Field Trip Fiasco

The pounding on my door woke me up at 2:00 AM. Thank goodness because I am not sure the six alarms I had set were going to cut it. By 2:30 AM we (middle sister and I) were riding IN A CAR to school. The walk takes 45 minutes, the drive takes 20. Yes, the roads are that bad. I am not sure why I bothered being punctual, probably has to do with the fact I am an American. When I showed up there were two kombis (vans), we needed ten to leave. By 3:53 AM we were cruising, taking bathroom breaks galore. At 7:00 AM the caravan of ten kombis halted, kombi “No Fear” lost a wheel. All the kombis in this country have hysterical names. After watching nine bo-ntate (grown men) struggle for 45 minutes to change a tire I stepped in. I realize this was a radical move. I am a woman. I changed that tire and we were on our way. You’re shocked? I was too. Who knew I could change a tire? I didn’t, but a little determination goes a long way.

Back on the road at 8:00 AM with a tremendous amount of additional bathroom breaks. Surely we are getting close I thought to myself at 11:30 AM as we sat and waited and sat and waited on the side of the road for kombi “Haho Tatoe” who got lodged into the dirt “road” going down a steep rocky descent. This time the bo-ntate strategically placed several rocks allowing the “Haho Tatoe” to gas itself out of the ditch. Watching this process occur was truly remarkable.
Rocking and rolling at 12:15 PM and safely at our destination at 1:00 PM. I immediately jump out of the kombi and start examining my surroundings. My first observation: all my students are frozen in position in the kombis. Apparently they were too tired to move. I convinced them we did not drive all that way for nothing. We walked down to the “caves” where I proceeded to take 150 individual pictures of my students. Bringing a camera out in public, mistake number 802 I have made in Lesotho. I spent the entire time photographing them and no time looking at the “caves” or the incredible surroundings. And when I thought I was done, my teachers wanted all of their pictures taken… individually.


A camera battery later the teachers (myself guiltily included) were scaling (in the kombis) up the same mountain “HaHo Tatoe” got lodged in coming down. My students were forced to climb up the mountain, apparently they are the reason we got stuck in the first place. After the students finished their hour climb straight up we were movin’ and grovin’ towards our final destination, my bed. Exactly an hour later kombi “More Fire” was coincidently/ironically (R.D.S. I know this is pet peeve #46 but I am not sure which one I am supposed to use, circle the proper word choice now) on fire. We pull over, they evacuate the vehicle, and the front seats are lifted to reveal a burning engine. Smoke fills the air, students disperse in panic, I laugh, the driver cries. There is nothing we can do but practice our patience. FOUR HOURS later we are on the road, kombi “More Fire” is left behind. Now, our kombis meant for 16 passengers are stuffed with 21 passengers. Oh comfort! FOUR MINUTES later we see a KFC and my teachers decide it would be appropriate to take all 150 plus students in. My students had never been to the capital of their country. The concept and taste of KFC was simply mind-boggling.
It is now about 10:36 PM and everyone is loaded back up and we are on the road for approximately two minutes when the driver decides we need petrol, a brief (when compared to other events of the day) 25 minute stop. Now that is shortly after 11:00 PM we are on the road. We chug up and up and up some more. I live way up in the mountains. We do not stop to go to the bathroom; we simply drive UNTIL 3:30 AM when we see a truck jack-knifed into the guardrail preventing vehicles from flying off the mountain. I am still wide-awake! I have a student head asleep on each of my shoulders and another head in my lap. Both the driver and passenger were okay, but their truck definitely was not. The picture shows the truck after we removed it from the guardrail. Since the Basotho are such incredible people all nine kombis stop and help dislodge the truck from the guardrail. Picture 16 people bouncing this truck with all their might until they can pry it loose. The whole process took an hour. Nonstop fascination, pictures (you will never see) galore! We arrive safely at school at 5:30 AM at which point I reunite with my sister for our 45 minute journey home. I am home for approximately 30 minutes when a few volunteers knock on my door, ready for the hike we had been planning for weeks. Sleep or hike? I think you all know what I choose, and it does not require a pillow.
This day does not sound like a blast to you, and it wasn’t exactly a blast for me either. But if you asked me to do it over again, I would say yes in a heartbeat. I became closer to several of my students and even better I got to see my students act like kids—hanging out of the kombi windows, screaming/singing/chanting at the top of their lungs, and laughing with their friends. The way my students act at school I often times feel like I am a military instructor. It was simply refreshing to seem them have fun. The days events were so absurd you have to laugh, otherwise you might cry. In America the amount of time we spent in the car is equal to that of a trip from Clemson, SC to Baltimore, MD and back. Instead we never left a country the size of the state MD. This is Lesotho public transportation. If you do not believe me, come visit and see for yourself.