Lumela!

Lumela (Dumela)! I have safely arrived in Lesotho and am settling in very nicely. I am more than a week into training, and boy am I tired! Peace Corps has us working all day. I’m sure many of you are curious as to what I’ve been up to, so I will start from the beginning!

My cohort arrived in Lesotho last Wednesday morning, and we had a day to settle in at a guest house. Guest houses are kind of like hotels, and we all had beds, a toilet that flushes, and a shower! We were able to get over the jetlag during that day which was MUCH needed, as none of us got much sleep on the plane. I believe the nap I took before dinner that day was the best nap I’ve ever had in my entire life. The next day, we had some general safety trainings, and then went off to our training villages!

When we arrived to our v illages, the entire community was there to greet us with song and dance. It was really very beautiful to see how excited they were for us to live in their homes. The people who live in Lesotho are called Basotho, people of Lesotho. In Basotho culture, hospitality and greetings are extremely valued, so it was expected that everyone treat guests with respect. We were all paired with our host mothers who gave us Sesotho names. My name is Thuto (too-toe) which means education. We were escorted to our homes by a whole entourage of community members. My room is very nice, I have my own space separate from my host mother. I have a nice big bed and a table with two chairs. On the far side of the room, I have a gas burner which is connected to a propane tank for me to boil water for my baths and for drinking. I also have lots of buckets! Buckets are pretty important here. Some store water, some are for washing dishes and clothes, and some are for bathing! Every morning, I am able to bathe in my bucket (it’s kind of like a big tub). I have really been enjoying my bath bucket showers, it’s a nice way to wake up! Of course, we also have a pee bucket. This is used for going to the bathroom in the middle of the night or when it gets dark or rainy out. Or for whenever you don’t want to go out to the latrine.

I wake up around 5:30/6 every morning when the chickens start getting really loud. I have breakfast around 7 and then I am off to training! The walk from my village to training is around half an hour, and I’ve been meeting up with some other PC (Peace Corps) Volunteers who live in my village to walk there. We’ve been doing language training, cultural training, and technical training (information related to my job here). During this first week, we’ve been focusing on medical and security issues. I got lots of vaccines this week (ouch!) including rabies, which is a series. So I will need two more rabies shots and then I’m done with vaccines for a while! We also have been learning Sesotho, which is the language here. Greetings are extremely important, so that's what we've been working on so far. It's seen as rude to not greet everyone you pass by. We started learning about the Lesotho health care system, as well as the HIV situation here. Currently, Lesotho and eSwatini (Swaziland) have the highest prevalence of HIV. In Lesotho, HIV affects about 1 in 4 adults. Women are more affected than men, and adolescents are most at risk, which is why the PC program here targets youth. I'm looking forward to learning more how to address this issue as the training progresses.

My host mother is absolutely wonderful, and is so full of joy all the time. She speaks very little English, but we’ve been able to communicate through choppy English and Sesotho as well as hand gestures and sound effects. She laughs a lot, especially when I dance (horribly) around the kitchen before dinner. She can tell that I really like eggs (ke rata mahi hahulu!) and I always do a little dance when eggs are on the menu. She loves it! For breakfast, we usually have lesheleshele (leh-shell-eh-shell-eh) which is kind of like cream of wheat, and sometimes corn flakes. Basotho also eat a food called papa which is a porridge made of corn meal. It kind of tastes like grits, but is much more dense. That is eaten at lunch and dinner. Spinach is a huge staple here as well, so I’ve eaten more spinach in a week than Popeye! Tomatoes and butternut squash is also a big part of the diet, as well as chicken. I’ve enjoyed eating the food here very much! I will start cooking for myself after a month of living here, but for now, my host mother provides me with breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I’m sure a lot of you are wondering how it’s possible to live without electricity, running water, or flushable toilets. Many may even be thinking, wow.. how could anyone pee in a bucket? Well, after a week, I can tell you with confidence that it is already a normal part of my life. Almost everything we have in America is a luxury. Running water to wash your hands after you go to the bathroom, being able to have a hot shower any time of the day, having lights illuminate your space at night.. these are all things that anyone can live without. As long as you have water and fire, there are ways to live, to be healthy, and to enjoy life. I am extremely happy to be here, all of these changes included. Everything has come much more naturally to me than I anticipated, although I do miss not relying on hand sanitizer to wash my hands.

With all the preparation that I did to get to Lesotho, nothing could have prepared me for this experience. Nothing could have prepared me for the enormous heart the Basotho people have. They are so happy that we are here, and it feels like we don’t deserve this much praise yet. But it really speaks to how valued the Peace Corps is in Lesotho. Everyone in my village knows who I am and greets me every morning. The Basotho look out for each other here, and care deeply for one another. We are part of their family, and it shows. It’s really wonderful, and I’m excited to learn even more about the culture, and to become proficient in Sesotho. After being here for more than a week, I already feel at home. Lesotho is just beautiful, I wish you could all see my view when I walk outside every morning. I'll try to post some pictures soon! That’s all for now, missing my friends and family in the US but I am really enjoying being here in Lesotho! Sala Hantle (Stay well)!

P.S.- If there’s anything about Basotho culture you’re interested in asking about, or any part of my experience here you want to know, WhatsApp me or leave a comment and I’ll address it!