Since the time is coming for me to leave the US and start my adventure in Africa, I thought I would write my first post. Hope you enjoy! I leave July 25th and will return to the US on December 7th!!!

Hello, hello!! Welcome to "the bibb" aka the Brice in Botswana Blog (shout out to Lainie for the title and Daphne and Calman for the abbreviation!). So I don't really know what a blog is, never really wrote in a diary and rarely do I read blogs, or books for that matter, so we will see how this whole blog thing turns out. I'll try to update it whenever I can in Botswana but be sure to stalk me on facebook as I am sure that's where most of the pictures will be posted. I thought with this first post I would do a little background on the program, the country and me.

ME (skip this if you know me, lol):  Fifth year undergrad student at UMD getting double degrees in Psychology and Kinesiology as well as completing all my premed reqs. Work at the gym as group fitness instructor and loving every minute of it. Decided to study abroad in Botswana after going to Uganda as a sophomore where I did something similar to an alternative spring break.

THE PROGRAM: I am traveling with a non-UMD affiliated program through a company called the Council on International Educational Exchange. So far I have been really impressed with them and they not only do study abroads around the world but a lot of international teaching opportunities, working abroad, etc. Here is their website if you are interested: http://www.ciee.org/. When originally researching studying abroad in Africa I was looking into a lot of different programs but ended up choosing CIEE Bostwana because I am able to do a homestay and participate in an internship while abroad. I will also be taking classes at the University of Botswana which has around 15,000 students located in Gaborone (the capitol of Botswana). I have no idea what my internship will be yet or what classes I will be taking but know that I am required to take a Setswana and Language Practicuum. And since the university is so large there are a range of departments including a psyc and physical education departments so hopefully will be able to get some classes to count for credit. For example, I was looking into taking cricket and netball! There are also a lot of cultural excursions planned through the program. For example there will be a multi-day safari in December and a week-long stay in a rural village sometime throughout the semester.

BOTSWANA: Botswana is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. To the south and west is South Africa (Gaborone is actually right on the border), to the west is Zimbabwe, to the north is Zambia and Angola and to the east is Namibia. 70% of the country is part of the Kalahari dessert with the well-known Okavanga Delta in the northwest. The country was colonized by the British and did not gain independence until 1966. I'm excited because their independence day falls in September when I will be there! Because of this British reign much of the culture has many British ties. For example, the Official Language is English although most people speak the local language of Setswana (All I know so far is that Dumela is hello). What else have people asked me about Botswana??? The currency is called pula and 7.5 pulas=1 dollar. Their cuisine: the diet involves mainly three crops-millet, corn and cassava-and if they can afford it, beef. There is actually more cattle in Botswana than people living there. A main dish is bogobe which is a porridge made from one of those three grains. Last question I've been asked a lot about is the weather. Since Botswana is in the southern hemisphere while we are experiencing summer, they are in their winter. During the day it gets to be between 70-80 and then drastically cools down at night to around 30-40degrees. It'll most likely be like this until October when it will begin to really heat up as summer hits, around 100-110 degrees! Yikes!!!

Alright, so I think this is a pretty substantial first post. Read what you like, comment what you think, message me about your lives and have a wonderful end of summer and fall!!!!! Thanks!!!