Day In The Life

Another two weeks in Lesotho and I'm still loving it. I moved in with my host family and they are the sweetest, most inviting people ever. I have adult host siblings that help me with Sesotho and a 'M'e (host mom) that feeds me way to much food and is constantly worried that I am cold. Here's the lowdown on the last two weeks:

The good:

I adore my host family and being in the same village as everyone in my cohort. We have had so much fun doing hut tours and exploring. I have also been teaching at one of the primary schools in the village which has been the best thing ever. Here is a typical day in the life as of late:

my hut :)

5:00am - Wake up to a rooster right outside my door (not the previously mentioned chicken/gift from grandma which was in fact dinner one night...)

6:00am - Actually get out of bed and respond to a knock at my door from my host mom or sister ensuring that I am, in fact, awake. I put some water on to boil for coffee and my bucket bath.

6:30am - Finish up my bucket bath and do my hut chores (make my bed, sweep the floor, fill up water buckets, empty pee bucket if needed hehe, throw out bath water) and get ready for my day.

7:00am - Breakfast before leaving my hut and beginning my walk to school (about 20 minutes walk to the bottom of the mountain my rondavel is on (miles: 1. River crossings: 1. People stopping me to say good morning: 6+).

7:30am - School time! I look over my lesson plan and head to the morning assembly at which students sing the national anthem, pray over their day, and present any songs, stories, or things they have been learning throughout the week. After this, they head to their respective classrooms.

8:00am - Teacher time! I teach my lesson and then hand it off to another volunteer or the  host teacher for the next lesson. The rest of the morning is hanging out at the school, playing games with the kiddos, or being crushed in soccer because they are all so good.

12:00pm - The other volunteers working at this school and I head to the top of the mountain for our tearn to learn. We eat lunch and then head to classes to learn Sesotho, culture, and job training sessions.

4:00pm - Out of sessions for the day! I walk back down the mountain to my hut, most times stopping to hang out at a friend's house on the way back down.

5:30pm - Hanging at my hut and with my host family, usually helping cook dinner and trying to learn Sesotho. I have a 3-month old nephew here so I get to hang with him and he reminds me of my real nephew (hi Ari!) which is lovely. I eat dinner with my host family and then head to my hut!

7:30/8:00pm - Lesson planning, reading, getting ready for bed, calling friends and family.

9:00pm - Usually bedtime. Sometimes stay up a little longer but these days are exhausting and I need my sleep.

Still really happy. Still very in awe of my community and the experiences I get to have. Still loving Lesotho and eager for what lies ahead!

punctuation lessons with grade 3!

The bad:

This schedule is tough and communication from Peace Corps is not always top tier. It's a hard time and just a packed schedule, so not everything is rainbows and butterflies. And this language barrier is tough! Hearing a language you barely understand all day from when you wake up to when you go to sleep is a bit emotionally exhausting. That said, I am still very very very happy here and don't want anyone to hear otherwise! However, want all of my fans reading this to get the whole picture ;). Also, don't always love a rooster waking me up at 4:00 am and sometimes eating purely beans, papa, eggs, chicken, or cabbage for every meal is just a tad repetitive. I was craving a cheeseburger last week and I'm not sure that craving will ever leave me.

Coming up:

We get our site placements next week! I am so so thrilled to figure out where I will be living permanently for the next two years. The day after our site announcements, all of us education volunteers are heading to a weekend workshop with our supervisors and will get to meet our site host families. After the weekend, we will all go visit our sites to see our homes and work in our schools for a week before coming back to our training village! The next blog post will most likely be after that unless I can get one in sooner. No electricity and very limited wifi makes using a laptop and then uploading posts a whole feat :). I am posting this from my phone so if the formatting is weird, I simply have no control and am offering my formal apologies.

Missing my people at home! Love you all dearly and appreciate the support and y'all reaching out. Talk to ya soon! Tsamayang Hantle!

DISCLAIMER: My thoughts/opinions/and content of this blog are my own and does not reflect the views of the Peace Corps or U.S. Government.