So being in Lesotho, I had the opportunity to attend two world cup matches. I have posted pictures on my shutterfly. I once again messed up the address. It is adamlesotho.shutterfly.com. That is the correct address. Please disregard the first two.
The first game we saw was Greece versus Nigeria in Bloemfontein (shortened to Bloom). This is a small city only an hour and a half from the border of Lesotho. We took a bus from the border, but before getting on the bus we had to take a taxi from the boarder to the bus. There happened to be a few cops in a truck present when we crossed the border. They offered to give us a lift to bus! So the pics of me in the back of a police truck were of us getting a ride…I swear I didn’t do anything wrong. My favorite part of the city is the cooling towers of a coal power plant (I think it is no longer operational, but I could be wrong). The cooling towers are painted with designs. They are very pretty. That coupled with my power engineering background makes them special to me.
We arrived in Bloom the day of the game. I think Bloom has a fair amount to do, such as a zoo (but I hate zoos because the animals look really sad), but we didn’t have a lot of time so we went to two malls. Ha. The first mall was called Mimosa mall and OH BOY was it shiny. I am not used to such cleanliness and bright lights. It was a sensory overload. We perused bookstores, clothing stores, and the food court. The highlight of this mall was the muffins. I know this is quite a bold statement, but I will say that the chocolate chip muffin I consumed was the best muffin of my life. It was huge and warm and fluffy. It came with a side of butter, jelly, and cheese (yes cheese…I’m not sure why). After the bliss of muffins, we walked to the waterfront mall, which was situated close to the stadium. I figured we would be able to buy vuvuzelas (those annoying horn things you hear on tv that sound like bees) there, but apparently everyone and their mothers had sold out of them! I volunteered to run back to mall number one and bought four from guys selling them illegally on the street (we saw these same guys being chased away by the cops later, turns out you can’t sell merchandise within so many kms of the stadium). I ran back and met up with my group. They came bearing face paint! We entered the stadium two hours early, expecting security and lines to be long. It took us about 30 seconds to get in. There is tighter security at White Sox games. Sooo with our ample time, we drank Budweiser (go America!), painted our faces and practiced using the vuvuzelas (They are harder than they look…the key is to motorboat those things!). We found our seats which were on the first level and only about 12 rows up. I rooted for Greece while my friends rooted for Nigeria. The stands were not filled. I find this a bit embarrassing. This is supposed to be the biggest sporting event in the world and they can’t sell tickets? I know South Africa has been praised for how they have handled the world cup, but after the hassle we went through with tickets and the fact that there were empty seats gives me the opinion that South Africa should not hold this major of an event for a long time.
After 90 mins of excitement and much vuvuzela blowing, Greece won their first ever world cup match! I was pumped. We walked to a resturaunt where I ate the greatest burger of my time in Africa. Then, influenced by a drink or four, we thought it wise to go to McDonalds and eat yet another burger (I got the mega mac…4 patties…yes I regretted this the next day). We then returned to the hostel where I got to take a shower! It’s great to have running water. I find it interesting that the actual game part of this trip excited me less than the shiny mall and many food options.
The second game was slotted to be the winner of the US/England group to play the runner up of the Ghana/Germany group. I watched the US/Algeria game with great excitement. I was pretty distraught, thinking there might be a chance we see Slovenia, but thanks to Landon Donavon in stoppage time, we were off to see the US!
We took a similar trip to Bloom (minus the police escort) where we had a rental car waiting for us. We drove from Bloom to Rustenburg in a few hours. We stopped for food and bathroom breaks (turns out gas stations are just as exciting as malls). Along the way we listened to music, played car games, decorated ties and vuvuzelas, and shared in the general excitement of getting to see the US. We got to Johannesburg and promptly got lost. The signage was terrible! We got through some of the city and my friend (the only one who knows how to drive stick) was feeling sick. I had expressed interest in learning so she put me behind the wheel. What a scary experience. I stalled the car at least a dozen times and three times pulling out of the gas station where we switched. I did have a few good accelerations and once I got going it was easy. Stop signs have never been so scary. We did make it however and now I have a new desire to learn stick! We got dinner that night at yet another shiny mall then rested for the big game the next day.
We woke up the next morning nice and warm (it’s really cold in Lesotho at the moment) and proceeded again to the shiny mall where we found the same place with the muffins (I guess it’s a chain). After stuffing ourselves with muffins, we went in search for America decorations for the game. My friend really wanted to wear a flag. There was one store that sold flags, but they were out of US ones. I spied a US flag in the window of a bakery. I smoothly greeted the owner and said, “I have a bit of a weird question, is there any way you could sell us your flag?” I think she thought I was a bit nuts, but agreed to swap for a different flag if we were willing to take the US flag down and put the other one up. So we bought an Argentina flag and switched them, earning us a cape! We also bought a fair amount of paint…
We then returned to the hostel and commenced decorating ourselves. It took several hours that is all I will say. It is a bit of a travesty that we did not wind up on tv. If you check shutterfly, you will understand. We drove to the game, parked, and took the shuttle to the stadium. There were a few England fans on the shuttle who gave us grief. I would have gotten mad, but I was too excited about the game.
I imagine our walk to the stadium is how celebrities feel walking down the red carpet. Everyone gaped at us and took dozens of pictures. Everyone wanted their pictures with us! I think part of it was amazement at how we looked and part of it was amazement that I wasn’t wearing a shirt in pretty dang cold weather. It was nice talking to other Americans as well. The game was one of the most invested I have ever been at a live sporting event (save maybe Stagg bball games haha). I lost my voice during the first half. When Ghana scored the first goal only a few minutes in, I felt like I had been punched in the chest. I was stressed the entire game. When Donavon scored his PK, I felt like I could never be happier. Waiting for the start of overtime was like waiting for the results of an HIV test (maybe that’s a bad analogy). When the final whistle blew, I was devastated, not to mention freezing and a bit intoxicated after a few beers to help keep me warm. We drove to find dinner. We stopped at a place that had chicken and I got a whole chicken, four dinner rolls, fries, and a 2 liter of coke. My rationale was that I could eat some the next day, which I did. The next day, we woke up way too early, hit the road, and made it back to Lesotho. I learned something from this trip. And that is that I really like America. It took being away from it to really appreciate how awesome it is. I think my extreme disappointment at our loss is really telling to my newfound pride in my country.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Feel it...it is heeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaa
Oh I also wanted to say that I goofed on my last post, the picture site is www.adamlesotho.blogspot.com. There was an error on the last post. Email me for the password! And the title is the slogan here for the world cup! Pretty exciting, but I am really tired of people saying feel it, it is here.
The Shortest distance between two points in Lesotho is with 20 other people and a few chickens
So as promised, the blog is being put to use more often! I am currently sitting in my rondeval. It is super super warm in my house compared to the outside. I am guessing it is about 40 degrees out but i am comfortable in a tshirt. My house is made of mud and poop (i think poop at least, it would be fitting given my child like sense of humor) with a thatched roof. i lucked out. some volunteers have tin roofs that are really cold. I was sitting here trying to think of what aspect of my life to describe here and I settled on transportation.
So the majority of people here cannot drive and do not own cars. This makes public transportation very popular. Public transport consists of "taxis." These are essentially 15 passenger vans which usually carry approx 20 people. They are very cramped. We have a competition to see who can ride in a taxi with the most people. But along with people, much luggage is shoved into these taxis. The most popular luggage items are giant bags of "ma-simba" (which are snacks that have been described as flavored packing peanuts), bags of maize meal, and cases of beer that are delivered to bars along the ride. I have ridden with kids on my lap, baby chickens clucking next to me, and even sometimes standing hunched over a row of people. One volunteer said she rode a taxi with a sheep tied up in the front.
There are two workers on the taxi, a driver and conductor. The driver drives obviously. The conductor is responsible for the opening the door (which is sometimes much harder than you would think because the taxis are not in the best shape...i have been on taxis when they get flat tires several times), collecting money, and communicating with passengers.
To get a taxi in a main town, you go to the "taxi rank" or a place where the taxis gather to leave. The taxis will sit and wait until they are full until they leave. I once waited three hours for a taxi to my site. This is a constant source of frustration because many times taxis could leave and pick up people on the way. This would make more trips for the taxis and probably more money. Grr. Haha. This is the way it has been done forever so it is not always questioned (not the only thing thats not always questioned in Lesotho).
The taxi ranks are indescribable. There are hoardes of people going to and waiting for taxis. There are many stands and shacks with people selling fruit, vegetables, socks, drinks, and much much more. The first time we were taken around the taxi rank in maseru (the capital), I was terrified. I now find the taxi ranks very entertaining. The majority of people here are extremely friendly and it is fun talking to conductors and people in the ranks. They are usually very curious about me and where I come from. I am friendly with the drivers and conductors of the taxis that go to my site. It is also fun to see what people are selling. In general, these areas are a bit dirty (trash collection doesn't exist here) and taxis aren't in the best shape because the roads here are in bad shape. The taxi to my village takes about 45 mins to an hour. 15 mins is on a paved road and the other 30-45 mins are on a rocky dirt road where the taxi averages only a few mph. And I live in the foothills, so the taxi doesn't have to go up mountains on this poor road.
Another thing about the taxis is that the usually play very loud music. There are a few staples of the music selections of the taxis. One is gospel. I like the gospel a lot. Much of Lesotho is Christian. Another is house music, but it is pretty low quality house. It is more like the same beat over and over and over again. Not too exciting. They occasionally play pop music from the States but a bit behind I think. The last type is called Famu. This music is unlike anything I had heard before coming to Lesotho. I am told it is like Basotho gangster rap. There is usually an accordian and a guy mumbling extremely quickly. I hated it at first, but it grows on me every taxi ride. I am excited to have people in the US listen to it.
Ok! So that's the gist of transport. It is a bit frustrating because it takes a long time for taxis to fill and they stop along the way to the final destination to pick up and let off passengers. This makes trips very long. Trips take 2 to 3 times as long as with a private vehicle at times. This is not a culture of punctuality. Haha. We went on a school trip and told the kids to arrive at 5am when we planned to leave at 7am.
until next time...lerato (love) from Lesotho
Adam
So the majority of people here cannot drive and do not own cars. This makes public transportation very popular. Public transport consists of "taxis." These are essentially 15 passenger vans which usually carry approx 20 people. They are very cramped. We have a competition to see who can ride in a taxi with the most people. But along with people, much luggage is shoved into these taxis. The most popular luggage items are giant bags of "ma-simba" (which are snacks that have been described as flavored packing peanuts), bags of maize meal, and cases of beer that are delivered to bars along the ride. I have ridden with kids on my lap, baby chickens clucking next to me, and even sometimes standing hunched over a row of people. One volunteer said she rode a taxi with a sheep tied up in the front.
There are two workers on the taxi, a driver and conductor. The driver drives obviously. The conductor is responsible for the opening the door (which is sometimes much harder than you would think because the taxis are not in the best shape...i have been on taxis when they get flat tires several times), collecting money, and communicating with passengers.
To get a taxi in a main town, you go to the "taxi rank" or a place where the taxis gather to leave. The taxis will sit and wait until they are full until they leave. I once waited three hours for a taxi to my site. This is a constant source of frustration because many times taxis could leave and pick up people on the way. This would make more trips for the taxis and probably more money. Grr. Haha. This is the way it has been done forever so it is not always questioned (not the only thing thats not always questioned in Lesotho).
The taxi ranks are indescribable. There are hoardes of people going to and waiting for taxis. There are many stands and shacks with people selling fruit, vegetables, socks, drinks, and much much more. The first time we were taken around the taxi rank in maseru (the capital), I was terrified. I now find the taxi ranks very entertaining. The majority of people here are extremely friendly and it is fun talking to conductors and people in the ranks. They are usually very curious about me and where I come from. I am friendly with the drivers and conductors of the taxis that go to my site. It is also fun to see what people are selling. In general, these areas are a bit dirty (trash collection doesn't exist here) and taxis aren't in the best shape because the roads here are in bad shape. The taxi to my village takes about 45 mins to an hour. 15 mins is on a paved road and the other 30-45 mins are on a rocky dirt road where the taxi averages only a few mph. And I live in the foothills, so the taxi doesn't have to go up mountains on this poor road.
Another thing about the taxis is that the usually play very loud music. There are a few staples of the music selections of the taxis. One is gospel. I like the gospel a lot. Much of Lesotho is Christian. Another is house music, but it is pretty low quality house. It is more like the same beat over and over and over again. Not too exciting. They occasionally play pop music from the States but a bit behind I think. The last type is called Famu. This music is unlike anything I had heard before coming to Lesotho. I am told it is like Basotho gangster rap. There is usually an accordian and a guy mumbling extremely quickly. I hated it at first, but it grows on me every taxi ride. I am excited to have people in the US listen to it.
Ok! So that's the gist of transport. It is a bit frustrating because it takes a long time for taxis to fill and they stop along the way to the final destination to pick up and let off passengers. This makes trips very long. Trips take 2 to 3 times as long as with a private vehicle at times. This is not a culture of punctuality. Haha. We went on a school trip and told the kids to arrive at 5am when we planned to leave at 7am.
until next time...lerato (love) from Lesotho
Adam
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Overdue is an understatement
Ok, so I bet a lot of you have thought that I was giving up on the blog thing. I know I have been more than horrendous about updating. So I am making a mid year resolution to be better at the blog. It feels like winter now here in Lesotho, so it is fitting I make this resolution. My excuse is going to be adjusting, though thats kinda bs. Ha. But I do promise more interesting things to come in the future.
So I have not had a post in months...how to sum up a few months in a short time? At this point we are just finishing mid year exams. My maths exams are not going so well. I think my students English level is partly to blame. I have to work on more word problems next semester. I am getting much more comfortable in the classroom. The kids are used to me and can even understand that impossible American accent of mine. It is getting cold. Most of the teachers sit by the window or outside in the sun while grading papers. It is not that cold (maybe 40s at the coldest so far?) but there is no escape from it. buildings arent heated, so it is cold all the time. it hasnt bothered me that much, thanks to the members of my college apt, 41 os. we kept the house quite cold to save on heat and even refused to turn on the heat until november one year. who would have thought that would prep me for the peace corps?
highlights to this point...teaching life skills. this is just like health in the us, but is really necessary here because lesotho has the 3rd highest HIV rate in the world. the kids are super super curious. they ask all sorts of questions and it is fun to answer. tho i know that there is a good chance many of my kids may have HIV, so that makes it a bit depressing. i gave each class a jar to write questions in to keep them anonymous. question jar sir! that is their favorite phrase. school here is very different than the us, but there are many similarities. for example, kids like school for the same reasons us kids like school, to hang out with friends and play or learn what they are interested in. attendance and homework are not as strict however. i consistently have a few kids missing each day. also homework is not done at home, but during study time for 40 mins a day. this makes it difficult to prepare kids for exams that would be difficult for many kids in the us. also kids have long walks to school and chores to complete at home. i run in my village and consistently pass one of my students fetching his cows from the mountain to take them back to his property. running is a fun way to get myself out in village. many people stop to talk to me or even run with me.
another highlight was a trip i took with some other volunteers. we went to umzumbe, which is about an hour south of durban. i have now touched three oceans! it was a magical few days on the beach, relaxing at our hostel in the jungle, and hiking the orbi gorge. If you youtube search orbi gorge swing, you can see what we did.
looking ahead, school is almost out so i will be working on secondary projects. the two i am working on are a library at my school (how to get it up and running) and getting a fence for an orphan garden in my community. they grow and sell veggies to raise money to buy basic things for orphans. it is a great organization. my friend eric also had the idea of building playgrounds and putting HIV/AIDS info on the structures. if anyone has any idea how to build cheap playground equipment easily, let me know.haha.
so i know there are more stories and i promise to put them up as they happen. i am sorry for the lack of updates. visit www.adamslesotho.shutterfly.com to see pics. email me if you want the password, not that there are bad pics up, i just thought a password would be a good thing.
ok! until next time...thanks for your patience.
Adam 'Stebo' Santos
So I have not had a post in months...how to sum up a few months in a short time? At this point we are just finishing mid year exams. My maths exams are not going so well. I think my students English level is partly to blame. I have to work on more word problems next semester. I am getting much more comfortable in the classroom. The kids are used to me and can even understand that impossible American accent of mine. It is getting cold. Most of the teachers sit by the window or outside in the sun while grading papers. It is not that cold (maybe 40s at the coldest so far?) but there is no escape from it. buildings arent heated, so it is cold all the time. it hasnt bothered me that much, thanks to the members of my college apt, 41 os. we kept the house quite cold to save on heat and even refused to turn on the heat until november one year. who would have thought that would prep me for the peace corps?
highlights to this point...teaching life skills. this is just like health in the us, but is really necessary here because lesotho has the 3rd highest HIV rate in the world. the kids are super super curious. they ask all sorts of questions and it is fun to answer. tho i know that there is a good chance many of my kids may have HIV, so that makes it a bit depressing. i gave each class a jar to write questions in to keep them anonymous. question jar sir! that is their favorite phrase. school here is very different than the us, but there are many similarities. for example, kids like school for the same reasons us kids like school, to hang out with friends and play or learn what they are interested in. attendance and homework are not as strict however. i consistently have a few kids missing each day. also homework is not done at home, but during study time for 40 mins a day. this makes it difficult to prepare kids for exams that would be difficult for many kids in the us. also kids have long walks to school and chores to complete at home. i run in my village and consistently pass one of my students fetching his cows from the mountain to take them back to his property. running is a fun way to get myself out in village. many people stop to talk to me or even run with me.
another highlight was a trip i took with some other volunteers. we went to umzumbe, which is about an hour south of durban. i have now touched three oceans! it was a magical few days on the beach, relaxing at our hostel in the jungle, and hiking the orbi gorge. If you youtube search orbi gorge swing, you can see what we did.
looking ahead, school is almost out so i will be working on secondary projects. the two i am working on are a library at my school (how to get it up and running) and getting a fence for an orphan garden in my community. they grow and sell veggies to raise money to buy basic things for orphans. it is a great organization. my friend eric also had the idea of building playgrounds and putting HIV/AIDS info on the structures. if anyone has any idea how to build cheap playground equipment easily, let me know.haha.
so i know there are more stories and i promise to put them up as they happen. i am sorry for the lack of updates. visit www.adamslesotho.shutterfly.com to see pics. email me if you want the password, not that there are bad pics up, i just thought a password would be a good thing.
ok! until next time...thanks for your patience.
Adam 'Stebo' Santos
Saturday, January 16, 2010
butha buthe here i come
Hey folks! I know it has been quite some time since my last post. I am currently sitting in my rondevel which is a round house with a thatched roof that i will call home for the next two years writing this message out on my phone. Now that i am a bit more organized i can take a breath and recount the last few weeks. To end our community stay we were thrown a feast and i got to give a speech in sesotho. That was difficult because my language level is quite low. There was a lot of food and singing and dancing. It was sad leaving the village that had treated us so well. We spent the next few weeks at the training center where we had a few sessions but mostly we hung out. There was a delicious christmas dinner prepared by us. There was not that much to do since many people were not working due to the holidays. The highlights of the weeks at the training center were playing volleyball, exchanging music, walking around town, dance parties, yoga, and just getting to know many of my fellow education volunteers. We also had to pass a language test. Everyone passed! After this test i was chosen to give a speech in english at our swearing in ceremony. Much of my time was spent writing that speech. And although i sort of copied my speech from phil and michelle's wedding this summer i think it still went well. At least it was in english and not sesotho (i pity my friend kimiko who had that duty). The ceremony was very nice and it feels good to officially be a volunteer! I have been at my site for a week now and have been talking to as many people as i can. I live with a host ntate which means father. School starts monday and i will teach three maths (yes there is an s on the end as they call it maths here) and one science class. I think my classes will be around fifty students per class. That is all that i can think to say at this point about what has happened. I am eager to start teaching finally. Also i have a new address! It is adam santos pcv, qholaqhoe high school, po box 30, butha buthe 400, lesotho, southern africa. Also i was told that if you are to send a package to be vague on the customs form. Write books or education supplies on it and it will have less of a chance of getting broken into. Though most things seem to have made it ok so far. I love getting newspaper clippings, magazines, and chocolate candy hint hint. Also pictures to hang on my wall are amazing. Thanks to all that i have received so far. Up to this point i am really enjoying myself. There have been some happy times and sad times though i feel my overall experience has been a positive one. I have grown and matured immensely and i hope i can make an impact on the people of my town like i have already been impacted. That being said i do miss friends and family very much. I am thinking of you often. Thanks for all of your love and support. Until next time. Adam
Saturday, December 5, 2009
HEEEEYYYYYYYY HEY...
So i know it has been almost a month! Crazy! I feel like it has been almost a year...the plane ride took many many hours but i could watch a lot of movies whenever i wanted!! all trips should be so awesome. anyway, we were picked up at the airport and driven to the peace corps training center in the capital city of maseru. my first cultural experience occured when i tried to get into the "passenger side" of the car. the driver looked at me and laughed. apparently they drive on the left side of the road. welcome to lesotho. for the next two weeks or so we were locked tight in the training center because the crime in maseru is a bit high and we had no language training at that point. it felt a lot like summer camp because we had many activities planned showing up cultural norms, language classes, how to teach, etc. we stayed in bunk beds and ate in a mess hall. a few of us got up early some mornings and went for a mile loop that was preapproved as safe. the dogs here are not like the dogs in america, they are used mainly for protection. many times running up a hill a group of dogs would charge at us barking. we had to act like we would throw rocks at them to scare them off. the third weekend or so we went on a site visit to a volunteer already in country. it was a totally different place, a much smaller village and the mountains! woah boy! it is gorgeous in this country. we also had to take public transportation. the bus stop is an overwhelming place with multiple "terminals" or groups of buses and taxis and people everywhere all looking at you because we look deer in headlights. there are stands every few feet of people selling everything from phone minutes to chicken feet to soccer jerseys. the next part of the training is taking place in a village half an hour from the capital city. i am living with a host family and teaching at a high school near by. there are 14 trainees in the same village. the village is also very pretty as i live almost half way up the mountain. one of my favorite activities was climbing the mountain and seeing all the way to south africa! my host family and community are soooo nice. my me (mother) talks sesotho very fast to me and i give her a lot of blank looks sometimes because i cannot keep up with her. my language skills are getting better, but very slowly. i really enjoy hanging out with my host sister who is going into 5th grade. she is very sweet and we play lots of crazy eights. the school system is quite different here...kids are taught more to memorize things rather than apply them. i will be here for two more weeks (cooking for myself! up to today my host family has been feeding me mountians of food). at that point we will return to the training site until the first week of january when we will be shipped off to our permanent sites. i have a cell phone and it has internet (maybe i can blog from it? im not sure i havent figured it all out yet) but i cant get on gmail because the phones security isnt good enough or something like that. i can get on facebook however!!!! please send me facebook messages! i can respond to them! w00t! i miss and love you all and think about you all the time. until next time...
Adam or
Teboho (tay boo ho) Mojaki (My Sesotho Name)
(The kids I have been teaching love it when i use my sesotho name haha)
So i know it has been almost a month! Crazy! I feel like it has been almost a year...the plane ride took many many hours but i could watch a lot of movies whenever i wanted!! all trips should be so awesome. anyway, we were picked up at the airport and driven to the peace corps training center in the capital city of maseru. my first cultural experience occured when i tried to get into the "passenger side" of the car. the driver looked at me and laughed. apparently they drive on the left side of the road. welcome to lesotho. for the next two weeks or so we were locked tight in the training center because the crime in maseru is a bit high and we had no language training at that point. it felt a lot like summer camp because we had many activities planned showing up cultural norms, language classes, how to teach, etc. we stayed in bunk beds and ate in a mess hall. a few of us got up early some mornings and went for a mile loop that was preapproved as safe. the dogs here are not like the dogs in america, they are used mainly for protection. many times running up a hill a group of dogs would charge at us barking. we had to act like we would throw rocks at them to scare them off. the third weekend or so we went on a site visit to a volunteer already in country. it was a totally different place, a much smaller village and the mountains! woah boy! it is gorgeous in this country. we also had to take public transportation. the bus stop is an overwhelming place with multiple "terminals" or groups of buses and taxis and people everywhere all looking at you because we look deer in headlights. there are stands every few feet of people selling everything from phone minutes to chicken feet to soccer jerseys. the next part of the training is taking place in a village half an hour from the capital city. i am living with a host family and teaching at a high school near by. there are 14 trainees in the same village. the village is also very pretty as i live almost half way up the mountain. one of my favorite activities was climbing the mountain and seeing all the way to south africa! my host family and community are soooo nice. my me (mother) talks sesotho very fast to me and i give her a lot of blank looks sometimes because i cannot keep up with her. my language skills are getting better, but very slowly. i really enjoy hanging out with my host sister who is going into 5th grade. she is very sweet and we play lots of crazy eights. the school system is quite different here...kids are taught more to memorize things rather than apply them. i will be here for two more weeks (cooking for myself! up to today my host family has been feeding me mountians of food). at that point we will return to the training site until the first week of january when we will be shipped off to our permanent sites. i have a cell phone and it has internet (maybe i can blog from it? im not sure i havent figured it all out yet) but i cant get on gmail because the phones security isnt good enough or something like that. i can get on facebook however!!!! please send me facebook messages! i can respond to them! w00t! i miss and love you all and think about you all the time. until next time...
Adam or
Teboho (tay boo ho) Mojaki (My Sesotho Name)
(The kids I have been teaching love it when i use my sesotho name haha)
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Setting things up...
So I am gearing up to start a two year adventure/teaching excursion in Lesotho. So if you are like me, you may have to wikipedia Lesotho (pronounced La Soo Too(hopefully the blog title makes sense now) ). I'll save you the trouble by saying it's that small country that is landlocked on all sides by South Africa, it's in the mountains, and it exports lots of water. Anywho, I'll be updating the blog as often as I can obtain internet access with thoughts and experiences. Email may be slow, but feel free to send me emails and I will try to return them as soon as I can (I probably won't have frequent internet access). Or if you want to communicate via newman and send me a letter or even a package, you can mail me things at
Adam Santos, PCV
U.S. Peace Corps
P.O. Box 554
Maseru, 100
LESOTHO
Thanks to all for love and support!
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