New address

Samantha Hoehner, PCV

United States Peace Corps, Ghana

PO Box 5796

Accra-North

Ghana

Western Africa

Ghana are the days of Lesotho

I made it to Ghana! So far all my first impressions are positive. It's still Peace Corps, but it seems a tad more organized and stable. Heck, here they gave me a cell phone within minutes and access to free internet (at their office) on the second day. I also learned I can call America for a dollar per hour. That's incredible. With time send me your numbers because this go around, I'm certain I'll be phoning you. Yes, you heard correctly: the poor Peace Corps volunteer will be calling you.

It's lush, really lush and hot. Hooray! I had dinner with the acting country director, along with his wife and kids last night. Today, the doctor brought me fresh pineapple for breakfast so I could put something in my stomach and start taking malaria medications. I learned a lot about food in Lesotho, and the learning has begun here already. Pineapple is white, not yellow.

I should have the opportunity to meet some volunteers for dinner tonight. I am looking forward to that!

Peach Season

I'm having so much fun sharing memories from Lesotho with you, why stop now?

Seasonality of fruits and vegetable is something I already miss (and look forward to readjusting to in Ghana). Come March/April during the Lesotho peach season I'll probably be in tears. During this season there are peaches everywhere, except in the shops. There are so many, students would bring me peaches in class from their trees, my host family would leave (at least) two peaches on my step each morning, and friends would send me home with bags from their compounds where they were grown.

By volunteers they were turned into cobblers, pies, and turnovers. Lacking sufficient cooking skills I was satisfied with them as a healthy snack. The Basotho canned thousands of them and dried the remaining half. I learned real quick how much work this is. Washing peanut butter and mayonnaise remains out of glass jars without a dishwasher is not easy. Then peeling thousands of peaches for more than a month gets old. I would occasionally help after school, more as entertainment to my host family who were mesmerized by my unbelievably slow pace, oh and my ability to inhale peaches.

I was eating upwards of nine a day... until my body said no more. At one point my host mother gave me a lecture about food security. Laugh. Isn't that what I am here for? She told me I needed to remember when the only fresh food available was cabbage I would be thankful for the canned and dried peaches. Sigh. When I realized how accurate her statement was I vowed to work even harder the next spring.

As with everything else, nothing goes to waste. These were two of the perfectly edible peaches left on my door step one morning. In America there is no way I would have touched either of the above peaches. In Lesotho I learned to cut of the bad parts and compost or feed the pigs the bruised parts. In the words of middle sister, "feed the ground and the ground will feed you." Same can be said of the animals.

Twitter

While my friend was in town she confessed to being on Twitter. Ahh, what happened to you while I was away? Retract statement. She allowed me to play around for awhile to find out what this hoopla was all about. I found my new love: Funny One Liners. Whoever it is behind these short statements, lets meet immediately, if not sooner. I sat there hysterically laughing the way anyone would while reading Popsicle stick jokes.

I can't stop thinking about him/her and their funny one liners. Oh to be so clever and witty! Am I about to find myself on Twitter stalking Funny One Liner man/woman? This can't be happening. Lately, I have been going through what I'll refer to as an "I-hate-that-facebook-controls-my-life" phase, and now I am considering joining Twitter? And not to tweet, I do all that here, simply to follow a tweeter.

Last weekend I wondered what had come over my friend, now I think I'm ill.

I'm going public!

For those of you who don't know R.D.S., a fellow Clemson alumni and friend, she has been managing this blog while I have been away. I can't thank her enough for granting you guys access and troubleshooting when things went astray. She is now attends New York Law School, where she finds herself with less than an ounce of spare time. I won't make any promises I can't keep by saying she won't be needed (as a blog manager) in the future, especially since she is my only tech savvy girl friend. It's past time she moves on from this mundane, non paying job to all the greater opportunities in the Big Apple. Thank you for your time, patience, dedication, and friendship!

And readers, thanks for sticking with this private blog for so long. If you are half as sick and tired of following this private blog as I am maintaining it, I apologize. It's too much work for my dedicated readers and way too big a hassle for my sweet friend.

From this point forward it's only happy, people-sensitive stories. No more sarcasm to rescue myself from bad/angry/frustrating days. Those details will be kept in a locked journal wherever I end up. You will read only heart-warming stories, see only smiles, and hear only 'half-full' thoughts. It will be sappy and cheesy, music to the ears of those who live on the surface. The opinions and views will still be a reflection of me (and no reflection of Peace Corps or the United States Government), but I'll attempt to make them more subtle and fewer and farther between.

"A peaceful mind makes a peaceful person. A peaceful person makes a peaceful family. A peaceful family makes a peaceful village. A peaceful village makes a peaceful country. A peaceful country makes a peaceful world." Colin Beavan

Wish me luck. Read on password free readers, read on.

No Impact World

After reading No Impact Man by Colin Beavan and putting all my initial skepticism about how someone with family (including diaper wearing baby daughter), in the middle of New York City could actually live with no impact for a year aside -- I found myself remembering and reveling the simple life.

Dig a little deeper before totally writing him off. You know me, I've fallen head over heels admiring him for his one-person-can-save-the-world attempt. It's worthy of your time. The book is incredibly honest, light-hearted, and engaging. There is also a blog and documentary to complement the book.

He attacks his goal in phases: no trash, local eating, no transportation, no electricity, etc. When he turns off power I could relate while realizing doing this in NYC is much more extreme. He mentions, "1.6 billion people--a full quarter of the world's population--still have no access to electricity." That was me, not too long ago, and not even fully because sometimes when the power was reliable I had a light and a source to charge my computer. It opens a huge can of worms.

How do you keep the food cold or yourself cool on a stale hundred-degree day? What do you do when the sun goes down? How do you charge electronics to keep up with the rest of the world? How do you do laundry or dishes without any labor-saving device?

I can answer all of these questions for you. It's not fun as Beavan learns. At one point his daughter is ill and vomits on two sets of sheets and pajamas. He "cheats" because in the middle of the night with no lights, when there is a machine at the bottom of your building washing clothes by hand is not ideal. I appreciate his honesty. I would have done the same thing, however in dear ole Lesotho, along with the rest of the quarter of the world, that is not an option.

So I'll tell you a story about my experience with a similar situation. Middle (host) sister was at school one day when another student vomited in her backpack full of school supplies. She told me the story as though the student had no other options. I believed her because I worked at her school and knew in her class all 78 students were packed like sardines in their classroom, meaning they file out one-by-one at break and lunch. Though it was my nature to protect her and everyone I knew closely from problems ravishing their country, I wished it was a bully I could teach a valuable lesson.

Unlike in Beavan's case, there was no way to cheat in this story. I watched her scrub that backpack for hours and hours covering four straight days. If I failed to mention in previous posts, Basotho are very clean people. When she finished you couldn't detect crusty vomit in any crevice or a smell. There were several times where I wanted to run down to the local shop and buy her a new bag. I couldn't give in as I had so often before because that is not why I was there. How sustainable would that have been?

To disgust you or break your heart a little more, all her notebooks filled with notes were ruined. They weren't replaceable, even if money wasn't an object. She took all my scrap paper and stapled a book together for herself. Then she proceeded to copy the notes out of her ruined, horribly smelling notebooks for weeks. Not only are they very clean people, they're perfectionist. She took her time to make sure each word was copied in a legible format.

That wasn't exactly a story of the simple life I miss. Instead it was to open your eyes to the rest of the world where "cheating" isn't an option. I realize people in America aren't going to give up their washing machines, hot showers, or cars. We should shift our focus from reinventing the wheel to, as Beavan suggests, "figuring our how to deliver the same level of (reduced) resources, by Western standards, to everyone in a sustainable way."

And I can't go without mentioning throughout the book part of his honesty comes in the form of self consciousness and curiosity, how do other people see me? Don't we all wonder if what we are doing to carve our fossil is the right thing? I constantly wonder if my opinions and views are too extreme. This book put me in my place. All this time have I been too busy chiding others way of living that I somehow see myself as righteous? A little less chatter, a little more action is in order.

Lesotho: The Roof Over Africa

I've shared several memories through words, now I thought it would be fun to compile my favorite photographs into a movie of the life I left behind. The music doesn't flow, neither do my thoughts. The video takes a long time to load, a huge part of what I learned in Lesotho is patience. Smile. It's small (but blurry if you make it full screen), my experience was short.

It's not perfect, but my time away is well captured.

(I am not tech savvy. I tried to upload this same movie to YouTube for better viewing. Now I have more reason to dislike YouTube, my video surpasses the 10 minute time limit!)

2 months gone... and this time I'm counting!

I realize I just said I closed the Lesotho chapter of my life, but I'd hate to end on such a negative note so I am officially closing the chapter with a few positive thoughts. The 11 things I miss the most:

1. The smell of Sunlight detergent.
2. Spads, my dog.
3. Popcorn for breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner.
4. The simplicity.
5. My walk to school.
6. Peach and orange season.
7. Being disconnected.
8. Learning how to garden.
9. Middle sister.
10. Wearing a blanket.
11. Conversations by candlelight.

One host country national's opinion.

If I have one regret of the first half of my Peace Corps experience it's not taking enough notes. It's impossible to remember the daily laughs in full. Here is a story I have shared with several since returning and one I still laugh about.

My host mother's grandson, Letlasa loved watching movies on my laptop. It didn't matter if he'd already watched the movie 100 times, if the plot moved to quickly, or if the power was going to stop and interrupt the movie multiple times in one showing. One of his favorites was Fantastic Mr. Fox. Not being a huge movie person, and already having seen this one, I was going about my daily chores when he stopped me in my tracks. "These foxes live better than us!" he exclaimed.

I couldn't help but laugh at the truth behind this statement.

Onwards

Today I find myself in an exceptionally fantastic mood. I am not sure if it's the gorgeous fall weather, spending time with a friend over the weekend, or a successful attempt to live a more Zen-like life. It doesn't matter. What matters is in the present moment I am happy and happy is where I'd prefer to stay.

I reached this place after having the Peace Corps Lesotho door slammed in my face. At first it was as though Peace Corps stood true to their words, making me a number one priority (both here in DC and in Lesotho). That wasn't a request, it was something I have been told countless times as I walk into Peace Corps Headquarters. The medevac phase of this process was handled beautifully. It wasn't the actual news I wouldn't be returning that felt as though it was the end, or maybe it was and it took me several weeks to process. Instead it was more the conversation I had with a close friend (in Lesotho) who seemed like I was holding him up. There were anger and tears, lots and lots of tears. The conversations with volunteers still in country seem to occur less frequently and be generally more distant. If our paths cross again, I know we will reunite. For now, I'm stepping back to take a break from all those ties.

All of this prepared me for today when I got the Khotso, the monthly Peace Corps Lesotho newsletter in my inbox. It always begins with a letter from the country director. In this one she mentions in October there were a lot of coming and goings. She mentions by names the four volunteers who closed their service (finished), the two who early terminated (quit), and the seven medevacs who returned to country. My name wasn't mentioned anywhere. This would have been heartbreaking if the door hadn't already been shut. Lesotho wasn't forever. Yes, it ended way sooner than I would have liked, but it was always temporary. Closing one chapter and preparing for the next is never fun, especially when it's not a fairy tale.

BUT I am excited for the next chapter, and every chapter after that.

Deep Survival

I recently finished reading the book Deep Survival: Who lives, Who dies, and Why. The author, Laurence Gonzales writes in reference to a plane accident that nearly took his father's life: "He was twenty-three years old and had to forge a strategy for surviving everything else."

This line struck me. The lesson of survival is not necessarily that I was lucky enough to escape murder after watching my close friend get killed. It is all about the strength required to go on and hopefully live sixty more years after losing a beloved friend.

The following passage found in the second half of the book is also powerful.

Plan the flight and fly the plan. But don't fall in love with the plan. Be open to a changing world and let go of the plan when necessary so that you can make a new plan. Then, as the world and the plan both go through their book of changes, you will always be ready to do the next right thing.

I aspire to be more open to change and accepting of the unexpected, especially things outside the realm of my control. If finishing Peace Corps or immediately heading to grad school doesn't seem like the 'next right thing' it will be okay.

A new beghaning

For the past two weeks I've had a mental debate going on about where to go from here. Do I continue my Peace Corps experience? If so, where? Or should I look into other options--say, grad school or a career? I was and still am near positive in that I want to finish. I'll spare you the details for reasons that would take a 1000 page novel to fully explain.

Now to Ghana, Namibia, or Tanzania? When I was applying to Peace Corps I thought it would be great to chose where you serve, instead of being 'called' to any one of the 77 Peace Corps countries. Carefully what you wish for. I ruled out Namibia for its almost identical characteristics to Lesotho, with the added bonus of the residual effects of the apartied and a huge descripency between rich and poor. I've been toying with Ghana and Tanzania for the past week. Tanzania this, Ghana that! A pro of Ghana, a con of Tanzania! Rich culture and music in Ghana, while Tanzania offers Mount Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar. Pros and Cons tells the story of S.M.H.'s time of decision making inbetween her two Peace Corps services.

I decided I was going to make a decision and stick with it. After all, there are pluses and minuses to life. I'm heading to Ghana with a clean slate, no regrets, and minimal comparisons to Lesotho! BUT, wait, don't get too excited because I have to go through ALL the medical and dental part of the application process. Yes, AGAIN!

If I don't make the cut I will begin the writing of a trilogy on my experience. Most. Boring. Story. Ever.

(The title is meant to sound cool, and is all the workings of the youngest H)