Ka 'Nete?

After being at site for almost two months I have found that it has gotten quite a bit easier. I have adjusted to my community and it to me so that I am no longer just some"lekhooa" walking through Sebotoaneng, instead I have an identity with them and people greet me by name. Lesotho is also starting to bloom, it is finally spring and slowly the brown is turning to green. I have made many friends both in the village, in Hlotse, and at the school so am no longer at a loss for things to do or people to see. Though it has gotten easier there are still points in each day where I ask myself "Ka 'nete?", my favorite American saying in Sesotho, "For reals?".
Work at the school is still giving life a lot of flavor. To get things accomplished takes a lot of time and a whole lot of effort, with a dash of patience on my part. At the school I am really focusing right now on getting the old projects up and running. Greg, the previous volunteer, did an awesome job setting up a foundation that Molapo can really grow off of. We have cows, pigs, and a greenhouse. There is drip irrigation that I want to get back going and would like to expand to a larger area, maybe one of the upper fields. My biggest challenge is being seen as a tool for agriculture/permaculture. As a woman I am not supposed to be able to do what in the States was never questioned. Every idea or improvement I have has to be backed up by numbers, other peoples input, and research on paper by which time, after I complete this, something has changed along the way and a new plan is needed. The school is opening up to me though and I hope to get a permaculture club started in order to at least get some of the ideas into students minds. Big things going right now: water, water, water. I am working on building some rainwater harvesting tanks as well as water troughs for the animals.
My greatest success so far is helping the farm manager start a Ballroom dance club outside of the school. We now have regular meetings, a schedule, many participants, and I have already learned the Cha-Cha and Rumba. I am also helping a teacher at the school, who is best friends with the farm manager, do a math and science club where our first project is going to be an egg drop. Both these allow me a lot of interaction with students and youth in the area.
I get to travel almost every weekend or participate in a cultural activity. I work at the school a lot on the weekends with clubs and helping on the farm but often find time to travel with other teachers, go to cultural day, yesterday I went to Tandi's graduation in Mapoteng, went on a picnic with students to Outward Bound by Pitseng, have journeyed into the mountains, explored the river next to my site, and really just dug out my own place in Lesotho. Tomorrow I head to Qachas Nek for a week to hang with Megan and help Mandy do some soil analysis/farm prep.
All in all, its home. It isn't scary to have to walk to town or talk to someone new in the village. It is amazing how much this place feels right. There are a lot more chances for me to think of and miss home because I'm not always worrying about settling and a little bit of the shine has gone away, but I am still -happy? excited?stoked?awed?blessed?- to be here.