Rock Climbing in S Africa

Yesterday I went rock climbing. It's the first time in over a year that I've felt the heat of the rock, the soreness and stiffness of arms, the freedom of heights, the wonderful company of other climbers and so much Peace. It was an incredible day filled with so much sunshine, good company and also great food. After climbing & hiking around for the whole afternoon we enjoyed the company of many folks from around the world at the Oldenburg Lodge & Game Park (where the incredible rock climbing was). We sat in front of a huge fireplace surrounded by people, dogs and we wolfed down delicious hamburgers the size of large plates :). Then back to Lesotho (a 20 min drive) on a star filled night. It was an amazing day!

A little Disturbing photo of me Belaying Sean and Adam backing me up so I don't fly up the wall if Adam took a "Zinger".

Sean is 6'9" and was trying to show me a "great bouldering route" I'm 5'1" and it was a little challenging/impossible following his lead.

I took this photo of Kjessie and I was feeling exactly the same way...

Thanks Sean for letting us borrow your gear and for taking out on the rock!

My First Year on African Soil

It's unbelievable to imagine that I've been in Lesotho now for 1 year! It's difficult to summarize the amazing experience I've had so here are some highlights & memories

· I've built snowmen in Africa...crazy!
· Swimming in the Indian Ocean
· Sunrises and Sunsets that make me breathe deeply and have brought me to tears
· Growing an amazing garden that nourishes my body and soul
· Lightning storms that make my heart stop... so... so... so... intense
· Painting a mural on the mud wall of a church with lamb wool & food coloring, teaching the old women how to draw and paint flowers and seeing their pride in the finished product.
· Turning 26 (but aging 10 years in many ways)
· Spending 2 hours on a bus talking to a school teacher about eskimos and people who live/lived in houses of snow/ice or animal skins who hunt really big fish (whales) his fascination and questions were like that of a really excited, interested child
· Children's Health Day I went to the clinic early in the morning to 400 women and children that attended an event I organized at the St.Theresa Clinic, amazing how many people showed up using word of mouth marketing and some dorky posters I made. I had no idea so many people would come.
· Teaching the kids in my village how to make whistles by blowing on blades of grass (dumbest thing I've ever taught them)
· Introducing the Paper Airplane to Mashai Primary (hee hee hee) we made paper airplanes with their old exams and then composted them in the garden. :)
· Giving 70 5th graders heart attacks because a toad jumped out of my hand in the class – you should have heard the screams as the frog innocently jumped on the mud floor towards my students. So much for that “Habitat” lesson... fortunately the frog didn't “croak”
· Peace Corps slumber parties, it's amazing how many volunteers you can fit in a small rondavel

Parts of Animals & Foods that have been a new experience
· Pig Skins (fried with the black bristly hair still in tact)
· Chicken Feet, Intestines and yes.... the head (an uncomfortable meal as a guest at someones home) I gnawed on the head... so weird... but tasty!
· Lamb guts (intestines, brain, liver, etc... )
· Tunafish Sushi ( a creative meal at a PCV's house)
· Beets Mayo & Jello Salad
· Carrot & Ketchup Salad
· Corn, Corn, Corn, Corn in every way imaginable (flour, homemade beer (so gross!), porridge, bread)

Snowflakes in Africa

I love to play practical jokes but it's been difficult here in Lesotho. The other day I was explaining to my Me' why I was excited for the snow to fall, she shook her head and said “healdee” which is like the Lesotho version of “geez – your crazy!” As she prepared to visit a friend I had a mischievous spark... When she returned from visiting her friend I had covered all of her windows with paper snowflakes. I was so excited and laughing to myself as I waited for her to return. I heard a yell “Amo” Ke eng? Ahhhhhh Cheeee (Basotho expression for so many things). I walked over to her house and she had a huge grin on her face I said “Me' Leshua e teng!” (The snow is here!) She furled her dark wrinkled brow and said ee ee (no) Ke' lipalesa, Li Linkle! (It's flowers their beautiful!).

So... the joke backfired, but it's been fun explaining to my Me' and everyone that walks by that they are snowflakes (not flowers) and I give a song and dance schpeel about how all snowflakes are different and beautiful and that under a microscope (a huge pair of glasses that make things small big) that snowflakes look like those on the glass windows of my Me's grass hut. Very few people believe me, but at least I've taught a new arts & craft project (besides the paper airplanes that were so popular).

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Book by Barbara Kingsolver

I've just read an awesome book by Barbara Kingsolver and her family called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It's a collection of essays written by her and her family about their year of eating locally. They spent 1 year buying and eating locally grown food - feela (only)!. They grew most of their own vegetables and raised a lot of their own meat. It was inspiring to read about their experience and challenges and it impacted me much more, as I'm here in Africa, having a somewhat similar experience. While I'm in my village all the vegetables I eat have come from my garden (or a neighbors). Most of the meat I have eaten in village was once running around the yard, grunting baaing or clucking at my window. Most of the eggs I eat were plopped on the grass by the chickens.
This book really made me reflect on my own food purchases (especially if/when I head back to America next year) just thinking about how much fuel and energy went into transporting the food that you get at the grocery store. Although it's hard to find bananas & oranges in the Pacific Northwest, you can buy most vegetables and many fruits locally during the spring/summer/fall months. For folks back in the states, most farmers markets have started up again please support your local farmers! At the farmers markets you can buy food that was grown very close (saving on fossil fuels), probably organic (not pumped with steroids and chemicals) and supports your local economy. Vegetables that are grown in the soil near your home are more nutritious and farmers markets are really fun.
I encourage everyone to read this book, regardless of where you live or if you have a garden. It will make you think about your food purchases more, maybe inspire you to have a small garden and more conscious about the food you purchase and eat. It also has some great recipes, and will make you laugh at their stories.
I could go on forever about how Lesotho and having my own huge amazing garden has changed my views on food security and physical and mental health but I'll cut it short. Please check out this book at your local library, or buy it and pass it along to friends!

Stepping Back in Time

I never imagined myself being much of a “Betty Crocker” type. Before coming to Lesotho I was the queen of Pizza Pockets, Canned Soup and Fast Food. Amazing how spending a year in a grass hut in the mountains of Africa can change certain habits. Now I bake my own bread, make tomato sauce, can peaches and tomatoes and COOK! I make amazing vegetable soups, sauces, casseroles, homemade pasta, tortillas, breads, sweets etc all by “scratch”. I have the time to experiment and am really enjoying it. I also have an amazing garden (even still in the winter) that has provided me with a continual supply of fresh vegetables.

Sometimes I feel like I'm connecting with some of my great grandmothers as I do everything by hand (washing clothes, cooking, baking, writing long letters by candlelight, walking long distances to visit or work, plowing a field with cows, harvesting crops by hand, shelling peas and beans for days, hemming clothes and patching holes for hours. In a small sense I can imagine what life was like for the women of my family “back in the day”.