Touchdown

After checking into the Jo'berg hotel, I ended up watching several hours of obscure Olympic
sports like hammer throw, badminton, greco roman wrestling, and some
new sport that was the combination of basketball and soccer.
Yesterday morning had me on a quick plane ride into Maseru, and I have
to say it was a little different than what I expected. From most of
the city there are foot hills which obscure any clear views across
town. That being the case, you feel like you're in a much smaller
environment...say a small mountain side village. We call them "hill
stations" in India, because they are usually only accessible by train.
There is dust in the air and the occasional smell of wood and
charcoal fires. The resulting smoke and dust kicked up the wind has
led to a subsequent haze but by this morning, it cleared to blue
skies.

I had a nice little surprise at the airport meeting the COE driver,
Dimpo, (pronounced Dee' - po). Not knowing who was picking me up, I
walked out of customs and saw a man dressed in jeans and a baseball
cap holding a cardboard sign saying "Bailor." Granted it was
misspelled, but not seeing anyone else and assuming that this was a
common mistake or perhaps a local spelling, I walked up to the man and
said "Baylor?" He said, "Bay-lah" with a big grin. Satisfied I
started walking behind him. He offered to take my bag, but I thought,
no its ok. As we walked towards the exit, it dawned on me that maybe
he was here to pick up someone with the last name Bailor. I tried to
engage him in conversation, asking about the rest of the group and
their arrival and he just kept on walking. Just then two men, one
large with dreads, reaching several feet back, and a distinct American
accent, the other, I later realized, was Paul. John started yelling
at me "Are you Raj? Raj? Hey stop!" I turned and as John explained
to me what was going on, the guy with the cardboard sign ran off.

John explained to me that someone had been paying off the central
government and getting inside information as to when the Baylor docs
were arriving. He would then race ahead of their drivers and pick up
the unsuspecting staff. After loading them and their bags into the
car, he would drive off into the hills into some remote area and
demand a large ransom or threaten to abandon them up in the hills.
The police were helpless and no one had taken the threat seriously,
and in the past months several visiting residents and one doctor had
been kidnapped in such manner.

John is explaining all of this to Paul and I as we walked towards the
PAC vehicle. As I drop my bags in the trunk the man starts
approaching us pretty rapidly. I murmur to John, "Hey man, I thinks
that's the guy." John whips around, his dreads flying. Suddenly the
other man starts running towards the car screaming "Dats my car! Dats
my car!" He rips open the passenger door and starts pilfering the
glove box. John races around and starts talking in Basotho. A yelling
match ensues and the other man pushes John to the ground. I look at
Paul and he's standing there with a confused look. I figure I'm the
closest, so I start running to John's aid, not really knowing what's
going to happen next. Fists clenched am standing in front of the
assailant. There's a pause, I wonder, "what next?" Just then John pops
up and explains "No, no man its alright." The other guys breaks out
into a smile, gives me a hug and welcomes me to Lesotho. And that was
Dimpo. Apparently that's a scheme that's been long in the works and
John only now found the right victim. Apparently I was the one least
likely to freak out, and on the plus side, I got free drinks for the
rest of the night.

Most of the rest of the day was spent touring the office, meeting the
other docs, all of whom are really fantastic, and running errands such
as buying a cell phone and getting settled in. Last night we ate at
this really great Italian place with surprisingly good pizza. I went
to bed last night under flannel sheets, with a full belly, and a
little bit of optimism.