Waltzing In The Dol-Drums

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! Hope you have a great day!
So with the exception of this week’s election, things have been relatively calm at the clinic and the Africa that I am exposed to. I will most definitely touch on the elections, but I think maybe I should describe just exactly how my “work” has been going these past few days, and anyone who knows me well enough, knows that I need to be busy. Last year, busy as it was, was sheer bliss for this hyper active American.
Moving right along. So this week for many of you hard workers might sound like something of a calm relaxing week at work, but right now I have no standards as to guide my work so, on top of the hyper activity am extremely anxious, so I have no way to judge my work and criticize it. My supervisor at the clinic literally laughed in my face when I asked if there was any more work I could do, and he told me that he would love to be able to give me more work but as of now there is none because we are literally just waiting for some stuff to happen before we can begin our aloe cream project. And this is probably the best part. So have you seen Blood Diamonds? Well you know the part where Leonardo DiCaprio is like “TIA-This is Africa” my boss literally told me that this week in reference to the fact that we have been waiting a MONTH to hear back from some of the equipment companies for quotations before we can start purchasing equipment. Things just move so slow here. And then they laugh at me when I run slow, I don’t get it. Oh and the ladies for this income generating project asked me to teach them how to make cake for Christmas, so that should be interesting. Other than that really not much has happened, no crazy condom stories, or drunkards trying to woo me outside the Jakaranda. I am starting to learn how to sew though which, if I get good, look out Project Runway.
Moving on to what is really on everyone’s mind in Africa, and that is this past presidential election. I know for some or you reading this you are saddened that John McCain did not win and some of you are elated that Barack Obama won. Well, just let me describe the effect that is has had here in Africa, and even Lesotho. Most villagers here don’t have clue where America is, they don’t even know who John McCain or George W. Bush is. They don’t have a clue about the economic crisis in America, they don’t really know much about America’s past in relation to African American citizens. But what they do know is Barack Obama and that he is black and that he is now (or soon to be) President of the U.S. I must say that the effect is rather astounding. The expectations are high though so it will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the end. However, Barack Obama’s win, and this might be a little cliché to say, has already excited and given hope to people in Africa and I’m really not the kind of person to be inclined to believe in such observations, but it is true I have already witnessed it and this is just in Lesotho, a tiny country, the rest of Africa is just as elated if not more so. I’ll stop there before I over do it.
On a side note, on Friday I went to a Standard 7 farewell, in America that would be like a 8th grade graduation. It was interesting to say the least. First since I was white I was awarded a VIP invitation which meant I got to eat dinner there. But for the celebration they had all these traditional dances and I was so taken aback by many of them, I will have to post some pics. First of all the dances were soooo violent. I asked what was happening at one point and one of the teachers replied “oh that boy is pretending to rape the other one,” in the middle of the dance, I was like, “what the hell???” Then during the female dance the girls, who were in puberty, danced without shirts on which was insanely awkward, not because it was traditional but because the male teachers like to look at the girls in disturbing ways. Then while they were dancing (which was wayyyy impressive) they would intermittently take these huge whips and chase the other students. It was ridiculous. I’ll elaborate on the violence in this culture later. But other than that not too much is going on in Lesotho’s neck of the woods.
Well that is really it for the week because like I said, not much is going on. Have a great week and I did finally post some more pictures. So until next week! Salang Hantle!