Good Bye Winter, Hello Summer

After a busy December filled with my one-year anniversary of becoming a PCV, Christmas, New Years, and vacation I am back in Lesotho where summer is in full blast.  And since I have been here for over a year (and have experienced all the seasons Lesotho has to offer) I can say with confidence that I prefer winter over summer.  "What!?" you may ask sitting on your computer, rubbing your eyes as you try to see if what I have typed is some simple mistake.  How can this California girl who grew up with sun and beaches say that she likes winter better than summer?  It's true, there are definitely things I like more about summer such as longer days, ability to wear all my nice summer clothes, and loosing my winter kilos.  But overall, I enjoy winter more

1. Food lasts longer in winter.  Just to remind everyone, I have no electricity in my house which means no refrigerator.  This means that in summer my food goes bad very quickly; certain vegetables go bad within 24 hours of me buying them (walking with them for 30min in the sun doesn't help either).  In winter my place is cool enough that most vegetable last almost 2 weeks including milk and cheese.  It's funny growing up in a place where we put almost everything we buy in a fridge and now truly finding out how long things last with out being in sub-zero temperatures.

2. It's much easier to get warm than to get cold. You would be surprised how difficult it is to make an iced coffee with out ice.  In winter I make hot food and hot beverages which keep me warm.  I pile thermals, blankets, and jackets to stay warm.  In summer there are only so many clothes I can take off and I'm still hot.  My house has an uncanny ability to be a few degrees warmer than outside.  Perhaps it's caused by the cooking or the angle the sun hits my house.  This is an advantage in winter, in summer not so much.  Open windows definitely help the situation but Lesotho is a very windy country and at the end I usually have to close my windows.

3.  Sweating in a country where water isn't always available is not fun.  Every time I leave my house I bring a bottle of water with me.  On summer days I easily drink 5 or 6 of these bottles to stay hydrated.  As a volunteer it is recommended that I boil and filter my water.  Guess how many locals do the same.  And even if I chose not to do that I still expect my water source to be decently clean.  This is not always easy to find.  Therefore refilling that water bottle can be difficult.  And if I in a taxi where I can't just walk out and start looking for water or walking back home which can be a 45 minute walk in the sun I simply have to stay thirsty until I'm in a position where I can get water.  Which brings me to my next point...

4.  Walking 3km in the hot, blazing sun is exhausting.  To get from my taxi stop to my village is a 3km walk.  In winter it's a great walk; warms me up the perfect amount.  In summer it is miserable.  The sun is beating down on the Lesotho mountains by 6am and it doesn't stop until 7pm.  By time I get to where I'm going I need to fill up my water bottle and regain some energy before taking another step.

5. Mosquitoes in Lesotho? Only if you're as unlucky as me and it's summer.  I came in to Lesotho thinking that there are no mosquitoes in Lesotho.  This would have been a huge plus for me for I realized that I apparently have very delectable blood (if there were vampires in Lesotho I'm sure I would not be writing this blog post).  Unfortunately this is not completely true.  There are no malaria carrying mosquitoes in Lesotho (thank god) but if you are living near large bodies of still water (as I am since my village has two large "swimming pools") then you will have mosquitoes.  In winter, the mosquitoes are non existent but in summer they are every where.  Fun fact: mosquitoes like to hang out in outhouses so I have bites in some very interesting places.  I do have a mosquito net so when I'm in bed I'm protected; if only I could stay there all day...

But otherwise I am happy for summer.  School's starting in 2 weeks and I can't wait to finish my service with some pizazz.  So until next time, Aparna

Letsatsi

Every once in awhile I visit a friend who has running water and electricity.  We cook a fabulous meal (because that's what she does), usually lose track of time and end up staying up until 11 o'clock catching up and complaining about students, teachers, and our lives.  For those of you who read my previous post you know that my usual bedtime is 9pm.  The thing is that when I can't see how dark it is outside, I have no idea of what time it is.  My internal clock is no longer dependent on what time the clock says but rather at what position the sun is in.  So when there's a bright, electric light above my head, I have no idea what time it is.
It's not that I don't have access to a clock; I have a cell phone and a watch.  It's just that, unlike America where there's some indication of time on every wall you see, Lesotho is less concerned with the exact minutes but the overall hour or time of day.  One of my teachers even told me that Basotho have three hours in their day: morning, afternoon, and evening.  Other than school, there are no exact times for things.  You ask a taxi driver if he will be leaving soon and that translates in to sometime in the next few hours.
For me this new earthly (or shall I say solar) clock wakes me up at 5 am on the dot in summer and that in winter 6:30 is still way too early to wake up.  It tells me that it's time to cook dinner or that I should take my clothes off the line about now or that I should head home from town.  I no longer depend on my phone for the exact minute of everyday but rather the general sense of the day.
That being said when you can't see the sun things come to a stand still.  The best way to put how Basotho view the night is that "it's not that it's not safe at night but that you just don't know what can happen."  For the most part people don't wander around at night. The camp towns are deserted, and the only people walking around the villages are the drunks (always male).  One of my friends had a school event that extended in to the night.  It was too dangerous for the students to walk home with out any light so the party extended until the wee hours of dawn.  This also meant that all the teachers were chaperoning the party the whole night (needless to say my friend was not too happy to lose a whole night's sleep).  In my case my school often takes class trips and by the time we hit the road it's getting dark.  So we drop of kids on the side of the road by their village so that (hopefully) they will reach home safely.
My favorite part of the day are sun sets.  Every single one in Lesotho is gorgeous and unique.  So to end this post I wanted to share a few of my favorite sunset photos (I'm usually too lazy/cold to wake up to the sun rises).

 The first sun set I took a picture of in Lesotho.  It's a January sunset.  The sen sets behind my house so this is what my backyard looks like.

 The two sun rises I was up for.  The first one is a March sunrise and the second one is an August sunrise.

This one's a March sunset.  The corn crops were growing and were this luch shade of green.

One of my favorite sunsets I have seen in Lesotho.  It was just as the sun was setting and sky had this beautiful golden color.

Peach blossems mark the beginning of Spring here.  But they're there for a week or two and then they're gone.  But while they're here Lesotho is this beautiful pink color.

Routines

When moving to a new place people often talk about getting in to a routine.  These routines help you start feeling at home and to integrate in to your new situation.  That being said my weekly routine is mostly defined by school.
Mondays through Fridays tend to be almost exactly the same.  I wake up between 6 to 6:30 am every morning.  In the summer time this is pretty easy for right now the sun is up before 5:30 am and, because of the sheer curtains that are widely available here, it is hard to sleep in past a certain time.  In the winter this proves to be very difficult.  The sun rises around 6:30am and it is still very cold in the morning.
The first thing I do when I wake up is open my front door and get a good idea what to expect, weather wise, that day.  Lesotho is a very windy country which translates in to the weather is extremely unpredictable. Often times mornings are still and clear.  The wind usually starts to pick up in a few hours and there is always a chance of afternoon showers.  And when it rains it pours and, because this is Lesotho, when it pours it also hails.
The next item in my morning routine is using the outhouse and dumping my pee bucket.  I don't think I've mentioned this before but Basotho use a pee bucket when it's too cold/dark to go to the outhouse.  In the summer, the nights are warm and I take my headlamp (keeps you from using your hands in the outhouse) to lead the way.  But in winter, and when it rains, a pee bucket is a very convenient alternative.  I also use it as my make-shift sink when brushing my teeth, and as a drainage system when dumping the water from my bath.  I dump this water in to a hole filled with rocks that is far away from our water source.
After brushing my teeth I start making breakfast.  Oatmeal has always been my breakfast of choice even in the U.S.  Here it's nice because it's healthy, easily available, and it can cook while I'm getting other things done.  While it's cooking I can make my bed, feed my cat, pick out my outfit, get dressed, and assemble everything I need for the upcoming school day.  By that time my oatmeal is ready to be eaten.  And I can listen to the radio and figure out what is going on in the world.  By this I usually mean South Africa since I usually listen to an Africaner station based in the Free State ( the area bordering Lesotho).
My school is a 5 minute walk from my place.  I usually leave my place between 7:15 and 7:30.  I'm usually one of the first teachers there so I open the staff room and start prepping for my upcoming day.  My coworkers usually arrive closer to 7:45.  Most of them live in the camptown and commute to town on a taxi.
At 7:45 assembly starts.  Assembly is how we start and end the school day here.  Students sing a hymn, say the Lord's prayer, and teachers give any announcements such as inspirational speeches from the Principal, club meetings, or what students will be punished that day for speaking Sesotho.  Yes, all students are expected to speak English all day unless they are in Sesotho class.
I teach 18 40 minute periods a week.  Most teachers are expected to teach between 25-30 periods a week.  But I am a volunteer and I am not expected to take a full load.  That being said there are teachers in my school who teach less periods a week than I do.  The amount I teach each day varies.  On Tuesdays I teach only 1 period while on Thursdays I teach 3 double periods for each of my classes.
Our school is set up with 4 periods in the morning, a 20 minute break, 3 periods, a 1 hour lunch break, and 3 periods until the end of school.  This takes us to 4:00pm.  We have a cook at my school who cooks lunch for the students if they pay a 100 rand fee.  Before lunch was part of the school's fees but schools have had to cut fees because of a government mandate and we can no longer afford to feed the students.  We usually eat papa (the equivalent of rice in the Basotho diet made from maize) and moroho (green vegetable that can consist of cabbage, spinach, and/or, rape) or beans or samp (like papa but bigger pieces) with beans.
At 4:00 the students line up for assembly, sing, and leave school.  I then head back home.
When I head back home I take a minute to eat something and then I clean my dishes from the morning.  I pump water that I will use for a bath and to wash my dinner dishes.  I then spend my evening watching TV shows on my computer, cooking, bathing, and at 9:00pm it's candles out.  When I eat dinner depends on the season.  I hate cooking in the dark because no matter how many candles I have lit I cannot see what I am cooking or eating.  So I cook when there is still plenty of light outside.  I also have to boil water to take a bath.  I boil a large pot's worth of water and I cool it down with the rest of the water in my bucket.  The leftover water is then used for washing my dishes.
On Fridays we have a half day and end at 1:00 (right before lunch).  No food in served and students and teachers go home early.  I usually use this day to do some grocery shopping in town since I have plenty of time to get back home before dark.
On Saturdays I usually head to town again to hang out with fellow PCVs or just chill in the camptown.  Villages are quite boring and the events of the weeks tend to be funerals.  Every Saturday there is a funeral or two in the village.  So going in to town is a preferred alternative.
Sundays are dead days for me.  Basotho are very religious people so Sunday is church day for them.  This means that almost nothing is open and transportation is unreliable.  I use this as a cleaning day.  I wash my clothes, clean my house, and spend the rest of the day reading and watching stuff on my computer.
Every once in a while my weekly routine changes if I spend the weekend at another volunteer's place one weekend or I leave for the week to do things for Peace Corps but for the most part this is what my life consists of.  I can't say it's very interesting but I am enjoying it.

Aparna

The Spaceship Problem

A few weeks back I was teaching my Form B class about forces, friction in particular. Like any good teacher I gave them classwork from their textbooks to test their understanding of the subject and within a few minutes a group of students had raised their hands to inquire about the same question.

The questions went like this:

As the American space shuttle enters the Earth’s atmosphere it gets very hot. What causes the heat? (Excel in Science, Form B)

The answer to this question goes along the lines that friction force is experienced between solids and gases and friction also releases heat. The shuttle is experiencing friction force between itself and the atmosphere and heat is therefore being released. But their questions had nothing to do with the answer. Their question was, “What is a space shuttle, madam?” It’s moments like this that I want to run to Maseru (Lesotho’s capital) find the person who wrote this book, shake them by the shoulders, and ask them “What the hell were you thinking?” Am I supposed to explain to them that humans have built these fancy ships that can leave the earth? Am I supposed to tell them that humans have landed on the moon, put flags and other mementos commemorating their achievement on it? My students are stunned that it takes 15 hours in a plane to get to Lesotho. Most of them have little to no idea what lies beyond South Africa. And here I am trying to explain a space ship to them.

I have many frustrations with being a teacher here but one of my biggest complaints is trying to teach a curriculum that wasn’t written for my students. The Lesotho primary and secondary curriculum is testing based. Every few years you take a test and only if you pass can you go on to the next level. The students I teach take a 3-year cumulative test at the end of their Form C. This means that my job is to get them to pass the test. This proves to be difficult when they are supposed to know what the beach and the ocean are without ever seeing one in their life, or knowing the difference between a graduated pipette and a burette when their lab has zero equipment, or asking to solve a problem with a spaceship when they are still taught that Pluto is a planet. And have I mentioned that their textbook has almost no pictures?

Don’t get me wrong; Lesotho has some very talented people in it. I have friends who have studied in Cuba, China, Zimbabwe, England, and the U.S. Just this weekend I went to the funeral of one of the few professors in Lesotho who was also the Minister of Development. If I just look at the Peace Corps. Lesotho staff there are staff members with Master’s degrees, Ph. D’s, with various experience working with NGOs and working or studying abroad. But this is not my Lesotho. My Lesotho consists of a school where most of the students have probably never left the district, let alone the country. My Lesotho is filled with students who come to school because that’s what the government says and that’s where their friends are (and being served food is a major motivation). My Lesotho is filled with parents that have zero involvement in their student’s educations until they get their grades and start blaming the teachers for their child’s failure. My Lesotho is one where my students have limited access to TV and the little they do see consists of violent movies and music videos from South Africa and the U.S. That’s my Lesotho. It’s a Lesotho where their textbook takes zero consideration to what they have access to and what they know. Many would jump to say “Well, that’s Africa” but it’s not. That’s the world. You can find little third world countries in the U.S. where they’re learning science with out chemicals, learning math with out calculators. This isn’t just a Lesotho or Africa problem, it’s a problem that teacher’s feel across the globe. But it’s only now that I see it.

As many of you know I celebrated my one-year anniversary in Lesotho a few weeks back. With this anniversary came a batch of new volunteers and I was with them, helping with training their very first week here. One of the staff members asked them to brainstorm what they hoped to accomplish here in Lesotho. Many of them talked about improving their school’s science scores, improving the quality of education at their school, etc, etc. And as I listened to this discussion I realized how jaded I’ve become about my time here. I even told one of the volunteers from my training group “I don’t even know why I do what I do here expect that it’s what I do,” and she agreed with me. I came in to this country, in to Peace Corps, determined to be better. I would be the better science teacher; I would be hands on and all of my students would pass science with flying colors. I was going to be better than all my fellow Basotho teachers; and perhaps that’s where my folly began.

I definitely bring something to my school but it is not my superiority. Most of my teachers are graduates from the Lesotho College of Education and after talking to a teacher there I learned that they get very little background education and more teaching education. Meaning that when it comes to knowing Science I have an upper hand. But when it comes to knowing how to teach they beat me hands down. They also know the students considerably better than me. Whenever I have problems with students I ask them about it and they can usually give me some insight in to my problem. And when it comes to getting results, mine are no better than my co-workers.

With my one year anniversary came a depression consisting of questions like “What am I doing here?” or “Am I really making a difference?” and “What’s the point?” When I left the U.S. people told me that I was going to Africa to do “God’s work” and that I was “really going to make a difference” and while numerous RPCVs (returned Peace Corps Volunteers) told me just the opposite, in my head I thought “Maybe I will.” Peace Corps Lesotho has even started trying to quantify the affect education volunteers have in their schools. But can the Peace Corps experience really be quantified? The trainees asked me the same question when I was at training. My answer was that while some of it can, by comparing test scores, most of it can’t. I can’t tell you the number of Basotho who, as soon as I mention that I’m a “moitaopi oa Peace Corps,” faces light up and start telling me about their Peace Corps teacher who taught them English, or Science, or Maths. You can’t quantify that.

And so I’ve learned to grab the little golds when I can. A few weeks back one of my Form A students dropped by my house to spend a little time with me. She’s first in her class and works very hard in all her subjects. She told me, “Madam, because of you I am now good at Science. In Standard 7 (the grade before Form A) I was failing Science; I had 7%. But now I am top in my class.” And that’s what keeps me going.

A year past...

On October 14th I will celebrate my one year anniversary since stepping in Lesotho.  This day commemorates the day I reduced my life in to 2 suitcases and a camping backpack and started my "once in a lifetime journey."  It's hard to condense the emotions, the challenges, the ups and the downs, in to a few nicely worded sentences.  One thing I can say for sure is that I didn't picture life to be quite as it is right now.  When I heard I was going to Africa I imagined living among the lions and tigers with native tribes doing all those things national geographic tells us Africa is about.  No, Lesotho is definitely not the Africa the media shows us.

I never saw myself having a pet ever in my life but I have to say that it is one of the best decisions I have made here.  Life here can be very lonely especially when you are the only person like you in your village.  After spending my whole day surrounded by kids I just want to come to some peace and quite and a cat is perfect company for that.

I never imagined being able to live without running water and electricity.  I always knew it was a possibility but I was always doubtful whether I would really be able to do it.  And here I am, bucket bathing and candle lighting my days away.

I'm surprised by my ability to endure.  There are days where I have no idea what I am doing here and if I am just wasting my time trying to help out.  Sometimes I just want to pick up the phone, call Peace Corps, and tell them to take me home.  But every time I just make a packet of instant noodles (or mac n' cheese if I have cheese and milk), watch some tv on my computer, go to bed, and without doubt the next day I feel a lot better.

It's the little things that make me so happy to be in Lesotho.  Like how my favorite day of the week is Sunday where I connect my ipod to my speakers, blast my music while washing my clothes and cleaning my house, sit down with a cup of coffee as the water for my bath is boiling knowing that I have absolutely nothing to do that day but read and day dream.  Or full moon nights; I've always read in books about heroes or heroines being guided by the light of the full moon but you can't know how bright that moon really is until you blow out your candles and it still as bright as if there were stadium lights outside.

And while it's impossible to know the future I'm looking forward to my second year here.  I'm not sure what to expect now that I've been here for so long but I'm looking forward to the new challenges that come my way, knowing that I can overcome them.  I know it's not going to get any easier but I didn't join the Peace Corps to do something easy.  When it comes down to it the longer I'm here the more I know that I made the right decision to join Peace Corps.

Aparna

Happy Birthday King Letsie III

 On July 17th 2012 King Letsie III turned 49 years old.  Every year a different district hosts the king's birthday celebration and this year it was in Mohale's Hoek.  I wanted to share a few pictures I took of the celebration.  To be honest the celebration was not mind blowing but we still had a good time.

When we got there we saw these colorful streams of gas in the air.  As they came closer to the ground we saw that at the end of each one was a parachutist.

 Most of them landed in the middle of the crowd where the performances were being held but one was a little off on his aim and landed behind a mountain (I hope he made it home safe).

A few of us decided to wear our seshoeshoes though a lot of people there were just wearing casual clothes. On the left is Nancy, and on the right is Janelle (and if you can't figure out which one I am I would suggest using process of elimination).  There was a special seshoeshoe fabric and basotho blanket created for the event.  The blanket had a picture of a dog on it since that is the name of the Mohale's Hoek soccer team (unfortunately I don't have a picture of it).

A few helicopters flew by with Lesotho flags hanging from them.

After the celebration (or rather when we started getting hungry and bored) we went to the local hotel for food.  The hotel is the best place to get more "Western" styled food.  The menu includes sandwiches, burgers (they have an amazing veggie burger), pizzas (the pizzas here have no tomato sauce), and other dishes.  This is a picture with one of my friends who works at the hotel.  Mohale's Hoek's seshoeshoe color is red so everyone in the hotel was wearing a red seshoeshoe.

We had left before they served food (which was free and a major attraction for many people to join the celebration).  Unfortunately the concept of trash cans is still a developing idea in Lesotho and most of the trash from lunch ended up on the ground.  The next morning I did see people cleaning up the area but it was still a sad site to see.

Winter Blues

Snow on the mountains after a few rainy days.

A man in my village on a cold, windy day.

I take pride in saying that I am a Cali girl. I grew up in an area where winters were extremely mild and you went on vacation to see the snow. So when Peace Corps told me in early December 2010 that I would be going to Africa I told myself, okay, yeah, this is perfect. Little did I know that they would be sending me to Lesotho one of the few (and perhaps only) African countries that experiences an actual Winter.

Snowy paw print

A lot of my friends and family ask me how cold it is in Lesotho at the moment and the honest truth is that I have no idea. The only weather I can find for Lesotho is for Maseru which is one of the lowest points in the country. This means that it’s probably also the warmest. Right now Maseru the high for is about 64 F (18 C) and at night 29 F (-2 C).  Where I live, it’s probably a few degrees cooler. That being said I cannot describe the winter I am experiencing using empirical data but rather my own observations. For the most part winters are supposed to be sunny with clear skies. I was told that Summer is the rainy season. This means that nights are unbearably cold and no matter how many layers you wear you are still freezing. So how does one sleep at this temperature? I personally layer my clothing and then layer my blankets. At the moment I wear thermal underwear, night pants and a night shirt, a sweatshirt with a hood, a thick winter scarf, and two pairs of wool socks. On top of that I have two flat sheets, a comforter, and a blanket on my bed. And when I sleep I tuck my head under the covers and assume a fetal position. It’s cold.

A rare snowy day in the lowlands

But as soon as the sun comes out the temperature rises considerably and the day is bearable.  I still have to layer to stay warm but I don't have to wear a heavy jacket.  But if it is cloudy or raining the days are extremely cold and even a warm jacket won't keep you warm.  You just have to grin and bear it.  Most Basotho may light a fire outside or have a gas heater inside the house.  Unfortunately gas heaters are only useful in small spaces.  Not to mention the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning.  Therefore I only use them when I'm taking a bath.

Some local village girls on a warmer winter day

Usually it doesn't snow in the lowlands, just rain.  After a few days of rain (in Lesotho it never rains just one day) the mountains are covered in snow.  It's quite a site.  But a few weeks back the temperatures dropped dramatically and we had snow everywhere.  I guess anything is possible in Africa.
Now I was in Mozambique last week and the “Winter” there was like a Californian Summer. I can’t imagine what Summer is like. When I was there it seemed like Mozambique is one of those typical African countries you see on TV: flat savannahs that last for kilometers, women wearing typical African fabrics, and if I haven’t already mentioned it, very, very, hot.

My host brother going out to herd his sheep.

In those ways Lesotho is quite different from Mozambique (not to mention the fact that all Mozambiquens speak Portuguese) but Basotho have adapted to this atypical African climate. Most Basotho use blankets to stay warm and depending on who they are and what they are doing there are many different ways to wear your blanket.  Men will usually wear it around their shoulders, and women will usually wrap the blanket around their waists.  Actually Basotho women wear blankets all year around.  When they are pregnant they wear a blanket around their belly to keep the baby warm.  Basotho women even use blankets to carry their babies.  They place the baby on their back and wrap the blanket around themselves and the baby and use a pin to secure it.

Local village girl wrapped in a warm blanket.

My coworkers with their warm jackets and blankets around their waists.

A former volunteer told me that the hardest thing about winter isn't that it's cold but that you can't get away from the cold.  With no concept of central heating this is very true.  Therefore unlike Americans Basotho never remove their layers when they are inside because it's still very cold.

A rondaval after a day of snow.

Traditionally Basotho used to live in houses with thatched roofs.  These houses are great insulators and are meant to keep the house cool during the summer and warm during the winter.  I had one during training so I can attest to the keeping cool part.  But from what my friends tell me about winter the houses are not that affective.  They all have very high roofs which means that when you do use a heater the heat rises and at the end it isn't much warmer.  But I'm sure it's better than nothing.
In my opinion winter has not been too bad.  Maybe it's my positive attitude or the fact that this winter has been milder then the last few but I have to say that I am proud to say that I have survived a Lesotho winter.  I can't say I'm ready to face the east coast or a European winter just yet but I'll take it one step at a time.