I made American food...yay!

April 21, 2011

Made dun dan again for me…and my sister. She said she liked it. I don’t know if she actually ate it…but she did say she liked it. People are really polite here. In class, they really like to emphasize this trait about the Batswana, and I’m beginning to catch on. Anyways, took the rest of my group through the shortcut…and we made in no time…15 minutes again, and that includes us walking with an 84 year-old trainee, a 60+ year old sick trainee, and 2 other trainees. Got there right on time. School felt longer than usual today. Until the end. We jump roped, and played Botswana’s version of Chinese jump rope. We got a bit of a work out from all this. It was a cross-cultural experience where they were trying to teach us the games that they played while growing up. It was fun. We played a human version of tug-o-war…in other words…there is no rope…it’s you pulling on people. Lol. You form 2 teams. You hold onto the waist of the person in front of you. One team is pulling one way. Another team is pull another way. We collectively use all our strength to break the other team, and we get the player who gets pulled off the other team. Haha. it was funny. Many of us were getting pulled so hard, our feet were no longer on the ground. Lol. It gets to be vicious and dangerous because people are falling and stumbling all over each other. It’s pretty funny. We were hot and exhausted by the end of training today.

I walk home. I run into a group of girls a little younger than me. We strike up a conversation about where I’m staying, why I’m here, and for how long. Turns out one of them is a cousin to my host sisters. Cool. I get hollered at by a drunk man. How drunk men, that I don’t remember meeting, know my name is beyond me. The drunk guy is yelling “Gorata! Come here!” in Setswana. The girls tell me to say “I refuse!” in Setswana. Lol. Awesome…thanks, ladies! J I walk home, and there’s another girl in the living room. Ah! It’s the oldest host sister, the one that lives in Gabs! She’s come home for the weekend, her name is Ame. I think she’s a year or 2 younger than me. She’s working in IT as a programmer in Gabs. Lol. Omg, just brought back memories. Lol.

Anyways, Kese tells me I’m was gonna cook today, cuz I went shopping yesterday to cook for them. I decided, out of what I could find in the market yesterday, to make my casserole. Haha. but unfortunately, there weren’t enough potatoes and we were out of bread crumbs. IMPROVISE. Mashed up potatoes, cauliflower, and broccoli. Added butter, milk, black pepper, salt, and some dried Italian herbs. Then had my sister help me debone my chicken and just leave me the meat. We shred the nama ya koko (chicken meat) into the mixture. I create cream of chicken soup from a dried packet. Then instead of chicken stove top stuffing…and lack thereof bread, I get some chicken stock cubes with water to make chicken stock. Then add corn flakes. Then add pepper and the herbs. That is my makeshift stuffing. Somehow find a casserole dish. Put my mixture at the bottom. Add the soup on top of it. Then add the corn flakes. Bake it for 20 minutes. And I devoured it. As for everyone else…haha, well not so much. They took a bite and realized they didn’t like it. Haha. WELCOME TO MY WORLD…for the past 2 weeks (wow…it’s now at 2 weeks…crazy)!!! Yay! More for me. I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I am happy. And I got greens. Though I did get one fan…I guess the dad really liked it! Haha. I’m full. I feel healthier. I tried. Can’t do much better than that at this moment. Lol. This was probably one of the most improvised meals I have ever made. And to be honest, it wasn’t half bad (by my standards)! J Ah just another day of cultural exchanges here in Botswana!

food...and...food...and...FOOD...and community integration. :P

April 18, 2011

Went into Gaborone (Gabs) today. We were supposed to get our banking done, as well as our immigration papers taken care of. Unfortunately, the civil workers were on strike today. And when we got to immigration…the system was conveniently down. We were only able to get our banking papers done. But immigration will need to be followed up on a later date. Don’t worry…the day was nowhere near a waste.

WE ATE PIZZA. OMG…you have NO IDEA how happy that made many of us. The staff let us wander to the mall nearby, which had all sorts of fast food, but most importantly… PIZZA. It was buy one get one free. I honestly thought I was in heaven. I got 2 pizzas and cheesy garlic bread. Then we got ice cream. We all had HUGE grins on our face. That was PERFECT. For the first time in 2 weeks, I finally felt full. Uncomfortably full. But full. And we had ALL missed that feeling. Something I am jealous for all of you still in the states…is that you can eat EVERYTHING and ANYTHING/make EVERYTHING and ANYTHING. We have to live off of what we have in the kitchen…and $4/day. So even if I wanted to go to the market to buy food to make, I can’t even afford it, let alone go out to eat (today was an exception…out of sanity sake).

An important thing to clarify. We are not hungry here because there is not enough food. Let me emphasize this. In fact, often, our families load our plates up so much that we can barely even finish half of our plates. It was just that we’re not used to the food and find it difficult to become accustomed to the new tastes. Many of us eat…to eat here, but not so much to taste anymore. So we don’t eat until we’re full, we eat until we feel like we’ve gotten enough nutrition out of the meal, since we’re not enjoying our meals as much. But for the most part, we end up hungry still or sooner than later because we haven’t eaten enough (out of choice). So today’s pizza meal, was our first satisfying full meal, and it was amazing.  I can say I am now a happy camper again.  J We can’t wait for our next immigration trip to Gabs (and boy, were we glad that the system was down)!

April 20, 2011

Sigh…oh 4/20. Happy 4/20 to all of you who enjoy this day! Anyways, today started out pretty good. I got a call from mom and dad. Then I got a call from mikey! Yay!!! J so good to hear from friendly voices. Thanks for calling! I made breakfast…and I made a CHINESE breakfast. We call it dun dan. Which means steamed egg is Chinese. So what it is…an egg, milk, and some sugar. Beat the mixture. Steam the egg in a cup, and there you have it…dun dan! What made this so special to me was that I just used what was in the kitchen and I was able to make a home comfort food. So that started my day out pretty good. J

I was running a bit late with everything that was going on this morning. So I told the others to head off to the kgotla before me, I didn’t want them to wait. I had been taken on a short cut a couple of times to the kgotla, so I decided to explore and take this route. I can’t emphasize how awesome it is. It’s awesome because, this is what the locals use and only locals know this…and I did this on my own after being shown it twice. You go through narrow dirt paths in between houses, turning right then left, then right…so on so forth. What would have normally taken me a 30 minute walk by paved road…got me there in 15 minutes. AND I beat everyone. And I finally feel like I’m getting a hang of living out here. I remember the first time I went on this shortcut, I thought to myself “wow…there is no way I could ever remember this, how do people remember these little paths?! I’m never gonna get used to this…” but I did it!!! J YAAAYYY!!! This is a big step at making myself feel more a part of my surroundings. Super proud of myself.

So did the whole class thing today. We had healthy outlets, which just means working out. Instead of basketball, they have net ball. Which basically means a metal pole with a circle on top. No backboard. No net. Just a hoop. It is incredibly frustrating and difficult to get the ball into the hoop. I played with a hula hoop (my friend has one) and a jump rope. Haha I haven’t done these things since elementary school, but fun nonetheless.

Then I had the Peace Corps driver drop me off at Choppies (more like I jumped out of the car and took off). I go shopping. No one bothers me. No one says anything to me. I don’t get strange stares. I’m actually grateful. I’m guessing, being that I was by myself…they probably just thought I was just one of the normal Chinese people that are around. I am totally ok with that right now, in a way it makes me feel like I blend in. I grab a few things, and I get to the checkout counter. “GORATA! O tlhoktse jang?!” wow…even the checkout lady knows who I am. I am surprised. Then, all the other check out ladies and bag ladies are saying “GORATA!” I have no idea how everyone knows who I am. I swear I had only told one of the checkout ladies what my name is…but I guess I’m a hard face to forget around here, the one asian normally with all the white people. I couldn’t help but laugh. Not gonna lie, I kinda liked it. This is interesting. I guess this is what Peace Corps calls community integration. Lol. I run into my LCFs at the market. They ask me “Who are you with?” haha…”whoops…ya…just me…” haha. They just smile. They’ve heard the stories. They tell me, we heard Gorata walks around by herself. Gorata knows her way around town. And now...everyone at Choppies knows her. I say go siame to everyone, and I climb into a combi and then walk home. J

Today was a good day. Today I proved to myself that I can live here. It gave me that confidence that I can be on my own. That I will be able to integrate into my community. That I can be a part of a community that knows who I am and will look out for me. That I can make friends out here. Today showed me tangible progress that I can do this.  Now I just need to be weary of the praying mantis that is flying around the house…I can’t kill it because apparently it means good luck for a praying mantis to enter your house in Botswana…go figure. *Ding* cultural difference. Lol. 

I made it through my first week of PST...WOO!

April 12, 2011

Someone please tell me a way to kindly deny eating pink squishy “meat”. It really doesn’t sit so well with me.  Sigh…I would love to cook for them. But I have no idea how to cook their food. Now…I just need to keep telling myself that deal with the 2 week intervals. In 2 weeks I go shadowing…where I follow around a volunteer. That’s in a 2 weeks. Then 2 and half weeks after that I visit my site (which I won’t know for another 4 weeks). Then 2 and half weeks after that…I begin my service. So we have 2 and half week intervals or checkmarks during training. Is it bad that I feel like I am already counting down the days for site?

Today was filled with many uncomfortable situations. 1) one of the trainees got attacked and bitten by 3 dogs. Not so great. A fellow trainee and I were the first ones on the scene. Her leg did not look very good.  2) we couldn’t figure out where our class was. 3) I was served pink squishy meat.  4) I was asked by someone to borrow 50 pula…and felt obliged to provide…even though I’m not supposed to 5) first pick-up encounter…where the guy wanted to follow me home, and couldn’t figure out a way to shake him…until I ran off into my compound.

All in all, today was not my favorite day. By the end of it, I was burned out and slightly cracking. And of course, my super friend to the rescue, Colin, always makes me feel better, even when I am 9 hours ahead, an ocean away, and 23 cents a minute to talk to. (where would I be without him?!)  I got really homesick today. I missed my friends. I missed my family. I missed my life at home. But, hey…I opted for this didn’t i? so I’m trying my best to stick with it. But I’m entitled every now and again to miss home and the people I love. So I’m not gonna feel bad about a little breakdown. It’s gonna happen…but as long as I don’t give up, it’s ok. I just pretended I was at home watching Mad Men (besides the constant spraying and inhalation of bug spray at every bug that comes in my room, cuz I’m paranoid as shit right now about getting bitten…either that shit is gonna destroy my lungs/brain cells, or I’m just gonna get high off it).

April 14, 2011

Ke lapile. I’m tired. I think I figured out why I feel like these 2 weeks have been sooooooo long. It’s my first whole week here in Kayne…and I feel like I’ve been here for months already. But I think I know what it is. I’m ALWAYS on here. Like ALWAYS. You know how normally 9 to 5…you put your work face on? Well here, it’s on ALL the time. I go to school at 730 AM, and from there I learn Setswana for 4 hours. Then I go and learn about the culture or HIV/AIDS. Then I come home at around 5 PM, and people are still always trying to talk to me in Setswana. Which is fine, which is great, because it helps me practice. But I get NO time off, and barely any time to myself. I’m busy making friends with everyone around me. I get soooooo tired of saying to hi to EVERYONE I pass. After a while, saying hi just gets tiring. Who knew, right?! But this is my life. This is what my life is gonna be like for the next 2 years. Well, at least once I get to my site, my home will be my space. So that will be my safe haven. But it’s kinda crazy to think this is gonna be my life for the next 2 years. I guess I’ll get used to it. Maybe I’m still in a bit of culture shock. Didn’t think I would be…but who did I think I was to begin with, thinking that I would be ok all the way through?!

Omg…today was all about FOOD. All day, all the trainees could talk about was FOOD. What we wanted to eat. What we wanted to cook. What we couldn’t wait to eat. What we missed eating. Omg…we just wanted to eat! I think the hardest thing for us to all get used to is the food. We basically eat the same things every day, with a ton of EXTRA salt and sugar to everything. We’ve been burnt out a bit on the food, but we eat it because we don’t want to be rude, or because we need to eat something. Many of us used to eat for taste, not so much cuz we just needed to eat something. So maybe we just aren’t used to not eating for taste. So this is something we’re definitely going to need to adjust to. Or just be ok with for 2 months. Then once we reach our site…hopefully we’ll have WAY MORE control over our food situation.

Side note, do I laugh a lot?! Cuz people here seem to think that I laugh a lot. And they make it a point to comment on it. I ask them “is that a bad thing?!” and they say “no…you just laugh a lot!” i guess I laugh so much, that a local asked me what was wrong with me and if I was high! WHAT?! UH….no! unless maybe off the bug spray…but nothing else! Lol. Jeez people. At least they find it amusing…or I can be more positive…find it enduring? Lol. My sister is funny. We were walking home from the store…and it was dark out. I was like “I can’t see!” and she’s like “Ah…Rati! OPEN YOUR EYES….like this, Rati! OPEN YOUR EYES like this!” and her eyes go super big and I can see the whites of her eyes go as big as my normal eye. I keep having to remind her that I’m asian and my eyes are just made squinty and I can’t open them any wider! lol. We have a good time. We basically walk home just making fun of each other. Glad to see Batswana have the same sense of humor. YAY! J

April 15, 2011

OMFG…WTF is going on?! Lol. Today was a tremendous day. I don’t exactly know how today happened…but it was a whirlwind…and I’m in fucking AFRICA. It’s funny where that statement actually hits us trainees. Today…classes were ridiculously long. Too much to learn…so little time. But we’re getting there.

 Then…we were hit with the saddest news. One of our trainees has to leave due to personal family health issues. It was incredibly heartbreaking and it made me shut up about all my complaining. We were all devastated at the news of him leaving. Many of us (girls) were crying. Of all people, he deserved to be here most. I have never done a prayer before. But I joined into a prayer circle, and I have never been so moved and so proud to be a part of a prayer circle to wish him the best and to be brave. Best of luck to him, and I hope that in the end he gets everything he hopes and strives for in life. We love you and will miss you. You will never be far from our thoughts. And we hope you come back to us! *HUGS* L

Many of us being so sad and shocked by this news, we were in no mood but to unwind. We end up at the nearest watering hole, called the Motse Lodge. And we all are in desperate need for a drink to ease the shock of everything that we have gone through in the last week. And that is what we did…drink. Cheers to our lost comrade. Cheers to surviving our first week of home stay. Cheers to US for just being here. We had some good talks and really delved into everyone’s personalities. We had all sorts of talks that of course led to inappropriate TMI, but at this point, we figured, it’ll be all thrown out there. Glad to see we are all incredibly honest! Apparently, I’m badass. Then incredibly girly. Lol. I think I’m ok with that assessment about me. It started pouring. I ran out into the rain and did a pula dance. I love dancing in the rain. And fuck that…I had rain boots on…so why not?! 2 hours later, we are in a happy, toasty, friendly mood. We have already designated big houses and small houses between the trainees. Lol. We have an awesome group. Since the van can’t hold all 20 of us that went…half of us decide to trek it home. We walk up a hill, and 20 minutes into the walk…AFRICAN RAIN. And when I mean AFRICAN RAIN, I mean DOWNPOUR like I have never seen. THIS IS AFRICA….TIA. I am wearing rain boots, hiking up a hill, getting soaked to the core. I have never been so happy/excited about having a pair of shoes. Rain is coming in ALL directions. SPECTACULAR. All I could do was laugh at this point. I AM IN AFRICA…I AM IN BOTSWANA. I will never have an experience like this again later in life. As awful as that experience of walking home in the rain could have been, it was amazing, because for once…I am finally LIVING life. No more waiting…life is happening. *cheers to living life* (and by the time I got home…I didn’t care about what I was eating!)

April 16, 2011

WOW…day 2 of just CRAZY rain and crazy emotions.

Went to class this morning. Had a counseling session about having one of us leaving. It made us all very somber and really think about everything, like why we’re here, why we’re doing this, everything we’ve left behind, and how uncontrollable everything will be for us at home. Many of us left with tears in our eyes, and once again desperate for a drink. Though we all are trying to be strong, and ignoring a lot of the fears we are feeling about the decision we have made to serve as volunteers…we all felt a lot of vulnerability with the situations we are in. But at the end of the day, we are here for a reason, and we are here because this is what we want to be doing. And as much as this is about trying to make the world a little bit better of a place, we’re also very much here for us, and the dreams and goals we have for ourselves. And the way we’re gonna make it through this is to be strong and to stick together and be there for each other. And with that in mind, collectively we were a lot stronger.

We went to the lodge again after class to just unwind and to celebrate a few birthdays. More TMI conversations came up and we got to know even more about each other. With so much uncertainty in the air about where we’re all gonna end up for the next 2 years, it was good to hear from other trainees about their anxieties, and that we are all in the same boat. I ate a steak and cheese sandwich with fries and a salad. OMG, best meal I’ve had since I’ve gotten here.

A trainee that lives near me and I decide to try to walk home again before the storm hits…NOPE, once again, caught right in the MIDDLE of the storm. We hear thunder, we see lightening in the distance. And this time…it’s not just rain….there’s HAIL. FML. A car passes us they slow down…they continue on. Sigh. 2 minutes later, the car backs up. Stops. Ushers us to get in. It’s a nice middle generation couple…like our parents! Omg…I have never been so grateful for a ride. We jump right in. They are as sweet as they can be. They drive in the pouring/hailing condensation up the hill (that woulda probably taken us another 30 minutes to walk up in the storm…the whole ride up…all we can say is OMG…OMG…OMG…) and drop us off at the other trainee’s house. We thank them a thousand times over for picking us up and helping us out. I sprint as fast as I can back to my house…this time taking the windy short cut path back through the bushes, since I figured no one would be out in ridiculous storm just waiting to jump someone. The path is running like a river. ONCE AGAIN, I LOVE my rain boots. This is EXACTLY what I bought them for. I woulda been cursing the world over if I had been wearing my chucks. I open the door to the kitchen and my host dad and his friend look at me shocked as to how drenched I am. I stand there like WTF just happened…AGAIN. I immediately take off my dripping jacket and rain boots and hang it on the broom cuz I don’t want to get the rest of the house wet. Thank god I was wearing my rain coat today…otherwise it woulda been a wet t-shirt contest for me…and I definitely woulda won. THAT IS A FUCKING STORM. RIDICULOUS.

I’m sitting in my room. I feel like the roof is gonna just cave in under the pressure of the rain and hail that is storming above me right now. I have never heard or seen such a fierce rain storm. It doesn’t help that it is pounding on a tin roof, which just accentuates the sound of the storm. And I’m sitting in the dark because the electricity is out. 

April 18, 2011

I am going to go over more of what my home life/botswana culture is like. Like the cultural differences and similarities. But I gotta sit down and put all my thoughts together. So just you wait...I will post more later this week! and maybe...if your lucky...(and i get more comments :P) i'll have pictures! miss you guys! 

My first days at home stay...ups and downs...this one is a long one!

April 7,2011

Today was incredibly overwhelming. It was the first time since I’ve gotten here where I had to ask myself if I could do this. Getting matched with a family and living with them is crazy harder than I thought it would be. Trying to follow what is going on in my family’s life, may it be the big picture or the topic of conversation they are currently having, is really difficult and tiring. I never realized how hard it is to be in an environment where I don’t know what people are saying.

We made it out to Kayne. We were ALL so nervous in the morning. We were crazy with anticipation about how our host family was going to be and what amenities we were gonna have.

 At 11 AM we were given our host families. We were matched and when they called our name, the family member would come up and give their trainee’s a hug, and some were even picked up. Haha, it was funny watching some people getting picked up. I got matched with Rra Sebeelo which basically means Sir/Mister Sebeelo. He was very nice and laughed when we were matched. He gave me a hug and held my hand down the aisle (which all host parents did to their new “children”).  We talked for a bit, it was awkward, but it’s more cuz of the language barrier and understanding each other. I find out he has 5 kids with his wife.  

At lunch we all had lunches with our new host parent. Everyone was given a Setswana name. Rra named me Gorata (Hor-rat-a), which means “to be loved.” The funny thing about this is Amanda means the same, but he didn’t know that. Does that really mean I’m meant to be loved?! Lol. Jk.

 We drove back to his home and his 19 year old daughter greeted me. Her name is Lebo. She was very nice, and explained to me the rules of the house in English (she speaks super good English and understands everything that I am saying…so that’s awesome). They have electricity and running water and a toilet. YAY! J got the basic amenities that I was looking for. Though they don’t have hot water, so I have to take bucket baths. AH! Something new and something I was anticipating. Later my other host sister, she is 16 years old, came home from school. Her name is Kese.

We cook food cuz Rra was hungry, and I learned to make cole slaw. I told them I didn’t know how to cook and they were shocked. Haha. they expect me to cook for them, and I would totally be cool with that, if it was food that I know/can/am used to cooking. I am none of those, so I’m super nervous about doing it. I don’t know how to cook food with bones still in them. And all their food still has all the bones and fat still on it, which is starting to make me consider being a vegetarian for the next 2 months. AH! Anyways, Lebo cooked the chicken. We ate. I did the dishes. This is how they do the dishes. They plug the sink. Add water. Add powder soap into the sink. Then scrub all the plates, bowls, pots, utensils, all in the sink. Strangely, as I continued washing the dishes, they seemed to get less and less clean…if you catch my drift….

Lebo and I decide to go for a walk, cuz she needed to buy airtime for her cell phone. We walk to the general store, where I manage to get caught in a prickly plant, that decides to leave their pricklies in my shirt. So I spend the rest of the walk trying to get all the pricklies out of my shirt. I get there and there are a few girls as the general store around my age or younger.  My host sister introduces me to them and they get a kick out of my very limited/shy Setswana. They ask me how my hair is the way it is, and what I put in it to make it so straight and soft. Haha. I let them touch it, and they LOVE it. One started to braid my hair. They were fun. They joked around with me and asked me about where I was from and if I had a husband/boyfriend. They also asked me if the rest of the volunteers were asian like me, and I told them that I was the ONLY one of the group. Haha. When I left with my host sister from the general store, the girls told me to come back and hang out, and that they were my new friends. YAY! I apparently made new Batswana friends today! J I have started the integration process! WEEE!!!! J

The rest of the night was spent sitting around awkwardly because the TV was broken. My sisters taught me a few new words like “one” is “bongwe”. We chase a cow out of the yard. I show them pictures of LA. I am exhausted by 930. Tell them good night. Write in my journal. Then pass out instantly.

All in all, it was a very long day. And just incredibly overwhelming. Just trying to integrate into someone’s family is a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. They talk about me, but I don’t know what they are saying and it’s hard to decipher. But they are a cool family and I can see us having a lot of fun. I just wish I could understand them NOW. Lol. Something to learn…patience is a virtue….hopefully. 

April 8, 2011

I woke up today with 15 mosquito bites. Awesome. I am itchy all over. And took my first bucket bath. Haha. This consists of me heating up water over the stove in a designated pot for boiling bath water. Pour the hot water into my bucket. Add cold water to the boiling water in my bucket so it is just warm water. Crouch in the bath tub. Use my hands to form a cup and splash water on myself. Put shampoo/conditioner in my hair. Put soap on my body. Then once again use my hands to form a cup to wash the soap off. After a while, it wasn’t coming off, so I started just dumping a little bit of the water from the bucket on me. I’ll just say…I am so glad I cut my hair! Though I did feel cleaner, so it worked! YAY!! My first bucket bath completed! J don’t necessarily enjoy it, but it will do, and I will get clean. The end.

I make tea and eat a piece of bread, and my host sister Lebo walked me to the bus stop where the PC was going to pick us up to show us how to get to our training site. I get there and people start trickling in. We all look ragged and confused, and definitely overwhelmed. I am so glad that it wasn’t just me. We were all basically on the same page with how confused and tired we all were. They had tried to prepare us for what was to come for home stay, but it was STILL overwhelming once we got there. We all traded notes on what we each had. Some only had pit latrines and no running water. So I guess I got a pretty good deal.

My mosquito bites are starting to blister (though this isn’t unusual, since this has happened to me before...but this time I have 15 bites all doing this). I am uncomfortable. And my yellow fever shot I got a week ago is still very much swollen and radiating heat. I decide to go see the doctor…which is all the way back in Gabs (a 45 min drive). There are 4 of us that pile into a car to go back to the clinic. He gives me antibiotics for the shot, and some cream for my bites. Glad I went! We go to another clinic so another volunteer can go get lab tests. Which gave the other 3 of us time to wander around a bit. We go to Choppies (a grocery store chain), and I buy my first Botswana objects, lemon and custard crème cookies, pistachio nuts, and a bottle of water. Yay! We then drive around the city looking for a US to Botswana adaptor for my computer. We went to 4 different stores and finally found one. We walk through a huge mall that makes me feel like I’m back in the US. I saw my first OTHER asian. It was a fun site to see. Haha. glad to see they exist elsewhere! Yay! Anyways…finally get an adapter, and we drive back to Kanye.

I get back…and YAY…the TV is back. We watch Oprah…in Yosemite. Lol. Awesome. Then dinner. Then we dance around in the living room for a bit. My host sisters tried to teach me how to dance. OH!!! Another awesome thing about Botswana is that they love house music. And they have some pretty sweet beats. I’m loving it more and more. I do love house music. I’m gonna come back a total house head. Erika and Joe G, you’d be so proud! And you’d LOVE all the music here. Anyways, my host sisters love house too. So they were teaching me Botswana house moves. I, of course, have no rhythm, so they laugh which is fine, cuz I’m sure I am a pretty funny sight to see. We go outside and dance some more with the neighbors. We watched their favorite soap opera, called Generations. I am once again exhausted. And here I am typing away.  But I am going to bed now, cuz my eyes are tired. Night night!

April 10, 2011

Jesus, this has probably been the longest week of my life. Seriously…it feels like I’ve been here for like months already. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that’s a good thing. It’s been a CRAZY week. And I’m still wondering what I got myself into. But as I said before…I’m attributing it to being overwhelmed right now. It’s strange being a world where a majority of the time I have no idea what is going on and what is being said. In fact, I’m getting pretty used to it. People just talk in Setswana, and I kind of just space out until I hear my name “Gorata” or “Rati” then I’ll just look and reply with “eh?!” and a confused look cuz of course I have NO IDEA about what people are saying. They usually just laugh, then sometimes, if they feel like it they will ask me again in English. If not, they continue their conversation, and I go back to spacing out. And the cycle begins again. This happens when I’m doing the dishes, this happens when I’m doing my laundry, this happens when we’re watching tv, this happens when we’re walking somewhere. I know I will never be fluent, but I will truly be amazed if I will ever be able to catch onto a whole conversation. One of the volunteers (that actually JUST completed his service the day we met him) said that Setswana is an impossible language. They talk SUPER fast…or so it seems as of right now. It’s been a little rougher than I thought to getting used to my environment. Hopefully, I will get there sooner than later. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not having a terrible time! People here have been incredibly accommodating and very patient with me. They are super friendly too. I think it’s just difficult not being able to understand. But, my neighbors have been inviting me out with them. They’ve come over to ask me questions about their school work. They’ve had a dance party with me. And this is all within a span of 3 days. Not too shabby. I’m having a great time, I’m in a pretty good situation! I just hope the rest of my 26 months doesn’t feel like it drags on as long as this past week has…

Anyways, let’s start with my day, and I will go into tangents with my thoughts to commentate on the situation.  I woke up, ate corn flakes (probably the most American thing I’ve eaten since I’ve gotten to Kayne). Then did all the dishes, and cleaned and swept the kitchen (yes…I am slowly being domesticated).  Then came the big task of the day….LAUNDRY.  First, you fill a bucket with water. Then you fill a second bucket with water. Then you add powder soap the first bucket. You start with your light colors first, and that doesn’t include socks. You scrub and scrub and scrub, basically with your knuckles and on your wrist. You gotta put a lot of umph into it. Then you do the dark colors and socks. This is when I started to get a little annoyed with doing my laundry. Turns out my sisters are sticklers for being super clean with their clothes. My socks…well, they may be a bit brown on the bottom. But hey! When you put em in the washing machine, many a times, they still come out slightly brown on the bottom! And they’ve been like that since I’ve gotten my socks! Anyways…so they expect me to scrub my sock until they are white, with no brown. That’s impossible!!! I swear. Dude, they came in my luggage tinted brown to begin with. Now you want me to scrub out dirt that ALREADY existed before I got here?! You gotta be kidding me! But…no they weren’t kidding! They wouldn’t let me throw my socks into the other tub until they were white. Omg…someone please send me black socks, so they can’t see the dirt that’s still on it when I wash them! I swear…I think I spent 15 minutes on ONE sock. I am going to hide my socks from them when I wash them. JEEZ. Lol. Anyways…after you scrub your clothes well enough (or to your standard or whoever’s standard is watching you wash your clothes) you throw it into the other tub with just water to basically rinse out the suds. Then you hang them up on the line. Shirts hang upside down. Shorts hang right side up. Pants hang upside down. OMG…about 2 hours later…and rubbing burns on my knuckles…I was done. I think I’m just gonna start wearing the same thing ALL week so I don’t have to wash it. Haha. I’m really beginning to realize how lazy I am. I don’t want to wear clothes, because I don’t want to wash em. I don’t want to eat sometime (like sweet reed) because it takes too much effort to eat it. I want to buy black socks, because I don’t want to scrub the noticeable dirt out of my white socks. Is this laziness a product of being an American? Or is that just my personality? I haven’t quite figured out how to categorize it yet. I’m sure as time progresses I’ll get a better idea of where to be placing this trait in my mind.  Though, right before I left…my mother was crying at the airport about how I am lazy…so maybe it really is just a personality thing. Lol. Oh well…

Anyways…YAY! My first hand washing laundry experience was completed! Time for my bucket bath. I took a cold one. I didn’t even care at that point. And it was pretty warm out, so it was kind of refreshing. This time…instead of cupping my hands to get water, I took a spare water bottle that I have, and used that to pour the water on me. OMG…so much easier! WAY more control over the water. Anyways…nice and clean! My sister takes a bath. And off we go to meet up the other trainees…just to get together. My sister and I walk for like 40 minutes, and finally after twists and turns through little paths weaving in and out of roads and houses, we finally find 4 other trainees.

Something I really want to add about this “walk” or just “walking” in general here in Kayne and I’m assuming for the rest of Botswana besides the big cities. What we call “walking” here in Kayne, is what we would call “hiking” back in the states. Lol. We walk on dirt paths, weave in and out of bushes and grass paths that were created by people who have been walking. There are rocks that you may need to climb over. We go in between houses. We are constantly surrounded by chickens, roosters, donkeys, cows, dogs, goats. We go up hills. We go down hills. And like 90% is all on dirt roads. So, mom and dad, YES I am “hiking” in LA terms…in my chucks. To add to it, you would be surprised as to what would be called a road…and what a car can actually drive through. Their “driving” here, would be OFF ROADING in the states. I have no idea how some cars can fit on some of the roads that they have here. They have some magical tires. My tires on my old car would have died about 50 meters onto one of these roads here. Lol. As I said earlier…my tangent!

Ok, so we meet up 4 other trainees and a trainee’s host brother. The 6 of us walk towards downtown to meet up another group. Once again, zig zagging through houses, grass, etc, we finally make it downtown about 30 min later again. At this point, I’ve basically be walking for about an hour and half…and I have NO idea how I got anywhere. We meet up the other group at Choppies in the town. I grab a bottle of water…omg…delicious cold bottle of water. I was a happy camper again! There are about 12 of us at this point. I show them were the internet café is. We just sit and talk outside of it for about 30 minutes. It was good to see everyone. It seemed like FOREVER since I had seen them…even though it had only been 2 days.

We part…being that everyone else and their moms live in the same area, except for me.  We take a combi home. I guess I was more tired than I thought I was…because my other host sister found me passed out on the couch about 30 minutes later. She has cooked dinner…I think it’s about 5 PM by this time. I eat some of it, then we decide to go to the stream/gorge since the neighbors have been wanting to take me this whole weekend. The four of us begin our journey, and later Lebo joins us. We walk for about 25 minutes, once again, zig zagging through I don’t even know where. We finally end up at a stream or gorge. I run into 2 other trainees with their families there. My sisters, me, and my neighbors decide to start climbing all over the rocks. We take a ton of pics. It was beautiful. Green everywhere. Trees everywhere. Bushes. Rocks. Boulders. Sunset. All awesome! Good times. J We walk back the same once…once again, I have NO idea where I am…and to add to it…go lefifi…it’s dark! There aren’t lights, so not only do I have no idea where I am, I can’t see shit (literally and figuratively). Lol. AWESOME. I put all my faith in these people to get me home. And of course they do, and my shoes are shit free. Yay! Success!

I check on my clothes. Half of it is dry. My jeans, sweats, and some socks are still wet. So I guess they’re staying up for the night. Dang it, that means I got no PJs for the night, and leaves my legs as munching grounds for bugs. Otherwise, my clean dry clothes are good to go…and they I guess, smell, like…African air? Haha…I guess I’m just used to my clothes smelling like Bounce or something. So when I smelled my clean clothes…they didn’t exactly smell like how I remember them to smell…Lol. But i do know my clothes are clean. YAY! Success. My family finds it so funny that I don’t know how to do these basic things. And when you really think about it…it is pretty funny. But what can I say?! I’m a spoiled American! Hey, give me some credit, I’m toughing it out now! I’m seriously trying! J Anyways, I think I’m gonna end my night with a Korean soap opera, Jandi. I think I walked like 8 miles today…in the hot African sun. I’m tired. And I got a sun burn with an awesome tank top/backpack tan line. SEXY. Robala sentle! Sleep well!

April 11, 2011

First day back in class…so it seems. It was a REALLY long weekend. I have no idea why it felt so long…but it really was. Anyways, back in class again, I spent most of it just thinking about how itchy my bug bites are…which reminds me…I need to put my cream on.  Ok…much better, except now I just feel like a grease monkey…like seriously a greasy monkey from the 10 bites I have. Anywho, spent the morning catching up with everyone’s weekend then doing some “Why we are here” exercises. Then they gave us our walk around allowance (yay! Money!) and 4 books about Setswana and the Batswana culture. Then after lunch we were off to meet the kgosi!

Kgosi means chief in Setswana. Each area has a kgosi. He basically overlooks disputes in his area. They basically cover the title of sheriff, judge, and leader, all rolled into one. It was a formal ceremony, we had all dressed up to meet him. Did the proper handshake, where you hold your right elbow and shake his hand. Then you say, “Dumela, rra” or “Dumela, kgosi” and we sit. We ask him questions about how things are run, and what his role is in the community. Then in turn everyone else (including the VDC – village development committee) gets to ask us questions about why we are here and about the US. Many questions we didn’t have an answer for. Like what is the crime rate in the US? We had no idea…we just said it depended on where you lived. Or what is the HIV/AIDS rate in the US? WOW…now that one we should have known….we had no idea also. I braved the question to ask the kgosi about HIV/AIDS (they are normally very private about these topics here) and he just said that it is very secretive here and that no one talks to him about it. Interesting…I’m hoping later, with whichever village I end up in, I will be able to talk to the kgosi openly about programs I would like his/her support in for HIV/AIDS. Oh! And on a side note…the kgosi’s dad…fricking awesome! He was wearing a tie and vest…some chucks….and fedora…and he was 90. He looked like an old Cuban man that should be in a rocking chair smoking a cigar. So wish I took a pic of it. He was straight up BALLER. Lol.

After meeting the kgosi, we went home. I cooked dinner, but really couldn’t eat it anymore, so I just told them to eat without. I gathered up 2 more trainees, and headed back into town. They wanted to see how to get there and where the supermarket and internet café was. So we started hiking down, then…ok parents and people of the US…don’t freak out…we HITCHED a ride down the rest of the way. A guy pulled up and asked if we wanted a ride to where we were going. I figured, there were 3 of us…one being 60+ years of age, it was probably harmless, and it is a mode of transportation out here… Turns out he was in the police force. YAY! Now we didn’t feel so worried about. He dropped us off at Choppies. YAY!! My first hitched ride, and no glitches! SWEET.

Since we got paid today…we decided to splurge a little. I bought CHEESE. Omg…I was sooooo excited to make a grilled cheese sandwich (which was DELICIOUS and exactly what I needed!). Showed them where the internet café was. Then took a combi home. And did I forget to add….we did this all on our OWN. No other Batswana with us. I was so proud of us! J I’m starting to really get comfortable with the environment. YAY!!! That’s about it for today. I watched my first episode of Mad Men, now I’m going to read a little then go to bed. But hey, I’m getting there…I’ll be ok. J

last one for a bit...maybe?

April 6, 2011

Yay! We got our cell phones today. PC bought our first cell phone. But if we lose it or it gets stolen we have to buy our own. It’s pretty awesome…cuz apparently if people call my cell…it’s free for me to take the call! Someone told me that it’s probably less than 10 cents a minute if called from skype. It’s 1 pula per text back to the US (which btw, the conversion is 7 pula to $1…so not bad!) and 6 pula per minute to call back to the US. So do the math. we start with 40 pula on our card, then if we want to add money, we just go to a tuck shop on the street to add more money. Apparently it’s pretty easy. Not too worried about it. Anyways…hit me up over email if you’re interested in calling…I’ll send you my new number…I’d love to hear from y’all! J

Ah! Last night in the lodge. And the real test begins! Tomorrow I get my host family. I hope they like me and I like them. And I hope they are ok that I am asian! I'm going to be heading out to Kayne tomorrow and i'm going to meet my host family. so i don't know what the living situation is going to be like, but i'll see if i can find internet out there at a cafe or something. i'm pretty nervous, but it's all a part of the experience. Wish me luck!

Oh! Haha. And I found out how the people here may normally react to Asians. They ask “what are you selling?” I think I’m gonna tell them I’m selling condoms…and that they are free! Haha. that way I am kind of telling them what I do there while trying to get them to practice safe sex. Nnyaa? No? damn…I guess I’ll just smile and laugh. 

Let life happen, whatever it may bring. boroko! (night!) :)

. 

I'm here in Botswana...FINALLY!!! i actually did it!!! :D

March 31, 2011

After somehow figuring out a way to shove 80 lbs of everything into a rolling duffel, a 65 liter hiking backpack, a regular backpack, and a computer bag…I managed to get on a 845 AM flight out of LAX to my favorite city, philly (except…NOT).  I arrived…as I had expected it to be and as I had last left PA, cold and rainy. Lol. Anyways, went through and did the whole registration thing, got my official government passport and some money (YA!). I met my roommate, she was pretty cool. We had fun chatting for a bit. (sorry, can’t really say much about other people just cuz I don’t want them to feel uncomfortable about them being on my blog, or if I’m even allowed to write about other people in my group, as per the government, since apparently I am now owned by the government). sat for a hot second and met up with my friend Grant for dinner. It was awesome to see him, since he was a friend from home, and it was nice to catch a friendly face in a different city. We went to maggiano’s and decided to be kids and ordered a bottle of wine with our pasta. It was all delicious.

I came back to the hotel and found another volunteer and watched jersey shore. I have no shame admitting that I love that show. Awesome. That show is just quality. Went back to my room. Exhausted…being that I didn’t sleep the night before. Passed out.

April 1, 2011

Woke up to room service at 630 AM in the morning (which btw, is technically 330 AM in the morning still for me…lol). Walked about 10 blocks in the sleet with very thin flats to go get my yellow fever shot (which about 5 days later my gland and arm is still swollen from). Then went to go stare at a piece of history…the great liberty bell. I saw a large crack. Awesome, I wish I could have licked it…just cuz it woulda been cool to lick the liberty bell. Lol. Then went to go on a search for a philly cheesesteak at 1030 in the morning with two other volunteers (whoops…I mean TRAINEES, cuz technically we are not called volunteers yet). Found a jim’s. got some cheese whiz. Got some mushrooms. And devoured it in less than 5 minutes. Delicious. I think it has to do with the bread. I can’t quite figure out why no other place in the world can actually make a cheesesteak like philly does. But I do have to admit that it was the best cheesesteak I have had. J

We then spent the next 5 hours going over everything about Peace Corps. Icebreakers. What we expect. What they expect from us. What our anxieties are. What our aspirations are. How to handle situations. How to communicate with others.  And of course we had a long conversation about the giant elephant in the room, the 20/20 episode. I’ve never seen a room go so somber so quickly. But hey, it was on all the females’ minds. So we were gonna talk about. At the end of the day, it neither made me feel any better but no worse either. My philosophy on that is that, look it can happen anywhere you travel. Just be smart and be aware, but don’t let it be a deterrent for what you want to experience in life. We finished feeling much closer to one another. All in all, it was productive and fun, so I’m glad we “set our stage” for what is to come.

I needed a hard drive, since my friends, previous to leaving, had completely filled my hard drive with their music (which I am thoroughly enjoying right now while writing this), movies, and tv shows. So I walked another 11 blocks in the rain with my rain boots and raccoon beanie. I had a woman stop me along the way to take a picture of my hat. Bought my 500 gb hard drive (yes, I followed your advice, kyle and chris!). then grant came and picked me up. The rest of the night reminded me of college, besides the fact, my friend grant had just bought a house the previous day and we were checking it out. AWESOME house (so proud of you, grant!). went back to the hotel, watched some tv, took a shower, and repacked everything. And by 230 AM, we were downstairs in the lobby, dragging our luggage to the bus.

April 2, 2011

Reached JFK at 545 AM. Bless her heart, Andra is already waiting at JFK (<3 you, andra).  She helps me distribute my weight through my luggage to make sure they are under the maximum 50 lb weight. We talk, eat breakfast at mickey d’s, and just hang out for the next 3 hours, all while checking in my bags. I was so glad to see her before I left. *sad face* had to say bye, and walked through security at around 845 AM. My parents called and talked to them for a bit. Talked to my friend greg about his new life and my soon to be new life on the phone. My parents called again…talked to them again. Cried when I said my last goodbye to colin. Got on the plane. Called max to say goodbye. Then I called my parents again…and told them I would call them when I was able to when I reached Gaborone, Botswana…all while my mother was sobbing on the phone. Off we flew to 1) to Johannesburg, South Africa, then 2) to Gaborone, Botswana.

April 3, 2011

I slept all 15 hours of the flight to Johannesburg, except when food arrived (haha…yes I know some of you are laughing). We got on a small flight to Gaborone where they told us, we were unable to move seats because that would redistribute the weight of the plane, and that could be a problem. And finally about 28 hours later…we are finally in BOTSWANA. YAY! we all clapped and cheered on the plane.  J SWEET.

Baggage claim, though not unexpected being that we had 39 volunteers each carrying about 80 lbs of luggage per person and we were on an itty bitty plane, did not have all of our luggage, or none of mine for that matter.

Our first drive through Botswana! Chaparral, short trees, green grass, goats, kombis (small little vans), 2 lane highways, huts, giant houses, and a HUGE sky. I’m loving it. We get to our lodge. It has little huts everywhere. It’s so cute. None of us have luggage. After 30 hours of traveling by this point…WHERE IS THE BAR?! You find 6 of us immediately sipping down some Castles or Black Label Carlings. Best thing ever. We were happy. Just hung out and talked. Huddled in a small fake cave by the pool and just watched the rain come down and the thunder roar (and no…it was not mistakened for a lion). The volunteers who are already in service tell us it is good luck that it is raining on our first day. Yay! I like good signs. It’s comforting. African rain is beautiful. Large, cooling drops that just comes down like a sheet of water. It just pitter pattered on the pool. 6 of us were huddled in a little cave, sipping beers, just enjoying the warm weather and soothing sound or rain. Great way to begin our journey. J

Since Botswana was previously a British colony, they follow many of the same traditions as the brits…such as tea time! Once the rain died down, there were little sandwiches and tea for people to go and munch on. In attempt to keep us awake to avoid the jetlag, the existing volunteers put together a slide show of their villages and travels to show us. Unfortunately, although it was all very fun and interesting, everyone was WAY too tired to keep their eyes open through that. Luckily soon after, it was time for dinner. I’ve figured out the food here is very starchy, so potatoes, butternut squash, rice which are accompanied by stews. It was as I had expected it. Simple.

We couldn’t really keep our eyes open anymore by then. Bedtime! 830 PM. Hehe.

April 4, 2011

First day of training!!! They have us jump right in it. We begin by taking our first lesson in Setswana. J Dumela! That means hello! O tsogile jang? How are you? Ke tsogile sentle. I am fine. The cool thing is the “tl” is a click! It’s so hard when you first try it. I found out today that Setswana is a click language! And NO that doesn’t mean it’s ALL clicks. It’s just that they have clicks in their words. O robetse jang? Did you sleep well? The “r”s are rolled “r”s. I am on my way to learning a new language. Tswee-tswee, ke a kopa. Please, can you kindly…? Hehe. It’s pretty awesome to learn a crazy different language.

We got our malaria pills today. I got lucky with that stuff. I luckily didn’t end up with the insomniatic/hallucinogenic pills. Apparently mine is just sensitive to sun. SWEET.

DUDE it was SWEET today though. We went out of the lodge and wander the streets of Gaborone (it’s said like Hab-a-ron-e). As we passed we said “Dumela, mma!” – “Hello, ma’am!” and people would respond. And then we would say “ke a leboga!” – “Thank you!” pretty awesome. I talked to people in their language and they responded. Goal of the day…COMPLETED! 

So once again, since it was a British colony, they drive on the other side of the road. People were crowded into kombis. They aren’t too big on pedestrian right of way, so we really need to be careful. I almost got taken out by…a BMW. Lol. We had 2 little girls following us…slyly staring at us. Then they eventually ran off after I said “dumela!” to them. Haha. Whoops…didn’t mean to scare them off…they were so cute!

Came back. Ate dinner. Started drinking and just hung out with everyone. It was awesome just shooting the shit with the group. We talked with the people who are already serving. We talked with people amongst our group. We had a good bonding night over a few beers. Everyone was much more rested than the night before, so we all had much more to say and more to smile about.

All in all, it was a great first day here in Botswana.

April 5, 2011

More training today. Learned more about home stay. We’re going to be in Kayne, about an hour and half outside of Gaborone. And no…I don’t think Kayne West has ever been to Kayne (though you would think he would go to a city he would have thought was named AFTER him…lol). It’s a big town, so we should be able to get everything we need there.

I had to separate my luggage, because one piece of our luggage is going into storage for pre-service training (PST).  So basically everything I don’t think I’m going to need in training goes into the bag for storage. Luckily…there is no weight limit for this, so it was much easier for me to divide stuff up.

Not much to say about today, but that I was feeling a bit anti-social. It’s kind of like the first week of college again, where we are all trying to find our new friends, so everyone is talking at all times. And honestly, I’m a bit drained with all that trying. Lol. Hopefully, I will be better by tomorrow.

I look like I have a tumor on my forehead. I didn’t know bugs like to bite foreheads. Lol.

Oh…and sorry for taking so long. It’s been a pain trying to find internet access, let alone getting access. Apparently, it doesn’t like connecting to the internet.  I will try as hard as I can to find time. As of now, I’ve just been trying to adjust to everything that is going on and integrating myself into the new environment. As I said before, I am bad at keeping up virtually. But I will try my best. *hugs and kisses to all*

And I get my cell phone tomorrow. Yay! Shoot me an email if you want my number so we can chat! Miss y’all!