Festive Season

Christmas 2014 in Lesotho

In the early 1800s, French missionaries came to Lesotho. In addition to being the first to write the Sesotho language, they brought with them Catholicism and therefore Christmas.

Since then, much about this area has changed. The country transitioned from being a number of nomadic tribes to having permanent villages, underwent British colonization, and gained independence. With permanent settlements, the Basotho increased their agriculture. Then, needing more income than subsistence farming provides, many Basotho become migrant workers living in South Africa or other parts of Lesotho for large parts of the year.

As a result of being a former British colony, Lesotho observes Boxing Day (December 26^th) as a national holiday in addition to Christmas and New Years. As a result of migrant working, Christmas is much more than just a day. The week of Christmas and the week of New Years are considered the Festive Season. The majority of migrant workers return home for at least those two weeks, if not the entire month.

For weeks leading up to the Festive Season, I am plagued by questions of when I am leaving to return to the United States for the holidays. In this culture, it is not unusual to live and work far from your family, however, to not return for Christmas is surprising.

On Christmas Eve, many Catholics attend church all night. They arrive before dark on Christmas Eve, the service continuing until first light. Since Christmas Eve is only a few days after the Summer Solstice (hello Southern Hemisphere!), dusk is before 8 and first light is just after 4, making the Christmas Eve service about eight hours.

Christmas is celebrated in dramatically different ways in Lesotho than America. Gifts are a rarity, as money is short. Children typically get a new outfit to wear for Christmas. They are also often given a few Maloti (Lesotho money) on Christmas so they may buy candy and sweets at the local shops. There is a dying tradition of children going door to door in the village to ask for sweets. Even fifteen years ago, it happened in my village, however, it has not been done for years.

Many families have an elaborate meal on Christmas with large quantities of meat and sweets like custard. Although the food itself is not profoundly different than other days-beets, carrots, rice, meat, etc-the quantity and the variety served in one meal is unusual.

Aside from family dinners, Christmas is a highly social activity. While many Americans spend the holiday with only their own family or their closest friends, in Lesotho, people are out en masse. They walk through the village, they socialize, they walk or ride to the nearest lodge to enjoy drinks together. Nearly every story I hear about a Christmas past includes a going somewhere with friends and getting beverages.

I think this is a great extension of the Basotho culture in general. I have often commented on how dependent this culture is on conversation and face to face interactions. It then makes sense to me that a holiday would be spent enjoying even more social contact with everyone.

The festivities do not end when Christmas concludes. After Christmas, the village is full of parties. Last year, I attended parties daily between Christmas and New Years. People are eager to share together and to celebrate while their extended families are home. The many parties wind down after New Years.

New Years Eve is an all-night for many Basotho, especially the youth. The night is spent out in the village again, wandering around and hanging out with friends while drinking beer and shooting off the firecrackers sold in the shops. As a culture more reliant on the sun than clocks, it is not surprising that countdowns at midnight are not part of their celebration. Instead, the sunrise marks the beginning of the new day and the new year. 

Morning Reflection-NYE

I'm sitting outside my hut, on an old sheet to keep the light colored pants Debbie gave me clean rather than to appease the Basotho concerns of cold cement causing hemorrhoids. My feet luxuriate in the soft sand that comprises our front yard. Most mornings are too hot and too sunny for this, however, today is gray with just enough humidity to make the occasional light breeze welcome instead of cold.

I sip my coffee and consider making a second cup. This time last year, the consideration would have been a second pot, as the second cup was a given, but now real coffee is a luxury usually shipped by a generous and loving person back home.

In the distance, I can hear villagers shrieks of joy-it is New Year's Eve after all. Next door, I hear Ntate Thamahane conducting village business. Occasionally my quiet morning is interrupted by a villager walking to the chief's place, which requires we go through the usual Basotho greetings.

Relishing my bare feet in the sand, I remember an older man at Three Mile Island last summer telling me he believes people should have a physical connection to the Earth as often as possible for health reasons. While this sounds like the musings of a back to nature person, he was otherwise a very conservation and professional individual. I remember we discussed the way sea turtles us the Earth's magnetic force to direct thousand miles journeys (because I always want to discuss sea turtles) and that we too should allow our bodies to experience that connection to the Earth. Now, a year and a half later, I am sitting on the other wise of the world, fully appreciating that connection.

As New Year's Eve often induces reflection, I cannot help but wonder at all the paths that led me to this moment. It seems like every stepping stone has focused on connection and simplicity, often removing those things that separate us from such a connection. How many of my jobs have put me in a place to experience life without the usual trappings of electricity and the modern world: television, unlimited high-speed internet, regular hot showers, traditional flush toilets, etc.

In a world filled with reaching towards the next big thing-be it the newest iPhone, marriage, kids, a mortgage, or a new car-I find myself stepping away; craving and pursuing jobs that are lifestyles in simplicity. The immense peace I feel sitting on the cement, leaning on my dung and mud hut on this gray day is the same as I captured when at sea, grading handwritten essays on the deck of a schooner. It is the same as I found sitting on the deck of my cabin during a summer thunderstorm at Three Mile Island. It is the same as I enjoyed each early morning walk down to Nikana Lodge at Camp Pendalouan, looking out at Big Blue Lake's serene facade in the silence just before camp truly awoke. It is early mornings and late nights in Charleston, sitting on the Spirit of South Carolina while looking out over the harbor and marveling that life brought these moments over and over again.

Fifteen years ago, none of these were on my list of dreams. I graduated high school and started college in pursuit of suits and salaries; the American dream. Somehow, despite my desire to be unique, I followed the cliché and found myself during those college years. In doing so, I realized the reality of a career indoors, of reaching for promotions, of following the usual path set out by the game of Life (graduate, job, wedding, house, babies...) unpalatable. Thanks to a simple daysail on Niagara with my mom and a summer of fitness and hiking in Maine, I realized there were other options and the only limiting factor was me.

And so, I find myself in the perfect place this New Year's Eve morning: sitting outside, barefoot, with that second cup of coffee. As the hot summer sun begins to burn its way through the clouds and will soon chase me inside, I cannot help but look ahead to 2015 with excitement. It may be the only year of my life spent exclusively outside of my home country. I doubt it will be filled with only the serenity I feel in this moment, but I can always return to my happy place: barefoot, outside, with coffee. And, I will always appreciate the simplicity of life in a place where my slowest walk is regularly commented on as too fast. 

Special thanks to Mom, Julie P, and Eric G for supporting this moment through gifts of coffee.