the bibb: the Brice in Botswana blog: Kanye!!!

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 22^nd (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!!