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 You can see my clutter and the outdated maps covering my dirty walls.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!