Dance, Dance, Revolution

My first ever Lesotho dance lesson brought tears to my eyes! About 50 girls attended the class, ranging from ages 6-16, or higher. I knew right away that the next session was going to have to be divided by age groups. One day a week for the older girls, and one day for the younger ones.
Dance in Lesotho is much different than the dancing I know how to teach, clearly. In order to give the girls a vague idea of what we were going to learn I showed them the "Halo" dance from Glee. So, there we were, 50 girls crammed into a teeny-tiny, sweltering hot church. I busted out my tiny little computer and told them to, "just watch". They were undoubtedly curious and confused as to what they were about to see. However, as soon as the song started and those girls on the screen, all dressed in their yellow dresses, started dancing the b0-ausi gathered as close to the computer as they could get. The amazement in their eyes brought tears to mine!
After the clip we started with some VERY simple technique. We started with plie's (plee-ays) in first and second position. I thought they'd hate it, but they really tried, and seemed to love it! We did some other simple warm-ups, stretching, across the floor routines, and then finished with each different grade level standing up to perform "step touches" that we'd learned during the warm up. The moves were about as simple as I could make them, and they will continue to be. Dancing here in Lesotho is vastly different than your typical American dance class, as you can imagine. The simple idea of standing on, or pointing their toes blows them away. However, the excitement, pride, and happiness I was able to see in their faces made me feel better than I have in a long time.
I don't believe for a second that this is a "sustainable" project, which is what we strive for as Peace Corps volunteers. However, I don't really care either. I know these girls are comfortable and having fun, and that's all that matters to me. If I can build up self confidence in even a few of them I will feel accomplished! Of course I've got lofty dreams of what this could turn into, but I'll be happy with spending a few hours a week making these young ladies feel valued! I'll do my best to keep the blog posted on our progress.

"I get up. I walk. I fall down. Meanwhile I keep dancing"

The quote above is from a card sent to me from my very special friend Sammy. The words hold very true to my recent days here in Lesotho. Yesterday was Thomas Maresco Jr's birthday. Knowing that the date was coming up, and only a day after Vday was difficult. I tried to honor him in the best ways that I could. I made some delicious food. He would've been very proud of this, as he was the best cook in Lesotho, and I'm deffinitely not known for my culinary skills. I allowed my IPOD to play through the songs that I normally would skip in order to avoid the sad thoughts. I "felt the feelings" as I've been advised to do. February 15th was, and will forever be, a difficult day for everyone who knew him. My heart goes out to all of his family and friends!!!
Today is a new day and the sun is shining. Yesterday I may've "fallen down" a few times. But today I'm up and dancing...literally. This afternoon will be my first ever Lesotho dance lesson. I've invited b0-ausi (girls of all ages) from the village to join me in the church building after school for dance class. I'm assuming a BUNCH of them will come this first day. They will probably be dissapointed when I start with technique and simple steps. This is sort of what I'm going for. I want the group to dwindle down to only those girls who are serious about being there. I hope to have 10-20 girls who come once, or maybe twice weekly. I look forward to seeing what will play out. You can never really tell!
As promised, numerous times, I'm making an honest effort to keep up on my blog this year. My camera unfortunately is not working, so pictures will be limited. I will do my best to keep up on the narration though. Thank you to the readers who haven't given up on me :)
Khotso (Peace)
Haley

Brightening things up with some photos.

Posting photos in Africa is difficult, at best. My intention was to post five or six photos, but it's just not working out. Here are the two that loaded succesfully. Hopefully I can get some more up in the future. I'll keep trying.

The photo on the bottom is of the giant boulder that sits outside the front door of my house. The family dog, Fetus, named by the family, is in the foreground and you can also see his tin-roofed dog house.

The photo in the top right is of my host sister
Mohlabase. She caught this moth and is showing it to me through my
burglar bars.

I'll work on getting the other photos up later. But for the moment I'm frustrated with this process.

The Second Year

Everyone says the second year of Peace Corps goes by much faster than the first. My first year flew by, punctuated by cultural integration, fantastic vacations, and getting to know some of the best friends I'll ever have. Sadly, it all came to a screeching halt in September. Since that tragic day I've been struggling to put the pieces back together. I'm just now able to write about my experiences of the past few months, and still I find the task to be a challenging one.
Monday, January 17th marked the beginning of the school year in Lesotho. Whether I'm ready for it or not I am forced to face my second year of work, integration, and general African lifestyle. However, this time I have to do it without the support of some of my best friends. So far the rain has been pouring down daily, which makes moving about quite difficult. Roads are flooded, bridges are non-existent, and everywhere you step you wind up covered in mud. I have no doubt that this year is going to be full of daily ups and downs. Latrines are flooding, houses are crumbling, rules are changing, and I'm always missing my friends. My first year here was one big adventure. Everything was new, exciting, and fun. The reality of Lesotho has changed a lot for me. This second year will surely be nothing like the first and that makes me more sad than I can explain. I can only hope that I will be able to enjoy the positive things that my work, my remaining friends, and Lesotho have to offer.
I will attempt to write on this blog more regularly, but I can't promise anything.
....Here's to year two....

I've said over and over that I'd try to be more committed to my blog. I'm in the US now and there would be no better time to catch everyone up on all that has been happening. However, considering the circumstances that brought me to America I find myself at a loss for words. Everyone says that time will heal...I guess we'll see.

"Sometimes, when one person is missing, the whole world seems depopulated."

Kea Leboha Haholo

Kea Leboha Haholo~Thank You A Lot
I was motivated to write this blog the other day when I had two fellow PCV's come visit me. In the last month I have been blessed with MANY care packages from home. Other volunteers may say TOO many, but I'm a good sharer, so they should all be happy! The last time I went to the post office I had a total of 7 packages to pick up!!! Luckily my host mother had gone with me, so we paid an abuti (young boy) to carry the boxes to the taxi, and then once we got off the taxi at the top of my mountain we called my host brother to bring the wheel-barrow to get the parcels the rest of the way home. Walking through the village behind a wheel-barrow full of packages made me feel a BIT like a spoiled American....but what the hey!
Back to the point of this blog. The two PCV's who came to visit had a great time checking out all my newly acquired loot. Much of its origin being from my oh-so-supportive Grandfather. We munched on American foods and tried on my new winter clothes, while drinking our, not so delicious, Lesotho beers. Somewhere in the middle of it all we decided that Papa had earned a thank you card, not only from me, but from all the other volunteers who get to take part in these wonderful care packages. Being that we have A LOT of time on our hands, no television, and booze, we decided that a card wouldn't be enough. In true PCV fashion we came up with a nice rhyme that I'd like to share with you all now.

Papa your love engorges us all.
Pasta Roni we eat, so "Dudes" name we call.

Without all your goodies,
we'd be freezing in our cotton hoodies.

Looking good in our LL Bean,
though we don't bathe, we still appear clean.

Without all of your gifts we'd be too thin.
Please don't be shy to send them again and again.

Thank you EVERYONE for all of your support!!! Courtney, you spoil me more than anyone ever should! Suzie and Pete, Janet, Mom, Regan, Boyfriend, The VanBoenings, Rikki and Jeff, Hannah, Peter, and the little ones, Kocus and Chantel.....I hope I haven't forgotten anyone. Thank you all soooo much!!!! The packages, letters, post cards, pics, and everything in between are truly appreciated by me....and all the other PCV's that I get to share with!!! We all thank you!!!!! I hope to pay you back when I get home with a bunch of ridiculous tales from Lesotho, shared over rounds of drinks...that will be on my tab :) LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Winter Break

Winter Break is now upon us. The last day of classes was Friday, June 11, and they don't start up again until the beginning of August. The months of June and July will be filled with some work, some play, and A LOT of down time.
With this break comes the World Cup! As anyone who knows me can vouch, I don't care at all about sports. However, when its all taking place so near to me I can't help but "feel it". That's one of the WC slogans, "can you feel it?" I watched the first game on t.v at a restaraunt/bar across the street from my village, and watched another one the other day. My host family will be watching them all, I'm sure, so I can follow the whole thing if I want to (probably won't). I will however be spending a day in Bloemfontein South Africa for the game on the 20th of June, Paraguay vs. Slovakia. This is not a game I'm invested in at all, but the dates worked well, and we even managed to find a place to stay in spite of our last minute planning. We've got a flat that belongs to some nuns (they'll be outta town) and it's only 3 minutes away from the stadium. I'm excited to be right in the middle of the action. I didn't get tickets to the game but I plan to watch it from a crowded bar somewhere in Bloem. Should be a good time! Maybe we'll get lucky and the flat will have hot showers too! BONUS!