Day 27-Ty and Blue Mountain

Erika moved her flight up to spend a few days in the city with family friends before flying home so she left this morning for Joburg. But not before getting up super early Saturday morning to make her delicious bran muffins and bread for us. She also made some for her family friends and the driver taking her to the airport because she is the sweetest person ever. I’ll miss her lots!!

Melissa and I got dressed and called a taxi to take us to TY, I had planned to show her the weavers and may be go to Kome caves (some traditional homes built into the mountainside). We didn’t make it to the caves but we went to the weavers and got the full tour. Then we had lunch at Blue Mountain Inn. Randomly we bumped into Meagan who was having lunch there also with Peace Corp friends! It was really pretty so we sat outside and had pizza. I had forgotten that it was the last Saturday of the month when the Basotho Hat (a tourist shop downtown) has their monthly cultural fair. We were told it closed at 5pm so we took a cab back to Maseru right after lunch hoping to get there before it ended. We got there at 4pm but unfortunately they had already closed for the day. We came back to the Cottage, watched a movie and were lazy the rest of the evening:)

Day 26-Queen II and Baby Shower

I had a really awesome day today! The driver dropped me off at Queen II and then took Lina to the airport because she left today. I spent the morning at Queen II to get some input from the nutrition assistants, moms, caregivers, and children about what they would like to see happen at the hospital as far as play therapy. Everyone was very supportive and had good ideas about games, toys, etc. When I asked if there were any traditional Lesotho songs or stories, one of the little girls started telling a story called “Tselane and her mother” (apparently a very popular children’s story here, which sounded very similar to Little Red Riding Hood). When she started the story, parents and children came and gathered around to listen. It was so amazing to see people coming together like that! Another woman told a story and my favorite little girl in the ward, Kenuene, sang songs.
I went back to the clinic for the afternoon. Down in the break room, some of the staff were preparing food for the baby shower because two of the local doctors, Mme Mamello and another doctor, are pregnant! A bunch of the ladies got dressed up in shoeshoe (the traditional Sotho dresses) and around 4pm everyone went outside. After a song and prayer, the psychologist, Mme Lebo, had made up some baby shower games they played and then presented the two doctors with baby gifts. Afterwards there was a whole table of delicious sandwiches and cakes. It was really sweet!
Erika got home late in the evening from Thaba Seka and it was her last night in Lesotho:( We heated up leftovers and Erika, Melissa, and I spent the evening talking about her trip, gossiping, and laughing. It was a really good end to the week.

Ladies in traditional Sotho dresses


















They made Dr. Lindy stand in front:)


















Expectant mommies


















So precious


















Mme Lebo























I loved her tulip skirt!























Giving a speech


















Presenting the gifts


















Happy moms


















Party food

Day 24-New scholar, shopping, Bar One, and Regal

A new scholar arrived Wednesday morning. Her name is Melissa and she is a 2nd year resident at Baylor so she knows my dad! They hadn’t told us before that anyone else would be coming, so I was really excited that I wouldn’t be alone in the cottage for the next week and a half! She’s so nice and we get along really well.
I worked at the clinic for the morning and in the afternoon I went with Lina to downtown Maseru. She wanted to do some shopping so we walked to an area behind the main road where there are a lot of street vendors and little shops. She bought a few scarves and I checked out the Basotho blankets. We stopped at Lancer’s Inn after shopping and ate a piece of their famous Bar One cake. Everyone here raves about this chocolate cake being so delicious, but I think it’s mainly people who’ve been here a while and just missing food from back in the States! It was good but not the best I’ve ever had.
In the evening, we met up with Melissa and Erika at PnP for grocery shopping, and then went for dinner at an Indian restaurant called Regal. We drank wine, at good Indian food, and got to know each other. It was a fun evening!

Day 23-Kadi's Last Day

Today was Kadi's last day in Lesotho, it was so sad she had to leave. Last week we discovered that Me Mamello has the most amazing singing voice and she did the morning prayer so it was a really nice way to say good-bye. (I tried a million times to load the video of it but I think it’s too big) We'll miss you Kadi!!

Day 21-Church

Funniest video of the little kids.

Day 20-TY and the weavers, Cultural Fair, and Movie Night

On Saturday we were planning to go to TY, a town about an hour away known for their weavers who make really amazing tapestries and bags. We got picked up at 8:30am and stopped at four different weaver’s shops and everyone bought souvenirs and gifts for friends and family. Afterwards we drove back and went to the Cultural Fair in downtown Maseru. The fair was being held at Pioneer Mall and they were selling jewelry, Basotho hats, shoes, bags, and pastel artwork. So we did even more shopping! That evening Kadi, Erika, and I went over to the Baylor house with brownie mix to hang out with Meagan and a couple of her Peace Corp friends. We ordered pizza, made brownies, and watched a movie. Meagan and her friends have all been in Lesotho for two years so I think they were missing things like having a girl’s night!

Brushing sheep's wool


















Spinning wool into string























Dyed yarn


















Pretty weaving, this was our third stop


















Meagan, Kadi, and Peace Corp friends

Day 18-Laundry

Desperation was setting in at the Baylor Cottage. Our washing machine was taken away a week and a half ago. Therefore it has been nearly three weeks since I have washed my clothes and I was down to my last pair of underwear! Erika had already decided to try washing clothes by hand and rubbed some nasty blisters on her hands in the process. Kadi and I had avoided that route but by Thursday, Kadi finally broke down and decided to go to the Baylor House to do laundry. I had planned to go with her but when I saw the massive amount of laundry Kadi had, I didn’t think there was any way both of us would be able to get all our washing down in one day! Jenny had also told us that the washing machine at Baylor house will wash the clothes, but leaves them sopping wet. So it’s basically like washing all your clothes by hand anyway! It was very lucky that I didn’t end up going with her because Kadi locking herself out of the house and spent the whole day wringing out her laundry by hand. I ended up washing clothes by hand in the bathroom sink later that night.