Last week, I was able to experience life in a Botswana village. There wasn’t much time to prepare. I baked a turtle-bread as a gift to my host family, and we hit the road in our private combi!
As a little context, “village” doesn’t mean the absolute middle of nowhere. There were at least six grocery stores and a strip mall in the town, but it was the kind of town where everyone seemed to know each other. (For my friends from university, just imagine Hamilton, New York). Here are pictures of the main street and of my homestay.
We spent the week observing at different clinics, where I learned an incredible amount.I worked in a screening room, and I learned how to perform antenatal exams. On Thursday, we took a day off from visiting clinics to visit the kgotla, the village’s central administration building, where we were able to witness several wedding registrations. Here are some pictures of the kgotla.
The most incredible part of the trip for me, however, was slightly off the beaten path. A group of us decided to go explore Kanye’s gorge and dam. The dam speaks for itself; here are a few pictures.
At the gorge, we began by following the path, and we were on the well-worn trail…until we weren’t. Somebody started climbing, and before we knew it, a full-scale adventure had begun. Unable to reach the first ledge, I kicked off my shoes and waded through the water, where I was able to climb the rocks and rejoin our group. Maybe we were crazy, exploring rock ledges in a foreign country, surrounded by monkeys and snakes. But together, we took on the gorge, and we were rewarded by an unbelievable view and a story.
On a slightly darker note—on Monday, we returned to U.B. Monday afternoon is when I usually have my parasitology lab, so I was ready at 3 PM with my fellow exchange students, blissfully ignorant in our lab coats. To our horror, the professor announced that instead of lab, we would be taking a 2.5-hour exam. He had informed all of the other, domestic students about this exam during the week, but he had made no mention of it when we had met with him before heading out to Kanye. (In fact, the professor had told us that he couldn’t provide us too many notes for the week, because people might think that he was favoring the foreign students.) The test, of course, was heavily focused on malaria, the subject our class had covered the week that my fellow exchange students and I had been away. As he distributed the exam, our professor called us out in front of the class. “Our American friends have been gone for a week,” he announced. “Let’s see if they’ve been keeping up with the reading.” When we attempted to protest, he told us that we had probably covered the material at “those American schools” anyway. An hour into the exam, I gave up and left. So that was my first exam in Botswana, and it was a doozy.
Today, thankfully, everything was back on track—or should I say, on bar? I joined the Weight-Lifting Team here at U.B., and after one practice, I am already unbelievably sore. Assuming I can stick it out, though, I’ll be as strong as Wonderwoman by the time I return to the States. Right now, I look a little out of place on the team. First, I’m the only female and the only white person there. Second, today all the guys were doing squats with 120 kg (265 lb) of added weight (not to mention a 20-kg barbell). Meanwhile, I was holding an empty, extra-light barbell, practicing the proper technique for snatches. Practice makes perfect, though, and I’m so glad that I have stepped out of my comfort zone enough to try something as new as this. When in Botswana, do as the bulked-up Batswana do, right?
In the next few weeks, I will continue to explore beyond my comfort zone. After all, here I am in Botswana, nearly 8,000 miles from home. Maybe I’m crazy for being here, but as long as I’m crazy, I plan to have the time of my life.
Until next time, sala sentle!
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