I've been home for almost two weeks now. Has anything changed?
Botswana and my brief stay in Namibia (by myself) were incredible. The people, the land, the animals, the culture, the music...everything. There were things that I am glad to come back to, like my family and friends, my laptop, the family cars, the variety of food, even the cold! But maybe something that has changed is that I'm no longer afraid of adventure or being on my own or traveling in general. There is a confidence that comes from having been in Africa with no one I knew before leaving, and then coming back having made friends and connected with literally hundreds of people in big and small ways alike. There may be a day when I wake up and don't think about Botswana, but I don't think it will be for a long while. And I want to go back, so stay posted.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Maun
How can I describe what life is like these days?! For the first time this semester, in the last 3 weeks I have felt like I'm actually settled in one place. After shifting around every couple weeks, living in Maun on our own feels comfortable and stable. We got moved into a chalet after some luggage was stolen from our campsite (luckily the police actually caught the thief the next day with all the stuff intact!). The chalet enables us to continue our communal dinners without having to build a fire. The biggest perk may be that we can nap because we have beds and AC. It's been a crazy time, really. We take care of each other but we each do our own thing. Many mornings we will walk the 20 minute commute to Backpacker's Lodge for french press coffee and sit by the river under a huge fig tree. Those mornings are divine. At night we put candles outside and sit on our porch to eat dinner. It's truly adorable. The town gets to us all sometimes-- it's small and gossipy and being the new kids in town we stand out a bit. But overall we've had lots of good fun with expatriate and local community members alike.
My project is coming along. It's not going to be a masterpiece, but I have done a number of interviews and have learned a lot already. The people of Sexaxa have been extremely helpful, especially Ryan's old host brother Canaan, who has helped me translate. It always amazes me how many people in the world will do nice things with no expectations in return.
Well folks, I fly home one month exactly from today. It seems like such a long and a short amount of time all at once. I am happy here, but I'm excited to get home. So I'm going to focus on enjoying this time, but anticipating a joyous homecoming!
My project is coming along. It's not going to be a masterpiece, but I have done a number of interviews and have learned a lot already. The people of Sexaxa have been extremely helpful, especially Ryan's old host brother Canaan, who has helped me translate. It always amazes me how many people in the world will do nice things with no expectations in return.
Well folks, I fly home one month exactly from today. It seems like such a long and a short amount of time all at once. I am happy here, but I'm excited to get home. So I'm going to focus on enjoying this time, but anticipating a joyous homecoming!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
I googled Sexaxa today, and my blog entry was one of the first 5 results! It took me aback. It just goes to show that anything you write on the internet can back to you. Anyway, I am now fully settled in Maun. I'm camping for now at a very nice hotel, which means there's a great pool, restuarant, message area (I'm planning on waiting until I get super stressed before I cave) and bar, but I go back and sleep in a tent every night. Kind of strange, really. We have been cooking as a group every night, which has led to such interesting creations as hallah, 13 kg of beef, grilled cheese, dumplings and stew, and hummus, all made over a campfire (except the hummus, no cooking needed). It's a great bonding experience. One of our 8 has already left for Kasane, and another is planning on leaving tomorrow. Soon there will only be 5 of us, though we are getting moved into a chalet on Sunday, which will make everything wonderful.
Maun is really easy to get around. I walk up to the road and hail a cab, who will take me to the old mall or new mall for P3.20, about 50 cents. Or if you are lucky, you catch a combi for only P2.70. Most combis get full, like 15-16 people in the van, but a few days ago I had the attendent sitting on my lap. That was a new level of full. The manager at my hotel has also given me two rides to town. It just goes to show the generosity of the people here and how being nice to managers pays off!
I am going to study the cultural village at Sexaxa for my Independent Study Project. I will stay in Maun though and commute. It's difficult to get the info I need so far, but it will undoubtably come together eventually. I mean, I have almost 4 weeks left to do it. And while I'm not working, I'll be enjoying walking around this town, where you run into the same people all the time and can buy sweet rasta earrings for P10.
Maun is really easy to get around. I walk up to the road and hail a cab, who will take me to the old mall or new mall for P3.20, about 50 cents. Or if you are lucky, you catch a combi for only P2.70. Most combis get full, like 15-16 people in the van, but a few days ago I had the attendent sitting on my lap. That was a new level of full. The manager at my hotel has also given me two rides to town. It just goes to show the generosity of the people here and how being nice to managers pays off!
I am going to study the cultural village at Sexaxa for my Independent Study Project. I will stay in Maun though and commute. It's difficult to get the info I need so far, but it will undoubtably come together eventually. I mean, I have almost 4 weeks left to do it. And while I'm not working, I'll be enjoying walking around this town, where you run into the same people all the time and can buy sweet rasta earrings for P10.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Excursion
It is raining in Botswana! It is somewhat wonderful because it's gotten cold enough for pants and jackets, but it's also challenging while living in an old tent. I'll survive though as long as the hot, drying sun comes out soon before ALL my clothes are soaked. Yes, so it looks like I'll probably be living in a tent for the next 5 weeks and figuring out my own food. I'm thinking it will be a lot of peanut butter and jelly and cereal. This is all because the Independent Study Project is starting in one week, and this is the prep week.
But, this past week we were on excursion here in the northwest part of Botswana. We went to the panhandle of the Okavango Delta, the largest inland delta in the world. We took a couple boat rides to see sunsets, birds, and animals (crocs and hippos!) and went to Tsodilo Hills where there is rock paintings scattered on ancient hills done by the San people. At Tsodilo we climbed to the highest point in Botswana to watch the sunset. It was no Himalayan climb, but a challenge and a beautiful view nonetheless! We also went to a crocodile farm where we saw thousands of crocs. Most were young and in these rooms where they climb all over each other to get to the water. Crazyness!
Ok, my time is running out...more soon!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Sexaxa
Visit the Sexaxa Cultural Village website: http://sexaxa.weebly.com/
So for the past week (and the next week) I've been living in a small, rural village called Sexaxa (the x's are clicks). It's only a 20 minute commute to a busling town, but it's quiet out there without eletricity or running water! Sexaxa is a wonderful and frustrating experience so far. I'm living in a small tin-roofed hut where I sleep with Mosetsana (22) and her two kids (4 months and 5 years), and in the same compound is my Mme, Boshale (34 yrs) and her boyfriend, Olivere. None of them speak much english, which is tough, but I'm definitely learning a lot of setswana. We have to walk to the standpipe to get water, about 200 yards away or so. I tried carrying the bucket on my head and got myself kind of wet! I asked Mosetsana to teach me how to bathe from the basin thing, and so twice we bathed in the same basin at the same time! We didn't really fit, but I thought it was hilarious. The baby, Nunu, is adorable and I love holding him. However, he doesn't wear diapers, so I'm a little scared of him peeing on me at any moment (which has happened a few times...). It is very hot in Sexaxa and Maun, but there are more trees than in the south, which is nice. There are so many moments where I've felt serenly happy in the village-- walking around with Nunu strapped to my back (when people ask who's baby it is my Mme always says "it's her's!"), sitting around in the sand while everyone drinks the traditional beer or rasta wine, playing with my 5 yr old brother (that makes 2 five year olds that I've befriended in Botswana!), jalo jalo (that's etc. in setswana). Despite the language barrier we spend plenty of time at my house laughing and I'm getting really good at recognizing certain phrases (like the one for "wash this" or "bring me a spoon" or "let's go"). We spend a lot of time just sitting outside, mostly playing with the baby (or babies...others visit frequently and most young women seem to have one) or cooking and cleaning.
My Mme made me a wooden spoon and thing to cook sorghum with (it's like a t-shaped stick)...I'm excited about it.
I finished my 480 page book ("Dark Star Safari") and I'm really proud of how much I've been reading since school got out in May. The book was a pretty depressing look at Africa, and while I know that some places are better (like Botswana), it did impact my thinking on foreign aid. I will continue to process those ideas later. Anyway, I might re-read Catcher in the Rye next, since someone has it here and 10th grade was a long time ago.
Sunday we went to another community trust, this one with a cultural village and a game drive. The drive was seriously like 5 hours and there weren't many animals, but I've started to think of it as meditation and life planning time. Needless to say, I've spent lots of time thinking about how wonderfuly greatful I am for my life (and all the wonderful people in it!!!). The cultural village was surreall because they were showing the traditional Bayeii way of life, but so much of it is recognizable in Sexaxa today! I learned a lot though, one of the most interesting things to me was that when a woman gives birth she is put in isolation for 2 months. Mosetsana said they still do that in Sexaxa. I have many feelings on this: it's a time when the man is free to go "play around" and he misses those crucial frist months of his child's life. Plus the woman is alone! But maybe just seeing your mother or a few other women is nice when you are taking care of a newborn...I don't know. Anyway, the "village" has demonstrations of games, music, dancing, men setting traps, shooting arrows, traditional houses, food, and a traditional healer. Pretty cool! Camping out was nice...we had a fire and sat around talking until midnight (!!!) with our guide, Kabelo, from Gabs, who visited the US this spring and used to work for SIT. You meet such interesting people here.
That's all for now! Peace out.
So for the past week (and the next week) I've been living in a small, rural village called Sexaxa (the x's are clicks). It's only a 20 minute commute to a busling town, but it's quiet out there without eletricity or running water! Sexaxa is a wonderful and frustrating experience so far. I'm living in a small tin-roofed hut where I sleep with Mosetsana (22) and her two kids (4 months and 5 years), and in the same compound is my Mme, Boshale (34 yrs) and her boyfriend, Olivere. None of them speak much english, which is tough, but I'm definitely learning a lot of setswana. We have to walk to the standpipe to get water, about 200 yards away or so. I tried carrying the bucket on my head and got myself kind of wet! I asked Mosetsana to teach me how to bathe from the basin thing, and so twice we bathed in the same basin at the same time! We didn't really fit, but I thought it was hilarious. The baby, Nunu, is adorable and I love holding him. However, he doesn't wear diapers, so I'm a little scared of him peeing on me at any moment (which has happened a few times...). It is very hot in Sexaxa and Maun, but there are more trees than in the south, which is nice. There are so many moments where I've felt serenly happy in the village-- walking around with Nunu strapped to my back (when people ask who's baby it is my Mme always says "it's her's!"), sitting around in the sand while everyone drinks the traditional beer or rasta wine, playing with my 5 yr old brother (that makes 2 five year olds that I've befriended in Botswana!), jalo jalo (that's etc. in setswana). Despite the language barrier we spend plenty of time at my house laughing and I'm getting really good at recognizing certain phrases (like the one for "wash this" or "bring me a spoon" or "let's go"). We spend a lot of time just sitting outside, mostly playing with the baby (or babies...others visit frequently and most young women seem to have one) or cooking and cleaning.
My Mme made me a wooden spoon and thing to cook sorghum with (it's like a t-shaped stick)...I'm excited about it.
I finished my 480 page book ("Dark Star Safari") and I'm really proud of how much I've been reading since school got out in May. The book was a pretty depressing look at Africa, and while I know that some places are better (like Botswana), it did impact my thinking on foreign aid. I will continue to process those ideas later. Anyway, I might re-read Catcher in the Rye next, since someone has it here and 10th grade was a long time ago.
Sunday we went to another community trust, this one with a cultural village and a game drive. The drive was seriously like 5 hours and there weren't many animals, but I've started to think of it as meditation and life planning time. Needless to say, I've spent lots of time thinking about how wonderfuly greatful I am for my life (and all the wonderful people in it!!!). The cultural village was surreall because they were showing the traditional Bayeii way of life, but so much of it is recognizable in Sexaxa today! I learned a lot though, one of the most interesting things to me was that when a woman gives birth she is put in isolation for 2 months. Mosetsana said they still do that in Sexaxa. I have many feelings on this: it's a time when the man is free to go "play around" and he misses those crucial frist months of his child's life. Plus the woman is alone! But maybe just seeing your mother or a few other women is nice when you are taking care of a newborn...I don't know. Anyway, the "village" has demonstrations of games, music, dancing, men setting traps, shooting arrows, traditional houses, food, and a traditional healer. Pretty cool! Camping out was nice...we had a fire and sat around talking until midnight (!!!) with our guide, Kabelo, from Gabs, who visited the US this spring and used to work for SIT. You meet such interesting people here.
That's all for now! Peace out.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Living in the Sasa
I wrote this as an update for my family, but it can be an update for you too! By the way, the Sasa is the immediate past, the present, and the immediate future. Aka, living in the moment!
I am in high spirits right now because it's Friday and we took our midterm this morning. It wasn't bad at all, for which I am greatful! Then most of us went and "snuck" into the Gaborone Sun, a luxury hotel, where we layed by the pool for the afternoon. I got the kids order of chicken nuggets-- delicious. Stewart actually gave us the idea by saying he didn't think it was wrong to use our "whiteness" to our advantage at times. Anyway, backtrackking, Tuesday we went back to Mokolodi. We drove around forever looking for the rhinos and then we got out where their footprints were, followed the chewed grass, and found them! I felt like we were very close, but I trust the guides. There were 3 of them, and after a while 2 lay down to take a nap. Then we headed back for a 1 1/2 lunch break (you have to not worry about time...) and then back into the "field" for a "community ecology" lesson. We staked out a 10 x 10 pace area and then recorded everything in that area and reflected on the implications. We found dung from wildebeest, hares, and impala, and recorded many plants and insects. For such a dry place, there are still a lot of living things! Tuesday night I went with my family back to Molepolole for a House warming/Independence Day celebration on Wednesday. The party was fun and I helped prepare food, entertain onlookers with my attempt at dancing, and meet lots of interesting people. We were there from like 1 pm to 12:30 pm! Then Thursday I did almost nothing, which was frustrating. I did learn how to sweep dust though. At first I thought it was just to make it look nice, but then I was told I was supposed to be cleaning the trash, haha!
You would be happy to know:
-I'm getting really good at ironing. Everyone in my family irons their outfits everyday, so I do the same
-I gave Hilda (the 5 yr old) a bouncy ball and we've been great friends ever since. I love her imagination and her accent ("twinkle twinkle" is ADORABLE with a little Botswana accent!), although at times she's like any annoy 5 yr old ("where are you going? what are you doing?")
-I tried to get a tan and ended up with a huge pink stripe accross my stomach. When I tried to get sympathy from my family I don't think they could relate :)
-You meet people here for just a few days and then it's so sad to say goodbye! Mpho, who's house we were warming, was so sweet to me. She would lead me by the hand and hug me and give me tea. She took a video on her phone of me singing the 3 setswana songs I know.
-My "Mme" here speaks to me in a very different way than I'm used to. Basically she TELLS me what I am going to do. It feels like I'm being commanded, whether it's to bath or to a plate. I know it's a cultural difference, so I try to forgive her!
-We never know when we will get out of class. Leatile, my 15 yr old brother, and I had made plans to go get me a Gaborone Unitedn shirt on Tuesday but it took me forever to get home (and I wasn't too pumped to go back to the village when everyone else was celebrating Independence in Gabs) so it was too late. My mme asked me how my day was and I just started tearing up. I'm sure she thought I was crazy! But if that's the only time I've really cried since being here, then it's not so bad. One month has come and gone already!
I am in high spirits right now because it's Friday and we took our midterm this morning. It wasn't bad at all, for which I am greatful! Then most of us went and "snuck" into the Gaborone Sun, a luxury hotel, where we layed by the pool for the afternoon. I got the kids order of chicken nuggets-- delicious. Stewart actually gave us the idea by saying he didn't think it was wrong to use our "whiteness" to our advantage at times. Anyway, backtrackking, Tuesday we went back to Mokolodi. We drove around forever looking for the rhinos and then we got out where their footprints were, followed the chewed grass, and found them! I felt like we were very close, but I trust the guides. There were 3 of them, and after a while 2 lay down to take a nap. Then we headed back for a 1 1/2 lunch break (you have to not worry about time...) and then back into the "field" for a "community ecology" lesson. We staked out a 10 x 10 pace area and then recorded everything in that area and reflected on the implications. We found dung from wildebeest, hares, and impala, and recorded many plants and insects. For such a dry place, there are still a lot of living things! Tuesday night I went with my family back to Molepolole for a House warming/Independence Day celebration on Wednesday. The party was fun and I helped prepare food, entertain onlookers with my attempt at dancing, and meet lots of interesting people. We were there from like 1 pm to 12:30 pm! Then Thursday I did almost nothing, which was frustrating. I did learn how to sweep dust though. At first I thought it was just to make it look nice, but then I was told I was supposed to be cleaning the trash, haha!
You would be happy to know:
-I'm getting really good at ironing. Everyone in my family irons their outfits everyday, so I do the same
-I gave Hilda (the 5 yr old) a bouncy ball and we've been great friends ever since. I love her imagination and her accent ("twinkle twinkle" is ADORABLE with a little Botswana accent!), although at times she's like any annoy 5 yr old ("where are you going? what are you doing?")
-I tried to get a tan and ended up with a huge pink stripe accross my stomach. When I tried to get sympathy from my family I don't think they could relate :)
-You meet people here for just a few days and then it's so sad to say goodbye! Mpho, who's house we were warming, was so sweet to me. She would lead me by the hand and hug me and give me tea. She took a video on her phone of me singing the 3 setswana songs I know.
-My "Mme" here speaks to me in a very different way than I'm used to. Basically she TELLS me what I am going to do. It feels like I'm being commanded, whether it's to bath or to a plate. I know it's a cultural difference, so I try to forgive her!
-We never know when we will get out of class. Leatile, my 15 yr old brother, and I had made plans to go get me a Gaborone Unitedn shirt on Tuesday but it took me forever to get home (and I wasn't too pumped to go back to the village when everyone else was celebrating Independence in Gabs) so it was too late. My mme asked me how my day was and I just started tearing up. I'm sure she thought I was crazy! But if that's the only time I've really cried since being here, then it's not so bad. One month has come and gone already!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Things that are similar...but different
Here is a list of things that I've noticed are slightly different here in Botswana:
-"Coke Light" instead of Diet Coke
-Lots of Pineapple Fanta
-"Tomato Sauce" instead of ketchup, and it's spicy
-The norm is 3 1/2 spoons of sugar per cup of tea
-Different alcohol brands: "St. Louis", "Black Label", "Savannah Dry" are popular
-If you are living with other women, you'll probably see their chests a few times
-Bathing is called "Bath-ing"
-Driving on the left side of the road
-A very common sauce for rice is just ketchup&mayonnaise
-Along the street you can get a delicious buffet of food for about $2...normally rice/pasta/maize meal, fried chicken, sauce, beets, cole slaw, and/or grilled beef
-The ice cream man rides a bike and uses a hand horn to get attention
-Nice houses almost always have electric fences
That's all for now!
-"Coke Light" instead of Diet Coke
-Lots of Pineapple Fanta
-"Tomato Sauce" instead of ketchup, and it's spicy
-The norm is 3 1/2 spoons of sugar per cup of tea
-Different alcohol brands: "St. Louis", "Black Label", "Savannah Dry" are popular
-If you are living with other women, you'll probably see their chests a few times
-Bathing is called "Bath-ing"
-Driving on the left side of the road
-A very common sauce for rice is just ketchup&mayonnaise
-Along the street you can get a delicious buffet of food for about $2...normally rice/pasta/maize meal, fried chicken, sauce, beets, cole slaw, and/or grilled beef
-The ice cream man rides a bike and uses a hand horn to get attention
-Nice houses almost always have electric fences
That's all for now!
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