I have decided that I want to extend my stay in Lesotho for one more year. That doesn't, however, mean that I'm going to stay in Lesotho for one more year. I'm only a third of the decision-making party. It's me, my school, and the Peace Corps staff. Since both I and my school have decided that I should stay, it's now up to Peace Corps. I have discussed it with them and written a letter of request. I'm not sure exactly when I'll receive an answer.

I was at my friend Sello’s house when I asked if Ts’epo lived nearby. Ts’epo is a guy who used to be the nightwatchman at our school. Sello said Ts’epo did live close and then asked if I had ‘beat’ Ts’epo, which means, have I kicked Ts’epo’s ass before.

“Did I beat him?” I thought for a minute. I couldn’t recall ever having a single problem with Ts’epo, let alone coming to fisticuffs with the guy.

There is a town far into the Lesotho mountains called Thaba Tseka, and it is lucky to have two Peace Corps volunteers named Matt and Rachel. They had both been living and teaching in New York City before embarking on their service here. They continue to teach in Thaba Tseka. Matt assists primary school teachers, while Rachel teaches English at Paray High School. Specifics aside, they are model volunteers and both of their schools have improved significantly since Matt and Rachel's arrival.

After a few days of surfing in Jeffrey's Bay, Stacey said to me, "I can tell you're in your element here." I had been feeling the same.

As soon as I arrived in Jeffrey's it felt like home. There were white, black and in-between people; Lesotho is all black. There were restaurants, cars, houses. I went surfing each day. It was not cold. I met up with my friends Garth and Yvonne, who live there and whom I had met last year. But still certain things reminded me that Jeffrey's Bay is a distinctly South African beach town and not exactly my southern California home.

A few weeks ago we had a 'Cultural Day' at our school. Students wore old-fashioned clothes and performed traditional songs and dances. Folks from all over the area visited, and even some of my friends in Lesotho who are not Basotho came. The underlying purpose for the event was to raise money for our school trip to Durban, South Africa. The students worked hard to prepare the day and they made some money and enjoyed themselves immensely in the process. More events are planned in order to help us get to Durban in September.

This post refers to the previous posts about the school books of my Form B students and my visit with a government official.

Old woman walks by with a sack over her shoulder. Unslings and slings it as she gathers dung from the field. No shoes. This dung will be her cooking fuel.

Sometimes I think I have little.

Someone always has less.

A friend visited me one day and brought with him a brown rectangular rock, as a gift. It was not shiny, but still attractive as rocks go. I put it on my table. Students, who come to visit each evening after school, asked me what it was. Initially, I told them, “It’s a rock.” But that got old quick. So one day I told a student that this rock is not a rock at all. It is, in fact, a phone.

I am grateful for the comments on the last journal post about my visit with a Lesotho government official. It was risky for me to do what I did. Originally, I wanted to go straight to the Minister of Education and deliver letters my students had written to him, but my principal trembled at the idea. He could create a lot of trouble for her, she said. I should go to someone slightly lower ranking and be sure to keep my claws retracted during the contact. Also, personally, as a Peace Corps volunteer I am required to stay out of politics. But I won't sit idly by.

The World Bank has funded a book rental scheme for secondary schools in Lesotho. So, instead of students having to buy their books, the government of Lesotho buys the books (with the World Bank's money) and rents them to the students. It may save some kids money. It will mean that all students have books in class. On paper, at first glance, it looks good. But there are problems, and I went to speak with the Chief Education Officer of secondary schools about them.

I arrived just before 9 AM to speak with this Mr. Mahloka.

"When will the books come?" I asked first.