Coups, and Okies, and Movies, oh my!

The one movie theater in town closed!  L  Talk about a bummer – I was more upset about this than the so-called “coup.”  That was going to be my weekly “culture.”  As it is, I only got in two weekends before it shut down – catching “Guardians of the Galaxy” (my 2^nd viewing after seeing it in Hong Kong) and then the latest “Step Up” movie which I would otherwise not bother with if there had been any other decent options (as it was, “Step Up” had its moments).  Unclear as to if they closed due to poor business or were sort-of-forced to vacate to make room for more/other shops.  Said theater was located in the Pioneer Mall which is one of THE social outlets in exciting Maseru!

Here’s the most amazing thing about the recent/current “instability.”  For that week when the police basically stepped off the job/quit working/went into hiding, the city did not dissolve into complete anarchy.  Think about it: if a similar-sized city in America (e.g., Buffalo, Lubbock, Reno, Baton Rouge) suddenly found themselves with NO operating police force – and everyone knew it – can you even imagine the chaos?  The looting?  The crime?  That’s why I was so amazed to see Maseru appear in that list I recently posted on FB for the world’s most dangerous cities.  I think the local populace is to be commended for the fact that the malls and shops are still standing “un-looted,” that the city wasn’t burnt to the ground, etc.  Amazing.

Anyway, despite Lesotho’s current “challenges,” at least they’re not as effed up and evil about their visa policies.  One of our volunteers, for a variety of personal reasons, decided to overstay her 7-day S. Africa visa and was detained trying to return to Lesotho.  Worse yet, said volunteer had not even notified post she was going to S. Africa, so the surprise was on us!  As punishment, said volunteer has been banned from S. Africa for two years.  The problem with this is she has since resigned, but is unable to leave the country because S. Africa won’t even let her fly through!  And EVERY flight from Lesotho goes through S. Africa – specifically, “Joburg” (i.e., Joahannesburg).  Now, granted, this volunteer brought this on herself by being so dumb, but honestly, S. Africa is incredibly lame for forcing people to even go through immigration in Joburg for flights that are coming from Lesotho folks going on to other Int’l destinations.  I’ve been in a fair number of airports travelling internationally, connecting from one country to another – including a flight from China to Denmark that connected in Moscow – and didn’t have to deal with the hassle of immigration en route.  I mean, I know S. Africa is a beautiful country, and has many “advantages” over some of their African neighbors, but seriously, guys, grow up.  There are MANY easier ways – MANY – to try and sneak into the country than through a connecting int’l flight in the Joburg airport. 

Speaking of Joburg, Peace Corps Lesotho currently prohibits volunteers from even staying there – deeming it too violent.  It’s the only city in S. Africa that is prohibited – hmmm, I wonder if this stricture was put in place once Doreen got there and stirred shit up?  Confess, Doreen!  J  I’ll probably talk more about this in a later post, but for those who feel Peace Corps doesn’t do enough to protect volunteers, I’m at a loss to know what more they could do.  Remember when I said it was “strongly suggested” to me to not walk at night here in Maseru?  Well, in the PC Lesotho Volunteer Handbook, it says in bold type for any volunteers visiting/staying in Maseru:  Walking at night is prohibited. Volunteers found walking after dark will be asked to resign or will be administratively separated.  Clearly, I still have teenage boy strains running through me because I am almost – almost – tempted to go out walking at night just to see how scary it is!  J  In fact, just the other night, with the country supposedly still on pins & needles awaiting the capture of the rogue general, I heard what sounded like a pretty serious street party going on right near my hotel.  I seriously wanted to creep out into the forbidden darkness just to see what was what.  As it was, I contented myself with slipping out of my hotel flat, and creeping near the hotel wall just to listen.  Yes, that’s what passes for excitement for me here now.

Speaking of excitement, I actually met an Okie here in Maseru!  Dude works for an NGO working to end human trafficking.  For my local okie readers, you’ll know the coolness of this: He actually went to high school with Sam!  Oooooh!  J  We both squealed over the upcoming football season and then (he more than I) went on a bit about “the Thunder.”  It’s truly a small world.  Apparently, this org was started by a group of ORU grads (that’s Oral Roberts University for you not-in-the-know-non-Okies), so there’s actually a couple of them here.

THEN, just this past weekend, at an Embassy BBQ welcoming the new Charge d’Affaires, I discovered that the Ambassador’s Executive Secretary is ALSO from Oklahoma.  She’s quite the saucily entertaining thing, as well. When she – and the rest of the group - heard I’d spent most of my “growing up” years in Oklahoma, we all swapped “It’s a Small World” stories – alas, without singing the song.

I’ve just started “dipping my toe” into learning the language.  One of my biggest regrets is that I am NOT a natural when it comes to picking up languages.  Not counting English, I have now studied seven different languages and could not speak any of them well enough outside of how to direct a taxi driver in Mandarin and speak just enough Russian to entertain folks who don’t speak it at all.

So far, in Sotho, I can say Hello, Thanks, Sir, and Ma’am.  The latter two are critically important, as everyone uses them in speaking to everyone else.  Additionally, luckily, while learning to pronounce some of the difficult (for me) names, it is quite acceptable and normal to just simply refer to women as ‘M’e (pronounced may, meaning ma’am) and Ntate (pronounced en-tot-ay, meaning sir).  Hello is spelled Lumela, but pronounced Dumela (of course!), and thank you is Kea Leboha. Luckily, the vast majority of the population speaks English anyway, but I’m still going to give learning the language the old college try.

Folks are very polite here—it’s the complete opposite of China—and many will greet you on the street, “Hello, Ntate!”  With some exceptions, restaurant service is the best I’ve experienced in the world.  Attentive without being overbearing, watchful for when you need something without hovering or pestering you.  I have yet to have had occasion to leave less than the standard tip, and more often than not give more.  Store clerks are all friendly, etc.  After China, it’s like being on another planet or confronting an entirely different species.

There are two major grocery stores—and I think both might be S. African chains.  Both the Pick n Pay and the Shop-Rite have a good mix of products, with many American products, and even more quality S. African products.  The meat here is good (still haven’t found out why they call the big hot dogs “Russians” but finally just decided/assumed it’s similar to the rationale for Americans using the name “Polish Sausage”), and the only thing I’m really missing so far is Mexican food.  But I should be able to make my own (although, now that I think about it, I haven’t seen tortillas—plenty of tortilla chips/Fritos/Doritos, but no tortillas).  Luckily, there’s a mid-range steakhouse here – Spur (a S. African chain) – that serves a decent nachos, so I have that for when I’m desperate.  J