Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Update from Lesotho

In order to update everyone, for at least the next 6 weeks, I (Jenny's mom) will be writing on Jenny's behalf.
She does not have Internet access so cannot update this blog directly.  She does have a cell phone now so I am able to get updates...
Jenny arrived in Lesotho on Saturday, June 4th.  She traveled from Philly with a group of 22 Peace Corps volunteers.  Once in country, they split the group and she and 9 others went to live in a village named Titsa, about 15 kilometers from Lesotho's main town of Maseru.  She lives in a house with an older Basotho couple.  She loves her host family.  They do not speak any English, so communication is difficult, but there are others in the village to help translate sometimes.  Her Mme (mother) feeds her very well.  Jenny says that she cooks her huge meals.  I think that her Mme thinks that Jenny is too thin! 
There is no electricy or running water in her home.  They do have a solar "outlet" that Jenny can use to charge her cell phone. 
Jenny will be in Titsa with her host family for a total of 9 weeks.  During this time, all of the volunteers are in class most all of the day.  They are getting language and culture lessons.  Jenny says one of the hardest culture lessons to learn is that the Basotho do not have our same concept of time usage.  They do not worry about being late and in turn do not get irritated when others are late.  Jenny, being a punctual person, is struggling with the concept.
Next week the volunteers are pairing up with another person in their group and going on a field trip.  They will be spending 5 days with another PC volunteer that has been working at their job for awhile.  This will give them an idea of what it might be like once they are done with training and on their own in a new place.  Since they have to make some choices as far as what type of work they might want to do or where they might want to live, this should help out a lot.
So, for all of Jenny's friends and family, she is doing great and is really having the time of her life.  I will try to keep this blog updated as long as Jenny is not able to get to the Internet.  I will include the basic updates along with some stories that she is able to tell me.
Kgotsong (Peace)