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!!!!