Kruger & Jo'Burg Vacation Pictures

Vacation is over but the fun shall soon continue in the States!

Pictures from Kruger and Johannesburg are now available for your viewing pleasure on my Picasa site.

Itinerary for Trip Home

For those of you who requested the details for my upcoming visit home:
October 8-October 14 in Boise, Idaho
October 14- November 2 in Texas, somewhere?

Feel free to shoot an email my way if you'd like to make plans. See you all soon!

Just Junk

After a morning of organizing, cleaning, and watching “Jarhead”, I am startled by a vigorous knock at my door. Three children, all under ten years of age, gaze up at me with twinkling brown eyes and heart wrenching smiles. In usual Basotho child style, they do nothing more than giggle, shyly twist from side to side, and divert their eyes when mine catch theirs. I greet them in Sesotho and ask what it is they need. “We are coming to fix the fence” they reply. Fix the fence? But it’s not broken. Sure we have dogs and countless chickens that get through the barbed wire nearly every day but it’s nothing out of the ordinary and surely the money for repairs to go toward a better cause. Moreover, it certainly is not a job for a group of small kids. Interrogating further, I ask if my host mother sent them and the three just snicker and shrug their shoulders. Maybe I misunderstood their English which wouldn’t be the first time. I ask again, “You want what?” This time they reply and point in the direction of the fence, “The things, we want to get the things.” I stand there for a few moments, dumbfounded at how lost in translation I have become. The grins continue and I notice excitement growing in their faces. Another moment passes; I throw my hands up in the air and say, “Okay” for lack of anything better. In a flash they are gone, racing each other toward the fence and stopping at my trash pit. I have just inadvertently given these kids permission to dig in my trash to get the “things” so they can play with. Lovely. Ten minutes later, their treasures include: tin cans, a door handle, a salad dressing bottle, a hair tie, an avocado skin, and some paper.

I need to get these kids some Barbies and G.I.Joes.

Doesn't Get Any Better.....

Mmm Cupcakes!

I have been back at site for 8 days and it feels as though I’m in the immersion phase of training all over again. Having been gone from my community for several months due to trainings, I feel out of touch with much of what is occurring in Qacha’s Nek. I only hope that the Basotho don’t feel as though they were deserted. Rebuilding relationships and assessing the needs in my village and in town are my new priorities. That and endless amounts of PEPFAR reporting!

Originally I was going to type out “A Day in the Life of PCV Megan” post but I felt as though the day I chose wasn’t a true representation of what I do here in Lesotho. I suppose no day is the same though, nor will it ever be. Next time. Instead, I will continue with the Randomness Section which has slowly become my favorite part of blogging. It’s nothing more than a jumble of tales, feelings, frustrations, happy moments, etc that I’ve endured since the last posting. I apologize for the hodge podge, but it’s meant to be that way.

Randomness
-I love that the Basotho know where I’ve been that day by the color of bag I bring home (e.g., Black= Chinese or Indian shop, Blue= PEP Store, Yellow= Shoprite, Green= any stall in the taxi rank, etc).
-Found a new lady to wash my clothes. The bonus is she speaks English and has a cell phone! For those who are curious, I am not as clean as I was when I first arrived. Better fix that before I go home to the States for a visit.
-Sometimes I sit in my house with the lights off. It reminds me of my first year in Peace Corps where I had nothing to do but contemplate existential ideas til late into the night.
-The ring of my cell phone when I get a text fills me with utter excitement.
-Taught myself to cook bagels. And they are fluffy, sweet, and delicious. So good in fact, that I will be teaching my host mother to make them to add to her catering repertoire. Her request, not mine.
-Finished season 2 of the Tudors. I actually shed more than a few tears when Ann Boleyn was beheaded.
-I dislike that I continuously trip over and break pieces off of my plastic(?) floor. One day I will seriously injure myself.
-Four snowfalls this winter! That translates to Christmas music and baking.
-“Hi Ausi Itumeleng. My name is Thato. In short, I love you.”
-I’m annoyed that it has taken me over 2 months to finish a 400 page book.
-Scores of trips to the shop to restock my “kitchen”- hooray for the new Indians in town. I heart them.
-Doctors at Machabeng Hospital come and go. Goodbye old friends, hello new ones!
-I used Tide laundry soap for the first time in over a year. I feel like a princess!
-Scene: Adorable 5 year old girl pleading for my Coke Light in front of everyone at the taxi rank. I gave in. Who could resist those chubby cheeks?
-My host mother installed a sliding glass door. It must be the only one in a 50 mile radius.
-I met a woman at the hospital with a CD 4 count of 11. We have nothing to complain about.
-Watching three soccer games in a single day is the most fun I’ve had in some time. Especially being adopted as “coach” and “cheerleader” by the under 12 team who call themselves “The Brazilians”. Congrats to us on our first win of the season!
-Where are the letters my dearest friends and family? It has been far too long.
-Congratulations to Drs. Anju & Ashish who now have a baby boy. I’m looking forward to being “Aunt Megan” to a beautiful Nepalese newborn.
-Homemade tortillas. With Rama.
-The gals at the hotel bar are gloomy because I don’t come by as often. Other than a cold Coke Light with ice & peanuts and raisins, there is no need since I have my own electricity. I’ll make more of an effort.
-I take pleasure in reading National Geographic magazines to the librarian’s son. He’s five and has learned all about seals and Neanderthals from our most recent engagement.
-Yoga band DVD, crunches on the ball to “Mama Africa” by Akon, and new walking routes through the poorest of villages amount to more than 10 hours of each week. The majority of it is the walking.
-Realizing the potential of my vocal cords. You never know how loud you can scream until confronted by 3 man-eating dogs simultaneously.
-Allison’s m&m cookies, hot chocolate, and the Office season finale. Jim and Pam are absolutely endearing.
-Questions, facts, and secrets.
-Cops on horses requesting lemonade from the American. Hmm, where do you suppose THAT came from?
-Bought foil for the first time in over a year. I don’t see any need for it, but my shop had it for the first time so I decided that was reason enough for the purchase!
-Recently discovered that tuna from a can tastes better when heated up.
-Trying to grasp the notion that I have less than a year left in Lesotho. Or do I?
-I might have a mouse living between my roof and ceiling. Never can tell though, it could just be a small bird scurrying around. But I don’t think birds scurry.
-Continuation of Matt Damon movie marathon.
-The construction guys on my new route to walk have a nickname for me: “Lady Lerato” (Lady Love).
-Breaking into the Training Center with code names like Jason Bourne. Yes, I will say it was worth it for more reason than one. :-)
-Mid-day naps just because I can.
-Thinking about and missing cupcakes.

LOST

Stand still.
The trees before you and bushes
beside you are not lost.
Wherever you are is
called Here,
and you must treat it
as a powerful stranger,
must ask permission to know it
and be known.
The forest breathes.
Listen.
It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back
again saying, Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does
is lost on you, you are surely lost.
Stand still.
The forest knows where you are.
You must let it find you.

-David Wagoner