Getting Comfortable in Bots

 Me with Amantle Montsho at the BNSC gym on Monday

 Cutest little monkey chilling on the tower

 Me and Taha at the Aerobathon with our awesome "free" t-shirts

 Baboon family I saw when walking home from Kgale Hill

Gorgeous rose that Elt drew me as a thank you gift for the present I gave him for his birthday

Hello everyone. Time for another blog post. Again, I know I write a ridiculous amount but I am using this blog as a journal for myself as well and therefore write in way more detail than is necessary. Thanks for taking the time to check it out!

Monday was the same as most of my Mondays; get up around 8, head to the gym, Setswana class, homework then volleyball and home. However, the gym was awesome. As I was doing some weightlifting in the corner of the gym, in my periphery I see this very lean, muscular woman walk in and start doing some deadlifts with a man, who I assumed to be her trainer, instructing her. I didn’t really think anything of it and assumed she was just a bodybuilder or competitive weightlifter.  However, I then went into the aerobics room to use a spin bike and saw her again this time running some sprints. When I saw her from the front, I thought she was Botswana’s Olympian, Amantle Montsho and wasn’t sure until I saw her run some short sprints. From her speed and the fact that another gym goer took a picture of her I knew it was for sure Amantle Montsho who finished fourth in the 400 meters in London. I was so excited that I stopped her and asked if I could take a picture with her. When else would I be able to meet an Olympian??? She was really nice and agreed and listened tome speaking a mile a minute even if she didn’t understand anything I was saying. It was awesome!! The gym I train at is the Botswana National Sports Commission gym and it turns out that she trains at this one too==New best friend and gym buddy!!

Tuesday was one of those overwhelming days that just takes so much out of you. I had to go to Old Naledi for my internship and the whole experience is very draining and exhausting. Even the transportation there and back is hard; not physically but emotionally. Since I was traveling by myself to a more at risk area I was on “high alert” the entire time constantly aware of my surroundings and looking over my back. Once at Old Naledi I helped the volunteer women to open cans and cans of spam that they were going to fry up for the kids. They had also made porridge out of melon and allowed me to try some which was fantastic. Once we had finished cooking I went outside to play with the kids which although was fun, was very overwhelming. Since I was the only one playing with them today they were all over me. If I was anywhere close to a table or bench they would launch themselves at my back. Even after moving away from tables they were still climbing up my legs. At one point I was sitting at a picnic table playing with kids who were sitting on the top and before I knew it I had kids playing with the scabs and bruises on my legs. I tried organizing some games but it is so difficult when none of the adults nor do the kids speak any English and there was no one there to help me demonstrate. It’s going to be a really tough job just providing some structure and preventing the kids from running all over me (literally and figuratively).  I also had one of those shocking, make you really upset but not sure what to do moments. I saw a little boy, probably around the age of 7 sit next to a little girl with a backpack and slowly begin to unzip her backpack to steal her book. This is exactly what the thieves do on bridges and in malls here. It was so upsetting to see that at such a young age kids are thieving and learning how to steal from others. The day didn’t get much better once I went to school for volleyball. Practice (or as they call it “training”) was fine but I had to travel home in the dark by myself which meant once again I was on “high alert.” By the time I got home I just felt so overwhelmed and exhausted from always feeling like a target and having the belief that everyone is going to mug me even though I know this not to be true.

When I got home I had to call my dad and just distress from such an exhausting day and go over all the highs and lows. Yes it was hard to be jumped on, pulled and played with all day but on the other-hand maybe I made one kid’s day a little better. A lot of these kids don’t get any attention at home so if for five minutes I paid they some attention and they felt special then great! I mean one of these kids was so neglected that his hair was growing so long and getting so matted that one of the volunteer cooks took scissors and literally cut all his hair off.

Wednesday and Thursday passed along. Thursday was Elt’s birthday so although I didn’t see him in the morning I left him a present for him to open when he got home from work. He likes to sketch so I bought him a sketchpad and a shading pencil kit.  He wasn’t home when I got home but I saw his thank you present taped to my wall; a beautifully sketched rose which put a huge smile on my face. My smile grew throughout the evening as my cousin, Onthatile, taught me how to make dumplings for dinner. It was really easy and yet mine came out like thick, lumps of dough whereas hers are always light and fluffy. She, however, was leaving the next day for good and so now it’s up to me to be the dumpling maker.

Although I didn’t have class on Friday I headed over to the UB to go the gym and then to meet up with some friends to walk to the Gaborone Game Reserve which is about a half hour walk from campus. Along the walk we did see the cutest little monkey chilling on a telephone tower. The only problem was that was the only animal we saw all day. When we got to the reserve it turns out you need to have your own car to enter and drive around. We had heard that students from UB had just walked around on foot-it turns out that they had snuck under the fence to do so. Oh well. We had high hopes of seeing something along the fence but unfortunately that monkey from earlier was the only animal of the day.

Later Friday night a lot of kids from my program headed over to Airport Junction (another mall) to try a sushi restaurant. Although the food was good and it was nice to have a break from carbs and stewed meat, it really wasn’t worth what we paid (110 pula which is about $16 which doesn’t seem bad but when you eat at the cafeteria on campus its only about 15 pula). Oh well, nice to try out new places!!

Saturday was a day of high and lows. CIEE required us to do a cultural excursion activity and we had the option of going to a local village (Ramotswa) to watch a Bogwera (boys initiation/coming of age ceremony) or participate in an aerobathon. Before knowing I had a second option I had agree to do the aerobathon letting the event coordinators know that I am a fitness instructor. In the end, only a handful went to the aerobathon. It turned out to be a lot of fun and literally we just took aerobic classes all day. There were about 15 kids there with disabilities that we helped dance with too. But boy let me tell you, these classes are nothing like the ones I teach—they are f-a-s-t!!!! Fast footwork, fast upper-body, fast teaching. The energy was out of this world!!!!!! There were people from some aerobic club and they picked up the footwork immediately and put their own spin on it! It was great to be part of such an amazing group. Also there is a chance that I can intern with the program that put on the aerobathon. They apparently want to do a lot more aerobics at UB so it would be cool if I could switch my internship to working with them and just volunteer at Old Naledi.  Although I had a great time it really made me miss UMD and ignited a huge wave of homesickness. I have been really proud of myself keeping it together but the combination of aerobics and missing UMD Terps first soccer game on Friday really put me down. After moping for a bit at home, Elt came home and we ate dinner together then did the laundry. BUT low and behold one of my pairs of pants bled into the other clothes ruining some of my shirts, darn!!!

Sunday came around and was really one of the first days where I had no plans whatsoever. By the time I got up and changed, only Elt and I were around so I made him and myself pancakes and we watched “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” together. Elt is obsessed with borrowing my movies and going through watching as many as possible. After the movie Elt and I spent some time exchanging music (and by exchange I mean I give him my music) before we both had to get going. He was going to the hospital and I decided to walk to Kgale Hill and climb it again this time by myself. It was a great decision! Walking there is about a 40 minute walk and then to the top of Kgale Hill last time took a an hour and a half but today only took me 40 minutes. I found the shorter way to the top which is a lot steeper and involves a lot rock climbing skills but it was great! The view from the top makes it so wonderful-I literally just laid out on a rock overlooking the city for over an hour! It was such a refreshing and rejuvenating  day!  I did have a little scare though when walking back from the trailhead to the mall and path back to my house. There was a family of baboons that decided to chill on both sides of the road. I had heard that baboons are ferocious and I literally had no idea what to do. So like every American would, I snapped some photos. But not before I quickened up my pace and walked in a zig zag pattern to avoid walking so close to them, As I neared the mall a lady asked if I was enjoying myself and she said just to be careful as they tend to beat people up. When I asked Elt what to do if a baboon attacks he said he didn’t know but he would let it beat him up then go home. Tshego said she didn’t know but she doesn’t suggest throwing anything at them because they will pick it up and throw it back with good aim. She said maybe play dead but be careful cause they might carry you away! This is AFRICA!

After coming home and doing a little bit of homework I made dinner with Elt and then we all ate in front of the TV as usual. However I did get reprimanded by Tshego for not making her pancakes after she has been wanting them so while she was washing the dishes I made her and my host mom pancakes that they could eat for breakfast in the morning. While I was cooking though, grandma comes in and says something in Setswana which I was told was, “Julie-cook and dish for me” meaning I had to make her pancakes too! Crazy!!!

Thinking over my past week here I have learned so much about myself and about the ways of Africa. I am a lot more independent and stronger than I gave myself credit for but I also have so much more learning to do about who I really am. I find myself thinking so much about other’s perception of me and constantly feel like people are talking about me and looking at me differently as I walk around town. Could they be talking about me? Yes. Are they? Who knows but I need to be more confidant in myself to not let the fact that people are talking about me bother me OR I need to focus less on myself and not believe that I am so interesting that I become the topic of conversation. The fact that I look different has had a much larger effect than I ever thought it would have. It’s something I have to grow to become comfortable with believing that though I might look different, people don’t necessarily think of me differently. And this is for sure a process and part of acclimating to a new society with different social customs and norms. For example the idea of personal space is basically nonexistent here in Bots. While waiting in line it is normal to have the person behind you directly on your back literally breathing in your ear. It’s normal to push against a person to get into the combi or have someone touch your arm when talking to you. I mean people here hold hands for the longest time-it’s actually pretty hard to break off a handshake (there are like 5 ways of handshaking too!).  And it’s normal to see two guys holding hands walking through the street, not because they are a couple but because that is what is done here.  So the whole point of this post and last paragraph is that for me, acclimating to a new culture has taught me almost more about my abilities, strengths and weaknesses then it has about the culture itself. It’s only been a month and I already feel that I have grown in so many ways. Alright, enough is enough!!!

Next post won’t be for a couple of weeks as on Saturday I am leaving for a 5 day cultural excursion trip through my program! Pictures are at the top of the blog as usual as well as all over my facebook page! Check it out and boroko (good night)!