FAT BY CHEMICALS

I know that it is a compliment here, but it never ceases to catch me off guard. "Ausi Limpho, you are soooo fat." Thanks. It may be lack for descriptive words in the Sesotho vocabulary or just my luck that I have hips, but wow, as a lady from image-conscious California, having the details of your curves explained daily has been one of the less pleasant aspects of life in Lesotho.
The English that students learn is post-colonial and some of the phrases are less than familiar to my American ears. These can also lend to the agony and hilarity.
One of my fellow PC volunteers came to visit and we had just taken a walk to the village to track down a fowl to sacrifice in honor of T-day. Seeing two white people in the village is a big to-do so a crowd of teenage girls followed us back to my house. They began to comment on the finer points of our figures.

"Ausi Karabo (my friend) she is slender by nature."
We decided that should be the name of a hip-hop single.

My co-worker piped up trying to make a joke out of the bizarre phrase, but I believe that the situation was heightened when she said:

"but you Ausi Limpho, you are fat by chemicals".
Perfect. Now we have a punk band too.

The past six weeks have been a roller coaster of teaching successes and third world dysfunction. Some days the attitudes of my students breaks my heart. There has been so much foreign aide poured into Lesotho that many people (my students included) believe they are entitled to everything but should not have to work. I am doing my best to burst that destructive bubble.
Other days my brilliant baituti (students) understand concepts and make me beam with pride. The school system in Lesotho believes only in wrote memorization for teaching strategies. I taught my students Capture the Flag to demonstrate the concept of competition between species. It was a hit once the rules were finally grasped. Even my token 40 year old went flying through the orchard to retrieve the opposite teams flag.

This week I am in the big smoke for a week of training. I would love to hear from you all while I still have access to the good ol' net.