I feel home

Well hello!  It’s been quite awhile since I’ve written.  I apologize.  There are lots of things to do here in Africa, you know.

I’ll start out by telling you about my new home.  My very first home, actually.  I was thinking about it the other night, and I’ve never actually owned a home by myself, let alone stayed put somewhere for more than a year.  I guess I don’t really own this new home (your tax dollars pay for it!), but it’s the closest thing to a home that I’ve ever been able to call mine.  I’m excited to finally be able to settle in somewhere for awhile… even if it’s in the middle of nowhere, Africa. 

My new village is called Mahloenyeng.  It’s situated about 30 minutes south of the capital city, Maseru.  My house is completely surrounded by a scenic view of smooth, green mountains, with a beautiful skyline of shadowy, ragged mountains to the east. 

I live in a rondavel house on the top of a hill, overlooking one of the primary schools where I’ll be teaching.  The house is gray stone on the outside, light green on the inside.  I have two comfy chairs (!), two couches (!!), electricity (!!!!!!!!!!!!!), a full-size bed, a dresser, a large wooden desk, and two small windows. 

I live with the chief of the village and her youngest daughter, who is 19.  Our property is fairly large, and a metal fence topped with curling barbed wire surrounds the entire yard.  We also have two “guard dogs”.  They seem friendly when I have food, but they aren’t trained very well.  I try to play and talk sweetly to them, but they jump and nip at my hands.  Needless to say, I feel very safe. 

Another interesting fact about my house: walking out my front door, I am about five steps away from a church.  I haven’t yet figured out why my host mother has a church in our yard.  I was there for only a week in November, to see if it was somewhere I could really live for the next two years.  I didn’t feel comfortable enough asking my host mother about the random church.  One evening, I saw a family walk in, pray for about 20 minutes, and leave.  I’ll keep you updated on what’s up with the church.

Anyway, my first day visiting my new home, I saw two of the three schools where I’ll be teaching.  The students were very excited and curious.  They sang songs and I had to deliver a short speech in Sesotho to some of the parents.  Unfortunately, of all days, I came down with a horrible case of diharrea right in the middle of visiting St. Theressa James primary.  I was sweating, my stomach was cramping, my knees were shaking…but I didn’t want to sprint off to the latrine in front of all the kids.  Once I was back in the car with my counterpart heading to the next school visit, I told her what was going on.  I don’t think she quite understood how immediate the situation was, so a few minutes into the drive, I told her I needed to get out.  Now.  So we stopped at a random house along the road (my counterpart insisted it was a friend of hers, but I think she was just trying to make me feel better) so I could use the toilet.  Most houses have outdoor pit latrines, so I didn’t feel quite so bad dropping in and pooping at a stranger’s house.  But just my luck, this house had running water (read: indoor flushing toilet). 

I couldn’t say no.  I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life, and I couldn’t find words (in Sesotho or English) to explain what was going on and how thankful I was for a toilet, any toilet.  I barely looked the guy in the eyes on my way out the door.

I pray that none of you ever has to run inside to a stranger’s toilet to go poop.  It was definitely a humbling experience, but I wouldn’t wish to repeat it. 

Other than the pooping horror story…  Last weekend, I passed my final Sesotho exam, and on Monday I was sworn in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer!  This week I’m moving back to Mahloenyeng to start the next two years of my life.