Signing off

Hi everyone. This will likely be my last blog post because my time here is running very short--I leave on Tuesday. Just wanted to thank you all for your support over the past 10 months. It has been, as always, a good stay in Lesotho. I have made good research progress, have been able to keep up with many old friends and make others. It is always sort of bittersweet to leave. On one hand, it is always good to come home. On the other, I really like Lesotho and a part of me always finds it hard to leave. The best summation I can come up with is a Sesotho expression that lLiterally translated means "I have remembered." The phrase, however, implies that you have good memories tinged with nostalgia, so Lesotho: Ke hopotse. I will be back at some point, but for now it is fond farewell. Stay well.

Going out with 90km of bang

So this week on Sunday I will be down in the South African province of Kwa-Zulu Natal for that country's premier running event, the Comrades Marathon. I have mentioned on here before that I was going to do it, but now that I am but 3.5 days away from the event it is starting to sink in. I have been writing a series of articles on the race itself, its history, the most famous competitors and now my training. They have been going up on the web at: http://www.RunningTimes.com

This is no normal 'marathon' but rather two marathons plus an extra 5 km (3.1 miles). It will be quite the event with over 12,000 people entered. You can find more information about the race here: http://www.comrades.com

I am looking forward to it all. You can find results there and even live television from a number of points on the course (not that it will help those of you in North America as it starts at 5.30 AM South African time and I hope to be done by noon local time). Still, feel free to check it out.

Back in Lesotho, I am starting to say my goodbyes and have wrapped up most of my research except for a few interviews with friends that I still might try to squeeze in. Also, big congrats go out to my sister Katie and her husband Joel on the birth of their first child, a boy (I have not yet heard the name...even with the internet, sometimes news takes time to get down here)! Stay well.

Winding down

Hi everyone, I know it has been a while since I posted on here. I am coming into the home stretch of my time in Lesotho. I will be leaving here on the 2nd of June so I have just over three weeks left. I have been doing a bit of travel, trying to wrap up my research and see all the friends here that I need to touch base with before I head for home. I don't feel close enough to the end yet to do a summation post...that can wait for later. My last few weeks will be busy as well trying to tie up loose ends and make sure that I am taking a lot at last minute research materials and getting in last-minute interviews. I am also running the Comrades Marathon (a 56 mile race) in two weeks and have been writing a series of articles on the race for Running Times magazine (http://www.runningtimes.com).
The photo here was taken on a beautiful Easter day a couple of weeks back now. I went up to see an old friend in the northern part of Lesotho and the light was just stunning for the drive back home.
This week I managed to interview two of the sisters who run St. Rodrigue (where I used to teach high school). It was great to see both of them (one is still the principal of the school) and to hear their stories. They were very easy interviews to set up and do because I have known both of them since 2002--another example of my research being greatly aided by my prior experience here--and they both had some very interesting insights on independence and what young people were thinking about it.
So, life is good. Fall is well advanced here with trees dumping leaves and the nights quite chilly. My morning runs have been crisp, to say the least, these past few weeks. It will be interesting to dump myself straight from early winter into a St. Louis summer in a few weeks, but I think I will be able to handle the transition! Stay well.

Also for those who have not been following the BBC article on HIV/AIDS in Lesotho that has focused on St. Rodrigue's clinic for the last six months, the last series of articles is up and they are excellent. Here is the one for the local chief, you can access the other people on the right side of the page after you get to his article. It is sobering, yet uplifting reading.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8026975.stm