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#