I know I have often said that nothing in Lesotho amazes or surprises me or that the radical things that happen to me no longer shock me because they do happen to me on a regular basis. And as always, God has a curious way of making us want to eat our words, because, right as I was really thinking that Lesotho had thrown all it has at me, it not so subtly reminds me that I haven’t really seen anything yet. As a result I get sucked back to the reality I live in here and Lesotho humbles me yet again.
One day at my clinic it was a rather slow afternoon, and, driven by boredom, wondered into the pharmacy to see if some of my co-workers were as bored as me. They were and I lured them into playing Rummy with me. They, of course, had never played Rummy, so I had to teach them and they picked it up really well. They got me to thinking the long Saturday afternoons that I played with Grandma Sally and the other cousins, really didn’t amount to much Rummy skill for me. As we were finishing up our last hand, one of the nurse assistants runs into the room we were playing in and starts rambling in Sesotho about something and, I’m of course, at a loss. But what they soon relayed to me is a patient that had recently been seen at the clinic that afternoon had died while waiting for the taxi right outside the clinic. I had to roll my tongue up from off the floor after I heard that. Sure, people have died here before, but it is weird being notified of it literally five minutes after it had happened and to be knowledgeable of such proximity to death. Not to mention the person died in the same place that I wait for my taxi, a place I pass every time I leave the clinic. Creepy doesn’t even really begin to describe it.
Right after we heard that, two of the Basotho I was playing cards with immediately sprung up to go see the body and what happened. They asked me to join them. I politely declined, and then not so politely told them I think it is creepy as hell that they want to go look at a body that 5 minutes ago was standing sure as you or me. They laughed at my unwillingness to join along with my reasoning and raced up to the scene. I took great comfort in the fact I found what had happen both shocking and extremely saddening and my co-workers’ response inappropriate. While being here, I have been so afraid that I would become immune to these highly morose happenings and that my current environment would cause me to have calloused emotions toward my experiences. I am glad to find this is not the case; however I am very sorry for the means to such a conclusion. I’m guessing there are some things I am unaffected by, which hopefully is for the better (I am getting better at my stinging comebacks to rude Basotho, and people for that matter). But my main concern has been disproven which is good to know, with my service soon coming to an end.
The Basotho have a very different reaction, one that I have already mentioned was inappropriate at best. Getting here you kind of pick up on the fact that Basotho, generally, are not sensitive or tactful people. They are, at times, what I perceive immature in their actions compared to how Americans act in certain situations. This experience is no exception. I don’t know if they were drawn to the shock or drama of the situation or if it is entertaining to them. With the onset of the HIV pandemic in Lesotho, death has become more commonplace and less shocking, because it happens so often. Generally there is a funeral in my village or a neighboring one every weekend. They are as regular as church it would seem and people are now practically guaranteed at least one meal a week at a funeral. The way death is accepted as commonplace is also saddening. It is seen as sad, but that there was nothing to do about it. But when a majority of these untimely deaths are due to a completely avoidable disease it is particularly regrettable. Basotho instead prefer to side with denial and implore that the person died from the common cold, which may be true, but they died from the common cold because their immune system was so depleted from AIDS that it was unable to fight off the disease and the common cold was then able to kill the person. As a result the perception of death here is quite different from the solemn experience back home and is shocking at the least to me.
Other than that my shocking experiences are just related to things scaring the crap out of me or pleasantly surprising me. Walking from friends house to the taxi stop once I about stepped on the tail of an at least three foot snake that had a flattened head (like that of a cobra) and stripes on its back, a.k.a. a poisonous snake of some sort. If I hadn’t been so dehydrated I probably would have peed my pants. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty scary and I definitely did not expect to experience that. The next thing I am amazed by in Lesotho is that I can now not only get sushi in Maseru, but the movie theatre here is actually up and running. I honestly did not think I would be here to see that. I mean at the new mall here it is so nice. You can get sushi, ice cream cones dipped in chocolate, see movies and new releases at that. I am SHOCKED. I’m not just shocked that it finally opened, but that the movie theatre opened on time. Normally things have a date when it will be done, and this is true even in the states, but generally it gets pushed back. Here it did but it was only pushed back like a week and it opened then! I’m a little taken aback and I’m not sure how to react, but see a movie soon I will, and I will enjoy it.
So aside from movies and snakes, my amazements are few, and I will be happy to be home soon so I will be amazed by America and all it has to offer, even outside of all the diet soda options. So here’s to hoping that I will get to enjoy those things soon and never take advantage of them again. Have a wonderful week, take care, and salang hantle!
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