T'sehlanyane: frozen waterfalls and fermented porridge

Leaving Mokhethoaneng was much sadder than I had anticipated, I've gotten really close to my host sisters. We had a village feast to celebrate our completing training and leaving the village that's been our homes for the past ten weeks. My host sisters never showed up, so I ran around trying to find them. Turns out they went to church instead. I would have liked to say goodbye, but it made it much easier to leave. After the feast we all attended a two day workshop with our counterparts to help establish our relationships and prepare work plans, etc. My counterpart never showed up, so the workshop was especially boring. I had already met my supervisor and was really impressed with him and his dedication to the lodge and helping the surrounding villages. However he was on vacation. Peace Corps had to drive me to my site, they were worried about me, but this is Lesotho, people just don't show up, so I wasn't too worried. I had already seen my site and knew I was going to be fine.

I'm staying at the Lodge for a couple of days while they finish my house and latrine. I'm getting a brand new latrine! The lodge and park are absolutely beautiful, I can't believe I'm going to live here, it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Staying at the lodge has been like an amazing vacation that I don't really feel like I deserve. Taking a hot shower and using a flush toilet made me feel like I was in a spa, I didn't appreciate showers enough before. I also get food from a gourmet kitchen. I spend most of my time in the kitchen chatting with staff. I can eat anything out of the fridge I want, it might be the best food I have ever eaten. I also went on a hike though the park yesterday, walking through the mountains was so serene and beautiful. Even though it's the dry season there were still waterfalls. Some parts were frozen though since its still winter and this is a colder part of the country. Hanging around the hotel has been amazing, but it feels very weird. After being in a village and part of a community it doesn't feel right to be in a luxury hotel that has everything, especially when the closest villages (where I will be living) have almost nothing. But I'm trying to appreciate all the amenities while I can. The best part of the lodge is the unlimited internet. I will come and check in with the lodge every ten days after I move to my real site, so I'll get regular internet!

I visited my site and host family earlier today. My little hut sits on a steep hill overlooking the mountains in the park and a river valley. It looks like something out of Jurassic Park. My hut is next to my host family's house, and has a thatched roof with no electricity or running water. I am supposed to have a water tap close to my house, but somehow that's gotten overlooked. The water comes from a river about a kilometer away. You literally dip a bucket in a river to get water. There are several very steep hills to get back up to my house from the river, so I'm going to try to pay some neighbor to get my water for me. My host family is great, I think I got really lucky. My host mother is one of the nicest people I've met in Lesotho. I have two host sisters, still no brothers. The older one was away, but the younger one was there, named Matsiliso. She's 12 and carried four buckets of water on her head up the hills to the house while I was there. The older daughter is named Impho, which is the singular version of my name, very confusing. My family doesn't speak English, so I had to really rely on my Sesotho for the first time. I'm much better than I thought and was able to get across all my points, although the grammar was probably all wrong. I had some trouble understanding them, they speak so fast. I can tell that I'm going to get very close to my new host family and probably never want to leave.

When I visited my new village, it was very similar to when I arrived in Mokhethoaneng. I was surrounded by kids, who followed me everywhere and wanted to play cards. I have played so so many hours of crazy-eights at my last home, that I decided just to watch. The girls all wanted to sit in my lap and play with my hair. I don't think they've ever touched a white person's hair before. One little boy kept calling me Lehooa, which means white person, and I kept correcting him telling him to call me by my name, but I think I'm always going to be Lehooa to him. Its hard to tell the girls from the boys here. They all have to shave their heads for school, and you can't always tell by their clothes. Girls often wear pants and boys often wear girls clothes. One little boy today had a groovy angels sequin shirt on. My host mother and neighbor were asking me what foods I like, and they brought me out a huge bowl of lesheleshele that I had said I liked. But this wasn't the sweet sorghum porridge that I was used to, it was the fermented, sour leshelshele. It tasted like barbecue sauce with vinegar in porridge, it was so gross. I tried to drink the whole bowl but couldn't and told them I was too full. I tried not to make faces while I was drinking it, but I think they could tell I didn't find it as limonate (delicious) as I said it was. I hungout and chatted for a couple of hours, talking about my family back home and if I had a husband or boyfriend, they seemed very skeptical when I said no. Everyone has a boyfriend, sometimes multiple ones. They were surprised that I didn't have children either, I am old, I should have a couple by now. After talking for a while, I walked back to the lodge, it took over an hour and was pretty steep. Peace Corps said they are going to either provide me with a horse or a bike since I'm not that close to the Lodge or the schools that I'll also be working with. I'm pushing for the horse. I have an unbelievable site, I can't have imagine anything more beautiful or that fits with my background and interests better, and I'm really excited to move into my hut and be part of a community again.