Botswana Know How to Party!

  My first big celebration! OK, so it happened over a month ago…

  The Botswana really know how to party! When there is a big celebration they rent a lodge out by the cattle post, or farmland and party for 24hrs straight. I went to my host brother’s college graduation party over a month ago and what I thought was going to be an afternoon at the lodge with a BBQ turned into an all night rage with the DJ starting at 10pm and playing until 5am. The next morning, at about 8am was breakfast and the hair of the dog. There was well over 100 people there by midnight.  

Here is what my host brother wrote on Facebook…

I would like to take this time to express my sincere gratitude for what transpired during the weekend,words fall short to script how magnificent it felt to be appreciated and motivated in the manner that i am and i would like to promise and assure you that you have not yet seen the best to come out of me.The following deserves to be mentioned: God, my late dad,mother,my beautiful and handsome siblings, my cousins, my friends,niece & nephews,uncles,my grandmother and relatives,
When people drink here they do it to get drunk... I mean REALLY drunk!! It's not uncommon for a man or a woman to have 20+ beers, or ciders in one day, with a few shots mixed in, and get up the next day and start all over again. They tease me when I have 1, or 2 drinks. I'm told that about 80% of the drinking age population drinks regularly. I was told that they don't really drink during the week, so they make up for it on the weekends. There's also a saying by the employers "employees drink all weekend and have their hangover on their employers time" There’s a lot of napping in the office. 

It’s now festive season and there are parties, or Braai’s, practically every night. I went to the Botswana Railways Bike team Braai (BBQ) on Monday and cooked my ass off! I hope to go to the Homecoming put on by the Botswana Railways, the biggest party of the year in Mahalapye. It’s an all night rave that starts at 2pm and goes to 6am. DJ’s from all over Africa come to entertain, some pretty famous ones from South Africa, so I’m told. There’s food, drink, music and lots of dancing! It’s very common to dance in a circle with each person taking his or her turn in the middle. I’ve been dancing more here than I have in years.  

Some random pics

The Mahalapye river!! About 50-75 yards wide and it looks like it could be up to 20 feet deep, when there is water!! Their drought might be worse than ca.

More pics in the river!! Yes these bulls let you get very close! One started walking toward me and they walk the river everyday adding lots if nitrogen to the sand. They are HUGE. They aren't phased by humans.

Everything is bigger in Botswana, the mice,  as big as rats, the wasps, twice the size, the sky... Amazing skies!

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.

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]

Garbage, Goats and Toilet Seats

After a rigorous practice with the number one Botswana volleyball team, Serowe College, my legs were so sore that the mere thought of squatting over the toilet in the morning brought on anxiety. Some families are living day to day and by the end of the month all that is left to eat is rice, phaletche (corn meal, or sorghum past that looks like a thick cream of wheat) or shamp (dried corn that is cooked like beans). So, when things break that they can do without, like the toilet seat, well... they don't get replaced.

When important things that break, like refrigerators and stoves, they are replaced and put next to the one that broke. My host family has 3 refrigerators in the main house kitchen where the ceiling has fallen and the sink was removed. Only one works, but can't seem to keep things cold enough in the freezer without freezing some items in the fridge. This could be due to the fact that the control knob is missing and we're not really sure what it's set at. Still wondering why there is a stove in a dusty, dirty package set next to the 100lb bags of shamp, beans, or other dried goods.

Other, not so important, broken electronics like hair dryers and hot water kettles, are placed about the property. There is no recycling, or way to remove what we consider household hazardous waste, so it either sits in the yard, or in the house next to the working appliance. For your average garbage, there is the lesser used option of putting it in a black plastic bag, if they can afford the bag. I've been unsuccessful in trying to tell them how toxic it is to burn plastic and other options. The other alternative seems to be to dump the garbage on the other side of the fence. If some random items do get put in the black bag it will hopefully be collected on an unknown day and possibly before the dogs and goats get to it!

If the toilet seat is missing hen I get my own place in Mahalapye next week that will be one of the first things I purchase! So looking forward to being on my own and starting my service!!!

There have been so many baby goats and chicks running around. Walking down the middle of the road they seem unaffected by the people and cars, yet they will, very casually, only let you get within spitting distance.

I will miss Serowe and my host family. Here are some random pics from around town...

Two kids that came to say hi while I was standing outside the library... No shoes, or parents to be seen

My Setswana friend Mary, who gave me a makeup bag for my birthday.

Early morning hike! See what looks like ancient volcanoes in the background?

Map of the east central part of Botswana, where Mahalapye is. This is only a small subset of the 73 volunteers placed around the country.

Busses

The men in blue shirts started shouting out different destinations asking if you were going. I shouted back Gaborone and they energetically motioned to follow them through the maze of buses exclaiming "this way!" "Speedy Bus!" The only thing they didn't do was pull you by your hand. There were tables of free marketers lining the bus rank. They all sold most of the same items and others would board the bus putting ice water and other items between the seats in front of you. They would try to had you things and temp you if you just glanced at them. The bus to Gaborone was a small mini bus with 4 seats across, yes 4! 3 seats on one side and 1 on the other. The seats were comfy for me, but I think they were designed for the Bushmen, or Sand People? Not a great idea since most Botswana are fairly large. The bus had video and music, both of which were turned up way too loud!! This seems to be a theme in Botswana... people yell, mothers especially, bars are noisy with music so loud it hurts your ears and I can't forget about the random loud voices intruding anywhere from 4:30am to 6am when you are still sleeping. On the bus the music was blaring and when they turned the program on the video it was so loud the speakers were distorting. So much for getting any rest on the bus! There were curtains, but with the strong sun it's best to think about which side the sun is going to be on and it does take some thinking since I'm now in the southern hemisphere.

The bus to Mabutsani was a different experience. It was heating up in the afternoon and we were warned that more people travel in the afternoon. Again the same energetic men shouting out names of cities and asking where you were going, though this time the bus rank was MUCH bigger!! It was a large luxury bus with 5 seats across this time. It was a little beat up, but still not a bad ride until we stopped about 1/2 way to Mabutsani and at least 50 people came on the already crowed bus for the next 1 1/2 hrs of the ride!! There were peoples butts in others faces, elbows banging heads, and a big sweaty mess! I'm glad I had a middle seat.

I wonder if part of the volume issue of everything is because of all the concrete and little greenery, so sound travels and echos?

Animals

The roosters in Botswana don't know how to tell time. They crow all hours of the day and seem to get louder in the wee hours of the night. The fighting dogs do drown them out on occasion. Sometimes I think the dogs are there to protect my host family’s property from other dogs. Some nights the frequency of the fights is unbearable. 

It's difficult to tell what chickens belong to my host family and which ones are just visiting. All the animals come and go through the open gates, or holes in the fences and no one seems to mind all the crossover of lives stock. It's not uncommon to see goats, cows and donkeys wandering down the streets. They are often seen on the edges of the highways, though I'm told there are hefty fines if the owners let their animals wonder near the highways. My host family has their cows at the cattle post. I would love to visit the cattle post and they tell me they will take me there. The farms are family owned here and it’s a completely open market. No licenses, regulations, or zoning required to open what they call a Tuk shop on your property to sell mobile phone airtime, sodas, snacks, fat cakes, even food from your cattle post. Anyone can sell anything from anywhere.

 

It amazes me how many animals there are in Botswana. When I was in Gaborone a few weeks back there were baboons in the parking lot scavenging the garbage. They didn't posses any fear of humans and had no issues looking you straight in the eye while sitting on the wall of the parking lot enjoying their findings. I think I saw about 8 of them in all shapes and sizes.

We went to the rhino sanctuary just outside Serowe. It’s a huge park and we saw lots of white rhinos, many with babies, zebras, giraffes, wildebeests, birds, impalas, spring bucks and more!

Thanks for the awesome camera Mma Pa!