More about toilets, dogs and Botswana...

Exploring some of the trails that follow the Mahalapye river thinking I found a place of solace I froze and broke down into uncontrollable tears. At the base of a small tree was the rotting carcass of a dog that was tied up so tightly that it's front legs couldn't reach the ground. For days, every time I thought about what that dog went through, I started to weep. It baffles me that such a "God fearing" Christian nation can treat "Gods" creatures so cruelly.

 

The river is what my new hometown is named after. It's pretty amazing to see what a truly free river looks like. Right now there are just a few puddles of water scattered about the twisting sand. Some of the locals have found a couple of fishing holes that seem to come and go with the seasons. Watching them I wondered where the fish came from. The big rocks on the jagged banks show that at it's height the river is as deep as 20ft. The span that runs near my house is from approx 30 feet to 50 feet across.

I walk a minimum of 3 miles a day and probably average around 5. On one of my walks to the store I was looking down ans it had just rained, actually hailed. It was a fantastic storm that was directly overhead. The thunder felt like it shook my brain inside my head. This storm revealed some beautiful quartz. I realized that the quartz is everywhere, maybe it was the brain rattle that opened my eyes to all the beautiful minerals around me. I've been wondering if there is a place to find crystals near by?

 BTW a tin roof with no insulation is pretty darn loud.

Since I can't make my blog private I need to start watching my "P's" and "Q's" I hope that I can still have the freedom to write without censorship. The Peace Corps want's the opportunity to censor public documents.

After looking in 5 different hardware stores I found one very cheap plastic toilet seat. There are several seats for pit latrines and complete inserts for them, but the only decent toilet seats I've seen in the stores are attached to toilets! I've managed to use to the toilet as is, without a seat, and don't have too much of an issue with it, though when men come to visit it could pose an issue.

Some basics about Botswana

Botswana actually has a better economy than South Africa. Things are cheaper there than in Botswana. It's a very slow pace here and not a productive society when it comes to business, but its very socially productive. Lots of big parties, weddings and celebrations that everyone is welcome to. Everyone is on Facebook and it seems like it's all the time and my Botswana friends wonder why it takes me several days to respond to them. Facebook was smart and kept the old interface, the less bandwidth demanding version, of Facebook available in Botswana.

It's a bit more underdeveloped and in some cases more unsanitary than Mexico, but the government has their act together!! Very little corruption. It's more socialist, than democratic, but they call themselves a democracy. The diamond mines allow the government to support their people. Lots of government aid. It's the only country that pays for the peace corp housing and other support. The government also gets a lot of global aid because of the HIV/AIDS issues. So, basically I'm reporting to the Botswana government and the US government.

Lots of monitoring, reporting, red tape etc... Probably not much different than working in our government.

Since I've settled in my new community the pace has become crazy slow and the non productivity will be very hard to get used to. It's amazing how many people are on Facebook in meetings, even in formal government gatherings the people on stage are on their smartphones. It's totally acceptable to answer your phone at anytime and use Facebook during small meetings of 3 to 5 people. There is lots of social time in the office. In general they are very social and gracious people.

The Botswana LOVE! The white people. Slave trade didn't exist in Botswana and they were never effected??? Still don't know why? Britain made them a protectorate in 1880, one of the main chiefs of Botswana asked for protection. I still don't know from what? Maybe the Americans and other Europeans were crushing the rest of Africa. It's a very friendly and welcoming country. So many of them want to be my friend and the kids surround me and want to touch me, say hi and use their English. English is the government language, though everyone speaks Setsenglish, with more Setswana than English.