Victory

Yesterday, at long last, I finally got my post office box. I will let you take some time to weep softly, hug your children, and call friends whom you haven’t spoken to in many years.

          

Done? Great. On Thursdays, I don’t teach until after lunch, so I was able to use yesterday morning to go to the post office. I had, in advance, verified that this was a good day to go with my fellow teacher ‘M’e Faso, who knows the people who work at the post office. Still, I did not have my hopes up. Not knowing what time they open, I figured that 8:00 was probably a good guess but that they would definitely be open by 9:00. I got there around 8:45 and sat on the porch, reading. I determined that I would leave by 10:15 if nothing had happened, and so I had basically decided that I was going to leave empty-handed once again when, at 9:54, a woman in a teal, fluffy bathrobe over her clothes came around the corner and looked at me. We talked briefly and I communicated to her that I wanted to open a post office box.

She left and a few minutes later I heard motion in the post office and she unlocked and opened the front door, bathrobe now absent. We got to the business of opening me a PO box, and she laughed when I asked if I needed to show her my passport (which I had brought, not willing to take any chances). This took some time, and I asked her some practical questions, like “What time does the post office open?”

“Oh, it opens at 8:00, but it was raining today.”

“Oh, no worries ‘M’e, I understand,” I lied. We both laughed. I also had the chance to mail off a few things to a few people, which she assured me was only 4 maloti worth of stamps, even though I’d heard it was 7.70 maloti during training. We’ll see what happens! Anyway, you can now reach me at:

Michael Langley, PCV

PO Box 5

Ha Sekake 640

Lesotho

Southern Africa

You may now ask: “PO Box number 5? Who do they think you are, the mayor? Or at very least, the city comptroller?” And I have to say, I’m pretty excited to have such a high number, and will try my hardest for that top spot. Furthermore, you may note that I have put PCV, which stands for “Peace Corps Volunteer,” after my name. Naturally, a letter will reach me regardless of whether you put those three letters, but please know that they make me feel very cool, and it will give my ego a huge boost if you include them.