I'm Back!!!

I finally got my laptop back a few weeks ago and with that I made a little trip to Gaborone to get my internet reset up. From now on (as long as technology will allow me) I hope to update more regularly so that you all will know what I have been up to. To keep this from being entirely too long I will just give a couple highlights of what I've been up to the past couple months.


Thanksgiving

Our Spread of Food 

One of the little one's enjoying his food

Although I didn't get to spend Thanksgiving with my family at home I was glad to be with some of my new Peace Corps family. We got together at another volunteers house in Selebi-Phikwe, which is only a few hours away from my village. We ended up having a huge spread of delicious of food. Everyone contributed something and we all sufficiently stuffed out faces.  I was able to make my Mother's Green Bean Casserole dish and my Aunt Ginny's cheesy potato recipe, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. We even had so much food that we invited the neighbors over to eat.


Youth Workshop in New Xhade

Traditional Hut

One afternoon we had an intense 4-square game going

In the month of December, I was invited with a few other volunteers to help co-facilitate an OVC Life skills workshop in New Xhade. With just over 2000 people, the village of New Xhade is one of the largest San resettlements in Botswana. The village is home to many different tribal groups and carries a rich cultural heritage. However, due to lack of employment and illiteracy rates, the village leadership is crippled by excessive alcohol abuse and the problems associated with it, and ultimately it’s the children whom suffer for it. Currently, New Xhade has 57 registered orphans, 200+ vulnerable and needy children, and 260 hostel dwellers that have little to no access to healthy role models on a day to day basis. As a result, the vast majority of OVC’s are in need of life-skills training and psychosocial support, as evidenced by the high drop-out rates, high teenage pregnancy rates, youth-committed crime, and alcohol and drug abuse.

Youth doing the Obstacle Course

Playing soccer with the Youth

The theme of the workshop was “Live Well, Tshela Sentle.” Students were taught to associate alcohol abuse with poor decision making which can lead to domestic violence, rape, destitution, and/or HIV/AIDS. The workshop also focused on gender empowerment to help students recognize and take pride in their growing sexuality while alerting them to the dangers of MCP, domestic violence, and unhealthy relationship patterns. Additionally, team-building, art therapy, recreational therapy, and nutrition were key interests and skills taught.

It rained a lot but there was a beautiful double rainbow on day

Some of the boys after the exercise and nutrition portion

The PCV in New Xhade who organized the workshop did an amazing job. It was a very successful week, the kids had a blast. These kids have probably never participated in organized games or sports that we Americans are accustomed to growing up in, let alone have they ever had positive role models in their lives who just simply acknowledge them. It was great to be a part of something new in these children’s’ lives and just to see them smile.



Christmas in Francistown

My Bird

Fake Snow!!

Christmas 2010 will definitely be one I will always remember. Although I was not able to spend it with my family, which is always sad around the holidays, I once again enjoyed spending time with my volunteer friends here in Botswana. A few of us who would be traveling to Zambia after Christmas met up in Francistown to spend the holiday together. We did a White Elephant gift exchange and I ended up with a cool metal bird.  There wasn't any snow, expect for the fake snow someone from home had sent one of the other volunteers, but all in all it wasn't a bad day. We made a delicious meal and watched some holiday movies, one being Elf (one if my all time favorite Christmas movie). A couple of us even went to church Christmas morning so I was able to sing some Christmas songs and get a little into the Christmas spirit.


Zambia Vacation
Wow where to start….Zambia was a great time and I don't think I will be able to do justice explaining it here on this.

The trip up to the border from Francistown was a little cramped with all our stuff on the small bus but not as bad as I was anticipating. Once you get past Nata you start to see elephants along the side of the road, which was one way of entertaining yourself during the 6 hour bus ride. One of the other volunteers said he saw 12 or something like that, I only saw 5 but I was sleeping most of the way. Once at the border we boarded the fairy and crossed over the Chobe River into Zambia!

The cramped shady combi

Once through customs we got (or should say crammed) into a shady-looking combi. I say shady because the door fell off at one point, it was only hanging on by the ties they had used to keep it closed. But sure enough we had made it to Livingstone.

We stayed at a hostel call Jollyboys Backpackers for  a few days.  I was pretty excited when we got to Jollyboys because I had never stayed in a hostel so I wasn't really knowing what to expect, especially when images from the movie "Hostel" come to mind. Once inside I was pleasantly surprised. Jollyboys was very nice and had a very chill/hippyish feel too it.
 There was a pool, bar, self-catering kitchen and tons of cushions everywhere for lounging around. They had private rooms, mixed dorms, and camping available. I stayed in one of the mixed dorms with one of the other girls who went with us. The beds weren't bad and I was able to get somewhat full nights of sleep except for the one night when a guy in my dorm started singing in his sleep. After we got settled in, the group of us decided to walk around Livingstone's downtown area. We went by the market and I ended up buying a couple souvenirs after bargaining with the guy in the booth and even traded some hair ties for some smaller trinkets.

                                                                       

In the morning we all got up bright and early to head to Victoria Falls to brave a walk across the falls with a swim in Devil's Pool. 

Victoria Falls, or Mosi oa-Tunya (“The Smoke That Thunders”) is located in southern Zambia and is one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  It’s smack dab in the middle of the Zambezi river, and is a 100 meter drop.  They are 1.7 km long, with 1 km being located in Zambia and the rest in Zimbabwe.  This makes it one and a half times wider than and twice as tall as Niagara.  In 1855, an English explorer named David Livingstone set eyes on the falls, renamed it in honor of his queen, and quoted, “Scenes so wonderful must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight.”  

So we began our trip across the falls walking hand in hand  (with 2 guides to keep us safe) over the slippery walks. The water was usually only ankle deep, but at times it up past the knees and there were points where you could feel  how strong the current was. They took us right up to the edge of the falls, where the view was breathtaking!  We took many breaks to get amazing pictures.

Rainbow Falls

After about an hour or so we were finally at the Main Falls where Devil's Pool is. Once there we stripped down to our swimsuits to swim to Devil's Pool. Devil's Pool is a natural infinity pool at the edge of the Main Falls. Once we swam through some strong currents we got to a little rock and then were told to jump in one-by-one. I was a little afraid of going over the falls but the guides told us there was a rock ledge that would keep us from going over. 

So when it was my turn I took a deep breath.................................

 and jumped in.............................

 and survived!

I swam in Devil's Pool at the Top of Victoria Falls and it was AWESOME!

If you look closely there's 4 hippos

 After all of us jumped in twice we headed back to Jolleyboys. Some of us decided to go on a sunset boat cruise, which was very relaxing after the day of adventure. We saw some hippos and the sunset was beautiful.

 The next day a few people from the group went whitewater rafting while the rest of us decided to conquer the 111 meter bungee jump (3rd highest in the world) off the bridge that goes over the Zambezi River gorge. I was extremely nervous to do this.

I don't have much of a fear of heights, I was a zipline guide for godsake, spent the whole Summer and Fall of 2009 up in trees and hundreds of feet up in the air without a fear, but something about nose diving off of a bridge makes the stomach churn. 

In the morning we headed to the bridge to scope things out. We got some pictures and watched someone take the leap off the bridge. Usually when I am nervous to do something, if I see someone else do it and survive I am usually fine. Not this time. After seeing a random guy take the jump, my stomach and nerves were not calmed. Oh no what was I getting myself into? We headed up to get checked in. They weighed us and I was going to be the 3rd out of our group to go. We went back down to the bridge and I kept thinking…am I really gonna do this? 

When it came my turn to go they sat me down and started to strap my feet in and all I could think about is what if the cord broke.  Before I knew it I was standing on the edge of the platform with my arms out and they were counting down 5..4…3..2..JUMP!!!

 And there I went and let out the biggest scream. Down I went and then back up and around, for awhile I wasn't quite sure what was up and what was down, but the view was amazing. Once I stopped bouncing around I was really able to grasp what a beautiful view the gorge was and then the blood started rushing to my head. Luckily the guy was soon there to bring me back up. 

Once back on the bridge I was able to try to get my bearings a little and enjoy the view.  Afterwards I felt pretty motion sick from all the bouncing and spinning. I found out later that if you leave your arms out the whole time you spin less. I'll have to remember that the next time I go bungee jumping.

The next day the group headed to Jungle Junction. Jungle Junction is an eco-friendly fishing resort on privately-owned Bovu Island, on the Zambezi River.  Featuring a self-service bar, library, and no electricity, it’s the perfect place to get away from your worries, reflect on life, and recharge.  The group was pretty excited to relax for the next four days after our two days of action-packed adventures.

The Library

Another view

The Bar

The Kitchen

Once on the island the first thing that came to mind was paradise. I felt like I was in the movie "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio.  I took off my flip flops immediately, and went barefoot for the four days we were there.

You can camp, or stay in fisherman's huts or chalets. I decided to stay in a fisherman's hut, so I got to wake up every morning to the most beautiful sunrises every morning. 

The Fisherman Hut I stayed in

The view from my hut at sunrise (this picture doesn't give it justice)

The only access to the island is by a makoro boat (traditional dug-out canoe). During our stay the boatmen would take us out fishing or to the safe swimming areas to go for a swim (there are crocodiles and hippos around the island so it's not a good idea to just swim where ever you feel like). 

Packing the boats up with all our stuff

No crocodiles here :)

The guys went everyday trying to catch the much talked about tiger fish. These things are hard to catch, mainly due to their shark like teeth and the fact that they will literally spit the hook back out at you. One of them finally caught a big enough one for all of us to try on New Years Eve. It was pretty tasty but lots of bones to pick though. 

The first night they took us out for a sunset boat ride. Every night the sunsets were the prettiest sunsets I have ever seen, but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The first morning we were there I found some trees to set my hammock up in, so I would have a nice place to relax and read with a great view. Then a few of us went for a walk around the island. 

The lack of electricity didn’t pose any problems and was actually added to the feel of the island.  There were steaming hot outdoor showers and all the food was cooked over charcoal fires.  At night, the bar area was lit by candles. 

The showers

New Year's was spent on the Island, some people had brought watches to let us know when it was midnight. It was a great way to bring in the New Year (Ngwaga o Mosha--literally A New Year). On New Year's Day the Owner's did a Pig Roast for everyone staying there. It was delicious and I was excited to get my pork (sans sour kruat) for New Year. Apparently it brings you good luck. 

The Group on New Years Eve

Last sunset of 2010

The trip was amazing and I highly recommend everyone, young or old, to stay on the island. The staff were very accommodating and laid back. There is even a resident botanist who is willing to walk with you around the island and teach you about the wildlife.

After leaving the island we stayed a night camping at the Chobe Safari Lodge in Kasane. This lodge is high class and borders the Chobe River. You can sit by the pool watch monkeys come within a foot from you and watch elephants, hippos, and crocodiles roam the river. It is beautiful! If you do decide to go camping there though make sure to have a tent or rent one of the lodges. A hammock won't suffice as I unpleasantly found out. I don't have a tent, but I do have a hammock that I thought would be sufficient enough to sleep in. In the middle of the night I was unpleasantly awoken from my deep sleep by a night watchmen who told me I had to be in a tent, sleeping outside was unsafe because the hippos, elephants, crocodiles and lions will attack me! I was sure to cram into a tent with some of the other pcvs. Next time I will know to bring a tent.


On our way back to Francistown we saw more elephants and giraffes on the side of the road which is always a great site. 


Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to give you all a good description of my wonderful trip. I had a great time and the sights were so beautiful that it made it hard to leave and come back to Botswana. I defiantly want to go back up sometime to see the Zimbabwe side (apparently the views of the falls are even better) and raft the Zambzi. Good thing I'm still here for another year or so.




Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. 
Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Technology is not my friend

So my computer crashed and I had to send it back to the states a few weeks ago. This means I will not be able to update my blog until I get it back :( I am very sorry but since I don't have a computer that means I have to use the internet at the Post Office in my village which gets a little expensive and is really slow. Just found out last night that the motherboard is fried from overheating. Guess it just couldn't take the Africian heat :( The good news is I will be getting a new computer for Christmas! Thanks Mom and Dad! Hopefully I will get that back in a few weeks. Just for a brief update: I have been fairly busy through the months of October and November. I will just list some of the things I have been doing. I went on a Safari at the Rhino Sanctuary, was a Judge for the Matlhako Library Preschool Beauty Pagent, Screened a STEPS video and had a great disscussion with the community about disclosing one's status, talking to children about HIV/AIDS, and stigmatization. I also helped plan our Sub-Districts Drama Competition and my village's Drama team won! They took home P500 and were extremely exited. Now I am getting ready for a get together with some of the other volunteers for Thanksgiving this weekend. I'm pretty sad I won't get to be with my family this year, but at least my mom sent me some of the family recipies to make here :) Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and I will try to upday when I can!

6 Months in Botswana

Today marked 6 months of being in Botswana. On April 12th, 2010 I landed in Gaborone. In many ways it doesn't seem possible that I have been here that long and then in other ways it seems like I have been here longer. They say the first 6 months are the hardest part of your service and that it only gets better in time. I can see now why that is true. Since I have been here it has been a whirlwind and roller coaster of emotions. I love roller coasters but this one has been one I haven't always enjoyed being on. If the hardest part is behind me hopefully that means my train has climbed up the biggest part and I am now on the downward slope with full speed and momentum. Yes there will more bumps along the ride but hopefully they won't be as big as this first hill.

As I look back on my time here so far I can already see change in myself and isn't that partly why I decided to go on this journey? Even though there are still days where I hit a low there are many more where this feels right. Last Friday I went to the Prize Giving Day Ceremony at the Primary School. It was a lot like the one I went to a few weeks ago at the Jr. Secondary School. After I was fed lunch and started on my way home I heard someone call out "Refilwe." I turned to find my landlord's granddaughter peaking out from the fallen down tree behind me. I decided to go over and talk with her and her friends. I gave her my VIP card that was given to me during the ceremony, since I was one of the guests for the day. Her face just lit up so bright from a little piece of paper with some flowers on it. It reminded me of how much we take for granted the little things in life. She didn't receive any prizes during the ceremony because she didn't have the highest grades in her classes, but that little piece of paper I gave her probably meant more to her than any of the prizes that were given out at the ceremony. After a little bit the group of us walked home. Once I got home I changed and heard some noises coming from my front ledge. I went outside to find a whole group of kids sitting outside my house waiting for me to come outside. For the next hour or so I showed them how to throw a Frisbee. Afterwards Kenilwe asked me to teach her some English and she would teach me Setswana. I told her we could do that on Monday afternoon. Monday afternoon came around and once again she and I were sitting on the ledge under my window trying to teach each other languages we don't really understand. She is in form 2 (so the same as a 2nd grader) so her English is not all that great, which makes it difficult for her to teach me Setswana. It was fun spending time with her though. During those moments I felt like I was supposed to be here. I decided that I will need to find someone different to teach me Setswana, but I could probably still teach her English and will try to meet with her at least once a week. These are the types of things I pictured I would be doing as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

I don't think anything could have prepared me for what I have experienced so far during my service. That is not to say it is a bad thing. Botswana and being a Peace Corps Volunteer is just very different than what I had thought before coming here. As time moves on I am noticing that I am being able to adapt to the changes or differences better than when I first arrived. I have made some friends in the community, I am starting projects (slowly but surely), I have a new family of support from the volunteers here in country that I can lean on when things get hard, and I have even gotten to travel a little bit around the country and see and experience things I never imagined I would had you asked me year or so ago. As I become more integrated into my community I am starting to scrape away the layers and see that there really is a need for me to be here.

I want to once again thank everyone back at home for all the support and words of encouragement you have given me. During the hardest times it's good to know people at home are thinking about me. The letters and packages are always lights in my darker days and I know I will continue to need and want that support throughout the rest of my service. As hard as these past 6 months have been, it makes me excited to see what the next 6 month will hold.

Botswana's Independance Day

September 30th marked Botswana's 44th year of independence. In 1966 Botswana gained Independence from being a British protectorate, so Botswana has truly come pretty far since it became a country. So what did I do to celebrate? I met up with 24 other Bots 9 volunteers to go camping on the Makgadikdadi Pans! This is one of the biggest salt pans in the world, it is about the size of Portugal. Usually there is a little bit of water on the salt pans which makes pictures look awesome but since we are in the dry season there was no water, but I still got some really good pictures. I'll have to go back sometime when there is more water.

There was a little bit of water in one of the river beds and some not so pink flamingos!

It's mini me!

The whole time I looked out onto the sandy abyss I couldn't help but feel like I was Captain Jack Sparrow when he was stuck at the world's end (maybe that's because I had just had a Pirate's of the Caribbean Movie Marathon the weekend before??).

Setting up tents

Beautiful Sunset :)

As we wondered the pans a little bit, we came across these huge tracks. At first we thought they were lion tracks but were later informed that they were hippo tracks! It's too bad we didn't get to see any, or maybe that’s a good thing…I wouldn't have wanted to be trampled by one while I slept out under the stars. I decided I didn't want to spend my money on a child's pup tent, like some of the other volunteers did. Luckily I wasn't the only one who didn't have a tent so I felt completely safe and it was really nice to sleep under the stars.

We were up before sunrise

Here comes the Sun!

We only stayed one night out on the pans, which was fine by me because there was no water and it was really hot out there with no shade. So on Friday some of us went to Francistown to stay at Daniel's apartment. He has a really nice place, which makes me slightly jealous. He has hot running water, although now that it's gotten really hot here I don't really need that, a shower, and AIR CONDITIONING! So it was a luxury to take some showers and relax in the air conditioning. The bus ride back to Ftown was a true African bus-ride experience. Because it was a holiday weekend the buses were crazy packed! The nine of us caught a packed full bus heading to Ftown from Maun. Somehow they squeezed us on, but we had to stand the whole 2 1/2 hour ride back. I think every part of me was brushed up against throughout the trip as people were getting on and off, luckily I was standing next to Lindsey so at least I knew one of the people brushing up against me. At one point there was a group of goats crossing the road (very typical in Botswana) and the bus driver was honking his horn to let them know they need to move. Unfortunately a baby goat got confused and just kept darting back and forth, not knowing where to go and then BAM! Baby goat is no more :( Very sad! Oh and at one stop a guy got on the bus with a live chicken in a grocery sack and sat next to Joel. The rest of the trip Joel was having to avoid getting bit by the chicken! Glad I wasn't him.

Once in Francistown we decided to go out for Mike and Jen's (two of the volunteers) birthdays. There was an Irish Pub just down the street from Daniel's apartment so we decided to go there to get a drink. We were all pretty excited to have some good draft beers, especially after looking over their vast selection on the menu. But surprise, surprise the only import beer they had was Guinness, which was insanely expensive, so most settled for a domestic and a couple of us ordered some margaritas. The beers came right away but our cocktails were taking a really long time, I think it was because they didn't know how to make it. After our drinks we went to an Indian Restaurant and ate a ton of really yummy food. Indian is now my new favorite kind of food.

In the morning a few of us went to an NGO that a Bots 8 volunteer works at. This organization does afterschool programs for the orphans and vulnerable children in the worst part of Francistown. On Saturdays they have some programs and feed the children lunch. Daniel typically goes and helps out on Saturdays and invited us to come along. We had a lot of fun playing with the kids. We tried to teach them duck, duck, goose but it didn't work too well. I had one little girl who was following me around for a little bit and when I had to sit in the pot she got up from her seat and sat in the pot with me! Soo cute! We played a lot of "touch" with the kids, which is what they call "tag" but not exactly the same. Later that night the 6 of us that stayed decided to make tacos from scratch. I was incharge of the tortillas. I had made them before but I was little nervous to make them for a bunch of other people, but they turned out great! Those tacos ended up being one of the best meals I've had here in country! Soo good!

The little girl in front is the one who was following me around

They were playing with Daniel's hair lol