Couple of random things

Fine and you? If all goes well, I'll be back next week (or even as soon as tomorrow) with another post, something kinda new and exciting (at least, I hope it excites everyone).

But for now... a couple of random thoughts and anecdotes.

- I think my official favorite misuse of English that I hear all the time is when someone walks up to me and greets me by saying, "Fine and you?"

- A sad, frustrating, revealing story that I've been meaning to tell for a while: At the end of 2nd quarter
back in June, all the teachers compiled the students' grades from semester exams. We average them out, sort them, rank them, and hand write individual reports for each student in the school, with comments from each teacher for each student. This took many hours. This culminated in a day over winter break when parents (or guardians) were told to come and collect reports. Teachers were all on hand to give comments.

Roughly 30% of the students had someone show up. Bummer, right? But wait... turns out, we only give them their kid's report if they're up to date on school fees... which most are not. So the day went something like this. We sit around for a while. Someone shows up asking for a student's report. I find it and take it out. I hold it in my hand for 5 minutes as conversation ensues, in Sesotho. I am told by a teacher that we are not giving the form, please put it back. I put it back. In the end, I think we gave out less than 50 reports (there are over 300 students). That's how few students have both a) someone looking out for them and b) enough money for school fees.

Now, students and parents who are behind on school fees are unable to find out the child's performance, and how they are doing compared to their classmates. I see this as a waste of valuable information that is both wanted by the students and useful as a motivational tool (and motivation is in short supply already). So, I've taken it upon myself to discreetly tell my students about their ranks, and load up the conversation with as much personalized motivation as I can. I hope it's helping.

- On Monday, a group of boys shoved a donkey into their classroom, in the middle of history class. Their parents or guardians were called to the school today, and both parties were spoken to firmly. The boys were subsequently beat with sticks.

- I learned recently that Basotho use the word "crocodile" to mean "prostitute." Here is why. The Lesotho soccer team is called the Crocodiles. And apparently, they are bad, and are beaten by everyone. When you are beaten, the term that is used is the same as saying "you were eaten by" that team. But, there is a lot of redundancy in Sesotho, and apparently "being eaten" is also a term form being... well... there might be kids reading this... let's say for being cuddled. So it's like, the crocodiles were cuddled by everyone they played. So crocodiles are prostitutes.

- Over winter break I spent some time at my friend Rory's village, building keyhole gardens to feed local orphans. Another friend, Shanthi, posted something about it here, with a good photo, and apparently is going to upload more photos soon. It was a great experience. Usually, spending time with other volunteers is more about taking a step back from everything and blowing off steam. But it was wonderful to spend my time with them actually doing productive work.

I had one more thing I wanted to write about, but now I have forgotten it. Darn. Maybe I'll remember by next time. Everyone in America, I love and miss you!

One Day in the Life of Eric Pierce(ovich)

Today was in some ways a fairly typical work day, and in other ways pretty weird. Though, the weirdness is, in itself, pretty typical. So yeah, it was a fairly typical work day. I will recount today's events...

I hit snooze about 3 times and finally got out of bed at about 6:50am. I hurriedly dressed and ate, managing to barely get out on time.

(It was cold this morning, but in recent days the temperature has risen quite a bit from as midday has approached, so I left my house without a coat. Turns out today was an exception, so I was pretty cold all day. When students and teachers asked me throughout the day if I was surviving without a coat, I lied, saying "No, I did not miscalculate, I meant to be dressed like this in this weather." I feel strangely compelled to maintain my "Makhooa don't get cold like Africans" appearance).

Monday is supposed to be my most hectic day - I teach 6 periods. I spent some time lesson planning before heading to Form A Maths, where I began teaching about symmetry. Behavior was the worst it's been this semester. I nearly left the class in anger, but held it together because we are already in such horrible shape (I am guessing I'll finish 60% of the syllabus this year).  With 30 minutes left in class, my vice principal knocked on the door to say "Please stop teaching, we're having a staff meeting, it is beginning right away." To much applause, I dropped my lesson and went to the staff room... where I sat for 25 minutes waiting for the meeting to begin. Needless to say, not a great start to the day. Questions of "If the students don't want to learn, and the administration doesn't want me to teach... then why am I even here?" raced through my mind.

We had our meeting. It was a little bit productive.

[A brief background to understand the rest of today: We are hosting a big cultural festival at school on Friday, where our school will compete against 5 other schools in traditional games, dances, and other events. To create time for practice, we have decided to cancel 2 hours of class every day for the last 3 weeks running. Roughly 70% of the students are involved in 0 of the activities, so they spend this time wandering the schoolyard or playing soccer. Such use of time does not lend well to teachers finishing their syllabi.]

Following that meeting, classes were cancelled for the rest of the day to prepare for Friday (for a total of 2 hours of classes today).

With no teaching to do, I went to another meeting with a few teachers and some members of the community. These folks are trying to find ways to help local orphans (awesome), and I was invited to pitch an idea I've been developing. I am hoping to build a playground at school, which will be open to all local children outside of school hours, and will be covered in HIV/Healthy Living information. I am hoping to fund this project with a PEPFAR grant (US government money for HIV/AIDS projects). With my coworker and friend Nthabiseng translating for me, we pitched the idea, and were given a hearty ovation in response, ululations included (traditonal throat howling sound, used when something is really exciting)! People are enthusiastic about helping, which is great.

Following this meeting, I played a little frisbee (thanks everyone back home!) and wandered around the throngs of idle students. Two students handed me bottles of motoho - traditional sour porridge made from sorghum, which (to the shock and awe of my fellow PCVs) I absolutely love. I have a standing offer to them that if they bring me motoho, I will buy them lisweets (candy). I cashed in on this today. I was thrilled to skip Monday lunch - Undercooked White Rice with Gross Sauce - and chug some motoho instead.

In the afternoon, I watched 5 girls practice liketoana, which is a lot like jacks. I'm told we are gearing up to dominate in liketoana. After some time, a Form A student approached me for help with science. This was a rare treat - if only all students had the courage to admit when they need help, Lesotho would be a different place (Note, I'm not sure where the blame goes here. I might also have said, "If only teachers didn't strike such fear in the hearts of students that they are all terrified to seek the help they need and deserve." But I digress.). As students realized I was explaining concepts that they, too, were struggling with, a crowd formed. In the end I think some genuine learning took place.

The schoolday came to an end. I headed home, picking up some veggies along the way. At one shop, I got a chance to snag another Form A student, Zyphiwe (favorite name in my class, really fun to scream in a high pitched voice). I forced her to listen to me as I used the shop's fridge and freezer to explain the concept of melting point. I knew she didn't want to be learning after school, so I apologized - she laughed. But also on the way home, I encountered a particularly troublesome student doing some very loud imitations of me ("Do you think it is funny that you are failing! No one will pay your school fees next year if you fail!" Somehow she thinks this is hilarious, despite it applying to her perfectly). I told her she must now write "I will not make fun of teachers" 100 times before I let her back in my class. A sour end to the day.

So with all said and done, I can sum up today much like I would sum up most days in my American life - some really good things happened, and some really not good things happened ("...but either way, things happened" - thank you DP). And at the end, much like in my American life, I took some time to relax and reflect on it all over some hot, delicious, home-cooked dinner.

Basotho kids are cuter than your kids (unless you're Mosotho)

Since I've realized I can post video right now, and I happen to have all my videos with me, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to share some kids being silly. I'm digging deep here...

First, we have my brothers and sisters (and 2 neighbors) from when I was living in Maqhaka for CBT back in December. Notice the little guy, Morapeli, chilling in the back, eating a sock.

Next, this is my little buddy Selebalo, who I've talked about before, struggling with another neighbor, Bonolo, who is trying to keep her still.

Felt it, it was here!

Ha ha I'm so clever.

OK so, here's what I think. My trek up to Rustenburg for the US-Ghana game was outrageously fun, and despite the tragic ending, I think I couldn't possibly have had a better trip (well, unless we won obviously. At least I like Ghana, though). But, I'm not going to write about it.

Instead, I'm copying the entry from my friend PH's blog, with whom I went to both games. I feel as though his shorter sentences and his selective use of commas really reflect the excitement that surrounded our journeys. That and I'm lazy today. But he really did sum up both World Cup trips well, and touched on a lot of stuff I might have forgotten. Only thing I'd like to mention is, when he writes about chocolate chip muffins, imagine he's saying "bacon cheese muffin," and consider how much I love bacon and cheese.

PH put a link to his picture site, which you can check out. But just in case I ever turn this blog into a book (apparently you can do that), I'll post a few at the bottom here. Maybe it's more convenient for you as well.

So, here goes. Thanks PH!

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Fuuuutbooolllll


So being in Lesotho, I had the opportunity to attend two world cup matches. I have posted pictures on my shutterfly. I once again messed up the address. It is adamlesotho.shutterfly.com. That is the correct address. Please disregard the first two.

The first game we saw was Greece versus Nigeria in Bloemfontein (shortened to Bloom). This is a small city only an hour and a half from the border of Lesotho. We took a bus from the border, but before getting on the bus we had to take a taxi from the boarder to the bus. There happened to be a few cops in a truck present when we crossed the border. They offered to give us a lift to bus! So the pics of me in the back of a police truck were of us getting a ride…I swear I didn’t do anything wrong. My favorite part of the city is the cooling towers of a coal power plant (I think it is no longer operational, but I could be wrong). The cooling towers are painted with designs. They are very pretty. That coupled with my power engineering background makes them special to me.

We arrived in Bloom the day of the game. I think Bloom has a fair amount to do, such as a zoo (but I hate zoos because the animals look really sad), but we didn’t have a lot of time so we went to two malls. Ha. The first mall was called Mimosa mall and OH BOY was it shiny. I am not used to such cleanliness and bright lights. It was a sensory overload. We perused bookstores, clothing stores, and the food court. The highlight of this mall was the muffins. I know this is quite a bold statement, but I will say that the chocolate chip muffin I consumed was the best muffin of my life. It was huge and warm and fluffy. It came with a side of butter, jelly, and cheese (yes cheese…I’m not sure why). After the bliss of muffins, we walked to the waterfront mall, which was situated close to the stadium. I figured we would be able to buy vuvuzelas (those annoying horn things you hear on tv that sound like bees) there, but apparently everyone and their mothers had sold out of them! I volunteered to run back to mall number one and bought four from guys selling them illegally on the street (we saw these same guys being chased away by the cops later, turns out you can’t sell merchandise within so many kms of the stadium). I ran back and met up with my group. They came bearing face paint! We entered the stadium two hours early, expecting security and lines to be long. It took us about 30 seconds to get in. There is tighter security at White Sox games. Sooo with our ample time, we drank Budweiser (go America!), painted our faces and practiced using the vuvuzelas (They are harder than they look…the key is to motorboat those things!). We found our seats which were on the first level and only about 12 rows up. I rooted for Greece while my friends rooted for Nigeria. The stands were not filled. I find this a bit embarrassing. This is supposed to be the biggest sporting event in the world and they can’t sell tickets? I know South Africa has been praised for how they have handled the world cup, but after the hassle we went through with tickets and the fact that there were empty seats gives me the opinion that South Africa should not hold this major of an event for a long time.

After 90 mins of excitement and much vuvuzela blowing, Greece won their first ever world cup match! I was pumped. We walked to a resturaunt where I ate the greatest burger of my time in Africa. Then, influenced by a drink or four, we thought it wise to go to McDonalds and eat yet another burger (I got the mega mac…4 patties…yes I regretted this the next day). We then returned to the hostel where I got to take a shower! It’s great to have running water. I find it interesting that the actual game part of this trip excited me less than the shiny mall and many food options.

The second game was slotted to be the winner of the US/England group to play the runner up of the Ghana/Germany group. I watched the US/Algeria game with great excitement. I was pretty distraught, thinking there might be a chance we see Slovenia, but thanks to Landon Donavon in stoppage time, we were off to see the US!

We took a similar trip to Bloom (minus the police escort) where we had a rental car waiting for us. We drove from Bloom to Rustenburg in a few hours. We stopped for food and bathroom breaks (turns out gas stations are just as exciting as malls). Along the way we listened to music, played car games, decorated ties and vuvuzelas, and shared in the general excitement of getting to see the US. We got to Johannesburg and promptly got lost. The signage was terrible! We got through some of the city and my friend (the only one who knows how to drive stick) was feeling sick. I had expressed interest in learning so she put me behind the wheel. What a scary experience. I stalled the car at least a dozen times and three times pulling out of the gas station where we switched. I did have a few good accelerations and once I got going it was easy. Stop signs have never been so scary. We did make it however and now I have a new desire to learn stick! We got dinner that night at yet another shiny mall then rested for the big game the next day.

We woke up the next morning nice and warm (it’s really cold in Lesotho at the moment) and proceeded again to the shiny mall where we found the same place with the muffins (I guess it’s a chain). After stuffing ourselves with muffins, we went in search for America decorations for the game. My friend really wanted to wear a flag. There was one store that sold flags, but they were out of US ones. I spied a US flag in the window of a bakery. I smoothly greeted the owner and said, “I have a bit of a weird question, is there any way you could sell us your flag?” I think she thought I was a bit nuts, but agreed to swap for a different flag if we were willing to take the US flag down and put the other one up. So we bought an Argentina flag and switched them, earning us a cape! We also bought a fair amount of paint…

We then returned to the hostel and commenced decorating ourselves. It took several hours that is all I will say. It is a bit of a travesty that we did not wind up on tv. If you check shutterfly, you will understand. We drove to the game, parked, and took the shuttle to the stadium. There were a few England fans on the shuttle who gave us grief. I would have gotten mad, but I was too excited about the game.

I imagine our walk to the stadium is how celebrities feel walking down the red carpet. Everyone gaped at us and took dozens of pictures. Everyone wanted their pictures with us! I think part of it was amazement at how we looked and part of it was amazement that I wasn’t wearing a shirt in pretty dang cold weather. It was nice talking to other Americans as well. The game was one of the most invested I have ever been at a live sporting event (save maybe Stagg bball games haha). I lost my voice during the first half. When Ghana scored the first goal only a few minutes in, I felt like I had been punched in the chest. I was stressed the entire game. When Donavon scored his PK, I felt like I could never be happier. Waiting for the start of overtime was like waiting for the results of an HIV test (maybe that’s a bad analogy). When the final whistle blew, I was devastated, not to mention freezing and a bit intoxicated after a few beers to help keep me warm. We drove to find dinner. We stopped at a place that had chicken and I got a whole chicken, four dinner rolls, fries, and a 2 liter of coke. My rationale was that I could eat some the next day, which I did. The next day, we woke up way too early, hit the road, and made it back to Lesotho. I learned something from this trip. And that is that I really like America. It took being away from it to really appreciate how awesome it is. I think my extreme disappointment at our loss is really telling to my newfound pride in my country.

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Some banana getting pumped up for the Greece-Nigeria game. (Banana is Sesotho for girls, which makes me laugh a lot. I love walking up to groups of my students and shouting "Hi banana!")

Goofing around after the Greece-Nigeria game ended. Somehow I sensed what game I would be seeing next, and dressed accordingly (much to the confusion of those around me).

ROAD TRIP TO RUSTENBURG! Driving in a car, even in the cramped backseat of this little compact Chevy, was truly transplendent.

All dolled up for the big game.

Feeling like a C-list celebrity walking to the stadium, still not sure why.

In true Peace Corps form, we wrote this in tape, which was quite inexpensive.

Since I'm at the Peace Corps office today, it occurred to me that I can upload video for free. This is Landon Donovan scoring on a game-tying PK in the 2nd half - the US' lone goal. Enjoy!