First night in Kanye peeling potatoes using pocket knives!!
Our makeshift kitchen for the week. This and a campfire is what we had. Oh and a mini-fridge!
Campfire complete with a mini fire, one working guitar, one not so working guitar and drums!
**MORE PICTURES BELOW-internet is so hard to use here so there is no way to format them*
Alright so time for another blog post. I’ll start with my
typical warning about the length of these posts and that I certainly don’t
believe that everyone has the time (or energy) to read the whole posts. Just
pick up bits and pieces here and there if you are interest or just look at the
pictures if you’d like (because let’s be honest, I would probably only look at
the pictures!). Sidenote: my
internet at home is broken so I am limited to using the internet while at
school.
This past week and a half has been great/crazy/weird!
Monday was nothing special except for Setswana class which
is increasingly becoming more difficult and daunting. Although it is great to
learn and understand more about the language it can so intimidating as my
teacher, Nthati, will have conversations with individuals in front of the class
so you are put on the spot. And if you haven’t practiced, she knows (I really
need to practice!). As of right now we are going through helpful phrases and
basic introductions of which there are many. Tough but a lot of fun.
Tuesday was my internship where the whole experience was
better than last week. While walking there, along with being creepily proposed
to, I had a couple little kids see me and just run up and hug me wanting me to
swing them around. Then when I got to the school the little boy who I played
with a lot last week sprinted to me and bounded into my arms. Whether or not he
remembered me I’m not sure, but either way it was one of the feelings where you
feel loved and appreciated. It really did warm my heart. Once at the school I
helped out to make dumplings and stew and then chilled with the kids. Luckily I
am getting a little less new and they are taking a little less notice of me
meaning I don’t have so many jumping up my back and climbing all over which
makes the experience much more enjoyable. I also saw one of the little kids I
met a couple of weekends ago who remembered me because of my tattoo. In terms of the internship work, I am
developing a project with my advisor which I believe is going to combine
aspects of nutrition with the physical activity of the kids. For many of the
kids the meal they get at the center is the only meal they get all day so I
would like to look at the nutritional properties and then their physical
exertion. As well as develop games and fun activities I could do with the kids
while they are waiting for food instead of having them run wild all over the
place.
Wednesday overall was
a great day. I woke up freaking out that I lost my ipod and that it was
stolen which severely dampened my mood. However, when I got to school I found
it in a different pocket of my backpack. Then I received two letters; one from
my mom/dad/sister and one from my grandma both of which put huge smiles on my
face. After a great workout, me and some of my friends took Elt out to Nando’s
for his birthday at main mall then spent some time running errands around main
mall. After shopping and class back at UB, one of my friends came over to my
house to make dinner and cookies. It was my first attempt at a Batswana meal
and I took on dumplings which I didn’t think would be that hard but they
literally came out like rocks that just sunk in your stomach. However, we all
ate them and I actually liked them. Now I have three months to perfect my
dumplings-had to start somewhere. I also made some great chicken and leafy
greens—which I enjoyed. Then the real reason Ashley came over---chocolate chip
cookies. We had to improvise since there is no brown sugar or baking soda here
but overall they turned out great evidenced by my intense cookie dough induced
stomach ache! It was a really fun night and put a smile on my face as I fell
asleep.
Thursday and Friday came and went without any real
excitement. However, I did learn that of a new internship possibility. Last
week the aerobathon I participated in was organized by the Disabilities Services
Center at UB and at the aerobathon I was introduced to the Deputy Director of
the center at UB. I met with her on Friday and she explained that they had set
up a program at Tlokweng (a suburb of Gabs) at a school for kids with various
disabilities especially Autism and Down Syndrome. UB recently bought the school a sound system but now need an
instructor to come once a week to teach an hour long fitness class and work
with the kids. Enter Julie. It sounded like a great opportunity so my
internship changed from designing a program at Old Naledi to teaching classes
to kids with special needs with the chance of arranging outings for them such
as taking them horse back riding or swimming, etc. I am really excited about it
and can’t wait to get started. I was supposed to go meet the students and
teachers this upcoming Friday but they are busy getting ready for the Special
Olympics (which I hope to help with) so will start my internship officially
next Friday. I am planning on continuing to go to Old Naledi though to play
with the kids and help make lunch but hope my frustration with the
disorganization will lessen as there is no longer pressure to design a whole
program for these kids. The rest
of Friday was pretty dull. That night was a really chill evening. After a low
key volleyball practice where the girls and guys scrimmaged, my friend Anthony
came over for dinner and dessert aka kettle corn courtesy of Ashley.
Saturday morning began the adventure of a four day cultural
excursion to Kanye a village about 70 km from Gaborone. The trip started out
like all trips in Africa do: late with a lot of unnecessary travel. They took
us on two combis where the first combi had all the luggage strapped to the top
until we got to the combi company’s hub where we took all the luggage off the
roof and put it in a trailor. Then hooked up the trailor, drove to the
gas/petroleum station to meet our guide in his pick up truck then back to the
hub to transfer the luggage from the trailor to the truck. I need to write all
this because it just gives you an idea of how things get done in such a round
about way in this country!
On the way to Kanye we stopped at the Thamaga Pottery
Exhibit where we were supposed to see pottery being made but being that it was
a Saturday instead just looked around the shop. We then finally made it to
Kanye where we would be staying at our guide, Kenny’s aunt’s house. The house
had a large living area that had been converted into a huge dining room and
then about four other rooms that were off-limits to us guests. Out in the yard
there was an open area where we would pitch our tents, a kitchen and another
storage house and then the toilets which were the long drop kind since there
was no electricity or running water. Basically it looks just like a toilet but
there is no flush and instead everything drops way down to the ground. However
even this is a perfect example of how developed Bots is as in Uganda all the
“toilets” were literally holes in the ground but here the toilet was built up
and could be sat upon.
Although the house and area seemed nice, from the very first
hour we got there we knew that we were in for some rough times ahead. This was
made evident by the fact that it was already 1:30 and there was still no sign
of lunch. When lunch did show up it was oranges and halves of tuna sandwhiches
which were more bread than tuna. After our snack we started setting up camp,
pitching our tents and setting up our quarters. However, in the midst of the
tent preparations we learned that there was nothing for dinner. It turns out
Kenny’s mom was bringing the food from Gaborone and they had no idea of when
she would arrive. So, a couple of CIEE kids went to the local supermarket and
with their own 200 (around 30 bucks) bought dinner for over 20 people. As soon
as the kids got back everyone got to work cooking and doing our best to ensure
that we would eat something. The only problem was that we were making chicken
and had to make it in a small wok over a campfire. While I was on chicken duty
other kids were making coleslaw and mashed potatotes. Since we had to do the
chicken in rounds basically everyone
started eating except me and a couple of other kids who were watching
the last chicken cook. This ended up working in our favor because the last
round of chicken was the most flavorful and we got all the leftover mashed
potatoes and coleslaw. After we had all cleaned up Kenny’s mom finally showed
up with the food! Whew!!!
The next morning after preparing our breakfast (eggs, cereal
and toast) we all dressed up and headed to church in Kanye. We headed to one
church, then were told we were going to the Mosque and then passed the mosque
and headed to a Roman Catholic Church founded in 1795. The service was really
interesting even though it was in Setswana. They had a couple of locals come to
sit with us and explain everything that was going on which helped immensely.
The service was similar to that in the states; songs, announcements, a sermon,
welcoming of visitors (meaning we all had to go to the front of the church and
introduce ourselves to the entire congregation, around 200 people!!!). I found the entire service to be really
interesting even though it was pretty long.
After church we headed back for lunch which we again had to
plan and prepare. After lunch, we then had a couple of hours to relax so we
just hung out on the porch talking and playing music, etc. Then Kenny gave a
lecture on religion which was very interesting. What was so interesting was not
only the topic as there are various religions in Botswana each with specific
customs and traditions but how Kenny put his personal bias into his lecture. He was talking a lot about African
Traditional Religion (ATR) which has a heavy focus on the importance of
ancestry and includes both animal and human sacrifice. According to Kenny child
sacrifice is a component of ATR to this day and the government does nothing to
protect these children. He used a lot of “it’s crazy man” and actually blamed
TV for a lot of the wrongdoings in religion in Botswana. I took everything he
said with a grain of salt but again thought it was a really cool lecture and
viewpoint.
We then made dinner which was a huge brai which is basically
a Batswana barbeque that usually consists of bbqing various types of meats.
Tonight we had sausage and some steak along with pap and bogobe which my friend
Charlotte and I were in charge of making. I had made it a couple of times
before but it was good to practice and see if I could make it on my own. We
also lucked out because we had dessert (fruit salad with marshmallows) and
pound cake. We ended the evening with a campfire and drumming ceremony and
stargazing. I also slept ten times better than I did the night before. This may
have been because our tent was on a hill and the first night some of us slept
with our heads on the bottom part of the hill so the whole night I was slipping
and slowly easing down the hill. Tonight though I corrected my mistake and with
the help of my wonderful eyemask, slept great!!!
Monday started off again with cooking and a filling
breakfast of cereal, toast, eggs and bacon!!!! We then dressed up and headed
over to the kgotla of Kanye. I think I’ve mentioned it before but a kgotla is
basically the meeting house of the village where the chief (kgosi) rules on
various disputes of the village. There is a very strict dresscode and set of
traditions when entering the kgotla so all the girls have to wear skirts past
their knees, close toed shoes, covered shoulders, a head covering (sometimes)
and when sitting in the kgotla cannot have their legs crossed. When we got to
the kgotla of Kanye the kgosi wasn’t around and they didn’t know we were coming
(shocker since nothing had been really planned) so our assistant director Tanya
had to become the tour guide/translator. It turns out the kgotla we went to was
the smaller kgotla and there was a larger one on the other side of town.
However we were still able to sit in the kgotla and some of the volunteers
tried to explain various traditions. For example, they always end and start a
meeting with prayer, anyone can come to have the kgotla settle disputes, the
punishments range from a fine to a lashing (4 lashings is max) and they have a
ceremonial fire that burns in the middle that everyone has to be careful to
walk around and not pass. And next to the kgosi there was actually a cattle
lost and found. When there is unclaimed cattle wandering the streets of Kanye
they bring them to this pin where the owners have to come get them. Funny,
huh??
We headed back to camp to prepare lunch which was again a
time-consuming yet fun activity. Today we made pasta, butternut squash, salad
and chicken which I marinated, thank you very much! At first it looked like
again the afternoon was going to be comprised of nothing but playing cards but
we ended up going to the museum of Kanye which was kind of a museum. It was
basically two rooms with a couple of pictures of the chiefs and a room of
various tools that bushmen use. I did learn that the totem animal for the
people of Kanye is the crocodile and during the traditional cheifing ceremony,
the new chief will have a leopard fur placed over them because leopards are one
of the most powerful and dangerous animals. After this short tour we headed to
a lookout point where you can see the beginning of the Kalahari dessert. However,
on the short hike up to the top of the lookout point I had to use the restroom
so badly that a friend and I waited until the group had left then took dropped
and squatted. I only write this in because this is the first time of the whole
trip that there has not been a bathroom provided just to show you how really
developed and urbanized Botswana really is.
The view from the top of the hill was great but what was
even better was Kenny’s lecture at the top. He was going on and on about
various cultures but went on a sidetrack about how TV is once again the cause
of many problems in Botswana and that nutrition is affecting young children. He
believes that there is too much protein in the diet (highly unlikely as I am
always hungry and looking for protein) and that it is the reason that young
people are developing earlier and having sex earlier, getting pregnant earlier,
etc. He believes that their ancestors knew what was right and had the right
diet in mind and that the Batswana have strayed too far. I don’t really agree
with this idea of nutrition causing pregnancies but it was again interesting to
see his viewpoint.
This was our last night in Kanye so we once again cooked and
cooked when we got back and tried to eat all the food that was bought. We had
pasta, gravy, grilled vegetables, sausages, steak, pap and seswaa (pounded
meat). There was a bit of tension in the group at this point as there was
alcohol provided and some people were worried that the situation would get out
of hand. However, it ended up being a great night. Some people went down to the
campfire while others, including myself and three others, hung out in the house
telling stories and chatting.
We got up early on Tuesday morning to take apart our tents,
pack up and eat breakfast before the combis showed up to take us back home.
However, on the way back to Gaborone we stopped again at Thamaga pottery hoping
that we could see some potters at work. Lucky enough, we did so we were able to
watch some of the women there throw and paint clay. After watching and buying some pottery we headed home. I got home around noon and since I had
the whole house to myself took my time taking a bath to wipe the dirt from the
past four days off. I was so dusty and dirty that what I thought was originally
tan turned out to be grime. I also did laundry by hand which was gross as the
water was black after I took the clothes out. You don’t realize how much dust
and dirt there is in the air and on your clothes until you do laundry! I still
had time before everyone got home so was going ot make chocolate chip cookies
but the store had to chocolate so instead made sugar cookies and then did some
homework. I ended the day by cooking dinner for my family of pap, chicken and
greens.
Wednesday was back to business as usual. The day went by
normal as always except that I learned that there is a chance that next
Saturday the 22nd (Happy Birthday Dad) the volleyball team might be
traveling to South Africa for a tournament. This will be the day right before I
leave for Namibia and it is still up in the air but how cool would that be!!!!
To end my Wednesday I came home from volleyball and was
walking to my house from my combi stop only to almost be trampled by a herd of
cows. It was dark and I heard the cow bell but wasn’t sure where they were
until I turned a corner and saw about 20 heading my direction. I had no idea
what to do and wasn’t sure if they could see me or were going to run me over so
I ran over to a tree and hid by that. Apparently someone was trying to get them
to move by throwing rocks at them so they passed at a pretty rapid speed. But,
aaayy, only in Botswana!!
So wrapping it up because this is the longest post yet! This
weekend was great and it taught me a lot about Americans more than anything.
The people I hang out with are so different from my friends back home. They are
the outdoor loving, backpacking, climbing, Teva/Chaco wearing kids that I used
to think I had nothing in common with. And yet here I am hanging out with them,
loving them, forming some amazing friendships and loving my time with them. I
grew up a different lifestyle, enjoy different things, play different sports
and yet as a group we all get along. I never thought that on this trip to
Botswana I would learn so much about Americans!!!
Miss everyone back home, thanks for reading and go siame!
** Heads up a big shout out to Charlotte Cloyd for some of her awesome photos!!
Sunset in Kanye
Making pap for the troops
Listening to Kenny at the Kanye Museum
On the top of our short hike to view the beginning of the Kalahari desert
NOT in Kanye but in my kitchen making dumpling dinner!
View of Kanye from the top of the hill
The main house where we ate our meals and cooked
Our sleeping quarters for the trip
Me and Mariella on our way back from the Kgotla
