It's Raining Men!

Last weekend was a very slow one because most of the students from my group went to visit a Rhino reserve for the weekend but I elected to stay behind in the hopes that I would have the promised soccer games. Unfortunately, I haven't actually talked to the coach or any but two of the players since last Saturday's game (over a week ago), and I wasn't too surprised when no one showed up at the time or place I had been told the game would be yesterday. As I've said before, there is very little infrastructure or administrative support for this girl's team, and it shows in the lack of commitment and consistency of its membership. The nice thing about staying was that I was able to do my laundry (hooray!!) which meant a couple of hours kneeling on the floor scrubbing clothes. The water I used was actually scalding hot because we were in the process of losing our water on campus completely, and the first thing to go, strangely enough, is the cold water. So that was an adventure, but at least my clothes are clean and the sun was out long enough for them to dry in the sun!!
The water and electricity problems this week are apparently a direct result of the power shedding techniques being employed by the city officials in response to power shortages both here, and with the main supplier, South Africa. I read a newspaper article that was short of many hard facts, but basically indicated that these problems though being addressed were going to be fairly long-term, and the cause was the excessive power requirements that the building of the stadium in South Africa is requiring in preparation for the 2010 World Cup! I may have to come back for that!
Sorry I haven't updated this week, I need to get into the habit of chronicling the days events every night so that I don't get behind! The thing about life here, is that it has settled fairly well into a routine, and although I am still learning a lot every day, the events are not very exciting to report. The biggest thing I have faced this week (along with all the women in my program) is the realization that men here are extremely forward and persistent, and very good at being charming and making you feel obligated to "acquiesce to their requests" (Pirates of the Carribbean reference!). On a daily basis, every single American woman is approached by men both on campus and off that praise her beauty and even go so far as to propose on the spot. As Americans with little experience in this area, many of the girls, including myself have been struggling with how to express to these men that we are not interested even remotely! I have come to the conclusion through the course of this week, however, that it is a game for these men, and I have absolutely no obligation to them, nor will I have any lasting impact on their poor hearts, and therefore, I have to be out of character for me, and either proceed to ignore them, or flat out deny any interest in giving them my phone number or going for drinks. I have made a ton of progress in that area, and besides a little guilt for the "cold, heartless jerk" routine, I am feeling more and more confident with my ability to turn down these propositions and it has been a huge turning point for me and many of the girls this week. I definitely feel a sense of empowerment building as I become more comfortable asserting my rights and powers as a woman.
So I have finally landed on a research topic!! I met a graduate student this week from Arizona named Betsey, and besides being an awesome woman, she talked to me about a huge issue that women deal with on a very real level here in that women in most African societies draw there status from their ability to reproduce, and therefore there is a HUGE emphasis placed on reproduction. For women who are HIV-positive, this presents a complex dilemma. In mothering children, a woman risks transmitting the virus to them and/or orphaning them at a young age. For those women who do choose to become pregnant (or are unaware of their status at the time of conception) there is a program in Botswana called the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) program sponsored by the Botswana-Harvard AIDS Partnership Initiative that provides free ARV drugs and conducts studies to determine the best regimen to prevent pre-natal and post-natal transmission. I will be looking at a later step in the process, which is the decision of whether to breastfeed or use replacement formula. As of now, the World Health Organization (WHO - ahh! I'm getting acronym crazy!) recommends that HIV-positive women formula feed exclusively if the process is sustainable, affordable, and safe. Unfortunately, people in limited resource environments, which are the ones most affected by the epidemic, do not have the requisite resources in place to formula feed safely and exclusively. Therefore, I will be volunteering in a PMTCT clinic this semester, and hopefully will be interviewing women at the clinic about their choice to breastfeed or formula feed. If any of you are interested in hearing more about the dilemma as I have already gone on in length about it, let me know and I will send you updates individually about what I am learning. Otherwise, I will try to keep future posts about my research a bit more brief!
Other than research and learning how to effectively repel men, the ACM group went to a restaurant on Monday to celebrate a 21st birthday!! The restaurant was called the Bull and Bush, and was largely full of ex-pats (ex-patriots or white people), but was very reasonably priced and delicious! It was rib night, so i decided to share a rack with a friend, and they were quite delicious! I did order a drink (the drinking age is 18 here), and for those of you that are condemning me right now, I'm sorry!, but it was quite refreshing after my earlier workout. Exercise is actually another thing that has been occupying a lot of my time. Unfortunately, problems arose when trying to prove that I wasn't registered with any teams in the U.S., so I was unable to officially join the women's team here. I will still go to two practices a week just for fun (the girls are really cool), but in addition, I will be joining the aerobics club and training on my own for a 10K run followed by a half-marathon training program this summer! It feels so good to be able to devote an hour or two a day to exercise, and I am excited about the progress I can make since I have the time to work out extensively every day!
The big event of this weekend has been writing our research proposals for the independent research, and studying for my first exam in Globalization in Southern Africa on Monday. So pretty mellow weekend, although Alyssa (my roommate) and our friend Whitney and I went to a Chinese place last night at the mall, Riverwalk, where we encountered a very cute, but very very large Chinese baby! I will try to attach a picture, although I have been very unsuccessful with my attempts to add pictures.
Anyway, I will try to post more often! Thanks for reading! TTFN!

In the Public Eye

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. Life has not been terribly varied, though I have found that I somehow manage to keep myself fairly busy every day.
There is one major adjustment I am in the process of making, along with my fellow American students. As white Americans who don' t speak the language, we are very noticeable, particularly in times of confusion and uncertainty, such as today when my friend Lindsay and I went to the mall and were not sure where to go to find a particular store. We are often targeted by people with a variety of motivations, and it is often disconcerting. To my dismay, I find myself adopting a defensive stance that immediately assumes that the person wants something from me. In life I've heard, this is a good philosophy to follow because it will protect you from being taken advantage of, but it makes me sad to lose that instant re pore with people that assumes they are decent, trustworthy human beings. I suppose there's a middle ground I must reach between detached suspicion and wide-eyed curiosity, and I'll find it soon enough, but I find my own reactions to be disconcerting.
I am still struggling to hone in on a topic for my independent research project, as I am sorting through a myriad of intensely fascinating subjects. For example, the HIV/AIDS assistance program in which Merck Pharaceuticals is donating free antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in conjunction with a larger U.S. based effort to fund HIV/AIDS prevention, awareness, research and care comes to an end of it's six year plan in 2009. I am curious to know what the government is planning and whether or not they will continue to receive the drugs free.
While thumbing through the massive amounts of literature about the AIDS crisis worldwide in the library, I found an extensive degree on the impact of HIV/AIDS on women in African societies where so much emphasis is placed on women being the caretakers, and often breadwinners when faced with the absence/death of her husband, particularly in cultures where the men migrate for up to years at a time to find work. In fact, in the literature I've looked through, a woman's identity is based on her ability to provide for a household and her reproductive success, which in times of desperation may drive a woman to sleep with other men in order to ensure that she bears a socially acceptable number of children. Obviously, this adds to the danger of a woman contracting HIV/AIDS. In light of this, I thought it might be interesting to study the impact of the AIDS epidemic on women both in Gaberone, and in more rural areas to see whether changing social structures and the movement of women into the workforce has increased or decreased her burden in the home.
I also found out today about a graduate student who has been living in Gaberone for quite some time who has been doing research on how ARV drugs are entering the country and also what economic planning initiatives are in place to continue the presence of free drugs in the country. Apparently, she is very well connected with all of the HIV/AIDS organizations in Gaberone, and I think she is my best bet for finding a topic as well as the sources I need to study that topic.
Hopefully by next week, I will be working in a clinic doing mostly clinical observation (which provides yet another venue for research, yikes!), but possibly assisting in taking vitals and other non-invasive (aka no needles) evaluation and care. The clinics are run by the Harvard-National AIDS coordinating agency, and they have other students from both Harvard and Princeton medical schools working in all of their clinics, so I am very confident that they have the structural set-up in place to protect us volunteers from disease, as well as protecting the patients from us. I promise to be very careful and discontinue my work if I feel that my safety is being compromised!
On a happier note, I am finding life to be falling into place for me, and I am able to exercise on a daily basis, and am eating well. Alyssa, my apartment mate and I have been doing all of our shopping and cooking together, and we are both committed to living a healthy lifestyle while we are here, so I have a lot of support in that regard. Last night I downloaded a training program for a 10K race (about 6.5 miles), which will give me direction and goals for the next two months, after which I plan to start a training program for a half-marathon! After quitting soccer, I have really struggled to create and maintain an exercise plan for myself, and part of my intention in coming here was to establish a fitness routine that I could continue when I returned to the states.
As many of you may know, the currency difference is about 5.1 Pula to one U.S. dollar, and I am very excited at the thought of buying many gifts that I will be able to use for birthdays and Christmas both this year, and hopefully for years to come. It is very exciting when you find clothing on sale for P20 or $4, and beautiful, handcrafted fabrics for less than $2 a meter! I had a dress tailor-made for me out of this beautiful blue fabric for about $40. I am actually really excited by the fact that Lindsay has experience in altering clothes, and I may look into buying fabrics and the numerous "tent" dresses that are common here, and sewing my own clothes for gifts! It will be hard with the limited sewing materials I have, but perhaps it will give me a summer hobby and an opportunity to learn from some of the sewing greats in my life! ;)
The weather has been very tolerable with clouds most of the day and rain off and on for the last two weeks or so, and very few really hot days. Unfortunately, with laundry needing sunlight to dry, I am cursing each day that passes as the mound of clothes builds higher and higher! It is supposed to be nicer this weekend, and despite the heat, I am sincerely hoping for sunshine so that I can clean my clothes!
Well, that's all I can say for now! Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! TTFN!

Church and Soccer

Well, I am officially on the women's varsity soccer team, although before I can play in games they have to confirm that I'm not already registered in the U.S. The coach is hopeful that I'll be able to play next weekend! The girls on the team are very nice, and one girl in particular, Rita, seems like a really cool person and a potential friend! I am finding myself becoming very frustrated with the lack of organization and efficiency that I've experienced in many facets of life here, but as many have reminded me, it takes more than two weeks to understand why a culture works in the way that it does.
I was able to get in touch with the AIDS research doctor, Dr. Bill Wester, whom I met at the tennis courts the other day, and he is going to get me set up to work in an AIDS research clinic! It will only be for about six hours a week, but should be very rewarding and hopefully will add greatly to my independent research project. I am still not completely settled around my project, though I need to figure it out soon as our initial proposal and annotated bibliographies are due on Monday the fourth (at the same time as our first Globalization exam and a paper for African Traditional Religions). This semester plan is very strange after three years of the block system! It makes me want to get all the papers done for one class so that I won't have to worry about it again, but unfortunately, much of the needed material is in lecture form, so I will just have to wait and budget my time accordingly!
Yesterday (Saturday) was a very long but interesting day! My housemate Alyssa and I decided to accompany our 7th-day Adventist housemates Leish and Victoria to their Sabbath day church service. Turns out, this was not just any Sabbath service; it was actually the kick-off to their "Lift up Christ, tell Gaberone" campaign in which the leaders challenged all the parishoners to "save" three people by bringing them into the church, thereby spreading evangelism. As a result, every Adventist church in the city, and even a group from South Africa attended this particular service. It was estimated that over five thousand people attended and the service went on for five hours straight!! I did enjoy listening to the sermons, and the music was awesome, but five hours was a very long time to sit, and by the end, even Leish told me that she was saying "Amen!" at the end of the sermons and prayers because they were over! The music was definitely the coolest part, and it was kind of nice to hear and sing praises without the use of an organ!
After Church, we all went back to our apartment and Leish and Victoria had prepared a delicious Sabbath meal which they invited us to share with them. I had to eat quickly and run over to my first soccer game, which because of field shortages was to be played on a dirt field outside the national stadium. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), the other team didn't show up so the game was forfeited to us. Again, I found myself getting frustrated with the lack of infrastructure, but that's in part because as a soccer player I have definitely been spoiled with high quality equipment, well-maintained fields, and very strict management.
Today is a day of research, and I'm hoping to hone in on a single topic that I really find interesting. Other than that, our director, Dr. Lanegran has invited us to her new flat for a housewarming party. Until now, she and her family have been living out of suitcases in an apartment! Yikes! I am struggling enough adjusting my own lifestyle here, I can't imagine doing that with an entire family!
Hope all is well at home! TTFN!

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!

Cultural Weekend!

The past weekend was our first overnight expedition off-campus! We traveled by UB (University of Botswana) bus along with the American students from the other study abroad program here at UB. Our first stop was the village of Mochudi where we drove up and down a "mountain" of dirt road and rocks in a HUGE 70-passenger (or so) size bus!! I attempted to capture pictures of the epic descent at a fourty-five degree angle (not really but it seemed like it!), with trees and brush lashing at both sides of the vehicle. We would come to
depend heavily on the bus driver to maneuver us out of tight spaces, and every time he delivered! The museum we arrived at was unfortunately closed, and the woman who was supposed to be our guide was out of town. This sort of thing is not uncommon in Botswana. People are very relaxed about time and organization, and it has been trying at times to my own compulsively organized mind. However, I think it is a good lesson in learning to let life come at its own pace, and sometimes even just stop and smell the roses!
So instead of a museum tour, we just walked around the hillside taking pictures, and we even ventured down into the town where little kids and adults alike cheerily greeted us and allowed us to take pictures with them.
Then it was back down the mountain and into the commerce section of town where we drove a small restaurant out of house and home with our large group! I found myself feeling very surprised that this modern/Western-looking restaurant would actually run out of chicken and have no way to give us change, but in hindsight, I understand that they don't have the financial means here to have a lot of surplus food at the end of the day (especially in more rural areas), and big groups like ours don't come into town very often. I suppose it might be similar in a small town in the U.S.
As we were leaving the city, someone pointed out the hospital that served the town and that area, and I had a thought of possibly arranging a trip back to Mochudi to spend some time at the hospital for my independent study project/volunteer desires!
The next place we visited was a site of ancient cave paintings made by the bushmen several hundred years ago. The paintings were drawn onto rock cliffs by medicine men of the different tribes while in trance for the purpose of giving thanks, praying for water, seeking divine guidance, and various requests related to the health of the tribe and its people. In addition to the paintings, there was a cave in the rock that is estimated to stretch anywhere between 20 and 40 kilometers! Apparently during a great tribal war, the wife of a chief who was with child hid in the cave for the duration of the war and thus survived to give birth after the fighting had stopped.
I did really enjoy looking at the paintings and hearing stories of the past, but I think what most delighted me was watching the children of the town around us play all over the trees, rocks, and vines where the paintings were. How incredible it would have been to have that picturesque area as my stomping grounds as a child! Not saying I was deprived by any means, but this place was beautiful! That is one of the biggest surprises I have encountered here in Botswana. I pictured a big desert, and instead find lush fields and green everywhere!
Our final resting place for the night, a sort of traditional resort (I have forgotten what it was called), was a bit of a tourist trap, but was still a lot of fun! We were greeted at the road of the resort by the wives of the chief (he has 16!!) who greeted us warmly and ushered us upwards into the heart of the "village". There were tents sent up for accommodations as well as two traditional mud huts and some more modernized houses with electricity and running water. The women and children sang and danced for us, "showcasing their culture" for us. I appreciated the pride these people had in their culture, but I couldn't help but feel that I was cheapening it by my mere presence. I asked several people about it, and some felt similarly, some felt that nothing was wrong. I guess I've just always taken issue with doing the "tourist thing" and I feel that I am somehow hurting the authenticity of the culture by paying my $2 to watch them perform a "wedding ceremony". What do other people think? Am I being overly sensitive?
The festivities were a lot of fun though, and we had a great time afterward roasting corn and drinking traditional beer before heading to bed.
The next day we went to the Mokolodi game preserve and I saw elephants and giraffes!! There were impalas and wildebeests as well, but nothing can compare to the breathtaking sight of the beautiful spotted coat and long neck of a giraffe. Plus, the elephants are partially tame, and were so close to the jeeps I could almost touch them! Yes, I have been to a zoo, but there is something so powerful about seeing animals in the wild, and at least in part in their natural habitat. Again, I felt the pangs of a bad conscience in doing the tourist routine again, but I consoled myself by considering that these reserves wouldn't be here without the financial support that tourists provide.
After the game run, our long weekend of fun was over, and we drove back to campus to tackle the reading that we were supposed to have done for the next day's class on globalization in Southern Africa. TTFN!

Sports and Entertainment!!

Friday marked my first official day of class with the American professor who is with us on our trip (teaching Globalization in Southern Africa). It's going to be very strange to be on a semester schedule, and since we are only taking three classes and an independent study, I have a feeling I will be able to really get involved in the campus and community!
A few of my friends and I went exploring after 8am class to find out about the different clubs and sports that were available on campus. I am thinking about joining the "Volunteers Club", though there are some other clubs that I'm considering as well. We found the campus stadium, which has a very nice track field around the soccer pitch and large concrete stands. I the sports and activities director was not in, but we discovered where we can rent equipment for almost any sport under the sun (except baseball), and I will go back there later to inquire about club/"varsity" soccer and maybe boxing or karate! And I thought my soccer career was over! Actually though, I don't think I can join the "varsity" team because I was told that they travel out of the country which as ACM students we are forbidden to do, but the club team travels all around the country which could be a great way to see places I wouldn't have otherwise seen!
We also explored the national soccer stadium where there is a gym, squash club, and tennis club available to us for the cost of a membership fee (about $20 a month). It seemed almost providence at the tennis courts when we met a man from Minnesota who had been in Botswana for 7 years doing AIDS research with his wife and three kids! He has student volunteers that do clinical research surveys and such, and he gave us his number in case we wanted to become involved! So I have a perfect in! Hopefully I can coordinate volunteering there with the research I need to do for my 30-40 page independent study paper, and it will give me something to do between my 8am classes and 5pm classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays!
On Friday night, my friends and I ordered a pizza (they are very good, but a little different here), and then made our way to the UB stadium where two local pro soccer teams were playing!! That was a ton of fun!! People were very friendly, and many drunk, but they were not disrespectful or threatening at all. Just a greeting, a handshake and move on! I am learning along with the other girls to politely ignore the teasing, catcalls, etc. because it is just part of the culture and as long as we don't encourage them, the men are very harmless. Of course I will still not walk alone most places as added safety but for those of you that are worried, I can assure you that I feel very safe. The game was very fast-paced and fun to watch! Both teams were skilled and fast though very little scoring took place. I met a woman who is starting a women's soccer team that will compete in a league around the country, and gave her my number in case I want to play! I plan to investigate the University teams first, but it's an opportunity to play!! There are times like last night when you can smell the fresh-cut grass and feel the electricity in the air as though the stadium lights are making the air hum with excitement, and it was all I could do to stop myself just running onto the pitch. I think of all the things I miss about soccer, running onto the field at the start of a night game with the spectators cheering is the thing I miss most!
After the game, I returned to my room to find that the entire graduate students complex was completely out of water! So I retired without a shower in the hopes that it would be back on this morning. Alas, there is still no water, so I must wait until Sunday night to shower since we are going on a "tourist trip" today to a historical park where we will stay in mud huts tonight. Tomorrow we will be taking a drive through a game preserve where I will get to see my first elephants and giraffes!! I will take pictures I promise!! I hope all of you are well! TTFN!!

Here at last!!

Dumela everybody!! So I know my last post makes it sound like I'm still in the airport in South Africa, but thankfully that is not the case! Thanks to the amazing work of the International Studies Chair at the University of Botswana (Charity), I was able to obtain a new one-year passport from the U.S. embassy on Monday morning, and at 5pm that evening I was on my way to Botswana! The first night was fairly rough, as I was still not sleeping due to jet-lag, but I was able to hang out with the other kids from the States and feel part of the group again! This will be a long post just to warn you because I have so much to say about the last three days!
We are all living in apartments in the graduate blocks (buildings are called blocks, just as fries are called crisps!) and have our own rooms. We share a bathroom, shower, and kitchen with six others. My apartment also houses, Alyssa who is on the trip with me, and two Botswana graduate students, Victoria and Leish. They are both very nice and sing a lot! They are going to help us learn to cook some traditional meals so that we don't have to eat in the refectories (cafeterias) all the time. We also have maids that come in every day to clean our main common areas including the bathrooms and every two days they come into our rooms to sweep them. They also launder our sheets every two weeks and supply us with fresh toilet paper once a month! So we are pretty taken care of here! The government actually pays for all the on-campus services and the tuition for all students to go here. They receive a small stipend monthly for food and necessities, but from what Victoria says, it's not a lot and life is very expensive for UB students.
There have been many adjustments I've had to make regarding life here. For example, opportunistic theft is very common, and it is strongly recommended that windows and doors be kept locked at all times (unless you are in the room), and all valuables kept locked up or at least away from open windows. For example, the desks are right by the windows, and if you leave your window open with your laptop sitting there, it will likely be gone within a matter of hours! Despite the prevalence of theft however, there is very little preemptive burglary, and most arises out of a person seeing an opportunity to get something they want for free and taking advantage of it.
The campus is very modern and has a pretty good internet connection, electricity, hot water, most things you'd find on a U.S. campus. Power outages are relatively common (we've had two in our apartment), but usually they don't last too long. The bugs are everywhere here, and I've had to adopt a reluctant indifference to them lest they drive me crazy! Luckily, I have had few if any bugs on my bed, but they are all over the floor at night, and very common in the bathrooms.
On Tuesday, after successfully sleeping a total of about three hours in the sweltering heat, I met with the rest of the group to go to orientation where we sat for four hours listening to students, faculty and other administrators talk about life at UB. The take-home messages were mostly to keep your possession safeguarded, walk in groups whenever possible, and never walk alone at night. One student, Molwane, nicknamed Mols told us which clubs, bars, and restaurants were good to go to and which ones were not safe. We also met Pretty and Kopano, two female students who talked about various aspects of student life at UB. They were all very nice and spoke English very well. In fact, although Setswana is the predominant language heard around the city, almost every person that I've met can switch into English readily and speak very clearly. Oh to be bilingual!
After orientation, we went on a bus tour around the city. Our first stop was at a Kgotla (pronounced Hotla with a glottal H) which is a customary court of traditional Botswana villages. The chief, spoke to us about the Kgotla and despite our inappropriate dress (many of the girls were wearing pants which is not allowed in the Kgotla), he invited us all to come back on February 14th when the president of Botswana will be visiting and giving a speech!! The name of the village is Gaberone, after the Chief's surname (last name), and it is this family after which the capitol city of Gaberone is named. This is because the Chief of the village of Gaberone supplied the land to build the city! The function of the Kgotla was historically to provide administrative, legal, cultural, educational, and community support and authority. Today it still manages schools, health, agriculture, cultural ceremonies, public gatherings, and minor infractions of the law. The most fascinating thing I found about the Kgotla was that it is based on the belief in respect of all people and the freedom of expression. When decisions are to be made, the Kgotla will host a public meeting in which any person who wishes to can contribute his/her opinions and views and the chief takes all comments into careful consideration when he makes a decision. This ancient democracy was in place long before the British threatened to colonize Botswana, and shows that Americans weren't the only ones to come up with a system based on the right of all citizens to govern themselves! The rest of the tour showed us ministry buildings for everything under the sun, the prisons, the hospitals and the AIDS testing, research, and awareness facilities. Bill Gates, Harvard, and the U.S. government are responsible for most of the AIDS work done in Botswana. Our tour ended at a national monument celebrating the three "kings" that saved the Tswana lands from British settlement in 1895, by visiting London and holding public meetings decrying the British occupation and colonization of Botswana. These men are also pictured on the 100 Pula bill (Pula are the equivalent of dollars in the US).
After the tour, we were driven to the house of one of Charity's friends and given a traditional meal consisting of samp (similar to hominy) with garbanzo beans in it, porridge, goat meat, spinach, and best of all, mopanie or shrimp of the trees, but most commonly known as caterpillar!! Ok so I only tried one and it didn't taste terrible, but I couldn't get over the fact that I was actually eating a whole caterpillar, limbs, head and all! We also tried their form of ginger ale, which actually tastes like ginger, and is very common at weddings. After eating, the women who had cooked for us sang traditional Botswana songs and showed us dances. Much of what they do is stand in a circle singing, and people go into the center and "freestyle" although some songs have very specific dances. The dancing was a lot of fun and everyone got really into it! Afterwards, we all went home and I tried yet again to fall asleep to no avail! I never understood the true meaning of jet-lag until I got here!
Three hours of sleep later, I joined up with some kids from my group and we all walked to one of the city malls, called the Riverwalk for some essentials. The stores are much like what we have here, but you have to check bags in at the door and pick them up on your way out to prevent theft I presume. I finally got a fan in the hopes that sleep would come with the cool air! For dinner I ate in the refectory for the first time and found it to perfectly edible. The meals are tending to be very similar, consisting of a rice dish, meat (chicken, beef, goat), and different vegetable dishes such as coleslaw, "carrotslaw", pumpkin, green acorn squash, string beets, and other things like that. A lot of what I eat I have no idea what is in it, but mostly it's edible!
In combination with a sleeping pill supplied by a friend, the fan allowed me to get nine hours of almost uninterrupted sleep! I was very grateful for that seeing as how it was the first time in over a week that I had slept more than three hours! That and being homesick have been the most difficult thing so far I think. But I am adjusting slowly, and I think I will have a very memorable experience.
Today was pretty low-key. We had to meet with Charity to get our schedules because we are finally registered for classes! They technically started on Monday, but apparently no one really goes to class for the first two weeks or so. Most professors are still on holiday! I am taking a Setswana language class, Globalization in Southern Africa taught by a professor from the U.S., African Traditional Religions, and an Independent Study which I hope will involve volunteer work in hospitals and clinics in the area. I am also thinking about joining the club soccer team and maybe tennis as well! Life is certainly not dull here, although it is conducted at a much slower pace and as much as I love being occupied by activities and homework every second of every day, I am enjoying the change of pace. Perhaps I will bring some of that relaxed lifestyle back with me to CC... probably not, but it would be nice!
Anyway, for those of you that read this, good job! You should reward yourself for your hard work! I promise to keep the blogs much shorter than this in the future!

TTFN!

Yes I'm Alive!

So, Day Two, Three and Four!! Well, the adventure has truly begun! I am not quite to Botswana yet, although I did get a breath of fresh Botswana air before they threw me back on a plane to Johannesburg, South Africa for the silly reason that I had lost my passport! So apparently, somewhere after I boarded the flight from Washington Dowles airport and before I disembarked the plane in Johannesburg, South Africa, I lost my passport and did not realize it until it was too late to get back on and search the plane. Unsure of what to do, I jumped on the connecting flight to Gaberone, Botswana thinking that at least I would be able to talk to the woman in charge of the program who was waiting for our group in Botswana. Well, unfortunately, I was not even given the chance to speak to her before I was ordered back on the next flight. After many tearful hours and phone calls, I was able to book a very expensive flight for Tuesday morning and at around two in the morning I finally got into the transit hotel in the Johannesburg airport for my first real good night's sleep since Thursday! Of course, without my passport I'm not allowed to leave the airport, and I am reminded ironically of the movie The Terminal in which Tom Hanks is an immigrant to the U.S. and has no passport or return passage, and must stay in the airport terminal until he can get either. I am a bit more lucky than Tom in that I will get a new passport issued by the U.S. Consulate tomorrow and be able to fly out on Tuesday. Thus, the situation has begun to work itself out and I am even able to laugh at myself a bit for getting into this position in the first place!!
Anyway, there's not much to tell other than that. From what I can tell, Johannesburg is a very interesting place, and I should love to come back and visit another time with passport in tow, and maybe a few friends and family to make sure that I'm not left stranded alone again! ;) The people are very friendly and have been trying very hard to make my stay more comfortable, and although the hotel is not quite the Brown Palace (Denver reference), it is suitable for the time being. I did meet a very nice couple who are also stuck here due to Visa issues, and they were the first (and only) non-staffers to reach out to me last night when I was sobbing on the phone and they offered to let me come sleep by them in the airport if I wasn't able to get a room. I saw them again today, and apparently they are stuck until tomorrow, so I think I might engage in conversation with them a little later.
I'll probably not write again until I'm in Botswana, but for those that might be worried, I am safe and will be taken care of until I reach Botswana. I hate to admit it, but with money anything really is possible out here! TTFN!

Hostel International (Chicago)

Day One... Today began at the unfortunate hour of 5 this morning, and has definitely been a long one! I arrived at the airport and by chance (and a little Dad intuition) checked into the right airline for my 8am flight to Chicago. As my plane took off I felt a rush of sadness, regret, and trepidation that mingled with exhaustion and I had such crazy thoughts as trying to gain access to my return ticket and come directly back to Denver. Yet I reminded myself that I am not allowed to cop out because I'm the one that intentionally put myself in this position! So I pressed onward, and found my way from the airport to the Hostel International Chicago via the "Airport Express", which afforded me a grand tour of a large part of downtown Chicago from the perspective of a terrified passenger clinging to the seat as the driver navigated the afternoon traffic. I had the impression that this driver knew exactly what he was doing, and it was as though he understood something about the rhythm of Chicago's traffic that was as foreign to me as the national language of Botswana.
From the hostel we walked to the office where the study abroad organization was headquartered for our pre-departure orientation. The walk itself was epic, as we were limited to the few pieces of warm clothes we had room to bring, and the office was twenty-five minutes away! The orientation was both reassuring and disturbing as it added to my limited knowledge of what this experience was going to be like in both positive and negative ways. I can look forward to a campus with many of the comforts and amenities that I have at my home campus, but there are many things that will be very different as well. For example, my neurotic attention to schedules and planning will be of little use in Botswana where life moves at a turtle's pace in comparison with our fast-paced American lifestyle. Should be a lovely change and a very important learning experience for me!
After orientation, we all walked to a Thai-Pan-Asian-Whatever-You-Feel-Like restaurant where I enjoyed my last "American" meal before heading out. Tomorrow we board a plan bound for Washington-Dowles at 11am, followed by a four hour layover, a fifteen hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, and then a short plane ride to Gaberone (pronounced Gab-er-ony). All told, we will arrive on Saturday at 6:20pm Botswana time (9:20am Colorado time), racking up almost 24 hours of travel time! I am excited and uncertain and afraid and joyous, and experiencing a thousand emotions at once. All I know is that this is going to be an adventure of a lifetime! TTFN!!