Khotso metsoalle le lelapa! Hello, or peace, friends and family! This post is dedicated to showing you around my village. We've been living in our villages for a few weeks now, and since we don't have our own cars, we get to walk everywhere! The culture here is to greet people when passing on the road. Growing up with southern hospitality has come in handy! Everyone is super friendly and wants to know how you're doing. Asking someone how they're doing is the first step to having any conversation. Greetings are also the first thing we learned in language class, which now makes sense. I hope you enjoy the walk around of my village. To start, this is my host family's house.
The big window is the dining room, so every morning I get to eat breakfast while looking outside at the beautiful view. Now I'm cooking for myself, but I still bring my food inside to eat meals with my family. I certainly have more to learn before I can emulate how my 'm'e cooks!
This is the dining room in their house. There is a tv, which I've never seen on, but they often listen to the radio. It will often be left on even if no one is home. Sesotho music is very upbeat, and my little host brothers like to dance with me! The curtain tied over the window is open during the day, and then closed at night.
Below are a couple views from around my house. I will never get tired of looking out to the mountains! The scattered buildings are all houses and other storage buildings.
Pictured right is another trainee's host family's house. This house is made of a smoother concrete material, whereas my host family's house is made from stone. All the houses here are built from different materials and are different shapes and sizes. For example, I showed in my previous post that my house is stone, rectangular, and has a tin roof. Other trainees are staying in circular houses, some have a thatch roof, and some are concrete instead of stone.
Every morning, I have about a 5-minute walk to the school where we have language class. This is part of the walk there, and the school building itself; it's mostly uphill, until we get to the gate. Nadirah, a trainee that lives down the street from me, passes by my house on her way so we walk together. It feels a little like high school again, holding a packed lunch and wearing a backpack:)
Paul is another trainee that lives pretty close to me. Between our houses, pictured left and below, is a soccer field some of the children use to play on. It may not be flat, but it definitely provides extra challenge! I played soccer growing up, but these kids are all better than me. Some villages have teams with uniforms that play each other, and other kids play on their own or stand in a circle juggling back and forth. Soccer is one of the most popular sports in Lesotho.
Below is a typical latrine that we use (this one is kept very clean). Pictured is the one at the school where we have language classes. Not pictured is the short straw broom that is common to brush away flies, which like to hang out in the latrine. Some latrines have tile, and others have a dirt floor. Even with these differences, they all serve the same purpose and we have learned not to be picky!
The skies are beautiful here. The sunsets are very colorful, and I've even seen a couple rainbows. The rainy season has started, and it rains almost every night and day. The panorama below is looking out at the different rainstorms happening in the distance. I look forward to many more beautiful days during my service!
As always, please feel free to message me with any questions you have. I would love to address them in a future post! You also have the option to subscribe and receive an email every time I post (which will be as often as I am able). Best wishes to you all!
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