Chopped: Lesotho Edition

Lumelang!

For all you foodies out there, this blog post is for you. But first, a little about what’s been going on with me! Things are going well at my site. I really love my host family, my host mom is always genuinely concerned about me, and excited to hear about the work I do at the clinic! I love my living space, it’s really homey, although I am still waiting on a wardrobe or closet from the clinic. The community is absolutely beautiful, and I’m close enough to town that I can get there within thirty minutes. The only downside of moving to site so far is that I had a period of two weeks where I was not able to work at my clinic because of some complications with the District Health Management Team (DHMT). This is the Ministry of Health organization that oversees all the clinics in each district. Since my situation was so unique (with my original site falling through), Peace Corps had to rush to find me a new site, and some of the normal procedures were not followed. Because of this, the DHMT did not approve of me working at the clinic until those things were settled with them and the Peace Corps. I have to say, it was a very boring two weeks. At least once a day, I tried to get out of my house to take a walk or to meet someone new. I re-read the entire Harry Potter series, and started Lord of the Rings! I did lots of coloring, learned how to cross stitch (thanks mom), and cleaned a lot. Played my ukulele, did laundry, and cooked a lot!

Which brings me to my very special new segment I’d like to call Chopped: Lesotho Edition.

Since I’ve had so much time, I’ve been getting creative with new recipes. I have my fellow volunteers to thank, because we’re all in the same boat, and everyone is whipping up cool new creations and posting in our group chats to give us all ideas! I’ve had to work with what’s available in town. There are plenty of stores around TY (my camptown), but sometimes variety of fruits and vegetables can be hard to come by. Although, if I need staples (tomatoes, potatoes, onion, bread, dish soap) I can go to my local shop which is about 15 minutes walking from my house. I also get eggs from a local family who owns a chicken coop. If I want any “fancy” veggies, I have to go to town. The variety there is always different, sometimes I can find avocados, purple cabbage, zucchini, and other cool things. But sometimes there isn’t very many options. So I have to be creative with what’s available! I’ve been making a LOT of stir fry, lots of potato dishes, and have been eating eggs every day basically (it’s an easy protein). I’ve also  been making pita a lot, it’s a really easy flatbread, and stays fresh longer than bread from the store. I make shakshuka, curry, and last week, I made samosas! It’s been great to chat with other volunteers about substitues they are using for things that might go bad easily. For example, using dried cream of mushroom soup mix is a great way to add thickness to curry and stew. I am going to attempt to make some brownies tonight, as I finally was able to buy a large pot so I can bake in a Dutch oven!

Here are some pictures of my creations:

On the left, this is a cauliflower, spinach, tomato, onion, and chick pea stir fry that I cracked an egg over. Super delish! 

Here on the right is Challah that Sarah and I made for our friendsgiving during training. We made it in a dutch oven, as you can see! You pour water on the bottom pan so that it heats the inside pan, and that's how it cooks!










 This is a creation that Natasha and I came up with when I was visiting her. She has access to chick peas pretty often, so we made roasted chick peas, pita, and avocado. The lettuce she picked from her community garden!

On the left here is my coconut milk curry I made when I found coconut milk at the shop rite during training!

Towards the end of the week, I have gone through most of my fresh veggies, and usually just have potatoes and carrots left. So I've gotten good at making carrot and potato hash with tomatoes! on the right.









This is pita and Israeli salad that I made when I found cucumber in my fruit and veggie store in TY! I added some lemon juice and spices, really yummy. Hanukkah was during training this year, so some volunteers got together to make latkes!

 Here's my famous pita recipe, the dough is super easy to make, and I usually pan fry it!

This was samosa day! The inside was potato, cauliflower, carrot, onion, and spinach. I stuffed 'em and fried them, and had some local chili and mint hot sauce to eat them with they were super delicious!

On the left, here's the shakshuka I make. It's really an easy dish because tomatoes are so easy to come by. Any veggies that are starting to go bad, I just throw in! And I have to thank my family for sending me cumin in their last care package, it really makes it so great. 

And on the right is an example of stir fry! There was rice underneath. I usually have stir fry towards the beginning of the week with my fresh veggies!

When I get back to the U.S., I will send a letter to Chopped telling them to have a Peace Corps edition where there are no ovens, only a two burner stove, and hardly any counter space. Should make for an interesting competition!

So now, all that’s left for me to say is that I’m enjoying every day, even with its challenges. This week, I was able to go to the clinic and get to know the clinic staff, who are all really awesome people. They are excited to help brainstorm ideas, and are more than willing to let me shadow and see how things are running. Hopefully, we can start working on the foundations for projects soon! I will be introducing myself at some of the schools in my village this week, and hopefully I can partner with the schools for after-school programs. I am trying to find a tutor in town so that I can get better at Sesotho. Everyone I work with speaks English, but obviously they prefer to speak Sesotho, and I’d like to be able to have full conversations with them in it. So far, I’ve been able to use a mix of Sesotho and English if I’m trying to tell a story!

We’re all really glad the shutdown is temporarily over, so our American hired staff can get paid again! Of course, the essential staff still have to work to ensure our safety, but for the course of the shutdown, they were not being paid.

That’s all for now, folks! As always, don’t hesitate to reach out and I miss you all!

Sala hantle!