December 6, 2008

The village



My Room/The View ^

Oh man, it's been nuts being in village. My host mother, 'M'e Mamaseliso, is a crazy alcoholic. In Lesotho, women can only drink if they are older (and usually have to be widowed), and my 'm'e is and she takes full advantage. She's very nice though, and the crazy is more charming than anything else, she loves screaming RAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA when she sees me (which essentially means my little baby, since I am her newest [but not youngest] child). The people in town are incredibly nice and considerate.
The other day we hiked to the top of a nearby mountain, and literally 25 kids from the age of 5 to 15 followed the three other volunteers and myself to the top. And by followed I mean beat us... and only four of them had shoes on. They have a ton of energy and love showing off for us, and are amazed any time we do anything. They got us to sing a few songs, and then kept telling me what a beautiful voice I have (anyone who knows me knows this is a terrible horrendous lie).
I did manage to get real sick the other day and spent a real long time on the "toilet". Hopefully this will be my major illness of my time here and it's out of the way.
I was given a Lesotho name by my host mother, and it is Thato Chele. Chele being my 'm'e's last name, Thato meaning strong-willed.
Life here is really good and beautiful and I love all of it, and I finally get to start cooking my own meals tonight.
I'm planning on writing out next weeks update (coming next saturday!) before I get here so I can type it up in time and so it's not disjointed (like this one is)

send me stuff! (letters, tea, snacks, the new yorker, books etc)

Brett Burk/PCV
US Peace Corps
PO Box 554
Maseru, 100
Lesotho
Southern Africa

No comments: