Monday, September 3, 2012

Blog Slacker

Winter Break

It's been a long while since my last post. I'll just say I've been hibernating in my village. Now spring is here in Lesotho, school has started again, and my projects are slowly coming back together. Today I'm in Maseru, Lesotho's capital, to attend a mid-service Peace Corps training with the group of PCVs I arrived in Lesotho with. MID-SERVICE...and there were times in this past 15 months where I really didn't believe I would be able to make it this far!

After my mother left in April, I was givin a new perspective on my life in Lesotho. She was able to get me to laugh about the things that don't make sense to an American in Africa. Her sense of humor allowed me to ease up on myself and people around me. I stopped becoming depressed when I heard about sad stories of HIV, death, and orphans. I realized that I couldn't be a successful volunteer if I let the weight of the village problems overcome me. Now I know when I can help, and when issues are beyond my control. Since then, I spend my days lauging and joking with my host family, community members, friends, and my students. I am a more successful volunteer when I focus on cultural integration and acceptance.

August

August was a blur for me. I visited the US for two weeks to see my best friend get married. I saw almost all of my friends and family and had a great time. Before arriving in the US, I was worried that my friends and family would think I've gone crazy because I've changed so much...but once I landed on US soil and reunited with my everybody, I realized that they are equally as crazy and silly as I am.

My sister came back to Lesotho with me and stayed at my site for a week. I introduced her to all of my Basotho friends and family and she was treated very well. Basotho love it when I have visitors and they welcomed her by baking her bread, giving her canned peaches, and even sharing their traditional beer with her. My sister loved the community and really loved chasing around babies. Every child she saw, she wanted to hold and kiss. The kids loved it and we got some good pictures. My sis adapted well to my living conditions and by the second day she was cooking and cleaning like a Mosotho woman. I told her she could easily be a PC volunteer because she was flexible and patient and cared about the people in the village.

I've had a week alone to adjust back to a Lesotho lifestyle. The adjustment is challenging because I'm finding myself homesick all over again. My cure for homesickness...or really my cure for anything is exercise, but I've still been to lazy to put on my running shoes or do my workout videos. Once I return to my site next week, I'll get back into the swing of things and be just fine.

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