Tales from Real Life

(written 1/11)

The last few days have been really great. Got sworn in as a volunteer (I'm not a trainee anymore), got to attend the annual All Volunteer Conference, which was at times boring but overall a great way to meet the rest of Peace Corps Lesotho, and got to partake in some pretty great parties (albeit parties that end at 11:30pm, but they start at 6pm so it seems much later (side note: this timetable fits harmoniously with my pre-existing love of happy hour back stateside (I miss happy hour))).

As of today, though, I'm at my site for good. I am not allowed to leave the Maseru district for the first 3 months. School doesn't start till next Monday. I don't know many people here yet, and I have nothing to do. My house is about 100 degrees inside at the height of the day. So, I'm not sure how I'll get through the next week, but I'll figure it out.

For now, a couple more anecdotes.

So as I mentioned, it's my first real day at site. I woke up a few hours ago, tried to wrap my mind around what I will do all day and how I will escape the oppressive heat of my room that will arrive soon. I leisurely made breakfast.

11:00 am: A nice kid named Relebohile (translation: We are thankful) has knocked on my door, saying "I just wanted to see you." He's a Form C (10th grade) student at my school, and has heard about me. We talk for a while. In the course of our conversation, I mention to him that WWE is fake, and I can literally see his heart break. Poor guy... though the fact that he has a TV at all makes him EXTREMELY privileged here.

6:00 pm: A torrential downpour has come along in the past 20 minutes. I'm holed up deep inside my room, whose tin roof is exceedingly loud in the rain (I find this very relaxing). A very beautiful teenage(ish) girl has just knocked on my door. I am unsure what she could be doing here in this massive storm. Though, throughout the day students from my school have been coming by to introduce themselves to me, so perhaps she's doing the same. But no, I quickly realize I'm wrong - she speaks absolutely no English, and she does not go to my school. After some awkward stumbling over my poor Sesotho, I understand that she wants to give me the umbrella she has with her. Evidently it belongs to my host mother, who is not on the premises. So she hands me the umbrella and walks away into the storm. I yell at her that perhaps this is not the ideal time to relinquish the umbrella, but she just smiles and continues on.

More to come...