News for this week: there may, or may not be a taxi strike tomorrow. The Lesotho government, in its infinite wisdom, decided it would be a great idea to take the tax money given to them by the taxi owners (public transport is owned privately by individuals) and use it to buy government-run public transport. Raise your hand if you see a slight problem here. Yes, the taxi owners are a bit peeved. There have been fights, and the police tear gassed an entire bus of innocent bystanders a couple weeks ago. And there were shootings last week. And there is supposed to be a nation-wide strike tomorrow. We’ll see if it happens. I’d first heard that there was going to be a strike today (btw, it’s Monday, June 2 – Wow, it’s June!), but that didn’t happen. Maybe tomorrow…
Also, Exams were supposed to start today. Note: supposed to. Yep. My teachers and principal couldn’t figure out how to work the printer, so exams haven’t been printed. And the principal is blaming the teachers, and the teachers are upset over this, and for some reason my principal decided today would be a good day to go to Maseru. And he won’t be able to get back if there is actually a strike tomorrow. So the students’ exams are being crunched into a shorter and shorter period of time, which is totally unfair to them. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggh.
And one of my students got married this weekend. She’s 17. Her boyfriend is about my age and is the son of my counterpart here. She came by my house Saturday, presumably to study because she left her books, but I had come into town to run some errands and talk with my mother, so she left to meet her boyfriend at the shop and then got married. And she wasn’t at school today, so I’m going to try to track her down later today or tomorrow to try to convince her to stay in school. She’s a Form B (9th grade) student, and on of my favorite ones, and she had been trying so hard in school. It’s really frustrating seeing one of my students just run off like that. I think both of their families are unhappy as well. Sigh. Some days I just want to stay in bed and cry.
I happier news, I’m leaving for a safari in Namibia/the Okavanga delta in 3 weeks!!! I’m uber excited. It’s gonna be BEAUTIFUL. Anyone interested in reading about what I’ll be doing, google Wild Dog and Crazy Kudu Safaris and look for the 14 day dune and delta (maybe it’s delta and dune) tour. Hip hip hooray.
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2 comments:
It's complicated. I've always felt that Lesotho, or at least Maseru, needed a stable public transport system, one that can be more or less counted on.
But using taxi-owners' money to buy buses intended to put them out of business is something else. OK, it's dumb. I hope this will all get sorted out soon.
Enjoy Namibia. I hear it's paradise there, second only to Lesotho.
Hey, Ann - thanks for keeping us posted. Please be safe and enjoy your time off. Hope you come back peaceful and to peaceful surroundings. Love.
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