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--