Greg's blog

When I got to the taxi rank for my ride down to Tsoeneng, the village I lived in for three years, a taxi driver recognized me. “Where have you been hiding yourself?” he asked. I recognized him, too. And the next thing ntate Nchebe asked is, “You're going to drive OK?”

I used to enjoy getting behind the wheel of the taxis on the Tsoeneng route, and the passengers always thought it was entertaining when I drove, too. But I told ntate Nchebe I was tired. “I traveled a long way to get here. I'm just going to ride today.”

Returning to Tsoeneng after being back in America for two years was something I had often thought about. I had received some news in America. I knew that the chief had passed away. And the owner of the village shop, Motsie, had also died. But who else will not be there? Who has since arrived? How much can a little village in Africa change in a few years?

 After hearing what happened at the World Cup tune-up match between Nigeria and North Korea on Sunday, I learned a little about how to avoid getting trampled over the next month.

1. Dress for comfort and speed, not style. Wear closed toe shoes and pants.
2. Resist the temptation to try and get into the stadium first by gathering at the gate just before opening. 
3. Go your own way. If you follow the others, you'll be battling. Better to take a different route if possible, maybe on the outer edge of the pack.

Best of luck to me!

Passengers loading into a taxi named Ntate, or Father.
The most intimidating place in Lesotho has always been the Maseru taxi rank. It's where all of the public transportation starts and ends for destinations across the country. Especially in the late afternoons, when everyone is off work or out of school, it can be packed with people on the move, taxis and buses loading or unloading, and sellers of goods. The roads and alleyways often wind and dead end, making it difficult to navigate. Stores blast music to add to the din. Men get drunk and fight. Petty criminals roam. I'd never had the courage to photograph it.

Sign says: Do not pee here. It is against the law. 

I walked up behind a group of four women and then stepped onto Caledon Road to pass them. They were walking so slowly, balancing on one foot like a flamingo each time before putting the next one down. One woman carried a large sack on her head. Another turned to me as I came up beside them and said, “We are looking for work.”

'Me Tsita, the principal of the school where I taught in my Peace Corps days, was waiting for me at the airport, along with another teacher and a couple former students. “You don't look older,” said one of the students, Mosebatho. “We thought you would look older.” None of them looked older either. But everything around us did.

“There are just two things about the World Cup that prevent Americans
from caring: It involves soccer and the rest of the world. When I hear
that Tunisia is playing Belgium for the crucial Group H runner-up
spot, all I want is a map. The only way Americans are going to learn
another country's name is if it attacks us.”

Joel Stein wrote that in Time magazine back in 2002.

From the plane, flying over the Free State province of South Africa, you see many large fields of crops with a few isolated houses in between. These are farms and farm houses. Then we cross the Caledon River, as the whites call it, or the Mohokare River, as the Basotho call it. The river is the border between South Africa and Lesotho. Now in Lesotho the fields are small and shaped like puzzle-pieces. There are many more houses than on the other side of the river, and they are in groups. These are villages surrounded by family fields. A bird's eye view of the land indicates a lot about who lives down there, and how they live.

There's no mistaking what time it is in South Africa. From the moment I got off the plane in the Johannesburg airport, I was stepping all over World Cup fever.

The World Cup matches I'll attend will be shown on television as follows:

South Africa vs. Mexico, June 11 7am Pacific Standard Time, on ESPN

USA vs. England, June 12 11:30am PST, ABC

USA vs. Slovenia, June 18 7am PST, ESPN

South Africa vs. France, June 22 7am PST, ESPN2

Round of 16 match (teams to be announced), June 26 7am PST, ESPN

On May 31, I arrive back on the continent of Africa, after being away for over two years. My first week I’ll spend visiting old friends in Lesotho. I miss their hospitality, I miss the open valleys and the rugged mountains of the little kingdom, and I miss the taste of Sesotho on my tongue. Two years has been too long. But come June 11 the World Cup begins, and for the opening match -- South Africa vs. Mexico --