Lesotho days

First of all let me talk about the weather – it’s hot! Every day is about 30 degrees. It gets cold at night but only like 10 degrees. The Basoto (people from Lesotho) are talking about how cold it is and telling me I’ll bring the winter by wearing short sleeves! I hear it gets a lot colder here but that’s to come. There was rain the first weekend I was here, but since nothing – It is a BIG problem!
At the moment my days are spent in school. I have been here three weeks but I’m still getting used to the place and trying to find my way – which is harder then I thought. I’m up every morning at 6 as school starts at 7 but I don’t need to be there till 7:45 for assembly. This might sound early but by then the place is buzzing and most people have been up since 4:30 or 5. School is a long day and finishes at 4:30 but it’s about 5:30 by the time I’m home. The big thing is that you can’t go out after dark, which is about 6:30 so I find I have very little time to do stuff. Between washing my clothes and getting dinner it’s about all I do before bed.
It hasn’t all been early nights and washing. Last weekend I meet a group of teachers from Wales. They were excellent and invited me to a brie (S.A. word for bbq) which was great and as they made room for me it meant that I didn’t have to worry about getting home before the sun went down! That and the lack of internet are my two biggest problems.
Also this week I met a group of volunteer clowns – they are a group from Ireland with an Ozzie lad and a girl from Brazil thrown in. There called “Clowns without borders” they go to third world countries mainly, bringing entertainment – they will go to schools and do performances on the street….pretty brilliant stuff! The kids here really took to them and the street show went down amazingly.
Another really brill thing is Paddy’s day – I have been invited by the ambassador and his wife to celebrate it with them and others in the Irish embassy!
So far it’s been excellent! I’m still trying to blend in but as “Lahore” (slag for white) it’s kind of hard! I’m learning a bit of the language, not easy, but that will all come in time. What is very difficult is the poverty and the fact that there is not much you can do about it on a large scale. The projects that have been set up all lend a hand towards helping the amazing friendly, intelligent, motivated people who I have had a chance to meet.

Love from the bottom of a heart shaped continent – quote from Bryan the clown.