The Blanket Wrap

ONE YEAR.  I have now been in Lesotho, the Mountain Kingdom, for an entire year.  It feels brief and incredibly long at the same time.  And it’s only half over!  I now have seen all of Lesotho’s seasons – one of the few countries in Africa that has four distinct seasons.  To get a better taste of what my life has been like throughout these seasons, I’ve written a brief description of each season (which is the opposite of those back in the U.S.)

Spring – It’s finally warming up and I can take off the extra layer of socks and long underwear.  Everything is super dusty and people talk about rain coming to start the seeds growing and settle the dust a bit.  There are baby animals everywhere, little goat kids and piglets at the house down the hill.  The peach trees start to blossom and cover all the hills in pink (though the peaches won’t be ready for four more months) Read more

For the past month I have been living on a dollar a day, which is below the international poverty line.  A friend and I decided we wanted to see what it was like to live like most of the world who live in poverty, or as close to it as we can get.  I calculated the cost of all the food, candles, propane, everything, even soap.  The first week was by far the hardest—I craved sweet things, and was hungry all the time.  I noticed a trend with my mood according to if I was hungry or full.  When I was hungry it was hard to think about other things.  As part of our experiment, Adam and I agreed that we could not ask for free food.  But I never turned down any food that someone offered me!  It didn’t matter what it was or if I was hungry, if someone offered food, I ate it.  I lived almost entirely on lesheleshele (sorghum porridge) and roasted maize for the first week.  After twelve days Adam dropped out, he said it making him really tired and not able to concentrate at work.  His quitting made me less motivated, but I stuck with it.  Although I no longer counted transport costs if it was for work purposes, I didn’t want it to affect my work.  I also took two days off for Peace Corps get-togethers. Read more

I have recently begun to see my village in a new light.  Going on vacation, spending time with people who’ve never lived in a developing country (basically me nine months ago), made me realize how much Lesotho has changed me.  I think Peace Corps changes everyone.  Scott one of my friends back home, told me before I left that I could come back a different person, and the idea terrified me.  Living in completely new place, with my surroundings changing drastically was not nearly as scary a thought as myself changing.  But with one-third of my service done, I think it’s been very good for me.  I’m not afraid of many things that I used to be, like spiders and poverty.  I’m much more patient and stronger.  Sometimes I worry that I’m becoming hard-hearted.  People here live off the land and have very hard lives.  They’ve become accustom to seeing people all around them die from AIDS.  I have to let my students out early on Fridays because it’s funeral day.  When I get upset with witnessing something cruel or tragic, it’s a comfort to know that I haven’t become numb to it. Read more