It is football season!!!! LOVE!!! I am very sad that I cannot watch games live, I might be able to once or twice this season that will most likely be a playoff game and superbowl. I have joined the fantasy football league as well. I have always wanted to play but never did. In the last couple of years, I have gotten even more into football by watching other teams play and looking at their players. Where normally I would only watch the Seahawks games. I have joined with a league of PCV’s here in Lesotho, which is just funny. The banter is quiet funny. Then my Aunt Mireya just asked me to join another league. I am looking forward to this season. Although having to get up at either 2am or 4am to listen to the games is gonna take its toll. Thankfully for tomorrow’s game, I have nothing on Mondays so I will be able to sleep in. At least until my pup decides it’s time to wake up and climbs on my face, which is usually around 5:45am. The good part is that I can usually just put him outside and go back to sleep. Since his mom and brother are outside, I do not feel so bad putting him out there once it’s almost time to get up anyway. I was very skeptical about getting a dog here. For many reasons, one I knew I would have to bring him back home with me, and second my pretty serious relationships is looking like it’s going in the right direction and I know how picky he is with dogs. Especially since his own dog died, the one he grew up with and that was hard for him. Now I have two puppies, even though I am half way around the world. But after the first puppy died, I was just heart broken. If I had known he was sick sooner I would have taken him to the vet in a heartbeat. The thing about pets here is that they are not really pets. They do not allow dogs inside, and they treat them more as protection then animals. They don’t play with them or take them on walks, although most dogs are heard dogs and walk with the heard boys and their cattle or sheep. It definitely took a few days for Rufio to get used to coming inside. Yes I named him Rufio, with some help from my sister. Yes we are nerds. During the day I leave him outside with his mom, that way he doesn’t destroy my house. When I am home though I leave the door open and he can come and go as he pleases. I have converted one of my care packages into a bed for the little guy. I have also given him my punk bear to sleep with, also to bite, so that he doesn’t bite anything else. Except he tries to steal my slippers, every now and then I will turn around and you just see him running outside with my slipper in his mouth. One of the cats have figured out I feed him dog food and so that one likes to come in and steal a few bites, before Rufio notices and then he goes to eat and growls at the cat. I don’t mind though, the cat is so skinny, it is amazing it is still alive. When I pet it, I can feel everything, all the bones and you can see them too. It is so sad. They don’t buy dog or cat food like we do in the States. Instead if most get feed at all it is PAPA, which a cornmeal that Basotho love to make. In fact it’s in most of their meals. Which is super bad for them as it is all starch.
On Tuesday 9-8-2015, there was a breast feeding campaign at the chief’s place. I was invited by the clinic. I was like yeah I will come, I thought it was like another Pitso (which is a gathering of the community), to discuss and talk about it and the proper way to hold a baby etc. It turned out it was this big shindig. There were two big tents, chairs set up, and it was even televised. The ministry of agriculture and food security, Center for Impacting Lives, world vision, nutrition team, health clinic, the youth center, and District Administrator were among the many people who attended. I ended up being MC with a coworker named Max who works with Aline in town. He helped me with my Sesotho and it was a big success. They went through everything, talking about cleanliness, food demonstration for mothers, HIV testing in the chief’s office, how to properly hold a baby when breast feeding, and signs to look out for if something seems wrong. It was very informative and very good for the community. Mothers of newborn that had babies on the right track for weight, got prizes. Each mother got a baby bath, bag, cloths, diapers, super maize, and formula. It was a very big deal. The after we all got lunch. It was great for me, because everyone in the community got to see me and also speak Sesotho, which helps me integrate more.
Running! I have been running a ton lately as my half marathon is coming up soon. It is funny, because Basotho do not work out. Seeing me running around the village is a very strange thing to them. They do not understanding just running. Often times when I am running I get asked where I am going. Which I respond nowhere I am running a course which starts from my house and then I end it back at my house. I am totally going to die on this half marathon, I know I can do it. That is not the problem, the problem is I really do not like running, but I like being in shape. Out here there are not too many methods to stay in shape. There is a gym at the hotel in town, but I am only in town on weekends, so I get to work out their twice a week. My buddy Lee is super fit and kicks my butt every time. Which is good. I need some motivation sometimes.
We have a new person staying with my host family. It is my host mother’s sister. Apparently there is no jobs and she has no money, so my host mother went on Wednesday to get her and bring her back to our village. It is nice because she does speak better English then the whole family put together, but also she just sits outside and does nothing. I would be so bored. She is also afraid of the dogs, which I am like what, out of all the dogs in Lesotho, the dogs at my house are the sweetest things. They just want love and attention, they would never harm anyone. It is strange though, the other day she asked me if I know Africans and English or just English. I was like uhhh, I know Sesotho and English but not Africans (Which is from South Africa). She goes oh I thought you might be from Cape Town. I was like no I am from America. Apparently my host family didn’t tell her anything about me, except that I live in the rondavel.
On Tuesday 9-8-2015, there was a breast feeding campaign at the chief’s place. I was invited by the clinic. I was like yeah I will come, I thought it was like another Pitso (which is a gathering of the community), to discuss and talk about it and the proper way to hold a baby etc. It turned out it was this big shindig. There were two big tents, chairs set up, and it was even televised. The ministry of agriculture and food security, Center for Impacting Lives, world vision, nutrition team, health clinic, the youth center, and District Administrator were among the many people who attended. I ended up being MC with a coworker named Max who works with Aline in town. He helped me with my Sesotho and it was a big success. They went through everything, talking about cleanliness, food demonstration for mothers, HIV testing in the chief’s office, how to properly hold a baby when breast feeding, and signs to look out for if something seems wrong. It was very informative and very good for the community. Mothers of newborn that had babies on the right track for weight, got prizes. Each mother got a baby bath, bag, cloths, diapers, super maize, and formula. It was a very big deal. The after we all got lunch. It was great for me, because everyone in the community got to see me and also speak Sesotho, which helps me integrate more.
Running! I have been running a ton lately as my half marathon is coming up soon. It is funny, because Basotho do not work out. Seeing me running around the village is a very strange thing to them. They do not understanding just running. Often times when I am running I get asked where I am going. Which I respond nowhere I am running a course which starts from my house and then I end it back at my house. I am totally going to die on this half marathon, I know I can do it. That is not the problem, the problem is I really do not like running, but I like being in shape. Out here there are not too many methods to stay in shape. There is a gym at the hotel in town, but I am only in town on weekends, so I get to work out their twice a week. My buddy Lee is super fit and kicks my butt every time. Which is good. I need some motivation sometimes.
We have a new person staying with my host family. It is my host mother’s sister. Apparently there is no jobs and she has no money, so my host mother went on Wednesday to get her and bring her back to our village. It is nice because she does speak better English then the whole family put together, but also she just sits outside and does nothing. I would be so bored. She is also afraid of the dogs, which I am like what, out of all the dogs in Lesotho, the dogs at my house are the sweetest things. They just want love and attention, they would never harm anyone. It is strange though, the other day she asked me if I know Africans and English or just English. I was like uhhh, I know Sesotho and English but not Africans (Which is from South Africa). She goes oh I thought you might be from Cape Town. I was like no I am from America. Apparently my host family didn’t tell her anything about me, except that I live in the rondavel.