So You Want To Be A PCV?

So you want to be a Peace Corps Volunteer?

There are going to be a few things you need to know/ know how to deal with. Here is a list:

1.       Roosters are going to be your new alarm clock…an alarm clock that you set while drunk, that has a repeat function. Be prepared to wake up at least three times, anywhere between 9pm-6am. At some point you will learn to sleep through all but the needed alarm.

2.       Your amazing super power of American efficiency only works in America, don’t try to bring it with you. A “productive day” (and you will hear this time and again) could mean sitting under a tree and counting goats.

3.       Just because people “no speak Americano” does not mean that they are stupid, in fact, they are probably smarter than you in more ways than they have the ability to tell you…because they no speak Americano.

4.       You are like Godzilla to small children, you are fun to watch and point at from far away, but scary as hell up close. Be prepared for babies and infants to break into screams and attempt to waddle away at the mere sight of you.

5.       Your name is not Claire, your name is Tlotlo, whether or not you can pronounce it correctly.

6.       Imagine that someone who is 7 feet tall and tattooed bright blue had moved into your neighborhood. You would know where that person’s house was, right? That is how everyone in your village knows where you live, and knows your name even though you haven’t met them.

7.       In my experience it’s not really about being lonely in Peace Corps; you are going to be surrounded by people who want to interact with you constantly. It’s more about the fact that you have to be “on” all the time. You get the best and worst parts of being a celebrity.

8.       At some point, and I am sure this will have a different timeline depending on how quickly you get settled in; it is going to strike you how comfortable you are in a place that was so foreign just a few months ago. You might be texting in a different language or riding in a truck through the dessert, either way it’s going to be a weird feeling.

9.       When left to your own devices (especially when those devices aren’t usually examined on a one on one basis) your brain is going to wander to places previously unknown.

a.       Favorite places to wander: past relationships, future plans, food, nostalgic ponderings over amenities no longer accessible, how you are going to spend your readjustment allowance, food, overly ambitious projects that your community probably doesn’t need nor want, food, home and food…mostly cheese.

10.   Music is universal, social etiquette is not. True story: there was a day that I woke up to Mariah Carrey and Celine Dion, which would have been great had it not been 5am in the morning on a Saturday.

11.   Things you swore you would never do, and things that you vowed to continue doing in the states will at some point get jumbled up. This includes, but is not limited to: shaving, working out, cooking, journaling, budgeting, shopping, focusing on “the moment”, internet usage, meditation, reading, and taking any and all “you” time you need so that “you” doesn’t go insane. I will let you think about which of those I’m doing and which I’m not.

12.   You are going to be a grandma when it comes to bedtime. Seriously people, I was in bed at 7:30pm last night and sleeping an hour later. Hell my grandmother stays up later than that, so we will just change it to “a grandma’s grandma.”

13.   Clean is going to take on a whole new meaning. The “pits and crotch” hand washing method, as well as the over use of baby powder in your hair to get rid of the oil are concepts you will be overly comfortable with.

14.   This is going to be the last one, but it is a big one. As determined and passionate and driven as you were to get into Peace Corps (and you are going to have to be) so is everyone you are serving with. At some point you are going to read about their accomplishments and their projects and the schools that they built and for a second you are going to feel jealous/ inferior/ inadequate... but then you are just going to feel damn proud.

I had this last one a few days ago while reading some posts on facebook. It isn’t a completely new feeling to me, and it’s something I have had a chat with a few people about, but here is what I am hoping: I am hoping that after a few hundred times about hearing about projects like that, and there will be at least a few thousand since everyone here is their own superman, my first emotion will be to be proud. I’m not a saint, and to say that I am there now would just be lying. It doesn’t mean I love my fellow volunteers any less, it doesn’t mean that I’m not confident in my own abilities to change the world (even though some days I’m not); but we have been raised to think that there is always a hidden addendum, that there is always a ladder to climb, and that has crafted my life view.

But here is the thing; Peace Corps isn’t about that, because the end game here is not to raise up one, but 

many. This means every accomplishment, every school, program and support group created by one of my amazingly smart and talented peers, is a win for me too. Reprogramming always takes a little bit of time, but I’m working on it. I want to dedicate this particular blog post to my fellow volunteers; former, current and future. You are a damn fine group of people and the caliber of your character gives me confidence in my own.

Rata Thata,

Tlotlo

Bots Cribs

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to the first (and probably only) addition of Cribs Botswana. I wanted to be able to show everyone where I am living so that you can get a better idea of my little piece of Bots. Though I cannot speak for every volunteer, my home is the one place in the village where I don’t have to be “on” or have people constantly staring at me. Maybe this is why my house is the only dwelling place I have ever lived in that I have been able to keep remotely clean on a regular basis. So anyways, let me give you the virtual tour:

This is the view from my compound on my way back from work, at my gate. You can’t see her but Bambino comes out to greet me pretty much every day. It’s wildly cute and as close as I can get to Beaver Cleaver, while in Africa. 

This is the outside of my house on laundry day! The house you see to the right in the foreground is that of my landlady, Mma Monyatsi. The lovely tin roof is where the devils doves live and the window on the left is my bedroom. As you can see my porch doubles as a dryer (which is apt because my bathtub doubles as a washer.)

Welcome to my dining room! My kitchen table is a bit of a clutter because I just went to the general dealer to grab some groceries and a mixing bowl so I can make bread. The pictures on the wall are a collage that I made from a magazine Peace Corps issued us and the other things posted up are an assortment of maps, pictures and letters. I have a bunch of you wonderful people to thank for that :) 

Turn slightly to the right and you are in my kitchen! 

That wonderful little drawer/ cabinet thingy is my prep, station, my fridge is fully functional and even has a little slide out freezer. Behind it is the giant gas tank that powers my stove top and oven!

The picture below (the blog is not letting me format on the other side of the page) is when you take a few steps forward and turn around. Voila! My living room! You may think that I forgot to take the paper towel out of the picture but it is, in fact, there to prove to my mother that I occasionally clean my house :)

You turn around, walk the two steps down my
“hallway” and this is the sight you will see while looking into my bedroom. I have my calendar on the world, my scarf hanging off the open door of my wardrobe thingy (I keep it open because there isn’t much space and I hang my sweatshirts off the door.) 

My bed! The lovely blanket thing you are seeing is standard, Peace Corps Botswana issued, and comes in only one color pallet but has a few different center pieces. I’m really glad I don’t have the horses because it would remind me too much of the Godfather, which I finally watched!

Yeah…so if this is any testament to how well I take panoramic photos, you should never trust me to take one again. It gets the point across by way of what I see whenever I look in the mirror next to my bed though, which was really the only point.  

So that is about it when it comes to my house. I could show you the spare bedroom but it is currently acting as a storage space/ extra drying rack for my undergarments since it’s not really culturally acceptable for women to hang their panties on the line in Botswana. I don’t think our relationship (the one between myself and the internet) is ready to go there yet.

There you have it, my house! I hope you enjoyed this episode of Botswana Cribs, and I look forward to seeing you again in the near future. Until then, many hugs and smooches!

~Claire/ Tlotlo

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Hello my fellow worldwide wanders! Today’s blog is going to be on a topic of mass importance in the life of any Peace Corps volunteer; transportation. After almost three weeks at site, and 10 days short of three months in Botswana, I may not be a complete expert on a topic such as this but I felt inspired to give it a whirl after this weekend. Let me start out by breaking down the main modes of transportation available to Peace Corps Botswana (PCB): taxi, kombi, bus and hitch.

Taxi- Standard issue taxis as well as “pirates” (personal taxis driven by people without taxi paperwork) are widely available in major city centers in Botswana. Though I don’t have access to them here in Rams, they are one of the best ways to get around otherwise. What is super nice about taxis in Bots is that they are flat rate. Mind you this also means that if your destination is way far away, a driver can tell you to go take a walk. Taxis come in the standard ride for p4, which means your driver will pick up anyone he can in the process of getting you to your destination, or you can request a “special” which means you pay p20 to ride alone in the comfort of your own cab.

Kombi- So we don’t have these in the US, but I have had experience with them during my time in Turkey, (except that they were called dolmuʂ.) The best way I can describe these vehicles are as middle sized, 15 passenger vans (kind of like the ones you would take to the airport) that run certain routes at different times during the day and that are usually cheaper than catching a taxi. The down fall to this mode of transport is that a.) they don’t leave at specific times and you have to wait for them to fill up before they will depart for whatever destination and b.) When I say “fill up” I don’t mean the legal limit of people in the kombi, but however many bodies/ luggage/ children/ produce/ chickens the space above the four wheels can accommodate, not necessarily comfortably. A kombi is the most reliable way for me to get to my shopping village of Palapye.

Bus- Again, something most people are familiar with, and this is the most popular way to get between larger city centers in Botswana. Example: I went to Mahalapye for a meeting on Friday, and it just so happens that I took a bus, since Maha is a large city, and the best way for me to get there is to grab the one that comes through Rams from Seleka. The major debate on the bus is where the best seat is (this is assuming of course that you have the option to sit, and aren’t standing the full trip.) If you sit in the back, on a non holiday, there is a chance you will get the whole set of seats to yourself. Then again air doesn’t get to the back of the bus as easily as the frot. Also, going over rough road in the back of a bus is a bit more jarring than the front. If you sit in the front you will certainly have a seat mate but it will probably be a mosadi mogolo who will want to make friendly setswinglish chat for the duration of the ride. You are most likely to have someone standing in the aisle way crowding your space, but if you came to Peace Corps to have comfortable traveling, you came to the wrong organization.

Hitch- Let me preface this by saying that the US Peace Corps, nor Peace Corps Botswana, endorse this mode of travel, but that in certain situations it is the best way to get in or out of a remote area. This would also be a good time to point out a super great cultural difference! In the US, starting at a very young age, I had it drilled into me that hitchhiking was a great way to get killed. It goes both ways: if I attempted to hitchhike somewhere, the person who would pick me up would undoubtedly be the hockey mask wearing Jason who would chop me to bits and leave me by the side of the road. If I were to pick up a hitchhiker, it was probably Freddy Krouger who would torture me senseless only to chop me into bits and leave me next to the pile of bits Jason had left earlier. I had heard stories from my Grandmother about the golden age when she and her girl friends could hitch up into Canada by making friends at the border, but as an 80’s baby I knew that a cruel and twisted fate that awaited anyone in today’s day, who tried to catch a ride from the side of the road with a stranger.

Fast forward to three months ago, almost every currently serving volunteer who came in to help with our training had to catch a hitch for some leg of the journey to make it to Kanye. Mind = Blown. Having to deprogram close to 15years of safety school training has been difficult, and if we are being honest (because we all know the internet is the best place to spread truth) I am still a little uneasy about catching rides, but I have done it. The idea in Botswana is that there are many more people than there are cars, and that, on the whole, people are good and friendly and might even be the person you have to catch a ride from the next time your car breaks down. If you aren’t Jason or Freddy, why would you assume others to be? Hitching is a great way to catch a more direct and comfortable ride to where ever you may be going. Botswana has “hitching posts” that are usually the local bus stop; if you wait long enough someone will come by and if they are heading your way you just jump in. Most of the time you will pay them whatever a kombi/ taxi would have charged, but sometimes they don’t ask for money at all. They are great ways to meet new people, and have interesting conversations.

As a quick idea of what my daily travel might look like, I will take you back to what started this whole idea, for a brief segment I will call: “How I Got Around This Weekend.”

I walked to the Rams kgotla to catch the Maha bus that supposedly was going to get there at 8am, but didn’t pull in until 8:40am. Pulled into Maha around 11am (a full hour late for the meeting I was going there for) and walked to the park to meet up with everyone. After the meeting, myself and my friend Jada got a ride back to her place from a Motswana friend that she had the number for. Later on we went back into town to go shopping, and caught a ride from a “pirate taxi” that we waved down from the road. Since Jada lives outside of the Maha proper, she got into a kombi that would take her back to her neighborhood, while I boarded the bus to take me back to Rams. In one weekend, I utilized every popular form of motorized transportation that is available to a volunteer (we are not allowed on motorcycles.) 

I am going to try and get pictures of each of these types of transportation and then add them to the blog later.  Hope this finds everyone happy and healthy. 

Love, 

Claire

p.s. sorry to those of you that read this post in the last week. I don't know what happened but the top part didn't load which is why things were a bit funky. Seeing as I had to edit it anyways, I would also like to add that "donkey cart" is a viable option for transportation in my village. I have yet to ride one, but have been promised by numerous colleagues and neighbors that they will take me on theirs. I will let you know how it goes. :) 

Pictures!

Some pictures for your viewing pleasure. I will try and make sure I have some of my house in the next batch. Hugs and smooches!
~Claire

^ Me pointing to my new site placement in Ramokgonami

^This is Daniella and she is like my crazy, awesome, Catholic, sister from another mister. :)

^ Just one of my many "look what I hiked up" pictures. Ryan and I were heading to a braii at another volunteer's house.

The girls and I at our swearing in ceremony! Daniella and I gave a speech, in Setswana, in front of former President of Botswana Masire and US Ambassador Michelle Gavin.

Janina and I looking fly in our Africa garb at swearing in.

Officially volunteers! Goodbye PST, hello new site placements :)

The Kenalemang family (minus Tebo)

Me and my host sister Lame, looking good :)

 My new cat Bambino!

 The crazy evil, devil sink that exploded. Notice the awesome jerry rigged drying rack I created for my dishes?

Bathtub/kitchen sink/laundry machine! The key to living as a Peace Corps Volunteer is accumulating as many buckets as possible; can you find all four in this picture?












Me and my trusty head lamp. Seriously folks I love this thing >

Claire Vs. Plumbing

Hello Adoring Fan Base!

It has been an interesting past few days and I thought it was high time to update you on all things Tlotlo! Firstly, I’m pretty sure I have quite the lobbyist working the Big G upstairs for me because even when things go wrong in my life, they tend to go pretty right, example: I came back to my house two days ago after a frustrating time in my clinic and had a little “adventure.”

It is my second day at work and I spent the whole time in the caravan waiting to either a.) go to Sefare to meet the hospital staff there or b.) be of any use to anyone at all…ever. I ended up brain storming projects and did actually have a brief but insightful chat with the lay counselor about issues within the community. That aside, I was still pretty frustrated, so when I got home I had ZERO patience left to deal with the fact that my sink was making a high pitched squealing noise.

Let me fill you in on my bathroom/ dishwashing/ laundry room. It is the only room in the house that has water, and so it tends to get the most action in my everyday goings on. The toilet leaks out of either the handle or the bottom part of the tank, or possibly both. The faucet is lose so if it is turned even a little off center it starts to whistle. The pipe leading to the sink is funky, so it also leaks and occasionally whistles. There is a cricket living somewhere within all those drippy pipes and right around 7:30pm at night it starts to make its little cricket noise and doesn’t stop until around 5am. Normally, none of this would be an issue, but since the wall between my bathroom and my bedroom doesn’t reach the ceiling this cacophony of sound gently rocks me like a hurricane to bed every night. I had come to deal with all of these things though since I realize, as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I have it very plush and lovely compared to some. I had even begun to figure out what I affectionately called “the dance of the toilet” meaning the back and forth of me putting a used yogurt container below the tank to catch the dripping water, and then putting it back into the tank so there was enough suction to flush.

But today I was just not having it.

Me being me, I got out my leatherman and faced the singing sink head on. Let me preface this by saying my plumbing skills consist of identifying a leak and then calling a plumber. I attempt to tighten the bolt that connects the main pipe to the flexible cord that leads to the tap, and after one twist the sound had quieted a bit. I thought to myself “Go me! I rock, I could totally be a plumber, this is not that hard at all.” So I twisted it again, and again the sound lessened. After another lengthy pat on the back I went for one more twist…oh lordy pants, why didn’t I stop at two? The pipe freaked the heck out and began spewing water all over my bath/dish/laundry room at a rate I had not previously thought possible in Africa. I freaked the hell out and attempted to “untwist” the bolt (people, you cannot untwist what has been twisted) and the thing began exploding.

I run outside my house just in time to find my kindly old landlady walking back from her job teaching pre-schoolers. I explain to her what is happening with wild hand gestures, in a pitch that is a few octaves higher than a preteen at a Backstreet Boys concert, with some crock story about how I was “just washing my hands.” She smiles at me… and asks how my day at the clinic was. My reply was something like:

“Itwasgreatbutcanyoupleasecomeandseethebathroomitisexploding”

She takes her sweet time coming into the house and then laughs and ambles out to turn the water off, at which point the leak has devoured my bathroom and started flowing into the kitchen. Then, and get this, she begins to mention how worried she is that I won’t be able to bath tonight (it’s “bath” here, not “bathe”) and tells me to go about what I was doing so that she can mop up the mess. If I knew how to say “angel” in Setswana I would have called her that. After repeated wave offs of me asking if I could help in what I like to call “Setswinglish” she cleans the floor, calls a plumber, runs out to get the part that is needed and wishes me goodnight. 

NOT ONLY, does my faucet pipe not squeak anymore but the plumber saw my yogurt cup and the rust lines and said he would come back to fix that this weekend, which Mma Monyatsi said was great, since it was overdue that this bathroom have a checkup. I’m also pretty sure that the tidal wave may have taken out the nasty little Pavaratti that sang me to sleep every night. Claire 1; Plumbing/Cricket 0.   

As an aside, I will be taking pictures of my house and the village and adding them to the blog super soon, so watch out!

More to come, much love to all,
Claire

Cha-cha-cha-cha-changes!

It hit me yesterday how much my life has changed in the past couple of months. I thought you guys might get a kick out of some of the comparisons:

-Saturday night 6 months ago: go out to the bar/ a party with some friends, maybe find a place to sing a little karaoke, have a few drinks, come home around 2am, and go to bed.

-Saturday night Bots: go to the local bar, have one beer (two if I am feelin fancy), walk over to Nate’s house to watch him kill a chicken, get home before dark (around 6:30pm), watch a Disney movie in bed, and go to sleep

-Taking a walk 6 months ago: head out with my dog and go where ever I want, generally get ignored by anyone I didn’t know, maybe wave to the neighbors.

-Taking a walk in Bots: walk somewhere along the main road, get constantly pointed at by small children and cat called by drunken men; attempt Setswana but then switch to English when people only laugh in reply.

-Food 6 months ago: I could eat anything under the sun depending on what I was craving. Thai, Chinese, Greek, Italian, seafood, sushi, burger, anything I wanted and get it within an hour of wanting it.

-Bots food: I can have anything I want as long as I want some combination of chicken or beef, rice or noodles or sorgum, carrots, potatoes, onions and tomatoes. Now that I am a vegetarian you can exclude the beef and chicken.

-Tactics to get people to show up to your party 6 months ago: tell them there will be a dj and a keg

-Tactics to get people to show up to your party in Bots: tell them you have a toilet and some floor space to crash on

-Things that excited me 6 months ago: leaving for Botswana, a night on the town, dressing up for a date, family game night, a trip to the cottage, a new movie coming out

-Things that excite me in Bots: cheese, toilets, hot water, internet access. 

-Concerns 6 months ago: what am I going to do after college, how am I going to maintain my relationship, how am I going to get enough money for graduate school, how am I going to find a good job.

-Concerns in Bots: how am I going to get to my shopping village to get food, if the water goes out do I have enough stored up, how many kettles of hot water do I want to heat in order to take a warm bath, how long can I go without a bath before the locals start noticing.

-Ways to blow off steam 6 months ago: put on my favorite tunes, dance around the kitchen while cooking up something tasty

-Ways to blow off steam in Bots: put on my favorite tunes, dance around the kitchen while cooking up something tasty.

The reason I threw in the last one was because at the end of the day, I may be changing but I am also still very much the same person I was when I left the states. My physical expectations may have changed, and my day to day needs have certain changed, but the things that make me happy, and the moments that bring joy to my life and a smile to my face, are still very much the same. In fact many things that wouldn’t have brought a giant smile to my face (toilets) now do, because my expectations for how I function are different. 

My life is both significantly more simple and significantly more complicated all in one go. I think something important to remember while serving in Peace Corps, not everything has to change, and not everything will.

Much love,

Tlotlo

Always Bring a Book and Never Ask "Why?"

Lots to catch all you wonderful people up on! Here is the dealio, I have been moved. Yes, moved by the people and the culture of Botswana, and of course moved to better myself as a person, but also physically moved. Due to some extenuating circumstances, myself and my wonderful trainee friend Nate, have been site swapped. I am not going to get into the details, but I think this is going to be for the better of our communities in the long run. Though I am sad to say goodbye to Kanye, and my wonderful, amazing host family, I am happy about all the new challenges and adventures that await me in Ramokgonami!

Here is the low down: Ramokgonami (Rams as I will be calling it from here on out) is a 3,000 person village located about 3 hours north east of Gaborone. It is a 45min hitch/kombi ride from Pahlapye (my shopping village, which you should be able to find on a map if you are super interested) and an 8 hour ride from Maun. I will be working in a midwifery clinic as a Community Capacity Building volunteer and will also probably be finding some projects to do with the local schools and library. My house is going to have running water in the bathroom and electricity, and I just found out that the library has wifi, which means I can keep in touch with each and every one of you good looking lads and lasses.

I’m pretty pumped about my new assignment, and I really just can’t wait to start working and getting to know the village and actually start planning some projects. The volunteer whose spot I will be taking set up a formula and milk distribution center for mothers in the PMTCT program. I also hear, from that crazy Peace Corps grapevine, that she was incredibly ingrained within the community; so I am going to have some pretty big shoes to fill. A lot of the general work I will be doing with have to do with the PMTCT program, as well as distribution of ARVs and breast feeding demos. The clinic has had 3 volunteers prior to me, so they should know their way around the program by now, but I was to try and distinguish myself as an individual by trying to come up with projects that are very different from my predecessors.

On a more up to date note, I think I am going to go veg, or at least give it a shot. I have been pondering the thought for a while now, and had an interesting experience today that kind of solidified it for me. The training for the day was in Gabs and we got to have a walk through tour of one of Botswana’s diamond polishing plants. It was actually really amazing, since I think all of us went in there with some pretty nasty pre conceived notions about what the diamond business looks like in Africa and that was not at all what we found. Since it was Friday everyone in the plant was in jeans. The nice Israeli guy who runs the operation, fielded all of our charged up questions about how he knew his diamonds weren’t covered in blood with grace. When someone asked how long shifts were, and if employees were expected to stay until the job was done, the man in the cutting room said it was an 8am-5pm shift with a tea and lunch break and if you weren’t done with a particular diamond prior to you “hauling off” than you just came back to it the next day.

Anyways, this is all besides the veg point, but before we leave this train of thought, I would like to add that I got to hold a 17 carat “rough” diamond and a 10 carat finished, yellow diamond. These rocks were GIANT! The lady in the finishing room took my hand, and literally placed the yellow diamond on top, between my two fingers so I could get an idea of what a ring that size would look like. It blew my mind. THEN she proceeded to put a princess cut, pear cut, round cut and some other kind of cut, between the rest of my fingers, the smallest “only” being around 3 carats. I had hundreds of thousands of dollars of jewels on my hand, and all I could think about was the fact that these little shinny rocks could pay off all my student debt, or buy me a house, or build a clinic in my soon to be village, or feed my entire village for at least a year. Don’t get me wrong, when I find that special someone, I would like a ring, but I don’t think I am ever going to be able to look at a diamond the same way again. The rough one looked like a freakin piece of glass, or maybe even a slightly more translucent piece of quartz. We pay so much for something that comes from dead animal and plant matter and it just seems so…weird.

ANYWAYS, I got home from the crazy diamond experience and found that my host mother needed help washing the car. It was getting late so when she said I need to scrub down the windows I couldn’t really see what the sticky stuff I was scrubbing at was…that was until she told me about her afternoon. My host mother had been out at the cattle post (something I am going to have to describe later) and on her way back she had run into a friend with a dead cow. Since the friend needed a hand to get the carcass back to Kanye, my host mother had offered to help…by putting it into the family kombi.

People of America (and this only applies to those of us whose close encounters of the bovine kind are in a grocery store or between the toasted buns of a McDonald’s sandwich) a cow carcass is HUGMONGOUS! There was blood all over the seats, and windows and the whole car stank of blood. As I proceeded to help my mother wash everything down, and slowly got more and more blood water spilled on me I realized that this whole meat thing might be leaving a sour taste in my mouth. Afterwards, when I was heading back into the house and found a leg of cow in the sink, these thoughts became a little more solidified. Finally, after scrubbing myself down and coming out of the bathroom to find my host sister making fried cow intestines, I had this beautiful moment of clarity and decided to swear off meat, here and now. So I am going to give this whole herbivore thing a go and if it works, neato frito, and if not, at least I gave it a shot.

Seriously people, I was like the ranch hand version of "Kerry"

Alright, that is going to be about it for me today. I will try and post an address as soon as I get to site so all of you dedicated readers out there (love you Mom) can send me letters and packages and pictures, and anything else you can fit into a standard envelope/ flat rate box. Also note, if you don’t want to send me a package, but still have some sympathy for my dietary situation, taco seasoning and macaroni and cheese (the cheese packets) fit into an envelope! (Thank you Aunt Beth)

Ke rata mongwe le mongwe (I love everyone)

~Claire/ Tlotlo

p.s. the title of this post is the running motto of Peace Corps Botswana

Pictures!

Hello everyone! I will try and post more later but I realized it is faster to load pictures here than on facebook. More to come!

My new haircut!!!

Me finding out that I am going to be shadowing in Dutlwe

Some primary students from Dutlwe

Me showing you my fabulous new buff (thanks Mom and Dad :) )

Ryan and Boo making our submission to the cooking competition

We made "peanut sauce" with veggies :)

My placement in Kanye, Botswana

Our volunteer map

A lady pounding millet, she was much better at is than the volunteers that tried (no offense Mignon)

A slightly more dramatic way to pound millet, there is a song that goes with this

Spreading cow dung on the floor of the meeting place in order to deter snakes

The traditional dancers that we saw at the cultural village

My host home!

The training center

Walking home from the training center and down to the "mall"

More walking home

New haircut! (again)

The lodge we stayed at during our first night in country

My host bedroom

Jobs

I finally got to meet up with my counterparts! Another pro to being in Kanye is that since they are so close I was actually able to meet both of my counterparts whereas all the other NGO volunteers who are working with two organizations only got to meet up with one. Both of them seem pretty chill and though there wasn’t a whole lot of time to talk to either one of them (there was an issue with accommodations on the part of the Peace Corps and putting up the counterparts, so there was this very dramatic negotiation secession in the middle of the day that took up a lot of time) it was still nice to put in my mind two faces that I am going to be working with for the next two years.

So let me lay things out for you a bit; BOFWA (Botswana Family Welfare Association) is going to be my “primary” assignment. I don’t exactly know what this means since by the sounds of things I am going to be splitting my time equally, and BORNUS (Botswana Retired Nurses Association) is actually the organization that found my house. BOFWA does a million different projects within the community, including: going to schools to give presentations on sexual reproductive health, running clubs for teenagers on a myriad of different health topics, and they also do the occasional home visit for HIV positive clients. They have six major offices around the country and there are actually three of us working for them (Trevor is working in Maun, and Emily is working in Francis Town.)

BORNUS does a lot of home based care which is going to be really amazing for me since I am going to get personal experience one on one with individuals living with HIV/AIDS. They have also been trying to get some educational talks at local schools off the ground but have been having issues getting schools to respond to them, so I am hoping I can help out with that.

My counterparts (the Motswana that are my partners while on the job) both seem very relaxed and I was happy that they were willing to take my suggestions when it comes to scheduling. Mon & Tue I will be working with BORNUS and Wed & Thurs I will be working with BOFWA. I will have Fridays as a “flex day” meaning that I could either go into whatever office I need to get some extra work done in, or I could use that time to focus on my secondary project. I think it is going to work out really well, and I am excited to hit the ground running. 

Much love, 

Claire/ Tlotlo 

BIRTHDAY UPDATE!

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, I have made it to Botswana! Sorry it has been such a long time since I was able to update but the internet here is a bit shaky and up to this point I have only had access through an internet café, in half hour slots, on Saturdays. I am crossing my fingers that now that we are entering week 4, I will be able to have some access at the Education Center on a regular basis.

So let me fill you in on all things Botswana. We arrived in Gaborone after a cumulative 20 some hours on the plane to be ushered into the wonderful and fabulous Big 5 Lodge. We only got to stay for one night but it was so wonderful to sleep in a bed instead of having to adjust myself into the upright position while attempting sleep. I have to say though, with my first walk around money from Peace Corps I bought one of those funky little neck pillows and it 100% made all the difference in my ability to be able to sleep on the plane. For those of you looking to travel long distances who don’t have one yet, just do it, it’s totally worth whatever you end up spending.

Anyhoo, we pretty much hit the ground running. At the Lodge we received our phones, mosquito nets and around 5 hours of debriefing. The next day we loaded the bus for Kanye and went straight to our “Matching Ceremony” in order to meet our new families for the next two months. I know this may be slightly baised but I got the best family ;) My host mother, Bonolo and my host brother, Tebo, live in the house and then I have two host sisters, Lame and Tshiamo, who don’t live in Kanye. Bonolo was unable to be at the matching ceremony but upon coming home that night exclaimed “where is my new daughter?!?” and I knew things were going to be just fine. I have been completely welcomed into the family and my mother introduces me as her daughter at any events we go to, and I think the vast majority of people we meet find this hilarious. Our house is equipped with running water, electricity and a toilet and is only a 10min walk from the training center. This is both awesome and a little unnerving, since my site placement could still be out in the middle of nowhere in which case many of the things I need to know how to do will be new to me. I guess I will cross that bridge when I come to it. 

As you can image getting used to Botswana has been a lot of ups and downs; not only Botswana herself but also life as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I have learned a few things:

·         White vinegar will take soap out of your hair and clothing and also works wonders as a meat tenderizer.

·         “You’re fat” and “you’re beautiful” can be said on the same breath in Botswana without any offense and are often followed by “marry me.”

·         The Batswana are generous and kind people on the whole and seem to find no greater delight than for a slow talking Lekoga (English/ white person) to attempt Setswana. Even if you totally botch it they are just happy you tried in the first place.

·         Personal space is a remarkably fluid concept in Botswana, and if the lady standing behind you in line at the electricity post wants to continuously hit you with her umbrella because she is standing close enough for her boobs to be on your back, so be it

·         When a Motswana says they want sugar in their tea or coffee, it means 6-8 spoon fulls, not 2

·         Possible road hazards: goats, chicken, dogs, cows and donkies…lots and lots of donkies

·         A Peace Corps staff member would rather have bamboo shoots hammered under their fingernails than divulge any scrap of information about your site placement before the site ceremony

·         It is not a Botswana ceremony unless there is singing and prayer

·         Africa, and the pace of life here, can be addicting

As it may be apparent by now, I am having a pretty smooth time adjusting. I do miss home, I do miss friends and family, and I do miss that certain level of comfort you can only really achieve within your own territory. That being said though, I am happy to be slowly stripping myself of the need to be on my turf and I think that will serve me well as a citizen of the world.

We are almost at our 1 month mark for training, and in two weeks I will find out where my site placement is going to be. After that it will be another 4-5 weeks of training before I am sent off for community integration period, more commonly referred to among volunteers as “lockdown.” This period will last for 2 months after which I will have IST (in service training) and then settle into life as a working volunteer. For those of you with the means, that will also be the time when I am allowed to have visitors, and if you have any desire to come to Africa, Botswana should be on your list of places to go.

With all the language, cross cultural and safety and security training as well as the occasional out of class room experiences (we did a whole lesson on perma-gardening on Saturday) I have been very busy. I’m enjoying my life as a volunteer thus far and at this point am just anxious to start the real work. My fellow trainees are wonderful and I am learning a lot.

More to come soon (hopefully)

Much love,

Claire/ Tlotlo ß My new Setswana name, it means “Respect”