Village Visit

Hello there...

It's been a long time.

I haven't really had the motivation to write lately for many reasons.

That's not to say that things worth writing about haven't happened.

I hope I'll find the words to write about these things soon.

For now, I'll leave you with some pictures from a recent weekend in the village of Nazareth.

Our gracious host, M'e Manchimie. The warmer weather brings welcome relief from cooking inside the smoky rondaval.

Sipewa demonstrates dancing with the traditional Basotho ceremony skirt.

The young boys who tend the animals in the mountains are referred to as 'herd boys'. As you can see they generally wear Basotho blankets to protect them from the sun and wind. 

Wherever we hike curious herd boys always come to see what's going on. They don't get too many visitors in these rural mountain villages.

Alright, these next pictures require a bit of explanation of what was perhaps one of the funniest/most awkward evenings of my life.

As we're returning to Nazareth from a five hour hike up and down mountainsides, we see there is a wedding going on in town. 

Suddenly we run into an old friend of Lyle's who is attending the wedding.

This man, who is a minister in the Lesotho government, invited us to attend. Apparently it would have been rude to refuse.

Thus we attended the wedding of the chief's daughter while wearing our hiking clothes covered in dirt and sweat. 

It wasn't awkward to be invited to sit with the wedding party when we were dressed so nicely!

Although the asked Rachel and I to give a toast, we delegated that effort to Lyle.

It's sheep shearing time in the villages. The herd boys slowly cut off all the wool pinning the sheep's head between their knees as they go.

Well, I'm off to Cape Town in a few hours to see my parents!

I don't think I've ever looked forward to a hug from the Madre & the Padre this much!