Zoo

I am just one day before "swearing in." In P. Corps lingo tomorrow is the day I become official. Last week I went to visit my site for the next two years and was greeted via trial by fire. I am so excited about what is to come, but my task is also daunting. I arrived at Bethel after 4 hours on a paved road and 2 hours on a bumpy snaking dirt road which wound along the deeply carved river. I was informed that the next morning I would begin teaching. What? I am now in charge of curriculum development for Agro-ecology 1 and 2 as well as Environmental Education. My studnets range from 18 to 40 and they are precious thus far. The school is everything I could ever hope for because we have an emphasis on the tangible side of learning, so as the agric. teacher I am also in charge of orchards and a few acres of vegetable gardens and fields. Thus far my favorite character has been the handyman. His name is Zoo and he follows me around asking "Madame, what can I do." He is a few french fries short of a Happy meal and smokes like a raging chimney. He is more willing to help than anyone I've met thus far an I feel will be one of the pieces of the puzzle which will begin to make Bethel feel like home. From here I can see two years of hard work in a place I think I will be happy to call home.

HUMANITY

The other night I was chatting with my Ntate (father), we were sitting next to the fire that my host family uses to cook their enormous cauldrons of papa (maize meal). It was dark and chilly and the full moon lit the courtyard well. We discussed planting times and a little bit about what life is like in America. He asked me "How big is America, from here to TY?" He equated America to about 30 km. I raised my eyebrows and kindly explained that America was about 300 times the size of Lesotho. He clicked his tongue and shook his head "so far ausi (sister), so far." So true N'tate, so true. The diversity one finds in America is truly striking. It is one of the only countries I can think of where you're not yelled at if you're different, let me explain. In Samoa, kids yelled "palangi" at the white girl, in Costa Rica it's gringa and in New Zealand you're still pahkia. Here the stares are endless and "lehooa" is the phrase of choice. There are moments of frustration however there are other moments which make up for it. Again, I was chatting with my N'tate, he was repairing his saddle and speaking to me in English which is a rarity, I passed his language test so he informed that he would sometimes use english. I laughed because for weeks he pretended that he could not understand me just so I would take more initiative to learn the language. His tactics were successful. He looked up from his repairs and said "you know, we are all the same." "Eeeahyah, N'tate" (yep) I replied. "Molimo (God), he has made us all the same." He looked me straight in the eye. Humanity coursed through both of us at that moment and all the miscommunications and language frustrations became worth it in a second of universal understanding.