Not what I thought Peace Corps would be!

Yes, there’s no heat, no air-conditioning, no hot water and I’m living in a concrete block, but the biggest inconvenience is no electricity in the bathroom. I have what they call a 1 and ½. There are 2 rooms with a bathroom and kitchen in between, they often rent out each room individually, so the tenants share the amenities, but I get a living room AND a bedroom.

The District Aids Commission (DAC), where I will be working, couldn’t find the stove that the last Peace Corps volunteer used, so I now have a brand new gas range with oven. Everything is miniature, well except for the HUGE gas canister I have in the kitchen, which scares the crap out of me. It’s totally posh. I think the hardest thing to get used to will be having 5 keys, the bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen and the large security gate. All the doors sit behind the gate on the veranda. I bought myself a long nightshirt to travel out on the veranda and move from room to room. Winter will be interesting… maybe I should have brought my long down coat? But then again I don’t have to use the pit latrine (outhouse) and I could always pee in a bucket in my room at night.

I live on what they call a family compound. There are 2 buildings, the main house and mine, well 3 if you count the pit latrine. The landlord is a schoolteacher, so her English is impeccable. Her daughter, son-in-law, 3 grand kids and maybe her son?? Live in the main house, which has hot water. I still haven’t figured out how many people actually live there? The good thing is there are no roosters near by and the dogfights are off in the distance. In general it is much quieter, than at the Serowe house, with less animals. I kinda miss all the random far animals everywhere. Don’t get me wrong there is still the farm type atmosphere, just not nearly as many animals.

I have a papaya (popo) tree and 2 mango trees in my yard. There is also a beautiful garden right out my front gate! I will be creating a permagarden out back and look forward to starting this soon.

Mahalapye, or Maha as Peace Corps Volunteers affectionately call it, is a huge hub for travelers. It’s situated in the middle of the A1, the major highway that connects the 2 largest cities, the only cities, in Botswana. It’s a bit more hectic than I would like, but it also has some decent shopping. The Spar, one of the 3 local grocers, is stocked much better than the one in Serowe, and I was even able to get some organic olive oil and honey! Given that Botswana doesn’t allow any GMO’s and they do regulate the use of pesticides, I’m feeling I might not get too many chemicals in my system???? The levels of pesticides in the ground are very low, so I’m definitely psyched about that and I kinda like that the kale and spinach have some holes and every once in a while you get a pear, or apple with wormholes. Everything does taste pretty darn awesome, especially considering they are being grown in sub-Saharan Africa.

I also bought a dongle for internet, it’s 3G, but seems pretty good. Hope to be able to Skype! My handle is my.magicdoor, so please connect with me!

Finally feeling like I’m hitting my stride ;0]