November 24, 2012 - farewells, celebrations and new beginnings

Whew…so much has happened since my last entry: Let’s talk about Mopeli’s Farewell, the class 7 trip to Durban and my new Peace Corps volunteer replacement.

 Mopeli’s farewell, as with Lepholisa’s farewell, was both difficult and wonderful…pretty much the same story as in my previous blog…a lot of tears, presents, singing, dancing and food.

It was a wonderful day and a terrible day because I just don’t like being reminded of the separation that’s upcoming…but I know that all these celebrations are to help prepare me to accept it!  The food was extraordinary, as was the lovely seshoeshoe, tjale, kobo, and hat that were given as gifts. 

I noticed that I was not the only teary-eyed female that day; many of my colleagues held my hands with very puffy eyes;

 It is not the Basotho way to cry in public, and so I know that my metsoali, (friends) were embarrassed about their puffy eyes, but I felt so much less alone!! Thank you metsoali!!

 The trip to Durban was just fun, fun, fun!!…no casualties, no sickness, etc. 

 Most of the children had NEVER seen a city before (a few had seen Maseru on a previous school trip); equally amazing is the fact that NONE of them had ever seen an ocean!! 

 I can’t begin to tell you how much fun we all had jumping the waves of the Indian Ocean together…of course, I fell down at least once!

 This week,  my replacement for Tabola came to spend four days with me.  Her name is Zoe. ‘M’e Mathabo gave me the honor of giving her a Basotho name; we shall be calling her ‘M’e Mastsepo (Mother of Hope).  She’s a lovely young lady who’ll fit in well with the Tabola/Mopeli/Lepholisa communities…that is if she decides to come back here once she’s sworn in as a full Peace Corps volunteer after her training!!  You see, we ran her around so much that I’m afraid we may have overwhelmed her!  The community and all three of my schools reached out to her and welcomed her with open and caring arms.  It’s a comfort  for me to know that I’ll be leaving my position to such a smart and capable young lady!