Emotional Rollercoaster

I have a lot to write about. I know I said that I would write about the youth forum and what not but instead I am just going to have write about the last 4 weeks. That’s all I have the energy for.

Peace Corps warned us about having major ups and downs. They even gave us a chart for us visual learners. My past 4 weeks was a perfect example.

I think the 10^th of October, we had a prize giving ceremony at Motswakhumo CJSS. Like you might have been able to guess, it’s an awards ceremony to recognize the top students of the year. Each subject, club, and sport awarded the top student. It was held outside in the parking lot at my school. Mind you it was close to 39 degrees Celsius. Unlike my high school and junior high school which handed out plaques and medals, the junior secondary schools handed out dish sets, sets of cups, decorative art, and even gardening equipment such as rakes and shovels as well as a certificate of achievement. I think this just make more sense. So once the kids get these prizes, their family member, usually female (mother, aunt, etc) come up as well and the student hands these prizes to the parents. I think prize giving is more about the family. Some mothers made a big scene, doing a little dance, making this noise that I can’t describe and strangling their children in bear hugs. Now can anyone guess what the prize was for being the top form 3 (the last grade in a JSS) student? The top student gets a goat. The poor goat was terrified and being dragged by a rope around its neck. When it wouldn’t comply, a couple of (human) kids grabbed the goat by its legs and dragged the poor thing. It was quite a struggle. Luckily, the winner finally took the goat and put it around its neck (which looked much more comfortable for the goat) and awarded it to his mother. Then the goat escaped as the mother enthusiastically did her dance and two dozen kids had to chase after it. It was quite a sight.

I was helping out in the food department so I missed part of the ceremony (which involved a lot of speeches). Most of it consisted of hanging around doing nothing, and grating cheese and polony since no one seems to like doing it. When a pot was freed up, the staff told me to go and watch the traditional dance group perform. By the time I came back, the food I was in charge of (bogobe or thick porridge) was already made. Overall the whole mood was super festive and everyone seemed pretty happy.

Prize giving was a great mood booster which I definitely was in need of. The previous week I was feeling frustrated because I am trying to raise interest in making a community library in Lentsweletau. There is a Lentsweletau library, but it consists of 4 cabinets that are sparsely filled. I had to ask 3 different people to find the library. The first two didn’t even know it existed. I think I have posted pictures of it already. I went to a meeting with the Village Development Committee and proposed the idea. My major motive was to have a place where out of school youth can hang out and maybe reach out to them. The VDC loved the idea, and with incredible enthusiasm, showed me plots of land that the library can be built. Then they looked for builders to get quotes and started drawing out a blue plan (all on the same day). I had to keep pushing them to think about the abandoned buildings in our village but they seemed to have their heart set on a new building. I asked if I could come to the next meeting, to do a follow up and they told me they’d contact me when they had things figured out. They never did and I never got a response to my text messages. I don’t know how rude it is to just barge in on a meeting and I haven’t had the courage to just go, so now this idea is just up in the air. Failed, and nothing has even started.

To make myself feel better, I decided that I could at least open up the school library on the weekends. My school is a boarding school so kids are floating around doing absolutely nothing on campus grounds. I caught some kids throwing stones at each other for fun. Since I go to school for Setswana lessons with one of the students on Sundays, I decided just to extend my time there til evening. They love movies so I play a movie for them. The first movie was a movie that addressed AIDS, teenage pregnancy, and relationships which was awesome. Things went down hill after that week. I found what I thought would be awesome videos, only to find out that they were in french and subtitled in English, inappropriate, or just plain boring. Because I felt like they were losing faith, I desperately went to the teachers to see if they had any movies (on video cassette) and the only one I could get a hold of was Air Force One. I didn’t remember the film at all and I had to skip through some of the more violent parts (which they groaned) but they seemed to like it okay. They cheered at the end. The rest of the time in the library is actually for reading or studying. I usually tutor one of the students during this time too. So that’s my Sunday – it’s better than watching the kids beat each other up and lounging around… I think.

So this made my week a little better. I having an “up” week. I talked to my mom on the phone, was starting to relax and even had time to write this blog entry:

My mother is amazing. Not only does she send me the most incredible packages but she knows how to give subtle (and not so subtle) advice as well.

I don’t know why I am so adverse to her advice. I’ll dismiss her ideas even before it has sunk into my thick head.

Last Sunday she called me to tell me about how touched she was to see pictures of the Peace Corps in Korea during the 60s. She talked about how nice and interesting it was to see everyday rural life now, even though she lived through it back then. I immediately told her that not only would pulling out a camera give me a lot of unnecessary attention, but that Botswana was relatively modern as well. I now realize when thinking back to this conversation, that I have become desensitized to my surroundings in a mere 6 months. It also made me realize that I need to get out and explore my village more.

Since I am a better photographer than writer (which isn’t saying much) this should be an easy transition. As you can probably tell, I am not a deep writer and at times, if I wrote what I was really thinking I’d get in trouble with Peace Corps =). Most of the time, I just can’t express my experiences in words. I’ll try to be better about writing captions underneath the pictures and if you’d like to know more about any picture, please just tell me and I’ll try to include it in my next entry. Don’t worry, the funny/interesting stories will continue.

Everyday life in Botswana pictures will be placed in a folder called “untitled.” Maybe for every 1000 pictures I take, I will find one that will truly be memorable.

Thanks mom for waking me up. It’s like I never left home huh? =)

I was feeling great that Sunday night! 19^th of October. I felt motivated and ready to tackle the upcoming week of school. I went to bed at 11pm feeling exhausted, happy and settled. Then around midnight I heard my window rattle. It’s been windy and stormy lately in Lentsweletau so I thought nothing of it. Then the window in the bathroom was rattling, and after that another window in the house was rattling. I started thinking it was the birds since there was no way wind could rattle one window at a time. I started to freak out when I heard pounding at my bedroom window. I didn’t know what to do so I sat there for the longest minute of my life listening to the pounding. Then I snuck out to the living room to get my air horn and I turned on my bedroom light. Then I flung open my curtain window to see a man staring at me. It’s funny how you forget how to use simple equipment when you’re panicked. While I was hysterically screaming and sobbing, I was fumbling with the air horn. I screamed at the man to go away and he just stared and said something. Funny thing is, I think he said hello. Then I finally figured out the damn air horn and he bolted. All the dogs in my neighborhood started howling. The phone number to my police department was in my living room and I was too scared to go out there since I accidentally left one of the curtains open. I called PC security, no answer, another volunteer for the police departments number (didn’t have it), and then a teacher at my school. The teacher called the police department for me and I guess drove like a madman to my house. I called Andrea which was stupid since I woke her up in the middle of the night to feel helpless, but she helped me calm down. So I guess I used her. The teacher took me to the kgotla where the police department was to report the incident and I stayed with the teacher and his family for 2 nights. I was only planning to stay for 1 night until I found out that this wasn’t the first attempted break in; my neighbor told me it happened to her 2 weeks before my incident. But the scariest thing was, no one heard my air horn. None of my neighbors heard my screaming.

So that week was a major down week. Actually I don’t think I fully recovered until the next week. Things started to pick up from there. I moved from the backroom which had no outside lighting to the room in the front of my house which has lights out in the front and on the side. I leave the lights on outside at night now. I feel much better and secure knowing that with the light on the outside, I have a much better chance of seeing whatever is outside before it sees me… unlike my incident. I’m planning to get a dog, but now that I’m looking for one, I can’t find one. I decided that the best way to get over this incident was to keep myself busy. I have an English Club after school which has been getting decent turn outs. All we do is play games like modified taboo and pictionary but their favorite game is Uno. Not kidding. We start the club with a list of 10 vocabulary word and then when they want to use one of the special cards in Uno, they have to use one of the vocabulary words in a sentence. If they speak Setswana, they get penalized 2 cards, if they disrespect another student they get penalized 5 cards, if they don’t speak up they get penalized 2 cards and so up. The kids are great and it’s incredible what they will do for a sweet. I caved into a group of form 3 boys (I think about 7 of them) begging for one piece of chocolate but sadly, I only had 1 piece left. So they asked me to throw it in the air so they can fend for themselves. So I did. I threw it in the air, ducked and covered my while running away and watched the boys push, shove and scramble around for ONE piece of chocolate. Then I saw one of the boys running FULL SPEED away from the pack and 6 other boys trailed after him. I’ve never seen anyone run so fast. They screamed “KAMOSO TSHEGO!” ([see you] tomorrow Tshego) and kept running. I laughed all the way home.

So things seemed to have picked up again, then I had a silly incident that I made into a huge deal. About a week ago, I found a scorpion in my kitchen. I was thirsty in the middle of the night and so I walked into my kitchen and heard a scratching noise. Was it a mouse? No, of course I wouldn’t be that lucky. It was almost the length of my palm and the thickness of almost 2 of my fingers. Luckily I had just bought a new can of Doom (Raid equivalent) and used almost the entire can on it. This scorpion was so FAST I didn’t dare use a shoe to smack it. It was just not long enough. So after the can was almost emptied, the scorpion stopped moving. So I smacked it with a fly swatter but it just made it squirm. Oh, by the way, I was screaming and crying during this whole ordeal. Once again none of the neighbors heard. I finally got my shoe and smacked it several times and all this brown gushy guts stuff came out. It was pretty disgusting. I also inhaled so much Doom I started feeling dizzy and started puking. I couldn’t bring myself to open the door to sweep the damn thing out because I was afraid that a swarm of scorpions would attack me in order to avenge the death of their friend the instant I opened the door. So, I took care of it the next morning. That night, I slept inside my tent. I checked it first before I got in. I showed my neighbors and my teacher friend, and they said they’ve never seen one so big. They told me that it was probably pregnant and pregnant scorpions were the most dangerous. I cried softly and texted my medical officer for a scorpion kit (some kind of suction device). My kitchen still smells of Doom.

A couple days ago, Wednesday, my neighbor came over to tell me some sad news. Her niece had passed away. She was a form 5 (last year of high school) student who boards at a school in Gaborone. My neighbor told me they didn’t know the cause of death, and there were no symptoms of sickness. Her uncle had seen her the day before (and said she was well) and was the one to find her in the morning. It’s rumored that the girl was pregnant and tried to abort the fetus. I hope it is just a rumor. I guess it is tradition to bring the deceased to the places they spent their life. The girl lived in my house with her mother (the owner) and so they said that they were going to bring the body into the living room for a few minutes sometime next week and do a prayer. I had to comply, this was the owner’s only child. I can’t imagine how it must feel to lose your only child. Although I know it’s going to happen, I don’t think I can be there when they bring the body in. I plan to leave them with the keys to the house and escape to another PCVs place. I know if I refused, I wouldn’t able to live with myself, but if I attended, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. So I am just going to be MIA. I was super depressed Thursday and I even made my counterpart cry when I told her what was wrong. I feel like such a terrible person because here I am, Peace Corps Volunteer, out to help others, and instead, I have become such a burden in my host country that I made my counterpart cry. I don’t know what to do.

There was also a last PACT meeting/party yesterday. I baked them a cake like I promised and I never saw a cake disappear so fast. My heart broke to see some of the students carefully splitting up their share and putting part of it in plastic grocery bag for their siblings at home. I almost cried again. Then after the short party, I went to a funeral service. It was for a student’s (who I happen to be quite fond of) father. Funeral services here are a week long which I think helps ease the sadness since it is spread out. I was only there for a short time, just to hear a couple prayers and singing and then I was dropped back at the school. I had a nice chat with one of the teachers, and I walked home at dusk. When I got home, I locked my door and cried for the 20^th time that day, and the 50^th time in the last 4 weeks. This time I cried for the student. I cried because she just lost an important figure in her life. Then I thought about the other students and realized to half of them, this was not an unusual circumstance. I cried because after talking it out to someone, I realized I was selfish for feeling uncomfortable about having a body in my house for a few minutes. I’m making a bigger fuss than those who had a loved one pass away. But I don’t think I can see the child in my house and keep my sanity. I think I have to be selfish this time.

These kids needed me to answer their questions from the question box and I couldn’t even bring myself to answer all of them in a timely manner lately. I had questions about sugar daddies, how to cope with losing a parent, abortion, and alcohol. I worked on the questions and answers with teachers for hours only to lose most of it in a power outage. I did save some of it but my usb key got warped in the outage as well and it saved 3 copies of the same questions instead of saving 3 different questions and answers. I put up what was left. I just can’t believe that I have kids depending on me and I feel like I’m letting them down.

As I see it, it’s been a crap-tacular month and things can only go up from here. Let’s hope I’m right.

P.S. - So far, I haven't met a single Motswana who is NOT excited about Obama. They were thrilled and excited about the election. It was happy day for everyone =)

Didn't even realize so much time has passed!

Hello Everyone!

Sorry for the long absence! I can't write too much since I only have a half an hour left of internet time! I know I should write these blogs at home but because of my laziness, I have resorted to writing key words on random documents all named blog something or another and now I can't find them or I don't remember what they mean. For example... I seem to have written Mexican food - beans in one of my documents. I'm not exactly sure what I was referring to.

I am fine and alive everyone! It's getting ALOT warmer in Botswana. You know what's strange? Even though it hasn't rained at all, Botswana is getting GREENER!! I don't know about all of Botswana, but my village smells exceptionally good. Mopipi trees (will someone find the english word if there is one?) are these bushy green trees that seem to attract a lot of flies or bees and smell very sweet. I guess they have a really tasty fruit too. Well anyway, with those trees, stepping outside is heaven... until the sun gets to me.

By the way, our lockdown phase is over! In-Service Training has come and gone! We are FREE TO ROAM!!! (more on IST and roaming after IST in the next blog entry)

So what has happened in between the last post and IST? I think the most eventful thing was a week long event youth forum at Barolong (or Borolong I haven't figure it out yet) Vocational College. Students from different schools within a district, primary through senior secondary schools, came to this event that was held by the Ministry of Education during the first week of the month long vacation. LS PCVs were invited to watch/participate in the event so we have an idea of how to help organize one when it happens in the Kweneng District. This camp incorporated a bit of everything, from "normal" camp activities like ball sports and games to team buildling activities, to more academic activities like taking notes on powerpoints oabout disabilities. Not only did these kids take notes, some of the kids recopied them before going to bed. Incredible.

The week started out rocky (I have to admit, I had my doubts) but overall, I think it was an awesome experience, especially for the kids. At times, I felt I couldn't handle one more flip chart (writing ideas on a huge piece of paper and posting them) but I realized that these kids were used to this method of learning. It was quite possibly just intolerable for me. However, there were many interactive activities and role-playing that was incredible to watch. Many of these students are obviously talented in acting.

I'll think about more to write on this on the next post (I'll write at home this time) but I only have 10 minute left so I don't want to rush writing about this experience. Oh and remind me to write about Thamaga too.

Here's a glimpse of the youth forum. Dancing PCVs and Friends!

Pictures are posted, but not all I apologize. Not many of them have captions either.

Quick Peace Corps Volunteer Moments:

Scenario--
Andrea comes over to pig out at my house. Made lots of mexican food... and beans. Still not remembering what I'm supposed to remember about that...

Q: How do you open a bottle of wine without a bottle opener?
A: With a screw driver, a screw, tweezers, a knife, and much patience.

Instructions: After trying to hack through the cork with a knife, use the screwdriver to drill in the screw into the cork. With the tweezers as leverage, pull up the cork .01 millimeter at a time. Cut off excess. Repeat until done

Trust me, the wine tastes much better this way.

Bee gets into the kitchen... we bagged it. We screamed like little girls while swatting it the whole time.

After working up our appetite with these two activities... ate enough mexican food for 8 people. Ate til we almost threw up. Felt awesome.

End Scene

Went to a baby shower with Andrea:

First of all, I guess I'm not supposed to talk about what goes on in these events (especially with men). But I thought you would be interested. There are punishments for anything and everything. There is a MC at the party (usually best friend/sister) who gets to determine what deserves "punishment" in the case at the party I atteneded, it was eating mysterious "baby food" which was grainy sweet salty mush that didn't taste very pleasant. You are spoon fed this as "punishment" Another form of punishment includes dancing in front of the other women. There is a "pass" to get into the party, a johnson & johnson product in our case. You forgot it? You'll be spoonfed "babyfood." You forgot a gift for the baby? There's another spoonful of babyfood. The mother to be sat opening the presents blindfolded and if you she guessed correctly who the gift was from, the invitee had to eat ... babyfood. If the mother to be guessed it wrong, she had to eat baby food. Making the mother to be dance with her huge belly was amusing on its own, especially with a small onion, carrot, and another onion (in that order) tied around her waist... that flopped between her legs. Afterwards, the mother had to answer ANY question truthfully that was asked by the other ladies . It quickly got dirty. Then there was a serious portion where all the guests were to give a piece of advice to the mother to be and most of it was very serious. The mother to be's sister advised her to follow the clinic's advice because she was HIV+. Then the crazy dancing and eating resumed and that was that. If I ever throw a baby shower for one of my friends, I am going to borrow some of these ideas. =) This is fair warning.

~~~

Next story:
With hot weather comes, bugs. Lots of bugs. Big hairy spiders. and HUGE cockroaches that fly around! Thank you sue for the visual of the cockroaches you've experienced as well. They were not quite as big as the ones you saw in asia, but these FLY!!!!! Sigh. To kill these bugs, you spray Doom (bug killer) for 10 minutes. They don't die. They just get angrier. Eventually they'll drown. Unfortunately, my first experience seeing these things was when I was making oatmeal raisin cookies. I couldn't eat them afterwards because the raisins looked like cockroaches after.

Put up my mosquito net recently. fell off the chair on top of the coffee table, got the wind knocked out of me, bruise on my arm and my chest, and a gash on my leg. I'm alright

Shoutouts!:
Thank you Ms. G, Sue, Gordo, Regina Renee, Frank, and Mom for sending me Love!!!!!

I do appreciate it so much!

I still get questions about what I need in Botswana. I am really okay you guys. I have a refrigerator making my life 10000x easier. I'll need you guys later when I work on my library project (more on this later)

But... Please keep sending me emails!!!! and snail mail letters! and if you'd really like to do something, please send me music, pictures of yourself, or a postcard. The kids love seeing pictures of different places.

Must go.. way past time. I miss you all and I will hopefully be on the internet within another 2 months.

Love--

Nicole/Tshego

First month in Lentsweletau

Hello Everyone!

Sorry for not updating in awhile. Internet is difficult to get to and make time for! I hope everyone is doing well. Please keep sending me updates – I love hearing about you all. =)

I know, I know… I still need to respond to the June emails and it’s already July! I will do my best to get back to you all. Oh and I posted some more pictures! =)

I’m actually in Molepolole using free internet! (Thank you Kate!) I know, super exciting huh? I think I might move into her computer lab. I came into Moleps for my host grandpa’s 95^th birthday! I think they invited half the village. I had to leave early though before it got dark so I missed a lot of it. =*( Amazing food and there were speeches, prayers, and some dancing =). Lots of fun!

So… I have been in Lentsweletau for a month now! It’s not a very big village but I somehow manage to get lost everytime. Of the 5 times I’ve walked home in the dark so far, I’ve gotten lost 4 times. Those are not very good odds. I’ve been settling in well. I finally got a stove and a wardrobe which is awesome! Unfortunately, I still need to get the gas hose and regulator for the stove before I can use it. Soon I will be able to bake and maybe boil water in less than 45 minutes! The leafy thing on top of the stove in the pictures is not a new plant pet, this is how I keep my vegetables fresh for a week! The best thing about my house is that there is an actual roof (not the metal sheet thing) so I don’t hear the chickens tap dancing on my roof. There is however a bird couple with baby birds that have nested underneath the awning of my roof and they closely resemble my family. Squawking, fighting but overall cheerful loud conversation ALL DAY LONG. Almost 3 weeks ago, I decided to plant some lettuce and basil. Nothing yet… maybe I should be concerned about the chicken footprints all over the top of my little plot. I uploaded some updated pictures of my home! You can see my clutter and the outdated maps covering my dirty walls. Oh and Sunday is Laundry Day. I officially HATE Sundays. Once the scabs on my knuckles heal (I’m not kidding, they bleed! I think it’s the detergent plus angry rubbing)… it’s laundry day again! I better get some awesome arms from this. Also in the bathroom picture, you see the corner shelf hanging off the sink? Well I assumed that the corners of my room were at 90 degree angles. I assumed wrong so now I have a corner shelf that doesn’t fit in any of the corners of my bathroom. Hm, what else? Oh, I experienced my first storm in my new home last weekend! I got maybe 2 hours of sleep because I was trying to mop water out of my living room and kitchen while fixing up leaking windows… with a flashlight in my mouth because the light in the living room does not work. I think it’s time to weatherproof my home! I can’t complain though, I have electricity, running water, a bath tub, and good cell phone reception which some volunteers are going without (SORRY ANDREA!).

I spend a good chunk of my day at Motswakhumo CJSS since it is my main workplace. I have a really wonderful counterpart and guidance and counseling teacher to work with. There’s usually some kind of meeting every morning, whether it is an assembly for the students, staff meeting, house meeting (no Slytherin and Gryffindor houses, but similar! Khama and Sechele) and a G&C extended registration time. Lately, I’ve been conducting interviews with the staff and I only have 50 more to go! Hopefully since I finished about 20 in a week, I’ll be done in the next two weeks. This coming week is actually mid-term break which is just like spring break in the states and so after this week, there are two more weeks of school before a month long break. Instead of having a 3 month summer break, Botswana schools have a month long break after every 3 months, so the school year is split into 3 terms. Now for the confusing part, my school (and many other schools) is scheduled on a 6 day week. For example let’s say Day 1 begins on Monday. That would make Day 5 Friday and the Monday next week is Day 6. In week 2, Day 1 would begin on a Tuesday so Friday would be Day 4 and the next week Day 1 would be a Wednesday. The reasoning behind this? Students at Motswakhumo don’t have all their classes in one day (kind of like block scheduling) so that way they don’t have to suffer through Math EVERY Monday. I guess it kind of is a relief to both teachers and students so they don’t have always have to be the last one to leave on a Friday or what not. I’m finally getting used to it but it’s interesting not only being confused about what day of the week it is… but what school day it is too! The teachers at Motswakhumo do not have a set classroom they’re in. Usually what happens in many JSSs in Botswana is that instead of the students moving between periods, the teachers move. The students are in specific classes and grades are called Form in their equivalent to Middle School. There are 6 Form 1 classes,(first year of JSS) which are labeled A-F and 5 of each Form 2 and 3 classes. If you ask a student what class they are in, they will respond ‘1C’ or ‘3B.’ The problem at my school is that there is a shortage of classrooms and it would be unfair, for example, for class 1B to be in the outdoor classroom all day for the whole term in the cold. Now let me tell you, it’s COLD HERE! So at Motswakhumo both the teachers and students move between periods.

I started a Question/Suggestion box for the students in my school. I announced during assembly that they may ask me any questions about Life Skills, relationships, school, about me, or anything, anonymously since many of them were too shy to approach me. They questions are very interesting! I’ve got questions about everything from STDs, to School Fees, and Self-esteem issues. Most of the questions are about relationships however and some are cute (I have been looking for a girlfriend but I can’t get one what do I do?) and some are very serious. I’ve had a couple about abusive relationships. I had to discuss these with the G&C teachers and they made sure to look over my answers (make sure I was within cultural bounds and what not). Many of them were super interested which is great because I plan to pass this project onto a student peer to peer counseling group and an advisor. I post the questions and answers in the window of the G&C building every Friday so students can take a look whenever they want. I’ve also been analyzing some of the student surveys I’ve received. I’m a little overwhelmed by that alone but things are going well. I’m hoping with the teacher interviews and surveys, student surveys, and by looking at the questions students are asking, I’ll get a good handle of assessing the school (GO PACA TOOLS!). But what else have I done you ask? =) Well, I don’t know if it’s luck (most likely) or if it’s my charming personality and persuasiveness, but the school Announcement Board was moved next to the Assembly area on Friday! Why is this so epic?! Well, when I first looked for a place to post my answers to the question box, I immediately went on search for an Announcement board. Well I found it, and I realized it was gated off. Then I tried to get in and walked around the gated area for an opening… to find none. This is when I decided I should talk to a teacher and found out that the Announcement Board was not used for 4 years! 4+ years ago, there was no gate I guess but they decided to fence it off to prevent vandalism. I guess there was a lot of commotion about it getting moved by a teacher but that teacher ended up getting transferred (teachers usually don’t stay in a school for more than 5 years in Botswana, some kind of policy or something) and then there was no one doing the harassing. So I brought it up with my counterpart and she and I talked to the crafts improver and he said it was difficult to move because it was cemented in. They did it though and finished in 2 days which is awesome because right after we come back from break, it should be filled with NEW announcements! Hurrah! But what is my Biggest accomplishment so far? Besides the fact that I’ve “taught” a class and walked around the village meeting people with my fly down (different days), I taught a teacher how to play minesweeper! That’s right, I am teaching computer competency thank you very much!

That’s pretty much my mornings and early afternoons. If I finish early, I like making small talk with the teachers and staff or harassing the students to use my question box. Afternoons are when the club meetings are held so that’s how I occupy my time then. The afternoons that I am free, I like to roam around the village and look for fruits and vegetables. Since getting to Gaborone (Gabs as it’s fondly called) is a pain, costly, and kind of forbidden territory for the first 10 weeks of lockdown in my village, I go on these hunts. The last couple times I’ve found food in my village (I’m talking about vegetables and fruit specifically here, I can find cookies, chips, flour, sugar and rice everywhere) it was rotting with flies crawling on it (head of cabbage) I was not pleased. I did however find lemons and onions. There is a butchery here but… let’s just say I’m not ready to make that leap yet. So I eat lots of oatmeal with lots of milk because I want to use it before it goes bad (no refrigeration). PBJ is a staple now… until the bread gets moldy then I switch to PBJ on crackers. It’s funny, the night after I go grocery shopping in Gaborone, I make sure I have elaborate dinners… like the other night I had curry with lots of vegetables and rice or I make a super vegetable filled spaghetti sauce with garlic bread because not only do I have the vegetables, I HAVE to use them within 3-4 days. Well I guess I don’t have to, but that would just be a waste then. Oh, and I make awesome potato chips now. Another staple.

My neighbors are super nice. There’s definitely a language barrier however with the kids and the elderly. Many adults know how to speak English but sometimes it involves lots of repeating and hand gestures. My landlady and I are getting especially good at the gestures. I think we would make an unbeatable team if we played charades. My neighbor’s kids are so cute!!!!! I’ll take pictures soon. One of the girls who lives near me and attends the Junior Secondary School offered to braid my hair! Hopefully I’ll be able to get that done! =)

I think that’s more than enough for one blog! I’ll keep updating when I get a chance. Thanks for all your emails and I miss you all very much!

--Nicole--

When there are no street lights, it is hard to get home... lesson learned

Finally! I get to to sit down and write on my blog. I really need to do this ahead of time but that would just be too productive.

Once again... my new Address is on the right.

I got a great email from a friend (We miss you Regina!) and so part of this entry is dedicated to her. Here's an excerpt:

"I especially want your take on the "ceremonies": 1. Meeting your host family for the first time ceremony 2. Site assignment ceremony and of course 3 The swearing in ceremony (again your pictures are fantastic - are you just a great photographer or is it the camera? What kind of camera do you have?) I also want to know how you receive mail while in training, and how are the language tests!!!! Are you fluent in Setswana yet :) That was a joke."

1. Wow the host family meeting seemed like it was so long ago! I wrote a little about it in a previous entry I think... but looking back now, it has the same layout as any meeting/ceremony thing in Botswana. I think that when it comes to parties/ceremonies/meetings Batswana really like to have a specific structure (i.e. start with prayer, some form of singing, formal introductions, nitty gritty, some form of singing, and the end prayer/Tshegofatso(blessing). I see this at my assemblies at schools too). I don't remember much besides being worried that I was not greeted by a host mama. Instead, I was surrounded by four men (my brothers and neighbor) who ended up all being super awesome. Also, once I got placed with my family, I was too bombarded with questions to actually watch other volunteers get paired. =)

2. Site Assignment Ceremony- This was a very up and down emotional rollercoaster event. From what I remember, we started out the ceremony excited (naturally), but then we got an announcement that our country director, Peggy, was unable to join us. She was attending to a third year extension Peace Corps Volunteer, Kathy, who passed away from an automobile accident in Gaborone. My sincere sympathy goes out to her friends and family.
The ceremony consisted of us going in random order (from the numbers under our seats) up to the table to pick up a ginger cookie without our name on it (Thanks Peggy!) and then the Peace Corps Trainers announcing our sites, sticking our names (not the cookie) on the map and clapping. This was a generally happy moment. Then we got a piece of paper with our amenities. Then some of us were not so happy. I think the best part of the whole day was we got awesome food... including vegetables!!!!

3. The swearing in ceremony was fantastic! It was pretty much the same format as everything else, but we were so excited to be done with training! Many of us were in traditional clothing (including me! well the skirt anyways) that we either bought or were given to us by our host families (thanks Mme!!) The pictures speak for themselves. Before the ceremony, we had our paper plate awards, (refer to pictures) which was very cute. I don't know if I told ya'll about fatcakes, but they are absolutely delicious. They're pretty much Doughnuts with no sugar (which we discovered we could improvise and add on our own) and I was pretty cranky and bitter when I didn't get them during our tea. I think Peace Corps ended up providing them out of fear because we were all pretty cranky without them. =) Thanks Peace Corps! The former President Mogae attended which was absolutely awesome since he was the person who pushed to get the Peace Corps back in Botswana 7 years ago. He's the man who wanted us so of course, we felt loved. Our families were there, we did some presentations, had great food... just absolutely awesome. As you can see I took lots of pictures =).

Regina, it's not me, it's the camera! I have a Fujifilm f31fd. I researched this camera with the help of a friend (thanks jimmy!) for almost a year. I highly recommend it if you don't mind that it's not as slim as the snazzy new cameras on the market but it has a lot of manual functions for a point and shoot. Plus it has an awesome face detection technology so people's faces tend to come out clear!
My Setswana is still terrible, but I think Batswana love to laugh at me so it's helping me make friends. Who knew being terrible at something would get you far? Lastly, yes I tried the mopane worm. Let's just say it's not my snack of choice...

So I moved out to Lentsweletau into a cute little house. The yard is a headache but I managed to plant some lettuce and basil and I am crossing my fingers that they will actually grow.

I am very relieved training is over. I think in the end, I felt like the trainees were cattle and we were herded here and there and told what to do. I guess Peace Corps did warn us about it in our handbook prior... I just didn't expect it to that extent.

So... I found out that there is no such thing as anoniminity in Botswana! I forgot to turn in my end of training survey back into Peace Corps and then I get a call reminding me to turn it in! =) Even with 50+ volunteers, they seem to be able to keep track of us in that manner. =)

Well, I must start heading home so I can get home before dark. I have walked home in the dark about 4 times now... 3 of those times I got lost for over half an hour and once I was so lost that I had to knock on a random person's door to point me out in the right direction. They ended up driving me home.

Sigh.... more later! I will write lengthy emails soon! and I'll try to respond more regularly. Thanks for all your support!

--Tshego--

VERY QUICK POST

I am so sorry for my lack of blogginess. I haven't had time to get to an internet cafe for personal use in since the last update.

Please note I have a new address! (seen on the right)

Oh! and I am now officially a Peace Corps Volunteer! (PCV not PCT anymore! yay!)

Yes I have moved into my new home in Lentsweletau (Len Tsway Lay Dta Oo). It is an hour away from Gaborone by bus on a GOOD day. I think you can find it on Google Earth. I have no stove but i am borrowing an electric one that has a temperament very close to mine... so sometimes it'll give me time to make hot meals and sometimes, it just won't let me cook =). Living without a refrigerator is tough but do-able in this cold weather. IT IS VERY COLD. Getting up in the mornings and walking to school is a great feat for me. Yes you heard me correctly... i wake up in the mornings now! Sadly, I am awake before noon (around 5:30) every morning and I am quite bitter about it.

I found out that I can leave milk out for 3 days and it's still okay. Actually, I leave all sorts of food out and I haven't been too terribly sick yet.

New pictures are up! We were very lucky to have the former President Mongae at our ceremony! Picture of my home are up too. Oh yes... those frogs were in my sink. My kitchen sink. And I accidentally touched them. I was wondering why my sink wasn't draining... now I know why.

Keep sending me updates! they are wonderful! I will update prior to visiting the internet cafe next time.

Miss you all very much!

A Look into Botswana Schools, Jwaneng Mine, my site placement ANNOUNCED and lots of food! =)

Happy June!!!!!! Already a new month! What an exciting last week of the month! Definitely worthy of an update.

So it looks like I haven’t talked about the school I’ve been visiting. The Life Skills PCTs tested out the field by being assigned to a school in Molepolole. My group (Me, Kate, and Andrea) were assigned to Tshegetsang Junior Secondary School. There are pictures up (Link to your right if you are interested. Some interesting facts:

1. Junior Secondary is an equivalent to Middle School or Junior High in the states.
2. Age does not really correlate to grade level and students start school later (around age 7) so Junior Secondary school encompasses students in the age range of 13-17
3. Although the school looks wonderful outside, the classroom walls are very bare. This is because posters and pins are stolen and so teachers have given up on putting up posters.
4. Teachers do not necessarily have a room. They do as much swapping of classrooms as the students.
5. Although the lay language is Setswana, schools are taught in English by what is a 4^th grade equivalent. Imagine learning Biology in another language!
6. Schools maintain Setswana by having it as a subject along with English, History, Geography, Math, and Agriculture. (There are also music and computer classes)
7. From my experience at Tshegetsang, when there is a shortage of books, up to 6 students crowd around one book. When there is a shortage of chairs, kids double up. When we came in to the classroom to watch, 3 students gave up their chairs for us (the teacher insisted) and doubled up.
8. Disciplinary action (involving a stick) can be taken upon the students but there are specific rules involving it.
   

That was a lot to take in. Moving on…

Friday we got to go to Jwaneng Mine. I think it’s the 2^nd or 3^rd biggest mine in the world but the highest valued (I guess the quality is super nice). The mine was huge and looked nothing like I expected it to look like. It was pretty much a big hole. I should have figured but I guess I haven’t really thought about it before. No I didn’t get to see any diamonds, but I did get to see lots of dirt and a HUGE truck. There were lots of strict rules. One was if you dropped something, you had to make sure a facilitator watches you as you pick it up. Oh and you are scanned as you leave the mine. Pretty fancy huh? Jwaneng (the city) is very distinctive because it actually has… road signs! You can tell this city has money. The supermarkets in Jwaneng also have better food so I got to satisfy my Guava cravings. =)

Saturday was a big day for the PCTs. It was site placement day. When everyone was in a seat, we were told to look under our seats for our number order. It was a cute ceremony where we went up one by one, picked up our name written on a ginger break cookie in the shape of a house, pulled out a number and matched it to the corresponding number on a map of Botswana. I was lucky enough to be #11 so my misery was ended relatively quickly but poor Andrea was #52, and by the time she went up, her number card (from under the seat) looked pretty beaten up.

The name of the village I will be staying in for the next 2 years is Lentsweletau (Lehn ts-way lay D/Tah oo) with a population of 4000 people, about 60 km from Gaborone and no market. I have to go to Gaborone or Molepolole for food (the time it takes to get out of the village to the main road + about a one hour bus ride). I don’t know much about it except supposedly *crosses fingers* I have electricity, cell phone coverage, public phone access, running water inside the house, toilet inside the house, access to public transportation and a post office. Let’s see how accurate it is.

Andrea however (who is living in Gakuto, about 30 min from me supposedly) has no electricity, spotty cell phone coverage, no running water inside the house, no toilet inside the outside (pit latrine/outhouse ready) and no post office. I think my poor girl is nervous (especially about the electricity and cell phone) and is frantically looking into solar energy. If you know lots about this, please email me and I’ll relay the information to her!

So as expected, some volunteers were thrilled, some were in tears, and some were angry. I’m wondering how Peace Corps went about the process of choosing who goes where.

Although I am not living somewhere awesome like in the Delta, please consider coming to visit me in Botswana! I’d love to house any of you =).

Sunday, the Life Skills group plus some honorary members pot lucked it out at Francine and Andy’s host’s place where they hosted (whew that was a mouthful). Oh my goodness… I can’t remember a happier day in my life within the last month. There were 4 different types of pizza, salads, lamb, fish, EVERYTHING! And the dessert… ACK just look at the pictures. I feel like I’ve eaten enough to be content for 3 days. Thanks Francine and Andy for hosting us!

Last thing is… people have been asking about the things I am lacking here. Here’s my list but please don’t feel obligated to send anything (except #1!!!), especially since I haven’t really gotten to look around for things yet:

1. A letter or postcard from all of you! I promise I’ll send one back! Please make sure to provide a return address. Add a recent photo of you in the letter too!
2. A good book (please don’t bother going out and buying this though, I’d prefer secondhands)
3. Cookbooks, or your favorite recipes
4. Waterless Hand Sanitizer
5. Lint Roller
6. Swiffer sheets (or anything that picks up dust)
7. Cheese (I don’t know how exactly this would work, but hey, Botswana is definitely cheeseless. (or at least good cheeseless)
8. Latest music, or tv shows (plenty of bootleg movies here) or a video of you. Take your pick.

I think that’s about it! I am going to see my site this coming Wednesday and I will update with pictures and information.

I miss you all and I hope you are all well. Thank you for your continuous support!

-Tshego-

Update... With pictures!

Dumela Friends and Family!

I cannot believe it’s been almost a month since I’ve written a detailed blog! I apologize – even though I’m running on Africa Time, days have been passing by quickly.

First of all if you notice on your right, there is some new information! There is a link to my photos and ways to send me extra love =). The photo album labeled “through my eyes” is the album that holds my favorite pictures. Enjoy =).

Shoutout!:

*hugs* to Sue for your postcard! I miss you and I hope that job search is going well!

Hmm… lots of things have happened since my megablog… oh one thing I forgot to mention. I got to see the main clinic in Mabutsane and see Bill and Melinda Gates’ money at work. They provided an infectious diseases control center for Mabutsane’s clinic which was built on the side of the main clinic building and the counseling trailer. Although there were only 2 or 3 patients in the entire clinic, it was nice to know that this clinic was available. I’m pretty sure that I want my secondary project to be somehow involved with a clinic. There were no doctors available however, because they were bitter about being picked up late (around midnight) from a neighboring village and decided they could have a day off. Maybe that’s why there were no patients.

Anyway pictures are up of my shadowing experience. The photos I took on the game drive doesn’t do the real thing any justice. Who thought the Kalahari would be absolutely stunning?

So here’s a little blurb about what I am doing as a Life Skills Volunteer. The LS group will be working with guidance and counseling teachers in schools to implement the new Botswana Life Skills Program (which incorporates HIV/AIDS). Most of will be living on teacher’s compounds on a school site, but will be responsible for all the schools in the area. The Botswana government wants to try out this LS program (hence being a pilot) in Kweneng district and then if it is successful, it will be implemented throughout Botswana. The LS program talks about a broad spectrum of topics, everything from nationalism to nutrition and of course HIV/AIDS. Our job (well every PCVs job) will be to network Batswana because there is a huge communication problem especially between parents and children and men and women. Soooo we have to be involved, but not too involved because it is best if Batswana takes care of sustaining their own support groups and/or networks. More on this later…

So as an Asian American, I am a minority in the US and a super minority in Botswana. The few Asians in Botswana all seem to own shops (filled with everything from radios to clothes to coffee tables) and so these shops are coined “China Shops.” Besides the “Hey China China China!” I sometimes hear on my walks, I get other kinds of discrimination. 1) Batswana have asked me if I was going to open my shop that day 2) On the way to Mabutsane, a man squinted at me everytime I looked over at him (so I decided to squint back) 3) If I am surrounded by other PCTs, they either ignore me (after they bombard my white friends with greetings) or if they don’t ignore me, they ask “and where are you from?” after someone has already explained we are all from America. No I haven’t been asked if I know kung fu yet. Yes I am a little disappointed.

Another thing I have been experiencing. Batswana women (strangers) love to grab and squeeze my body. All over and every part of my body and they especially like placing their hands on my chest. I mean they see me and after they find out I am a “friendly” Asian looking American, they start squealing “oh you’re so fat! You’re so fat!” Of course these women are bigger than I am. I wonder how they would feel if I started grabbing at their body and saying the same thing. I think I’ll try it.

Oh in my pictures, there is an album filled with the PCTs relaxing. So “Lekgoa (white person) Lodge” as I fondly call it is where I am on Sundays instead of church (sorry grandma). In fact, some volunteers have called it Kereke (church) to their host families. In Botswana, if you go into a bar, you are labeled as a drunk, even if you only had a coke! So we had to find a place where we can relax and be… Americans. The pictures should be self explanatory.

Some random things I have noticed:

- There is definitely a lack of good cheese here. Almost all of it is processed. The cheese that isn’t processed still tastes processed. I am so sad

- Finding hand crafted stuff is difficult

- There are some crazy delicious chip flavors here. Like Doritos has a sun dried tomato, chili and poppy seed flavor here. Oh and of course tomato flavor and fruit chutney flavor, and STEER and my favorite… these whole wheat crackers called vita-snacks that come in cream cheese and chili flavor.

- Electricity is prepaid for. When you need electricity, you take this paper card (not unlike a BART ticket) run to the electricity store (yes run, because no one remembers to get electricity before you only have a couple minutes left) and then stick it in this bomb looking machine in the kitchen. The number resets and it feels like you just survived a near death experience.

- Gasoline comes in huge tanks and I still haven’t figure out how to attach it to the stove.

- I am now washing my underwear in my dirty bath water everyday because I am tired of laundry and my gigantic loads of underwear and socks. Since I often have water crises in my house, I cannot risk doing saving laundry for a specific weekend or I will have nothing to wear.

Weather has been nicer during the day. No more of those crazy storms and crazy winds but it has definitely been colder. In fact, I wake up in the middle of night absolutely freezing. I sleep with a tank top, shirt, undershirt, and fleece sweater and two blankets. I know, I know, I am being a Katie Lenhoff.

So today we got an extensive lecture on the reasoning behind “Africa/Botswana Time.” Most of you could have guessed the whole sunrise, sunset, and noon thing. There’s also a star that comes out right before dawn which signifies a specific time in the morning. The most interesting though is the claim that the roosters here crow every hour. I think my rooster is broken because my rooster crows whenever and how ever long he wants to. Another thing is our trainers told us that the goats go home around before or around 6 pm and so that is a time of day for them. During training, we were pretty much told that we a meeting is an all day event and that we needed to live in a “polychronic” time not the “monochronic” time we are used to in the states.

INSECT BITE UPDATE!:

I have some nasty huge bites that my calf, my right middle finger knuckle is swollen and my the back of my right hand is huge. Oh and I have a huge huge huge bite on my neck. I think I’m going to cover myself in saran wrap before I sleep.

I’ll put up pictures of the house I live in soon.

Any requests on topics or pictures? I’m open to anything. =) I miss you all!

Go Siame!

--Tshego--