Bloemfontastic!

So the first half of the school year has ended and I find myself getting into all sorts of things. I’m back at my site and finishing up my basketball hoop project. The welding is finally complete and all I have to do now is paint the hoops and backboards! Take a look at the photos and let me know what you think. A lot of planning, designing and hard work has gone into them so I hope you enjoy them as much as the students will. When I got back to my site all I wanted to do was take a hot shower and go to bed. Unfortunately after waiting two hours for the water to heat up nothing came out when I turned it on. Today I grabbed my friend Ntate Makhotsa and we tore off a side panel of the house and were able to repair a pipe that came apart, gotta love the cold snowy weather in Thaba-Tseka to wreck havoc on your plumbing. So today I should be all good, we will see. Besides having to grade stacks of papers what else has been going on?
Before I went to South Africa LHDA held a big party and BBQ with the Lodge for the opening ceremonies of the World Cup. It was really a lot of fun and the food was great. It was a nice way to celebrate with all of my friends around the village since everyone had been anticipating that moment for a long time. Last week I went to Bloemfontein with a few of my friends for some FIFA World Cup action. My supervisor was able to hook us up last minute with a place to stay that was a two minute walk from the stadium! We stayed with a nun who was great as well as very accommodating. We were all able to get tickets to see Slovakia play Paraguay. The game was fun, Paraguay winning 2-0. It was fantastic to see patriots for both sides all decked out in their countries colors, wigs, and all sorts of things. Unfortunately both sides represent red, white, and blue just like the good ole US of A so I was kind of confused as to where I was for a bit. That combined with the fufuzelas (loud horn things) made for a very intense day. Did I mention that Budweiser is the sponsored beer of the 2010 world cup, which also made for a real blast. On a side note there is a McDonalds in Bloemfontein! Quarter Pounders with cheese and egg mcmuffins did well for my psychological health, but not so well for my gastrointestinal… I will leave it at that. We got back to Lesotho and were able to watch the USA beat Algeria in stoppage time to advance them to the next round of the World Cup, so cheers boys!
I am still planning the trip to Mozambique for ten days in the middle of July so if anyone has any travel suggestions I would love to hear them. As of now I am just relaxing and waiting for the next half of the school year to start in August. I am also eagerly anticipating my father and his friend Scotts visit to Lesotho in November, cant wait dad! I hope everyone back home is well and are enjoying the warm and sunny Florida sunshine. I will be snow dodging and trying to get off the mountain as much as PC will allow me so I wont get snowed in =) Sorry for the sporadic post, but my brain has been truly over stimulated after visiting SA. I will edit this as more detail come to mind. Enjoy the photos!