Rustler's Valley, Career Fair, Quthing, etc

so, i tried to post last week, but the computer wouldn't let me get on the site, so that didn't work. but rustler's valley rocked. there was electricity (complete with electric blankets) and indoor plumbing, and AWESOME food. i ate way too much. and it was great. technically speaking, it was also the best session thus far. they guy leading the talks was really knowledgeable, though he did get on his soap box a little. it was also really cool to see all of the housing, which was sustainable. many of the people there had built these houses as their first attempts, and they worked out pretty well. most of the houses were made of clay and cow dung. we also go to learn about medicinal plants, some of which i thought sounded a wee bit sketch, and companion planting, and good indengenous plants to grow in the garden.
after rustler's valley, we got to go to leribe on a field trip to see some dongas (really nasty erosion) and how they were being reclaimed, as well as animal care (including pigs, chickens, and cows). it was a little sad, because the animals weren't living in the best of conditions (i.e. chickens with beaks clipped, pigs in cement enclosures) but i guess i should be more concerned with the people. another kinda sad thing was a huge silo full of corn that had been sitting there for 2 plus years. china had donated it, and because of beaurocratic probs it had never been distributed and was now kinda ruined. animals could eat it, i suppose. we also saw some greenhouses and one of the 2 large dams in lesotho. that was neat, because we got to see how forestry built up trees around the dam to preserve the earth. forestry in lesotho is basically planting as opposed to maintaining trees, since there are few trees here.
yesterday all of the volunteers came together in a village to have a career fair for the kids around. it was supposed to start at 9:30, but no one showed up until 12, which is apparently normal for lesotho. it went over pretty well after that. the permy group talked about increasing protein by diet adding powdered milk to bread, eating beans, etc, and about decreased the amount of carbs and increasing the amount of colored veggies in the diet. we made some bread and lentils as an example.
tomorrow, the trainees go to tselhanyane, a national park in the leribe district, for the entire day. it's supposed to be cold, but hopefully it will be fun, and hopefully i will remember to bring my camera! sunday, the permies go to quthing for more training there, in what i'm not sure. there supposed to be electricity and indoor plumbing where we're staying, so i'm happy. next week is also our last week in the villages where we've been living the past month. a week from saturday, we have a village feast and then return to maseru for a week and a half before heading to our permanent sites. we find out our permanent sites next wednesday. i'm hoping for mohale's hoek or leribe, but we'll see.