The title says it all. This morning I said goodbye to home and all things familiar. I spent the day hoping airports and eating little bags of pretzels. And so I crossed the country, staring out the window at the ground below, contemplating the gravity of the adventure I had begun, and starting to let…

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…

Three, two, one… go! Time to celebrate the noise of my new home. Everywhere there is conversation. While I still don’t understand much, I do understand some and that is thrilling. There are roosters and cow bells and bleeting sheep. There are screams and giggles of playing children and music blaring out car windows as…

This past week I was able to travel through the country and visit a volunteer who has been serving here for a year. Traveling here is always an adventure. For this trip, that adventure included fitting 17 people in a taxi van built for 14, a 4 hour wait for a car to move, dirt…

It’s been a very busy few weeks, so sorry about the delay in posting. First piece of news- I am no longer sick! I took a day off from classes since I felt like passing out every time I moved and was still running a major fever. A day of rest plus some serious antibiotics…

Everyone says the life of volunteer is a rollercoaster of emotions. Each day, each week, each month, each year… the ups and downs of life outside our comfort zones. Most days it’s frustrations about language barriers or enthusiasm about something new we cooked, new friends we made or a irritating student in class. Small things…

It’s official! I have now completed training, passed my language tests, and been sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer. We had a big ceremony on Wednesday. It was attended by all the PC staff, the current volunteers who have been here for a year, and many dignitaries. These include and are not limited to…

Yes- I have not gotten used to the fact that it is now summer down here in the Southern Hemisphere. Yes- it was the hottest Christmas I’ve ever had. Yes- it was odd to see folks going to Mass wearing short sleeves and sundresses. Yes- we listened to a lot of Christmas music, forcing one…

I’ve decided that since 2018 was such a momentous year for me to do a wrap up by the numbers. (In no particular order…) Countries- 11 (USA, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, France, Italy, Switzerland, South Africa, Lesotho) Continents- 3 (North America, Europe, Africa) Number of hours in planes- 51 (Longest flight was 15 hours…

So it’s been a while since I updated. This is largely due to the fact that there was a period of doing very little followed immediately by doing so much that I didn’t have time to think. I’m settling into a pattern now and this seems like a good time to let all you folks…

So the cat adventures have been resolved. One of the farms I walk by on my way to school had two kittens and one of them ran strait up to me and started purring. Obviously this little one does not share the crippling fear of humans that the one in my shed does. My principle,…

So here’s some fun Sesotho vocab for you. Next time you’re watching Lion King (which I hope is soon) and you meet that awesome lioness Nala, you can now brag to all your friends that her name means “prosperity”. In fact, the last line of the Lesotho national anthem is “Khotso. Pula. Nala.” meaning “Peace.…

A short update but a happy one. Here we go! So this week held one of my favorite days of being here. My friend YaYa came over this weekend (a short 5 hour walk from her village across the mountains) and we went hiking. We set out early in the morning and hiked downhill for…

Tonight folks we tune in to another episode of Lesotho Taxi Adventures… This past week I have been away from site and back in the village where I did my first three months of training. Why? More training. It was really nice to see my host mother again, although I didn’t miss the pokey bed…

Alright, life is getting normal. After several weeks of holidays, trainings, and incomplete school weeks, we are finally in a stretch with full five day school weeks. I’m finally feeling productive. I’ve started teaching my kids algebra- a new and terrifying adventure in mathematics. For those of you out there who haven’t taken algebra since…

  So this has been a very busy week in my tiny mountain village. Last weekend, there was an event. A party, a celebration, a religious experience, a ceremony… I’m not entirely sure. I never got a clear explanation. However I do know that some people were returning to the village after being gone a…

Last week I took my first ever vacation in Peace Corps. And what a vacation it was! I spent two days travelling to the pick up point where I met the others going on vacation with me. These two days included taxis, hiking, and even hitch-hiking. It was long but surprisingly efficient. Waiting for a…

Alright, alright, alright! Let’s get this show on the road! First off, it’s has been a crazy past few weeks! It’s been awesome and busy and epic. So sorry it’s taken this long to tell you all about it! So, here goes. Last I left you, I had just gotten back from my first vacation,…

Get ready for some fun facts! Here we go. Fun fact number one: I have an astronomy degree and you have to put up with some getting stellar education right now. Actually I suppose you don’t. You could stop reading if you really wanted to. Fun fact number two: Lesotho is in the Southern Hemisphere…

Well, my sprained ankle only took six months to heal but it has now done so! And I tested it by doing a few hikes. First I hiked to Yaya’s house with her. It took us five and half hours to walk 13 miles, losing and then regaining about 2,500 ft in elevation. We had…

It’s that time of year. It’s warming up. There are baby animals being born; I’m particularly fond of the fuzzy little lambs. And the peach trees are now getting their flowers. Where bare branches disappeared into the landscape, now fluffy pink patches dot the fields and villages. There are several around my house and I…

Yesterday, I got to see my community’s version of firefighting. As the daughter of a volunteer firefighter back in the States, I’ve often wondered what the Lesotho approach would be to a fire out in the boonies where I live. After all, it’s acres upon acres of grassland, and now at the end of the…

Welcome to the new cohort of Peace Corps Lesotho volunteers. At the end of September, 59 new Americans arrived in country, ready to start their three months of training and then two years of service. I got to meet them when I arrived at training to lead a few of the sessions and they seem…

My cat had her kittens!! There are now four new fuzzballs in the world. Having little squeaking fuzzies to come home to every day has definitely been good for my mental health. I love them and Arwen has been a great mama so far. They are a little over three weeks old now and starting…

I’m back!! After a long and frustrating glitchy-tech-induced hiatus, I am pleased to welcome you all back. Over the next week, I will be be posting a series of updates from the last two months. They are not necessarily in order or related. Enjoy! Here’s a list of just a few of the things you…

I have never given someone a kitten for Christmas before. I see it in movies all the time. Little kids opening a box under the tree and little fuzzy head popping out. Adorable and heartwarming. Well, now I’ve done it. Sorta. None of these little Hallmark moments include the behind the scenes of Santa shoving…

First step- go find the song Reflection from the movie Mulan and play it. It’s a great song. Second step- think back about the last twelve months. Think about highs and think about lows. Think about random stuff that falls in the middle. Think about new friends, old friends, lost friends, found friends. Think about…

One of my goals for my time in Lesotho has been to work on developing my art. Some of that comes in the form of photography. Some in crafts. The rest is in sketchbooks. Thanks to encouragement from family and friends, I am sharing some of my drawings here. Some are abstract, some are concept…

Meet travel buddy at PC office. Celebrate the beginning of vacation! Get ride from office to Pioneer Mall to get food for the bus Armed with food supplies, get a ride to Cafe What Successfully eat lunch (vacations should always start with nachos and milkshakes) Walk to border gate (note: get a ride next time)…

Tsamaea hantle Lesotho!! Not the post I had intended to write but life got in the way. If you haven’t heard, because of COVID-19 all Peace Corps volunteers globally are being evacuated back to the USA. So off we go. Three days ago I packed my life in bags in two hours, said hurried farewells…