Sonia Marsh - Gutsy Living

Life's too short to play it safe

  • Home
  • About Sonia
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Freeways to Flip-Flops
    • My Gutsy Story® Anthology
  • Media
    • Press Kit +Videos
    • Print Media
    • Awards-Reviews-Testimonials
    • Sonia’s Blog Tour
  • Contact

After Lockdown: My New Adventure In England

April 3, 2021 by Sonia Marsh Leave a Comment

The Wonderful Greeting From Virgin Atlantic as you Board the plane
Sonia at LAX on March 31st waiting for her flight to London.

For those of you who know me well, you won’t be surprised when I tell you that I’m starting a new chapter in my life. Here’s what initiated the change.

When Covid-19 started soaring around the world, I read a book by Bruce Feiler called: Life Is In the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age.

Feiler coined the term, “lifequakes” and explained that lifequakes can be voluntary: for example deciding to divorce or change professions, or involuntary: such as fires, hurricanes or a global pandemic.

Life is not linear, it’s filled with chaos and complexity and periods of order and disorder.

Bruce Feiler

This resonated with me. So how do we cope with lifequakes that are involuntary? I believe we have a choice on how we react to the situation. In my case I chose to take advantage of lockdown and open my eyes to new possibilities.

I started preparing my next move, analyzing the pros and cons and what I needed to do to make the move happen. I decided to rent my condo in the spring and summer and live in England when the weather is pleasant and return to California in the winter.

I polled a few of my English friends asking them which parts of England they thought I should visit, and after the results came in, booked an Airbnb in Bath. I loved Bath so I booked a second visit in October 2020 to make sure it wasn’t just “le coup de foudre” (overwhelming love at first sight) but the right place for me. I had other reasons to visit Europe in 2020, namely, the sad passing of my 94-year-old father who lived in Paris.

Since October 2020, I’ve rented a storage unit, rented my condo, visited my sons in Texas, Santa Barbara and Long Beach, taken care of taxes, bills Covid vaccine (J&J), PCR test 72-hours before travel, more tests on Day 2, 5 and 8 in UK, and now I’m in a cute Airbnb apartment in Bath, on the 3rd floor of an old Georgian building in the center of town.

Why did I chose Bath?

Bath is a captivating city, only two hours by car or by train from London, with Georgian architecture, the Roman Baths, fabulous restaurants, shops and you might recognize the “Royal Crescent” below, where the period piece Bridgerton series was filmed. Yes, they are planning to resume filming in Bath this spring, and if I see the film crew there, I’ll let you know. Last October, they were filming a period piece right in front of my bank. The film crew told us to wait before we could exit the bank. (See photo below of the street where they were filming.)

https://visitbath.co.uk/listings/single/the-royal-crescent/
The bank is on the left and the actors were on this cobble-stoned road in period costumes.

I hope you follow my blog as I write about the pre and post Covid-19 protocols I had to go through to get into the UK, my new friends, my exciting pet-sitting opportunities, and what else I plan on my adventures in the UK during the next 6 months.

Any questions or comments are always welcome.

My new life: What it’s like to live in Lesotho?

October 17, 2015 by Sonia Marsh 12 Comments

Sonia,Patricia,Heather water filters
With my new PCV friends getting our water filters

My new life: What it’s like to live in Lesotho?

My life is so different here in Lesotho as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

I have so much to share with you; I don’t know where to start.

Instead of writing a super-long blog post, I’ve decided to share the basics about my new life as a Peace Corps volunteer in training. I’m sure you want to see photos of where I live, my new host family, and my rural surroundings. I’m now living with donkeys, dogs (a ton of them,) roosters, chickens, sheep, and numerous cats, especially kittens.

Whenever I have access to an Internet connection, and electricity, I shall post my daily life in more detail. (Not sure exactly when, but I hope you’re interested.)

I can’t believe that this time two weekends ago, I sat in a fancy restaurant in San Clemente, California, enjoying Cioppino, with shrimp, fish, muscles and scallops in a delicious tomato broth, with warm sourdough bread and butter and a glass of Chardonnay.

Now I’m eating papa, (a maize powder cooked in boiling water) with morojo (chopped greens cooked in oil) with stewed pumpkin and carrot slaw. I eat a ton of carbs, and very little protein, compared to what I ate in California.

I’ve been adopted by my host mother or (‘m’e) Mathuso, and she is very caring and sweet. She shows me how to hand wash my clothes outside in a bucket of cold water which was transported up the hill by donkey.

PCV, Michelle, showing us how to take a bath
PCV, Michelle, showing us how to take a bath

Bath and buckets

view of countryside
view of countryside

Doing laundry

‘M’e gets upset when I don’t arrange my multipurpose bedroom/kitchen/bathroom (basically my pee bucket, and plastic bath tub,) the way women do it in Lesotho. I find it strange that my host “mother” is four years younger than me, and she makes me feel like a child who has no clue what she’s doing, despite having been a mother/cook/cleaning lady myself for 37 years.

My new house

I now have a nine-year old sister, Ausi (sister) Boitumelo, a brother, Abuti (brother) Tebeho. They help me pronounce new vocabulary words in Sesotho; another challenge as I have three months to learn this foreign African language, before I get shipped off to my future village, where I shall teach English in a primary school for two years.

My new brother and sister. Ausi Boitumelo,Abuti Teboho
My new brother and sister.

 

I’m learning to adapt as fast as I can, but it is stressful to have Sesotho language classes every day, and to be bombarded with friendly Basotho people from the village stopping you on the dirt road to ask you questions about your Sesotho name, (mine is ‘m’e Palusa which means flower) where you’re you’re from etc. They speak so fast, and I’m finding the pressure is on to learn the language quickly.

We also have Peace Corps classes from 7:30 a.m., until 5p.m., daily, and then homework and studying in the dark room with no electricity. Taking a bucket bath, and daily chores take forever, so I feel more stressed now than I did in Orange County.

I have a paraffin lamp to study when it gets dark around 6:30 p.m., and thankfully my headlamp so I can find my pee bucket at night. We are not allowed outside to use the latrine, due to the guard dogs who get into vicious fights almost every night.

dancing 'mes

More to come later.

By the way, if you’d like to connect with me, apart from e-mails, please sign up for what’s app. This is a FREE APP, and we can chat and send messages. I shall e-mail you my Lesotho phone # if you’d like to communicate with me on What’s app. E-mail me at:

Sonia@soniamarsh.com

Sala hantle, (stay well.)

 

 

Check Out My New “Gutsy” Website For the Peace Corps

September 20, 2015 by Sonia Marsh 11 Comments

100_3113
My “Au Revoir” party and see you when I return from the Peace Corps.

 

Hello Friends,

How do you like the new header and video on my blog?

MarshS_Banner2015

The round hut is called a rondavel, from the Afrikaans word rondawel. It’s the westernized version of an African-style hut.

I love the one I selected as it has a turquoise door. I might live in a rondavel in Lesotho, while I serve as a primary education teacher in Southern Africa. In case you didn’t know, I‘m heading off to the Peace Corps.

I want my new “look” to fit the changes in my life, and my casual video, and natural curly hair, are part of that change, and the new me.

Did you watch my video?

Here’s what’s happening over the next two weeks, and how the Peace Corps is  sending us off to Lesotho, Africa.

  • On October 4th, I fly from California to Philadelphia.
  • October 5th, I meet the 29 or so, other volunteers, who are serving as primary education teachers, or secondary math teachers, in Lesotho.
  • On October 6th, we leave our hotel at 2 a.m. (Yes! we’re learning to adapt,) and then catch a bus to JFK, airport. Our flight to Johannesburg departs around noon.
  • The flight lasts 15.5 hours
  • We board a bus from Johannesburg to Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, which takes about 6 hours.
  • After our first night in a hotel in Lesotho, we start PST (pre-service training.)
  • We have morning classes, then meet our Basotho host families where we shall live for the first three months.
  • Classes start at 7:30 a.m., and end at 5 p.m. Learning Sesotho, the language of Lesotho, is an important partof our PST. We also cover safety and the culture of Lesotho.
  • Our host family teaches us how to bathe in a bucket, cook local foods, wash our clothes, as help us practice Sesotho.

Water is scarce and here’s what a Peace Corps volunteer wrote about his experience on the PC website.  (Read more on daily water usage in Lesotho.) —Peter Yurich, Ha Khayensti, Lesotho

“There isn’t much water available because we had a very dry winter and no rain this spring. I usually try to use only one to one and a half liters of water a day. This includes bathing, cooking, and cleaning dishes. Once a week I wash clothes, but try to use as little water as possible.

My day starts by boiling two liters of water. I use less than one liter to bathe; I drink two cups of coffee; and then I save the rest for cooking and cleaning dishes. If the tap is working, I may indulge myself by using a little more for bathing.

My host family uses a little more than I do because there are more people in the family. They use a wheelbarrow to carry two 10-liter buckets of water. Right now they use more water because they are making dung smear for the floor and walls of a new building. The building was constructed from rock and held together with a mud mixture that dried and became hard.”

I realize that I have to get used to changing my lifestyle, but when my family lived in Belize, in 2004-2005, water was also a problem. We had a cistern,and due to the lack of rain, we had to sponge bathe.

If you don’t want to miss my “gutsy updates,” please subscribe underneath the hut on my landing page.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE.

Capture

Any questions? Don’t hesitate to ask.

Why I’m Celebrating Peace Corps Week

March 5, 2015 by Sonia Marsh 1 Comment

pcw2015_4

As many of you know, I have a strong desire to serve in the Peace Corps. Things did not go as smoothly as I had hoped, but I am keeping my fingers crossed this time.

My interview finally took pace on February 27th, and lasted almost two hours. I answered all the questions to the best of my ability, and although I had prepared ahead of time, practicing with my RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) friends, I found it quite intense.

I was mentally drained after my two-hour phone interview, and longed for a Yes/No answer. It did end on a positive note and I was told to continue learning more about the country of Lesotho, in South Africa.

Who says Twitter and social media is a waste of time?

After tweeting about #Lesotho, I made a connection with a woman who runs an NGO (Non-governmental organization) for children in Lesotho. She’s from Europe and kindly offered to answer any questions I may have about life in that beautiful “Mountain Kingdom.”

As this is Peace Corps week, I decided to share  information about the organization, and in particular, some of the videos showcasing the influential people who work as counterparts with the Peace Corps volunteers in many parts of the world. Please take a look at the specific countries that may be of interest to you.

I was especially moved by some of the teachers in Morocco, and Thailand, and how they have impacted the lives of their students.

 

Peace Corps Week 2015: March 1-7

Peace Corps Week 2015: March 1-7

“Peace Corps Week commemorates President Kennedy’s establishment of the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961. During this annual event, the Peace Corps community celebrates all the ways that Peace Corps makes a difference at home and abroad and renews its commitment to service.

This year, Peace Corps invites current and returned Peace Corps Volunteers to get involved in Peace Corps Week 2015 by participating in our Video Challenge and/or participating in Peace Corps Festivals across the United States. These activities, designed to support Peace Corps’ Third Goal of sharing other cultures with Americans, kick off on January 1 and continue through the end of Peace Corps Week on March 7. Follow the links below to learn how you can participate in one or both of these exciting efforts.”

 

How will YOU celebrate Peace Corps Week?

 

http://www.peacecorps.gov/resources/returned/thirdgoal/pcweek/

 

26+ videos from PC volunteers around the world.

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM0oh3lEA63Er0g0Gl1YR9N5nGk1Af-RV

“Choosing One’s Battles Wisely”

February 24, 2015 by Sonia Marsh Leave a Comment

Donna Friess and her dogs
Donna Friess and her dogs

“Choosing One’s Battles Wisely”

“My Gutsy Story®” Donna L. Friess

“Choosing one’s battles” that’s good advice as it illustrates another way to live a gutsy life. It takes guts to hold back one’s emotions and not jump eagerly into a negative situation.  I want to share a moment around our home which illustrates my point. My husband and I are caring for our grand dog Buddy while our youngest son and his family are skiing. Recently, I let Buddy and our three dogs out one last time before bed.  For a moment all four dogs seemed to disappear into the inky darkness. Suddenly there was a noisy scuffle. I turned on the powerful outdoor light and saw that Buddy had caught a skunk; a very big black and white skunk! Quickly, realizing what he had caught, he released it, and in that instant it turned its huge and fluffy tail toward him and let loose!  Horrified by what he had done and the stickiness of the odorific spray on his face, he rushed into the garage and frantically rubbed himself on his bedding in a vain attempt to rectify his condition. Tessie, his co-conspirator, did the same. Lacey and Zoe stood off to the side watching all the commotion, shaking their heads in wonder.

Shamed by their new smell, Buddy and Tessie lurked in the corners of the garage.  I tended to them as best I could with a concoction of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. But the hour was late and the odor was seeping into my home. I bid them goodnight as they slinked into the shadows of the garage.

The next morning I went to let them out. Buddy shamefacedly hung his head, contrite over his foolishness. I had texted our son to share the late night excitement. His response was, “Buddy tangles with skunks about twice a month, he knows all about them, but never seems to learn!”  So his surprised innocence was no longer working on me as I understood that it was the thrill of the confrontation that Buddy enjoyed.

Out in the big yard the next morning, he and Tessie went looking for more trouble hoping, I am sure, for a rematch with their worthy opponent.  As I sat drinking my coffee, it occurred to me that sometimes humans do the same thing; engage in a conflict with an opponent, perhaps over the smallest thing, for the excitement of the exchange. It is true, the adrenaline flows, the heart pounds, and the muscles constrict and we’re ready for action. Only to find that later, when reason prevails, one feels foolish for the silliness of the altercation. Often the motivation is the thrill of the exchange, not the actually winning of the argument, and to make it worse,  one never knows when they might get “skunked!”

I think it takes guts to take a hard look at one’s own interpersonal motivations and to hold back from the “thrill” of perhaps a dysfunctional argument.  I love Jack Canfield’s formula.  We can apply this to many situations. In fact, it can be empowering. It is EVENT + OUR RESPONSE = OUTCOME.   We have the power to choose our response, which will affect the outcome. For now, the old saying, “One must choose one’s battles wisely” may apply here.  I have to go,  the thrill-seeker named Buddy is casing my yard for more excitement!

Donna L. Friess, Ph.D., author, psychologist and grief counselor has written a debut novel, The Unraveling of Shelby Forrest  available  at: www.amazon.com.  She is an advocate for children’s rights, currently serving on a U.S. Justice Department Office for Victims of Crime Consortium. Her best selling, award-winning autobiography, Cry the Darkness, has been published in seven languages.

Cover_Front_Final

Get your copy of Unraveling here.

  • Join Donna on Facebook here.
  • Check out Donna’s website: www.drdonnafriess.com
  • Join Donna on Twitter 
  • Donna on LinkedIn

 

Next Page »
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Sign up for my Gutsy Updates

Welcome to My New Life

Welcome to My New Life

Do you feel trapped?
Let me Help You Rediscover Your Freedom.
I divorced at 58, and now belong to myself.
If I can do it, so can you!
Let me help you find your purpose and become your own best friend.

Click the cover to buy on Amazon

Recent Posts

  • Single Woman Cruising Solo
  • What Does Self-Love Mean to You?
  • Is Divorce a Gift or a Curse?

Also Available At:

Latest from the blog

  • Single Woman Cruising Solo
  • What Does Self-Love Mean to You?
  • Is Divorce a Gift or a Curse?
  • The Benefits of Traveling Solo
  • Who wants to join me on the Paul Gauguin in Tahiti and Bora Bora?

Top Posts

  • Stop People Pleasing, Start Setting Boundaries
  • Attractive Authors Get More Publicity--Why?
  • Authors: Beware of This Scam
  • How Much Does A Safari Cost?
  • How To Get Your Book Into Costco

Copyright © 2025 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in