Tethering, you must buy a modem if you want Internet on your

  computer at home.

  iPhone/Android

  Benefits

• Youtube, watch movies, read books

• Shazaam

• Kakao/Viber call

• Video Chat

• Real apps, like scanning, stargazing, GPS with maps

• Better Pictures

• Real Engaging Games

• Siri, iMessage

• Tethering internet 

  Sucky Things

• Flashier, gets more attention

• Cannot cheat the system, anything you download takes off that amount of

  data

• Have to pay in large bundles and keep track of when the next payment

  should come, not the easy 50 rand a month

• If it breaks, you will be more sad than if the blackberry broke.

  If you are willing to spend the 5% difference on bringing an android or iPhone, you will make that money up with an extra 40% comfort from home!

  If you have any questions on the technology, how the money was broken down, or if you feel as though I forgot to include certain information please feel free to contact me! 

Phase III and Port Elizabeth

After three months of being at site, and two months of teaching, all my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers who I came with in October, reconvened in our original training village Makola, in the Berea district of Lesotho. It was just for a week, but we finally all got to see each other again. Luckily, modern technology and the wireless Edge network are able to keep us in relative constant contact, but it’s a completely different experience seeing each other back in our original environment.

We all came ready, packed for a week of village life with our host families, and then for another week of vacations off to Swaziland, Durban, Cape Town, and Port Elizabeth, South Africa. As I got off the bus stop and saw my training village, I started recognizing so many children and people. Sadly, after three months I forgot the difficult names I already didn’t know when I stayed there. Somehow I bumped into my host sister Mapeku, and immediately our faces lit up with excessive smiles. We got home, where my host mother ‘M’e Matabelo made a delicious meat meal for me. I’ve been cooking a lot (as you can tell by my FoodBlog/FaceBook) and I forgot how great it was to have meals prepared for you. Although the week was just more workshops, and informative lessons, it was hard to pay attention because of the looming ideas of what the first vacation would be like.

On the last night before leaving for vacation, my host mother made the most spectacular meal. She knew that I appreciated really fancy looking meals, and delicious ones at that. She made homemade bread for me, I reclaimed my title as Ntate Peanut Butter, and we just had a great night filled of food and talking. Living in Fobane, I live alone on the school compound. I have a neighbor, but she never became my formal host mother as other volunteers have it. It never really bothered me, I liked my independence and alone time, but somehow having that sense of unconditional mothering and love was a great refresher and lifted my mood intensely. Now I make it a habit to call my host mother at least once every other week. I call me real mom about once a week but we whatsapp about everyday.

I left on vacation with Laura, Mike, Kyle, and Mike’s girlfriend who is extremely cool and named Celena. We drove to Port Elizabeth in our rental car, and by we I mean Kyle drove the entire way. I was the navigator, and the iPhone maps app was quite handy. On our way to get our rental car, we found a Wal-Mart sort of store. It was insane; I almost forgot how much stuff could be found in the “real” world. Lesotho is just 4 hours away from this 1st world haven, but somehow it lacks all of the amazing infrastructure and booming economy that is South Africa. We arrived to Port Elizabeth, and our hostel was near a McDonalds. The first McDonald’s I had seen in 5 months. I don’t, or rarely eat McDonalds, but I desperately needed chicken nuggets, ice cream, crispy chicken sandwich, burgers, etc. I had a large part of the menu in that week. Its surprising that anything that is slightly American, we pounce on immediately, almost treasuring it as a sense of home, even if it was something we disliked before.

On vacation we went for a safari at Addo Elephant Park, and saw a variety of interesting animals. Zebras, Elephants, no lions unfortunately. The whole week in Port Elizabeth was rainy, but it allowed us to just relax and be American, something that surprisingly takes a lot of energy to suppress while living in village. I forgot the comforts of just seeing a movie in theatres, walking around a mall, speaking English everywhere, and being allowed to walk outside at night. The biggest change from my village pace of life was the convenience and diversity of food that we ate in Port Elizabeth was excellent.

It was my job, as expected, to find all the delicious food places during vacation. We had intensely amazing Mexican food, where I order a very spicy, cheesy, shredded beef chimichanga. The meat was more tender than Chipotle’s famous Baracoa. In a very nice grocery store, I even found pecan pies, donuts, and kinder chocolates. A buffet that served Chinese food, pizzas, pastas, steaks, ice cream, waffles, etc. We had some of the freshest sushi known to mankind, and that is where I probably dropped the most cash. Our final meal, I enjoyed a delicious, large portion of pork belly steak with sweet potato gnocchi. Appetizer was steak tartar and dessert was a fried chocolate Lindt truffle. It had been about 5 months at that point since I had seen an actual menu with options of things.

At the hotels in Lesotho, the menu is pretty bare, and usually many things are absent. You can get your standard grilled cheese with tomato, or bacon, a burger (substandard) and pizza (no tomato sauce). They have had banana splits on the menus probably for years before I arrived, but never served it.

It is very unimaginable to see how Lesotho, being landlocked in South Africa, was unable to ascertain any of these modern comforts, conveniences, and benefits. But when I returned from vacation, I simply relaxed at my home, and realized why everyone is still so happy here. Because life is simple, it’s easy, and there really aren’t too many things to worry you. Basotho are happy with eating papa and cabbage, they are happy being able to know everyone in their hometown, and I also am happy with where I am. Although, where I am does desperately need at least one sushi restaurant. 

School School School

Although I have not posted in awhile, I plan on catching up very quickly. School started January 28th, and it has been a nonstop ride. Although this may come off chauvinistic and conceited, I would say my science and math skills are sufficiently adept, and I rarely have to look at a book to know I am on the right track while teaching. But teaching, especially to students where English is a second language, is extraordinarily difficult and frustrating.
The culture here is much more relaxed, where deadlines for homework can be flexible, students who are late to school, still leisure their way over. For the first three months of teaching, I always compared my high school time to the Basotho version of High School. I questioned why students don’t care about coming late, or why they don’t care about studying or turning in homework, and even why come to class if they aren’t going to take notes or pay attention. My philosophy is that if you don’t take notes, or don’t pay attention, than you probably already are starting at an A in my class. But the students don’t strive for American A’s; they strive for passing, which is a dismal 50. And if they don’t pass, they laugh it off as if nothing is really the matter.
But then I took a step back, and tried to come up with reasons why they don’t consider school as important as I did growing up. Many of these students are single and double orphans, meaning that they have no parental figure guiding them, or explaining them why education is important. Even so, it is easier here for men, and even women, to get a job in the mines without a formal education, and still make a lot of money. At Fobane, we see a lot of villagers returning at the month’s end, and they are doing just fine economically. Basotho here generally don’t buy much, and the food they grow is enough for them to survive and eat fine. Many students also have not ventured out of the village often, or have only seen the local close by camp towns such as Maputsoe or Teyateyaneng. Therefore, there is no real motivation for them to see that education can really help them. Why change something that you are already content with? And its true, Basotho all over the village are extremely happy, kind, and generous people.
My primary job here is to educate the high school students in math and science, and also to motivate them to understand how proper education can open up their world. I started a few things in my school, one being a prefect system, based on Harry Potter, which creates an environment for students to speak English more often. There are two students in each class, boy and girl, who teachers have chosen as the prefects and their job is to write down the names of students who speak Sesotho. In theory, this will prepare students for their final COSC exam in their Form E (Kind of like the SAT), which is entirely in English. This idea has definitely gotten more people to speak English, but has also created a lot of work for the English Teachers and myself. When a student gets caught speaking Sesotho, their punishment is to write an Essay in English on one of the fun topics we came up with. It is still a work in progress idea, but I hope that diligence will eventually make a permanent English-speaking environment at School.
The other big thing I started here was a general peer-tutoring club, where I bring Form B students (9th grade) to the primary school to teach Standard 7 students (7th grade) math. This was a great endeavor, and students really enjoyed it. Although I am unsure of the impact, it definitely exposes my Form B students to older material that they both forgot, and need for the future. This tutoring then spread between classes in my high school, so students in Form C tutor Form A students, and Form D students tutor form B students. Unfortunately this past month after my vacation to Port Elizabeth (next blog post), this club died down because every day after school the time I had for tutoring was used for practicing cultural dances for Cultural day (also next blog post).
I also joined the Teacher's soccer team, and I'm surprisingly not as bad as I expected. But these teachers, even the large round ones, can run and play soccer a lot longer than I can!
I hope this was an easy to follow post, updating you on my main job in school!