The life and times of Kristine: an update

I know its been a really long time since my last update, clearly I haven't gotten any better at keeping this blog updated.
Since my last update many things have changed. All of the volunteers who went to America returned, with the exception of one. Its been great having them back. Luckily for me, my friend Rocio recently moved into my district and we're essentially neighbors! Its been amazing having her around.
October was a pretty eventful month for me. I spent some awesome times with the people in my district, especially Kelsey and Sara. (Although Kelsey is saddly living in a new district now). We all needed to de-stress a bit and had some spontaneous adventures together that I can't really get into the details of right now...Peace Corps rules and whatnot. But it involved a super fun fake bachelorette party, mixed drinks, and shopping :)
I also went on a mini vacation to Bleomfontein with Irena. We mainly went so we could go to the zoo. Turns out that the zoo is kind of ridiculous. They don't seem to know very much about the animals they have there. For example, the leopard area. There was an "informative" sign outside the leopard area read "spotted leopard/cugar/puma." FALSE. Those cats are not the same as the zoo would have you believe. Other animals areas were unlabeled, or labeled incorrectly. But it was fun all the same. A highlight was when we first got there and there was a man cleaning some small cages and changing the lightbulb in a snake cage. Sensing an opportunity, I asked if I could hold the snake (not thinking at all that he would say yes...its a zoo, not a petting zoo after all). But to my surprise the guy was like "ok." So I got to hold the Commn Corn Snake at the zoo. Oh Africa....
I got to do some actual work during October as well. At the beginning of the month I finally got to hold my Peer Educator Training Workshop. I had written the workshop about 2 months earlier but it was cancelled on me again. Sara and Kelsey attended it to help out and be supportive which was nice. I worked really hard on it and was really happy with the outcome. I taught them about being a leader, leadership skills, communication skills, and important qualities in a Peer Educator. I'm hoping that its something that can be repeated by GROW after I leave, because the Peer Educator Trainings that they currently hold are not particularly effective or appropriate. I also met with my youth group a few times (in Spetember I think though). In our first meeting we made tortillas at my house. Many students live alone or with extended family and are responsible for their own cooking and traditional bread can be a lot of time and work for them to make. Tortillas are fast and easy to make and require less ingredients (and therefore money) to make so it suits them. They had a good time making them. At another meeting we did arts adn crafts. We cut out their first initial from cardboars and then collaged it with magazine cutouts of things that describe them/they like. It was really funny and they get something to hang in their houses as a bonus.
One of the most fun work related things I got to do was go to a former PC Volunteer Lorian's Habitat for Humanity event in Maseru district. There were a bunch of houses built in one village and there were tons of volunteers to help complete them. Most of the PC volunteers were at one house where we plastered the walls. It was so much fun. Its surprisingly hard work and it was just a blast to hang out with people and help build a house for a family in need.
Some misellaneous stuff that have happened in October were crazy. First, I had my first official Couch Surfer stay (Couch Surfering is through an internet site where people let you stay at their place for free which is great for traveling on a budget). He was a really nice guy and it was fun having someone new to talk to for a day. I unfortunately had to take a lot of public transport and it was certainly eventful. For my 4.5 hour taxi ride to BB (closest camptown) I had to ride with the biggest, grossest SHEEP behind me..less than a foot from my head. It was unpleasant to say the least...they smell...BAD. It took up the whole first row of the taxi. But its makes for a good "this one time in Africa.." story I guess. One the return trip, on the route my taxi broke down 3 times due to engine overheating. The driver, while pouring river water into the engine to cool it down, sprayed boiling dirty engine water all over my purse...I was less than enthused about the events of the ride.
November hasn't been too eventful. I happened to be in Maseru while Irena's mom was visiting and so I got to meet her have lunch at this amazing place in Ladybrand. Her mom is so cute and I'm so glad I got to meet her. I'm currently in Maseru, due to leave this afternoon and it is unlikely that I'll get to return anytime soon. Policies have been changing a lot lately and PC has decided to close the Training Center where we stay here in Maseru. They are doing it because they want us all to be safe and Maseru is becoming a problem. But no need to worry folks, I've lived in much more dangerous places, and in Mokhotlong there is a greater danger of being ran into by a sheep than attacked by a criminal. :)
Looking forward to Thanksgiving and my Christmas/New Years vaca in Cape Town with my girl friends! Miss you all <3

Side note: its technically summer here now (opposite seasons) which is great, however it snowed in October and 3 days ago it snowed again and was so cold I had to sit in front of my heater lol. Seriously Mother Nature, get it together.

p.p.s Thanks Aunt Myrtie for the package! I loved it <3