The Mountain School

The Kingdom of Lesotho is a mountainous enclave in southern Africa, and like mountain zones throughout the world it is isolated, steeped in tradition, and home to few outsiders The people, known as Basotho, are respected in the area as the only tribe never to be defeated by European colonizers Greg Alder arrives in T oeneng as the village s first foreign resident since 1966 In that year, the Canadian priest who had been living there was robbed and murdered in his quarters Set up as a Peace Corps teacher at the village s secondary school, Alder finds himself incompetent in so many unexpected ways How do you keep warm in this place where it snows but there is no electricity For how long can dinners of cornmeal and leaves sustain you T oeneng is a world apart from his home in America But he persists in becoming familiar with the new lifestyle he learns to speak the strange local tongue and is eventually invited to participate in initiation rites Yet even as he seems accepted into the T oeneng fold, he sees how much of an outsider he will always remain and perhaps want to remain The Mountain School is insightful, candid, at times adaptive and at times rebellious It is the ultimate tale of the transplant. Read The Mountain School – kino-fada.fr Great story of a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotha, Africa Well written, humorous, and engaging.I had the pleasure of meeting the author last year and getting a signed copy of this book Under similar circumstances I would say that I am reviewing this book as objectively as possible, but this is impossible for me in the best way possible as this book is the most honest and compelling Peace Corps memoir I have read so far It was so good that it brought many memories of my own Peace Corps experience to my mind, the good and the bad Following the three years spent as an English teacher for I had the pleasure of meeting the author last year and getting a signed copy of this book Under similar circumstances I would say that I am reviewing this book as objectively as possible, but this is impossible for me in the best way possible as this book is the most honest and compelling Peace Corps memoir I have read so far It was so good ...I really enjoyed this book After reading a couple of Peace Corps Volunteer books that were not that great, I hesitated to pick this one up I am so glad I did Greg Adler decided early on in his time in Lesotho, to make the best of it To really learn the language, spend time with his stu...The Mountain School came to me as a recommendation from a friend who knew the author personally I was happy to have it in my hands since I will soon embark on a three year African journey of my own I read The Mountain School in hopes of gaining insights into cultural situations I might encounter It is an engaging and descriptive memoir of a journey into teaching and living in Lesotho It offers insights into a simple life and all those involved in it I wish the author had gone deeper into th The Mountain School ca...reading Greg s memoir while living a two hour walk from his old site was pretty bizarre Some parts of our services have been almost identical The area s beautiful weather and our tin roofing s complete failure to deal with it That one creepy Chinese shop in Kolo Students singing Pula Eana beautifully loudly everywhere at all hours Visiting Qacha s Nek as midpoint to Durban Tsoaing river flash flooding and stopping kids from getting home after school Having serial arguments and beggi reading Greg s memoir while living a two hour walk from his old site was pretty bizarre Some parts of our services have been almost identical The area s beautiful weather and our tin roofing s complete failure to deal with it That one creepy Chinese shop in Kolo Students singing Pula Eana beautifully loudly everywhere at all hours Visiting Qacha s Nek as midpoint to Durban Tsoaing river flash flooding and stopping kids from getting home after school Having serial arguments and begging rituals with a dozen villagers Ministry of Education incompetence Initiation schools on broken, dramatic Mount Kolo Students wearing the wrong color pants on Tuesday Feeling ridiculously pampered on vacation in South African hostels and being mischaracterized by shepherds who know John Cena and getting a guilty rush from condemning all Boers Very many dialogs in this book, word for word for word These are all things...I really enjoyed The Mountain School farthan I expected to I suppose expectations really can be everything, because this book was a very pleasant surprise I thought it might be a bit dull, but it was far from it The author s concise and straightforward style made the book quite readable.I was totally immersed in Greg s world in Lesotho one extremely different from my own position as an American citizen lucky enough to have a life of relative privilege I ...The Mountain School is a great read about leaving the familiar and totally immersing oneself into the unfamiliar As a travel memoir, this book does everything it s supposed to do Hooks you in, captures the essence of the place and the people, makes you feel the ups and downs of such an experience, and makes you feel like you were actually there The Mountain School is full of reflections and anecdotes of living in Lestho, the mountainous country surrounded by South Africa, of Greg Adler who li The Mountain School is a great read about leaving the familiar and totally immersing oneself into the unfamiliar As a travel memoir, this book does everything it s supposed to do Hooks you in, captures the essence of the place and the people, makes you feel the ups and downs of such an experience, and makes you feel ...The author spent 3 years in Lesotho as a peace corps volunteer teaching English in a secondary school in a small, mountain village I ve read several PCV memoirs now and each one is different I know everyone s experiences would be unique but this one is evenso in terms of the approach he took with the time and with the writing Greg sought to immerse himself in t...This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers To view it, click here Loved I loved the candid honesty of this book, and it honestly inspired me to want to go back to Spain to teach.Loved it Brought back many memories of my time in Lesotho.

• English
• 02 October 2017
Greg Alder
• Paperback
• 266 pages
• 0988682206
• Greg Alder
• The Mountain School