Sushi in S.A.

Another week and weekend has now come and gone. For us here in Lesotho, it was actually a long weekend as it was the King’s birthday on Monday. Last week and this week, we are and will be, working towards setting up for a consultative meeting with stakeholders as we move towards setting up a National Human Rights Commission. This has involved policy work and research but also the fun job of logistics, protocol, invitations etc.

This weekend I went to Bloemfontein in South Africa. This is an Africaner town about 2 and a half hours from Maseru. Last week I received a six-month border pass which exempts me from having to register at the border. So, rather than lining up for an hour, we were able to drive right through the Lesotho, South African border. We arrived in Bloemfontein at around lunchtime and met up with some friends from work for some Sushi. I must say it was nice to have sushi again but like a lot of places in Canada, they have got to work on their raw fish to mayonnaise ratio. As many of you know, I have a profound distaste for Mayonnaise and a love of sushi so when put together, I am faced with the bane of my existence.

Bloemfontein is a lot like my good ol’ hometown Langley: fairly ugly with lots of malls and places to shop. The goal of the weekend was to catch some films and that we did, watching one on Sat and another on Sun before we returned to Maseru. We stayed over in Bloem Sat night and found a nice spot to play pool and have some Castle Lager. For part of the night we sat outside on the patio overlooking the road. A very common sight was private security trucks and cars driving by with the words “armed response” written on the side. I am very interested in this notion re the law. Can a security officer working for Company X shoot somebody the same way a legitimate cop can if he or she comes upon a scene of a crime. Is there not a chance that if this is allowed, this power could be used for malevolent purposes? I will investigate and report back.

On Sunday morning we actually found a place that did eggs and bacon and decent coffee. It was brilliant travelling with the friends that I was as they appreciate reading and coffee in the morning and this is what we did for an hour before our food arrived.

Sunday night when we got back we were invited to Estevan’s house. He is the Operations Manager for UNICEF in Lesotho. He is Iranian and cooked us traditional Iranian Food. His daughter and niece who are Iranian Canadian are staying with him for six weeks, so it was good to talk about Canada and catch up on the news back home. I also found them to be Hearts fans, and convinced them to play many a game of cards with me as we listened to Farsi and Turkish music. Among the guests were an American, head of Peace Corps Lesotho as well as an Iranian-Swiss-French couple. This couple speak amazing French and humoured me by speaking French to me throughout the night.

Sunday morning I went to the fabulous gym we have here in Maseru and then it was back to Estevan’s for an Iranian lunch. Again, we were treated to traditional Iranian food and music! After lunch, I spotted a basketball and convinced everybody to join me in a fun game of basketball. It ended up being pretty competitive actually and sadly, my team lost.

Before I left I invited people to my house on Friday to help me celebrate my b-day. I have no furniture in my house, so it is going to be, not a BYOB party but a BYO Chair party. I can’t believe I am going to be turning 23 in Maseru.