Moving Along like an AAR song

Allah'u'abha

Heard you all got lots of snow in the US. We have had lots of rain here but besides that the weather is perfect. I hope you got some needed rest. I love naps!

I want to give u a little more idea of what it is like here
Things Lesotho has that are in the US
-Coca-cola and Fanta
-Pop/Hip Hop music
-KFC though there are no biscuits (imagine my disappointment). Thank goodness no Mcdonalds though
-Computers/TV for some people who can afford it
-Dancing and singing
-Beautiful people
-Taylor, yes she is enjoying the warm Basotho blankets

Things unique to Lesotho
-Seeing the clouds beneath me from on top of a mountain
-Families washing clothes in the river on Saturday
-People riding donkeys
-Seeing people pee on the side of the road
-I don't wear my head phones in town because no one does
-Riding in packed 16 passenger vans to go to other districts
-Places blasting house music (very similar to techno)
-Herdboy as a common occupation
-One of only 2 restaurants that takes an hour to get food
-Lots of fresh fruit and street vendors
-Interesting flavored chips like Fruit Chutney, Fried Chicken and Chili Pepper
-Seeing a baby cattle hanging out with two toddlers, it was adorable

Things I miss
-Hearing Lily call me a strawberry nose, Jaidyn say 'why Drea why?" and Jasmine say "shh you have to be very quite because Mommy is sleeping okay Dre Mommy is sleeping" lol
-My family and freakin awesome friends
-Gummi bears
-Open mic and poetry nights
-Comedy central presents friday night standup

Word has def gotten around that I am not Basotho so I have plenty of people to talk to, in good and uncomfortable settings. lol I like being able to just walk around town and visit a lot of different people. I love the calm there is in Lesotho and I think US could really benefit from having shorter work hours.

Busy weekend. I went to Maseru to get my passport reauthorized. While there I had dinner with Kal, a poet/graphic artist, Mawetu, and Swedish businessman. There was some deep conversation about letting go of borders, creating foundations in character development, and creating jobs and systems that help people make use of their own land and capacities. For instance, one man was hoping to start hot air balloon tours in Lesotho. Instead of just outsourcing all of the plans, he wanted to create it so that when people came to take tours, the local farmers and workers could provide food and lodging for them so that the people taking tours were giving directly to the community. It really needs to be supported by the locals though. One of the difficulties here is that if aid orgs give too much to people then they don't go out on their own to sustain it, they just ask for more. Its the whole give a man a fish or teach a man to fish lesson and the Africans have to want to learn

I also went to Sani Pass with friends for a birthday. It’s one of the highest points in Africa so we were above the clouds. It was a wonderful place for prayer and just to be in awe of creation. It poured rain like crazy there but it was nighttime and I loved the sound. Put some fun personalities with random dance parties, card games, an awesome dog (I called Bear Claw) and a cool South African guy named Sebastian and it made for a legit time. Sara especially has the ability to randomly break into song and dance which I love and join in regularly. Parker has the same spastic mind as me so I wonder how we ever know what we are talking about. It’s a very good thing. Makes me miss my mom and sisters and endless Adam Sandler/comedian references

The other highlight was horse riding with a guide. I did much better and even had my horse galloping. It was just delightful. The place was almost too chill. No one checked us in our rooms or checked to see if we paid. It was a weird feeling to be on the honor code system but I liked it in a way. (yes, we all payed!)

Another volunteer with Kirsten, Kevin from Maryland, showed up and it was cool meeting him Friday night. He broke out with some hilarious voices and I’m glad she has someone to share the work load at Touching Tiny Lives. She’s a busy girl.

Kamachee made me a chocolate cake and banana bread. Umm, they don't sell pastries here so it was a super highlight!

Was a little frustrated this week with learning Sesotho, because most people here expect me to know it and I am the only independent volunteer here (Peace Corps members get trained in Sesotho) so I am really trying to listen and read books and work on the language. Even though I’ve only been here a month, I guess I am just used to being “in the know” so I am trying to just take it easy and learn at my own pace. Talked to my mom who helped me to appreciate that the customs are different here and that people are welcoming me in their way. The other difficult experience was that a lady I met at a store asked me to take her child. Things like that, and having adults believe that I have greater means because I come from a rich land is difficult. At the same time, ways I can help, like proofreading donor letters in English, helping with English classes at local schools, teaching games that don't take many supplies and providing supplies when I can are things I am more than happy to do. Along these lines I also learned an incredible lesson. Last saturday I was really tired from staying up too late and went to teach in Mapholaneng. The translators who usually help me were unavailable (the kids do not speak enough english) and I was just in a down mood. Still 15-20 kids showed up (this is the site I teach at every Saturday afternoon) and Lihlehleng said just go and at least show a prayer or game. We started off slow with the game Leader (or indian chief) and picked up momentum with What Can You Do Ngoana Ngoana (a dance game I edited for Lesotho kids), Hey Posse, and O God Guide Me in sign language, which I had taught before. A high school student in her first year helped me to work with the kids and it turned out to be a wonderful and uplifting time. Many of the kids said prayers they had memorized when we squatted in a circle at the end of the day. It was just a great lesson in humility and trusting God to take my capacities and spread His intentions. I just am so happy that I didn't miss out, or make the children miss out on a wonderful experience because of my own anticipated limitiations. It reminds me a quote Fredda (Baha'i in US) told me: "God can't steer a ship that isn't moving." Well I'm moving along like an All American Rejects song

I don’t know if I wrote but I met a cool soldier here named Molontoa (I know me hanging out with a soldier is way weird). Anyway he has helped me with Sesotho and it is nice to share life experiences with him and his friends and hanging out just made me realize how much easier it is to get to know someone here when you have hours a day to just talk and reflect on life. He moved back to Maseru on Mon but I think he is a good friend to have. One the old fashioned ideas here is that husbands are above wives, hence only men are in bars playing pool and drinking. I think it is getting much better with the new generation. There are female police and many occupations so I hope that there will be more equality. Just a note: I think its important for us to realize that saying men and women are equal doesn't mean they have to do the same things. It is just genetics that men are stronger physically and women are more emotionally based. Equality simply means that you value the contributions of each gender (or race, ethnicity) at the same level. I was telling the men here, God made it so that people could not be born without women. They are of great importance. People could also not be born without men, so I have to believe we were meant as complementary beings. It also made me think how some atheists and scientists think we are crazy to believe that there is this higher being that watches over everything. But I mean have you seen how many stars there are? That are billions of miles away and how many other galaxies exist. I think it is just as crazy to believe that all the interacting systems of sustainable life were somehow spontaneously created by a big bang than to believe that as we are discovering more and more about the world around us, it seems that there is some greater plan amid our progress

I have to be honest, I can’t imagine going back to busy DC after living here, but who knows what the next step is; it's still early. (Don't worry, still have a plane ticket for July). The biggest issue I’m realizing is that if I decided to return to Africa in order to work longer, with the exchange rate I would not make enough money to buy plane tickets to visit the United States

We shall see where God takes me.

Thanks for reading my long updates and for all those who are keeping in contact, I miss you and value our long distance relationships lol

"Blessed is he who mingleth with all men in the spirit of utmost kindliness and love" Baha'u'llah

With open arms and open heart
Shine your light,
Andrea Hope

Making Memories in Mokhotlong

Allah'u'abha, it's Febraury 1. It seems like I’ve been here longer.

I have been learning prayers and reading scripture. In Leviticus of Bible (pretty much on how to prepare meat for sacrifice) and beginning of Qu’ran. Puzzled by things like Moses writes the 10 commandments (Thou Shall Not Kill) and then they slay 3,000 men who turned from God. Hopefully as more reveals itself I will come to new wisdoms. On the other hand, prayer has been incredible, being able to pray surrounded by nature is an experience that empowers the soul with the elements of pure life. <>The Baha’is holding me down here are two older women, Kamachee who is Malaysian (cooks for us all the time) and Lihlehleng, a native, (sometimes stay at her house in town, she’s hilarious) so they take very good care of your Andrea. Funny moment with Lihlehleng (there are many) is she gave me her phone # -last digits (1418) I tried to call, wasn’t her. When I saw her I told her to call me and turns out her # was 1814. She said “Oooh, that’s why that handsome gentlemen who wanted my number never called me” lol.

I live in my own ronduval 30 min walking from town. The farm’s caretaker speaks very little English so it is a wonderful experience finding ways for us to communicate. He has a 16 yr old son, Mokhabi, who I play cards with and teach other fun activities.

I spend a lot of my time with children which brings me constant joy. Dance & prayers with 2 groups of kids (one in a town 30min away) on Sat. I met a wonderful Basotho Bahai’, Motlalekhotso who helped b/c the kids there speak less english. I’ve begun teaching about Universal Connectedness in class 5, 6, and 7. At first they giggled at my accent but they adjust quickly and I teach without the help of a Sesotho teacher translating. The kids don’t know much about USA, just music and a few knew who President Obama was, but I think it’s helpful b/c they see me as an equal. I’m just the Madam with the silly games, & funny American accent. [=. The adults think a lot more of it. People are amazed that I left US to pay for myself to volunteer here. Some also expressed never dreaming that an American would be sitting in their living room talking to them. I was told I have a unique mind, I think that encompasses that I am weird, which is true in every country!

It’s starting to get frustrating the # of boys asking about marriage. A teacher explained that in Lesotho when you see a girl & you have “that feeling” you have to ask to her to marry you. I think “that feeling” is a big issue. Lesotho has one of the highest spread HIV and Aids rates. People get married after knowing each other a short time and then men and women sleep with other people. I know that things aren’t much better in the states (though we use more protection). This is another reason I want to start this dance and activities at the youth center, so that ladies and men can do activities as friends and get to know each other. Right now the only time they really hang out is school or in sexual context. I had a hard time communicating with some of the youth leaders, but one named Mpho, seemed really excited about applying new ideas.

I met 4 other Americans. 3 are Peace Corps volunteers who are spread out among this district. The other works very close at a rehabilitation/health center for kids called Touching Tiny Lives; that's Kirsten. She is from NY and I hang out with her most often. She’s a sweetheart, vegetarian; we share about proposals and kids giggling at our accents. Because she is white, they don’t expect her to speak Sesotho like they do with me. Besides us there are a few Chinese families here but they seem to have grown up here and speak more sotho than English.

NEW EXPERIENCES
I rode a horse for the first time on Friday! Loved it. I thought, am I hurting this horse? It was going so slow, I mean I’m only a little over a 100 pds, it carries more weight than me pretty often lol. Needless to say, the horse knew I had no control, I didn’t want to hit or hurt him. People were walking uphill faster than my horse was moving; he stopped to eat grass, pick flies off himself, pick up his dry cleaning from the local shop! Lol. Really it was great just to enjoy nature and I will do it again soon with more experience. It has rained everyday since I came, which means I can’t see stars but the other day after it rained I saw a crowd of gray clouds and a rainbow on the right and one big white cloud poking out of the middle. My God, it was too amazing to even take a photo

GROSS BUT FUNNY THINGS TO SHARE
When I went to put on my shoe one day I felt a hop. Of course I threw my shoe off and a little frog jumped out and hopped behind my dresser.

Bees like to die in the window seal. When I first got to the preschool I was looking for a can to put stones in. There were so many dead bees in the can that I stopped for a second & thought, are they doing some kind of dead bee science project? They weren’t!! At home when I get up, it’s a small bee battlefield. 3 or 4 bees will be crawling over 10 dead bees on the window seal trying to get out. I usually try to get them to grab onto a piece of toilet paper and fling them back outside. I didn’t understand this but Kamachee told me they come in through some hole in the wall or roof (there are many) and then keep slamming into the window trying to get out.

The hardest part so far has been hand washing clothes, if white socks & I ever had a good relationship before (I don’t think this is our first falling out) it’s over now. Lol

If you are wondering what you could send me, I can receive soft/small items here. I could use loose paper or notebook to put in binder, Nature’s Valley oats and honey bars, any sweets especially gummi bears, baked or mixes, we have an oven.
PO Box 47
Mokhotlong 500, Lesotho
Did I mention oats and honey bars?! [=
I seem not to be getting some texts so please email spread.hope@yahoo.com if I don't respond

“With great humbleness and entire devotion, I pray to Thee to make me a minaret of love in Thy land, a lamp of Thy knowledge among Thy creatures, and a banner of divine bounty in Thy dominion.”

With open arms and open hearts,
Shine your light,
Andrea Hope