Moshoeshoe Day and Athletics!

All is well here in Lesotho for the most part.  We made it through Moshoeshoe Day with bells and whistles. Five schools gathered and we had a track competition followed by a singing presentation and a huge meal.  It was truly a festive occasion and I very much enjoyed joining in, but I can tell you that I was exhausted and ready for peace and quiet when I got home.

Basotho are by nature loud when they get together, but when you are with hundreds of children and loud Basotho music, I have to take breaks from it.  My classroom has a veranda roof and the space for the children to play is limited.  I find myself putting earplugs in my ears just to be able to stand all the screaming.  And the kids like to hit each other with sticks and kick each other.  Even the very little guys engage in this sort of play.  Honestly, I don't like it all, but when I query the teachers, they all tell me that it is just their style of play.

One of my favorite after school activities has been watching the kids practice track.  It is by no means a track like the ones you see at schools in the United States.  We depart school and walk about 20 minutes to an open field where one of our teachers has measured the meters necessary to time them. My role is either to use my IPhone to time the top three winners, or to hand a piece of paper with a number on it to the runner who comes in 1st, 2nd or 3rd.  They wanted me to write down the names, but that will not happen as I still am having the hardest time learning the kids' names.  I call them all "Sweetheart".