Thursday, February 18, 2010

Tom the Pool Boy! Oh MY!





Although I miss my family and friends dearly I can say without reservation that the last few weeks at site have been nothing but amazing. I am meeting new members of the community on a daily basis and the kids are really starting to warm up to me, which is great. So what have I been doing lately… this is in no particular order and some parts are rather comical. Here is a random assortment of my musings as of late. I dropped a quart on my toe, its black and blue and the nail will probably come off, oh well another Africa scar =) I am becoming a master at baking bread, last night I made a cayenne pepper loaf, how delectable! I have driven around in WFP (World Food Programme) SUVs and provided assistance, that was great. I have done condom demonstrations in my life skills class with my students. That was hilarious, none of them knew you could blow one up the size of a beach ball, they were kind of scared however when it popped! Dogs ran away with my sheep pelt, which I am kind of bummed about. I lost a pair of aviator sunglasses, also another bummer. I spent my birthday alone, also another bummer. It did turn out great because my counter part and another colleague of mine cooked me dinner, absolutely amazing Basotho food. They know I like spicy so they load up on the cayenne, delicious! My friends also brought a smile to my face with all of the birthday facebook greetings, thanks guys! I introduced The Boondock Saints to a few teachers on a movie night, they loved it. I spent 5 hours on a bus ride that should have only taken 2, also another bummer. I am in the process of finishing the ALP (African Library Project) library at my school. The previous volunteer did a great job securing books and shelving. I am in the process of getting a couch and table and some more shelving, then time to catalog! My latest project however, is becoming a pool boy. The LHDA (Lesotho Highlands Development Authority) and Katse Lodge co-own a swimming pool in Katse Village. For the past three weeks I have been pestering them to give me free electricity to run the pool and free chemicals (chlorine and acid) to keep it clean. Things are slowly coming together and the pool is almost clean. I have scrubbed so much algae lately its insane. Today was finally the day I was able to take my students swimming. VICTORY! I took the entire senior form E class (12th grade), almost 30 in total. It was a little chaotic, but the kids loved it and can’t wait to go back, if the weather permits we will go tomorrow. Growing up on the water swimming is something I cannot remember not doing. I now realize that it is difficult watching some thirty students try to do it who have lived in the mountains their entire life. The scenery is beautiful; it is an outdoor pool so there are gigantic mountains in every direction you look. Unfortunately winter is coming furiously. It is only mid February and there is already a slight chill in the air. The kids surprised me at how quickly they were able to pick up the basics. I even have one student who floats around without effort showing off to all of his friends. Either he is a natural or I am an amazing teacher… but I digress. I am making plans to bring piggery to the school. I want to teach the kids about small scale sustainable income generating projects. It will also give them opportunities to have pig on a semi regular basis for extra nutrition, I am really excited about this project, hopefully it will get off the ground. Did you know you can buy a pig for less then 45 US dollars? WOW! I am growing a pretty ridiculous beard. Maya I wish you could see it. It is six weeks old now and is starting to scare even me. I am not shaving until phase III training starts in Maseru on March 21… yeah gonna be grizzly Adams by then but it will be good times for sure. On a random note, Mom, buy the Glen Phillips cd “Live at Largo” I’m not going to tell you who it is, but I know you and dad will thoroughly enjoy it. On another random note this post goes out to Maya’s mom K. I miss you guys a lot and thanks for reading! Enjoy the pictures. Sorry mom I will post pictures of the inside of my house this weekend after I get a chance to clean it!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Hot Dam!




What an eventful two weeks. It started off with a trip from Katse to Maseru for a Swine Flu H1N1 vaccine. It felt good to be back in the lowlands. I was really happy because I was able to stock up on food that I cannot get in Katse and bring it back. There is not much in Maseru but compared to the highlands it is like NYC. Cheese is the main thing that comes to mind, wow I had been craving that for a while. It was also nice to see a few familiar faces after so long out at site. I even got a package from Maya that was incredible. Books, pepperoni, gold fish, peanut butter, salami, slim jims, crystal light are only just a few things that were inside, it was amazing! The following weekend was really incredible. A friend of mine took me fishing and showed me how to catch fish the Basotho way. Equipped with nothing but a long piece of line and a fly hook we were able to catch half a dozen yellow fish. Not a bad catch for the first try. Later that day I through a party for my Basotho friends and teachers. I recently finished my BBQ stand so I was eager to have a cook out and try it out. The teachers decided to buy an nku (sheep) and slaughter it so we could have a cookout all day. They showed me how to kill it and how to skin it, which was not nearly as bad as I expected. For the rest of the day we cooked fish and sheep, drank, and danced. It was really cool. The next day I walked to the dam because the weather was so nice. The Katse dam is the largest curved dam in Africa and is really something to look at.