Crazy Stuff Claire Does in Africa

LOTS OF STUFF TO CATCH UP ON!

I'm so sorry I have been not on here at all as of late, it has been a nutso last two months, but that shouldn't prevent me from sitting down and writing a little bit now and again. Since I have failed in doing this, I am going to sit down right now and write a ton...all in one go.

In attempts to make this easier to navigate, I'm going to break this down into a "Novel" like format with chapters and a table of contents and everything!

Table of Contents
-Alex's Trip
-MST
-Mural Painting Insanity
-Kalindi's Trip
-New Projects
-Plans for Life PPC (post Peace Corps)

Alex's Trip

My first visitor from the United States of America was a TOTAL WIN! I think things went really well and based on what he was telling me, he thought the same. 

So first there was the emotional reunion at the Jo'burg Airport where I continually kept repeating things like "I can't believe you are actually here" and "you are real" while touching his arm. It was the first real mixing of my life in Bots and my life in the US so how can you really blame me? 

Getting back to Botswana was a laugh and a half and aside from some worries about me having forgot my work permit papers, all went smoothly (the lady didn't end up asking for them...I like to think this is because I am such a smooth Setswana talker, but I'm guessing in all reality it is more likely that she just forgot.) Once in Botswana we met up for dinner with a few newly COSed, RPCVs who were on there way to bigger and better things. This was wonderful because Alex got to meet a few of my close friends who are on the other end of this crazy ride (I'm talking about you Susan and Amelia!) After a delicious Indian dinner we went back to the Metcourt and crashed before a big day of travel. I would like to point out that Alex was highly enjoying his two nights in Africa in a hotel, and eating out at fancy restaurants...little did he know. 

The next day we hopped on a bus and went out to my village. I finally got to introduce Alex to the lady in my shopping village who is convinced she is going to be his future wife, and Alex got a nice feel for what the transportation system here is like. 

Alex: "What time does the bus leave?"

Claire: "Noon...or 1, sometimes like half one, but if he is not there by 2 then he isn't going to be coming."

Alex: "Why wouldn't he be coming?"

Claire: "He might be in church, the bus might have been broken, he could have hit a cow...that happened a few weeks ago and the bus was out for a month."

Alex: "Oh"

Luckily the bus did come and so not only was Alex treated to my favorite bus guy (his name is Rra Tlotlo, which everyone jokes means he is my Dad) but a brief little driving tour of the village as well, since this particular bus will drive all the way out to my house instead of dropping off at the kgotla a mile away.

Family meeting the family :)

The few days we had in my village were a good time; Alex got to see a slice of my life which included weighing babies, hanging out with my preschoolers, and generally just talking with and mingling around the village and the people in it. It was also awesome for me to get a fresh perspective on some of the issues that go down here, and brain storm with him possible future project ideas. 

First traditional meal! Those little bug lookin
things above the brown meat...are bugs.

The ultimate part of this trip though was being able to show him places and introduce him to people that I have been talking about on this blog, through emails and in letters since I got here. When I reference "the clinic" Alex knows what I am talking about now. He has a mental picture and a much more clear idea of how I live, the stresses I go through and what my job is like. He is the first person from home who has seen this, and I couldn't be happier to have that kind of ally. 

After Rams came my belated 24th birthday party up in Francistown. After deciding I wanted to have some

sort of theme party, and then also realizing that it would be hard to materialize a costume in these settings, I settled on the theme "Beerlympics: A Night of Competitive Drinking." That way we get to combine my two absolute favorite things: beer and competition. Get this people, my most awesome cousin even chipped in to get a trophy engraved....IT WAS AWESOME! It is at this point I will note that never in my service have I been more aware of the USD to BP exchange rate:

Claire: "We can't buy _______, it's like p300!!!"

Alex: "Claire, I can cover the $35, it's not a big deal"

Chad won!

At which point I would remind him that I live on about $300 a month. Still, now that I am looking at jobs for when I get back into the US, it makes me feel pretty good! But more on that later. 

Beerlympics was an amazing success with the slightly controversial win going to my friend Chad. Chad is now in charge of hosting the next one so that the trophy can be passed down to the next generation of PCVs. At this point I would like to introduce you all to my friend Justin, who provided the meat and a good bit of the alcohol for the whole celebration. This included bush meat, which meant that Alex and I got to try Zebra which was really cool, and pretty nice tasting (my vegetarianism doesn't extend to "taster" portions of meat I believe I would not be able to try back in the states.)

The next day, out of the goodness of his heart, Justin offered not only to drive us up to Pandamatenga, and also to put us up in a lodge for a night. This was awesome for a few different reasons, the first being that I have never been to Panda, the second being because it meant a big chunk out of lodging and traveling expenses and thirdly because we got to go to the going away party of a volunteer that is getting ready to move to Maun for her third year extension. 

The party was awesome, and the lodge was comfortable and we made a bunch of new friends...really what more could we ask for?

The next day Janina, Aimee, Alex and I were off to Livingstone, Zambia to have our awesome Victoria Falls adventure. The whole trip to the falls was awesome, we staid in Fawlty Towers Hostel which was not only comfortable, but cheap! We saw the falls, relaxed by the pool, played card games and hung out, and almost died while white water rafting...

Did you catch that last one?? The part where I told you we almost died??? I could be over dramatizing a bit here but we did sign up for a half day white water rafting trip which took us through rapid 11 all the way down to rapid 24. During said trip Janina was ejected three times, and the boat capsized once. For those of you who have been white water rafting before, let me assure you that the Zambezi is a whole different animal, and that we were going on high water season, which means that it was a big, fast, scary, just got poked with a stick, kinda animal. Our raft (as you can see from the picture included) went into a class 4+ rapid, capsized end over end and then pitched us all into the water, under the boat, only to go through the rapid again blind, dazed, and lacking the ability to get air.

The guy who is looking like he is hanging out in an invisible lawn chair is Alex. I am the slightly lower of the two orange helmets to the right. At this point in the trip Aimee is kinda sittin on me. 

After making sure everyone's head was above water, and getting back into the raft, our guide handed us all an apple (it was like a healthy treat for surviving!) and we just kinda sat there for a second. After a moment I believe it was Alex who said "so...did anyone else actually think they were possibly going to die just then?" to which we all exclaimed that we had, and that this was quite the rafting trip. Apparently if you go on the full day one you cap 2-4 times. I think sometime after the 2nd I would probably risk getting eaten by a hippo and just insist that I walk the rest of the way, but who knows?

We had a great time in Zambia, Janina even bungee jumped which was insane. Mad props to the people that are willing to jump off an incredibly high bridge with only rocks and a river and some crocs to catch you at the bottom. I have the feeling I will probably leave this world never having done it, and I'm very much okay with that. We also got to briefly touch a toe into Zimbabwe (the bridge you jump off of spans the two) which officially made this a four country trip for Alex and I, which I thought was kind of cool.

Prior to leaving Panda we had made arrangements to meet up with Justin on our way back down and have dinner out at a friend of his lodge. We piled back into his truck as he drove us out into the middle of the bush. When we got to the place our minds were pretty much blown. 

Man, life in Africa is SOOOOOO hard!

Kazuma Lodge is what you imagine in your dreams when you think about safaris in Africa. It is a place that is screaming monocles, afternoon tea while you stick your pinky out, chatting about Kippling and admiring the the water buffalo you just shot. It is fancy scotch, "cheerio ol' boy" and the epitome of "Bush Luxury"
(emphasis on the "luxury" and not so much the "bush".) When we drove up, the natural watering hole had 5 elephants around it, and over the duration of our 4 course meal, about 25 more showed up just for our pure entertainment. The food was amazing, the view was astounding, and for a second I actually felt like anything other than a peace corps volunteer (which may or may not be a good thing.) It was a once in a life time experience and I can't thank Justin, as well as the lodge owners, enough for facilitating it for us. 

I think we pull it off

The last night before we went back to the capital was spent with Aimee, Alex and I in the pans, camping out under the stars and enjoying a relaxing bon fire chat with some of the managers. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about sleeping under the stars but sleeping under the stars, in Botswana winter, on the salt pans (which have zero wind protection), is not the best way to go about things.

In the morning Alex and I went off and had a four wheel adventure over the pans, and got as close as you can get to wild meerkats, saw an ostrich running at full speed, had a nice little breakfast, and got to zoom around on a four wheeler with our heads wrapped up like Lawrence of Arabia. 

The trip ended back in the capital with me crying hysterically (okay...maybe not "crying hysterically" as much as "weeping stoically") and waving to Alex on the bus from the street corner. I do have to say it was incredibly hard to see him go. Not only did we have an amazing trip, but we got closer and he was able to bring a bit of "US home" back into my life. I can't thank Alex enough for coming out and visiting and being the amazing, supportive, wonderful cousin that he is. Alex, you have been with me through this whole insanity, and never once let me doubt or question myself. You are an amazing person, and I'm proud to be your cousin. :)

Some other random pictures from the trip:

<I FOUND A STATE FAN! & Me after pans trip

The guy whose job it is to get the meerkats
used to people

<Alex being a baller & bridge in Vic Falls

MST

So I head back to my village after cleaning myself up a bit (crying in public is so rare here, some passing students asked why my "face was sweating") and have a week to get things in order before I went off to MST. 

MST (Mid Service Training for those of you who haven't read the "terms" page) was hands down the most successful Peace Corps training I have gone to. We talked about life after Peace Corps, how we were coping with our service thus far, diversity (lead by the most excellent Dominique; diversity point person for PSDN), emotional health and different resources we had at our disposal. It was also just wonderful to see the whole group together again and catch up with people I haven't really seen since IST. 

Bots 12 is an amazing group of individuals who are not only passionate about what they are doing but are really freaking good at doing what they are doing. We have projects all over the boards from reusable menstrual pads for girls, support groups, condoms in taxi cabs, shade projects, recycling ARV bottles in order to make pill counters to help with accountability, gender based violence campaigns and advocating for the rights of people wit disabilities. When we get together it just gives me hope for the world, hope that people like this aren't a minority, and that ultimately those working towards positive change vastly out weight those working against it. 

The few days together was awesome and also gave me a chance to talk with my peers about potential future projects (which we will talk about a little later down the page.) It was a wonderful time and it is weird to think that the next time we gather in a large group it will be for our COS conference and we will be getting ready to end service together and move on to the next phase of life. I wish all of my fellow volunteers luck in the next year, and sincerely hope that I am able to see you before then.

I know there aren't any pictures in this chapter and it is only because it would look like a standard conference from anywhere.

Mural Painting Insanity

Dana and I have been talking about doing a mural in my village for a while now, and finally sat down and picked out some dates. We decided on the week after MST because right before that was Alex's visit, and after that Kalindi would be coming to visit, and after that Dana would be heading to COS, so this was really the soonest possible date we could manage. 

If ever here was a stereotypical Peace Corps project, this one was it. 

We had issues with transportation which meant that we got to my village late, but were still pleased to find a group of about 8 women who had showed up for the meeting at the Creshe (its the word for preschool here.) Dana has this wonderful program set up, and this is actually the fifth mural she will have completed within Botswana. In a nutshell she gets together some members of the community as well as some of the youth and asks people what they want to be represented in the mural. What are some of the issues facing the community? What are people proud of? What makes this place special? Then she asks them to show her some of their favorite places in the village and she goes around taking pictures (actually in this case she let the youth take pictures) and from that she creates a mock up. 

After showing the mock up around and getting more feedback there is a final sketch and then the painting begins. Priming, coating, sketching, painting and whatnot and then voila! Beautiful public art!

At least that is how it is supposed to go. So we had the 8 women and after the initial discussion we decided we would meet back there the next morning at 9am. I show Dana the wall, do a quick tour of the village and then we head back to my house to get settled. The next morning we show at the preschool at 8:45am and wait for people to show...and wait...and wait...and wait...and then we hit 11 am and only one woman has come (surprisingly enough it was someone who wasn't there at the first meeting.) We get her opinion and then call the head teach to find out what the heck happened only to hear that there was a kgotla meeting and then is why no one showed up and that they had all decided to move the meeting to tomorrow at 9am...you know...without telling us. 

Okay, so tomorrow at 9am, not a problem. Dana and I head to the library, I check in at the clinic, we get some groceries and head back to cook dinner. Next morning 9am, it is Friday so at this point we are a day behind and I have to spend part of the morning at the clinic to help weigh babies. I send Dana on ahead and tell her I will be there in an hour and she should just start without me. While listening to the end of the health talk, who do I see walk in (a this point it is about 9:30am) but the head teacher for the preschool...with the keys to the preschool. I quietly go over and ask why she isn't at the meeting to which she responds that she has to weigh her baby. I ask for the keys so I can run them over and let the rest of the people into the building, only to find when I get over there that "the rest of the people" is still just Dana. 

We open the building, I run back and weigh babies, and then run back to the preschool to find that Dana is still the only one there. We have one woman who shows up, sees that there is no one there, goes out to make "a call" and then we watch her walk completely away from the whole thing. 

At this point I am furious, I have put some of my own money into this, Dana has come all the way up from Molepolole, and this is a project that the preschool said they wanted! We both go back to the clinic around 10:30 and find the head teacher and let her know that we are done. No one has showed up for two meetings, we are the only ones who seem to want to do this, and we aren't going to be doing it on our own since it is not our jobs to do things for people, but to do things with people. She apologizes and asks for one last chance, Dana and I have a powwow and discuss a few things like how we are now two days behind, and that we are going to need to prime tomorrow at the very least. We decide we will give it one last shot and if no one shows up she will go home and I can donate the paints to the next project she does. 

FINALLY the next morning we get about five people to show up and prime the wall. Wealso get some youth who happen to be passing by, and the head teacher puts some pep into her step to get people to show up. Ultimately it is too late to finish the mural, and Dana goes home having only primed, but she is coming back next week to finish things and has come up with an amazing sketch so I still have a lot of hope that this is going to be an amazing project. 

I would like to note that Dana is in fact the shit. 

Kalindi's Trip

Kalindi is a wonderful friend whom I've had since high school. She decided that she was crazy enough to come out and visit for three weeks and seeing how special and amazing I think this woman is, I couldn't have been happier to have her here. 

Kalindi's trip was actually very similar to Alex's (including the fact that I kept saying things like "I can't believe you are here" and then touching her to make sure she was) but because she was here for an extra week we were able to get up to Maun as well as have a whole 6 days in my village instead of Alex's 3. She came in and we had a fun starting two nights in Gabs. The first was in the Metcourt and the second was at Shannon's house. Shannon lives just outside of Gabs and was nice enough to be willing to put us up. This was great because Kalindi got to meet everyone and we got to hang out with Lola and Noodle, Shannon's dogs, who are wonderful in their own right. 

The next morning we met up with Dana and Raquel and traveled up to Mathatane to visit Hollis, who lives right next to the Tuli Block and was already hosting a bunch of people (do another super special shout out to her.) We got up there late, and tired and pretty much fell asleep immediately. The morning after we made our way out to Tuli to poke around a bit and then set our sites for Lepokole Hills! This site is not only beautiful but is the home to some astounding cave paintings. Of course, it being Peace Corps, there was no guide (Janina and I made do since we had been out there before) and the gates were locked (we jumped them and hiked from there) but we made do and finally made it to this sacred site. It is one of those places that is no less moving the second time around and I feel blessed to have been able to go out there twice. 

From there we pushed on, on our own up to Kasane and after a lovely hitch with a Zimbabwean truck driver, were able to meet up at the camp site with Aimee and Boo. Camping was fun, Kalindi and I went to the Chobe River Lodge for lunch over looking the Chobe River and had a beer while viewing elephants from afar. It is one of those "pinch me I must be dreaming" type things. We met two awesome guys at the camp and hung out for the evening before retiring back to the tent...which is when things got weird. 

We accidentally forgot to bring Kalindi's leftovers with us into the tent so around 2am in the morning we woke up to animal sounds. Now, in Africa, "animal sounds" tend to be a lot more dangerous than they would be in the places that most people camp...like Sleeping Bear Dunes...or the beach. Having ruled out the Big 5 (Elephant, Lion, Water Buffalo, Rhino, Cheetah) I decided that at the very least it was a Monkey and at worst it was a Warthog...which would actually be a pretty bad thing if you know anything about Warthogs. We made some noise and punched at the tent wall and thought it may have gone away. After laying back down I felt something up against my leg...the leg that was on the far side of the tent. 

Kalindi swears she looked up to see a hand pushing into the side of the tent, all I know is that I started freaking out and trying to scare the thing away. It was after this we both realized we had to pee...which meant exiting the tent...

At this point I am going to have to stop because the library is closing which means I get no more internet. I'm going to post this little cliff hanger as is, and will add pictures and the rest of the stories to it on Friday. Thanks for tuning into this episode of "Crazy Stuff Claire Does in Africa" and I implore you to check back in, in a few days to hear exactly what happened when Kalindi and I left the tent!!!! 

First Visitor

I wasn't really planning on posting today but I figured the upcoming EPIC EVENT OF EPICNESS, might need a little preamble before I do a full post a few weeks from now.

My cousin, ladies and gentleman, and everyone in between, is getting on a plane today to fly to...

ATLANTA!

But after that he is going to get on another plane where he will fly to

BOTSWANA!

Well I guess technically he is flying to South Africa but after that we are going to get on a bus to Bots, so I think it pretty much counts.

In about a day and a half (though I am sure it will feel longer for him) my first ever relative will be touching down in Africa to visit me and I couldn't be happier...or more freaked out. On the one hand this will be the first member of my family that I have seen since December, for those of you who don't feel like counting that means a long 5 months! I miss my family every single day, and so having someone here to bring a little piece of that to me is going to be wonderful. On the other hand I am worried that this trip isn't going to be everything he is hoping it is going to be. I mean this is his first time to Africa! Weren't we just talking about this in the post below? How men are men, and women are women and there are crazy animals running lose everywhere? Well he hasn't been here for over a year tempering that view which means it is my job to make sure that his stay lives up to all those crazy ideals.

But interwebs...SO MUCH goes wrong here...ALL THE TIME.

I am constant walking proof of Murphy' Law, and normally that is fine but now one of my closest relatives is coming to visit and is going to be sucked into that and I don't know how to avoid it. What if the combi doesn't come, or it comes and it breaks down and then we get to the park late and we miss seeing rhinos and then MY COUSIN NEVER GETS TO SEE A RHINO?!? Or what if he has an alergic reaction to some of the traditional food I have been arranging and then he spends his whole trip puking or something? What happens then? What do I do? Because it is my job tat he has a good time, and it is my job to make sure that he sees the right side of this amazing country and goes home and tells everyone he know "South Africa is boring, you need to go to Botswana!" Because lets me real people, I can count on one hand the number of people I know who come to Africa to vacation anywhere other than South Africa, and I think that is a little silly.

So yeah, I'm freaking a bit, and my whole house is clean, and I'm pretty sure I have planned everything down to the second, but I'm not 100% sure and I'm hoping he can just roll with the punches (I'm pretty sure he can and that I am just freaking for no reason.) Only time will tell though, and so this is going to be an interesting experience.  

Wish me luck!

Hugs and smooches,
Claire/Tlotlo

Romanticizing Peace Corps

United States Peace Corps

When you read those words, if you are an American, and grew up in a middle to upper income home, chances are you think of some things, or have a certain feeling come over you. I have found that, for the most part, these mental stirrings fall into one of two categories. The first is that Peace Corps is an organization that sucks down American tax payer money, and that it is filled with dirty hippies thinking they can do something to change the world, but who are, in fact, just bringing the big scary western machine to the innocent, unsoiled corners of the earth. This actually encompasses two negative views, the first being the more conservative negative view point and the second being the more liberal negative view point. If you were under the impression that there aren’t liberals who hate Peace Corps, I hate to break it to you but you are wrong.  

The second and vastly more popular view of Peace Corps is a wildly romantic and idealized view. It involves a bunch of determined Americans covered in mud, building a bridge, talking in the local language and generally being the type of people that make the world a better place. If you are thinking of men, they have beards and if you are thinking of women, they aren’t wearing bras and probably have incredibly long hair. They are all eating weird exotic food, and if they are wearing shoes, they are probably made of hemp or banana leafs. They are undoubtedly pooping in a hole (Unofficial Peace Corps Anthem) Let us explore this issue shall we?

Firstly, we started in an insanely beautiful and Cinderella like story that involved JFK giving a speech on the steps of the University of Michigan Union in 1961, in the rain, at 2am in the morning, to a group of students that asked only that their country give them a chance to serve. And then we went out into the world, and probably like you may have thought, we built bridges and schools and we did what is known as “gap” filling. This was a wonderous testament to what the youth of America could do if they put their minds to it, and it made a super pretty picture, but ultimately it wasn’t helping people and it was only completing a short term vision. Because, you see, if you build a bridge but teach no one to maintain it than it will go to ruin, and if you don’t teach anyone to fix it, then it will fall down, and then you don’t have a bridge any more.

So we moved to the capacity building model, which means I don’t get to do diddily squat unless I find a person in my village who wants to do it with me. I think this village needs a support group for teen mothers, but no one is on board because the last support group they tried to start went dead? Tough cookies! If I want to set up an income generating cooperative for single mother’s but there is no one who wants to help me with it, nothing happens. This model works better, it insures that the projects we start today don’t fail when we leave, it helps check that the things we are doing are actually needed and wanted within the community, and it creates a natural form of investment.

But that isn’t really what we are talking about with this, what we are talking about here is the interesting social spot in the American psyche that Peace Corps has. Since I started the application process I have gotten comments like “well my life isn’t as adventurous as yours” and “you must have it so much worse than I do.” This type of thinking is most detrimental to those who are looking into Peace Corps, a.) because you tend to think you are going to work a lot harder than you actually are, which may prevent you from applying in the first place, and b.)because if you actually apply, and come out to whatever country you were invited to, you are going to be carrying more baggage than what is in your suitcase. I was truly under the impression, prior to talking to RPCVs, that volunteers work 24/7 in very back breaking, physical labor; that was until a recruiter set me straight: “Peace Corps will be two of the most laid back years of your life.”

So let’s take on some of these misconceptions one at a time.

First: “My life must be cooler than yours because I live in Africa”

This statement must be divided into two portions, firstly that “Africa” is a heavy baggage word in the US, and two that you may not be at a super happy place in your life, so you assume mine is better. The novelty of living in the Botswana (or anywhere else in Africa) might get you through PST and a month at your new site. At some point though the fact that you are traveling in an overcrowded combi, and you have a chicken shitting on your lap (I meant ‘sitting’ but both could be happening) just becomes frustrating. The lack of water can be fun and campy but you hit day 3 or 4 and all you want is a shower. The rice and beans/ lentils joke is cute, but you haven’t eaten anything else for a month and you are pretty sure your system is starting to lose its ability to digest anything else. The Africa baggage is because a lot of Americans seem to think that Africa is a single country, and that is it full of animals and adventure; where men are men, and women are women, and all the little black babies with distended bellies are just begging for help. This is not how it is here, and if it was I don't know why you would think it would be cool to work here, it would be depressing, and void of humanity.

I work with real people, people who have families and jobs and feed their kids and creating loving communities. I do NOT work in a UNICEF commercial. The “coolness” of life here doesn’t last forever, and it isn’t something that is going to get you through a two year service. Don’t apply if all you got going is the “cool” factor, you will ET if you don’t find more to ride than that. Peace Corps is a two year commitment that requires you to swear into a pseudo-government position, it is too hard if all you are doing it for is so that you can use it to pick people up at a bar later on in life.

Second, “My life must be super hard, because I live in Africa.”

Okay, I know we just talked about how Peace Corps is hard, but the portions of my life that are hard, are not usually the portions of my life that you think are hard. Firstly, I serve in Botswana, and unlike a lot of other parts of Africa, this country has their business together. We have roads, and hospitals, and business people, and not everyone is toting a gun and looking for trouble. 

My house has water and electricity (when it is on), and I have a refrigerator, as well as a bath tub. My life is not as hard as you think it is physically, and harder in a lot of ways it would be difficult to describe, emotionally. The reason for this is because we, as humans, are incredibly adaptable and we get used to certain norms very quickly, and adjust our lives accordingly. This is why homo sapiens live in SO MANY different climates, because we learn to adjust. Just check out “Human Planet” on BBC.

I miss my friends, I miss my family, and I miss the familiarity of home, and that is not something that should be down played, but I’m not living in squalor, I’m not starving, and I’m not infested with parasites that are eating away at my eyelids. My life is hard, but not the kind of hard you are talking about.

Third “I am a better person, because I have decided to do this.”

Let me make it clear that Volunteers are a wide mixed sample of the American people, sure we have a lot in common in how we see the world, but we also have a lot of differences. There are lazy, active, greedy, giving, self involved, altruistic, Volunteers from all walks of life, which means that there are a infinite ways to spend a service; including doing very little over the course two years. I would like to reiterate that this is not the majority of volunteers, but just like any big organization or company, you have people that work harder, and people who don’t work quite as hard. There are also a million different reasons for joining Peace Corps in the first place. Some people join to run away from something (student loan payments, divorce, job loss, depression, dissatisfaction with life), some people join because they want to travel, some people join for purely career based reasons, and some people join because they have a fervent want to help their fellow man. The why of people joining often crafts what sort of job they see themselves as responsible for doing. 

I don’t know where I fall on this, there are days when I work my ass off, there are also days when I just don’t feel like dealing with it and so I sit and count pills and chill out with the staff at the clinic. Now, at this point you could say that I am “doing something” but just being around, because sometimes I talk about the US, and people get to know me and just my simple self is affecting the world for the better. This may all be true, but it is not the sole reason that the organization exists, and usually not the reason people join up. I am no better or worse a person than I would be if I had stayed in the US and continued to work at my deli mail order assembly line job (which was hands down in my top three jobs along with being a volunteer and a substitute teacher.) I have changed a lot during the past year, but my essence has not changed, at least I don’t feel like it has, and though there has been a lot of fine tuning, I’m going to be recognizable when I get back.

So that is it, three of the more popular comments I receive when talking about my Peace Corps service. Now that we have all that covered I wanted to make another little happy announcement for the day:

SAME SEX COUPLES ALLOWED IN PEACE CORPS!

Starting on June 3rd, the United States Peace Corps will begin taking applications for same sex couples! 

I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER about this, and it makes me so proud to be a part of this organization. Peace Corps has been taking heterosexual couple applications since its inception and this move has just proven that the are not only willing to "talk the talk"of greater inclusion and more rights for gay and lesbian couples, but that they are also willing to "walk the walk." 

For those of you that might have some questions but don't want to read the article, PC will still devote it's time to finding SAFE placements for these couples, and will not break any domestic laws that certain countries may have, as they do with all Volunteers (i.e. same sex couple will not be placed in any of the 80 countries that have anti-homosexuality laws that Peace Corps might be working in.) Also, staff in countries deemed safe will get special training dealing with same sex couples and special challenges they may come across. 

I'm so happy about this, and I hope the Supreme Court is taking notice :)

~Claire

Birthday 2 of 3!

Happy 24th birthday to me!

It is crazy, stupid, nuts to think that I left for Botswana at 22, and am now celebrating my 24th birthday. I'm one of those rare volunteers who had their birthday in PST, which means ultimately I will be spending a total of 3 birthdays here, even though service is only a little over two years.

What normally happens on my birthday in the states: I'm woken up by family with birthday cake and gifts in bed. This is a fun Swedish thing, and I love it (didn't realize most families don't do this until much later in life.) Go to school or work, depending on what age I am, and then come home to Mom making birthday dinner (which is planned for ahead of time since we get to have whatever we want.) Usually another cake is involved, and at some point I talk on the phone, or get emails from a lot of friends and family, wishing me another happy year. I would also like to note that our next door neighbors have NEVER ceased to send all of us kids a birthday card every year, which I think is wonderful. Go to bed happy and full of cake.

This year: woke up at 5am to shower, and feed the cat. Made cheesy eggs and coffee, and tuned on the laptop to watch Glee while opening the packages I have from Grandma and Grandpa, and the Amazon book from my parents. Put on birthday sweater and scarf from G&G, and actually put on makeup for the first time in months. Make my way to the clinic for the morning meeting where I am scolded for not letting everyone know it is my birthday. I have brought juice that we are going to make for everyone for lunch. Get my leave form signed by my CP (counter part) and head over to the library where I am going to teach the kids how to play softball and review our relay skills.

Head back to the clinic to enjoy lunch and juice with everyone, and maybe try to catch up on a few letters  am writing (only a few days behind but they stack up quick!) Go back to the library to skype with my Mom :) Before heading home, make a pit stop at the post office to fax off my paperwork, and check for any birthday packages. Once I get home I have a bunch of veggies, and a potato to make baked potato supreme with. I also have "Pudi Wine" (wine that has a picture of a goat on the front) chilling. Make dinner, watch more Glee, and enjoy a glass of wine before taking my book and heading to bed.

Its going to be a lovely day, and I couldn't be happier with where I am at in life. Life is good, and fingers crossed this year is going to be even better than the last.

Hugs and smooches,
Claire/Tlotlo

Birthday sweater and scarf!

Pre-Holiday Reflection

Not going to be a super long post, but wanted to let you know that I am still on top of my month of letter writing and that, interestingly enough, just by posting the goals that I did, I have started to be more mindful of them. I have been getting out of bed earlier, I have been making myself breakfast, I read a book on Judaism yesterday, and I washed my hair last night... when really I could have gone at least another two days before it started to smell ;)

I think this one year project is going to be really good for me, and I'm looking forward to taking it on. I am going to swap out next month's goal with another one though, since it is dark until around 7am here now, and it will be easier to enjoy the morning when I have light.

I have a really fun post I am writing about seasons, and since we have a national holiday here tomorrow I am going to work on it and post it either saturday or sometime next week. Other plans for tomorrow: write more, do laundry, crochet, watch Glee (I got a couple seasons from a friends hard drive), hang out with my cat. So basically...what any stereotypical old spinster lady would do on her day off...

Hugs and smooches to all,
Claire

Self Improvement Project

WOOT! I would like to announce that this is the 100^th post I have loaded onto PeaceCorpsGing!!! 100 posts of crazy Peace Corps Gingery goodness. *sigh*

So, this is the first of two really inspired blog posts that I am going to post within the next few days, which means that if you don’t come around here much anymore (because I haven’t been very good with updating) than you should start to check back on a regular basis! 

Anyways, my most recent book read (I’m going to try and update my list on the tab at the top pretty soon as well) is a doozey called “The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun.” This book documents the author, Gretchen Rubin’s experience taking a year out to focus on making herself more happy (I know technically I should b using “happier” here but she makes a point to say that she wasn’t unhappy to begin with, so I think the connotation is better.) Now, on the whole she is SIGNIFICANTLY more, how should I put this...type A? Than I am; in that she is incredibly analytical, super organized, and wildly scholarly about her happiness endeavor (shout out to baby sister and Mom on that one.) To her credit though, she states that not everyone’s happiness project looks the same, and that just because this is how SHE did it, doesn’t mean it is how EVERYONE should do it.

Meanwhile, in the mind of Claire...

A few weeks ago I decided that I was going to put myself in self imposed lockdown for the month of May. This is due to a few reasons, one being because I was leaving my village a lot and the other being because my wonderful cousin Alex, is coming to visit at the end of May and I wanted to make sure I was in good shape before touring around with him a bit. A few days ago I realized that this would make for another excellent writing project, but instead of writing a novel (like what I did in November) I wanted to write a letter home every day, for a month. Thus BoLeWriMo is born!!! AKA Botswana Letter Writing Month.

Combine the above two ideas and you have my little one year project, or what I like to call “Claire’s Year of Improvement.” I have picked a different thing to do every month that I think could better my life. Every month I will post both here, and for the Peace Corps Botswana Newsletter, about how I am doing, what it is like, improvements I am seeing and challenges I am having. This will give you out there in cyber space the ability to comment, critique and join along if you see fit! This is the schedule I came up with:

Claire’s Year of Improvement

·         May – Month of Letters: Write a letter every day

·         June –Month of Meaningful Mornings: Wake up at least 1.5hrs before you have to leave the house and either a.) cook a nice breakfast or b.) meditate/ write in your journal

·         July –Month of Journaling: Write in your journal every day

·         August –Month of Daily Exercise: Exercise for 30mins every day. Sundays off and walking only counts if it is beyond your daily transportation needs

·         September –Month of Cleaning: Clean your house for 20minutes every day. Cumulates when you are not home and must be done within twice the time you were gone (i.e. if I am gone for two days I have 40mins of cleaning to make up, and it must be done within 4 days)

·         October –Month of Music: Take 20minutes a day to sing, play guitar or ukulele, or listen to new music every day

·         November –Month of Hygiene: Shower at least 3x a week, brush and floss every day, brush hair every day, and use face wash every day

·         December –Month of Daily Blog Posts: Must write at least a paragraph every day, to be posted at least three times a week. Once a week the post must be for the educational blog you have completely neglected

·         January –People’s Choice Month: Comment with your suggestions and I will give something a whirl for a month!

·         February –Month of Daily Pictures: Take a new picture every day, if possible, post to blog

·         March –Month of Religious Study: At least 30minutes a day take time to read the Bible or research other faiths. Weekends are Abrahamic Religions focus, i.e. Sundays are set aside for Christianity, Saturdays for Islam and Fridays for Judaism

·         April –Month of Looking Good: Make-up, hair, nails, and more than 30seconds thinking about what you are going to wear every day. Sundays off (Saturday’s off if you are staying in)

·         May –Month of Meditation: At least 30 minutes every day

Isn’t it a beaut? We are going to see how long this sticks, I think I can make it, seeing as it changes every month. This is perfect for me since once we hit June 2014 I am either going to be getting ready to go home, or I am going to be getting ready to move. If ANYONE in Botswana, at home, or in any other part of the world, is interested in trying any of these out with me, let me know and we can be accountabili-buddies! If you are willing, you can also write about your experiences and I can post them up here. If you want to do your own, I would also be interested in hearing from you! I know this is a lot more “audience participation” than I have had on this blog before (aside from the little survey thing to the right) but we are growing, and expanding, and I want you to be a part of my process!

So, homework for you wonderful people: let me know if you want to be a part of this little self improvement project, and come up with ideas for the month of January so I can chew them over and pick a good one (I will of course give credit to the inventor.) The only thing I would ask is that you keep in mind that it is like the surface of the sun here in January (so if you write in with “running” I’m going to laugh in your face and keep on looking), and that I also might be traveling for a period of time that month (so doing something like “yard work”, “cooking”, or anything else that involves me being home won’t fly either.) This will be good feedback to me as well since I will get a better grasp on how many active readers of this blog I have, seeing as I reached over 12,000 views the other day, which is cool, but I don’t know how many of those are from weird internet bots.

Homework for me: start writing letters...lots and lots of letters.

Hugs and smooches!

Claire

Alternative Ideas for Year of Improvement:

·         Month of No Smoking

·         Month of Working in the Garden

·         Month of Running

·         Month of No Toilet Paper

·         Month of Reading

·         Month of Job Searching

·         Month of MCAT/LSAT/GRE/Foreign Service Exam Studying

·         Month of Job Applying

·         Month of Nose Picking

·         Month of Yoga

·         Month of No Drinking

·         Month of Art Making

·         Month of Setswana/ Language Learning

·         Month of Village Exploring

·         Month of Emails Home

·         Month of No Dongle

·         Month of Pay it Forward

·         Month of Mud Bathing

·         Month of Media

·         Month of No Spider Killing

·         Month of Poetry (this is actually a real thing that went on in March called NaPoWriMo)

·         Month of US President Education

·         Month of No Car

·         Month of Yoga

·         Month of Relaxation

365 Days from Home

I had these big extravagant plans to do this whole little recap of my service thus far, with pictures and clips from previous blog posts, and journal entries and emails home...but to be honest I have been on the computer all day writing up emails and the piece is just not where I want it right now, so you have to wait. In the mean time, to celebrate my one year mark of leaving home, not to be confused with my one year mark from leaving the states (April 11th), my one year mark in Botswana (April 12th), or my one year mark left in service (June 12th...unless I extend and then June 12th 2015), I am going to do another one of those "cop out" posts where I re post something I have sent in an email. 

This was to another Bots 14 invitee who is still trying to figure out whether or not Peace Corps is right for them. I'm going to alter is a little so that it has more to do with this date in time, and I hope the person doesn't mind that I have shared this. 

"I totally understand the anxiety portion of things, this is a huge commitment and sacrifice and not something to be entered into lightly.

My experience so far has been pretty wonderful. I was originally a little sad about the fact that I didn't end up getting placed in the Middle East or Asia (I have an Asian Studies specialization with a concentration in the Middle East) but I think ultimately this is where I was supposed to be. I thought I was going to end up in a school, but wanted to be a clinic volunteer, so my placement went well for me. As a Life Skills you would be assigned to a school, and working with either primary school children (elementary/ middle school age) or secondary school children (middle/high school age) so you should really think about your inclinations on teaching. Though every volunteer has the ability to craft their own service (I do a lot of projects outside of the clinic), Life Skills tends to be a bit more structured, which is great for some people and not so much for others. 

By way of regrets, at this point in my service, I don't have many. There were a lot of things I did during the adjustment period of my first year that I might do differently the second time around but that has less to do with the country and the program and more to do with the process of adjusting to a new life in a different place. The bottom line comes down to advocating for yourself, and being okay to do what is right for you instead of giving yourself a ton of guilt over it. I know there are a lot of volunteers here who wish they had been more of an advocate for themselves when it came to their service. People who really wanted to serve in Francophone Africa, who took this because it seemed like "the next best thing" without thinking about whether or not they could be happy here. Some of them found that Bots is great to be in, and some of them are still a bit hung up on not being in the region they had hoped. Again, this is a question you have to ask yourself. 

When it comes to making the decision about whether or not you want to serve I would ask yourself a few questions: 1.) Does this job sound like it would be something you want to do? Peace Corps as a general idea has so much romanticized baggage to it that sometimes we forget that it is an actual job. I have wanted to serve since middle school, but I hadn't really taken a lot of time to think about what service actually MEANS. If you want to be a PCV but don't want to be a teacher, or work in an office, or do one of the other million things you might end up doing, than you might not be happy here. The other side to this though, is that you are going to have more control to change your job description than you ever did in the states and Peace Corps will back you up as long as you are doing something. The preschool needs a new roof and you really like fundraising? Awesome, do it. You want to start a support group for teenage moms in your community even though they aren't in school any more? Go for it. There is a lot of flexibility here. 

2.) Are you at the point in your life that you are willing to give up what needs to be given up and put life in the US on "pause" for two years? I know they ask you this a million times during the application process, but ask your self again, and also add "do I want to put my life on 'pause' for two years?" I have noticed a lot of volunteers who end up leaving early, do so because they had careers at home that they really loved and were fulfilled by and then they came here and it was a bit of a let down. It is entirely possible that Peace Corps will not be as awesome as the life you are living right now. I didn't have this issue because I came to PC right out of undergrad and the two jobs I was working right beforehand were more of a "temp" situation. I have SO much more to gain by staying here than by going home and when I have rough days, this thought alone helps me out a lot. I don't know where you might be at in life, but it is something to keep in mind. 

3.) How comfortable are you with the company you keep? (AKA, are you okay with being on your own a lot?) Some volunteers serve really close to others, and some are hours away, but either which way you end up spending a fair chunk of time on your own. This kind of ties into the last question you asked about what i have learned about myself and I have to say that most of those revelations came when I was alone in my house. You have SO much time to self reflect here and sometimes its a very "zen" moments and you have these nicely wrapped revelations about how you view the world and other people and yourself. But a lot of times is comes from a more difficult place because you are lonely, or frustrated, or tired, or missing comfort (of being in a familiar place, of being home, of friends and family), or some combination of all of these. The amazingly high emotional moments of Peace Corps are only matched by the incredible lows, and these can happen a few times a day. Part of being further into my service, and something I very much enjoy, is that you level out a bit, but there are still days like that and you still have to be able to cope. On this same note, I try to remember that even if the only person that I am changing for the better in all of this is me that, that still means I am changing the world for the better. 

4.) Can you let go of what service "should" be, and just let it be what it is? A lot of us had issues with the fact that we are in a relatively "developed" country and that the idea we had of living in a hut and cooking over a fire wasn't going to be the experience we had here. You will have a stove if you come to Bots, and chances are you will be within 30 minutes of internet if you don't actually just have it in your village or home (we have dongles that connect to phones lines that you pay for minutes on so you can get online.) Not every moment is a starving "feed the children" moment, and you are going to have to deal with people who make decisions for themselves, and others, that are just plan wrong or unhealthy (i.e. I work with some women that didn't take medication during their pregnancy, even though they knew they had HIV, and so now their kid has it. Their nonchalance about this at times has me wanting to hit something.) That being said, sometimes letting it be what it is, is SO much more rewarding than the romantic picture ever could have been. When you have your first conversation in Setswana, or you push through with your first project, or you really see the difference you are making. I had one of these moments yesterday when two of the women from my clinic, that are in the walking group I started, told me that they continued to walk on the days last week when I wasn't around. This is a big thing, since the last volunteer's aerobics group fell apart after she left, and I was worried I was starting a project that wasn't sustainable. Maybe I didn't save a life but one of these women has had a blood clot, and the exercise could really help...so maybe I did? The point is that you don't come to Peace Corps to save lives, you just come to change some. 

5.) Can you be okay with being uncomfortable? This past year has been the most life altering, but also the most uncomfortable, part of my life. Socially uncomfortable (Quotes from actual volunteer situations: "no ma'am I will not give you my sperm [so you can have an African American baby]"), emotionally uncomfortable ("I was going to ET ...*sniff*...and then a little kid gave me a hug...*sniff*...and now I can fix the world!!!!"), and physically uncomfortable ("Is that a boil?...on my butt?") But the discomfort is not the point, its learning to deal and knowing your boundaries. I do NOT, allow myself to be in situations where men degrade women any more; I say something, and then I walk away. I even went off on a dude in a bus a few weeks ago. Its not always about being polite, some of the best ambassadors to the United States of America were not polite when the time called for it, and you are going to have to find a way to deal. A large part of my "soft spoken" self has died here, and I'm okay with that. From discomfort can come the greatest of revelations; embrace it, own it, laugh at it when you need to, and ultimately, find a way around it. Be loud, be soft, be present, be scarce, just figure out what works for you and go with it. 

I know I have gone on a long time at this point, and I hope you don't mind, and that this isn't coming across as too preachy; I'm trying to give you the best information I can, that I think most volunteers are lacking when they decide to service. Peace Corps is incredibly hard and challenging and there are days when I question if this entire program is worthwhile at all...but this is not most days. Most days I look at the friends I have made and the projects I am involved with and the impact I am making on myself and others, and I am just floored by the whole experience. Today actually marks the one year anniversary of when I left Michigan to come to staging so your timing couldn't be better since I am in a reflective mood anyway. I'm also currently contemplating trying to apply for a third year of service if that is any indication of how worthwhile my time here has been (I am thinking about this as someone who is INCREDIBLY close to her entire family.) 

I think ultimately you have to be okay with whatever decision you are going to make, whether that be accepting the invitation, turning it down, or deciding not to serve at all. I hope this email has helped a little bit and I apologize for the length, I really love writing, and I really love talking about Peace Corps, so emails like this are just too tempting ;) If you have any more specific questions on what your job might entail I will try and be more brief and fill you in. I wish you a ton of luck in the next few days about whether or not you want to serve, and if you end up accepting I look forward to meeting you in a few months 

All the best, 

Claire"

Modifications

There is going to be a lot of stuff to post about what went down this last week, but I wanted to get some feedback on the slight formatting mods I made to the blog. Does the wider format, larger text and different font, make things easier to read? Please feel free to comment below (because I have also changed the setting to allow anyone to comment now, which is awesome) and I look forward to hearing back. 

More to come. 

~Claire

Comments, Questions and Answers

This morning I was contacted by a third potential Bots 14 invitee! This makes me excited for a number of reasons, but mainly it is because clearly their invitations are going out, and also that we are going to get to see and meet and get to know new members of the family in a few short months! In order to create a greater ease of access I'm going to post my email up here and loudly declare that if you are a Bots 14 (or even if you're not) that you are welcome to contact me with questions about serving here, and concerns you may have about your invitation.


Normally I would have some sort of terrible fear of doing this, but I'm hoping this information gets to the right people. I'm also pretty confident in the gmail system, and that there is very little in my email account worth stealing information wise. So there it is interwebs, my email is at large!

Hugs and smooches, 
Claire/Tlotlo