Recap

The countdown is now at 1 week and the last time I was so nervous was in October 2011, when I about to leave for Peace Corps.  The past few weeks have been filled with reflection; the times that I’ll never forget, the times I wish I could, the emotions; it all rushes back as I get ready to leave Lesotho.

I’ve done my best to preserve the memories I’ve made here through photographs.  I’ve taken over 4,000 photos in Lesotho, most of them of students, and I wanted to share some of my favorites.

Cali the Cat: If I haven’t said it before, being a PCV is hard and one of the biggest challenges for me  (and most others) is the loneliness.  During your interview they warn you about it but no one can really understand how isolating being a PCV is until they're in a foreign land, in a foreign home, and foreign culture, and they are the only ones like themselves in that area.  I got Cali almost as soon as I moved in to my site and she’s been my constant.  She’s the one I hold when all I want to do is cry, she’s the one I yell at when I’m angry; she’s the one I cuddle with in winter, and take summer naps with when it’s unbearably hot.  It’s been so much fun to watch her grow up from a tiny baby to the mother of now seven other cats.

Always thinking by the window

So this isn't actually Cali but one of her kittens.

My ‘M’e (Mother):  There are many days that I don’t actually speak to anyone.  Sure, I say hello and I teach, but very few days do actually have a conversation with someone.  It’s not that people are rude; they are just always speaking Sesotho and about people and things that I don’t know about.  The only person who always makes an effort to ask me how my day was is my ‘M’e.  Almost everyday she asks me how school was, shares with me stories about her own family (whether I know about them or not) her concerns about the new generation, and that I am getting fat.  She’s the person who’s made me feel a part of the Mokote family and I know I’m going to miss her so much.

My 'M'e is a proud, church going woman.  Here she's wearing her church uniform.

Dancing bo-‘m’e (women): My host mother and some of her friends co-ordinate a meal for the OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children) in our village.  On this Sunday the group of women were cooking and feeding the children and asked me to take some pictures.  After the children were fed they burst out in song and dance (which always go together).

Meeting Desmond Tutu:  I thought when I was coming to Africa I’d meet celebrities.  I have not really succeeded. But, I did get a chance to take a photo with Desmond Tutu.  The Anglican schools in Mohale’s Hoek celebrate their best performing students every year and the first year I was here the celebration was especially grand with a special guest from South Africa.  I didn’t recognize him at first but my co-worker did and she insisted we get a picture of him.  So I keep this photo in my phone and whenever I meet someone I want to impress I show them the only celebrity I’ve met in Lesotho.

Desmond Tutu is the one in the middle

Stormy, Windy Lesotho: Lesotho has the worst weather of any place I know of.  For an African country it actually gets cold in winter, it’s always windy which means dust flying everywhere, and when it rains, everything gets muddy.  The weather is unpredictable too.  Every website I check has a completely different forecast for the day and even when a sky is cloudless in the morning, by afternoon it can be pouring.

  

Beautiful and Peaceful Lesotho: There’s something about living somewhere touched so little by technology and development.  Beauty is all about you and it’s untamed; no manicured lawns that are always green and trimmed rose bushes.  Lesotho just is, and it’s so beautiful because of it.  Whether it be the bright light of the full moon, or the sparkle of the stars when there is none; the vibrant colors of a sun set, or the green you see after the first good rain, I appreciate the beauty of the world so much more.

 

Peach Blossoms: The end of winter is always marked by the blossoming of the peach trees.  The dry, yellow grass contrasting with the almost black bark with light pink flowers; I love peach blossoms.  Not to mention that means that there will be all-you-can-eat peaches soon.

   

Motaung (a member of the lion clan):  The area I live in is called Taung.  It means the area of the lion clan.  That means I am Motaung, and I live with Bataung (mo- is for a single person, ba- is for multiple people).  While clans are a very small part of Lesotho these days there’s still a sense of pride in Qhalasi about being Bataung.  Our chiefs can trace their lineage back to the creators of our clan and every year we celebrate them.

This picture was taken at the state funeral of a prominent Taung chief and the Minister of Development

The Modern Women of Lesotho:  I absolutely love my co-workers.  They challenged everything I thought I knew about African women and yet they maintain their African identity and culture proudly.  Their lives are so hard, from husband problems, single motherhood, to finding a baby sitter for their kids. And yet they surprise me with their strength and resolve to keep their families together, their fashion sense, and the way they have taken me in.

My Fellow PCVs:  I have to admit that I actually don’t like this picture very much.  It’s the first group picture I took with some of my fellow PCVs.  It was windy, we had a long day with our first day in training, and the person taking the picture was giving us a hard time.  But it reminds me how far I’ve come and how far we’ve come as a group.  I have so many photos and memories of times with other PCVs that it was impossible to pick a favorite.  While coming to Lesotho challenged my view of third world countries, my fellow PCVs challenged my view of America and I learned so much more about being an American from them.  I'll never look at my country the same way.