Random thoughts that I wanted to share!

Here are some funny/interesting moments from the past couple of weeks:

-We drove by a graveyard on the way to one of the secondary schools. It was not at all what I expected, because I figured it would be just like ours...I mean, graves are graves... All of the gravesr were CRAMMED into the gated space. Most of the graves are above ground. They are a mound of dirt, covered by rocks, which is surrounded by a cage-like structure that has a sign on the front saying the name, date of birth and date of death. Unlike in the U.S., they clearly do not put an emphasis on the way that the graves/graveyards look. We try to make the look presentable and not like there are a bunch of people buried there. But in the graveyards here, theres is simply no hiding it. I think the graves are above ground because the ground is so hard, it would be difficult to dig 6 foot holes.

-On our way to work one morning when we had fewer people to drop off, Taps tooks a SHORT detour so that we could see the grave of El Negro of Banyoles. This is the body of an African man who died in 1830 whose grave was robbed. The body was taken and displayed for years and years in museums in Spain. It finally was able to be returned to Africa in October of 2000 andhis grave site is in Gaborone. It was a really fascinating story and I was so excited that some of us got to see it!

This is the sign-really hard to read-that was in front of the grave. It told the story of this man and his body's journey from Africa, to Europe, and back to Africa where his body now rests in a park in Gaborone.

Grave (above ground, like most of the graves that I have seen)

I was surprised because for a kind of monument grave site, like this, I thought that it would be a nice-looking, stone, engraved grave site...obviously not the case!

-We have gotten used to the little kids in Old Naledi running up to us and yelling "Makoa!" We all have kind of started to answer to it like it is our name...haha

-Tshego, a girl we work with at SAPSSI, told us that two women were talking across the street while we were walking by and little kids were running up to us to check us out and greet us. The two women were saying to eachother, "When we were kids and white people would walk by we would run inside and hide!" We thought this was hilarious :) And I love the fact that we had Tshego to translate that for us.

Tshwarangano Primary School in Old Naledi

Something that has been more eye opening than anything since I have been here has been the time I have spent at Tshwaragano Primary School in Old Naledi. The students' ages range from 5 to 12 or so. This is one of the largest schools in Botswana, serving over 1200 kids. There is no playground. They have rocks, lots and lots of large rocks, and LOTS of dirt. Luckily for the school they don't need a lot of time for playing because these elementary-age kids don't really have anything that we call a recess. Their job is to go to school and fit in as much as possible in those hours. They can play sports and participate in other social activities after school and on their own time. I don't know about anyone else, but as a future teacher and someone who has been in a classroom with 4th-9th graders who have the attention spans as long as pencil erasers, and who NEE a little bit of time to run and play and socialize and laugh, I am amazed that the teachers remain sane, let alone get any information across to their students. Just from being around these kids for a few days, you can see the energy just exploding out of them. They run wherever they can-to the water tap, to another classroom, anywhere, just so that they can release some of their energy and PLAY, even if its just for a minute.

We were able to spend a little bit of time at this school every day, not because it is affiliated with SAPSSI, but there was not much for us to do in the morning. We asked if there was anything we could do, specifically in Old Naledi, to help out it some way. Thankfully, Nono helped us arrange so that we could go into the school and help the teachers serve food at meal time, which is from 11 to 11:30am. We all went into separate classrooms-mine was the lowest level with students ranging from 5-7 year olds. My teacher was very sweet and welcoming and had the students greet me in unison-very cute :) Like I said before, the students are 5-7 years old, but my teacher pointed out that her class has a 9 year old boy. I asked why a 5 year old and a 9 year old would start out in the same grade level. She said that sometimes the parents just don't enroll their kids in school at the normal age. So even if a student is 9 years old, he or she will start at the first level, where 5, 6 and 7 year olds are starting.

My job, when I walk into the classroom, is to sit at the front of the room, and once older students deliver two buckets of food, I distribute it to each student in my class. On the first day the students were served something similar to poridge. I spooned 2 large spoonfuls into each students bowl as they came up, one by one. The teacher served each student 3 or so piece of steak from a can that, to be perfectly honest, looked and smelled like something we feed our dogs in the U.S. The kids are MORE than happy to have any of it. Something that I immediately noticed was what I was spooning their food into. Some students have worn, metal bowls, some have plastic bowls. Some students eat off off tupperware lids or out of pencil cases that they likely found to use as a bowl. Only about 2 or 3 students in my classroom had spoons to each with. The rest of them ate with their tiny hands...mind you, there we eating poridge. These kids shovel food into their mouths and are quick to get in line if they are able to get an extra scoop for seconds. They literally lick their bowls and hands until they have gotten every ounce of food possible. My teacher told me that there is never enough food, especially for these kids who are growing so much at this age. She also said that a lot of the kids in her room had not eaten since the day before at school, at this time. Some kids come up to the teacher, telling her that they feel sick. However, after meal time they are up, running around and playing with huge smiles on their faces. The teacher said that it is probably because they haven't eaten in at least 24 hours. I couldn't stop thinking, "if some of these kids ONLY eat at school, what do they do on the weekends or on school breaks?" It is sickening to think about. The experiences I had during my first week at the primary school hit me harder than anything I have seen in Botswana so far. These kids are just like the kids at home. They are losing their teeth (one little girl with huge dimples was missing her two front teeth and she LOVED to show me-see picture below), picking on one another, giggling, being shy, singing songs, showing off for guests, etc. They are normal, seemingly happy kids. The thing is, it is really hard to feel BAD for these kids. I mean, you can feel bad for the devastating situation they have to live in. But rather, I don't know how you can't be so inspired by and almost envy their happiness. The fact that a lot of these kids don't eat NEVER shows, until you watch them eat. They are sooooooooooo JOYFUL! and SO full of life. Like I said before, nothing has touched me the way these kids and the way they are living their very young lives have.

My class :)

My little friend, showing me her missing teeth

The little girl in the middle was the one who was trying to punch the boy on the left. It is hysterical that they will have this horrible, mean look on their faces, and then turn around and melt an outsider's heart with their big smiles and overall adorable-ness. The little girl on the right is probably my favorite. She is BEAUTIFUL and is soooooo sweet. She has this sugary sweet little voice and always is sure to say "Dumela" (hello), "Thank you" (after I put food in her bowl) and "Goodbye" (before I leave). She is precious, as you can see by her sparkling smile :)

The kids wash their dishes at the end of each day. The teacher pointed out that they don't wash them until after school because they don't want to waste any time during the school day. A few of the students are responsible for going to the water tap and washing out the big buckets that the food arrives to the classroom in. One day, as Kate and I were waiting outside to get Jenny from her classroom, we saw the student who were cleaning out their class buckets scraping any bits of leftover food into their mouths as they washed them out with water. These kids probably consider themselves lucky because they have access to the tiny bits of food that are left in the buckets.

If the following story doesn't give you a sense of these kids and their incredible, loving attitudes then you probably should just stop reading my blog... :)

Chris was in a classroom with some of the older students on our first day at the primary school. He sat down with some of the kids and one young man told him that he wanted to share is food with him. Chris tried to say no, saying to the student that it's his and he should just eat it. But this boy insisted that he share is food with Chris. Even though this kid didn't even have enough food for himself. he shared it with a stranger who he had known for no more than five minutes. So Chris ate with him, with his hands, because obviously he didn't have any untensils. This story will NEVER leave my mind. I am so changed from my 30 minutes each day at this school. It has made me more thankful and greatful for anything that is put in front of me and for everything that I have.

Being at this school has been quite a learning experience in terms of learning about education, even though I am not there for a very long time each day. My teacher is a yeller. She yells A LOT. Not necessarily in an angry way, but her voice is raised all the time. She is constantly yelling "Be quiet! Stop talking!" in a very stern voice. She says these things so often that the kids mock her. When I was in the room one day and they could tell that it was starting to get too noisy for her liking, they said together, "Be quiet! Stop talking!", just the way she would. It is pretty amusing actually :) Also, to get the kids to be quiet or to listen she bangs her hand on her wooden desk. Kate told me that, in her classroom, when she was alone in the room and wanted the kids to quiet down, a student brought her over to the teacher's desk and showed her how to bang on it-modeling what the teacher does. I don't think I could even do that to try to gain control of my classroom. It is so harsh and rough, but then again, thats kind of how the teachers are.

The kids are under control most of the time. A little too under control though. They are kind of like little robots. They stand up, sit down, recite phrases, songs, and answer "Yes Teacha," all in unison. Most of them are SO charismatic. However, for how sweet some of them are one minute, I am extremely surprised by the amount of violence. I even witnessed on TINY little girl in my class pull back her arm with the threat of hitting one of her classmates (who happened to be a little boy). The kids definitely learn to use intimidation.

Something that this school does not have is substitute teachers. Jenny, Kate and I have all experienced some part of a teacher being absent. The first day, Jenny's teacher left after Jenny got there, and long after 11:30, when the lesson was supposed to start back up, the teacher was no where to be found. Jenny ended up teaching for almost a half hour, wondering the entire time if and when her teacher would come back. Finally, Kate, Chris and I went looking in the main office for the teacher and found her. The next day, Kate walked into her classroom and found that her teacher was not there that day. She had to figure out something to do with them until another teacher could come in. The teacher from the room next door finally decided that he would check on the class ever so often. I experienced the lack of teachers when I walked into my classroom and I saw all of the students sitting at their tables, and also, 20-25 students crammed into the back of the classroom in chairs. My teacher told me that a teacher was absent, so they simply combined classes. It seems chaotic to us, but at the school, it doesn't really seem to phase anyone-they just figure it out as they go. Yikes! I can't imagine how stressful that would be to deal with those situations on a regular basis.

There is a little girl in Kate's room who the teacher calls her little puppy. She is probably 8 or 9 years old. She follows the teacher around all the time. She is pretty much completely non-verbal. She definitely has some communication issue, but obviously these schools do not have the resources to cater to students who have special needs. Of what I have seen, there is no special education available in the public schools. The teacher just lets this little girl follow her around and not participate. She is not doing this child ANY good by letting her just get by. She is doing nothing to cater to this child's needs, besides giving her the attention that she is clearly in need of. I am sure this girl will move from grade to grade, where the teachers will just let her get by because they don't know what else to do with her. I feel so frustrated for her and so many students in her situation. Once again, the problem here is lack of resources, lack of people.

Old Naledi

My favorite part of working at SAPSSI has been Old Naledi, the community where the office is located. This is one of the poorest areas in Gaborone. You know when you see commericals on TV where someone is asking you to donate money or to sponsor a child so he or she can have food or shoes or toys or anything? This is the kind of place that they are talking about. This is exactly the environment that I wanted to be in the exactly the kind of environment that I wanted to be in. I wanted it to be shocking. I wanted it to be kind of scary. I wanted it to be humbling. I wanted it to be completely different than anything I had ever experienced-and it is, all of those things. I am SO thrilled and lucky that I get to explore and interact with this area and its people. Working in Old Naledi has been the most valuable experience that I have had in Botswana.

Road to work

Random shot of Old Naledi near the office

The best part of this trip has been interacting with the people in Old Naledi. We walk to a tuck shop, which is a little shack that sells things like snacks, cigarettes, and small items, to get a snack called fat cakes (fried dough-soooo good! but called "fat" cakes for a reason...haha) and fresh chips (french fries) with this AMAZING seasoning on them. The kids roam around, with no parents in sight, and explore these strange white people walking around their neighborhood. We quickly found out what kids were saying when they yelled "Makua! Makua! Makua!", meaning "White People! White People! White People!" It's pretty entertaining.

The kids in Old Naledi, and everywhere we have been in Gaborone, LOVE getting their picture taken. We started by taking a few pictures of two or three neighborhood girls and ended up having a photoshoot with neighborhood kids who would shrike and squeal with excitement after seeing a picture of themselves. A lot of them don't wear shoes, and a lot of them wear the same clothes day after day. A lot of the little babies run around with shirts on but no bottoms or diapers, since they aren't potty trained. They have snot all over their faces but have the biggest, most amazing smiles, and their giggles, oh my goodness. You can't help but have a the biggest smile on your face. We have gotten to play soccer with them, take a million pictures, and I even got to play pattycake with a little guy would was only big enough to waddle around. He had wet his pants so I didn't have him sit on my lap, but I had an incredible moment with him. A lot of these kids, even the toddlers, look like little adults. They walk around independently at a MUCH younger age than kids in the U.S. do. I think it is because at home we are always in such a rush we don't have time to let our newly-walking babies just walk on their own. Instead, we scoop them up and carry on in order to save time. These babies just walk walk walk walk walk. Kate and I keep saying "little man!" when we see baby boys walking around and standing in their yards, checking out the strangers walking by. The local kids even sang for us, which cannot even be described...I wanted to get pictures and videos but they would've gotten distracted by the camera and I didn't want them to stop singing. These kids have been such a HUGE source of joy for me and I am so thankful to be able to talk to them and play with them. The best way to describe these kids is with pictures, so here are a LOT.

The first "little man," wearing no pants and no diaper, but rocking the moon boots. :)

Kate's new friend-she didn't really know what to think of us :)

local kids waving...they LOVE waving to the white people :)

neighborhood kids, starting to multiply because of the camera

Chris and Jenny, playing a serious game of football

A little prince who lives across the street from SAPSSI

dirty baby feet :)

Some kids with Me, Chris and Jenny

my little friend :)

First Week of work at SAPSSI!

I have had a week and a day of work at SAPSSI, the Salvation Army Psychosocial Support Initiative. This was my second choice for placements, but it definitely ended up being a great place for me. Dr. Pillay and Dr. Bates obviously knew more about the organizations than we did and they were able to make the best matches based on our majors and other factors. I trusted their decision and knew that regardless of where I was placed it was going to be a life-changing experience. I have so much to say about this first week of work. I am with three other OU students, Kate, Jenny, and Chris, and the four of us have had a blast so far with all of the kids and activities. On our first day when the director of SAPSSI, Joanna from Canada, was explaining the program I couldn't help but think how similiar its fundamentals are to C.A.R.E. (my education partnership). They focus on student-initiated learning and emphsize the importance of making meaningful connections between content and your own life. It is mostly discussion, which can be difficult with this age group, but so far I am extremely impressed.

Where I work for the next three weeks!

Our office, in Old Naledi, one of the poorest areas in Gaborone.

So for a little bit more info about SAPSSI, they have three main programs. They work with a daycare that is affiliated with the Salvation Army, which we have not gotten to see (but we have been to other daycares), they do an event every Saturday called Kids Club where they do a variety of events such as a bible study, sports, arts and crafts, etc. Their main program and the one that we have been working the most with is called the GoLD program, Generation of Leaders Discovered. SAPSSI has 8 or so facilitators who are 18 and older. They go into 4 local secondary schools and work with three groups of students called tracks or standards (they call them either one). Tracks 1,2 and 3, which are close to 8th, 9th and 10th grades. They work with about 20-30 students from each track and these students are called Peer Educators. GoLD is considered and extracurricular activity so these students are taking time away from doing other activities like sports and music to grow as leaders in their schools and communities. Their job is to become educated about these serious, relevant topics and to be resources for their peers and other members in the community. They are also responsible for helping to plan and participating in community activities, when peer educators and other students from all 4 schools come together for some kind of event such as a sports day (which we are planning now), a panel discussion, and other events. I was very impressed with the number of students who are a part of the program. In the U.S., a LOT of students join extracurriculars such as clubs and leadership groups simply to build their resumes. These kids seem to be doing it to better themselves as people, not just on paper. The topics that the GoLD program covers include HIV/AIDS, sexual violence, teen pregnancy, community resources, and more. What I have been most impressed with is the openness that these kids have with discussing these topics that are so taboo and "not appropriate" to talk about with teenagers. The program continuously stresses abstinence, but unlike many schools in the U.S., they are realistic about the sex ed. that is necessary for this age and offer important insight and alternatives to these issues (rather than simply avoiding the topics altogether the way we do at home). I have only seen track 1 students and I am blown away by their deep insight and thoughts. They speak so precisely and say exactly what they mean. They are open with talking about their personal opinions, as different as they may be from one another, and they are just extremely mature. I am so impressed with how much these people have to offer-not that I had low expectations of them, I just know the way that American students their age speak and act. Something that I love and will absolutely use in my classroom: They strongly encourage students to share their true and HONEST opinions, even when they are not agreeing with the majority or what is considered "right" and "wrong." When someone is sharing a very personal opinion, the facilitator reminds the group that the student is "protected." This means that no one can snicker or argue back in a disrespectful manner, but rather they can take turns voicing their opinions, RESPECTFULLY, without attacking anyone directly. After all, these students are young teenagers and can get their feelings hurt REALLY easily. The facilitators do an excellent job of making the group a safe environment. This is soo important in a classroom or just a group setting and I love how they reiterate that statement - "He/She is protected."

We have gotten to be involved a little more as time has progressed in the group discussions, icebreakers, and activities. We have gotten to teach them icebreakers like telephone, which was pretty entertaining with 30 kids, whose English is good but hard to understand in a whisper. By the time the message got around it went from "Michael Jackson, rest in peace" (which one of the students came up with) to some kind of gibberish that can't even be typed with English letters-haha. The kids got a huge kick out of it. We also taught them the game, Electricity. We had them stand in two lines holding hands and I sent a sqeeze of the hand simultaneously at the beginning of each line. The first line to send their hand squeeze all the way down the line the fastest, the last person had to slap the book in front of them and their team won. They really liked this and wanted to keep playing. I can't get enough of their laughter. They are SO full of life and they get so excited about new and funny situations. It is so incredible that laughter is so universal. People can be having a conversation in another language, but the second they being laughing, anyone can tell what they are feeling. I am really looking forward to having some more open, serious discussions about a lot of the important issues that these young people are facing every day.

I have also really enjoyed interacting with the facilitators, who are all about our age. Tankiso, or NoNo as we call her, has become a good friend. She was the one who showed us the ropes of SAPSSI and also parts of Gaborone, or Gabs as they call it. She is 19 and finishing up high school. She is beatiful with a huge smile, TONS of energy, and so many stories to share. She has made us feel so comfortable and we all became close friends quickly. She is so fun and sweet and we have gotten to spend some time outside of work with her when we met her at Game City mall for some Chinese food...in Africa...I never thought that would happen.haha. The other people we work with are girls named Dumi, Tsego, and Cajo, and the guys are Sugar, Peace, Thabang, and K.G. They are all great and have really started to open up to us. I look forward to getting to know them more, too. They gave all four of us our Setswana names, which you are allowed to get if you are going to be in Botswana for at least a month, which we are. They rarely use our names anymore and are just calling us by our Setswana names. They are even introducing us by our Setswana names. We are getting quite a kick out of it!

Mandy - Lesego - means "luck"

Kate - Neo - means "gift"

Jenny - Ame - means "all that is mine"

Chris - Kabelo - means "giving"

NoNo, Kate and me, typing up some letters to send for an upcoming community event.

Some of our co-workers (left to right): Cajo, Tsego, Dumi, K.G., and Sugar

Music Festival and more Botswana culture!

On our first Saturday in Botswana, we decided to go to a French music festival, which wasn't even french music...we were relieved. It was held at a venue called Botswanacraft and it was another beautiful sunny day. The festival lasted all afternoon and went until midnight, but we left early in the evening. It was quite a mix of music, including poetry/folk, traditional, classical, hip hop, pop, heavy metal, hard rock, jazz, blues-everything! They were selling food and drinks for pretty cheap so we were able to stay there all afternoon and just eat there. We also got to do some shopping at the craft store, which was fun :) There were a lot of kids who were performing which was nice to see. The second group to perform was called Mogwana. They were a traditional group made up of young people whose ages ranged from probably 15 to 25. They came out drumming, singing and dancing. I immediately had chills all over and it didn't stop there. From the moment they opened their mouths, the tears started coming. Thank god for big sunglasses! :) I was so touched and overwhelmed by the sound of their harmonizing voices, the beat of their claps and stomps, and just the pure joy and passion that showed on their faces and through their smiles. I can't even explain the feeling had watching and listening to them. I couldn't even respond to the people around me because I was so emotionally engulfed in their performance. Like I said, I was so touched by the commitment and passion and TALENT that these young people were sharing. BEAUTIFUL. What I experienced there is something that I will remember from this trip forever. So if you haven't gotten the idea, I absolutely loved it :)

Mogwana-Traditional singing and dancing group

so talented

these guys were ridiculous-they wore these padded things on their ankles, and as they jumped and danced around their would hit them with their hands, adding more to the beat of the song.

their smiles...ahhh!! you can tell that they LOVED what they were doing. I wish everyone could experience passion like that :)

end of their performance...so incredible! I didn't want it to end!

A moment during this week that was quite a cultural experience for me. We have been eating chicken and/or beef pretty much for every meal. One night this week the meat option was something a little different. When we asked what it was, they said it was the intestines from the cow...soooo basically where the cows food becomes...well, you know. EW. So some of us figured that we would be polite and open-minded and try it. At first, it wasn't too bad, but after you swallowed it, not so good. It literally tasted the way poop smells. I know that's graphic and really gross, but there is no other way to describe it. Needless to say, I will not be tasting anymore cow intestine.

New Experiences!

We were extreme busy each day with hours of orientation, which was definitely an important part of our preparation for our placements. However, at night we have had to find things to keep us entertained. In addition to visit some of the MANY local malls, and soccer, we have been pretty excited about CatchPhrase. Luckily one of my roommates, Kate, brought it, and we had a blast playing it one of the nights of our first week. We even taught Titus, from Zimbabwe, and Karabo, one of our guides from Botswana, how to play because they had never done it. We had a blast and there was a LOT of laughing. We go to bed pretty early because of the early mornings, but we definitely squeeze in as much fun as we can.

Kate, getting stressed as the time runs out!

Zach, taking this game very seriously :)

On Friday, we had our first day FREE OF CLASSROOM MEETING!! :) We were very excited. We took a drive through more of Gaborone, and toward these two big hills/mountains (we haven't yet established which they are) which have become landmarks of a certain side of town, and by Game City (one of the malls). We passed some really interesting scenery and lots of random, roaming animals. A point that a lot of people have made is that most of us were suprised by seeing extreme poverty on one side of the road and commerical car dealerships on the other. I kind of like this distribution though because it doesn't allow a city to keep their extreme poverty in some remote area that no one ever sees. When it is mixed in with the mainstream, higher class areas they are forced to see it, think about it, and be faced with the reality of their city's poverty on a regular basis. That has been really different from what we are generally used to.

We drove to the culture village, which was a bit of a drive. I was still a little sleepy and the bus was hot...I think someone got a picture of my catching some zzz's.haha! As we made our way into the much more rural area of town the scenery was bare, brown, and covered in these huge dark rocks and boulders. Luckily, we finally found the twisty, turny rock road that lead us to the cultural village, and before we could even see anyone, we heard these high-pitched noises that I could tell were coming from people. As we turned a corner we were greated by 5 women wearing traditional clothing-minus the polo shirts they were wearing haha). They had decorations on their head, their ankles, their waistes, etc. They were making that high-pitched noise with their mouth by wiggling their tongue back and forth. This has become a common practice among many of the OU students. We got off of the bus and the women greated us graciously. You could tell that everyone was so excited for whatever we were about to experience. The walked us into the village and sat us down. We were able to watch a tradition wedding ceremony in which one of our group members, Dan, got to act as the groom. The women would make noises throughout the ceremony and explanations. I think they use those noises to celebrate or agree? That was the impression I got. A funny ritual that they do is that on the wedding night, the grandmothers of the village sit outside the door of the new couple's hut and "snoop". I found this quite amusing. :)

Two of the women in the village in their (mostly) traditional clothing

Grandmothers snooping..haha

We got to see how the women and men spend their days. The women cook, clean and tend to the children and animals, and the men mostly play games...shocker... :)

My favorite part of the cultural village was the dancing that the women did for us. They sang a few traditional songs and did some really interesting, entertaining dances. I could not wipe the smile off of my face. They even got Dr. Bates, one of the professors that is on the trip with us, to dance and get really involved in the song. We loved it and he was SUCH a good sport. The ladies from the village got a kick out of it, too.

We got to take a walk to a look out point that was amazing and you could see everything. We got a lot of great pictures and, on the way, got to pick and eat some wild berries. They weren't really the berries that we are normally used to. They were very small, had a hard outer shell, and hard seeds. The part you eat is not very fleshy, it just has a lot of flavor. After the walk we were fed a traditional meal. It consisted of a kind of pounded, shredded beef, which is served when you have an important guest, really great bread, a spinach-like vegetable,beans, chicken, papa, which has become one of my favorite traditional foods in Botswana, and a delicacy that is like poridge, but it is made with melon and sour milk...the least I can say is that I tried it :)

Look-out point

Traditional meal-I know it doesn't look that appetizing but it was great :)

After the meal we had to leave, which I don't think any of us were ready to do yet. I could have stayed all day, night, and even weekend. That is actually an option. Haha. They have single places that you can rent out for an EXTREMELY cheap price. It is remote, quiet, relaxing, and you can't beat the scenery.

A funny issue we had was that for about a day and a half to two full days we had no water on campus. No flushing toilets, no washing hands, no brushing teeth, no showering, NOTHING. Luckily we had a couple of full water bottles that we used to brush our teeth and such. It was just a little road bumb, but we weren't on campus most of those days so it didn't cause too much of a problem. Luckily, Courtney and Kate washed their hair once the water came on. Not-so-luckily, we still had no hot or even luke-warm water, so they washed their hair in the kitchen sink with freezing cold water. Pretty entertaining :) But the water came back and we are VERY happy!

We got to really go out, off of campus, on our own for the first time on Friday night. We went to a local resturant/bar/dance club after 10pm called Bull and Bush. We had so much fun because the whole group went. Apparently that is the place to go for people who aren't from here. So we got to meet A LOT of people from the U.S. and other countries who are studying abroad, volunteering, etc. We had an intense dance party f0r quite a while, but had to end the night early because of plans on Saturday morning.

We have really been getting to know the people and culture and I can't wait for a month more of this! It can only get better!

Week 1

I have had quite the lack on internet access, in addition to a lack of time to use computers, so these next few blogs will be pretty long. It has been a big, busy week so there is a LOT to talk about :) Our days begin with breakfast from 7:30-8:30. Botswana is very slow paced, including their meal times. This is something that I still have not adjusted to because I am used to constantly being on the go and scarfing my food down as I am running out the door to my destination. Our first week was orientation-getting acquainted with the University of Botswana, the campus, the people, the city of Gaborone, and starting to get some more insight on what we would be doing for the next three weeks. We love tea time because we get a 15 minute or so break with tea or coffee, muffins, finger sandwiches, etc. It may or may not be our favorite part of the day. We also decided that regardless of how OU feels about it, we are going to implement this treasured time into our daily schedule. On Tuesday we got to tour the campus which was really helpful. We got a thorough tour of the library, which a few people mentioned looked like Ping. I didn't see it, but that might be because I kind of live there and see every inch of the building on a very regular basis :) The view from the library was amazing. You could see mountains in the distance and so much of the city, and from another side you could see the futbol stadium.

The inside of the library

View of city and other scenery from the library

Karabo and Thato, our campus guides and new friends, giving us a tour of campus. They were explaining the significance behind this statue of a man and a cow. To fund the University, each person had to donate cattle. I really liked the significance of this because it is a constant reminder of where the University came from and how they got to where they are today.

We have been having Setswana lessons, which is, interesting. Haha. We are having a LOT of fun with it, though, and making some progress. Our Setwana instructor is fantastic. She is a tall, loud, expressive and warm lady. We have really enjoyed the short time we have had with her. I am pretty good at pronouncing the sometimes awkward sounds, like "tle" or tswere" and just rolling "r's" in general. I am not great, however, at remembering the phrases and putting them together. I have some work to do, but I don't think I am the only one :)

Something that some of us have been craving are sweets!!! They don't really do dessert, which alone, was quite a shock for me because it is such a big part of my life...haha! Courtney and I, by the second afternoon, had made our way to the unversity convenience story to buy one of the two flavors of ice cream bars. They also have cream filled cookies that we have probably eaten wayy to many of.

On Tuesday night, we got Karabo to take us to play futbol(soccer), which I have realized is HUGE basically everywhere else in the world except for in the U.S. We walked to the soccer/netball/volleyball/soccer courts after dinner. We played a little bit of volleyball, but quickly transitioned to soccer. We didn't know what was about to hit us when we decided to play with Karabo. He has probably the quickest feet I have ever seen. He also scaled a 20-foot chain-linked fence, twice, because we kicked the ball over. He looked like Spiderman, and made it look like it was nothing. Amazing. I had not played soccer since I was about 7 or 8, so I was not great, but I suppose I held my own. It was a blast. It was really the first time we got to do something that was not scheduled and just spend some time getting to know one another. Unfortunately, my skills could not last all night, and when the other team was about to score when I was playing defense, I somehow kicked my own legs out from under me and beefed it. Leave it to me to be clumsy...oh well, somebody had to do it.

Our pitiful game of volleyball

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, during the day, we had our lonnnnnnnnng lonnnnnnnnnng days of more orientation. What we discussed was really valuable information and the people who presented to us were helpful, it was just the sessions that were long when we didn't really have breaks in between the hour long presentations. But I was glad that we got this part over with at the beginning and after that we can just go do what we came here to do.

We have been doing some exploration of the malls and some shopping. The first mall we went to is called Riverwalk. It is about a 20 to 25 minute walk, but that is with a group of 20, so it takes much longer than it would with one or two people. When we walked into the entrance of the mall we had an interesting experience with some locals. They ran up to us screaming "White people!!" and "Whitey!" and tried to hug some of the people in the group. I knew that was not really an ok thing to do, so I bolted and luckily avoided that situation. Poor Karabo...he has to deal with being in an African country with 20 white people. He is such a good sport. After that happened, some of us couldn't get over it and couldn't stop laughing. We got a really big kick out of it because obviously it was something we had not experienced. We talked about how if the situation were reversed, how that situation would play out...probably not so good. Haha. Another time when we went to Riverwalk we ate outside at a restaurant and got a huge table. It was another really fun bonding time for all of us. Courtney, Zach, and I saw that they had Sambuca shooters on the drink menu, but they were different colors. We couldn't pass it up, so we order three blue ones.

During dinner, we had a fun time talking with Karabo and spending time with him on a more informal, personal level. We are pretty entertained by all of the funny myths and misconceptions that Motswana people have about Americans. He told us that they think that we get married sometimes at age 16 or 17. They also think everyone keeps a dog as a pet, which they think is weird because they only use dogs for protection. There are quite a few funny myths and things that he has shared with us that we get a kick out of.

We have been learning a lot of songs and dances and games that help us to get a little more familiar with their culture and things kids learn growing up. We learned their version of "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes." It is pretty entertaining to see a bunch of 20-somethings do dances and singing songs that kids learn in Kindergarten and early primary school.

We saw presentations from many of the organizations that we had the option of working with. The first day we saw SOS (A children's orphanage), SAPSSI (Salvation Army Psycho-Social Support Initiative), and LifeLinfe (a counseling service). SOS and SAPSSI caught my attention quite a bit because they involve working with kids. The second day, we had numerous presentations, none of which really sparked any of my interest because, again, I am really looking to work with kids because that is what is applicable to my major and what I am passionate about. There are a lot of great options though for the variety of people and majors we have on this trip. I am sure people will find something they are drawn to, and if not, hopefully they will end up having an amazing experience, regardless, and making the CHOICE to make it a good experience (even if it's not exactly what they had in mind). That is something that I think some people are struggling with but, again, I hope they just really make the best of any situation, because we are here to help and here for a life experience-whether it is positive or negative is up to them. Personally, I can't wait to start working, wherever I end up. It will be so exciting, scary, and incredible. I am really glad that most of the people on this trip are making an effort to keep this as positive of an experience for everyone as possible!

Getting settled...

We arrived at the University of Botswana, UB, and got our room assignments. I am in an apartment with Courtney, Clare, Kate, and two local women. One is named Esale and when she first walked in the door, she grabbed Courtney by the hand, dragged her to our main room, got the rest of us out of our rooms and greeted us with a warm and excited "Dumela, mma!"(how they say hello to a woman) and hugged us all with all of her might. It was the best way to be welcomed into our new home for the next month. Our rooms are simple but the apartments are nice. There are 6 rooms, a toilet room, and shower room, and a main living room/kitchen. Each room has a twin bed, a desk, a big closet, and a shelf. I spent quite a bit of time unpacking, organizing, reorganizing, refolding, and being really OCD...cuz I tend to do that sometimes :)

bed

desk

We got padlocks for each of our doors and our room door and the door to the apartment stays locked pretty much at all times, even when we are here. It really is safe here, the locks are just to protect our stuff, because they never know who is walking around campus since it is pretty open.

After we g0t settled we went to the staff cafeteria for our first meal. We did not go to the student cafeteria because they are on a three-month winter break. Our first meal consisted of papa, this mushy white stuff that looks liked mashed potatoes, but it pretty much tastes like thick and dry grits...haha. They are pretty plain but they are good if you put something on it, like gravy. The food was more varied than I expected. I literally expected just meat and rice for every meal. Those are a big part of every meal but they always offer a few more sides, which was pleasantly surprising! Some other things we have eaten are cabbage, chicken, beef, pumpkin, etc. They drink this super sweet fruit drink that comes in cans. It is a little much for me but it has been fun to try all the different fruit flavors.

cafeteria

Thato, Kate, Zach and me eating in the cafeteria

Luckily the water is perfectly fine to drink out of the tap, so we have been filling up water bottles. The meals are good, but BIG, and really filling. They also don't really snack. It is basically just 3 large meals a day, which is a little different because we tend to snack a lot at home. I like the food, I LOVE the people, and I really enjoyed interacting with all these people-OU students, UB students, UB faculty, and others. The people from Botswana, who are called Motswana-not "Botswanans." They are so loving, welcoming, joyful, and just friendly! It is sooo refreshing and wish Americans could take some notes from the people in Botswana. I can't wait to spend the majority of my days with these incredible people.

Dumela!!

So I haven't been able to post anything yet because of internet problems but I am trying to get this updated. The 15 or so hour flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg, or Jo-burg as they call it here, was lonnnng but not as bad as I expected. Each seat had its own screen built in so we were able to wach a ton of movies, tv shows, HBO shows, play games, and more. It definitely kept us entertained! I didn't sleep as much as I thought I would on the plane, because that is

usually all I do when I travel. I had trouble sleeping because my butt got so sore-haha! My tailbone is still not feeling great from the flight.

Courtney and Me on the plane to Altanta!

Zach, Kate, Courtney and me on the plane to Jo-burg!

The most amazing part of the flight was toward the end. We had been flying over water for sooooo long and the sun was up, so we looked out the window and saw the first land in thousands of miles. This was our first glimps of African soil :) It was an incredible moment. I think that is when it became real for me that I was actually doing this.

First glimps of Africa from the airplane window!!!

So we arrived safely in Johannesburg on Sunday evening, stayed in a hotel, ate a good meal and tried the famous Savannah (a cider beer that everyone who had gone on the trip before raved about-it tastes like apple juice) and went to sleep pretty early. It was nice to sleep horizontally. :) We got up at 5:30am to catch our flight to Gaborone, Botswana. Flying into Gaborone was the first time we really got to see anything that resembled Africa. Up until that point, all we had seen was airports and hotels. So flying in was an experience. It was very Africa...lots of brown, lots of dirt, some shurbs, and some randoms large hills here and there. After waiting at the airport in Gaborone for a while, we walked outside to go to the University of Botswana campus, where we are staying, and the first thing I noticed was how nice the cars were. There were Hummers, Merecedes, and BMW's lining the street. This was something I didn't expect. Also, they drive on the left side of the road...it takes a little time to get used to as a passenger, especially since I get so stressed out in cars anyway. I am starting to get used to it. Our time and days are all screwed up, but I am sure we will get on a schedule once orientations start. For now, we are just going off of our excited energy...we will see how long that lasts :)