… have been greatly exaggerated.
(February 20) : It’s been a long time since I updated anything here. The last month has been a little strange for me – my supervisor and a significant amount of the staff were transferred, and after a long delay Sempe’s replacement arrived this week. The delay in updating was certainly not intentional, I simply have been moving around the country a lot in the last month, and haven’t had much time to stop and write about what has been going on.
I decided to take some time while waiting for the new supervisor to arrive, to travel around Lesotho a bit and see what some other volunteers are doing at their sites. It was a good trip, both to see how things are going for everyone and to see more of this country. I now have at least driven through nine of Lesotho’s ten districts. and spent time in seven. For such a small country on the map, it is surprisingly large when you are traveling in it.
We’ve started to have some members of the new CHED group coming in June joining the Lesotho facebook group. It’s strange to think that we are going to be the old group so soon. On one hand it feels like we just got here, on the other, like I’ve never known a life outside of this one.
(February 23): With little happening at my site and a lot of time on my hands, I’ve had ample opportunity to catch up on my reading. The variety of books I’ve read in the last two weeks is illuminating, both of the variety available and the willingness to read anything that is part of Peace Corps. An incomplete list would include this following:
Reinhold Niebuhr, Prodigal Summer, Sandman vol. 1 and 2, The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, a Star Trek pulp novel, The Wisdom of Whores: Brothels and the Business of AIDS, and The Red Tent. If anyone can find a theme in that list, you are better at pattern recognition than I.
(February 28): Down in Maseru for the weekend. The recent changes at work have left me a bit in the lurch, trying to figure out where I fit in with the new staff and how I will procede over the next few months. This has led to a lot of thinking, pondering, and, let’s be honest, complaining with other volunteers about our collective problems. It’s been a good weekend though, giving me a chance to talk out the things that have been bothering me, get reassured that I wasn’t going crazy making mountains out of molehills, and recommit to the next year here.
Good to hear from you Oscar!
Your struggle to figure out how to fit in seems to be a theme of my adult life. Just when you think you start to get the hang of something – BANG – then one aspect changes and everything turns upside down. It could be as little as a new boss, new coworker – or even just a new cube, and it throws everything off. And the birth of a wonderful, beautiful daughter – well, yes then your life shifts onto a new track.
There are many that believe that chaos is the norm and that we all need to figure out how to move at the speed of light to keep up – technology has certainly accelerated the pace at which we share information. For me, it doesn’t mean I process information any faster. (When I remember) I try to think of it as the advice you get when whitewater rafting. If you get knocked out of the boat, try to get back in as quick as you can. If you end up too far from the boat, your best bet is to point your feet downriver and relax. Do what you can to go with the flow and work with the river rather than against it. Oh yeah – and if you remember, it is a good idea to hold on to your paddle so that you have the tools you need when you get back in the boat.
Wishing you a peaceful float through the next rapid,
Karlynn
I’m glad you received the package I sent and have enjoyed at least one of the books I picked out. I even went to hear her talk. She was very entertaining, handing out condoms to the girls and when someone asked why she handed them out to the girls and not the boys her response was “this way they might actually get used”. I hope you enjoy the other two books even though they have nothing to do with each other.
I’m glad to hear everything is going well (even though you have been doing a lot of reconfiguring).
Good luck and take care,
~Cathy