Christmas is around the corner!

 Hello Everyone, I'm going to keep this a bit short - I am about to go to the field again, but I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to post again. I wanted to put this up before we collected even more front page pictures! We were at a Peace Corps training in our "Host Villages" again, where we stayed when we first got here. It was fun to see the other volunteers and hear what they've been up to - we've got a really passionate and amazing group. I find it really impressive that with all of the aid money that Lesotho has recieved from America, I believe that the most cost effective aid work is done through PCVs -but that is a subject for another post :-)

At the top of our photos is our improvised Christmas tree for this year, we thought we'd share with you. We got the idea from one of my new favorite websites- www.pinterest.com. We also just got two lovely care packages (one of which was mailed in JULY!) from my mom and the lovely Liz. Thanks so much for thinking of us, the timing was perfect! And it is funny to think about how happy a little box of tea, airborne and handsanitizer can make a person - especially if they aren't really having a good day! Serurubele also really liked the care packages as you can see in the above photo. She stayed with her sister and Sister Magdelena while we were gone and we've decided she has gotten taller and is starting to look like a small cat rather than a kitten. It is also very much enhanced by the grown up cat mannerisms she is adopting - like ignoring us while using us for the comfort of our lap.

I really will write more about our food, so as part of that we wanted to share some photos. So, before we left our comfortable bed, our kitten and our oven to return for the training - Shane suggested that we cook something special to make ourselves happier about leaving. So, the recipe for baked doughnuts from www.101cookbooks.com (also much better food photography than ours!), has been sitting in the basket for about two months - waiting for us to undertake them. It is always difficult for me to undertake a 2-3 hour wait time before breakfast because we both usually wake up hungry. We decided to go for it, and it really paid off, they were a delicious and amazing treat, and as you may be able to see, I also used my last Starbucks VIA to make a delicious ghetto mocha to accompany our treat! I really did like these better than fried doughnuts and they really weren't that difficult, especially after we figured out what to use to cut them out, most of it was just wait time for them to rise. -I am also a sucker for anything with that much cinnamon! We shared the doughnut holes with the Sisters and they claimed to really enjoy them too! Shane wouldn't give up any of the actual doughnuts! Another food adventure we had was when Peace Corps took us to a cute cafe in Ladybrand for the official wrap up of the third phase of Peace Corps training. The food was amazing (I had bacon, brie foccaccia bread topped with arugula, Shane had chicken pot pie with roasted vegetables - and we both had chocolate milkshakes, but I had a shot of esspresso in mine!) and the cafe was adorable in a little garden setting with a bunch of crafty things for decorations and for sale! I am so sad to say I forgot my camera, but they had a large trampoline but at ground level and raspberries growing in their garden - need I say more? It was a lovely conclusion and a reasonable preface to having to get up the next morning to take the crammed taxi back home at 5am!  

All in all we've been doing pretty well, the rain has come and our garden is starting to grow more which is really gratifying. Work is ok but is stalling a bit for the holidays, so you'll hear from me again next week. I'll wrap it up here.
All of the best and warm wishes for the holiday season!
Love,
Carol and Shane