Well helloooooooooooo there!
In the famous words of Jay-Z, "Allow me to re-introduce myself" my name is Ausi Lerato Thamahane (Ow-oo-si Lee-rah-toh Tham-mah-han-ay) and it's the African name that my host mother gave me.
It means love and it's fitting because that's all I've felt since I've been in Lesotho.
I'm halfway into my pre-service training, which consists of eight weeks of extensive language, cultural and safety sessions before being placed at my permanent site location for two years.
Last week, I found out that my permanent site location will be in the Mafeteng district. This district, which is the equivalent of the American state, is in the central part of the country and not far from the capital.
This is good because it won't be too cold (I can do 40 degrees, not 4!) and I'll have easy access to the capital, where the Peace Corps office is located.)
I will be a co-teacher teaching English in a school called Tsoaing (Swah-ing) Primary School in the village of Ha Ramatseliso.
It's about 30 minutes from the Mafeteng camptown or shopping district, which has a really nice grocery store that sells Oreos:)
The past two months have been long and exhaustive, but productive. My days are spent learning Sesotho, Basotho culture, and how to be vigilant in a foreign country.
I've been staying with a host family in a small village called Hamabekenyane (Hah-mah-bek-kin-yan-nay) which is located in the Berea district, which is in the northern part of the country. (More to come on this later.)
Tomorrow, I visit my new home, host family and new boss. I'm so excited and still in the honeymoon phase and just really looking forward to do what I've dreamed of doing for the past few years.
I just got a new Blackberry and will try to post pictures as soon as I can and if I'm available too. Some of the Internet cafes have viruses so I've been leery about just placing my gear into any computer so bare with me on the visuals. Have a happy Turkey Day and stay blessed!!
Hugs and kisses,
Jiggetts
