Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

Hi hi hi, everybody!!! How are you doing? Terrific I hope!

I hope you enjoyed the two pictures I posted last time and that they’ve held you over until now, when I can offer you an official update. I actually don’t have much to report, but it has been brought to my attention that some of you are relying on my blog updates as confirmation that I’m still alive, sooo in that case I thought I should write a lil’ something. ;)

Things have been good here. It’s still hot, but the rain has come, and quite a bit of it at that, so things cool down when that happens. People were right about the awesome thunderstorms. The sky is just so big and the land so flat you can see everything. It can be sunny and hot with blue skies and then there’ll be dark clouds and lightning on the horizon. Or a couple weeks ago I sat outside my house and watched 3 different storms in the sky at once. All in different directions with room to spare for blue sky and a sunset. It’s unbelievable! Some of the storms have been a little scary though, I must admit. I asked a couple of women if there are ever tornadoes and they didn’t know what a tornado was, or a twister, cyclone or funnel cloud for that matter, so I guess I’m safe in that department! The lightning is a slightly different story. I’ve had a few people tell me about people’s homes being struck and causing fires and people having been struck and killed. I wasn’t sure I believed that it happened as often as they said, but after having witnessed a few storms now I’m not surprised. Some of the storms had a lot of lightning, many of which struck close by. I’ve been told my house is grounded, but I still stay away from the windows cuz let’s be serious, would anyone be shocked if I was hit by lightning? I mean really shocked? I bet some of you would just say, “Yep… that sounds about right.” ;) Man oh man.

Alright, enough about storms for now. The rainy season is only beginning! On to projects. Computer class. My counterpart and I are halfway through teaching our second class of students. The first group finished about a month ago. We had a certificate ceremony followed with brownies and juice! It was delightful! The graduates were very proud and I took a picture of them with their certificates so we can print it out and post it on the wall.

The infant and young child feeding training has been moved back until after this computer class is finished. Having two projects with similar schedules going at the same time was going to be just too time-constraining. The future of the training is somewhat in the air now, though, since I just found out two weeks ago that my counterpart has been transferred to another clinic across the country. I’m not sure as of yet who will become my new counterpart, but considering that this is something the community really needs I have a feeling whoever I collaborate with will be interested in carrying it out. We shall see.

The health talks I mentioned before are still in the beginning planning stages since the other projects have been taking up the majority of my time. Although, one project that’s entered into the planning and has been bumped up on the priority list is the evident need for HIV/STI education for the maintenance workers presently stationed in the village. Two large groups came a few months ago to do maintenance on several buildings and the clinic has since seen an increase in women testing HIV-positive. This is one of those subjects I get really revved up about. I just find it so fascinating! I’m currently halfway through reading a report called HIV/AIDS, Population Mobility and Migration in Southern Africa. I recommend checking it out if you have the time. Very interesting stuff.

Bug update. Every time I update this there are more of them and they just keep getting bigger. Every time it rains there are millipedes everywhere. I’ve taken a few pictures of some of those that have found their way into my office and I believe you’ll find them in the album that I gave the link to in my last entry. There are also some gynormous beetles that I’ve crossed paths with on numerous occasions. It’s tough to get a good picture of them since they’re so quick, but I have managed to take some video of them digging holes and rolling a piece of dung off to somewhere. Those have all been outside mostly. Inside I had a few days where I struggled with a serious influx of what I’m guessing were the flying ants. I don’t know how they got inside, but they all found a way somehow. Fortunately, it appears they share the same lifespan of a mayfly so it's all good. Now the bug of the moment seems to be a miniature version of a beetle that was popular about a month ago. It’s getting increasingly difficult to eat, read or even shower without having to constantly pick them off me. Even now as I type, I’ve lost two bugs to the jungle inside the keyboard. I believe there is one under the letter M. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Well I suppose that’s good for now. Oh! I did want to say that it was a year ago last week that I received my invitation to Botswana. I can’t believe it’s been a year already. Aesh! I remember I did a lot of researching volunteers’ blogs for information and packing suggestions. I was thinking about how many times I’ve said to myself, “I’m glad I brought that,” so in an effort to continue the favor sometime in the near future I’ll post a list of items that I’ve found to be useful and convenient to have with me.

Also, I’ve updated my book list!

Ok, hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! We’re celebrating it this weekend by getting together with other volunteers and stuffing our faces with food. Just like home! :)

Blog entry e kae?!

Hi everyone!

I came to the internet cafe today with the intention of posting a blog update, but it seems to be missing from my memory stick. So I have decided to post a picture from this weekend instead!

We went to a mini game park and saw giraffes, warthogs, wildebeest and zebras among others! Very exciting!

Also, here is the link for other pictures from my time here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kane0136/Online#

Waaaazup?!

Wow, it’s been a long time! Whoops! :)

Umm so where to begin… well, in early September we had a week and a half long in-service training in Kanye that concluded with a counterpart (every PCV is supposed to have a counterpart, kinda sorta like a supervisor) workshop where we planned out our projects for the coming year. The Bots7 group was split in half to make training easier, but we overlapped with the other group for a couple of days so we would get a chance to see everyone again and catch up. It was a lot of fun! And Kanye is beauuutiful! I hadn’t seen hills in a long time, so I got pretty excited about that. There was way more greenery and all kinds of pretty flowers. We also hiked the gorge on the weekend and that was really cool. A week after training, Joe came to visit and that was amazing! :) I went down to Gabs to meet him and then we came up to my village for the week and holiday before heading back down to Gabs for one more day before he left. Botswana’s Independence Day is September 30th so that was a long day of events and fun times. It started off with a kgotla meeting (the kgotla is the place where traditional leaders would meet and was traditionally placed in the center of a ward/village and then the compounds would be built surrounding it. It’s now used as a gathering place for meetings, events, speakers, etc.) where there was a guest speaker and performances by two traditional dance groups, the boy scouts and several choirs. Later that afternoon there was an informal football game between the women’s team and some men who got together to play us. That was funny. Maybe not so funny for my team cuz I let an easy goal by and we lost by one… I thought it was funny though, considering the game was just for fun. Ah well! I asked who had been practicing as goalkeeper while I was gone and the girl who raised her hand actually looked like she enjoyed the position, so I’m hoping she’ll stick around and take over. I handed the second half of the match over to her and she did much better than me, so really, her becoming the new goalkeeper is in the best interest of the team. ;) After the football match my neighbor had a party and a braii (a cookout). That was a good time. A nice way to end a long and busy holiday!

After getting back to site after Joe’s visit, it was time to get some projects rolling. I know many of you have been wondering what the heck I’m actually doing over here, so I will tell you. Let me preface by saying just a few weeks ago I had a list of project ideas and am now working on a completely different list of projects, so things are always changing as time goes by and obstacles arise and needs are realized. I don’t think I mentioned it, but in August my clinic started distributing ARVs(Anti-retrovirals a.k.a. HIV drugs) so we’ve been given a computer for this reason. Last week my counterpart and I started giving computer lessons to the clinic staff, in order to familiarize them with the basic functions. Also, it’s been brought to my attention that there is a serious need for infant and young child feeding information and counseling for mothers, and that many under-5s are malnourished due to this lack of knowledge and assistance. So I’m starting to plan an infant and young child feeding training for a few women who would then come to the clinic in the mornings (when mothers bring their children in to get weighed) and counsel and educate them on their options. Another project that is in the works is a weekly health talk at the clinic. At in-service training we received a large DVD set of short films focusing on HIV/AIDS, so I’d like to use those to start off the health talks. Each session a film would be viewed, followed with a discussion. I’m a little unsure of how this idea will play out since the films are in English, but I’m hoping with the visual and some translation the message will still get across effectively. We’ll see I guess!

So those are the things I am working on at the moment. What else can I update you on… Oh! I don’t think I ever said anything more about the soccer team. After getting 2nd in the tournament in my village we went on to compete in the regional tournament and yowzas, that was nuts! Long story short, we lost the first game 5-0. The next day we played for 3rd place and the game ended in a tie. I thought, alright, that’s cool, bring on the overtime. But no, tourney rules said it’s straight to shoot out (whaaat?), so you can imagine how I felt about that! It was absolutely terrifying. I don’t even know what the final score was. I just know that it came down to our last kicker and she sent it straight to the corner and it was beautiful. So we took 3rd place, which came with a trophy and one of those gigantic checks that said we’d won 3,000 pula (~$500). We’ve spent the money on uniforms and gear for the team. Up until now, we’d been wearing the men’s uniforms. Since the tournament we’ve continued practicing and have recently registered to be officially part of the women’s league, which I’m hoping will mean more games in the near future.

Let’s see… weather… it’s hot. Not much else to say about that. I guess it’s been pretty darn windy too, but I mentioned that in my last post. Although last night it was so windy I thought I was going to wake up and walk out of my house to find a bunch of munchkins dancing around with lollipops. Thankfully that didn’t happen. I asked a coworker today when she thought the rain would come and she said end of October. I’m looking forward to that. I hear the thunderstorms here rock. Twice while Joe was here I thought we might get rain, but both times nothing happened. The first time it smelled like rain so I was sure some was going to fall, but nope. And the second time there was thundering and lightning, but that was it. At least with the warmer weather, many of the trees and bushes have grown leaves and blossomed which has been really cool to see. (Also strange considering we’re nearing the end of the dry season, so where all this life is coming from I don’t know) There were a bunch of trees in my village that grew purple flowers and smelled like lilacs. I loved it. They didn’t last long, just like lilacs, but they were really pretty and smelled amazing.

Bug update. I’ve finally seen my first cockroach, and about a hundred more since. Bleh. Now I understand why people dislike them so much. Really fast bugs give me the creeps. I bought a product recommended to me called Dyroach and some caulk to fill the gaps around my sink that they come out of and am planning on anti-cockroaching my kitchen this weekend. Wish me luck with that! Did I ever mention that I saw a black widow? That was pretty cool! I was staying with another volunteer and it was living in a little hole in the wall next to the toilet in her compound. I tried to get a picture of it, but none of them turned out well. There have been lots of other bugs lately. There’s this one bug that flies over and over into my windows at night and it’s so big and loud its wings sound like a lawnmower in the distance and when it runs into my window it sounds like someone is knocking. Eesh. I also saw the biggest grasshopper I’ve ever seen in my life. I claimed it was easily the length of the palm of my hand, but others said that was a bit of an exaggeration, so imagine somewhere around the size of your finger I guess. That’s still pretty big!

Well, that about wraps it up! I hope everyone is having a nice fall and enjoying sweatshirts and jeans! :) Talk to ya’ll later!

This one's for you, LP!

Well as some of you may have been aware (and that was probably because I told you), Monday, the 25th, was the one-year anniversary of my becoming 9-fingered. I thought it might be nice to celebrate the 21 years I spent with my left pinky, as well as the fact that I’ve managed to keep my other nine fingers still intact for a whole another year. So, in the spirit of festivities, I wrote a short poem I’d like to share with you…

Ode to Pinky

Many have told me
I shouldn’t have let you go
Instead put you in the freezer
Or wear you ‘round for show

But I couldn’t have done that, Pinky
For it wouldn’t have been fair
It makes me happy to think of you
Living it up out there, somewhere

Oh, we had some good times
There’s no denying that
Like drawing Thanksgiving turkeys
And you in that funny black olive hat

I’ll always cherish those memories together
But it’s important to move on
Life’s too short to spend it sulking in what was there and now is gone

You know how the saying goes
All good things must come to end
I’m just glad it was you alone
And you didn’t take with you any friends

Don’t worry about me, Pinky
I’m getting along just fine
I mean how can I complain
When I may’ve lost you, but I’ve still got nine!

The End!

BABY DONKEY!!!

Now you know what I'm talking about! Tell me you don't wanna hug it! I won't believe you! ;)

Futbol Update!

Only have time for a quick update since I wasn’t planning on coming into town today. We had the soccer tournament last week finally and my team got second place! All together now… WOOP WOOP! Yay! We only played two games and I had no idea that our second game was the finals but apparently that’s how the coin tosses played out. Afterwards I found out we took second and the top two teams will compete in regionals next weekend, so that’s pretty cool! Our first game we played the same team (a neighboring village) that we played the weekend before and beat. They were saying that they weren’t ready the first time but this time around they were going to score 10 goals on me. Right… I said I know I’m not that good, but 10 goals? Really? That’s just insulting! Anyway, we beat them 6-0. :) There was a lot of smack talk going on. It was awesome! Our second game was nuts. I was exhausted by the end of the first half. I was getting shot after shot and then my team grew tired and our sweeper was injured and it all went downhill. So yeah, we lost that game 3-0. Fortunately, my coach chose to believe that the other team was using traditional doctors against us, so that’s why we were scored on. Apparently I was seeing three balls coming at me each time. I gladly went along with this reasoning. ;) It was also brought to my attention after the game that I don’t know how to dive properly. I felt the need to remind this other coach that I’m not actually a goalkeeper! haha Anyway, so last night’s practice consisted of an hour and a half of getting balls thrown at me with hardly enough time to get up between shots. Aesh! And of course, along with comments that I was still not diving correctly. I said sorry that it’s not easy to change human nature to not to want to voluntarily throw oneself on the ground! I was totally being stubborn but seriously, it’s a lot harder than it looks! Ah well, hopefully I’ll get better at it in the next two weeks.

So there you have it. Short and sweet! That’s all I’ve got time for today. I’ll update again soon! Hope everyone is doing well!

About time, huh?!

Hi everyone! Sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve updated this… yet again! Something’s going on with my solar power and it seems I can’t run a laptop for very long before the system starts freaking out at me and whistling and flashing its lights, so I’ve surrendered to only using the computer occasionally, which doesn’t leave me with much time to update everyone! Gosh I love run-on sentences. haha Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying summer. I’m pleased to say I think we’ve started to transition into springtime. Springtime here seems to be synonymous with windy season, but at any rate, it doesn’t feel as chilly in the mornings and when the sun goes down. The windy season came with one extremely windy day where there was so much sand blowing around in the air, the air was hazy and you could see a dull brown layer on the horizon. Since then it has mellowed out and now it’s more of a constant breeze. I hesitate about saying too much about the cold, because I know in a few months I’m going to be wishing it were back. haha Even now during the day when I’m in the sun or packed in the back of a pickup (my record so far is 17 people! Beat that! haha) and I’m feeling hot, I just tell myself how much worse it’ll be in the summer. So I’m okay with things now! I won’t complain anymore! :)

Other updates… I hope to be getting some pictures up on the internet sometime soon. I’ll be sure to post the link when that happens. It seems that most of the time I don’t have my camera when I want to use it, and when I carry it with me I either forget to use it or nothing presents itself as quite picture-worthy. You know how it goes! But I must say I brought it with me yesterday and came across the perfect opportunity to take a picture I’ve been dying to get. It was of a baby donkey. Oh yes, they’re adorable! And what gets me is I’m pretty sure they grow into their fur because when they’re young they are shaaaaagggy! Or maybe fluffy is a better word… I don’t know. haha But it’s so cute! Just makes ya want to go up and hug ‘em! So anyway, often times I have to weave my way through the cows in the road, but the donkeys tend to be more skittish and usually get out of the away before I reach them. But yesterday there was a group of them walking in the same direction as me, so when I walked by them I could get close enough for my camera to pick up the shagginess! haha so very soon you will be able to share in my excitement about baby donkeys! You might not think so right now, but just wait! ;)

While I’m on the subject of baby animals… I’m not sure how many times a year insects reproduce, but I guess I’ve been lucky enough to arrive just in time for the phenomenon. Fortunately I cleaned out most of the spiders from the corners and ceilings when I moved in, but there was one I left alone because I was sure it would fall on me if I tried to take a broom to it. Well, two weeks later I noticed a small little something that looked like it could be a ball of eggs, but I instead told myself that the spider had probably just caught itself quite the feast. Whatever helps me sleep at night, right?! haha Then the following week I was sitting and chatting with a friend in my living room when I looked up and noticed about 50 little black dots. Long story short, they had to go. I don’t like killing bugs because A) I feel bad and B) it grosses me out, but nu uh, 50 new spiders is NOT cool with me! Another insect that has quadrupled in number are my friends the crickets. At first there were just a few big ones here and there, then one day I came home and aesh! I didn’t even know they could be so small! And they were everywhere! I, naturally, entered into a state of anger and therefore any lingering inclination towards reprieve dissipated and I went on a killing spree. haha Wow, that sounds horrible. But anyway, it doesn’t appear to have done any good because I still have crickets everywhere. I’ve taken to scooping them up in tupperware and taking them outside, but I haven’t noticed a difference in number. I bought some Blue Death [I’m sure it’s as horrible as it sounds], but haven’t had the guts to use it yet. I know, I know, I see the pattern developing. I put off getting rid of them hoping that nature will not take its course and it’ll remain the same, but when it does, and it always does, something will have to be done about it. So why not just take care of it from the beginning?! I don’t know… haha Agh, I hate it! However, I forget that its winter and when the rain comes, I’m told the plagues of insects come with it so ya never know, my feelings might just change. Ok, enough about that!

As you may recall, in one of my blog posts from before I left I declared my first purchase upon returning to the States would be a spice rack. Well, I guess I couldn’t wait and I’ve gone and splurged some of my settling-in allowance on spices. So lately I’ve become a cooking fiend! haha I’m telling ya, it’s the perfect hobby. It takes up a good chunk of my time and I get to eat at the end! :) Since I have to travel an hour and a half for groceries, it’s easier to stock up on all the essentials and make things from scratch. I haven’t done anything too fancy yet, but I’m slowly working my way up to it. Also, many of the grocery stores in Botswana are Indian-owned, so one can find several Indian food ingredients and products. Those have been fun experimenting with! So far it seems I can only get curry to work for me half the time. Haven’t figured out why yet. More work is needed there. What else have I made… I’ve made two different lentil soups, pumpkin soup, a few different bean dishes, some jazzed up egg and tuna pasta salads, and last week I somehow unintentionally made my favorite dish from Noodles&Company. haha That was a pleasant surprise! Mmmm…

And last but not least, the soccer tournament I mentioned in the last post was SUPPOSED to happen this weekend but didn’t. I had been looking forward to it this whole month and then Friday, the day before!, I find out it isn’t going to happen anymore. Or at least not for some time. Man, I was bummed. And I know the team is disappointed too. They’ve been working so hard, and I can’t believe how much they’ve improved in just a month. Ah well. Hopefully it’ll still happen at some point. I guess this just gives me more time to find someone else to play goalie! ;)

Ok, that’s all I’ve got for now! I realize it doesn’t include anything about my work, but the truth is right now I don’t have a whole lot going on. We’re not supposed to start up any projects our first three months at site. So for now I’m just getting to know people and discovering how things work around here. There’s something new to learn everyday, even if it’s small.

Oh! And I know books come up a lot when people ask about what to send in packages and what I do in my spare time, so I thought I would post a list of what books I’ve read since being here. Feel free to spark up a conversation about any of them, if interested. All the most recent additions have been books from the library in my village, which has the most random compilation of books thanks to book donation projects! haha But, random books are better than no books, so I’ll take what I can get! I’ve still managed to find a few I’ve always wanted to get my hands on, so I’m content! :)

Ok, I’ll try not to take forever before I update again! Hope everyone is enjoying the summertime! Talk to ya’ll lata!

Sorry for the delay...

Well hello, everybody! (I said that in my Conan voice, just so ya know – I miss him… and his hair. Haha how is he?) Ok, well I realized last time when I wrote a quick note about my address change that I did not keep my word and update once more before I left for site, so I apologize and will do so now.

I don’t even know where to start… I’m not going to say where exactly I’ve been assigned because this is a public blog, but I will say I’m in the desert. Haha I guess that’s not very descriptive considering like two-thirds of Botswana is desert, but yeah, you’ll just have to email me if you want to know more. ;) I’m digging it for the most part so far, though. I’m still in awe of how big the sky is here. That probably sounds weird, but its sooo flat here that it just goes all the way from one horizon to the other. Its nuts! I get really excited about the sky though, so maybe that’s just me. ;) The people in my village are really nice, and it’s been fun trying out my Setswana skills with the kids. Although, in my village they speak about 7 or 8 different languages so Setswana only gets me so far, but hey, gets me further than English so I guess I’m sticking to it. Hopefully I’ll start to pick up a few phrases in some of the other languages but those are a bit more challenging so we’ll see. What else… I’ve got a house and it’s quite nice. I’m pretty spoiled actually. I’ve got electricity, a water heater, a fridge and stove. So I’m set for amenities! My computer died the day I got to site which was sad, but the clinic has one I’ve been using so I can type up emails and blog entries at home so when I get to internet it’s a quick copy and paste. Should make keeping you all updated a lot easier. By the way, if any of you have specific questions or things you’ve been wondering about, don’t be afraid to ask and I’ll do my best to answer them. I’m just rambling on about whatever for now, so some direction is always appreciated! Hehe Umm… there was a women’s soccer game held in my village on Tuesday against a group of South African visitors that had stopped there for a few days on a journey around Botswana. The Batswana were short players so I offered to play and got assigned to goal keeper. Haha so that was fun! I managed to not let any balls by so now the team thinks I’m good and has asked me to play with them in a tournament this weekend. That should be interesting! Wish me luck! Haha

Alright, sorry this one is short and kind of abrupt, but that's all I've got time to write for now! Like I said, I'll try to update more often so each entry isn't an all day event. ;) Hope everyone is doing well! Oh, and HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

Just a quickie!

Hello! I just wanted to write a quick entry to let everyone know that I am now moved into my new home(It's very nice!), and therefore have a new address. So for those of you who have said you plan on sending out a letter, definitely get my new address from me. Otherwise if you've sent something to the Gaborone address in like the last week or two, that's okay. It'll just take longer to get to me... at least I'm told it'll get to me...eventually. haha We'll see I guess! :) Ok, hope everyone is doing well! I promise to post a much longer entry very soon! Byebye!

I'm still alive!

Hi there! Sorry I haven't been updating this much. Internet here tends to disconnect often, so I've been putting off updating until I can write something up on my laptop and just transfer it. BUT since that won't be for at least 3 more weeks I'm going to type as fast as I can and hope for the best!

So let's see. How about I kick 'er off with a typical day. That'll give you an idea of what life as a PC trainee is like.

My day starts around 6:30 in the morning, right around the time the sun starts to rise and the roosters take a break. Beginning around 3 or 4 there is a chorus of roosters, donkeys, and dogs. Fortunately, I credit growing up a house away from railroad tracks for my impeccable ability to sleep through anything, so it hasn't been an issue. I usually wake before my 6:30 alarm goes off, not because of the roosters but because I go to bed between 9 and 10 so I guess I've just had enough sleep. It's rather incredible. Remember the last time you got a good 8-9 hours of sleep on a regular basis? NON-alcohol induced? haha Yeah, it had been awhile for me too. But feels great, and honestly, I think it's necessary to maintain one's sanity during training.

My oh my, I haven't even got past waking up and I've written a whole paragraph! haha ok, moving on, at a quicker pace! After waking up, I get ready to go to training. Most days this starts at 8am at my LCF(Language and Cross-Cultural Facilitator)'s house. So I slather on my sunscreen (well through my second bottle already), put on my "business-casual" outfit and head over to the main house to eat my breakfast and pack a lunch. Breakfast is cornflakes with a splash of cream. I mean splash because I'm trying to keep my PST 10 (think Freshman 15) to a minimum. Lunch is usually a PB sandwich and 2 baby apples. We're talking about me here, so I tend to get hungry around 8:30-9am and whip out my snack of crackers or peanuts & raisins. If there is no snack, discipline is put to use until about 10am when I eat my lunch. (Hey, a girl's gotta eat!) Ok, my day doesn't just consist of eating, I swear, sooo I'm in language typically from 8-10, break for tea (oh yes, we really do, and it rocks) until 10:30, then language again or more likely my LCF translating whatever random phrases my group brought that day or, my favorite activity, harassing her about her boyfriend. =) It's all in fun. Around 12:30 we get picked up and taken to the center where CCB folks meet. All of us CCBers are placed in different areas throughout our training village, but most walk to the center every day. Six lucky trainees and myself, however, were placed at a distance worthy of a busride. This is fine, except prior to figuring out the transportation system, our weekend adventures were limited to walking 30 yards to each others' places.

Umm, so let's see. Once we're at the center we might have a speaker, or a tech trainer presents on whatever topic for that day. This is the part of the day where everyone's blood pressure rises and you can hear deep breathing exercises going on throughout the room. It's the breaking point in the day where someone usually gets so fed up with a particular assignment/session/what have you, they speak up, and either his or her feedback is well received or we launch into a long and heated debate. I go back and forth between wanting to jump into the argument and help drive the point home, and accepting that training is training, it's going to suck no matter what so I should just keep my mouth shut and get on with it. More often than not, I go with the latter. Training has been a harsh reminder of the importance of picking one's battles and I have a sneaking suspicion all the frustrations that have come out of training will end up being good preparation for the obstacles we'll face at our sites. How disappointing this would all be if training was as hard as it gets!

Alright, back on schedule. Sometime during the afternoon we break again for a short while before being herded back into the room to kick the dead horse some more until knock off at half four. (Notice my adoption of the local lingo? Knock off is the end of the work day, and it's half four instead of saying four-thirty here.) After knock off, we usually catch a ride on the bus home. By the time I get to my house and sit down on my bed to relax for 10 minutes, someone comes to tell me dinner is ready. Dinner is usually rice, or paletshi [maize meal], with sauce, boiled cabbage and a piece of chicken. I really do like all the food I've had here so far. Not sure if that's surprising to anyone, but I generally get excited about every meal. There's also soft porridge that they eat here and I really like. It looks and tastes just like malt-o-meal, and with a spoonful of sugar it's awesome. Yum yum. Oh, what are not so yum yum are the mopane worms. I got to try one when I was shadowing a PCV in her village a couple weeks ago. We were visiting the chief and I made the mistake of mentioning the worms. She asked if we had tried them yet, I said no, and within a few minutes there was a bowl of them in front of me. I took a small one and she told me that that one wasn't good and to take a big one, so I did cuz she's the chief, and then I lied to her and told her it was nice. It wasn't. Not so awful I'd never try one again, but not nearly good enough that I'd want to either. She even asked how long we'd be around, in case we could stay for dinner she'd plan a mopane worm stew for us, but unfortunately we had to be somewhere before then. ;) Umm, also while shadowing I got to try the seeds of a baobob tree pod. I liken the consistency of the seeds to lucky charms marshmallows, except it has a little pit in the middle. They have a tart flavor to them, and people generally suck on them as a treat. Or as my PCV told us, some use them to snack on for hours instead of eating to lose weight. Our volunteer put a bunch in a bowl with a little milk, sugar and real vanilla bean and let it sit while we ate dinner, and afterwards they had softened into almost a yogurty texture. Good stuff. And the last of my new food experiences thus far (oh wait, I've had goat a few times now, but I don't know if that's considered a "new" food...? It's good though!) has been sweet leaf. Sweet leaf is, as far as I'm aware, essentially the same thing as sugar cane. It looks the same, is eaten the same way, and if memory serves me correctly, tastes similar as well.

Ok! So, after dinner (this is almost over, I promise) I usually watch about an hour or so of TV with my fam. Lately it's been the Bold and the Beautiful followed with the popular South African soap, Rhythm City, which I must admit I'm slightly addicted to. When that's over, depending on how exhausted I am, I might stick around to catch a bit of the news and the weather, or I start heating up my water during Rhythm City so I can go to bathe right afterwards. Bathing is a bucket bath in a plastic tub just large enough to comfortably accomodate me, so I tend to make quite the mess. haha With it getting so cold in the evenings now, I've gotten pretty good at getting in and out in 5-10 minutes. But really, that's nothing, my greatest accomplishment lies in washing my body, face, and hair all with one bucket of water! Thank you, thank you, it wasn't easy but with the help of an altered definition of cleanliness and the cold getting worse, it was made possible. ;) After bathtime, I retreat to my room to relax by listening to music and writing or reading until I'm ready for bed. Or before I'm ready for bed, but don't have much of a choice, because all the lights in my the building are connected to one plug, so when my sister unplugs the cord, my light goes out. Most of the time, though, I'm out before the light.

....aaaaand that's it! Whew! But at least now you can create somewhat of a picture of what I'm up to in your head. And this Saturday is when we find out where we'll be placed for the next two years. Then we have a week visiting our site, before returning for one last week and a half with our host families. After that, we're on our own! Woop woop! Ok, I'll try to update this more often from now on. Definitely once more before heading out to site, and then after that will depend on my access to internet. Hope everyone is doing well. Keep me updated! Oh, and those of you who have sent mail, Thanks a bunch! It makes my day! Yay! Ok, byebye! :)

Hellooooo Internet!

Hi there! Just wanted to write a quick post that I made it to Botswana and things are going well. Training is intensive and the language isn't coming quite as easily as I had hoped, but things are moving along. My host family is great. The food is tasty. And the people in my training group are awesome. My time on the Internet is limited, so I'm just going to post something short for now. Miss you all, and I repeat, I am ready and willing to take on multiple pen pals. haha Just something to think about! ;) Talk to ya'll later!

Frequently Asked Questions

I've been getting a lot of questions on what exactly I'll be doing, where I'll be, when and for how long, so instead of expecting you to remember all that(even I struggle to keep it all straight), I thought I would post some of the answers to those questions.

Let's start with the basics...

Where will I be?
I will be serving in Botswana, which is located in Southern Africa. South Africa borders Botswana on the South, Namibia to the North and West, Zimbabwe to the Northeast, and Zambia for a short distance in the North. I've posted a picture below to help out all you directionally-challenged peeps. ;)

How long will I be gone?
The Peace Corps is a 2-year and 3-month commitment.

Do I know anyone I'm serving with?

Nope. Volunteers in Bots7 (my volunteer group) come from all over the U.S., even way out there in Hawaii!

Will I be living by myself?

The living situation for volunteers can vary considerably, but most volunteers receive their own house and are the only Peace Corps volunteer in that village or town.

What if I hate it? Can I leave at any time?

Yes, it's called Early Termination. I just wouldn't receive any of the benefits that I would if I completed my service.

Will I be in Botswana the whole time?

Yessir. I do spend two days in Philadephia where all my fellow trainees meet up and we go through a brief orientation before bussing it up to New York, where we take a direct flight to Johannesburg. Actually, we do stop in Senegal to refuel, but we don't get off the plane. 17 hours. woo! Although, I can't say I mind the whole eat, sleep, watch movie, repeat thing for 17 hours straight! Sounds like a good time to me! Plus, a volunteer currently serving in Botswana told us they had an open bar on their flight, so that should make things interesting.

Do I get to come back to the U.S. at all during my service?

We get 48 days of vacation total, 2 days per month, and can do what we want with them. Some volunteers choose to return to the states for a 2-week visit at some point. I believe if I travel on national holidays or on weekends, that unfortunately still counts as vacation days, as does having visitors, BUT don't let that deter you! I'd love to have visitors! (Sure the flight is spendy, but staying with me will be cheap! You know you wanna!)

THE BIG ONE: What will I be doing?

Well, that's a good question. Peace Corps seems to like to keep things very vague. In my invitation packet, my job title is Home Based Care and Orphan Care(HBC/OC)/Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission(PMTCT). That job title falls under the program Community Capacity Building for HIV/AIDS Project(CCB). **You will soon learn that Peace Corps is all about the acronyms** The truth behind all this is they don't know what we'll each specifically be doing yet. My first 3 months in Botswana are spent in intensive training with all of the other trainees in Bots7, and this is where we will be taught, evaluated, and assigned. After those 3 months, we swear in as volunteers and are given our assignments and locations. From there we all go our separate ways and begin our 2-year service. I will update this with more details on my job when I find out what I'll be doing in June/July.

My address and such...

Hi everyone! I just thought that since I will be disconnecting my phone next Friday(the 18th) I should offer alternative ways to reach me in case you wish to do so.

My address from April 19-June 22, 2008 will be:

My name
U.S. Peace Corps
Private Bag 00243
Gaborone
Botswana

From what I hear, receiving mail will make my day if not week, so don't hesitate to old school it on paper and and mail 'er on over. I also hear that there's a lot of spare time in the beginning of service, so I welcome all pen pals! :) I even bought some cool paper to spice things up a bit!

Also, apparently all volunteers have cellphones, so as soon as I pick one up I will be sure to post my number. Calling can be pretty expensive, but I've heard some websites are cheaper than others for buying phone cards, so I'll post those when I know more.

And then of course there's email. I'm not sure it's a good idea to post my address on a public blog like this, so let's just say if you want my address, either check my facebook profile if you have it, or leave me a comment asking for it and I'll hook you up.

And such...
Some people have asked what sorts of things I would enjoy receiving in a package... Well, at this point I have a few ideas but again, this is something I will have to update later since I'm sure there will be things I miss more than others, and I just don't know it yet. Yay! But here's what I'm thinking so far:

-books
-word puzzle books like sudoku, word finds, riddles, etc.
-stuff for kids to do. markers, crayons, coloring books, small books and puzzles, card games
-tea. all kinds! except chamomile... I've tried, we're just not meant to be.
-pictures! Cuz I'm going to miss you all! and I need something to decorate my walls.
-music
-yourself ;)

Also, a tip I read somewhere. A good way to fill in the gaps in a package and keep things in place is with flavored-water packets (e.g. crystal light), candy, or anything useful instead of paper or whatever, so there's less trash for me and more yumness for everyone!

Ok, that's all I can think of right now. And another tip for anyone who just wants to send one or two things and doesn't want to pay for the pricey shipping, you can mail it to my parents instead and they can fit it into their next package. Cheaper for you, more packages for me, ya get what I'm saying. ;)

Making progress...

Yikes! So it’s been awhile since I last wrote. I’ve been meaning to update this thing for quite some time now, but as April 16^th grows nearer, I find myself with less and less time on my hands. Recently I’ve been reading the blogs of some of my fellow PC invitees and I feel they all have done an amazing job putting their thoughts and feelings into words. It’s been extremely comforting to read the emotions they’re going through, and know I am not the only one who is stressed beyond normal functioning. Every morning I wake up with a heavy weight on my shoulders as if I’m stuck reliving the night before a 15-page term paper is due and the only thing I can focus on is the blinking cursor on a blank screen. There is just so much to do, and so little time to get it all done. There is always going to be something more I should have done, or bought, or packed, or visited, and I need to learn to live with that.

It’s a constant battle between dwelling on everything and everyone I’m going to miss back home, and being excited about what I’ll discover and grow used to in Botswana. It shows through my responses when people ask me “How are you doing with preparations?”, “Are you getting excited?”, and “Are you nervous?” Depending on what mood I happen to be going through at the time, a corresponding answer definitely falls out of my mouth. Fortunately, I think, I haven’t experienced the extreme range of emotions that I’ve read in some of the other Bots7ers’ blogs. This makes me a little nervous, wondering if I’m saving up all my mixed emotions for one huge breakdown at the gate, or whether part of me has managed to remain unfazed by all of this and my usual lack-of-emotion (read: cold-hearted) self reigns supreme. Either way, sliding back and forth between my two big emotions is keeping me plenty busy for now. It’s both a relief and exhausting to think that when we arrive in Botswana all the preparing will finally be over, yet it’s only the beginning of the next adventure, one far more challenging, and with what will feel like only a moment’s chance to take a deep breath.

This past week has been the most productive for me so far. For those of you who are familiar with my procrastination tendencies, or perhaps share the habit yourself, this was a hugely [eh? eh? ;)] motivated week for me. I started off with about 6 pieces of notepad paper covered front to back with to-do lists, to-pack lists, to-buy lists, along with any other fleeting thought that crossed my mind and I felt compelled to write down. By Thursday afternoon, I narrowed it all down to 3 clean pages in a notebook that I dug up in my genius effort to keep myself organized. With that all compiled and done, I feel a little bit more confident about the inevitable list of tasks scrolling through my head, and some of the weight has been lifted. Everything's going to be fine. I just have to keep reminding myself to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Just a note: Next week is my last week at work. I’m debating whether I can even make Wednesday my last day, which is looking like a very appealing possibility since it would give me two whole extra days to get things done. Also with that time, I plan on beefing up my blog a little more. My goal now is to add several links to HIV, Botswana, and Peace Corps information to satisfy the fact-hungry side of you all, and to just layout my job duties and whatnot in a lot more clearer fashion than I’m sure what I’ve said in conversation.

WARNING: If you can’t handle incessant complaining, skip this post! (so I’ll just assume now that no one will read this)

Last Sunday I watched the Super Bowl over at one of Joe’s cousins’ house, and man, was that a great game! I’ve always loved watching the Vikings (well, correction, I’ve always been a Viking fan, I haven’t always loved watching them), but this past year, thanks to joining a fantasy league, my love has expanded to all of pro football! I’ve watched more football the past 6 months than I probably have my entire life. And even though my fantasy team was doing just fine for most of the season until the third to last week when EVERYONE decided to get hurt, I still love watching a good game of football. I don’t care how unexciting the first half of the Patriots-Giants game was, those last 3 minutes were amazing! Gotta love upsets! Dang… I did feel bad for Moss though. Something about that guy, his immaturity, bad temper, lack of respect, something does it for me. haha I wanted him to win a ring. Oh well. I guess I don’t feel that bad. I was more excited that Eli didn’t fall apart again with his brother at the game. How cute though! Big bro wins last year, little bro this year. Peyton was so proud! You could see it in his face. Aww you can’t deny that that was just lovely! Haha Ok…

I totally did not mean to spend a whole paragraph on football. I only brought up the Super Bowl to say that I’ve been quite amused lately with the constant reminders that keep popping up that seem to say, “HAHA you’re leaving SOOO SOON!” For example, like I said, I was watching the Super Bowl, and every time a movie preview came on and I followed with, “Oooooh that looks sweet! I wanna see that!” the date it hits theaters would flash across the screen and EVERY SINGLE movie was coming out after I leave. Argh! Another example, I get weekly emails with concert updates about shows coming to Minneapolis. I think I need to unsubscribe. I keep opening them up, getting excited and then notice they are scheduled for after I leave. Not that I would even go anyway, because I can never afford it, BUT the point is it feels like leaving keeps getting rubbed in my face. I mean, c’mon, it’s going to be hard enough as it is, why is it necessary to keep reminding me while I’m busy purposefully trying to make it the farthest thought in my mind. Ah well, I guess that’s life. And time I suppose. As cool as it would be for time to stop when I leave and pick up again when I come back, I have yet to master that ability.

Anyway, so a few of my other complaints from this past week have included finding out that it will be the beginning of winter when I arrive in Botswana in April. Well, actually, I knew it was going to be winter, but I thought, pfh! I’m from Minnesota, bring it! Well I read a blog entry from a PC volunteer who has been in Botswana for 3 years now and she said it can actually get pretty chilly, especially depending on where you live in the country. Chilly like need a fleece jacket, shiver in bed wishing you had more blankets, etc. Ah man, figures, right when it’s starting to get warm again, I get to go through another 2 months of blah weather. Who’s the lucky girl? This girl right here!

There’s quite a range of feelings involved with leaving. Whenever I have one of those moments when I realize I won’t be around for something and I get disappointed, I have to remind myself that I AM coming back. Sometimes I get so carried away with leaving that I forget it’s not forever! Haha eesh… Other times I forget all together that I’m even leaving. Perhaps my most common feeling about not only leaving, but going into Peace Corps in general, has been frustration. For me there was this persistent urge to “move on” from college life and start building a solid life here with a full-time job and a place with a decent-sized kitchen with cupboards and counter space. There are tons of things I want to do, but figure it isn’t worth it if I’m not going to be around for long. Even things like buying simple kitchen utensils. What’s the point if I’m only going to use them for a couple of months and then have to find a place to store everything for 2 and a half years? Today I actually confirmed to myself that my first purchase once I get back from the Peace Corps is going to be a spice rack. I’ve wanted one for a long time, but again, just doesn’t make sense to buy one now. This really isn’t that big of a deal, I know. I clearly can live without the finer things in life. I’m just saying it for the sake of getting it down in writing and acknowledging it as a feeling I’ve experienced along the way. In fact, I am very excited about having my own little house in Botswana. I can’t wait to “home it out.” And most volunteers grow gardens so I’m looking forward to that, too.

Believe it or not, I have been trying to stay positive about some of the things I will miss. I like to think of it as similar to going to a pot luck and the anxiety that ensues. Maybe it’s just me, but I just about have an anxiety attack every time I’m in the back of a buffet line and I’m worried I might not get any, or at least all the good stuff will be gone. It’s quite ridiculous, but whatever, that’s sort of how I’ve been living my life the past month. I tried to hold it off as long as possible because really, it can’t be healthy, but inevitably, it’s begun and I panic every now and then that there’s not enough time, or I never got a chance to do blahblahblah, or probably the most popular reaction is overindulgence. (This is the part where I think I’ve remained relatively positive about things. I’m “savoring” things instead of dwelling… right?) I heard cheese is tough to come by so I’ve been putting cheese on everything. I heard hot showers are a rarity, so I’ve been taking extra hot, extra long showers. I hear multiple salad ingredients, not so much. I’ve been making some bomb ass salads as a result. If Botswana is anything like Ghana (ironically Ghana happens to be one of the leading countries for exporting cocoa), it’ll be my lucky day if I come across some chocolate and you can bet your ass it won’t be dark (my fav :( )! So of course, knowing this, my sweet tooth has tripled and ohhh man, it’s not good. Anyway, you get my point.

Well I think that’s everything I scribbled down over the past two weeks that I’ve complained about and is PC-related. I don’t mean for any of this to sound like I’m ungrateful for what I have now, or what I will have in Botswana. I can promise you now there will be far more positive posts to come than ones like this. This is just the reality of my feelings as April 16th draws closer. And they probably sound worse when they’re listed all back to back instead of being strewn across a week or so. Or maybe that’s just what I’m telling myself so I don’t feel so guilty. ;) Eh.

Back to Brunette

Well not too much has happened since I last posted. About two weeks ago I read a post in a Peace Corps chat group that suggested someone look up their departure group on Facebook. I was curious if there was something for Bots7 (the nickname for the group of volunteers I’m in), so I searched and indeed there was! I joined it and by the next morning I had about 10 friend requests in my inbox. Hip hip! I added everybody and discovered a fellow volunteer who lives in Minneapolis. She messaged me and we decided to meet up and go to a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer get together at a bar in Uptown that night. So in a matter of 24 hours of joining this facebook groupI was hanging out with one of the volunteers I’ll be leaving with in April to spend 3 months together in training! It was crazy! She turned out to be really cool and very fun, which made me even more excited about leaving. We also talked about how nervous we were and how we can’t even imagine what we are going to pack! :) It was nice to have someone to talk to who is in the same boat as me.

While I was at the RPCV get together that night, one of the RPCVs strongly suggested taking the GRE before leaving instead of once I get back. I said no way, there’s no time. I leave in less than three months… well, I’ve bought the books and I already know 360 essential GRE words (ok, I’ve technically learned 360 words. Do I actually KNOW them? Hell no!). I decided that RPCV was probably right and that if I want to go to grad school once I get back, it might be worthwhile to just study my ass off now, give it my best shot and get an okay score, rather than waiting until I get back after 3 years out of college and hope my study skills come back to me. Anyway, I’m going to go for it. My test is scheduled for March 13. Wish me luck! I’m gonna need it!

The only other thing I can think of that’s happened since I last posted that’s Peace Corps related is that I dyed my hair back to its original color (or at least what I think it is… it’s been awhile). I figured finding someone to redo my highlights in Botswana might be a little tough. Even if I did, I’m not sure I’d want to spend my limited funds on getting my hair done. I mean, c’mon, when have I ever cared about my hair that much? Pretty sure most of you have seen me with at least one of the following: blonde, brown, auburn, pretty much black, and thanks to box dyes pink, lavender, and gray hair! (Freshman year? Anyone? Anyone?) Haha And who knows, with the amount of sun I’ll be getting, I’ll probably end up getting natural highlights anyway! For free! Yay.

Ok, that’s it for now! I’ll try to post again at least once or twice in February with more EXCITING updates! Just like the super exciting updates in this post! ha! lucky you! ;)

Here goes nothin'!

Well hello everybody! This is my very first entry ever, so I guess I would like to kick it off with a thanks for being interested enough to bother coming to this site and an apology if you went through the hassle and come out disappointed. I'll try to make it as thrilling as I can, and if things get really dull, I might just start making stuff up. I also thought it would be important to mention that for those of you who have been fortunate enough to have a taste of my novel-length emails, I regret to say I'm going to try to change things and keep the blog entries relatively short.

Alright, with that said, I was getting a lot of "How was your trip?"s after I got back from Cozumel just a few days ago and figured this would be the perfect opportunity to promote my blog! So I promised I would post an entry about my trip, along with some pictures, and that way ya'll can bookmark it for future entertainment on a rainy day!

I'd like to start my Mexico adventures with this picture...

That's my totally cliche beach picture I took. Not bad, eh? That's postcard material right there. ;)

Ok, so moving on, I went on vacation to Cozumel last week with my boyfriend, Joe, and his parents. Joe, his dad, and one of Joe's cousins went down a week early to do some SCUBAing and I imagine share some male bonding time. From talking to Joe a few times over the course of that week, it sounded like the weather was rather poor and they only got to dive a few times. However, with our bright and sunny selves, Joe's mom and I traveled down the following week and we had beautiful weather all week. Coincidence? I think not. Cozumel was amazing. Once I got back, I found myself describing it to others as just a very well-paced vacation. We did a lot of different things, but it was equally relaxing as well. One of my favorite things we did while there was snorkeling. Now this was my first time, and it took me a few solid minutes to calm down and breathe normally through my snorkel air tube thing... I'm sure there's an actual word for that thing. Anyway, I found the best way to reach the desired level of breathing was to pretend I was Darth Vader. I'm serious, it works. Just a tip for all you snorkel virgins out there! I would love to post a picture from snorkeling but Joe and his dad were the ones with underwater cameras so I'll have to post one later when I get my hands on some.

Ok, other things we did while in Cozumel. Well, Joe's parents rented a house in the city so we ate a lot of home-cooked meals, which I thought were awesome! :) Apparently the beef (which was renamed camel meat) and ribs (a.k.a. water buffalo?) are not so tender in Mexico. But we found that if you leave it in a pot boiling on the stove for several days, it actually turns into quite the tasty stew! And of course, all the fresh fruit and avocados were sooo good! I even bought a coconut in the market and cracked that baby open like the good ol' days in Ghana! I think others were impressed with my cavewoman-like abilities. Lets see, we also spent many our nights feverishly working on probably the hardest puzzle I've ever helped assemble. Here's a picture to give you an idea.

Yah. Not your average puzzle. But loads of fun!

We also went fishing which was really cool. We caught… rainbow runners, barracuda, tuna, grouper, ummm… and some others. Ha. Towards the end of our fishing fun, Joe and his parents did some hand-line fishing, while I fished using a pole with two hooks. Hehe I cheat. And it worked! I was so shocked! I didn’t even think I had anything on my line and was reeling in for some other reason, and bam! Two fish!

Another thing I got to do was go down 110 feet below the surface of the ocean in a submarine to check out the coral reef and fish! That was so purrrty! I took pictures but they didn’t really turn out so well. But I can attest for how cool it was. I also enjoyed when the sub played the Mission Impossible theme song as we cruised along the drop-off. Haha

One of the days we drove across the island to hang out on the opposite coast, and that was gorgeous. I took a lot of pictures here. The first picture I posted was actually from that side of the island. We also got to see a super pretty (and colorful!) sunset, but my camera battery died right before then so I’ll have to steal some pics of that from Joe as well. Joe and I also went boogie boarding while there and that was awwwwesome. I’ve never done anything like that and it was such a rush when ya finally catch a wave. Again, I think I was surprised more than anything because I didn’t think I’d manage to make it work. I’m pretty sure everyone at that beach had to hear how excited I was because every time I was carried even the slightest distance, I couldn’t help but scream “Weeeeeee!”

(Sidenote for all those who have had to listen to my swimsuit woes the past month: I did not know I would be boogie-boarding that day and wore the dreaded Victoria Secret suit, but it actually wasn’t so bad! Had a few close calls but all in all, it stayed on! Whew! )

In between all those things, we did a lot of relaxing while drinking XXs and munching on chips and pico de gallo on the beach. Can’t really beat that.

And yes, this was a short entry...for me.

Here are a few extra pictures from the trip.

These are two of many towel animals that our maid made. Very impressive!

















I love this picture. How cool are those aviators!? and that 4-fingered wave! You know you wish you had one too! ha!





















These are some of the pretty flowers that we walked under every day to enter/leave the house.

A shot from within the submarine. We each had our own window for the most part. You can't see anything in this picture, but they got very close to the reef, which as you may have guessed, very close equals very cool! :)

There were tons of motorbikes everywhere! A lot of those and old school VW bugs.

And last but not least, another pic of the beautiful ocean. It was cool standing on these rocks and watching the waves crash into the rocks and spray up. You can kind of see it in the picture.

Ok, that's all! Hope you enjoyed the entry! I don't know when I'll post something next, but I'm sure an opportunity will present itself along the way! And come April I will definitely post some entries before I take off! Three months from yesterday! Yikes! :D