Welcome to Lesotho

Lumela!! That means Hello and is pronounced doo-mey-la, for anyone out there who doesn’t speak Sesotho. Pretty safe to assume that includes most of you. I don’t either but I’m learning quickly. I’m nearly done with my first week in this wonderful country and already have several hours of language training a day, among other things. But by far the best teacher is the practice I get in the small and (for now) stuttering conversations with my host mother, or my M’me. However, language training has taught me that the word that all the new volunteers, including me, have the most trouble with is my new Basotho name. I have been named Bohlokoa, which means importance and has a sound in the middle that has no English equivalent. We’re working on it.

This place is fantastically beautiful. Every day I wake up to the sunrise over rocky crags and red buttes. As I walk to school with my volunteer neighbor, we are greeted by everyone we see, all willing to accept our short answers and baffled looks when they say more than basic greetings. I look forward to the day when I can hold a conversation more than three phrases long. There are animals everywhere, from dogs to cows and chickens and donkeys. I’m sure that we will all learn to ignore the roosters crowing at 3 in the morning soon. I admire the stars at night with no light pollution to block my view. It’s odd to look north and see familiar constellations upside down and to look south and see stars I have never seen before. I love it! I love everything, even the feeling of being totally out of place, though my appreciation of that sensation comes and goes. I learn something new every moment and admire what these people take for granted. I hope I never lose the ability to see this place as I do now.

I suppose that’s all for now. Tsmeae hantle!