Friday, November 28, 2008

Site Visit

Monday through Wednesday I went on a site visit to get a better idea of what my day to day will be like as a volunteer. Ellen, Ro and I were traveling to Thaba Tseka with Rebecca and Victoria, two volunteers who live there. Thaba Tseka is the camp town (district capitol) within the district of the same name. We got to the bus ranks about an hour before the bus was slated to leave, and were repeatedly solicited to buy anything from newspapers, prepared food, knick-knacks to bread. Rebecca got some delicious flat bread that was passed around.

Leaving the bus ranks took about 20 minutes, moving a few feet at a time while people walked about in front of the bus and we squeezed through very narrow canals of the market streets. Finally we were freed and the sprawling city of concrete block homes, street side vendors and honking taxies and the landscape quickly changed to the plowed fields of the lowlands and foothills. Uniformed students were walking along the road on their way to exams. The transition to the mountains came quickly, then progressed slowed as the bus crawled up the ridge. Once on the top of the first pass the scenery opened up to reveal the expanses of mountain ridges that ran like dulled, serrated knife edges. The mountains looked tired, beaten down by erosion and time. There wasn’t the jaggedness or Goliaths of the Cascades, but instead a greener, but similarly bald, amplified version of the Santa Monica Mountains, stacked on ridge behind the other as far as you could see.

When the terrain allowed and water existed, a small village would pop up with its terraced fields and herd boys, in the traditional goulashes, diaper like garment, and wool blanket pinned around his shoulders, standing watch near small flocks of sheep or herds of cows. Eventually we made it to the Katse dam, which was just visible from the road and finally to the one and only pit stop about 3 hours into the trip. The bus pulled up next to some women selling various fare, including one old woman who had a large Tupperware bowl full of various goat parts. She would intermittently pull back the plastic bag that covered the bowl, pick up a fork and prod the goat’s decapitated head a bit, then covered the bowl again. The next hour of the trip was on the portion of the road that was unpaved, but wasn’t so bad because the bus was one of the new ones and had a fairly plush ride.

Finally we made it to Thaba Tseka, which sits on a mountainside above a river gorge. Trees are scarce and the wind can really whip across the bald landscape. We made our way down to Victoria’s rondeval. All of her stuff was strewn around the yard. Her family had apparently cleaned and bug bombed her rondeval because she had had bugs. We helped move stuff back in the left her and Ro to finish putting stuff away while Ellen, Rebecca and I went up to Rebecca’s rondeval to drop our stuff off. We took a small tour of the town, then went and talked to another PCV, Sam, who works in Thaba Tseka also.

That night everybody convened back at Rebecca’s to make burritos. Sam made tortillas while Rebecca sauted some veggies, made some rice and grated cheese that had been brought with us from Maseru. The burritos were delicious, and we were later treated to a light show. Stars were laid out like a tapestry above us and along the far ridge it looked like an Olympic Shock and Awe campaign was being waged. The clouds above the ridge lit up as lightening struck incessantly for a few hours. It was amazing.

Tuesday Ellen and I went with Rebecca to visit her school, a 45 minute walk away, through some fields and across a grass runway that appeared to end on a cliff. We got there about 10 minutes before she expected to have to invigilate (proctor) a test, to find out that the test time had been moved up an hour and nobody had told her. Apparently she is rarely informed of schedule changes like this. She went to invigilate and Ellen and I did our best to solve the maths test that she was going to have to mark later. We scored about an 85 on it I think. Uh oh, I’m going to have to go do some review on high school maths.

We went to meet some of Rebeccas students outside, only to find out that some of them were collecting rocks. When asked why, they said because somebody told them to. Others were digging holes in preparation for planting trees. Well, there was only one shovel, so one student was digging holes while the others watched.

We walked back over to Rebeccas and I wasn’t feeling well so I took a nap, while Ro, Ellen and Victoria went on an adventure hike to the next town over in order to get a signature for something or the other. When I woke up I helped mark Rebeccas exams, on which the average score was optimistically somewhere in the 40’s.

The trip back was uneventful, but long due to the old, tired bus we had. The training center was very exciting as everybody trickled in from their various site visits and the story telling began. I wasn’t feeling too hot, so I went to bed early. Thursday I had a temperature of 102, which subsided slowly as the day wore on. Unfortunately I was stuck at the training center while everybody else went to the Ambassador’s house to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal. I’m feeling better, and will hopefully be back to 100% before Saturday, as we are heading out to do our Community Based Training, which means we will be living in a village doing practice teaching and continuing our training. I won’t have internet access during that time, but will hopefully get to send emails and such on the weekends.

I will be getting a cell phone after Christmas and will send out more details when that’s available. I hope everybody is well at home.

Friday, November 21, 2008

The 4+1 Odyssey

Lumela (dumela)(Hello),

So we're getting into a rhythm here in Maseru. Training continues to be extremely busy, breakfast is at 7, we have 2 2-hour sessions in the morning, 2 1.5-hour sessions in the afternoon and usually another hour-long session in the evening. Everybody is usually exhausted after that.

Our language lesson yesterday was on using public transportation here. It concluded with a trip to the Shoprite (the big grocery store here that is comparable to a mini-Super WalMart (in that it isn't just groceries), taxi ranks and markets. We walked from our training center across the bridge to get to Kingsway, which is the major thorofare through town. Mild pandemoneum took place as a 4+1 was hailed (4 people plus 1 driver, quite clever), which resulted in 6-8 other 4+1's careening directly towards us. They pulled up headfirst into the curb while we tried to figure out who was going in what car. Kaitlen and I got into a 4+1 with 'M'e Malineo at which point 'M'e Malineo (the teacher) very quickly told the driver that were students and that we need to practice our Sesotho (I assume, I obviously couldn't understand what was going on). We backed out, then pulled forward, then backed out, then pulled forward, eventually releasing ourselves from the grip of the surrounding 4+1's and coninued along our way down Kingsway. The 4+1 driver, not to waste space, proceded to stop at every taxi stop, honk and yell at the standersby, then begin to move again without looking forward. I had frequent visions of pedestrian slayings.

I made a feable attempt to tell the driver where we wanted to get out, ask how much it would cost, and eventually ask the name of the lady who somehow shimmied her 240 lb frame next to Kaitlen and me in the back of a sub-compact 4+1. She said her name was Florence.

Finally we got out of the 4+1 and the driver proceeded to scurry about, petitioning the other drivers for change. Once I had my 2 rand of change (20 cents), I turned around to discover the huge market behind me. It was exactly what you would envision an African market to be, many stalls lined up with all kinds of wares and foods being sold. 'M'e Malineo took great care to hold my hand as we crossed the street and was even more vigilant for my safety after one lady bumped into me with her truck, yelling "Sorry Ntate" (sorry Mr.). We were taken to see the Shoprite (there is another one a 5 minute walk from the Peace Corps Training Center), the taxi ranks (VW bus type of rigs that travel all over Lesotho), the Sprinter ranks (bigger taxis), the local 4+1 ranks and finally, and most gloriously, a Kentucky Fried Chicken. It wasn't nearly as out of place as I thought it'd be.

The return trip was exceedingly entertaining as I sat with 'M'e Malineo in the back of the taxi (this is the VW Bus type) while Kaitlen was a couple rows ahead. 'M'e Malineo began to prompt the driver, as well as helper boy in the back who solicited other riders while standing halfway outside of the vehicle, to ask her questions in Sesotho. He asked some basic questions, which Kaitlen nailed, then proceeded to speak much more quickly. Kaitlen responded with an indignent, "I don't know anything else!". He turned and asked me the same question, 'M'e Malineo whispered the question much more slowly and Americanized in my ear, and I blurted out a reply with a large smile on my face and unfounded confidence in my language abilities.

Today we had the pleasure of having the US Ambassador come to our training site to address us. He is a cool guy, and I was amazed at the breadth of aid and the scope of the programs that the US is partnering with Lesotho on. We will be heading over to his residence next Thursday to relax and have a Thanksgiving dinner, it should be a good time.

Other than that, things are going well. There was an improvised dance party in the kitchen last night with strobing headlights and various dance moves that I haven't seen performed by sober WASPs in a long time. Photo and video documentation should have been banned. It was not. The fallout will echo throughout our service here, no doubt.

I am still very impressed by the quality of training and especially the quality of the trainers. We have a good time and cover a lot of good material.

That's all for now.

Sala Hantle

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Final Landing

So yesterday we made it to Maseru.

The first 5 hours of the day were deja vu as we loaded up the shuttles to go to the airport, checked in, and flew all the way to Lesotho. The only difference from the day before was that I got a chocolate muffin on the flight instead of the Laffy Taffy Banana flavored muffin of the day before. Thank God. Luckily, this flight ended with a landing at the virtually deserted Maseru Airport, which had one building, one hangar (presumably empty) and no other planes at all. We landed, turned around on the runway and went back to the taxi way.

Everybody deboarded amid cheers from the Peace Corps staff waiting on the balcony of the airport and everybody returned waves and took many pictures. There was crying.

Customs was a breeze, but when I got to the baggage claim neither of my checked bags were there. The previous night in Joburg I had only retrieved one of my checked bags from the airport, and was told that the other would be awaiting me at the check-in in the morning. In the morning I was told it had already been loaded on the plane. Three other PC trainees were also missing bags so we went to talk to the airline spokesman, in a backroom, who asked me for descriptions of my bags and gave me printouts stating such. Other trainees were told that their baggage would be on a later flight. As we were about to jump in the awaiting van I was told that one of my bags had come in the previous day and were in holding. It was, but was about 20 pounds lighter than when I had checked it at JFK. They stole almost $900 worth of stuff including three pairs of shoes, my headlamp, my thermarest, etc. Bugger. The other trainees whose bags had been in storage had similar experiences, and it was pretty clear that it happened in Joburg. Bugger.

So that was a bummer way to be introduced to the country. Luckily, the country is beautiful and reminds me much of the American West and Southwest, especially Utah. Maseru is small and going through a lot of development along the lines of Rosarito, similar types of haphazard sidewalk construction, trash around and the mixture of new development against older impoverished areas. Much of the city was constructed after the early 90's political unrest when much of the city was burned.

We arrived at the training center which a cool old compound that was abandoned by the Dutch when apartheid ended. There was a very warm greeting including dancing and singing by the language and cultural facilitators. We got our rooms, had a snack and most of the rest of the day is a blur. I do know that I got a rabies shot, had a lesson in greetings in Sesotho, got a quick walk around of downtown (a quick 7 minute walk from the training facility) and a brief overview of what the next eight weeks will be like.

Crazy.

That's what the next eight weeks will be like. We are scheduled from 8 in the morning until 8 or 8:30 in the evening. In two weeks we go to community based training where we will live with a host family and almost immediately begin practice teaching. Two weeks later we stop practice teaching and begin other training which is so varied and numerous I forget what it even entails. During all of this time we are expected to take a very purposeful and thorough attack on the language to prepare for the language test.

Today is our free day and it has been nice to get a break. The food has been amazing, the trainers are competent, the health care is second only to the President of the United States and the weather has been gorgeous. I'm loving the culture, the people, the newness and the challenges ahead. Despite the theft of my stuff I'm in high hopes as is everybody around me.

On a mail note, I've heard there are fixed rate packages through USPS, and that DHL is dangerous because they like to open your packages at the airport here. Much love, and I'll write as soon as I can. That may not be for a week or so though.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Travel Delays

We’re back in the hotel in Johannesburg.

The bus ride from Philly went swimmingly and we got to the airport so early that we had to wait for an hour and a half in order for the ticket counter to even open. Everybody got their bags checked and through security without incident and onto the plane. The first eight hours of the trip were quite easy, I had some red wine and salmon for dinner then watched WALL-E, The Incredible Hulk and some other movie that must have been forgettable, because I don’t remember what it was.

We landed in Dakar, Senegal to refuel and exchange some passengers, so I decided to finally strike up a bit of a conversation with the man I was sitting next to. It turns out he is a New Jerseyian by way of Massachusets, South Africa and originally Zimbabwe. He was headed back to visit his parents in Zimbabwe then go travel around South Africa. My questioning of life in South Africa was tolerated very well, with only mild eye rolling and the final remark of, “South Africa is basically the same as the US. You can get any food you want, and there are some bad parts of every city.” That satisfied me well enough and we had cordial conversation until about 30 minutes after we took off when I went into a deep, bear-like slumber.

I awoke to breakfast and just an hour left to Johannesburg. After landing we went and got our passports stamped, found our shuttle and got checked into the Southern Sun Hotel. Everybody was dually impressed with the hotel and we were treated to a welcome glass of red wine in the lobby. I took a shower and went and sat outside to what felt very much like a cool fall evening in Los Angeles, 60 degrees, orange clouds in the diminishing sunlight and the roar of cars on the adjacent thoroughfare.

This morning we had a 3:30 am wakeup call to get to the airport by 4:30 to catch the 6:25 regional plane to Maseru (ma SEru). All of the checking in went without incident, but at the terminal gate one guy had lost some component of his ticket that prevented him from getting on. After a lot of back-and-forth he eventually sprinted back out to the ticket counter, bought a new ticket, and got back to the gate just before we were about to leave him to catch the next flight.

We took the little 22 seat puddle jumper all the way around Maseru then headed back to Johannesburg because the airport was at Maseru was covered in clouds and the plane was not capable of an Instrument Flight Rules landing for one reason or another. This bit of news was sad considering we were 10 miles from our final destination when we turned back. After much waiting in the airport we were told that the flight was cancelled for the day because of deteriorating weather at the Maseru airport. So we went and picked up our luggage and headed back to the hotel. Long day of sitting.

So those are the adventures so far. The delays and such today were made much easier because a representative from South Africa Airlines kept us up-to-date, gave us some sandwiches and arranged for all of our tickets and such tomorrow, and the staff at the hotel has been extremely accommodating and helpful. Group moral on the whole is high with just a few glimpses of frustration and tiredness.

Tomorrow we will try another flight, and if the weather is still uncooperative then apparently a bus will be chartered. So here's to hoping we make it through.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Staging

I made it to Philadelphia last night around 5:30 and got to the hotel around 7:00. My packing was not nearly as light as I thought. Each bag was 50 lbs. and I had to reshuffle stuff from bag to bag to get it figured out. The flight was fairly eventless aside from the two characters who sat next to me. They seemed to be a couple of men going on business travel. For the first 40 minutes one gentleman lectured the other on management architecture and hierarchy, and when the other gentleman got excited about something he started thrashing back and forth, which I repeatedly mistook for moderate turbulence. When I got into the Philly airport, I got my checked baggage and lugged it over to the ground transportation desk where the ladies behind the desk were perpetually entertained by the “stupid travelers” who didn’t know what to do, because the ladies didn’t explain what the method was for catching a shuttle. Finally I got to the hotel, last in the shuttle, which ended up being cool because the shuttle driver was Ethiopian and has been in the country for 10 years. He was more surprised than anybody I’ve talked to yet that it snows in Lesotho.

This afternoon we had registration and got to meet everybody. There are 19 of us going to Lesotho: About 5 in Maths/Science Education, 7 in ESL and 7 in Teacher Training. The group is quite outgoing and seems to have an easy laugh. Training was quite quick and went over a brief intro to the Peace Corps, some skits illustrating Peace Corps Policy, did an exercise with the group leaving for Kenya that went into some cultural integration dynamics then went over logistics for the trip to Lesotho.

The itinerary is:
Wednesday - 9:00 am get on bus and go to JFK
- 5:20 pm Depart for Johannesburg via Dakar, Senegal.
Thursday - 5:30 pm Arrive Johannesburg and go to Hotel
Friday - 6:15 am catch flight to Maseru, Lesotho

That’s all for now, I’m going to go meet up with everybody in the lobby to go get some dinner.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Goodbyes

My plane departs for Philadelphia at 8:50 tomorrow morning and I’m staying with Scott, one of my college roommates. I’ll be in Philadelphia until Wednesday morning when we’ll take a bus to JFK to catch an evening flight to Johannesburg. From there we’ll take a morning flight on Friday to Maseru, the capital of Lesotho.

I think the significance of saying goodbye to my family today will hit me tomorrow. The buildup and anticipation of finally getting onto the plane for Philly seems to have numbed me a little more than usual. Transitions of the last couple weeks have felt much more like a sense of continuation than the piece-wise function (that one is for the nerds) that it might be for those around me. My mom just experienced me coming home from Los Angeles, where I’ve lived for the last 6 years (which she reminds me has been a quarter of my life lived too far away from her), for a week before leaving to Africa for over two years. And although she is extremely supportive of me, and has been through the entire Peace Corps process, it is all much more disconnected and abrupt for her. Comparatively, I have been packing up stuff for the last 4 months and during that time have said goodbye to two roommates, moved twice, said goodbye to a good friend who left LA before I did, and transitioned out of a great community at the job I’ve had for the last two and a half years. I have been preparing to leave for quite a while now, and I’m in a period of constantly looking forward to the next couple days. So the last four months of preparation coupled with excitement left me somewhat unemotional (yeah, yeah, big surprise) during goodbyes, while my family was not. I think the 5 hour flight tomorrow will allow me time to think about the significance of two years away after saying goodbye to my family and friends.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Peace Corps Letter to Friends/Family

Letter for Family & Friends
Julie Appelhagen Seana Lammers
Lesotho Desk Officer /Ext 2331 Lesotho Desk Assistant/Ext 2332

Our phone number is 1-800-424-8580 or locally, 202-692-2331/2332.

Dear Families and Friends,

Greetings from the Lesotho desk at the Peace Corps in Washington, D.C.! It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the Peace Corps circle of friendship. We receive many questions from family members and friends about life in Lesotho over the course of the Volunteers’ two years of service, so we would like to offer you advice and assistance in advance.

1. Irregular Communication. (Please see #3 for the mailing address to Peace Corps' office in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho) Mail in Lesotho is fairly reliable. Volunteers find they generally receive mail and packages from the United States two to four weeks after it has been sent. The same is true in sending mail from Lesotho. Of course, there are exceptional cases in which a letter or a package might arrive within a shorter period or be substantially delayed. Some mail may simply not arrive. We suggest that in your first letters you ask the Volunteer to give an estimate of how long it takes for him/her to receive your letters, and then try to establish a predictable pattern of how often you will write to each other. Also, try numbering your letters so that the Volunteer knows if he/she has missed one.

Being a Peace Corps Volunteer is a rewarding experience; however, there will also be times that Volunteers will feel frustrated and they may write home telling of their "war" stories. Letters might describe recent illnesses, frustration with work, lack of resources, information, and infrastructure, etc. While the subject matter may be good reading material, it can often be misinterpreted on the home front. Volunteers have a support network in-country which includes other Peace Corps Volunteers, counterparts and community members at their site, as well as Peace Corps Lesotho staff. The Peace Corps’ highest priority is maintaining the good health and safety of every Volunteer. Peace Corps Lesotho maintains a medical unit with two full-time medical officers, who care for the Volunteers’ primary health care needs. Additional medical services, such as testing and basic treatments, are available in Lesotho and just over the border in South Africa. If the Volunteer is seriously ill, they will be transported to South Africa or to the United States.

If for some reason your communication pattern is broken and you do not hear from your family member, you may want to contact the Lesotho desk or the Office of Special Services (OSS) at Peace Corps Headquarters, Washington, D.C. at 1-800-424-8580, extension 1470. Also, in the case of an emergency at home (death in the family, sudden illness, etc.), please do not hesitate to call OSS immediately, so that a message can be sent to the Volunteer. Use the above number during regular business hours (9:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern time, Monday through Friday). After hours, or during weekends, the Peace Corps Duty Officer may be reached at (202) 638-2574. Tell the operator your name, telephone number, and the nature of the emergency, and the Duty Officer will call you back.

2. Telephone Calls. Telephone lines in Lesotho are not very reliable. During the pre-service training, opportunities for the trainees to call the United States will be limited. Volunteers may or may not have residential phones; however, some Volunteers choose to buy cell phones, use public phones, or find that a neighbor or the organization they work with has a phone they are able to use to make and receive calls on. They will be able to inform you of telephone numbers where you might reach them once they arrive at their permanent sites.

The Lesotho Desk maintains regular contact with the Peace Corps office in Maseru through phone calls and e-mail. However, these communications are reserved for business only and cannot be used to relay personal messages. All communication between family members and the Volunteer should be done via international mail, personal phone calls, or e-mail. Volunteers may have access to e-mail at internet cafes on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on their location.

3. Sending packages. Parents and Volunteers like to send and receive care packages through the mail. Unfortunately, sending packages can be a frustrating experience for all involved due to occasional thefts and customs taxes. You may want to try to send inexpensive items through the mail, but there is no guarantee that these items will arrive. Even though many Volunteers choose to get local post office boxes, you may also use the following address to send letters and/or packages:

Name of Volunteer, PCV
U. S. Peace Corps
P.O. Box 554
Maseru, 100
LESOTHO

It is recommended that packages be sent in padded envelopes if possible, as boxes tend to be taxed more frequently. For lightweight but important items (e.g. airline tickets), DHL (an express mail service) does operate in Maseru. If you choose to send items through DHL, you must address the package to the Country Director, c/o U. S. Peace Corps, 6 Bowker Road, Maseru, Lesotho (the phone number for the Peace Corps office in Lesotho is 266-22-313-871, as DHL will need this information). If you send the item to the Country Director, no liability can be assumed. For more information about DHL, please call their toll free number, 1-800-CALL-DHL, or visit their web site at www.dhl.com . Other courier services may operate in Maseru - DHL is only one possibility.



We hope this information is helpful to you during the time your family member or friend is serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho. We understand how frustrating it is to communicate with your family member overseas and we appreciate your using this information as a guideline. Please feel free to contact us at the Lesotho desk in Washington, D.C. if you have any further questions. Our phone number is 1-800-424-8580, ext. 2331/2332, or locally, 202-692-2331/2332.


Yours sincerely,

Julie Appelhagen and Seana Lammers