Being a new member of the community, it seemed ritual for people to be very hospitable to me. As soon as someone met me in Fobane for the first time, they bought a large 1.5L Coca-Cola bottle and shared it with me. Basotho really enjoy coke, and expected me to do the same. Just about every other day I would have half of that bottle of coke with whoever bought it to meet me. The soda here is also much more carbonated than back in America (also made with cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup so a bit better). Even when I would refuse the soda after the 4th pour into my glass, the person I was meeting would be bewildered as to why I did not want more. Eventually I gave in and drank all the coke I could. I met about ten people who wanted me to drink and talk with them in the first two weeks, amounting to roughly 8L of soda.
Christmas celebrations took place with my Peace Corps American friends, but promptly after I went to a wedding where I was VIP. Both events were discussed in my last blog post, but after I was left with one month of uninterrupted solitude in Fobane with only occasional trips to the camp town. Other than doing my average “get to know my site” activities, I found myself with excessive free time. With this free time I did a variety of things to prevent me succumbing to boredom. Listed below are the memorable events of what took place this past month.
•Got to the Elite 4 in Pokémon Fire Red, I have a Gyrados, Charizard, Hypno, Vileplume, Raichu, and Dragonite.
•Bought a Solar Panel System for my house, 50W and for only 1500 Rand, about $170.
•Planted a Garden with Cantaloupes, Peppers, Cucumbers, Onions, Beets, Sunflowers, Zucchini, and a lot of other stuff, which doesn’t grow.
•Ate bags upon bags of Lychees, about 17 slices of watermelon, and 13 ice cream cones.
•Now have a kitten named Scabbers, it’s awfully dull and won’t stop meowing.
•Have walked to neighboring villages to visit other Peace Corps Volunteers up to 3 hours away.
•Lit Fireworks for New Years
•Started making Bread. Apple Bread, Oatmeal Bread, Carrot Bread, Banana Bread.
•Learned to make spaghetti sauce from scratch, Alfredo and marinara.
•Met a few ‘MaIndia Fellows (what people call Indians here) who are quite kind and offer me great deals and even bootlegged movies!
• Made an enemy with a ‘MaChina Lady, she wants to sell me a part for my solar system for 150 Rand and I am only going for 80 Rand. I am being quite stubborn, yet persistent.
• Watched all of Pirates of the Caribbean, all of the Harry Potter movies, Lord of the Ring series extended addition.
• Before I had my solar, I would run out of power and would listen to movies on my iPad (it broke). I listened to multiple Disney original movies and read the original stories of Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, etc.
• Read all of Harry Potter on my iPhone.
• Became friends with all but one of the Fobane Taxi drivers, who allow
me to sit up front and save spaces for me to go back home.
Those were the highlights and highpoints of my long break between work. It wasn’t as difficult as a transition as I expected. In college, my schedule was very busy with little to no breaks and it made me happy. Idle moments often seemed wasted. Then Peace Corps training Phase I was even busier than college at times. Coming for a month break to settle into Fobane was previously anticipated to be difficult; to stand still and get used to the calm, quiet, slow village life. But I realized, after a busy training, all I wanted was to relax and enjoy my time. I have exhausted my break to its fullest potential, and I am now thankful that school has officially started (Jan 28th). The first week of school is going pretty great so far! 23 math and science periods, working in a clinic, and fixing up some computers while figuring out clubs, and who to talk to about the possibility of bringing electricity to Fobane (one can dream). Sense of purpose, officially reborn.
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