Things I've learned recently

Things I’ve learned as I’ve sat around my village for a month with nothing to do: (In no particular order)

-          I can be a pretty creative cook

-          It’s hard to motivate people to work hard when they think the same thing will happen whether or not they work hard.  I’m convinced this is why people do things halfway, don’t show up on time, and expect handouts.  It’s a messed up legacy of colonialism and post colonial time when the government had to provide everything for everybody.

-          It’s really easy to adopt the above mindset myself!  Lots of times I have to make myself be social to try and meet people, even though I often think it doesn’t matter if I leave my house or not

-          It’s pretty easy to become a hermit in Peace Corps

-          The kids in my village must think I own a candy shop, the way they ask for sweets.  This is also left over from colonialism, when white people tossed coins and candy to kids.

-          People here are FULLY capable of working hard and getting things done.  The way the clinic handles ARV day is pretty impressive, and the local post office can hand out payday checks to 60+ people in under an hour.

-          It’s pretty impressive to see 8-year olds riding bareback on a horse at a canter while rounding up cattle

-          There is apparently enough water in Botswana to drown a goat, because I got to help in the rescue of a baby goat from a watering hole a few weeks ago.

-          Goats are really cute.  And heavy.

-          You’d almost not know this was the desert, it’s so green from the rain.

-          Thunderstorms are amazing here.

-          Rain messes up our dirt road so much, I wonder why they don’t pave it to save themselves the effort of fixing it every time it rains hard

-          I have a homicidal streak when there are flies in my room.          

-          I really like sleeping under my mosquito net.  I may require a canopied bed when I return to the states.

-          Apparently my name is Lakoa (white person).  Arg.

-          My Setswana has not improved since I moved to my site, but my English has declined a LOT, because people speak to me in broken English and I speak back to them in broken English :P

-          Soccer (football) is everything here- there was a weeklong tournament starting 2 days before Christmas and ending just before New years

-          My school is lacking a lot of things, including furniture for the student dorms

-          In said dorms, the boys are way more destructive than the girls

-          There seems to be no accountability in this country.  I’m not sure it’s possible to get fired from a job unless you legit broke a law.

-          Unemployment seems to be just as big of a problem, if not more so, than HIV here

-          I love hanging out with motivated students, like the daughter of my landlord

-          I missed my South African Soap Opera for 3 weeks and had NO clue what was going on when I watched it at my landlords house

-          My fan might be my single best purchase since coming to Botswana

-          I need to figure out a good way to turn down marriage proposals and propositions.  Saying I have a bf in the states (which I don’t) doesn’t work.

-          It’s really annoying when people demand that I give them my stuff, it’s not even asking.

-          I sewed curtains for one room and I really liked it.  Potential new hobby upon returning to the states.

-          I actually kinda like riding in the back of pickup trucks

-          It doesn’t actually matter how often I sweep, there will still be sand everywhere

-          Putting canned fruit in the freezer is amazing on a hot day

-          Some of the bugs here look like a 2^nd grader designed them, they are so colorful and weird looking

-          Batswana like to party.  Craziest New Years Eve party I’ve ever been to was in my yard a few days ago