When in Africa. . .: what's your sign?

Warning- some photos may be inappropriate for young audiences. Parental supervision is advised.

Another beautiful weekend in Maseru. This weekend was actually even warm enough to go without a jacket. It made for a perfect Saturday to walk around town and do some shopping. We hit up the Basotho Hat (which has a lot of Lesotho stuff) and then walked down to the Shoprite (one of the local grocery stores) to grab some fruit and vegetables. We tend to only snack on fruits here- there are not a lot of snacky foods available (which is probably a habit I should take back with me to the US) so we have to frequent the grocery store for things like that. The grocery store is always a nice adventure, especially for the amazing “people watching” you can do there. We are often taking pictures of things at the grocery store and getting odd looks and laughs from the locals. I guess I can understand how we might look ridiculous.

After shopping we went for lunch at a little French café called “ouh la la”. The green tea and sandwiches were good, but they were out of dessert croissants and all other dessert for that matter. Probably better that way. We were able to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful weather though which made up for any menu deficits.

In the evening we decided to make chocolate chip cookies for one of the drivers at the clinic (he has been so great and takes us everywhere). Unfortunately, we couldn’t find chocolate chips anywhere. We ended up cutting up a dark chocolate candy bar instead. The cookies were delicious. I don’t know why I don’t make home made cookies more!

Alex headed back to the states on Sunday. It was a sad day. It has been so great getting to know her. She has been doing an amazing project at the local hospital implementing play and reading time for the children. Most of the time the kids and their mothers just sit around bored out of their minds. We picked up a dvd player for the hospital on Friday, and Alex put together a whole schedule of daily activities for the kids. Pretty amazing. She is exactly the kind of person you want to become a doctor. I feel so fortunate to have met her and know she will do great things someday. I am going to miss her. I guess in a way we shared in a “once in a lifetime experience” together. I told her that we are officially friends for life- whether she likes it or not! =)

Turns out that one of the doctors here has a neighbor that needs a cat sitter for the week. Guess who gets to change locals?? =) I haven’t headed over yet, but I know there is a washer, probably internet, and maybe even a TV!! I’m about to be livin the life.

I am looking forward to my last week in Maseru. Hopefully I will get in a lot of clinic time.

One final note- the signs in Lesotho have been interesting. It is hard to get pictures of all of them as we are usually driving, but I have been able to get some. I also thought I would end with some signs of my own. .. and no, I have no idea what I am doing- but I look pretty awesome, right?