I have been told by many volunteers that training is as bad as it's going to get. No electricity, no running water, a 9 hour day, and absolutely no control of what you eat. Our lives are determined by Peace Corps and our host mothers.
As I mentioned in my previous post my host mother's name is 'Me Manapo. The word "'Me" is not actually part of her name; it's a title given to most married women and all mothers. It is also a professional title so I will be called "'Me" when I am teaching as a form of respect. My 'Me's name is derived from her son's name, Napo. A title is also used for my host father, Ntate Motawane. In other words every adult is referred to as 'Me or Ntate.
My host family doesn't speak very much english so I often rely on a mix of English and Sesotho to convey information. My 'Me is 69 years old and my Ntate is 70. You would never guess it if you looked at them. Not to mention that you don't see a lot of elders in the village. Most of the other volunteers have host families that have children still in school. But my host mother is very sweet and patient from accommodating my vegetarianism to giving me complete privacy. She thinks of me as her own child.
My host family's compound contains four small homes. The main house has a kitchen and a master bedroom. My abuti (brother) occupies one of the homes, I occupy the third, and the fourth seems to be a workshop for my Ntate. My place consists of one room which is supposed to contain clear distinctions between the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen parts. Let's just say my kitchen and bathroom tend to have flexible lines. It's small compared to some of the other volunteer's homes and it has been hard adjusting to it. But I keep telling myself that I only have 7 more weeks of training until I go to my real home.
My abuti is a herds boy so I do not see him very often. The family has about 5 cows and a donkey (donkeys are like horses here.). The family also has a pig, a few chickens, and a rooster. A fun fact: roosters crow when ever they feel like it even if it's two o'clock in the morning! Who ever said that they only crow when the sun rises never met a rooster.
In addition to the farm animals the family has two dogs and a cat. The cat has grown on me and it often stares at me as I eat (recently I saw my 'Me give it my leftovers.). The dogs on the other hand are there to guard the house against theives or unwanted strangers at night. They aren't big dogs but they have one hell of a snarl. In fact the concept of pets is not common in Lesotho. Even the cat has it's purpose; it keeps mice away. But with all these animals on the compound there is one that is my 'Me's pride and joy: she has two tortoises! The first thing I did when I came to her home was rub each one's shell. And a few days back I showed my 'Me some pictures I brought from home and she told me to take a picture of her, take a picture of Ntate, and to take a picture of the tortoises.
But other than the tortoises village life is not very exciting. It gets dark around 7pm and with no street lights it is impossible to find your way, never mind the dogs or the village drunks. And living in a small village means everyone knows what you're doing, especially since we stand out. So if I can't find a fellow volunteer I just have to ask the village children and they can tell me everything.
But village life definitely has it perks. We had one free Sunday afternoon before real training began so we decided to play cards in front of someone's home. Some kids were in the area and joined us for the game. As the game went on more kids came to watch and soon there was a group on 20 kids around us. As I said, the kids find out everything.
So village life isn't too bad but I still keep telling myself, 7 more weeks, 7 more weeks.
