Better and better

Lesotho has been growing on me in a big way. Yesterday Paul and I
walked down the road and caught a soccer/football game. Actually we
caught about two or three. All morning we had been hearing cheering
and the sound of a ref's whistle coming from over the hill. After
picking up supplies and getting back home, we realized that we didnt
have much to do. So we strapped on our shoes and made our way down
the hill. Instantly, all my concerns of being isolated were swept
away. As we walked through the fields and onto the hill that
separated two games in play, one a girls match, the other a men's
match that looked fiercely competitive, dozens of people looked our
way and said hello. A truck full of girls in the back of a pickup
even started shouting hello and singing a song for us. We got a lot
of attention. It's hard to say what was more entertaining: the
ongoing matches, or the subsequent celebration that followed every
goal, and ultimately, the end of the game. As soon as the whistle was
blown, a pickup would idle through the field making slow, tight
circles and onlookers would pile on and off the bed. Someone would be
blowing a whistle, another bellowing on a plastic trumpet, and another
would be waving a huge white flag. We couldn't figure out if this was
some kind of championship, or if every victory was herald with such
celebration, but it was fun to be an onlooker. With the setting sun
on our backs, I felt a little warmer, and much encouraged. It's hard
being in a new place. As I've mentioned before, the feeling of being
alone is especially pervasive.

With the night rapidly growing cooler we left the match and walked
about an hour through town and up a dirt trail that led to Friebel,
the main housing development where all of us will ultimately living.
We made our way to Meena and Lindy's, and then moved onto Smita's
house. By now it was dark and getting noticebly colder. As in any
desert climate, temperature changes happen pretty quickly and I've
been caught unprepared now a couple times. Walking through Smita's
doorway was literally like walking into a portal back home. Heaters
were on, the lights were up throughout her place, and music was
blasting. It didnt take long before we we're all giving in to Smita's
entreaties to stay for dinner - home cooked Chole. Over a candlelight
dinner we talked about the coming week and the transition we've been
making here. Just a couple of days ago Smita started tearing up at
happy hour. The rest of us had our own ups and downs and the impact
of the move started to really register. I think the hardest thing
that we've had to face is the feeling of total loss of independence.
Not having a car or means of regular transportation has been the
hardest. Actually I think my car lust is pretty much out of control.
Just twenty minutes out of town is Ladybrand, a South African border
town with a supposedly amazing vegetarian friendly restaurant that
everyone has been raving about. Smita went there with a couple
friends she used to work with here in Lesotho, and brought back the
most amazing chocolate mousse/cheesecake combo I've ever had. The
four of us at dinner polished it off as dessert.

Saying goodbye was tough, but we found ourselves right back over there
today as we met up for lunch. Yours truly made pasta sauce from
scratch. Afterwards there was dinner at a chinese restaurant at the
back of a chinese grocer. Our meal was punctuated by the sounds of
Chinese Karaoke. Apparently the textile industry is pretty big here,
with big manufacturers such as GAP buying garments from plants here.
In charge of those plants are the Chinese and they inturn manage low
paid Lesotho workers. Hence the Chinese are sometime viewed with a
wary eye. The restaurant itself was laced with iron bars and a
skeptical looking lady at the entrance. Just a few years ago, riots
has caused an even greater rift between the two communities.

I feel like eating, cooking, hiking, sleeping, and work will make up a
big part of living here. I can't wait for it to warm up though, the
views are spectacular and once things get setup, backyard parties are
apparently big. Barbecues are called "braai" here and much of the
social life here revolves around them. Thankfully I've stumbled upon
an abundance of fake meat/soy products here, including braai styled
links. Oh soy, I think I'm in love.

Tomorrow we head out to the clinic for our first day. My shirts are
pressed, I've got lunch in the fridge and I think I'm ready to go.
It's interesting hearing Kathy talk about the patient volume. Once we
pick up to full speed, each doc will see about 25 patients per day.
We work about four days a week, and have about 6 docs seeing patients at any time. So
thats about a five hundred patients a week. The compromise of course comes with standard of care. Kathy mentioned that its a fact that in order to see all those patients, you
have to get used to giving substandard care. Its hard enough to be
fresh out of residency without worrying about that, but this further
compounds that.

Over at a party we stopped by today, I picked up a book called 28
Stories of AIDS in Africa. Just a couple pages into it had me hooked
and got me really excited about the prospect of possibly, in some very
small way, being a part of the solution.