Getting Into the Routine

Dumelang! Le tsogile jang? (Hello! How are you (all)?)

So life has begun here at UB! I had my first full day of classes on Monday: Globalization, Independent Study Class Discussion, and Setswana. The classes are interesting, and I was able to really start thinking about what I want to do for my independent study. In walking around I have noticed how there are signs of an AIDS prevention program everywhere, but very little upkeep. The free condom boxes, for example, are everywhere but I have yet to see one with a single condom in it! Also, there are many signs that are torn or faded, or otherwise illegible, and it makes me wonder how much good the AIDS awareness and prevention program is doing. That is one topic of study I'm considering, because perhaps it could lead to me helping to revamp or supplement the current program based on my findings! I am also wanting to become involved in the clinical side of treating/detecting AIDS and I am going to look into taking volunteer shifts at the AIDS clinics and hospitals in Gaberone.
I am learning how to maneuver the "combies" (spelling), which are the Botswana version of our RTD system, except that there are no big buses that run specific routes at specific times. Instead, most combies contain a driver and a "recruiter" who walks around combie stops and recruits people to the 12-15 passenger vans (a term which I use liberally to describe the minivan size cars they use!) that compete with each other for customers. The louder and more persistent the recruiter is, the more money they will make so there are often loud arguments going on between drivers/recruiters of competing combies for passengers. The fair is P2.50 (pula) which is about $0.50 in US dollars and the combies follow routes to common destinations. My American apartment-mate Alyssa and I went shopping yesterday and became horribly lost on the combies, but eventually made it home and much wiser about which routes to take.
Another first for me yesterday was washing by hand all of my laundry and drying it on lines outside! Alyssa and I used a big bathtub on the second floor of our block to wash, scrub, and rinse our clothes (one dark load and one white load), and then we trekked out into the yard to hang them on the lines. It was a lot of work and my wrists are really sore from wringing and scrubbing so many clothes! I will say that I have infinitely more respect for people who was an entire family's worth of clothes in one sitting, and I will think twice about dropping something in the dirty clothes hamper from now on!
Buying food and cooking it in our apartment yesterday was a great relief! I was able to make a chicken stir fry with rice (this was my first time attempting rice) and enjoyed the small reminder of home! I will be operating with a fairly limited menu, but I am able to find foods that are familiar and therefore a comfort. All of my other meals here have consisted of the traditional rice, chicken, pumpkin, and coleslaw or some variation of that staple, and although I enjoy this meal, eating it two times a day for four months is not something I am willing to do!
I have been approached several times in the last few days by men who want to know where I live and what my cell number is, and I am actually in the process of learning how to be polite but firm with them. Again, I know that there is no reason to get upset about these things as it is largely a part of the culture, and my efforts would be better used in learning how to play the game. I still haven't worked out how to politely refuse, particularly when people ask me for a hug or, as in the case of the pro soccer game, grab my arm and say come over here, but I am learning (and quickly), that I have to be firm in order to protect myself: a good life lesson too!!
I am definitely still feeling homesick for modern comforts and specific people, but I believe I am adapting, and learning how to fit into this society!
Tsamaya sentle!! (Go well!) TTFN!