Update from Butha Buthe!

Lumelang Friends and Family!

So I came into Butha Buthe camptown today to finally post photos... And as usual, Lesotho is teaching me another lesson in patience. A thunderstorm has kicked up outside, rendering my last hour attempting to upload photos useless. Welcome to life in Lesotho! :) So I will write a little instead before venturing into the rain in search of fresh veggies and cheese! (It's amazing how excited I get about the opportunity to buy cheese and meat here! Haha)

This is actually my first camptown outing in my new district, as I just made the move to my new home in Ha Selomo this past Thursday! Yay! To say that it's been an emotionally and physically overwhelming week would be an understatement... In keeping with the theme above, I find that patience (both with myself and with others) is my lesson for the week. This week has been a never-ending succession from moving and "Swearing In" to unpacking and hoards of visitors knocking on my rondaval door from the moment I arrived- Okay, well lets be honest... There seems to be very little knocking involved. It's more like akwardly walking into my house and standing in the middle of it staring at me akwardly. Haha I don't know what it is about my house that makes it community property, but needless to say I've very quickly learned to lock my burglar bars (ie. screened door) so I can control the flow of people in and out of my house. Haha

I appreciate the gesture, which I continuously remind myself is done with absolutely the best intentions. But I'm quickly discovering that an endless series of visitors at your house, questions from every stranger on the street, and constant staring/shouting can wear a person down... And I've only been at site 3 days. I know it will subside as I become less of a novelty in my village, but for the meantime I find myself constantly checking my patience and fighting the desire to curl up inside behind a locked door. Talk about the fish-bowl effect... This is a whole other ball game. Haha

But I'm certain it's nothing a few good nights sleep and a afternoon with a good book won't solve. I've been staying busy unpacking, making Christmas gifts for friends, and my host father, Ntate Bereng, has even already cleared a brand-new plot for my garden! I can't wait to start planting next week! Although I'm discovering, via all the village gossip I've created with my gardening excitement, that apparently bo-'Me (women) don't garden in Lesotho? Which I actually don't believe for a second... But either way the idea of ME gardening seems to have created quite the stir/disbelief. Well get ready, villagers... Because this is one lehooa (white person) who is craving fresh lettuce and watermelon! And I will not be deterred... Cow dung mulch or not! Apparently they haven't heard that my Peace Corps nick-name (bestowed on me during training) is Gaia (Mother Earth). :)

I'm very excited about Christmas.. Although, my mother was right. It's hard to get in the Christmas-Spirit in the middle of summer. I'll be spending 4 wonderful days (courtesy of Peace Corps) with several friends in Butha Buthe and Leribe. We're all gathering at a PCVs house for Christmas Eve, and then on Christmas Day are headed to a resort where we'll spend the next two days hanging out with a larger group of PCVs from across the northern districts. The timing of Christmas has been perfect to give me something to look forward to in the midst of moving to village... And I'm already looking forward to seeing my PC family again to hear all about their adventures in the first few weeks at site. :)

So I think I'll end this here. The rain has subsided, and I'm in charge of Christmas desserts, so I'm off to hunt for precious baking supplies! I promise to post pictures as soon as possible.

Until then... Love to all! And if I don't post again before then, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Khotsong! (Peace!) -Mary E.