Here in Lesotho

I have had an eventful week here in Lesotho.  I have had a great time getting to know the area and what kind of job I will be doing in the school for the next year.   It has taken quite a bit to get used to how the school is run down here, very different than else where that I have experienced.  My host family is a lot of fun, even if I do not understand them most of the time.  The weather is not quite as cold as I fear but still cool.

This week, my first week on the job, I was asked to fill in for the Grade 5 teacher who was going into town for an appointment.  I was a quite worried at the time about how the day would run.  I covered for the teacher on Thursday and on Wednesday after school I did not even know the regular routine.  I had to ask about what time lunch happened, which is different for each class, I also had no idea when school got out for the day.  So I went to the principal and had a whole list of questions that I had.  I also made sure that I had an exit plan for if the class was not listening at all.  The teachers here use corporal punishment and I was afraid that the kids would not listen to me because I would not punish them. 

The day went well, the morning much better than the afternoon.  First thing in the morning I taught them Math, multiplication of money, and marked their compositions (moqoqo is SeSotho, two click in the word).  Then I tried to teach them about Canada but they did not seem too interested. Then I taught them about the Lesotho Highlands Dam project, which is a set of dams to transfer water to South Africa. They loved that I had posters to show them and they were really interested in the topic.  Then after lunch I tried to teach them Slang.  I realized that they did not know many of the phrases that I would say to them.  So I decided to teach them those phrases.  For 2 hours I tried to explain and show the difference between “How are you doing” and “What are you doing”. I would not let them leave for home until they could answer the questions.  It caused a bit of confusion at the end of the day.

On regular days I look after the library during the break time where kids can come and read.  I apparently am very strict with the kids.  I did not realize it but I do not let them even try to goof off so they listen to me quite nicely.

My host family have a wonderful house over looking the whole valley.  I have a room to myself that has a double bed, so my room here is as nice if not nicer than at home in Canada. They have an outhouse, but it does not smell as bad as the ones up at Silver Lake so it is not bad at all, though it is a little bit short so I can not stand up in it. There is a wonderful garden with lots of peach trees.

My host family consists of three people, and a whole bunch of neighbours who always visit.  I have a Nkhono, or host mother, who is very impressed that I can cook and clean.  I have a host brother who is in grade five at the school I work at. I also have a host sister who is in grade 8 at the high school.  Every night there are numerous people to come and visit the house to come and say hi.  I have not learned many of their names but am starting to.  Most of the time I do not understand what they are talking about either as it is all in SeSotho, but I can usually understand what the conversation is about by their brief English explanations.

The house is apparently two villages away from the school; but it only takes me around 15 mins to walk between home and school.  I have also found out from my host brother that I walk really fast.  Yesterday on the way to school he was making fun of the way that I walk.   I do not really mind the walk because it is so beautiful here.

The weather is quite nice here actually.  I find that I have to wear lots of layers to bed, lots.  I wear long johns (two layers) and then I am under 3 big blankets. Under all of the layers I stay nice and warm.  I wear numerous layers in the morning and then slowly take them off during the day, but by the time night comes along the layers need to be put on again.  Many people ask me if I am cold and when I say no people look at me like I am crazy.  I explain about how cold Canada gets and then I get a whole bunch of funny expressions as I am explaining.    

I know this post was long and will put pictures up with my next one, I have not had the time to download any of my pictures yet. I also does not look quite like my background picture on my blog, I will up date that as well.