Blankets

This is my kind of country. One of my most embarrassing secrets is that I have a baby blanket that I refuse to get rid of, and I sleep with it every night. I guess it’s not really a secret anymore, and I actually don’t think it’s that embarrassing, but Rafe sure does, and he HATES it.

In Lesotho, everyone has a blanket-- it’s a part of the culture and tradition here. Children get a blanket, and they wear them like capes. In the villages, I’d often see a child wearing his blanket like a superman cape and without skivvies on down below. Women wear the blankets around their waist before they have children, and above their waist after they become a mother. At this point in a woman’s life, the blanket becomes multifunctional. They provide warmth in the form of a poncho, and they replace strollers and are the main mode of transportation for babies and children. Moms simply swing their kid over their shoulder like a monkey, the child opens his legs in preparation, and then he gets wrapped in the blanket and snug tight to his mom’s back. I have seen many a crying baby get swung around and swaddled in tight and immediately stop crying once snug in their familiar position. It’s amazing.