An Official PCV!

The day of swearing in to be official Peace Corps Volunteers of the USA was surprisingly more meaningful than I had anticipated. It was quite the ceremony and by this I mean there were about six big circus tents set up, one for the volunteers and our teachers, one for our Bo M’e, another for the officials (including the US ambassador-who is a Returned  PCV and is the man!), and the lucky locals to get a seat out of the burning sun, and then two more for food and after party of course! Everyone in the town and close enough surroundings towns are welcome to any event-be it a funeral, wedding, or town meeting- and will come because more than likely, food will be provided. And it sure was-food on food! Its interesting because in Lesotho personal invitations are not a things, whereas in America-one must be invited to the party. And here, food is the main motivator for anything- specifically nama, or meat of any kind. Nama is special to eat and is always cooked at important events.

Bo N'tate doing a traditional dance for our ceremony

Volunteers all wearing our shashweyshwey that our Bo M'e and teachers sowed for us. We lined up to be a full rainbow!

Training was a long drawn out time but now that is over it’s a trip.  Practice teaching at Pukane High School was a big learning time for me. I was really overwhelmed in the beginning and extremely nervous but I managed to get over the first couple days and become more comfortable being in front of a classroom. Once my nerves settled, I got to feel what my role as a volunteer teaching maths in Lesotho can play in the lives of children here. All of my actions are so closely watched and mimicked that I really must be aware of everything I do.

Today marks my first day my home for the next couple years. It was a little strange waking up this morning with the daunting task of setting up my new lil home with what I have, some stuff I bought in the capital, and the limited furnishings that my family and principal provided. But hey- with the help of the my whole new extended family, we did work on the place! My new family Me MaPaseka, N’tate Thaka-Morena, their son, Paseka, and his wife Matlhokolmelo, and their three young children.  Right now Matlhokolmelo’s two teenage sisters are here on Summer break so it a full house. We spent the later part of the afternoon dancing to Beyonce in the yard. It was actually really impressive to see how many hours one could play with music. My favorite part was when LeRato (an exceptional dancer-kinda sexual most of the time but even her mom thought she was good so I guess its kosher) would only teach the younger girls who came if they did a trail dance and passed. At first I thought it was bossy/ judgmental-but then I saw that she just wanted them find some inner courage to just try to dance alone, promoting that regardless of your talent-just do it with confidence. I tried to learn some new moves myself..Ha.Ha.Ha. I still had fun with it! We also busted out the hoolahoop and did some yoga. I met one of our neighbors, Retabile (meaning “we are happy”) and we really vibed. She just graduated from high school and just got marries-real young! But she is a Girl Scout and helps out a new organization that works to keep kids away from drugs and alcohol by giving them activities to do- like play soccer.

Having some tea while waiting for the futbol match to begin!

The winning team!!

Retabile invited me go with her to one of the soccer tournaments she put on, and I had a really fun filled experience. It began with hitching our way to the school, its not hard getting picked up here as hitching is a main form of transport. It’s actually quite cool, if you are lucky enough own a car then part of your duty is to pick up anyone and everyone you can fit in your car. So we made our way through the village, trying to find the head teacher, asking everyone in the town where they were. We got to our destination and began to set up the barren soccer field that was located right next to main watering hole. After we shewed off countless, doinkies, sheep, cattle, dogs-you name it- we then fixed one the goals by sawing down the center piece of an aloe plant and securing it to two poles in the ground. We put up the nets and began to kick the ball around ourselves as we waited for the teams to arrive.  The teams arrived with no hurry or worry in the world, just as it should be. We had a big group prayer that involved all the players and crowd supporters. The boys played an intensely competitive match and the winning team was awarded a trophy, which was a huge deal.