Springtime in October

It’s springtime in Lesotho.

I’ve been a bit busy lately so I haven’t written a blog in a while.  Here’s an update of what’s been going on these past few weeks…

I’ve been in a bit of a photography slump lately.  

We had a district party at the NGO Touching Tiny Lives (terrible name I know).  Things got a bit weird between Jim and Rob but we had a good time.  I haven’t had a burger in months so that was refreshing. 

I got a new lens!  I picked up a 35 year old Vivitar 135mm f2.8 telephoto lens on fleaBay for a whopping $22.  It’s twice the focal length of my next longest lens and twice as fast.  Basically I got a mint condition 205mm equivalent f2.8 lens and I’m happy about it.  I’ll do a write up on it when I get some more photos.  

I traveled to Morija to meet Melinda at the Ried’s.  You see some interesting things on the roads in Africa.  What do you do when your taxi is full?  Ride in the trunk of course.

Melinda knitted me a cool hat.  She’s so talented.

I like the color and pattern.  

We goofed around at the Ried’s house for a few days, I brought my new telephoto lens with me.  I’m pretty happy with the sharpness and colors of this lens.  

We had a date at the restaurant Primi.  We both ate like a couple of pigs but the food was so good.  

Oh and they have draft beer.

We were assigned to teach the new group of volunteers the following day.  We hitch-hiked out of Maseru and got a ride by a garment and textile workers rights advocate.  He was a pretty entertaining fellow and talked our ears off about everything from woman’s rights to infidelity.  He gave us a ride all the way to the training village (Bela Bela) and refused any money for his help.  

Our lesson was cancelled because of time constraints so we held an informal question and answers discussion about hitch-hiking, backpacking, and being out at night.  I think it was somewhat beneficial to the new volunteers to hear about those subjects without having to learn by doing.  

They had a nutrition class, which means they basically just cooked a bunch of food.  

On the last morning, Jon, Jeff, Ben, and our host brother Lenka went on a hike to a “cave” through a mountain.  

We left at 5:10 am so we would get back in time to part ways.  Bela Bela is a really nice area.

Same peak from a different view.

There were some cool climbing sections.   

And we arrived at the “cave”.  It was not the hole in the mountain we were told about.  I think Lenka didn’t know exactly where it was.  Jeff left, Ben right

I couldn’t help myself.  I'm the neanderthal for your information. 

After the hike Melinda and I hitch-hiked back to my place.  We got picked up by a really cool New Zealander / Australian named Curin.  

Typo?  

We had a good time talking to Curin and he gave us a lift all the way to my place.  

There was a terrific electrical storm during a sunset.  It wasn’t raining where we were so we just watched it side by side until dark.  

We both left my place on Saturday and headed to Morija for a Halloween party.  Afterwards we parted ways, which brings the blog to this week.  

My counterpart, Lipheto Mothibeli and myself, began a girls toilet project.  There are currently 5 toilets to serve 330 girls, 90 of which live in a boarding house on campus.  With some help from a Peace Corps grant, we are building 10 new toilets to help the girls out.  I’m pretty excited about the projects progress and working with Mothibeli has been incredibly easy.  He’s very motivated and proactive.  The toilets should be completed this week.  I just hope the grant and private donations come through.  

Thanks for reading.

Peace,

- Joel