No such thing as a Lesothan May 12, 2008
Posted by Rethabile in lesotho, sesotho, tourism, vocabulary.Tags: lesotho, tourism
8 comments
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Africa/Lesotho/North/Mokhotlong/photo294712.htm
That link will take you to a beautiful picture of a Mosotho lady standing at the door to her hut. There’s this next to the photo: “Same village in Lesotho – she stands at the door of her house and shop. The white flag in the background indicates that she sells beer today, a red flag flying would mean that she has meat in stock and a green flag would indicate that vegetables are available. Lesotho being flat, people can see from far off whether the supplies they need are in stock.” The bold type is mine.
Except Lesotho is one of the highest countries in the world, with rugged, volcanic terrain and two mountain ranges (a lot for a country of Belgium’s surface area). Lesotho is anything but flat. Another picture has a misleading caption:”Lesothan on the Drakensburg.” There is no such thing as a Lesothan (and it’s Drakensberg), and Basotho dislike the appellation, initially used by reporters lazy to find out what we were called. It’s a Mosotho, two or more of them are Basotho, they speak Sesotho (or Sotho), and they live in Lesotho. There’s no such thing as a Lesothan.
But please visit the site, because the photos are magnificent.
