Hey All, I seem to have left this blog sit and moulder for the last few months. My bad on that- the truth is there just hasn’t been anything I felt was interesting enough to justify its own blog post. But, after having everybody from my grandfather to my college roomate ask where I disappeared to, I realized that maybe I should get back to this. Sorry guys- I’ll try not to let it happen again.
So, updates… what has been happening here? There’s been a few things that have been happening, which I’ll try to write with some semblance of order. First, the not so good news:
Staff Turnover
In the last month CRS has lost a lot of its senior staff. The Country Rep (Director), and the Programming Manager have taken positions in India and Israel, respectively, while the head of Monitoring and Evalution and the tech support guy have both taken other positions in Lesotho. In Peace Corps, one of our medical staff left, as well as our APCD, Maria Finch.
Maria, as well as the CR and PM for CRS, has been a huge reason why this has been as good of an experience as it has been. Losing them is rough, but definately a part of life in this field. I get the feeling that turnover in general within Lesotho is high. Maria, you are going to be missed by all of us.
Cat:
At long last, I have a cat! No more rats, no more carrying on long conversations with inanimate objects, no more wondering what to do with leftovers. It’s a wonderful thing. Back home I would never have called myself a ‘cat person’, but here it’s a little frightening. Nyx and I have long, involved conversations about everything from the latest economist article to frustrations at work. She’s very perceptive.
I ended up getting Nyx almost by accident, after her previous owner declared her “creepy”, and asked if I wanted her. She’s a small, all black cat in somewhat superstitious part of the world. This, combined with her habit of demanding attention from people, could make her come across as a little off. But hey, I’m happy to have her.
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One last thing: I’m starting up a “help Oscar get a new pair of boots” drive. My hiking boots, after a long and glorious career ranging from Greece to the shores of Lake Superior, now find themselves used up entirely by Lesotho. Should you like to donate to this worthy cause, I would ask that you contact my parents, as they can get money to me easiest. I will provide contact information for them on request.
Ok, I’ll try not to disappear again any time soon. Until next time!
Oh, and congratulations to the St. Mary’s class of ‘09. Now comes the hard part.
