Saturday, May 01, 2004

So last night I got back from Maseru and met Aggai, a PSI backstopper (don’t ask me what that is). He was here all of last week and will only be here for half of this next week, and he’s a great guy.

Today is Worker’s Day…like Labor Day, I guess. Except that they aren’t so smart here and made their Worker’s Day always on May 1, so it sometimes falls on the weekends…like today. So no one gets off work since those people who the holiday pertains to do not work on Saturdays.

Kim and I went to Sebina’s house. In case I haven’t mentioned it before, Sebina was my only in-country contact before I got to Lesotho and we’ve continued to get together occasionally since I arrived. The purpose of this visit was for Sebina to teach Kim and myself how to make a true Basotho meal. We arrived close to 11 and after a few minutes of relaxing, we got to work. We made spinach, chicken, and semp for lunch and then fatcakes for dessert. It was VERY yummy. And we had a blast! I can’t wait to get home and make everyone a true Basotho meal! Except without the semp unless I can find maize meal in the States.

Halfway through our cooking adventure, we had to make a quick run to the market up the street to get some tomatoes. On our way back, there was an old ‘me washing dishes at her spicket. Kim and I greeted her, she returned the greeting to all of us, and then Sebina said in Sesotho, “These are my visitors.” The old ‘me replied, “It is good that they are your visitors, regardless of their skin color. We are all God’s children.” Amusing story but so true. It was a wonderful afternoon and we got home around 3:00.

I’ve got a little “gut buddy” as they call it in the Peace Corps. I don’t really know what it is, but it’s certainly something. I’m assuming that I picked it up while I was in Mapoteng. Daniella is convinced that it is geardia. It’s not really a sick feeling. It just feels like an alien is in my stomach trying to force its way out through my belly button every time I eat a full meal. It seems more or less harmless, though, so I figure I’ll just wait it out.

But while my little stomach friend was still attacking my lunch, it was already time to go to Fishmonger in Ladybrand in a somewhat early celebration of Kim’s birthday. There were six of us total and we had a blast. And eventually my stomach calmed down.

  Friday, April 30, 2004

So all in all, this was an incredibly productive week, and I think the book has a lot of potential. People have really amazing stories and really difficult lives. The whole week was a pretty emotional experience for me, but it was topped off with my experience this morning. I had been in and out of the hospital a lot and I had seen some really sick people...especially men. I actually thought that I had just become desensitized to it at this point, but I was definitely wrong. This morning, I talked to a nurse. I had asked her if I could take a picture of her caring for one of her patients. She said she needed to feed one of the patients anyway. So we go into this room...a private room. The man had been put in the room because he was too sick to be around the rest of the patients. He probably wouldn't make it through the day. He looked awful, but worse than that was the sound he was making. You could hear pain in every breath and his moaning was so involuntary and intense. And who knows if the concept of palliative care even exists in this country. But perhaps the worst part was that he was alone in the room. He didn't have any loved ones with him on what would probably be the last day of his life.

  Wednesday, April 28, 2004

So today wasn’t really all that productive, but I’m not really all that worried since I’ve talked to enough people to make a book at this point. And I still have tomorrow and some of Friday to finish up. I did get a lot of knitting done today…I’m about halfway through my first scarf.

We went to Ficksburg in South Africa. I didn’t really get to see all that much, though. And I have to say that I was not too happy with the border control guy who put the border sticker over my honeymoon stamp. I still have 7 pages in my passport. Was it really necessary to cover such a meaningful stamp?

On the way back to the hospital, Ntate Mokhotu took a slight detour to show me the dinosaur footprints. Victoria would have loved it! They are either authentic prints or some guy with a really bad idea of a joke. But the archeologists seem to think they are real, so I’ll believe them.

  Monday, April 26, 2004

So these past two days have been incredibly productive. I’ve got six great stories all with really great pictures that I am just itching to put into book form. I can’t wait to put it all together. And all of you will definitely want to buy it, of course. :o)

You would NOT believe the roads here. When I was a kid, I used to love to go over “wee-bumps”. (Confession: still do). I would pretend like I was on a 2-second roller coaster and even sometimes throw my hands up in the air in anticipation of an expected wee-bump. But the roads I have traversed the past couple of days make wee-bumps and the back-roads of Pennsylvania look like the racetrack at the Indy 500. You should realize that this is the Mountain Kingdom…meaning that dirt roads are actually rocky roads with a bit of dirt on them. It truly is amazing where you can go with a 4x4. It’s a little unnerving when the road runs out and you just keep on going. But we all survived and I got to see some pretty amazing parts of the country.




Then after I return to Maluti and have a nice dinner with Pam and Dick, I walk into the bathroom at the home of Henry and Daphne and low and behold…the sprayer was actually attached to a bar at the top of the wall…A SHOWER!!! To think that I could have been showering for four days already!!! So of course I got a shower right away. Do you know that I have never had a more wonderful shower. Not even after my week in Mexico without shower OR bath. Every second I was thanking God for inspiring the individual who invented the shower. I think we all owe that person our sincerest gratitude. Take baths for three and a half months and then you’ll see what I mean.