So the title is an inside joke. When my moronic friends Abhishek and Prashant found out about my soon to be journey to Lesotho, they kept writing it on my Facebook wall again and again. Just the word: LESSOOOOTHOOO. So I deemed it necessary to have a shout out.
Anyway, in the case my style and persona are unfamiliar to recent readers, I will strive to enlighten them about myself.
My disclaimer: I like to focus on the cultural, the hilarious, and the occasional profound happenstances of my life/experiences. I also have a very inconsistent writing style with its mountains and molehills; I can go from writing in a somewhat “legit” fashion to sounding like some kind of capital letter addicted valley girl. I also apologize if I hurt anyone’s feelings in the creation of this blog; it’s not my fault you are too sensitive! Oh, I kid! But really, i’m going to try and relay my feelings and impressions in a fashion consistent with my personality. To quote a recently defeated Republican Presidential Candidate: “I’m gonna be the Straight Talk Express.” I will strive to maintain a focus on my work teaching and the interactions with the students in subsequent entries. Also, I like Cultural Allusions. A lot.
Anyway, to the meat of the post.
Went from Houston to London to Johannesburg to Maseru blah blah blah. I don’t want to put you to sleep with mind numbing details. That’s what the 5 other bloggers are here for. Oh I kid again!
London was rather nice. I saw the main attractions. Of particular historical interest were two statues in Trafalgar Square. One was George Washington, the biggest badass in the whole world. Did you know, dear reader, that the Founding Fathers considered making George Washington America’s Monarch? Imagine the kind of damage that would have done to Democratic liberalism! But that man of integrity replied no, and IN ADDITION, retired from his high office with just two terms under his belt, setting a precedent all the way to FDR! What a guy!
But that has little to nothing with Lesotho and/or our trip.
The other historical statue that piqued my fancy was the statue of a British General (Canning?) who put down the Sepoy Rebellion. This, er crusher of independence?, is honored with a statue. One wonders if General Burgoyne would have had a similar accolade if he hadn’t been beaten by the Continental Army (woo Aforementioned Washington!). It seemed so strange to see such a revolting figure being honored, just as I felt when I saw the bust of Governor Orval Faubus (the Arkansas Governor who tried to stop Arkansas school integration in 1957) at the State Capital. (I put a sticker on the bust of his forehead. Scratch that off your racist baldspot eh?!)
Continuing with what I did in London, I went to Chinatown in London and bought… some Boba! By the way, the Boba in TeaHouse Houston is considerably superior. Then, running on the fumes of about 2 hours of sleep in almost 24 hours, Ann, Amit, and I decided to be hobos and slept on the grass in the park. It was a glorious maybe 20 minutes of nap time.
We arrived in Johannesburg later after a grueling period of walk through Heathrow airport. Traveler’s note: Heathrow is very very inefficient. I have no idea how the British think they can host the 2012 Olympics without proper management…There were like 2 visa people for almost 200 people. I kid you not.
Caught up on movies during my almost 18 hours on a plane. I saw part of Quantum of Solace (sorta crappy), HSM 3 (oh God…That movie was so saccharine that it’d give you diabetes if you watched it twice…), The Curse of the Yellow Flower (extremely Chinese: lots of good fight scenes, amazing backgrounds, and unrealistically hilarious amounts of tragedy) Wushu (sadly one dimensional, but good fight sequences!), and Chandi Chowk to China (pretty good for a low expectations Bollywood movie).
Arrived in Lesotho!
My first impression was that the country was extremely scenic. I got to disembark on the tarmac, so I was able to greatly appreciate the sheer beauty of Lesotho’s geography. Towering mountains, a deep cerulean sky, an expanse of just खूबसूरत natural features.
In more human focused events, I felt a bit nervous at being all out in a foreign country without the benefit of my family’s considerable experience and without a phone etc at first. However, since then, i’ve gained confidence with the conversion of traveler’s cheques to currency, our navigation of the grocery store, and growing familiarity with the Lesotho downtown.
As others have mentioned, I’m struck by some incredible inequities I’ve witnessed. For the usage of the more financially equipped there was a world class gym, right by the incredibly bad public hospital that has a mortality rate of around 50% for children admitted! People long accustomed to the country mentioned that it had bad hygiene: rats and roach infestations. Reportedly, 4 children died of oxygen deprivation that was simply due to inattention from the staff! Conversely,right across the street is the BRAND NEW MINISTRY of HEALTH building, with shiny new offices and sparkling silvery doors. It’s times like these that make me sympathize with Republicans when they talk about the inevitable effects of government policy in the regulation of the private sector. The downsides can be awesome in their onslaughts.
I’m no stranger to the tragedies of the developing world, but bad governance is always infuriating. America is no paragon of policy virtue; the failure of Katrina stands as a monument to our government’s mismanagement. But one would think that in a democracy with free and fair elections, such popular discontent can force its way into changes. The sheer acceptance of a status quo curved towards injustice is in itself almost as saddening as the occurrences of corruption.
One excellent solution is of course economic growth in Lesotho. GDP growth averaged only 0.8% in 2005. In this recession, I shudder to think of what will happen this year. On a good note, I was happy to see lots of China Export Services signs all around. I hope that the PRC’s economic activities in Africa serve the causes of human rights and dignity, but that’d be much too naive to believe. I can only hope that the end effects of these parternships are utilitarian and help give Lesotho the economic growth necessary to advance infrastructure developments, quality education programs, and a FUNCTIONING HEALTH-CARE system.
One major criticism I have. why on Earth does Lesotho have an army? To preserve civil stability? It seems idiotic to have both an army and a police force in a state so small. South Africa would engulf Lesotho in any confrontation, and Lesotho is surrounded by South Africa…Perhaps the army is there to remain as the bulwark of conservative economic interests just as they have served across the world in numerous stymings of democratization?
Anyway, enough musings of democratization theory.
I apologize dear reader, for my tendency to harp on about the small stuff. I’m not known for my concise sentences. I will leave you with my relation of several funny incidents that have occured while on the trip.
1. Ann and I were waiting for the Baylor Pediatric Aids Initiative guy to show up. We met a man, and he said his name was John. Assuming he was our contact in BIPAI, John Dudley, we asked him about his identity. He replied that John Dudley had been fired for various offenses, financial misdemeanors in nature. Shocked, Ann and I ranted about how insane that was. Ann specifically noted aloud that it was “probably the reason that John Dudley had been so bad about replying to emails.” Hilarious whoops. Turns out that he WAS John Dudley, and just joking. Sure fooled us. He is the 2 H’s: Hilarious and Helpful. I’m extremely glad that Baylor has such good personnel.
2. Amit and I were walking with the rest of the group to the grocery store. A man walked up to us and started talking. Somewhat used to these random conversations, I was nonplussed until he started using Islamic greetings with me. “Assalaam Alaykum!” he said. “Er Walaykum Assalaam?” I replied confused. He followed it up with an “Al Hamdu lilla” before leaving.
It was then I realized that because of Amit and I’s brown skin and facial hair, the man had probably assumed we were Pakistani Muslims. LOL! Sorta the polar opposites.
3.Finally, Amit and I had been enegetically discussing Hindi on the plane to Johannesburg. We discovered his TV wasn’t working, and Amit asked the lady for help. She replied that he and his “traveling companion” could move up to other seats. I strongly think that she thought we were a South Asian gay couple. I could be wrong. In any case, the error of mistaken identity was HILARIOUS.
Wow I write a lot. Add comments people! Read what you want. Don’t worry bout going through the whole thing )
Yours,
-Karthik