Thursday, February 09, 2006

I am feeling almost 100% now, so it must have been bacterial…thank you, Cipro.

I’ve had a pretty rough work week, but things seem to be on their way to working themselves out. It will mean some changes in our workplan, but nothing we can’t handle. It does seem, though, like I will be coming back to Lesotho at the beginning of April instead of the end of April. This will make the third year in a row that I have been away for Patriot’s Day, which means I will miss the Boston Marathon once again. On the bright side, I will definitely be in the country for Rachel’s first birthday in May.

I went to see King Kong with Nthunya and ‘Manapo in the Kingsway Cinema tonight. Their computer was broken, so they couldn’t issue actual tickets, but we could still go in for R15 (<$2.50). The theatre was huge and I would guess that there were about 15 people in the theatre…and at least half of us were white. Half way through the movie, the projector stopped for about 10 minutes. I never did figure out if it was an intentional intermission or if they were having technical difficulties. Nthunya wasn’t expecting “horror” or that it would last 3 hours, so I think he may have been a bit disappointed with the movie.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MEL!

  Monday, February 06, 2006

People are celebrating in Pittsburgh, but for me it is a sad, sad day. The Steelers won the Superbowl for the first time in my lifetime, Bettis played the last game of his career, Roethlisberger becomes the youngest quarterback to win a Superbowl, and the Steelers pull off an amazing trick play…and I missed it. I don’t suppose I can call myself a true Pittsburgher anymore. Nonetheless, I am going to throw a Superbowl party when I get back, and people will come donning black and gold, swinging terrible towels, and making me believe it’s the first time they’ve seen it.

This week has actually been a pretty rough one for me. Apparently the ginger beer didn’t quite agree with me at Nthunya’s wedding and it decided to attack my stomach and any food that entered it. The last real meal I’ve eaten was lunch last Tuesday. But that didn’t stop me from going out to send off Lisa Brennan (of Habitat for Humanity). It’s so sad to see her go.


Anyway I finally went to the doctor today and he gave me Cipro and a whole bunch of other stuff that I don’t really need. It was a really interesting experience for me and very different from the States even though this was a private clinic which is certified as a post for the U.S. Embassy. They don’t make appointments, which means you have to wait a long time, but no one complains. I explained my symptoms to the doctor and he took my blood pressure and pulse. Then he said it’s probably a virus OR a bacteria, but it could be an amoeba (so glad he narrowed it down for me), so he gave me Cipro and if it doesn’t work in a week, I’m supposed to come back and he’ll give me an amoebicide. I paid R70 (<$12) for the consultation and then went to the clinic’s pharmacy (right there) and got my drugs right away…3 prescriptions and oral rehydration therapy packets for R150 (<$25).

I am going to attempt to eat my first real meal in a week tonight, so hold thumbs that it sets well with me (South African way of saying “keep your fingers crossed”).

  Monday, January 30, 2006

This weekend celebrated the wedding of Nthunya (our Field Coordinator) to the love of his life, ‘Manapo. According to tradition, the ceremony was held on Saturday in the bride’s church with a reception to follow in her village in Quthing. Her village is about 4 hours away, so I was not able to attend. On Sunday, the bride and groom go to the groom’s church to receive a blessing and then to his village for a reception. And it truly was a reception!

Nthunya’s village is Ha Tsilo, about a 45 minute drive off the main road in Matsieng (about a 30 minute drive outside Maseru, just past the airport).


As soon as I arrived, I was fed…a lot. My plate was heaped with beef, mealy meal, beets, carrots, and pumpkin squash and I ate until my seshoeshoe (traditional dress) became uncomfortable. I knew the meat was fresh since the leftover parts were sitting beside me as I ate.


It’s impossible to say how many women it took to prepare all the food, but there were huge containers as big as laundry baskets filled with mealy meal. And there was ginger beer galore. Ginger beer is very interesting. It starts out with a taste that resembles gingerale. Then you swallow and experience this strong stinging sensation on your tongue and intense burning in your throat that goes away after about 10 seconds. It’s actually quite tasty.


After about an hour, Nthunya and ‘Manapo arrived. As their truck (a car would never have made it on that road) rounded the bend of the mountain, the children of the village started to sing and dance. They led the procession into the village and up to Nthunya’s mother’s house as the women at the house ululated their welcome.


Nthunya’s mother danced and ululated the loudest. When the happy couple got out of the car, Nthunya’s mother swept the path in front of them with her broom. The wedding party was welcomed into the house while the children continued to sing.



After the welcome to the house, the couple processed to the wedding tent where friends and family made speeches for the couple. I understand a word here and there…thabile (happy), lerato (love), etc…but overall, I didn’t have a clue. Then Nthunya gave a speech, in which I assume he was thanking everybody because I heard “kea leboha” (thank you) a lot.


When the speeches were over, the children danced, the accordion and make-shift drums played, and the people ate. As you can see from the pictures, there were many people there. I would say between 250 and 400 people altogether.



Eventually, the men sang and danced and the bride and groom changed into their traditional dress. They both looked absolutely glamorous in their traditional dress.




The women sang in procession to the tent, leading Nthunya’s mother who would present Rosary beads to her new daughter-in-law.


Champagne was opened, toasts were made, and the children continued to dance.



It had been raining off and on all day, but the skies finally opened up around 5:00, and we all went home. It was a wonderful wedding and a wonderful day. I wish them both lots of love and happiness.


And I also wish Kenny and Victoria a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I expect emails from both of you telling me how you celebrated your birthdays. Hope they're happy!

  Saturday, January 28, 2006

Lesotho has changed so much in two and a half months! I sit down Tuesday night for my first meal at Lancer’s Inn and order my usual…chef’s salad with a side of chips. My meal comes and with it comes a big fat bottle of HEINZ KETCHUP. This was more than enough to make my week (and I had a very rough week). Then I go to the Shoprite and they’ve got Heinz in all shapes and sizes! I no longer have to travel with my ketchup in tow!

The other HUGE change is the opening of the Kingsway Cinema. Lesotho has a movie theatre! I asked Nthunya what type of movies it shows, and his response is “I’m not really a movie guy.” I couldn’t help teasing him a bit since I can’t see how he could possibly know if he is a movie guy or not since Lesotho has just opened the movie theatre and he has no TV at home.


Anyway, I had no problem adjusting to the time change this time. Melatonin rocks. I did, however, have a very rough night my first night here. I had a lot of work to do in order to prepare for the next morning as I was interviewing applicants for a health trainer all day starting at 8am. I finally finished reviewing the applications at 3am, which should have meant that I would get the four hours of sleep that I require. My friend, Mr. Mosquito, had another idea. It’s my first night so I have no doom plugs (which usually do the trick). As I was drifting off to sleep…bzzzzz…right in my ear. I ignore it and drift off…bzzzzzzzzzzz…right in my ear. I tuck the sheet over and around my head...bzzz...bzzzzz…bzzzzzzzzzz. After about 20 minutes of the incessant buzzing, I turn on a light and begin my 10 minute fruitless hunt for Mr. Mosquito. I give up, turn off the light and stick my fingers in my ears. I start drifting…bzzz...bzzzzzz...bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Then I remember that I have OFF. I get it despite my disgust for breathing chemicals all night. I saturate my pjs and my sheets with the stuff, and get back in to bed. I can hear a steady bzzzzzz coming from somewhere in the room, but I have absolutely no sense of what direction it is coming from. It’s driving me crazy. I get my discman and play my CD of collected albums, none of which is peaceful. I find a quiet song and start to drift off and then the next song is crazy loud. This goes on for about 8 tracks. I give up on that and finally fall asleep sometime after 5:30.

Despite my exhaustion the next day, the interviews went well, and I got 9 hours of sleep the next night. We’ve met with a bit of an obstacle (okay a gargantuan roadblock) with one of our projects, but we are trucking along and hoping that it will get resolved early next week. I’m hoping that an ounce of diplomacy is worth a pound of cure. I could certainly use prayers Tuesday and Wednesday of next week (and perhaps a miracle).

Today it has been absolutely pouring all day. Funny how you don’t realize how much you walk in the dirt until it rains a lot.

  Saturday, January 21, 2006

So I totally dropped the ball on the whole blog thing last trip. It’s not that nothing interesting happened, but things were crazy busy and with slow dial-up, every minute of on-line time was invaluable. Things should be much better this time and we now have a cable modem in our office, which means on-line all the time and a much faster connection.

I just can’t move on to next trip topics, though, until I share one photo from last trip with you. This billboard was in the big traffic circle in the very center of downtown Maseru. I made my driver circle around 3 times so I could get a good picture.

  Monday, October 03, 2005

Happy Birthday, Buck! The big 25. Now we can rent a car and stay at any hotel or condo we want! You are now entitled to all the same priveleges as a 64-year-old.

  Saturday, October 01, 2005

PICTURES UberTraditional.jpg GirlsDance.jpg ManDance.jpg HorseShow.jpg TraditionalMen1.jpg TraditionalMen2.jpg Singers.jpg TraditionalMen.jpg Lauren&Qachile.jpg

The Festival was fantastic. It only took about an hour to get there on public transportation. Then ‘Me Qachile and I found a great spot and settled down for a few hours (in our traditional dresses, of course). The Prime Minister and First Lady were both there as was the Queen and apparently the three-year-old Princess as well, though I didn’t see her. There were horse shows and poetry and singing and dancing, some modern and some traditional, and all beautiful. It was a wonderful day and I am so glad that I went even though I was thoroughly exhausted by mid-afternoon. Sun + heat + lots of dust ? cure for a cold. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures.

  Friday, September 30, 2005

Well, now I’m fully suffering the consequences of having been in the cold for an hour without the appropriate attire. I’ve got a cold that is escalating by the minute. What I wouldn’t give for some Tylenol Cold and Flu.

The past few days have been pretty productive. I’ve had some wonderful discussions with the Foundation for Professional Development (a South African-based foundation that runs health training programs all over southern Africa), negotiations are nearly complete with USAID, we’ve got some new work with the IFC, and we’re a smidge closer to getting an office space.

I ate lunch with ‘Me Qachile today. It was so good to get to see her again. We stopped by her older brother’s place, so I could meet him. He was so gracious and officially welcomed me to the family with open arms, giving me the Matla surname. It was such a wonderful moment and made me so happy to have a Basotho family.

Tomorrow is the Morija Arts and Cultural Festival. I wanted to go with ‘Me Qachile, who insisted that I needed to wear traditional dress for the occasion. So we went to buy the fabric and then one of her friends came to take my measurements and will make the dress overnight. It amazes me that I could get the fabric and a custom-made traditional dress in one night for about US$35.

I may not have mentioned it before, but Nthunya is getting married in November. He has been crazy busy running errands to prepare for the big day. He picked me up from Daniella’s this morning and dropped me off at the Ministry of Health. When we arrived, he pointed out the sheep in the back of the truck. I rode the whole way without noticing that there was a sheep right behind me.