Ke Batla Serame.

Dumelang Bo-mma le Bo-rra,

Another week has passed in Gabs, and while nothing has really happened here, things have occurred in my life.  On Wednesday (my Wednesday, Tuesday in the states) my Great Grandfather died.  This made me sad even though I have known it was coming for over a month.  He was a kind and loving man and I have many wonderful memories of him from my youth.  I just wish I had more memories from recent years.  Death is something I have very little experience with and I never know how to react or feel.  I am just happy that he lived a full life, he is no longer in pain and that he can be with Great Grandma because she really was the love of his life.  On a side note a boy I went to high school also died during the past week.  The circumstances surrounding the death were not surprising to me based on my knowledge of him but it always shocks me to see a classmate die.  We are all so young and have so much potential.  With every classmate who dies it reminds me to live my life fuller, as you never know which day will be your last.  Life is short so I know I need to make the most of it.

Bots gets hot, very hot, too hot in fact for humans to function properly.  This week I drank an average of 5L of water a day.  On Tuesday I was told by my Motswana roommate it reached a high of 44 degrees Celsius.  I wouldn’t believe that normally except I have never been so hot in my entire life.  When I wasn’t in class I sat in my stark naked in my sizzling room hoping that if I didn’t move it would be more comfortable.  Later I went swimming and by the time I walked back to my room from the pool my once sopping wet hair was dry except for at my hair line because sweat was pouring down my face.  I stopped running when I went through 2.5L of water in one run.  I am sad but it has gotten too hot to run, and even in the mornings you sweat buckets.  The rest of the week wasn’t as hot but it was still dreadful.  It hovered around 40C and one day only reached a high of 37C.  But I think it’s a problem anywhere when it is still 36C at 9:30pm. 

Swimming at UB is somewhat of a depressing manner.  Out of the entire Olympic sized swimming pool they only give UB students one lane.  I do not exactly understand why this is and how this works as there are no signs explaining the designations of lanes but normally I try to sneak off into the central part of the pool which has no lanes to swim laps.  I just don’t like sharing a lane with thirty people when I think the majority of them could start drowning at any moment.  I just don’t know what to do exactly because I want to exercise; there just isn’t really means to do so.  Aish.  I can’t wait until I have snow and a gym.

 On Wednesday the CIEE family went to see the premiere of the “#1 Ladies Detective Agency” Movie in Botswana.  It was hilarious, but mostly I think because I have been living in Botswana and understood all of the little Motswana jokes and innuendoes.  I will probably purchase the miniseries once I am home to show all of my friends and family because it truly is an honest depiction of Batswana life.  The movie made Gaborone look a little more rural than it is today but the mannerisms were spot on.  So every be ready for Mma Ramotswe and her detective agency.  It really is well made, and I am sure it will be even better when my blood is not boiling under my skin from the heat. 

 School this week was rough in every class that started after 10am.  Air conditioning to Motswana are what we call ceiling fans and not even every classroom has those.  On Monday I took another subjective test which I don’t think I did that well on as I was unaware the name of authors listed as citations in our notes were fair game questions.  Oh well, there is always a next time and then I will have a better idea as to what to study.  On a happier and somewhat more boastful note, I am sure no one remembers me complaining about group work in Botswana and how trying to write a group paper caused me two weeks of hell when my group members proved to be totally inept.  In the end I wrote the entire paper by myself, went to the professor for advice by myself, and reedited it by myself, but because of my hard work I earned my just dessert.  The professor started the lecture with a stern face and sad eyes.  He told the class of how disappointed he was in everyone.  How everyone failed and most people only earned 10% to 15% on their assignments.  How he couldn’t believe anyone would have the audacity to turn in one and a half pages with no citations for what was supposed to be an eight page assignment.  To some poor groups humiliation he even went as far to call their paper the worst and most confused assignment he has ever read.  He showed the class the paper and said he made a photocopy for his records so to never forget their names or the despicable work.  After about 30minutes of this his tone changed slightly, he told the class that despite their utter failure four students were able to earn the highest marks he had ever given on an assignment.  That group was ME! I gave my group members credit just to save the hassle of trying to explain to them that their work was not acceptable (I tried and failed at this twice because they couldn’t understand my English and I am skeptical as to whether or not they were speaking English).  I am just impressed that I compiled a decent paper on a subject I had never even heard of three months ago, when I do not have access to the text book for the class because they sold out in the book store, and when I have only a vague understanding of African religious beliefs, Setswana culture and the history of religion in Botswana.  However my academic victory saddens me as these student, most of who are Batswana, were unable to produce anything passable and at UB passing is only 50%.  There are obvious flaws in the education system and it does not help that there are no academic resources on campus.  No writing center, no tutors, no academic services what so ever.  If UB ever wants to be a leading university in the world it needs to make changes.

Alas internet is a scarce resource in Africa.  One day internet works, the next it doesn’t, and then it is back again.  Right now I am one of the lucky few who still have Skype working and I only pray it remains this way over the next 2 months.  UB has been censoring the sites they let us view and while most of them are like the sites blocked in high school, we are not in high school we are in college.  Also there are other sites you cannot see like the opposition’s political party webpage and web sites about homosexuality (only one political party has ever been in power in all of Botswana’s 40 years of independence and homosexuality is illegal under the constitution).  The university denies any political motivation behind the blocking of certain pages, but the European exchange students, especially the Germans wrote a letter and made their opinion of censorship in universities clear.  I agree with the Europeans and am happy they wrote the letter to the school.  However I think the letter just made UB hate its international student more than they already do.  It will be incredible when I get back to the states and my internet works all of the time and I don’t have to dance around “websense”.

So I said it rained last week.  It also rained this week and was wonderful except it will still in the mid 30s.  We had thunder and lightning and big raindrops.  It lasted several hours except the rain disappears as soon as it lands so you don’t get puddles or mud or any of those lovely side effects of rain in the northwest.    I miss the rain and every time I see it it’s a welcomed sight.  I could just stand under it hours and I am sure that come December I will have more than enough opportunities to do that. 

Saturday was a fun day.  We had a cooking lesson from a Motswana woman on how to prepare traditional Setswana food.  There are a few things I will probably make once I am home but also many things I hope to never see again, like seswa. Seswa is pounded meat.  You boil the meat the hours and then drain the water and grease only to pound it in to little shreds.  I don’t really like the taste and every time I eat my stomach disagrees.  Setswana food is rather bland and lacks nutrition but they love it and now I know how to make it so if anyone ever wants morogo, chakalaka, borogo, palache, seswa, and this strange mix of dried maize and beans, I can cook it for you. J    

Despite being so far away from everyone I love I am happy.  I am happy because I am doing something I wanted to do.  I am happy because I am learning so much about myself, my perceptions or others, and my true passions and desires.  Coming to Botswana was a good decision and even though I struggle at times adapting to this drastically different environment, in the end it has only made me appreciate all that I have.  I have been so lucky growing up with a loving family, endless opportunity, and a safe environment.  Being here makes me want to travel more, see more places, meet more people, and experience more cultures.  However at the end of the day Oregon will always be my home just like how Batswana see Botswana as their home.  There is just something about it that makes it unlike any other place in the world and I love it.