"She has read too many books and it has addled her brain."

New blog feature!  I'm going to try and keep a running list of books I'm reading here in Bots.
You can find it  on the main blog page by clicking on 'Books I've Read'.
And you can leave comments with suggestions as well :)
I just hit the 50 book mark, 1/4 of the way to my 200 books in Bots goal!

Take me home, country roads

I've realized that I’m listening to a lot of folk music recently.  It’s good for quiet nights in a small village where you start thinking about lots of things.  I've always liked some folk music, and Peter Paul and Mary have always been one of my favorite groups.

Here in Botswana, I’m listening to John Denver a lot.  This probably makes my mom smile, because she really likes his music, and would play it when I was a kid.  And I’d run screaming out of the room because for some reason I hated it when I was around 10.  I didn't like anything having to do with country music, except maybe Johnny Cash, until I was in college.

The song I listen to the most is ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’.  I've never lived in West Virginia, but I lived in Southwest Virginia most of my adult life, and the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah River are a bit of home to me.  And the song makes me think of my home in Maryland, and my family’s homes in South Carolina as well.

Surprisingly enough, Batswana also seem to like John Denver, because I've heard him on the radio at least 2-3 times.  The first time was in a combi driven by Peace Corps staff during training last fall.  We were going to Gabs for the day and there were about 14-15 of us in the combi, having 8-9 different conversations with the radio on in the background.  All of the sudden ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ comes on.  Everyone in the entire combi stopped all of their conversations and we proceeded to belt out the chorus each time it came around, with several of us singing all the verses as well.  We burst out laughing at the end, chattering about how unexpected it was to hear John Denver on the radio in Botswana.  And our driver, Zeeman, slowly changed the radio station while giving us a look of slight terror, as in, WHAT just happened?!? Crazy Americans…

As I listen to the song, it sometimes makes me homesick, sometimes makes me wonder if I should be here and not at home, and always makes me realize how much I love my home, my country, and the opportunity to live abroad.  And as I sit here thinking of home, I know that for the rest of my life, hearing ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ will make me think of that combi ride, and of my time in a small village in Botswana.

"I hear her voice 

In the mornin' hour she calls me 
The radio reminds me of my home far away 
And drivin' down the road I get a feelin' 
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday 

Country Roads, take me home 
To the place I belong 
West Virginia, mountain momma 
Take me home, country roads "

A fun weekend

I had a whirlwind of a weekend/week, and spent an awful lot of time on combis.

Last Thursday Danielle, a PCV in Moleps, came to my village to help clean out Roses house and pack her stuff to be sent back to the USA.  (Rose was the other volunteer in my village.  She got really sick in January and got sent home by PC in February.  She will be fine, she just had to cut her service short, which was a huge bummer.)  So we spent all of Thursday doing that, and I had horrible allergies due to the dust and cat dander.  Then we spent the night at my house and went to Moleps the next day.  [combi 1] Danielle went to work and I continued on to Gabs [combi 2], where I had lunch, and then got on another combi [3] to Jwaneng.  Jwaneng is known in Botswana as where all of the diamonds are.  It might be the largest set of diamond mines in the world.  I stayed with another PCV, Christina,  there for Friday and Saturday nights.  Saturday I took a bus [combi-ish 4] to Keng, to go to a wedding.

Now, how I got to this wedding is sort of a funny story.  A teacher in my village invited me because she was going to be a bridesmaid.  She got me an invitation and everything.  When I get to Jwaneng, Christina tells me that the wedding is of a former PCV to a Motswana, and several other PCVs are going!  Which was true, as well as some Canadian volunteers that knew the bride.  So I stayed at the wedding for several hours, got to eat delicious wedding food (Batswana go all out for weddings.  I’m pretty sure they slaughtered 2 cows and several goats for this one.),  meet some new people, and see a new village.  I hitched back to Jwaneng before dark and showed Christina the wedding pics.  And took a lot of pictures of her dog, who is adorable.

Sunday I went back to Moleps, stopping in Kanye [5] to see my host family from pre-service training.  The 1 year old is now almost 18 months and is still super cute.  I got to hang out a bit with my host mom, sister, and brother.  Then I caught another combi [6] to Gabs, and then another to Moleps [7].  At this point I was kinda tired of combis.  I stayed with Danielle and we made burritos which were AMAZING.  I miss Mexican food a lot.  

Monday I helped my counterpart facilitate a workshop on lifeskills to teachers at a school in Moleps, which was fun and I think it went really well! Considering we were trying to condense a 5 day workshop into 2 hours.   I watched Argo at Danielle’s house that night and really liked the movie.

Tuesday I attempted to get home early, by going to the store at 8:30am and heading to Letlhakeng soon after.  [combi 8] And then I could not get a hitch to my village for the life of me.  I got to L at 10:45/11.  I didn’t get back to Salajwe until almost 4.  I spent half of that time in Khudemalpye with Aileen, as she kept me company at the hitching post.   And then I took a bath, enjoyed being home in my village, and slept almost 12 hours :P 

I've made it 6 months!

I’ve made it 6 months in Botswana, and 4 at my site.  And I’ve almost made it through an entire school term- it ends in a week.  While six months is only about a quarter of my time here, I’m proud of myself for making it this far and not self-destructing in some way shape or form.  It’s not that I actually thought I was going to go bonkers or do something really stupid, but I’m not very good at giving myself credit for things.  I assume when I accomplish things that they mostly aren’t a big deal, because lots of other people have graduated from college, got jobs, been to grad school, joined the Peace Corps, read lots of books, whatever.  Which in itself is true, but I need to work on giving myself credit, because I’m sure good at the other side, which is beating myself up when I don’t do things right (because lots of other people have managed to do x y and z, why can’t I?).

So 6 months in, I’ve made it through lots of Peace Corps training (which has honestly been more stressful than almost anything in my village), moving to a new site, meeting tons of new people, and attempting to get a few things off the ground.  I’ve got a group of kids that meet for PACT club at my school, a group of kids that plays on my porch and in my yard, an awesome counterpart, and a really nice school head (principal).   There’s potential for getting more done next term since I’m beginning to figure out how things work/are planned.  I’ve made friends in PC (our government issued family, we like to say) and a couple so far in my village.

I’m looking forward to being able to do more in a few weeks, and for a nice break between terms to go north and see some PCVs and animals J

Shoe-leather development

I’m finding out how grassy and rooty grassroots development can be.  I borrowed the shoe-leather in the title from the term shoe-leather epidemiology, which is where epidemiologists would actually wear down the leather of their shoes tracking disease cases as they sought to figure out what was making people sick.  I think I’m wearing down some shoe leather getting projects and people together.

My current going-ons are 2 PACT clubs, attempting to find out of school youth and show them a movie, talking to some guidance and counseling classes, co-leading a workshop with my counterpart, and planning for an NGO to come and do a training in my village. 

This doesn't sound like a lot considering it’s my full-time job, but let me tell you, it is.  And that’s because I have every day things going on too- school meetings, spending time with teachers and at the clinic. I also have random things going on, like helping to clean out the volunteers house that left, and going to an out of town wedding this weekend.  Also it’s nearing the end of the school term so teachers and students are busy.

It comes down to, I’m actually busy!  Woo! 

Today, case in point.  Walk to Kgotla (where the village chief is) for 8am meeting.  Chief is not there, so there is no meeting.  See from a distance that the social worker is in.  Surprise her in her office and try to get another date to show a movie in the village.  Walk to Lempu and find that exams ARE happening, because the school now has ink to print the tests.  So no visiting a class to talk to them this morning.  Talk with counterpart instead, and arrange to meet tomorrow to plan a workshop we are facilitating next week in another village.  Find teacher that has invited me to wedding, get asked to tea at her house.  I discover I do like soft porridge, hang out with a friend (side note: I have friends!!!), and catch up on Generations.  Walk to clinic to see if we can use a room there to show a movie.  They say they will bring it up in their weekly meeting and tell me Monday.  I see them packing a truck and note that their mobile clinic to another village has moved from Fridays to Wednesday because of transport- this is important because I want to go with them some time.  Go home to finish preparing for PACT club at primary school.  Get a text saying the students are testing so no PACT club.  Go to primary school anyway to meet with guidance and counseling teacher and school head to get permission for teachers to participate in next weeks workshop.   Go home again and try to make travel plans for the weekend, plans for the NGO training, and prepare for tomorrow’s PACT club.

I text and call people when I can, but an awful lot of grassroots development at the village level works much better face to face.  It's partly culture, partly communication.  There's also some formality in asking permission for things here, so I usually can't get fast answers to questions like can we meet here?  The answer needs to come from a committee or a meeting.

So I traipse around my village a lot trying to get things going.  This is by no means a complaint- I like to walk, I have an umbrella to shade myself from the sun, and a good fan to plop in front of when I’m done J  But I might need new shoes at some point.  ^_^

The good, the bad, the progress, and the completely random

The good:

- We had PACT club at the primary school, with students AND teachers!

- PACT at Lempu for the 2nd week in a row

- I’ve used my soccer ball to hang out with kids some- whee!

- I’m building relationships at the schools and clinic- slowly but surely

- Lempu wants me to talk to ALL of the girls at school – whoa/yikes, but yay for school initiative, and a platform to recruit for a girls club!

- I was able to pay rent, YAY! 

- I got a stove and gas tank from MOE, YAY!

 - Rain!

Works in Progress:

- The class schedule keeps rearranging at Lempu, so I keep missing one class I want to talk to.  Oh well, onto next week!

- Still looking for a place with electricity to show some HIV/AIDS films in the community

- Planning multiple workshops for teachers, and looking for people to work with me on them and clubs

- Not broiling.  It’s been freaking hot lately.  I've discovered that dunking my head in water and sitting in front of my fan is particularly effective.

- My attitude.  I don’t want to be a downer about everything, and I’m beginning to loosen up more and be less frustrated about stuff (of course, it really helps that things seemed to work this week!).

The bad:

- Ministry of Ed wants my entire group to to go a workshop in 2 weeks- oy.

The completely random:

- A truck came and dumped a load of sand in my yard at 3:45am one day this week.  Huh??

- Got complemented by one of the nurses that I have a nice pelvis.  She was like, you’ll have no trouble delivering babies!  Me: … Uh, good to know! o.O

- A bird flew in and out of my room and scared the bejesus out of me for about 30 seconds.

- Saw the Salajwe branch of the Botswana democratic party meeting under a tree near my house.