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.

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!