Lumela!

Or should I say, hello!  And thanks for reading.  If you've clicked into this blog, you're probably interested in what's to come from my Peace Corps adventure to Lesotho, Africa.  Which I leave for in exactly 6 short days.  They seem short to me, at least.  And the days are flying by.

I figured I'd begin by telling you all a bit about my new home away from home.  Often times, when people ask me where I'm going with the Peace Corps and I respond with "Lesotho", I get a confused look.  "It's that tiny dot of a country inside of South Africa".

There it is!  And for the laymen out there, it's pronounced "le-sue-too".  Lesotho is technically named the Kingdom of Lesotho, but is also frequently called the "roof of Africa", the "mountain kingdom", or the "kingdom in the sky".  The landscape looks similar to the mountains and valleys of Colorado, so I'm looking forward to feeling (somewhat) at home.

85% of Lesotho's population is rural.  I've been told to expect little to no electricity or running water where I'll be located.   Latrine pits, how glamorous! The Basotho people are said to be professional and presentable, clean, and very welcoming.

Although that guy on the bottom right doesn't look very welcoming.

Upon arrival in Lesotho, I'll be living with a host family for nine weeks of "pre-service training".  I'll be taking intensive Sesotho language classes, culture classes, and learn everything from the history of the Peace Corps in Lesotho to how to hail a taxi in Maseru, the country's capital city.

I've been told over and over that these nine weeks will be at times exhausting, that I'll be very homesick, and that I will have hardly any access to internet or a phone to call home.  Bascially, "no news is good news" during pre-service training, so please don't worry about me if I haven't updated for a long while!

After pre-service training, I'll be sent to my "site", where I'll be stationed for the remaining two years of my service.  I'll be serving as a secondary school English teacher.  I could have anywhere from ten to 80 students in my class, from all age groups and all learning levels.  To be quite honest, this is what is making me the most nervous to go into service!  I can't tell you how many times I've been to the library researching in-class activities, how to write lesson plans, and how to teach students of different learning levels.  It should be a very interesting experience.

And for now, I'm packing.  Packing, unpacking, repacking... doing laundry, buying things, and packing them up again.  I don't know how in the world I'll stay under the 100lb. baggage limit. I have trouble as it is packing for a weekend getaway... let alone two years in Africa.

Sometimes I feel nervous about leaving, sometimes I feel excited. I try not to let myself be alone to think for too long, because the intensity of the trip really gets to me.  I'm just looking forward to taking it one day at a time.

That's all for now- Khotso, which means Peace in Sesotho-

Hannah