A NEW JOB FOR JASON! April 6, 2009 (written by Janeen)
The good news is that Jason has a JOB! After a few months of waiting and several interivews, he was offered two jobs in two days! He accepted the offer at Robert Half International and started today. Yipee! He enjoyed his last week of unemployment, except that this past week felt different than the 4 months prior because it felt more like a vacation! :)
He is working in the City of Industry. We've started the house hunt, but it's not as much fun as I thought it'd be. There is so much to think about (like being near a freeway, railroad, ugly power poles, good schools, the price of the house, the size of the house, whethere there is a good sized back yard...apparently people like concrete and swimming pools better than grass, etc.) The good thing is that the current commute isn't bad. It only took him 15 minutes to get there this morning. :) So we'll probably stay here at grandpa's for a while, save up some money and find a good house/neighborhood.
So here is how our last week went. Friday- new job for Jason, Monday- new dog, Tuesday- new car. The dog was an accident. We went "looking" without the intent to buy and fell in love. Our new addition is named Ntja (which means dog in Sesotho) and she is a Queensland Heeler Mix. The car was on purpose. Now that Jason has a full time job, we needed a second car, an unfortunate reality of living in LA. Our friend Brad helped us out and we got a really good deal on a 2008 used Toyota Pruis. So far we are happy with the decision (especially at the gas pump...Volvo $45, Prius $20).
This is Monday and here's hoping for another good week (but not quite so eventful). I'm on Spring Break (well at least the schools I sub at are) and this is the only time I have not been looking forward to it! Anyway, now its my turn for the job hunt. So far I'm not too excited about my prospects, but who knows come August districts might find out that they need to hire teachers!
I just wanted to let you know the good news! I hope you're doing well.
BARACK FROM LESOTHO???
So just a funny comment from the South African border gaurd- Barack Obama is apparently from Lesotho. He was born in Mafeteng and is the brother of the border gaurd. AND what's even better is that once he is president no one will need a passport to enter the US. Pretty cool huh?
November 17, 2008 (written by Janeen)
For those of you that don't have facebook and don't already know- We have sad news. Our cat died on his journey to his new home. Since we didn't have a carrier, he travelled in a box. The students also took him when we weren't there so we don't know how they "packaged" him up. He could have died from heat exhaustion, shock or even suffocation. We don't know and of course we played the "what if" game (e.g What if we had taken him to his new home, etc.)and felt guilty. But that of course only makes us feel worse. We are pretty upset about it. We had said our good byes, but we thought he'd live a bit longer. Its sad to think that the kids had to deal with burying him and of course opening up the box to find a dead cat. They also cried as they were burying him. :( The house is definitely lonely without the cat and I see him all over the house now. I guess its good that we are leaving soon. Miss you all!
November 14, 2008 (written by Janeen)
“Parting is such sweet sorrow” This was the quote on the wall today at Jason’s farewell bash. It is actually SO true. We are ready to go home to see friends and family, but it is sad to leave here. Lesotho has been our home for two years. We will miss it!
This week has been a whirlwind of emotions. My school closed today. Schools out for summer! I’m done grading. I’m only left with filling in one set of reports which should be done in no time. In fact I’ll probably finish just after I write this blog.
It has been some time since our last post, and that is mostly because we haven’t had much going on. Things were winding down. I, in fact, was quite bored for a couple weeks. I read a lot, took a nap every day, and played Jason’s game boy. Well those times are long gone. My students wrote their exam a week ago and since then we have been pretty busy.
Last Saturday we went for one last hoorah at Lord Fraser’s guest house in Wepener (our haven in times of needing some good food) with some other PCVs. It’s so unfortunate that they raised their prices. You can no longer get a good steak for 70 Rand ($7-8), it is now R85! I guess they knew that we have to get used to more expensive prices! I bet that Jason and I will think EVERYTHING is expensive when we first get back especially if we convert it into Rand!
On Sunday, my school hosted a launching for the Makaota Development fund. It is for students headed to tertiary education. There were lots of speeches and singing, then some good food. Jason got to witness the cow being slaughtered and got some good shots. I helped prepare the meat with the women by cutting the meat into smaller pieces. They had to stay up late but I wussed out.
I spent almost the whole day on Monday grading papers because I had to proctor exams Tuesday through Thursday… BORING (both the grading and the proctoring). The worst part was that I actually caught a boy cheating. Somehow he had gotten a copy of the test ahead of time, prepared answers, and brought the sheet to the exam room.
Wednesday was my farewell bash. There’s always a ceremony with Basotho, so the students danced, sang, and people gave speeches. It was nice and I truly felt appreciated. I received a Basotho hat and blanket, as well as a shield (for decoration) and a straw mat with several Basotho cultural items attached… you’ll understand when you see it. After the ceremony a bunch of kids wanted to take photos with me. Wearing the blanket and hat, I felt like the prom queen. I guess it helped that all the students were oohing and ahing at me. Any time you wear something cultural they just eat it up. On the days I need a confidence boost, I wear my seshoeshoe and EVERYONE tells me that I am beautiful. I wish there was something like that I could wear back home!
Just today, we went to one of Jason’s schools for his farewell bash. There was of course more singing, dancing and don’t forget the speeches. He also got a blanket and we were both given sandals that have cow hair as the straps. Trust me you will LOVE them. He was also given some other trinkets from his teachers like a straw tray, a coffee mug (written Farewell Jason and Jannel….who is Jannel?!?), and a mat with our names and a map of Lesotho stitched on it.
As we were waving good-bye to all the kids and of course listening to them talk about how great we are, it definitely felt like this is coming to an end. By the way moms, they also thanked you for giving birth to us, so you both got shout outs in our farewell ceremony! We will miss these people and will never forget what great moments we have shared here.
The sweet part of this good-bye though, is that we get to see all of you in just a few short weeks. We are counting down the days! Miss you all and can’t wait to get big hugs!
October 22, 2008 (written by Janeen)
Alright, so some of my friends say, "You need to blog more" so here goes.
We are in Maseru today. I didn't have classes yesterday, so we came in and took care of some things like turn in some sponsorship applications for students at my school, close our Lesotho bank accounts, and print some photos. All things on my list are just about accomplished except that I can't find pink label stickers for my library. Jason said I can just send them once I get home. We have told everyone not to send any more packages or letters because at this point we might not get them! The bank took about 3 hours because we had to wait in line for 2 1/2. That was pretty boring, but at least that is done.
We're trying to wrap everything up. Yesterday Jason had to go to town to complain at the hardware store. The contractors have stopped construction because of waiting for materials. The hardware store said they would deliver the goods yesterday. We haven't heard yet if they did. We've still got our fingers crossed that it will be finished before we leave.
I have seen the exam that my students wrote and I think it seems pretty easy. I was pleased with the questions. I believe they were prepared and think that they should have done well. SO we'll find out in January how they did. I've already given the school secretary a self-addressed, stamped envelope for them to send me a copy of the results.
That's it for now. Look forward to see you all. Only 43 more days!
October 9, 2008 (written by Janeen)
This is just a short posting to tell about a funny comment I overheard today. During lunch time I heard a male teacher say to a female student, "Hey what have you been eating? Your 'mountains' are getting bigger." So you can figure out what 'mountains' are. I couldn't help but smile. At home he could get sued for a comment like that or even lose his job. Supposedly here, the 'mountains' aren't considered sexual and only 10% of guys are aroused by breasts here (so our Peace Corps trainers told us). Anyway, just wanted to share the highlight of my day. Jason's been in Maseru so yes, I am bored.
The good news is that all my grading is done! I won't have another big stack like that ANY more. Even when they write fourth quarter exams, I'll only have half the work I've had before because I won't have form C papers to grade. Its all winding down and it feels so good.
I just realized that its been a while since we've updated a blog and though I don't really have much interesting to say... I know I'll hear complaints if we don't do this! :)
We are coming down to the end. This is my final week of teaching Form C classes. They write the English portion of the national exams next week Monday & Tuesday. After that I will only have 10 teaching periods per week. I have high ambitions of updating my resume, writing my Description of Service (DOS) for Peace Corps, and my site journal (something I'm supposedly supposed to have been doing all along for the volunteer who replaces me...oops). I think will all the extra free time those things will get done in no time. It feels great to almost be done. I have high hopes for my students.
We just found out that it is not likely that we will be replaced by a couple. So what will likely happen is that they will still put two volunteers in our area. They will just have separate housing. I'm sure one will be totally jealous of the other because our house has running water and electricity, but the volunteer who replaces Jason will have neither of those. Hopefully the two volunteers get along and they can have sleepovers and enjoy the electricity together!
Jason is in Maseru and schools were closed last week for independence break, so I don't have an update on the building. But, soon we'll take pictures of the progress and let you know what's happening. The walls were waist high before schools closed, so I'm sure they are just about done now.
Well I better get back to my last (for this quarter) pile of compositions. Can't wait to see you all. I'm looking forward to all the hugs we'll be getting.
September 18, 2008 (written by Janeen)
Well we have now completed our COS (close of service) conference. They do it early so that everyone knows all the logistics of things we have to do before we can get our “R” (as in Returned Peace Corps Volunteer). Getting on a computer has been a long line. For some reason there are a TON of volunteers in town. The seniors- our group (23 volunteers), the juniors- the CHED group (16 volunteers) were here for their one year re-connect, some of the sophomores- the ED group (not sure how many of them are here) are here for reasons I don't know, and even some of the freshman- the newest CHED group who've only been official volunteers for a month are also here. Back when we were new, we weren't allowed to come to Maseru for the first 3 months! Anyway all those people share 4 computers! I am typing this off line so that I don't waste any valuable time on the internet..
The conference was emotional, but no I didn't cry (but you can guess who did). They were trying to prepare us for the readjustment back to the states. Our boss calls it “reverse culture shock.” I don't know if they were trying to make us nervous or just trying to make us realize how difficult it will be. Apparently I'm going to want to talk about my time here and all of you won't understand (so they say). I mean I guess that's true because you didn't experience what we've experienced and your lives have continued and we haven't been a part of them at least not regularly and physically. So I guess you could say I am a little apprehensive about coming home. I mean I am excited to see everyone, but nervous about integrating. Not to mention finding a job in a time of economic decline. The pressure is more on Jason because I will most likely teach and therefore, he has to find a job first because that will determine our location.
So that's what I'm feeling right now. Pretty soon we'll start packing up our home and getting rid of stuff we're not taking with us. I guess now I can just focus on all the compositions I have to grade. I did an estimate the other day about how many I'll have completed by the time I am done and the grand total was 2,400! And that is compositions alone! I know you are all jealous and wish you could say you've accomplished such a feat! Love you all and can't wait to see you!
September 6, 2008 (written by Janeen)
Well I am in the middle of grading compositions-- so not fun. I have only finished one class, which means I am left with 90. The bad thing about it is that my form C students (76 of them) are already going to write another test this coming Wednesday and its another composition and letter. So basically if I finish this weekend, which I really should do, then more papers will almost immediately fall into my lap. The only good thing about it is that THIS IS THE LAST ONE for my form C students! WOO HOO!! After we end this quarter they write their national exams. I REALLY hope that they all pass English. They write on October 13th and 14th. So if you want to say an extra prayer for me and them on that day, we'd appreciate it! Oh yeah and don't forget that we are 9 hours ahead, so you can pray the day before. I'm not sure if post-dated prayers work, but the results won't be out until at least January, so it couldn't hurt!
Here is an update on the cat-- It has now been just over 2 weeks since he sliced open his belly (which we had a nurse friend visit this week and confirmed that the bump is probably a hernia). Unfortunately, the stitches opened up this week. The worst part is that this time we can't stitch him again. We tried, but I couldn't hold him down. He was WAY more squirmish and part of the skin was beginning to attach to the stuff underneath. It was bleeding a lot more and we just couldn't do it. SO... we are now letting nature take its course. We are no longer keeping him inside. We'll see if it heals. He is still active and does all the normal cat things.
That's it for my news. Jason's building is supposed to start next week. We're a little worried that it won't get finished, but we are still hoping for the best. He is just about finished with the renovations. He is only left with some final touches for the playground. For all those who donated, the photos I had printed are on their way to Lesotho and soon will be sent back to the states accompanied by an official thank you card. We haven't forgotten about you, but we're on African time!
Love you and miss you all. 89 days and counting!
August 26, 2008 (written by Jason)
Adventures of the Field Vets!
So this week Janeen and I felt like we needed yet another challenge in this road that has been our Peace Corps experience. Actually it was our cat that felt like we needed this experience. You see Tau, our cat, likes to go out at night and carouse with the ladies. Not a problem on most nights but Thursday of last week he came home with a huge gash on his belly.
The sad part was that I didn't know that it was a gash. I just thought that he might have cut himself or something. It wasn't until the following afternoon that Janeen discovered the disgusting truth. He cut himself pretty bad. The cut was about an inch long and it was pussing and being all gross. I thought that the best option at the time would be to super glue it shut. I remember hearing a radio program about how it was originally invented for that.
Well needless to say that did not work. It sure made a mess of his fur though. Got all caught up into one big knot. It was at this stage that we decided that we should stitch. Before we left Jeremy Ramsey gave me about 15 minutes of training in sutures. Using this knowledge we thought that it would be best to attempt that.
So that is what we did. Janeen held the cat down as he squirmed and cried and kicked. I went in with some suture kits that Jeremy provided. It was pretty awful. The stitches we not so bad but the skin in which they were going into was pretty tore up and so I had to go higher than I would have liked. It was not an experience that I wanted to repeat.
Unfortunately that is exactly what we had to do the next day. The rest of the super glue failed and we needed to finish the job. So again Janeen held the cat till her hands cramped and I stitched the cats stomach back together.
It is just another story that I can tell at those job interviews I hope to have when we return home in just a few months time. Which reminds me 100 days from today we fly home. Crazy right.
All the best
Jason
Kitty Update- August 23, 2008 (written by Janeen)
So have I told you that neither Jason nor myself have ever had any training as veterinarians? Well we have not, surprising I know. Jason came home last night and had the brilliant idea of super-gluing the cat's skin back together. He had all our friends (we had other PCVs over for dinner last night) convinced that actually super glue was invented for medicinal purposes and this was bound to work. Well it sorta worked. We glued the skin together and covered it with gauze and an ace bandage, which unfortunately the cat took that off. We examined the area again to find that there was still a small area that needed to be glued together. We tried once more to glue it together, this time upsetting the cat causing him to run from us. He immediately started licking the area and in doing so, ripped open the skin again. Then it was actually bleeding and quite a mess. We were able to glue part of it back together before going to bed and again we put the gauze and ace bandage on him. We also gave him some ibuprofen in cheese to ease the pain. He managed to get the bandage off in the middle of the night. We put it back on and when we got back from town, it was off yet again. We cleaned the wound and put some ointment on it. There is still a section that needs to be glued back together, but we wanted to wait until the ointment seeped into the skin a bit. Since we've been home he has been rather lethargic and has thrown up at least 5 times. It is so pitiful. I am a little afraid of having children because I feel so terrible for the cat. Imagine how I'd feel if my child was in pain!
The good news is that he is still walking around (with less energy than normal), still eating, and still using the litter box. Either tonight or tomorrow we will try one more time with the super glue. I just talked to my parents on the phone and they said that in the olden days people used to stitch it themselves. I guess we could try that, but that makes me a little queezy. At least with super glue the process is over quickly. Plus, I'm not sure we can get the cat to stay still long enough for stitches.
So that's the story with the cat. Tonight Jason made an awesome dinner. We got some special ingredients: bean sprouts, bock choy and tofu. They were fresh at the Chinese market this morning. Its always nice to get some good variety.
Well I've typed two blogs in two days. Don't get used to this-- on Tuesday my students write compositions. I'll try to remember to post some examples of student work so you can understand my situation!
August 19th, 2008 (written by Jason)
Hey all! So good to hear from so many of you regarding our newly acquired internet access. Yes we are probably more excited than you about it and are really looking forward to more consistent communication with many of you. As many of you know, we will be coming home in about 4 months time and it would really mean a lot if you would send us e-mails, wall postings (Facebook) and comments on our blog. It is really encouraging to hear from you and we love reading every little note or diddy. Many of you have asked about how my projects have been going and in a nutshell summary “GREAT!!” The community really rallied behind the project and gave a 110% to it. A laundry list of improvements got done in just 3 ½ weeks.
- We repaired broken floors in 2 classes.
- Added or expanded floors in 2 classes.
- Repaired ceilings in 2 classes.
- Repaired and painted roofs or 2 buildings.
- Added and fixed a sidewalk.
- Painted the outside and inside 2 buildings.
- Repaired broken windows.
- Replaced 4 old, broken doors.
- Added steps to the 1st grade classroom.
- Cleaned up the school grounds.
- Mended broken flower garden plots.
- Built play areas for all grade levels.
- Dugout the foundation area for a new building.
- And provided temporary employment to almost 30 community members.
It is really a dramatic difference that has been made at the school and would not have been possible if not for the generous giving of all of you! You have made this school something that the students, teachers, and community can be proud of. As the saying goes here “We give you hands”. But that is only phase 1. Now we are moving onto the next element in the school improvement project. This is the building of a new building altogether. A whole bunch more of you contributed to this project and we were with the help of Friends Of Lesotho we were able to get the entire $8,500.00 here. I deposited the check on Friday and we are going to order materials this week on Wednesday. It is going to be close but we are pushing for the buildings to be up in less than 3 months. We are going to be building 2 new buildings. The first will be to small classrooms to get the standard 5 class out of the chicken house and into something more befitting of children. The second will be a small office for the principal and deputy to share and use when hosting district officials and dignitaries and for storing textbooks, heaters and other school equipment. Neither building will be overly elaborate but they will be nice and functional. You will also notice that I have posted some new pictures and a few YouTube videos. These are just some random things that I have seen whether at school or on vacation. The descriptions by them should be enough but if you have questions on what they are, please feel free to comment.Hope all of you are happy and healthy. All our love. Jason and Janeen