MOZAMBIQUE!!!

 Entering into Mozambique!

 Maputo, Mozambique

 The fish market!

 The deck at our hostel

 Maputo, Mozambique

Park Station in Jo'burg where we waited for over 12 hours

Hello once again. I am lucky enough to be writing this particular post in the early morning hours right in front of my Christmas tree at home in Maryland. I have been so busy the last month that I haven’t had a chance to write a new blog post and now that I have just arrived home I am suffering from jetlag so here I am, up at 2:30am (9:30) Botswana time and figured I should try to update the blog. Here goes.

Last I wrote I was preparing for finals and getting ready to head to Mozambique. Monday morning came around and I headed to school where I took my Nutrition in Sports Performance final and my Novel in the Modern World final. Originally these were supposed to be later in the week as this was the first day of finals for the entire school and lasts two weeks, but both of my professors were very understanding and let me take them that first day so I could head out for some travel. Took the finals, had lunch one last time at Moghul cafeteria with some friends and then Anthony and I headed to Rail Park Station to buy our tickets for the 3:30pm bus to Johannesburg. We got to the station pretty early and ended up having time to kill so we went to Milky Lane and got our whizzers one last time in Gaborone. Got on the bus by 3:15 along with another international student named Sarb and by 3:45 we were off to Joburg. The ride was pretty uneventful but I had a great time chilling and talking with Anthony. However there were some points where we thought we weren’t even going to make it to Joburg as the bus kept stalling. Every time the driver would shift the bus would stall or slow down. At one point we were on a hill and then bus even started rolling  backwards down the hill and another point we got stuck in an intersection!!!! But we made it to Joburg by 9:15pm which was perfect because we had a 10pm bus to catch to Maputo, Mozambique. Freshened up at the station then got in the craziest line ever to check in for the bus. I’m not sure why but people were bringing bags and bags of luggage to Mozambique and this one lady was bringing about 35 huge comforters that I think she was going to sell. This meant that Citiliner had to weigh everyone’s luggage and charge people if they had too many bags which took forever. Finally get checked in and head over to our bus and we have to check in again, why?, I’m not sure. But the drivers are sitting outside checking our passports and having us sign a sign-in sheet, people are everywhere, there is no line, there are comforters everywhere. It was hectic and crazy but finally we get on the bus and then wait on the bus for another half hour. As we are waiting there  are comforters being thrown around, squished here and there, people getting hit in the head with them and then people start fighting and yelling about something. Eventually we leave the station but there are people standing up in the aisles and within 10 minutes head back to the station. Apparently the company gives free rides to firemen and there were too many firemen that had taken other people’s seats so that’s what people were fighting about. That got settled by having two firemen sit on the steps of the bus for the entire ride. Meanwhile there are three seats in a row, this skinny kid, Anthony and then me by the window. But the lady behind us asks if she can switch with the skinny kid for more leg room because her leg is broken which is understandable BUT she was a huge, large lady meaning that for the entire 12 hour bus ride half of Anthony’s seat is taken up by this lady meaning half of Anthony is on me so we ride across the country squished into the window.

I thought that would be the craziest part of the ride, but nope. We stop at around 1am for a bathroom break and after getting back on the bus this one passenger comes back on wearing nothing but a sheet. Apparently another fight had broken out resulting in this one girl wearing a sheet, what??? Again somehow that got figured out too so the girl ended up going to change and came back wearing a gorgeous blue dress. All this was happening in Zulu so I really had no idea what was going on but needless to say it was crazy.

We got to the Mozambique border by 5:30am but it didn’t open until 6 but this was crazy too. When the border office opened to leave South Africa we got into the line that everyone else did but then saw people leaving our line and going to another area to cross through. We asked the guard and he said “doesn’t matter, this side or that side” so we stayed in the line we were which was a terrible mistake. It started to rain so we got wet, we waited for over an hour to pass through and were literally the only ones from our bus in that line. Finally get through this border and have to check in with the Mozambique border. There were no guards telling us where to go so we enter and ask the lady right at the front desk and she doesn’t really speak English well and hands us the same exact form that we filled out a couple of weeks ago when we wanted our visas. We tried explaining to her that we already had visas but she kept ignoring us because she was helping another customer. The bus driver then came to find us because we were the last ones on the bus and tried explaining what was going on to the lady but she looked again at our visas and kept saying that they were single entry visas and we had already used them so would have to pay and get a new one. Eventually she understood that we had never entered, stamped the passport and let us through. Get on the bus and then are told by the driver that the border patrol wants to see the large lady who was sitting next to us. The problem with this is the bus was situated pretty far from the border so the lady had to use her crutches to go all the way back to border patrol. This took forever!!! Finally, finally we get on our way and Mozambique is gorgeous. It’s lush and green and looks so tropical, so different from Gabs.

We made it to Maputo by 10:30am, had our hostel pick us up and by 11:30 had settled into the hostel. We wanted to explore Maputo, the capital of Mozambique and supposedly one of the most beautiful capitals in Southern Africa but first all took a nap and shower. Once freshened up we headed out and first went to Janet’s market which was a crazy fruit market before heading to a little diner for some hamburgers. This was my first real interaction with someone who only speaks Portuguese, the official language of Mozambique. It wasn’t too hard because Portuguese is very similar to Spanish except that Portuguese tends to have a lot of the words mush together whereas Spanish is more staccato, if that makes sense. We had our great burgers then wandered around trying to find the waterfront but walked for about a half hour before realizing we were going into a shadier part of town and were actually going in the completely opposite direction of the water. Turned around and headed back towards the hostel and waterfront and eventually stumbled upon the craft market that is this huge market where they sell the same things I have seen in Joburg and Namibia and Zambia but now just in larger quantities.  Walked around for a bit and then saw this gorgeous huge hotel right on the water so we wandered in to look around and see the view. It was great because this was one of the first times since being in Maputo that I actually saw the ocean. From the hotel we could see the beach so left the hotel and headed there to wander around. Found the beach but it really wasn’t that nice of a beach; the sand wasn’t that soft, there was trash around, the water was murky but it was still the beach and the ocean was still gorgeous. Ended up going to a restaurant on the beach for drinks and then took a little rickshaw over to the fish market. As soon as the rickshaw pulled up to the market we were surrounded by guys offering their services to help us pick out fish. The way it works is you wander around the market and buy your raw fish and then a guy will take the fish and cook it for you so the men who surrounded the rickshaw were all trying to cook the fish we hadn’t even bought yet. This one guy followed us around while we were walking around the market and showed us a few tricks like poking holes in the bags of fish that are being weighed which allows water to escape and prevents us from paying for water. We ended up getting prawns, calamari and two larger fish and having this guy cook all 4-5 kg for 330 meticais which was pretty reasonable. The fish was great too when it came out, covered in garlic and butter. This was a really crazy, overwhelming, hectic and yet unique experience that I loved.

The rest of the night was pretty low-key as we went back to the hostel, played cards and went to bed early as we had to get up for a 5:30am shuttle to Tofo, Mozambique. Unfortunately by 4am though, I was up and actually had food poisoning from the fish. I wasn’t sure how I was going to survive being on a bus for the next 8 hours but I took some medication, kept a bag with me and made it through. A shuttle picked us up right at 5:30, took us to the bus station where we transferred to a school-bus and by 6am were on our way to Tofo. I thoroughly enjoyed the drive even though the seats were so small that Anthony and I were once again squished and my hips fell asleep. I was nauseous for a lot of it but was able to have my head out the window which helped and I was distracted by Mozambique’s beauty. Again it was so lush and green and tropical and just a beautiful country. As we neared Tofo, the scenery changed and there were groves and groves of palm trees and sandy roads. We ended up getting to our hostel, Fatimas, by around 2:30 and boy was it worth the long hours of travel. The hostel is literally right on the beach of the Indian Ocean in this little Cape which looked like pure paradise. Within 20 minutes Anthony and I were swimming around in the warm, clear Indian Ocean!!!!!

Spent the rest of the day swimming, reading and going for walks on the beach to explore the northern and southern tips of the cape. Also had a great first meal at our hostel as we sat on the porch listening to the sounds of the ocean and stargazing.

The following day was the first of many relaxing, sun-bathing, reading-filled days. Anthony was out scuba diving for most of the day so I woke up, had coffee while writing in my journal, ate breakfast and then headed out to lay on the beach and read and swim.  Anthony was back around one so we headed into town which was a block from our hostel and less of a town and more of a group of stores in little shacks.  We ate right in town where I had a traditional meal of stewed seaweed with rice which I ended up loving despite the gritty texture.

The rest of the afternoon was similar with Anthony scuba diving and me relaxing and reading on the beach. Once Anthony got back, since it was Thanksgiving we decided to go out to eat and heard this local place called Black and White was good. They told us it was just down the road but we kept wandering and wandering and were about to turn around when we found it. It was probably one of the most awkward Thanksgivings ever because it was just me and Anthony at the restaurant which was kind of just a porch. Anyways, the food was pretty good and it was for sure a Thanksgiving that I won’t forget anytime soon.

The following day followed a similar pattern of lounging, reading and eating. We tried a couple more restaurants in town including one called Tofo, Tofo where I got feijoada which is another typical dish containing rice, beans and meat which was delicious!! Some of our friends from UB were staying at a hostel down the beach so we ended up going to this bar with them that night right on the beach. It was a different vibe filled with ragae music and a bunch of older people so we didn’t stay long but it was nice to see the nightlife of Tofo.

On Saturday Anthony had to head back to Gaborone to take some finals that he couldn’t get moved so I was alone the whole day which was nice because I haven’t had alone time in a while. I did go into town with my friends from down the road for some falafel and somasa sandwhiches which were pretty good. Spent the night alone at the hostel reading and gazing out over the ocean.

Sunday was spent pretty much the same way except that Sunday afternoon, Ashley, Charlotte and Kylee arrived which was great!!! I was so excited to see them and hang out with them on the beach. They easily fit into the routine of reading, journaling and sunbathing.

The next three days were filled with some good old “r and r”! We were able to see the most gorgeous sunset over the palm tree groves which for me was interesting because being from the east coast we usually see sunsets over the ocean when at the beach so that was cool to experience. We buried Ash in the sand one day, found a huge jellyfish another day, swam in the ocean as we continuously got stung by baby jellyfish, played Frisbee, read!!

Unfortunately before we knew it, it was time to head back to Maputo and then Gaborone. So on Wednesday we got up really early for the 4am shuttle from Tofo to Maputo. We just leave the hostel when the driver keeps asking me where I paid and who I paid. I had bought my ticket in Maputo and apparently you can only buy them in Tofo so whoever sold it to me made a mistake. This meant that after driving away from the hostel, within 15 minutes we were back where the driver had to talk with the company that sold me the ticket. Eish!! Eventually it all got figured out and we were back to Maputo. Again the ride was pretty uneventful but still gorgeous. Got to Maputo and spent our time at the craft market and then walking pretty far to Game where we spent our last Mozambique money, meticais, on groceries for the ride back to Johannesburg.

Unlike the crazy eventful ride from Joburg to Maputo, the ride back from Maputo to Joburg was very peaceful. There weren’t that many people on the bus and no fighting or undressing occurred, yay! We did have trouble at the Mozambique-SA border once again as it took forever to get through and we finally get to the SA border post and are told we have to wait because they just washed the floor. Why they didn’t just wait until we passed through to wash the floors as no one was behind us, I have no idea but things are different here.

We got to Joburg way ahead of schedule at 3am which was unfortunate as our bus back to Gaborone didn’t leave until 2:30pm. Spent the day sleeping and playing cards at Park Station in Joburg until we board our Intercape bus back to Gaborone. This was crazy. They had overbooked as well and instead of checking this before 2:30 they realize at 3pm they overbooked. Their only solution was to wait for a bigger bus to get there from Pretoria which would take another 2 hours so they could put everyone on that same bus. My question is why not just take the extra people, give them a refund and put them in a combi that runs???? They did end up eventually doing something like that and by 4:15 were on our way back to Gaborone. The ride back to Gabs was actually pretty fun because they played the worst, funniest, most terrible acting  movie I have ever seen called “Becoming Jessie.” Ashley, Charlotte, Kylee and I actually got pretty interested in it and had the best time making fun of it!!

Finally got back to Gabs by 10:15 and my house by 11 after a great trip. Mozambique was one of the poorest countries I visited while abroad which was pretty evident by the amount of people who are trying to sell you everything from nail polish to soda. I mean while laying on the beach it is rare to go 20 minutes without someone or a kid coming up and trying to get you to buy bracelets or bags or cashews. Then when on a bus whenever it stops, people rush up to the windows and try to get you to buy their merchandise. On the otherhand it was the most gorgeous scenery I had seen yet and really loved my time there.

A wonderful, beach-filled, relaxing, sunny trip!!!!! Now one day to unpack and pack up in Gabs before heading to the Okavanga Delta!!

Ghanzi!

 Swimming in a quarry in Ghanzi

 Going for a walk with the bushmen

 Sitting outside the huts we slept in 

 Another beautiful African sunset

 Some of the bushmen showing us traditional dancing

Ash and I out in the bush--twins!

Although only a couple of days have passed since I last wrote I thought it important to write one more post before I take off for my world-wind month of traveling. This past weekend was the last cultural excursion and this time it was to Ghanzi which is on the western side of the country close to Namibia. We actually drove along the same road to get to Ghanzi as we did to get to Namibia in September.

Friday started off good as we only left the office a half hour later than expected which for Botswana is early. However we did have to pull about a block from campus and wait for 15 minutes until another driver showed up to give our combi the proper permits and then had to wait another 15 minutes at a filling station for ???? We think the driver had to drop something off to a friend, but we are really unsure.

Anyways finally by about 10am we were on our way traveling across Botswana. We stopped by Jwaneng for Nando’s for lunch which is noteworthy because Jwaneng is where one of the largest diamond mines in Botswana lives. We were actually supposed to go visit there earlier in the semester but unfortunately there was a mining accident with some casualties and the investigation is still ongoing and the mine is closed.

Back on the road after lunch for another 5/6 hours of intense heat and wind. The combi didn’t have air conditioning so we were left with opening the three windows we had and getting blasted with the wind and it was still so so hot. It’s only averaging between 95-100 which is hot but the real problem is that there is no air conditioning anywhere so you rarely get a respite from the heat.

Finally by around 6 we showed up to Ghanzi trail Blazers which is basically a camping site. It was really cool because you could either pitch your own tents or thye had little circular huts with two beds each which is what we got. After walking around and seeing the sunset we were served dinner where I had the first colorful vegetables since being here and a salad!!! Woot! Then the bushmen from this part of the country performed traditional dance for us around the fire. It was really cool because the bushmen do not speak Setswana but speak a different version of it with the clicks. The dancing involves a lot of stomping and singing in a circle and a couple of people from our group were chosen to dance with them too.

After the dance was over the CIEE group built our own fire and chatted, played charades and told stories before we were asked by the other campers to keep it down and go to bed!

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning for our 6:30 breakfast right before we were supposed to head out on a walk with the bushmen. The walk was so cool because the bushmen showed us all the different plants they use for medicinal purposes. To me all the different plants looked the same. We were in basically the dessert because the ground was just sand and the plants really did look very similar but after seeing the bushmen dig up the roots you could tell they were very different. A lot of these small plants would have huge, tuber-like roots that the bushmen use for various medicinal purposes. One was for kidney stones, some were for menstrual cramps, one was for infertility, tanning leather, etc. Basically for all of them they take the roots, grind it up and brew it in a tea. Other times they would take the more stick like roots and chew on them for other ailments like stomach pain. One plant had a huge tuber and they grate it and then squeeze the gratings and a cascade of water came out. Apparently they use this one when they are out in the bush for long periods of time and do not have any water. It was also cool because they all spoke in the click language and at one point gave each of us a seed, told us to put it under our tongue and it would help us learn the clicks. It turned out to be a practical joke because with these seeds when they get when the shell cracks open. The bushmen really enjoyed that one. They were so animated and since they knew we didn’t understand them they were very animated when they spoke so between the translator and the gestures we understood them perfectly. Nowadays they don’t live in the bush per se, but rather government sponsored compounds very similar to the American Indian reservations in the states.

After sweating it up on our early morning bush walk, we were driven to an old quarry that had been turned into a swimming pool. It was gorgeous and the water was absolutely perfect. Some people had doubts about swimming because of parasites and the fact that the grounds had just been freshly manured so it smelled like cow dung (which does eventually run off into the water we swam it) but once one person went in, everyone jumped in. It was so refreshing and such a wonderful time. They had surfboards and inner tubes that we found. It was one of those moments where life is good!

Headed back to the campsite to pack up and then before we knew it we were headed back to Gabs in that awful, hot, hot, sticky combi again. This time most people slept for like half of it, I got some studying done and then we played the celebrity name game for a good 3 hours!!

Finally got back to Gabs late Saturday night and went out to our favorite bar one last time all together. A lot of the international students from other programs are leaving this week so it was nice to hang out with them for a bit.

Sunday is a lazy day. I am just spending my day in my room studying for my two tests tomorrow and finishing up a paper. However, tonight I am heading over to Riverwalk with Tshego, Ashely and Charlotte to see the new Twilight movie which should be a lot of fun. Tshego is finally done with exams and has more free time which is great except that I am leaving for my 3 week crazy vacation tomorrow! Oh well, I will do what I can!

Okay so this might be my last post for a while. In Mozambique if they have internet I might try there!!! Oh and HAPPY  (early) THANKSGIVING!!

Last Full Week in Gabs

Since this was my last full week in Gaborone, my friends and I were working on crossing things off our bucket list which started right away on Monday.

After heading to the gym for one of the last times, I met up with Charlotte, Anthony and Ashley and walked a couple of blocks down towards Princess Marina hospital where a couple of blocks behind it is this white house that serves traditional Tswana food. Now I could just get the same thing on campus at Curry Pot or at my house as this is what I’ve been eating everyday but I heard the “White House” was great and oh my goodness was it. Basically it’s just a lady’s house where there is an outdoor seating area and she brings trays of food out and for 30 pula you get this heaping plate of food. It was probably the best Tswana food I have had here. I got stampa which is like hominy, grilled chicken, beetroot salad, potato salad and butternut squash. Fantastico!!! While we were eating this American girl came over and asked if she could sit with us. It turns out she had just gotten to Botswana the night before and was already at work at the hospital and really didn’t know anyone or know much about Botswana. We all chatted for a bit sharing our knowledge about the country and hopefully not overloading her too much. We were so happy to have helped her out and were glad we could be there for her to sit with and eat lunch with and chat for a bit. I can’t imagine showing up and literally the next morning going to work in a completely new, different country! Crazy!!!

I went to my last Media in Botswana class and then headed home, getting home minutes before Tshego. Even though she had a test the next day she consented to hanging out with me and making dumplings. So she made dumplings while I made chicken with some vegetables. It was a really fun evening because for some reason the dumplings did not turn out, either too much baking soda or too much of some other ingredient. When we were boiling them the water kept overflowing, there was flour and starch everywhere an they wouldn’t cook all the way through so we were stuck with gooey dumplings…it was so much fun!!!  Once we had finished cooking our “dumplings” and chicken, Tshego and I both did homework as we watched the weirdest South African show called “Scandal.” It was a really fun evening spent with my sister.

Tuesday was another fun day. It was my last time at Old Naledi and thank goodness too because I burnt all the onions I was supposed to be sautéing. I got there and began cutting up the potatoes the ladies had been peeling then we all took like a two hour break and there weren’t that many kids there so I literally just took a nap on the picnic tables outside the kitchen. Finally it was time to start cooking and that is when the onion fiasco started. No one there really speaks English so the main cook motioned for me to sautee some carrots and onions and I am stirring it while all the ladies go back outside. Before I knew it the carrots started burning and I had no idea what to do and then it all went downhill. Everything in the pot burned and started smoking!!! Needless to say we had to throw that batch out and start over again. As I left I was so happy it was my last day until I got to the combi stop. I was walking down the street and all these little kids yell Makgowa which means white person and come racing over, grabbed my hands and walked me to the combi stop. Then at the stop they helped me wave down a combi and when I had to get in they didn’t want to let go of my hand. No matter how superficial their attention was, it was still nice to be wanted. Overall, I really don’t know if I got anything out of volunteering for Old Naledi and not sure if they got anything out of me being there but I would like to think that I might have made the day for some of those kids. Not a lof of them had ever seen a white person so even though I was kind of exploiting myself I hope that they now at least can have a better understanding of what white people are really like.

That night I again got to hang out with Tshego and Elt as we watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall and then the news (in Setswana) while eating dinner.

Wednesday was the last day of scheduled classes at UB so I got up bright and early for my last 8 am which literally lasted 45 minutes (it’s a two hour class). Headed to the gym one last time, thank goodness because I am not only bored of the equipment but my gym shoes are on their last leg; there are holes in them, no support left, the insoles are ruined! Right before lunch I worked on a CIEE group project and then hung out with Ashley to plan our Cape Town adventure!

After planning for a bit, Charlotte, Kylee and I walked to River Walk to do some shopping but unfortunately the little craft stands we wanted to visit apparently are only there on the weekends! So instead we got nice creams from Milky Lane and waited until Ashley and Anthony showed up for dinner. We were going to go to this Brazilian steakhouse called Rodizio but they don’t start serving until six which would have meant we would have to wait an hour so instead went to Linga Longa, again!

Thursday was another busy day. Although there weren’t any classes, all the CIEE kids had to go to campus to present our research projects that we had been working on. My group chose nutrition and looked at the nutrition of Tswana food, what the government is doing, consequences of the high carbohydrate diet, etc. To make our presentation a bit more interesting, Kim made a ginger drink with her mom for everyone and we passed out chocolate to anyone who answered questions. Some of the other groups presented on women’s rights in Botswana, UB vs USA colleges, traditional medicine, street vendors and gender issues in HIV.  The presentations took all morning but we did get Debonair’s Pizza which was awesome.

Afterwards, Charlotte and I walked down to the Gaborone Sun Hotel which is like 3 or 4 blocks from campus. Apparently you can swim in their pool if you buy a drink. We ended up swimming but not buying a drink. The pool was basically empty and it was such a nice afternoon just sun bathing and taking some dips to cool off. We then wandered off to Main Mall to take some pictures and do some last minute shopping before heading home for the afternoon.

Now I am finally back at my homestay and have just finished writing up this blog before writing my last paper and preparing for my two finals on Monday. Tomorrow I leave bright and early for Ghanzi, a CIEE planned trip for the weekend! I am so excited! I get back late Saturday night and then have Sunday before I take my finals on Monday and head off to Mozambique for two weeks!!!!! All I can really say right now is that life is grand!!!!

Volleyball Banquet!

 Me and Lorraine

 Me, Ngirl, Ashley and Bonolo

 Most of the girls team, Bomber and Anthony

Me and Rocas from the boys team

Hello once again. As I am nearing the end of my time here in Botswana, there is actually less to blog about. This week was really one of normalcy without anything that exciting happening.

Monday was my Setswana final which was basically an oral exam where I had to converse with my teacher, Nthati, for roughly 10 minutes in Setswana. I was so nervous for it but it ended up being a lot easier than I had anticipated and I was rated intermediate-high, a score I think too generous but I will take it. She asked me the basic questions that she taught us on the first day of class such as “O naa kae? Where do you stay,” “O tswa kae?-Where are you from” “O dira eng mo Botswana-what do you do in Botswana” “O tsile leng mo Botswana-When did you arrive in Botswana” just to name a few. As the conversation progressed we got to talking about my family both here in Botswana and back home. Unfortunately I forgot how to say younger sister so just said “Ke nale aubuti bidiwa Patrick-I have an older brother named Patrick” and pretended that I didn’t have a younger sister-Sorry Lainie. To celebrate being done with Setswana, after volleyball me and some friends went to Embassy which is this Indian restaurant that I think I have mentioned before-so good!

Unfortunately Monday night we learned that the grandpa of the family had passed away so the house was busy with people coming in and out to pay their respects and in preparation for the funeral.

Tuesday I was supposed to go to Old Naledi one last time but had so much homework that I needed to get done (and wanted to head to the gym to work off Embassy) so I decided to go this upcoming week and instead spend the day in the computer lab getting as much work done as possible. It was not as productive as I had expected but I did make progress on a lot of assignments.  When I got back home my host mom was having a prayer group for the grandfather so I was able to meet a few more cousins of the family and a lot of the ladies from my mom’s church.

Wednesday again was anything too exciting. I did however go to Main Mall in the afternoon to get passport pictures taken which were necessary for my visa to Mozambique. But even this was so different than in the US. For my picture I just walked up to this lady who has a little stand on the sidewalk, sat in front of white fabric and she took the pictures-no smiling and I had to have my shoulders covered. From there me and my companions traveled to the Mozambique embassy where we arrived right at one, primo lunch time. We were showing up just as the guy was leaving and he begrudgingly said he would stay to fill out our paperwork for our visas. Unfortunately we didn’t know that along  with the passport photos we needed an actual copy of our passport so Ashley and Anthony raced across the street to the Gaborone Sun hotel to do that for us while the rest of us stayed and filled out our paperwork and paid our 375 pula fee. Even though it was a pain to run around, we were all happy that we had accomplished that and it was one more thing off the list of things to do. Once getting back to campus we were also able to book all of our book tickets and hostel for Mozambique so we are ready to go! One week until I adventure off to the beaches of paradise and to snorkel with the nurse sharks and mantarays!

Thursday and Friday came and went without anything really exciting happening. Friday I had no classes so after going to the gym, Charlotte, Anthony and I headed to over to Broadhurst, a neighborhood in Gabs, to go to the Red Lantern, the only Chinese restaurant I have heard of in Gabs. It was, well, it was Chinese food in an African city. I got fried eggplant stuffed with pork which was basically just fried dough so it was good but for sure not nutritious. Afterwards we ventured over to the Craft Market and Botswana Craft where I had planned on buying lots of gifts for people but really only ended up with postcards. There is just not a tourism market in Gaborone and therefore there aren’t a lot of “touristy” stores to buy souvenirs.

After wearing ourselves out we headed back to campus and then I headed over to volleyball practice where it was casual Friday which basically meant the girls and guys mixed together and scrimmaged. We played king/queen of the court with four players and up to 3 points and I had a really funny team. It was me, Rocas and two of the tallest players on the boys team, Shakes and The Great. They are all really animated and really funny. For example I hit a ball into the net and they all gave me grief that I was being paid to sabotage the game  and they should call the authorities. Or whenever we got a great point Shakes would roll on the court pounding the floor in joy. I had a blast! I then headed home where it was just me, Tshego and Tshego’s friend for the night. Even though I got home pretty late I ended up making pancakes for all three of us as we sat and watched “Flava Dome” (a Botswana music show) and some old Chuck Norris western on the eBotswana channel.  

Saturday morning was the first morning in a long tiem that I got to spend at home just relaxing. Woke up late, finished an episode of Desperate Housewives I had strated the night before, had a breakfast of bogobe (porridge) with Tsehgo and her friend, worked on some homework, relaxed! By the afternoon the house was starting to really warm-up and I was getting really hot as there is no air con (as they call it) in my house and the temperatures have been between 95 and 100 the past week. So to get out for a bit I went with Anthony and Charlotte to Airport Junction, this newly opened mall by the airport in Gaborone. There wasn’t too much to do in the mall but I was able to buy some ridiculously expensive deodorant from Clicks (aka CVS), try on some clothes at Mr. Price (their version of Forever 21) and buy some wonderful Cadberry TopDeck chocolate from Spar (Giant). We were spent after a couple of hours and went to Nandos to just relax before heading to campus.

Once on campus there was a volleyball going away, end of the semester celebration so Ashley, Anthony and I ventured over to the dining hall, Curry Pot to celebrate. It was really nice of the team as they had bought pizza, soda and chips to eat and even made short speeches about having us on the team this semester. We did a range of things from playing volleyball with a balloon inside one of the dorms to playing old school truth or dare spin the bottle to going to the volleyball courts and playing real volleyball at 11:30 at night. Overall it was really a great way to say good bye to really the only Batswana friends that I have made during my time here.

By the time the party was winding down it was pretty late so I stayed on campus with Ashley and ended up watching some of New Moon before completely passing out. Got up bright and early and was able to use Ashley’s computer and the internet to finally watch a video from my wonderful siblings. One of the best surprises was seeing both Patrick and Lainie on this video postcard as it is usually just Lainie! Loved it—Thanks guys!!!!

Once Ash was up and we had both eaten a Phaphata with egg from Foodlovers on campus we combi’d over to Rail Park to meet up with Charlotte and Kylee to walk to Malopo Crossing which is another small mall that was supposed to have great fabric stores. A lot of the stores ended up being closed but Charlotte was able to buy a traditional skirt from one of the open stands. We were really hot, shocker, so went into this bar around 11am for some tap water and fries. However after getting our tap water the waitress never came back and none of us were that hungry so we just left. Not sure what the protocol is on that one!

We ventured over to Charlotte’s house to work on a research project about nutrition for CIEE. However her mom wanted us to work outside which was fine because there was a shaded patio but by 2 the shade did nothing and we were sweating like crazy so decided to finish up quickly and head back to Rail Park for some wonderful Milky Lane nice creams (aka a 75 cent ice cream cone or 1.50 with sprinkles).  It was so refreshing and we got to see our favorite worker, Alice!

Since I had been gone from home for so long I got back to the house by around 3 where I spent the afternoon making pumpkin bread (thanks mom!) and watching friends as Tshego and I did our homework. After giving up on homework, I played cards with Elt where I taught him both trashcan and Egyptian Rat Screw while Elt’s brother, Aaron (who was in for the funeral) made dinner. Overall it was a really fun night and it was great to hang out with Elt and Tshego since my days left in Botswana are numbered!

I’m in this weird state now where I am nearing ready to come home. I miss my family, my house, my friends, my pets. I miss being completely comfortable and feeling like I fit in because even though I have been here for over 4 months I still feel like an outsider. I still don’t know the language enough to converse with people on the combi, I still get talked to and harassed (that might be too strong of a word) when walking through the station and I still feel like I am treated like an idiot a lot of the time. All of this makes me want to go home to a place that I completely understand and have missed terribly. Now at the same time there are so many things I am going to miss. The lizards that run around the trees and are the Botswana version of squirrels or the goats and chickens that pop up all over the place. I’m going to miss the crazy friends that I have made here and their fun personalities. I’m going to miss the English language here and the way in which text messages are written in short hand. For example everyone always uses “Hwzit”when texting the phrase “How’s it?” which is their way of saying how are you. Or when someone says “gud 9t” for good night. The way people say “serious” when in the states we would say “seriously?” and they say “it was very nice” for anything they like whether it be food, a dress, a person, etc. I have grown accustomed to so many little things here like driving on the other side of the road, calculating costs in pula, paying for everything in cash, etc. So even though I am desperately missing the states I am going through withdrawal and am going to desperately miss Botswana and all my friends when I go back to the states. What an adventure!!!

Two Weeks Left in Bots!

 Volunteering at Mokolodi

Playing tug of war with the thorny, prickly, dangerous trees

 taking a dip in one of Mokolodi's watering hole

 Hanging out with two of my favorite volleyball players: Moleti and Anthony

My waffle-ice cream-pb-banana waffle for breakfast!!!

 Hello once again. As a study break I thought I would update all of you on the happenings of this past week. I can’t believe I am already studying for finals! I have my first final tomorrow-Setswana which is going to be an oral test where I will have to converse with my teacher, Nthati. I am pretty nervous about it because even though I am living with a host family and surrounded by the language I mainly speak English to them and am spoken to in English by them and my friends. Then I have another final this upcoming Thursday for my Psychological Challenges of HIV/Aids course. Technically finals are not supposed to start until November 19^th but many teachers here do not like teaching the last week of actual classes (the week of the 12^th) and instead of waiting around until the 19^th to give the final are giving it to us early. This is fine with me since now I have only two finals during the actual finals week and was able to get both of them to be on the same day, the 19^th. This then means that I am done with all my courses on the 19^th and have free time until December 1^st when CIEE takes all the students to the Okavango Delta. Since I have like 10 days with nothing to do I am going to be heading to Maputo and Tofo in Mozambique which are supposed to have amazing beaches! So although I am not technically going to be leaving Africa until December 12^th I really only have two more weeks in Gaborone and the last 3 weeks will be spent traveling: Mozambique, then the Delta then Cape Town for 4 days.

Since I have such a short amount of time left in Gaborone I am trying to hit everything that I like to do one more time which included two for one whizzers at Milky Lane on Tuesday night. On Tuesday I didn’t go to volleyball because CIEE had a meeting where we got to present a media project we had been working on. For our CIEE class, we were split into groups of 5, given a topic about Gabs and then were to make a 5 minute instructional video about it. My group did transportation while some of the other topics were Setswana, homestays, dorm life and CIEE in general. So CIEE got us pizza and juices and we all came together to watch each other’s videos which was great. Then it was time to head to Milky Lane for our whizzers which are kind of like DQ Blizzards. But of course nothing is simple in Bots. Even though Anthony and I had been going to Milky Lane for this deal for the past two weeks we order and she charged us for both. When we complained she said the deal was no longer going on and they forgot to take down the sign. When we asked then for the money back and to cancel the order she said she couldn’t cancel the order. What??? After arguing for a bit, the manager comes over. I love her! Her name is Alice and she is one of the few people in Botswana who practices customer service and she knows us because we go there so often. It turns out that the deal is still going on it was just that the two particular ones we ordered couldn’t count for it because they were two of the expensive ones. Long and short of it we did end up getting two cheaper ones for free but eish, what a hassle.

Wednesday was Halloween but no one here celebrates it and so it wasn’t that special of a day at all. No one even knew it was Halloween here. However, us Americans thought we had to do something to celebrate so after volleyball, me, Ashley, Anthony, Kylee and Charlotte headed to Linga Longa Restaurant for some good old, orange macaroni and cheese. Of course we needed chocolate too though so while waiting for our food, Ash and I ran to Pick and Pay to get some wonderful Cadberry chocolate to satisfy our need for Halloween candy! It wasn’t the typical American Halloween but we did what we could with what we had!

Thursday and Friday weren’t that particularly interesting. On Friday volleyball practice was a lot of fun though. There weren’t that many people there so the boys and girls mixed and we scrimmaged for most of practice. It was so so much fun. Unlike with the girls when you make a mistake the boys will correct your mistake without saying anything about it or will give you a high five and say good try. Plus they love to tease each other which is hilarious. At one point I was with these two guys in the back row and they kept saying to set them because the back row is where the points are coming from. This started this huge chorus of “Julies” every time I went to set the ball with 5 different hitters yelling my name and hoping I set them. It was awesome! The rest of the night was good too because my mom was at the hospital just down the road so I was able to get a ride home with her and found out that she made dumplings for dinner. They were great. Then I just spent the night hanging out with Tshego watching My African Dream which is like a talent show.

Saturday I had to get up really early because the CIEE kids were volunteering at Mokolodi Game Reserve so had to meet on campus by like 8. It turned out to be an awesome day full of crazy happenings. It started when we were on our way to Mokolodi and got pulled over at a police check point. What should have been a five minute check turned into an hour detour because it turns out the combi company we hired didn’t have the registration to drive these cars and therefore had to pay a 1800 pula fine immediately which they didn’t have. So we were literally just stranded at this police check point. Eventually Mokolodi came in their game drive trucks to come pick us up and take us into the park where we met the headman for the day, Ian (funny story-because of his accent many of us thought he said Yen so for a good part of the day people just kept calling him Yen!).  Once inside the park and at our worksite we divided into three groups. The main problem they were having was that when the heavy rains came the water would pool in the road and form a river and even washed some of the road away. There were three tasks to be done; collecting rocks to fill in the huge holes in the road, digging ditches/creating barriers and trimming branches to clear the game drive road. I started on rock collecting which was actually pretty fun. We got to wander around the bush finding large rocks and eventually created an assembly line from the bush to the road to fill in the holes. It was so rewarding to see how many rocks we collected and how much of the road we were able to fill in. After a short break for snack time I switched tasks and hopped in the back of Ian’s pick up truck to drive to another part of the road to cut down tree branches that were in the way of the road. It was so much fun flying through Mokolodi in the back of the pick-up truck as Ian was a crazy driver but it was so much fun. Cutting the trees back, however, was a completely different story. These are no normal trees but smart little devil trees. They look really leafy and green and soft but in fact they have a ridiculous amount of tiny thorns that face inward so when you get stuck in them and try to pull back you just get more caught.  I got my head stuck in these trees like five times and had to have people come untangle me and had the branches stick to my shirt, pants, shoes, skin!!! Came out with some “real nice” scratches all over my arms (take note of the tug-of-war pictures with the tree!). To cool off on the way back to the other kids, Ian took us to a watering hole that we got to dip our feet in and play with the mud for a bit. So much FUN!!

We then got to have our lunch which was this awesome braii!!! Braiis are huge here and are basically just a barbeque with a bunch of different meats so we got like three different salads, pap, butternut squash, chicken, sausages, steak. Everything was so good and I definitely had my fair share of food. After sufficiently gorging myself, some of us walked over to this huge lake and got to see a crodocile and two hippos. Then on the way back from the braii we saw like 5 zebras. The afternoon was definitely another “aha moment, my life is so great!” I mean I just got to rebuild a path in a game reserve, splash around in a watering hole, eat at a braii right next to a hippo-infested lake and then see zebras running around and that’s a normal weekend now!! Loved it!!

The day wasn’t over yet though. After hanging out at UB for a bit, most of the international students decided to go out to a local bar we go to once in a while for the night. It was so much fun to hang out with the other kids because we really do not have much time left together.

Sunday was yet another good day. One thing that has been on my and Anthony’s bucket list is to go to Milky Lane and get their icecream covered waffles-today was the day. We headed out to railpark and got our peanut butter banana, ice cream waffles which were delicious!!! Yet at the same time made you want to throw up. Definitely glad I got them but for sure something I would not do again. Afterwards, some of us went to another mall to hit up a target-like store called Game and then walked back to my house for an afternoon of chocolate-chip cookie making. Basically it was a day filled with my closest American friends, ice cream, cookies and waffles-who could ask for more???

Serowe and Johannesburg

 Winning Gold in Serowe

 Entering South Africa

 JOBURG

 German Pub on Queens Street

Nelson Mandela's House in Soweto

Hello once again. It has taken me so long to write because I have been uber busy traveling around, playing volleyball, hanging out with friends and more. And boy what a difference a week can make. The last time I wrote I was pretty homesick and frustrated with Botswana but since then my attitude has changed and now that time in winding down I feel myself not wanting to leave Bots and all my friends here.

The rest of the week, last Wednesday and Thursday, flew by as I was kept busy preparing for the volleyball championships that I had the weekend of October 20^th and 21^st. Volleyball practice was supposed to end at 7 but because we were leaving Friday for the championships in Serowe, practice on both Wednesday and Thursday went way past 7:30 meaning that I didn’t get home until like 8:30/9ish. The frustrating part was that we would actually end practice at like 7 but then would talk and talk forever, again without really saying anything. Half of it would be in Setswana too so I had no idea what was going on and when it was in English it would take 5 minutes to say something that could have been said in 1 sentence. But that is the Batswana way-no rush, no need to move quickly!

Anyways, Friday rolled around and even though the bus was supposed to leave at one, we ended up not leaving until 3:45=shocker. Of couse, Ashley and I showed up at the meeting place at one and had to kill time until everyone else and the buses showed up. In fact, basically all UB sports teams were going to Serowe together because it was the Botessa National Championship Games so the basketball teams went, the tennis teams, badminton, netball, softball, soccer and volleyball were all traveling together.

We finally get on the bus and it is HOT! There is no AC on the bus and Friday was one of the hottest days I’ve had in Botswana so far. I was just sweating basically the entire time. The bus ride was really interesting because it really felt like we were riding with a bunch of middle schoolers-people were yelling, bothering those who were sleeping, taking a million pictures, yelling out the window, running around the isles, crazy!! After a couple of hours we stopped at the same rest stop I had been at a week earlier with CIEE as we were going to the same place as last week. We got snacks then headed back on the bus to finish our ride there. Got to Serowe after another couple of hours and first stopped at the college where the games would be held the following day to pick up mattresses for us to sleep on. This sounds simple enough but this 20 minute stop turned into a 2 hour stop. Why??? I do not know.

By this time it is nearing 9pm and we finally get to ISH (the college we were going to be housed in for the next weekend) but of course we didn’t go to our rooms right away but hung out in the parking lot for about an hour. Luckily dinner was provided so we were able to eat as we waited in the lot. It was weird though because each team only got 10 meals so if you had more than 10 players you had to share with other players. We finally are shown to our rooms which is very, very chaotic with everyone pushing and no one hearing what exactly is going on. The boys vball team would be staying on mattresses in an empty classroom whereas the girls would be staying in a dorm (they call them hostels).  Each girls team got 3 rooms no matter who big the team was so we had to have 4 girls per room. However, we soon learned that the doors didn’t lock and even more we were staying on a floor of a boys hostel. A lot of the girls got really uncomfortable with the idea of unlocked doors and a bunch of guys staying around us so we ended up moving to sleep in the classroom with the volleyball boys who we actually knew. So finally at like 1am we are settled in this sweltering hot classroom. Some of the kids were playing a game similar to charades so the lights were on until like 2am. Thank god for my eye mask which completely blocked out the light, noise was another issue. Finally asleep at like 2.

Before I knew it people were getting up to go take showers. The first people who got up, got up at 4am and by 5:30 the lights in the room were on again. Why people wanted to take showers before they were about to exercise? I do not know! But they got up so early and we didn’t even have to leave until 7:45 so when people were done taking their showers they went back to playing that game from the night before. Ashley, Anthony and I were all so confused as to why they didn’t just wait to wake up and take showers so they didn’t have all this extra time but oh well.

So the games finally start on Saturday morning. We were able to watch most of the boys win their first game before ours started. It was pretty awesome to watch everything that was going on as there were so many people and so many things happening all around us. It was time for our first game and Ash and I had to get in our ridiculously ugly, unattractive and really unflattering sky blue uniforms with our names on the back. I thought it was cool to have our names on the back but boy was I wrong. As soon as we started warming up people all around started heckling us yelling our names and “American” and “white girl.” It was so, so overwhelming and Ash and I jut wanted to get off the court. I actually never even got on the court during the game and didn’t’ play at all. Not sure why but the team played pretty well and won the first match. Afterwards though both Ash and I were on the verge of a breakdown because the heckling never stopped even after the game. We would walk around and people would yell our names and stare. What made it worse was that we felt so alone as none of the other girls stood up for us and instead would tell us what to do the entire time or pick us apart. For example for Ash on the court, they would tell her to pass better or run faster and for me on the side they would say oh you need to wash your hair or you have a weird skin color, etc. So Ash and I had to leave the courts for a bit, have a breakdown and regroup. We talked about how we were feeling with our friend Mo, a matswana, who explained that they get heckled terribly too but it is in Setswana so you can’t understand. And the girls are in all truth jealous of us because of all the attention we get, especially from males, and therefore do things to us not out of spite but of jealousy and because they are intimidated. This helped a lot and the second game of the afternoon was a lot better as we were able to block out a lot of the ridicule.

Our games ended in the early afternoon but we had to wait around for the rest of the sports to finish so I ended up watching a basketball game and some netball. Some of the boys vball players were watching netball too and they tried to explain all the rules to me but it’s really weird and, for me, not that exciting.

We didn’t do much that night except eat dinner back at the school and walk to the gas station (filling station) for some snacks.  However, Ash and I did take a shower and when we walked back into the classroom received wide applause because according to the girls by that time we should have showered at least 3 times. Oh well—it was hilarious. And on the way back from the shower we heard one of the best pickup lines yet. “Hi ladies! I like you.” Pretty blunt!!

The morning ritual was pretty much the same on Sunday except that this time the lights stayed off until 6:30 which allowed for a bit more sleep! We headed over to the courts around 8 and once again were able to watch some of the boys game befor ours started. This was the championship game so I really wanted to watch all of it but unfortunately could only watch the first two games before I had to start warming up for our championship game. The boys did end up winning 3 games to 2 and therefore got their gold medal that so many of them wanted. And we, the girls volleyball team, did too! It went to five games but we ended up winning in the end. However I think I might have played a grand total of 2 minutes so I don’t really feel like I earned my medal but hey, oh well! It was so windy out though that the volleyball really wasn’t that pretty, not to mention the levels here are just lower than US levels. After the medal ceremony we just had to hang out and wait for the other teams to finish before finally heading back to Gabs.

The bus ride back was similar to the ride there with a bunch of kids yelling and running around. I thought at least this ride would be quiet cause everyone would be tired, but nope, I was wrong. It really felt like I was in middle school again.

Overall, the weekend was for sure an experience. I had some great moments hanging out with the girls and boys, learning some Setswana here and there, seeing how tournaments are done in Botswana, meeting kids from other UB teams and more. But I also definitely struggled at times. It’s so much harder than I ever thought to be a true minority; to not know the language, not understand the culture and be looked at and treated differently. Just the pure fact that heckling is part of the sport is hard to overcome because although it happens in the US it is more at the professional level rather than friendly competition. It was hard with the fact that when Ashley and I walked around we got stares, people yelling our names and guys saying weird stuff to us. For example on Sunday one guy goes, “Hello. I’m single by the way” which I just replied “hello, good for you.” I mean I don’t know what they want when they say things like that. It was definitely very trying emotionally but an experience that helped me understand life as a minority.

We got home late Sunday night so Monday morning was for sure a struggle especially when I had to go to Setswana class and learn the 14 different noun classes!! However, it did help me understand why certain things are said this way or why sounds seem to repeat themselves. And it was helpful that since volleyball practice was cancelled, me, Ashley, Anthony and Mo all went to a local bar called Bull and Bush for Monday half off rib night. Although the ribs weren’t as good as those from MiRancho in Silver Spring, it was so much fun to hang out with Mo, Ash and Anthony even though I had hung out with them all weekend.

Tuesday went to Old Naledi again to volunteer. However I am finding it harder and harder to go because I really don’t understand my purpose for being there. When I showed up most of the food had already been cooked so I just hung around until it was time to serve which was like 3 hours later. There weren’t that many kids to play with and the ones were around simply want to jump on my back which I can only take for so long before my back gives out. After cleaning up from lunch at Old Naledi I headed to campus even though there was no volleyball again. Instead I had to teach a fitness class for the OIEP (Office of International Exchanges and Partnerships) Wellness Week. Apparently the government makes various offices host these wellness weeks even if the department has nothing to do with health so OIEP got a hold of me and asked if I could teach an hour long fitness class in the student center. I ended up only teaching the OIEP staff that were required to come but still had to do it right in the middle of the student center which was pretty nerve racking to have all these students walk past and see me teaching cardioboxing. It ended up being really fun though and I think everyone got a workout even if we did start a half hour late so the class was a half hour instead of hour.

Wednesday and Thursday flew by especially since Thursday afternoon, me and 6 others were going to be heading to Johannesburg for the weekend. So Thursday afternoon me and Ashley, Charlotte, Ellie and Kylee all boarded the TJ Motlegari’s Express to Johannesburg  for our 6 hour drive to Joburg(Mo and Anthony were going to bus down on Friday).  The drive was pretty uneventful but we did get to see a lot of South Africa since the border from Gaborone is only about a half hour and the rest of the drive is through SA. It is a lot greener with a  lot more trees than Botswana which was a really nice scenery.

We arrived in Joburg around 10pm and a wonderfully nice lady from our bus showed us where to catch a taxi and helped get us a driver to take us to our hostel in Kensington.  As we were driving our driver took us threw Hillbrow which is supposed to be a pretty dodgy area and one to for sure be avoided so that was interesting. We showed up at our hostel, Diamon Diggers Backpackers and were taken back by the awesome view of Joburg from the office. Pretty sweet place.

Friday it was just us girls so we spent the day exploring. It started by waking up early and walking down the street to the little grocery store to buy breakfast fixings. We ended up making banana pancakes and scrambled eggs! YAY!! I miss pancakes—so good. We then had the housekeeper, Kim show us how to get on a minibus which is basically like a combi and took us to the center of Joburg to the Carlton Center. The Carlton Center is basically a big mall but there is a huge building attached and for 15 rand (well 10  because I asked if there was a student discount and the lady said okay) you can ride the elevator to the 50^th floor and get a 360 view of Joburg.

From the “Top of Africa” as it is called we saw Joubert Park right by the Johannesburg Art Gallery and decided to venture out that direction. However the walk there was for sure an experience. It was super busy with a  lot of people hustling and bustling and a lot of people trying to sell us stuff. We were heading towards Hillbrow so it just got sketchier and sketchier making some of the girls feel a bit nervous and very guarded. But we made it to the art gallery (decided against the park because there were some suspicious looking people) and spent some time wandering the gallery looking at various Picassos and other works.

After the museum we made our way all the way to Newtown which was supposed to be a rejuvenated fun part of Joburg-Nope!! It was empty and pretty sketchy looking. We went to the one place the guidebook suggested for lunch called Nikki’s Oasis but it was anything but an oasis. Pretty terrible food, unfriendly wait staff and some things were way overpriced. The afternoon in Newtown didn’t get any better when we walked over to Market Theatre which was supposed to have little shops and a photo gallery but all we found was an empty theatre. We were tired by this point so had a security guard help us get a cab to take us to Bruma Lake World Market for some craft shopping before heading back to the hostel. Well we get all the way to Bruma Lake and then our cab driver goes “oh yeah they closed down the market for renovations.” Well thanks for telling us now! So instead we had to pay him an extra 100 rand to take us back to the hostel.

Once at the hostel, it had started to pour so we just sat in the living room watching TV and recuperating. The hostel manager and another guest were going to go to a local German pub to watch the rugby game and offered to drive us there. It ended up being a really awesome pub with great outdoor seating, cool inside with rugby flags all over, vu vu zelas hanging on the walls, traditional Germany mugs thrown around and a lot of locals. We all ended up getting some type of Bratwurst and had the nicest waitress ever named Pamela. While we were eating dinner we got to talking to some locals as well and spent a good deal of the night learning about South Africa from them. Soon enough, our boys, Mo and Anthony showed up too so we stayed until the bar closed just drinking, eating and chatting. The locals we met were nice enough to offer us rides home so that saved us some money which was nice. Overall it was a great evening…until we returned to the hostel.

We got back around midnight and Kylee says she can’t find her camera in the room. Then Ashley notices her money is missing. Then I check my belongings nad find that my iPod touch, 1000 Rand (which I hid in my sunglass case) and my camera charger are all missing and Charlotte’s camera and iPod are gone. All of us go into survival mode really. Some people go wake up the manager and start watching surveillance footage while others focus on making a list of what is missing and others sent emails to the insurance company and our director in Botswana. It turns out there were two other guests who took our stuff. Earlier in the day when we were in the living room talking about our plans for the evening there was this gentleman sitting there as well but he was a little sketchy, didn’t make eye contact or say anything to us. Then in the video the man he was staying with sat in the lobby at the foot of the staircase that led to the dorm rooms reading a magazine for 40 minutes, about 10 minutes after we had left for dinner. After about 40 minutes, the guy from the living room earlier comes up the stairs with a backpack and the two leave never to come back even though they had just checked in that afternoon. And it turns out that in a hostel they had stayed at a couple of days earlier, 300dollars had gone missing.

The police showed up and asked us to come to the police station in the morning to file a report. So about four hours later (after getting virtually no sleep) Kylee and I wake up and head on over to the Jeppe police station to file a report. We really didn’t think the police would find anything but wanted to have a copy of the report for the insurance company. It took forever at the station and the whole time I was kicking myself for leaving my valuables in my room even though all of us were sketched out by these two other guests. Luckily though my passport and credit cards, and important documents were locked in the safe and luckily these things were taken when I was out and I didn’t get mugged with a knife or gun which is pretty common in Joburg.

After filing the report and coming back for breakfast it was time to start our day. We filed into two taxis and headed to the outskirts of Joburg for the Apartheid Museum. The museum was huge and l thought there was a lot of information I really don’t feel like I learned that much. The museum had a special exhibit on Nelson Mandela that was organized more by topic than chronologically which made it pretty difficult to follow. Also, unlike in the states the museum basically just consisted of pictures and huge paragraphs of information. It was a pretty exhausting museum so after spending our afternoon there we headed back to the hostel for some rest.

After watching a movie and playing some cards we headed back to the German pub from the previous night where we got to sit inside and actually talk to the owner for a bit. She is Swiss and she and her late husband opened the bar up when they moved here a long time ago. She even gave us all a round of free shots as an apology for a rowdy customer who threw up near our table. It ended up being a really fun evening.

Sunday rolled around and we had most of the day before our 4pm bus back to Gaborone so we had arranged a tour of Soweto which is a famous township of Johannesburg. We went with a pretty cheap tour company and a cheap tour is what we got. All 7 of us and our luggage had to get squished in a ridiculously small car that kept dying as we drove around Soweto. However on the tour we were able to see the World Cup Soccer Stadium, the houses of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu and the Hector Peterson Museum.  Soweto has a rich political history and was instrumental in various uprising against the South African government in the 1970s. The Hector Peterson museum is dedicated to the black students who protested the use of Afrikaans language in their schooling system. The Hector Peterson museum was a lot more interesting than that of the Apartheid yet again though I felt that it was just a lot of pictures and words instead of artifacts.

The last stop on the tour was supposed to be a tour of Soweto’s shantytowns but many people felt this would be exploiting the people of Soweto and instead we went to the bungee jump of Soweto. Basically there is a bridge that is suspended between two old nuclear towers that have been painted with gorgeous murals. Anthony was the only one who wanted to jump but it was pretty cool to watch and take pictures.

It was nearing 2:15 by now so we squished back into the car and went to Park Station to get lunch before we headed home. We easily made our bus and had an uneventful yet fun ride back to Gabs.

Overall it was a really interesting weekend. Joburg is for sure a place I wanted to see and for sure one that I don’t think I have to visit again. It is a huge city, something I didn’t expect and yet there is not that much to do there. Now I understand why people questioned me when I said I was going to Joburg for the weekend. And in terms of getting my things stolen, oh well. Like I said it was our own fault for leaving our valuables in the room and we were so lucky that it was simply electronics and not our passports or credit cards. And we were lucky that it happened in this manner instead of being hurt or attacked on the street. At the Apartheid museum  there was a wall with a huge array of quotes of Nelson Mandela, one of which was all about forgiveness. After reading the quote, I forgave the men who stole from me. Who knows? Maybe they needed the money to feed their families. Whatever the reason may be I just hope that they can find justification for their actions instead of simply greed.

My time here in Botswana is coming to an end and these past two weekends have made it so difficult and made me really want to stay in this place where I have made so many great friends. I do not think I will miss Gabs at all but will for sure miss all the friends I have made and the things I have done. I mean I just popped over to South Africa for the weekend; that can’t really happen in the states. It’s for sure a different world over here and one that I am really going to miss.