30/June/2015
Despite our flight taking off at 7pm, Skillshare had told us to meet at 3pm, so naturally we left at midday despite living just a stones throw away from the airport. 7 whole hours before bloody takeoff. After a few tears (the majority being from my mum) I left for the road in Katie’s little Fiat Punto, 2 Sat Navs in full swing (you know, just incase?), the boot practically dragging along the floor and an array of car snacks which were on point.
Despite arriving so early, it felt like we were boarding as soon as I stepped foot into Terminal 5. A half an hour security check on my hang luggage, last second delays and lost passports (not mine, promise) were just a few of the events which confirmed the extra time before was definitely worth it.
I’d never flew with British Airways before, but everytime I mentioned the flight, everybody was massively jealous and assured me it would be amazing. I usually fly with Ryan Air - anything would’ve been an improvement. Rumours had been flying around amongst the volunteers of ‘free wifi for all’ and a 5* bar on the top deck (yes, there were two) but neither of these suspicions were confirmed…gutted! Nonetheless, the free tooth-brush, cushion, blanket and unlimited food, drink and entertainment never left me feeling disappointed and the whole journey literally flew by! (ha ha, excuse the pun)
At the time of writing this blog post, i’d have been in Southern Africa for only 6 hours but i’m already all too aware of the dreaded ‘African Time’ we’d all been warned about. We walked out into the Arrivals lounge, stood in a circle and looked at each other.. ‘now what?’ Of course, it would be another hour before our pick up would arrive. Everything’s relaxed in Africa, there’s no time for time.
Weird meat restaurant.. black, dried meat hanging ew!
Longest coach journey.. 2 stops, almost 6 hours?!
2/07/2015 It’s been just over 2 days since we got off the plane in Johannesburg and I couldn’t even tell you everything we’ve been doing, there’s so much, it’s been non-stop, i’m exhausted!
One of the biggest culture shocks so far has been the phenomenon which is… ‘African Time.’ We had previously been warned that everything was a lot slower in Africa. Somebody summed it up well, saying that in England everything has to be done yesterday but in Africa everything can wait until tomorrow. So true. Deadlines mean very little, and timetables are made seemingly just to be broken. Not only does Africa Time relate to the (lack of) time management, but it also feels like time goes a lot slower here. We wake up early, sometimes 6 or just before, and the day seems to have so many hours! Time in England flies by, but here it seems to stand still for hours at a time. Whilst sometimes the slow pace can be frustrating, mostly i’m enjoying the laid back pace of life here. It’s nice to just relax sometimes, somethings can wait.
Another huge shock was the music in Lesotho. I’ve heard Bob Marley, Celine Dion and Michael Jackson more times here than I ever have in the UK. Pretty much everybody that i’ve asked have all agreed RnB is their favourite genre. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but I wasn’t expecting to be able to sing along to pretty much all the songs on the radio! The people of Lesotho also love to play their music crazily loud in their cars. Like crazy loud. Which was fun at first- singing ‘a thousand miles’ whilst driving up a mountain pretending to be in White Chicks is really cool for 10 minutes (..but not for 7 hours though)
I’ve not seen a donkey nor a horse yet, let alone lions and tigers - i’m massively gutted. I’m hoping my host family have a few animals - i’ve already been promised a lesson on cow milking. Haha!
Everybody keeps telling me my hair is really ‘slippery’ but i’m sure they mean silky (or at least I hope). It’s crazy how much you stand out here. The other day in the supermarket I paid for some food at the checkout, went to the pharmacy section to buy some lip balm and the woman who had served me at the checkout left her till, walked over and got the lip balm from behind the counter and scanned it back through on her checkout for me. Even though there was a huge queue at her checkout that i’d jumped, and i’d just skipped an even bigger queue at the pharmacy counter too. I felt so bad. We’re treated with so much respect here though, the locals are all really lovely and they always want to help.
Lesotho is known as the Mountain Kingdom, and it really is as beautiful as it sounds. It’s like how I imagine a mini Grand Canyon to be. There are so many hills, and just walking to the police station feels like a hike to me, but it’s nice to be somewhere so different from London. We were two hours early for training this morning, near a really beautiful lake in Maseru, so John decided to run a Yoga session for us by the side of the rocks. We were all falling over trying to imitate trees and failing to touch our toes but it was so fun. It hit me just how different it was to back home, I never take time out of my day to do anything like that.
There’s so many other things I want to write down, I could be here forever. It was really shocking and sad to hear from the official police officer how smacking children was completely normal, and even encouraged as an effective method of parenting. It’s hard to sit in a room listening to something which tests your morals so much, but also trying to bear in mind that just because it’s different it doesn’t mean it’s wrong for everybody. Regardless, it’s such a shame. Rape and HIV/AIDS were also topics which shocked me, mainly the reactions they got, which were often different to how the UK volunteers had responded. One of the girls was told to ‘loosen up’ about it, which really does show how completely different the cultures are. I’m excited to see how we work together on projects at our host communities and what compromises we may have to make.
It’s almost 9pm, we’ve got to be up at 6.45, so i’m gonna get some much earned sleep.
I’ve been at my host families for just over a week now. I’ve kept a diary every day, because I hadn’t had time to type it up every night. But here it is. Typed up in all its glory. (There’s lots of crying)
5/7/15 - I just arrived at my host mums home and I don’t know how to feel.
We spent the day going from the B+B to the main SkillShare office. They said we would have a taxi ready to take us at 8, but as usual it turned up closer to half 9. We’re all getting quite fed up of ‘African Time’ now.
Thankfully we managed to squeeze in time for the mall, though we were previously told we wouldn’t. It was nice to see some familiar things and buy stuff we missed as most of us are beginning to miss home a bit.
After tears and more waiting, we were on the road again, to Taba Marina*. I can’t spell it. (*I can now spell it, I assure you)
I tried my first fat cake on the road. It was actually nice.
We began to drop people off, one by one. The Mafeteng group were first. Pippa got out of the bus - she lived in a mansion. Next was Colin… I walked out of the bus and just cried. We were literally just in a cow field. A massive shock to us all, I don’t think any of us truly understood what ‘rural’ meant until then.
After an excessive amount of rushing, time had finally started to matter it seemed, we were on the road to Thabana Morena*. (*That’s the right spelling, I promise) We dropped Jacob off first. A tiny house with just one other woman. I cried again.
We walked back to the bus, but somebody had shouted for us to stop. There’d been a problem, it wasn’t Jacobs home, It was mine. *More tears* I really wanted a big family with lots of animals. I was scared to be alone, in the middle of nowhere, in a house of two. Finally they’d decided that the house was better suited to Jacob. The woman had just lost her husband and would have appreciated a male around the house.
The bus pulled away but thankfully only for 2 minuets as it stopped for me to get out. My mum was waiting by the road with my little sister. I knew instantly that it was a better fit. I have two younger sisters, 2 older brothers and a few more which I am yet to meet*. (*No I don’t, but i’ll keep it in here anyway. 3 sisters and 1 brother - the first day was confusing!)
My new mum showed me around the house. There’s a small kitchen, a large living room. I have a double bed in my bedroom. She went to show me her chickens proudly. There were about 40 in a small room, and one was dead on the floor. It was so distressing but I was determined to not show how hard it was to see. It was normal here.
My two younger sisters are called FiFi and Helen. They’re very sweet.
The drop toilet outside was broken so I had to pee in a bucket. Massively embarrassing - I miss toilets so badly.
I ate a chickens heart too. WTF.
My family are really kind.
I’m absolutely shattered.
6/7/15 Today was a nice day.
I woke up around 7.30am. I made my bed the African Way. It took 10 whole minutes. I made eggs and toast for breakfast, it was so good. I made coffee and tea for my two sisters too.
I waited for Rat. He was late (of course) My sisters took me to Jacobs house, and then to Chris’. They have such a large and nice house. We had amazing home made bread and butter. So good. Lesotho tea isn’t half as good though.
Rat finally showed up. He’s a really nice guy - i’m glad we’re partners, He’s an orphan, he lives with siblings and he’s hugely respected within the community.
We went to the medical centre. It was very busy, but we greeted everyone and they all seemed appreciative that we were there. Next we went to the police station. There were a few police officers waiting outside. They promised to teach us Sosotho if we taught them English. Deal.
We walked back and IT. WAS. SO. FAR.
Despite the ridiculous distance (almost 2 hours) it was a really nice walk home. Everybody who walked past said hello. We met the chief too, and i’m sure he was smoking weed. Rat walked me home, then left to go somewhere. I hate it when they make jokes and laugh in Sesotho, I WANT TO UNDERSTAND.
I walked to Dimphos, we chilled with Chris then went to her Grandads house. He was such a nice guy. He repeatedly told us how grateful he was to the UK, and how he loved it so much. It was so bizarre. Dimpho told us only afterwards that he was drunk and out of his face the whole time (ha ha)
Jacob and I walked home, but we got lost. Thankfully we never even had to say our name nor family because a woman in the village knew exactly where we lived. Crazy.
I came home and played ball with my sisters. We played piggy in the middle which the children really enjoyed. They make me feel so young. I next helped my new african mum cook dinner. I can’t cook nor peel potatoes. She definitely judged me.
**the rest has to be typed up**
