31 in Lesotho and loving it!

On Sunday I turn 31 and looking back over the last year of my life I have to say that I lead a crazy life! This time last year I was recovering from my first trip to South Africa and Lesotho and trying to figure out where the hell I was going with the whole PhD gig. Here I am, a year later, in Lesotho up to my eyeballs in the PhD gig and wondering where I will be this time next year...Vienna? Atlanta? Perth? Lima?... Yes, it's good to be a nomadic woman!

Speaking of time and the aging process, I happened to encounter the poor schmuck conducting the 2006 Lesotho census in the Mapoteng area yesterday and he sat me down to ask me questions related to my residency, age, marital status, color of my shoes, and how many donkeys I own (brown on the former item and zilch on the donkeys!). When I told him my age he raised an eyebrow but said nothing and then when he asked me how many pregnancies I've had and I told him none he responded with "Really?" and looked incredibly shocked. This is the general reaction that I've gotten from the Basotho since I've been here. I really don't think that they care one way or another if I'm married, but the fact that I haven't procreated yet makes them question my very existence (not to mention my sanity). Sorry Basotho, I do not define myself and my life by how many babies I can pop out during my reproductive years!! It does give me some interesting insight into the defined roles of women in Lesotho AND South Africa because I also get the same reaction, albeit a bit watered down, from the female South African expats that work here. I guess I'm too much of an independent, tell-it-as-it-is, arrogant, and ambitious (as the American women that work here have been called by our South African expat sisters) sort of gal for Southern Africa. These are the days when I miss Ghana and the brash, independent, and entrepreneurial women that I worked with in that part of the world.

Here's to being 31, finally comfortable in my own skin, and defining who I want to be and where I want to go without reference to outdated cultural roles, reproductive biology, or having a y chromosome by my side :-)