Village Life

Dorm-style training with all the volunteers was short lived, but fun.
:) Currently I'm living in a village called Ha Soole outside Maseru.
There is no electricity and no plumbing -- which is not bad so far considering it's winter.

I'm living with my host family, the Mofoti Family, here in Ha Soole. Our host families name us when we arrive. My Sesotho name is Karabo which means 'answer' in Sesotho. I like it because it's pretty easy to say and there's no Q in it. Q = click, which I can't do YET. I live in a room attached to my 'Me's room ('Me = mother). Her name is 'Me Mamothepu. I'm pretty sure she's the same age as my real mom (hi mom!) but she looks much older. She does a lot of work around the house all day long. She's pretty funny though. Our ntate (father) died in 2005 -- I haven't asked why. I have 3 ausis (sisters), 2 of which I hang out with all the time -- Puleng (13) and Bohlokoa (7). Lucky for me they speak a lot of English. Also lucky for me the Mofoti family is huge so my friend Jen, another Peace Corps volunteer, lives right next door.

Training is overwhelming and annoying, but necessary. I'm pretty exhausted all the time. I'm slowly but surely picking up Sesotho and learning phrases so I can talk to my 'Me who doesn't speak English. Jen and I walk about a mile to school every day with a small army of Basotho children. We are learning all about the Basotho culture as well -- i.e. greeting literally every person you cross paths with. I say "Lumela!" or "Lumelang!" about a million times a day. That might end up driving me crazy. :)

So far my 'Me does everthing for me: boil water, cook, etc. More details after next week when I start doing everything for myself.

P.S. Pee bucket is in full use, and I love it! (except when I dropped it -- that sucked)

--
Christina Balch

Lumelang!

Lumelang, bo-'me le bo-ntate! (doo-MAY-lang) (hello, ladies and gentlemen!)

I am in Lesotho finally after a 15 hour plane ride, losing 2 bags at the airport, waiting for 6 hours at the airport, and then taking a bus for 6 hours to Maseru. It was a long day to say the least. We started classes on Monday at our training site, and tomorrow I leave for a village to stay with my new host family during Training for the next couple months.

There are 20 volunteers in my group, 16 girls and 4 guys. Everyone is awesome so far, and we're having fun. I've been learning about all kinds of things this week from Sesotho lessons to how to bathe in a basin (yup bucket bathing -- i have a pee bucket too!). I'll let you know how that goes in the next couple weeks. Wish me luck. :)

I promise next week I will write something out before I go to the internet cafe so it will be a longer, more detailed post. I miss you all! Ask my parents or Mike Bohley for my address if you want to write me a letter...

Salang hantle! (Stay Well)

In DC... I leave Thursday!

I am currently in DC with my Training Group as we go through Staging. Today was the first day, and I have already made some wonderful new friends. My Training Group consists of about 18 people, only 3 of which are male. No sausage-fest here, haha! It's still very overwhelming but more exciting now that I'm almost there and done with the anxiety of packing and saying good-bye to loved ones (which was much harder than I expected).

I wanted to share my new favorite quote with everyone. It's a common phrase in the book I'm currently reading titled "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" by Tom Robbins (my new favorite author):

"The international situation is desparate as usual."

Short but powerful. It seems kind of serious out of context, but in the book it's more of a humorous phrase used often when referring to people's small talk. I think it's very relevant because it comments on a usually very serious topic with some sarcasm. I expect I will have to maintain my sense of humor and even sarcasm to endure the devastation that I will witness in a third world country. Also I like it because it states the obvious -- there will always be desparation and poverty, at least in my lifetime, no matter what I do or anyone does.

On a similar note, I feel the need to explain why I wanted to join the Peace Corps in the first place. It seems that everyone thinks I'm off to save the world and fight HIV -- that's not necessarily my intention. I'm joining the Peace Corps in order to submerge myself in a new culture and totally new experience. I've been living in the wealthiest nation in the world my entire life , and I'd like to experience life and struggles in one of the poorest countries in the world as well. Peace Corps allows me to do that -- and with government money! Yay! :) And while I don't expect to save the world (because the international situation will always be desperate as usual), I hope I can help some people while I'm there.