2 Sept 13: Sarah Meets the VP of Botswana and Hugs Kids at the Special Olympics

There's a saying in Peace Corps: "You're not a real Peace Corps Volunteer until you've pooped yourself." Well, folks, I am pleased to tell you that I ALMOST became a real Peace Corps Volunteer on Saturday. Almost. There's still time, another year in fact. Before I tell you the story let me back up...
Last we left off I was preparing for the national Vision 2016 event at the end of the month, getting ready to start PACT Club at school, looking forward to my trip to Maun for the Special Olympics, and musing on being in country for nearly a year.

I started PACT club the second week of August and it has been a huge success. The 5th and 6th grade teachers hand picked 16 kids who they thought would be best suited for PACT Club. To remind you, PACT stands for Peer Approach to Counseling Teens. I was worried that the club would be boring because, to be honest, it is really boring teaching kids how to be counselors for their friends. We are on week 4 and so far we have discussed communication skills and leadership. I'm falling asleep just talking about it. Of course the kids are thrilled to come each week no matter what we do. They feel extra special because they are the chosen few! I decided that to keep them motivated I would implement a badge system similar to the Girl/Boy Scouts system. At the end of each meeting I give everyone a paper "badge" that reflects what we learned that week, i.e. "I am a good leader!" They are given colored pencils and encouraged to decorate their badge. When they're finished, they get to paste it to their very own poster board with their name on it. At the end of the club, each child will have a poster full of these colorful badges to take home with them. I try to teach them through games and "dramas" and they seem to enjoy it.

Yoga and health talks at prison are still going strong! Today I said goodbye to one of my favorite guys, a former college teacher who has been in prison for many years. He is being released tomorrow and I couldn't be more thrilled for him. The last few years he has been taking more college courses and he is graduating with another degree at the end of November. He invited me to his graduation so it looks like I'll be taking a trip to Gabs at the end of November to attend! Lots of my guys have been released lately and the local ones love to stop by my house and visit. I have no idea what they were incarcerated for and I don't ask. I enjoy seeing them around the village free as birds. It occurred to me the other day that through this process I have become the least judgmental version of myself that I've ever been. That's a testament to the power of yoga and meditation!

demonstrating yoga at the Special Olympics health fair

Becky does the best condom demonstrations!

The Crew! Unfortunately, I missed the photo because
I was busy poopin and pukin my brains out.

At the end of August, Ashley, Pam, and I hitchhiked up to Maun to help with the Special Olympics. One of the PCV's in Maun works at a rehabilitation facility for people with intellectual and physical challenges. She single-handedly organized a sporting competition for kids from all over her region. What a feat! Me, Pam, Ashley, and another PCV named Nyako taught yoga at the event's health fair! By far the best part of participating in the two-day event was the chance to give free hugs to all the kids who were competing. At the end of each race, every kid got a hug. All of the PCV's (there were like 12 of us) stood at the finish line cheering the kids on and when they'd cross it was hugs all around!!

Hugs for everybody!

The first night of the event I got sick. Imagine: I'm trying to make a good impression and fellowship with all these PCV's who live up north, who I've never met, and fate decides to smack me in the gut with some diarrhea and vomiting. By the following morning, I had a fever and ended up in a private doctor's office on a Saturday trying to get seen. After waiting two hours to see him, all the while having my eardrums assaulted by Botswana's Christian evangelism channel blaring, the doctor diagnosed me with an intestinal infection of unknown origin, pumped me full of antibiotics, and sent me on my way. I picked up a 2 liter box of guava juice, some banana sorghum porridge, and went back to the event. By the time I arrived, I had missed the whole second day of the competition. We went back to the PCV's house and I went to bed. Everybody else went to a party while I recovered. The next day, me and Pam hitch hiked back to our villages and that was that.

So after seeing all of these beautiful children, completely uninhibited by their disabilities, I got to thinkin about how people tend to live in their victim mentalities. Especially Americans. Don't we all have some kind of victim complex? "I can't have normal relationships because I didn't have a good relationship with my parents as a child...I have trust issues because my husband cheated on me...blah blah blah." If a child born in Africa with Downe Syndrome with parents that can't even be bothered to attend a sports competition in which he is participating...if he doesn't act like a victim then who are we to act like victims? Who are we to act like the world owes us anything when we've already been given the potential to do anything we want to do? Continuing to stew in our victim mentality is easier than getting over it I guess but who wants to live in a stew forever? Simmering all the time? Ludacris had it right when he said "drink some prune juice and let the shit go!"

Pam and I demonstrating yoga!

Setting up giant tents takes 1) forever, and 2) a lot of people.
It's really fun until...

...they fall down and you have to do it all over again.

So after I got back from Maun, I started preparing for the Vision 2016 event. Me, Pam, and Ashley decided that we would have a booth focusing on yoga, stress management, and Peace Corps. Pam went to Gabs and picked up a Peace Corps banner with JFK's picture on it. Ooh la la! Ashley and I made book marks and signs about yoga/stress management. My village was buzzing all week with people from all over the country. On Friday, the event officially started. We set up our table in the Ministry of Health's tent, fully equipped with handouts and a "Free Hugs" sign! Over the two days the event lasted, we demonstrated yoga, talked about the mission of Peace Corps in Botswana, and gave out lots and lots of hugs. My kids from school came to the event and were given free pencils, hats, and other school supplies. The Botswana Defense Force Medical Corps performed safe male circumcisions and dental cleanings free of charge! It was quite a sight! Best of all, I got to meet the vice president of Botswana! He came to my booth wanting information about yoga. In that moment, shaking the hand of the VP of the country, I was so proud to be a PCV! I was also a little tempted to ask him what he could do about my furniture situation but I took the high road...

Vision 2016 booth! Free HUGS!

Pam and I at the Vision 2016 march

On the second day of the event (Saturday), I woke up early, ate two eggs and drank coffee like I do every morning. Then my stomach started gurgling. I thought I had heartburn so I popped a Gaviscon and went on with my day. I met a bunch of people at the kgotla at 6:45am to participate in a march to the show grounds. People here just loooove them a march. I was glad when Pam showed up; I wouldn't be the only PCV in the march. The VP showed up but he didn't have to walk. As the guest of honor, he got to ride in a horse-drawn cart. At least they had horses and not donkeys! After we got to the show grounds, stomach bubbling, I ran to the booth to setup quickly in case the VP came by. He did indeed show up and not a moment too soon! As soon as he left, I took off in search of a pit latrine. After finding one and doing my business, I decided that I needed to go home for a little while to get my diarrhea situation under control. I took off walking to the house. Fortunately, somebody picked me up just in time to keep me from becoming a real PCV. I stayed home for a little while until I felt sure that I wouldn't need a change of underwear and then I went back to the event. I felt fine for the rest of the day. In the late afternoon, we called it a day and I walked home. I spent Saturday evening and most of Sunday sleeping off the effects of all my recent digestive distress.

the Vice-President of Botswana actually asked for yoga information!

Always leave em with a joke!

my guys from prison doing traditional dancing

I have no idea what's up with my guts lately. I thought maybe I had become gluten intolerant so I stopped eating gluten, a feat of epic proportion in this country. But continuing to have problems after the fact, I have no freakin clue. Pam suggested that I might have giardia, which is quite common here. Unfortunately, as long as the new volunteers are in training, the Peace Corps Medical Office refuses to give current PCV's medical appointments. Bullshit right? Right. So I might be able to get an appointment some time at the end of October. Nonsense!

teaching ladies to bake cupcakes

Oh oh! I forgot something. There are two ladies in my village who make rolls and fatcakes (fried rolls) and sell them around the village. That is their livelihood. I told them a couple of months ago that if they wanted to learn how to bake cupcakes to sell, that I'd be more than happy to teach them. On Thursday morning, they showed up at my house asking if I'd teach them to make some cupcakes to sell at the Vision 2016 event. I sent them on their way with a list of ingredients to make carrot cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes. That evening, me and Ashley went to their "bakery" and taught them the ins and outs of cupcaking. I gotta admit: I was more than a little nervous about how the community would react to vegetables in a cake. The next day, taking a break from teaching yoga, I went to their booth to see how things were going. They had stayed up all night baking cakes and bread. By the time I got to their stall they had SOLD OUT. Not only were they able to sell all the cupcakes they had made, but they were able to charge a lot for them. They did the same thing on Saturday, selling completely out. I am so so so happy that I was able to help them diversify their business. I hope that they keep learning new recipes and become the best bakers in Botswana.

making money!!!

So that was August. September promises to be just as exciting. Tomorrow I'm going to find out who will be coming to shadow me next week. Fingers crossed that it's my friend and mentee, Marshall, aka Tshireletso in Setswana. We have big plans to put on our bathing suits, sit in the bathtub, and drink wine like we're at a pool. Also, we're supposed to search for the cave that's guarded by a magical snake that supposedly exists somewhere in the salt pan. So yeah, I need him to come for shadowing. After shadowing, most of the people from my group will travel up north to camp/swim in a watering hole to celebrate our anniversary. One year in country in less than two weeks! Woot woot! After that, Ashley and I are doing workshops at various primary schools throughout the region. Busy busy!

Apparently it's still winter here. We had some really nice days last week and I was genuinely convinced that we had made it out of winter. But when I woke up on the day of the march and it was 45 degrees in my house and I could see my breath, winter bursted my bubble again. I had put up my sleeping bag and everything! Dang it! It still feels like I'm living inside a tornado too. As soon as it warms up and the wind dies down, I'm gonna plant lettuce, herbs, onions, tomatoes, and peppers in my garden. Can't wait!

Expect my next post to be deep and anecdotal, as I wax philosophical on my first year in country. For now, I'm going to whip up some lentils for dinner. Eating gluten-free has made me feel pretty darn good but I'm not sure how long I can live without bread. Thanks to my healthy diet and daily yoga/meditation sessions I am down 20 pounds from when I came here. I can't encourage people enough to give yoga a try. It changes your brain folks! It is also said in the ancient yoga texts that enlightenment gives you mystical powers. Who doesn't want to be able to shape shift or become invisible? I hope that fall finds you comfortable, happy, and well-fed.

Namaste,

PS-Yesterday I discovered that one of the chicken ladies from next door has made a little nest in my yard. There were 3 eggs in it, then 4, and now there's 5. I'm waiting to see which lady is the mother of the eggs: is it Wynona with her crazy hairdo? Wanda, Millie's mother? Ruby the white and black speckled lady? Or Donald, the lady that I thought was a rooster? I can't wait for her to start sittin on em so we can have some babies around here! Very excited!

PSS-You can see that I don't have any drama in my life now. Good and bad. My daily excitement revolves around the comings and goings of the neighborhood chicken flock. This.Is.Africa.

11 Aug 13: Sarah Washes Her Blanket and Gives Away 100 Teddy Bears

Hello everybody! One month from today I will have lived in Botswana for a whole year. Hard to believe huh? Seems like only yesterday I was donating money to the "Super Jackpot Party" penny slot at Belterra casino with my mama on my last weekend in America. Everyone who has been a PCV for over a year will tell you that you really don't get busy until your second year of service. People start to believe that you're here to help, that you're not trying to replace them and they start wanting to work with you! I'm so glad to say that I am experiencing that RIGHT MEOW!

a little girl with her new teddy bear!

It's been a while since I wrote because, to be honest, the month of July was pretty boring. School was out from June 28th until August 6th so I wasn't doing anything there. Yoga and health talks at prison were the only activities I had going on. So what did I do for a month and a half? I cleaned my house. A lot. At some point before I moved in, my house was sprayed for roaches. The spray looks like Coca Cola and it just drips down the walls. Disgusting. I took on the task of washing the walls in my house, which took a couple of weeks. I scrubbed the floors, organized the closets, etc. Diane graced me with her presence for a whole week! We ate lots of good food, as usual, played cards, and acted a fool. We had a picnic and we washed my blanket. Yes, it takes two people to wash the huge blanket that we were given when we first arrived in Botswana. You shoulda seen it. I put the blanket in the tub, filled it up with water and soap, rolled up my pants, and got all up in that blanket's business. I stomped all over it, just like Lucy squishin grapes, until we decided that it was clean. Then we each took one end and twisted. We got about half the water out before our arms gave up. We hung it out to dry and voila! The blanket got its annual wash.

my neighbors: Lesego and Tsotso

I know that people wonder what I do with all my free time. Everything is hard here. Everything takes forever. Laundry is an all morning job. Preparing a meal takes at least an hour. There is nothing instant. Bathing...lord. If I have to wash my hair AND my body it's an hour and a half commitment.

1st graders after receiving their teddy bears!

School started back last Tuesday (August 6th.) I spent the first two days of the term giving out the hundred knitted teddy bears that were sent to me by the Mother Bear Project in America. The preschoolers, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders all got bears and what a hit they were! Seeing all those little ones who go home and play with dirt or rocks, seeing them smile when they got a bear made my week. On Thursday, I met Ashley and the other local PCV, Pam, in Hukuntsi to discuss our upcoming women's empowerment camp. We are doing two camps to teach local women about financial planning, gender based violence, goal setting, and communication. I am sooooo excited about this! It's gonna take place between November and January.

my neighbors: Lesego and Phoebe

Ashley and I have planned 9 workshops for teachers in settlements throughout the region to teach them to better use the Living curriculum. The Living curriculum is the material they are supposed to use to teach life skills. Unfortunately, most of them don't use it. Because it is our official job here and because we will look like absolute bad asses if we manage to workshop every village in our region, we're gonna tackle it! The government has agreed to provide transport and funding. Fingers crossed it all works out!

this little monster LOVES his bear!

On Saturday, Ashley and I led a workshop at her junior secondary school (it's like a middle school.) Her school is a boarding school for kids from the settlements. A good portion of the time the school doesn't have any food. RIDICULOUS. The kids aren't allowed to leave the grounds. The best way to describe it is "concentration camp"-esque. We spent all of Friday night making cookies, treat bags, and planning our presentation. Saturday morning we were greeted by 30 boys aged 14-19. We talked about gender-based violence, sexually transmitted infections, gender norms, showed a movie, and did a male/female condom demonstration. My friend, Marshall (future PCV who is actually en route to Botswana right NOW) sent me a care package containing a condom demostration kit. The kit came with a giant wooden penis, which I named Jimothy. Jimothy was a big (no pun intended) hit with the kids and we were able to actually demonstrate how to put on a condom! The workshop was a huge success! Yay for productivity!

so sweet!

At the end of the month there will be a nationwide event to promote the goals of 1)no new HIV infections, 2)no AIDS-related deaths, and 3)no stigma/discrimination that Botswana is trying to reach by 2016. They have chosen my village to host the event. They are predicting that we will have over 2,000 visitors, which is almost 3 times the population of the village! Me, Ashley, and Pam are hoping to have a stall to promote Peace Corps and teach stress management techniques (meditation, journaling, yoga, etc.) It's a 3 day event and it should be very exciting!

The week before the event I'm going up to Maun to volunteer for the Special Olympics. Me, Ashley, and Pam are going to set up a yoga booth! We don't really have all the details nailed down but what I do know is that we will take any opportunity to go up to Maun!

happiest kid in the world!

Next week, I'm hoping to start a PACT club at school. PACT stands for Peer Approach to Counseling Teens. The goal of the club is to teach kids stuff that they can then teach their peers. The lessons range from respect to puberty topics. Pretty much anything life skills. To keep them motivated, I've decided to do a kind of girl/boy scouts badge system. They'll probably be paper badges that the kids can paste onto a larger piece of cardboard or something. I'm still figuring it out. TIA (this is Africa) so it's not gonna be too fancy. The good news is that no matter what the kids will be excited anyway!

I also had a meeting last week with my village's social worker. We have planned some activities for orphans and their guardians. I was approached by some people from Hukuntsi who want me to teach aerobics there twice a week. It's still in the planning stages so who knows. Didn't I tell you I just got busy?!?! And it feels soooo good! People are seeking me out to work with them. It's about damn time!

In other news, winter sucks. Me and Ashley were talkin about how mild the winter has been ("Aww this isn't that bad!") We shoulda knocked on wood because we woke up the next morning and the thermometer in her house barely registered 40 degrees. You know what it feels like to get out of bed and see your breath in the house? NOT FUN. You think your toilet seat's cold? You ain't felt cold! All year long we complain about the wind out here. You hang your clothes out to dry and you bring em in all stretched out and dusty. Apparently August is the "windy" month. What? How can it get any windier than it already is?? I'll tell you how. It's called dust.storm.all.day. I was washing my clothes this morning and I looked out the window and thought "dang it's foggy!" Then I remembered that we don't have fog in the desert. NOT FOG. Dust. Not only could I not hang my clothes outside but I couldn't even go out there. When I walked to the prison last week for yoga, I had to clean the sand out of my nose and ears. And then I dropped my apple in the dirt. But since I'm used to living in Africa, I just picked it up and ate it anyway. You think I'm gonna waste an apple that I had to ride the bus for four hours to buy? Not hardly! Oh yeah, word on the street is that the windy month is when the scorpions and poisonous snakes come out of the sand. WONDERFUL! And then next month we can look forward to the return of the bird-sized bugs. Dang Africa, anything else?

As I approach the one year mark and I get busier, I've noticed that I feel different. Things are easier emotionally. Why is that? Is it that I'm accustomed to my new lifestyle? Or that I'm used to nothing working out like I plan it? Or that I'm adapted to the life of a leper? Being here for a year means that I haven't had any kind of intimacy with another person for that long. That's hard folks. Really hard. Everyone in my village knows me. No one asks me for money anymore. When I turn on the faucet and nothing comes out I don't even worry about it. The water will come back eventually. When I set out hitch hiking to get to the next village I don't stress. Somebody will pick me up sooner or later. When none of the teachers at my school want to help me with my club...oh well. Nothing bothers me anymore. I don't think it's apathy. I think it's adapting. I am living, breathing proof that humans can adapt to anything. If you stay strong, hold on to your motivation, and remind yourself every damn day why you chose to put yourself through this...you'll make it. I do miss America, my family, Target, and microwaves everyday but, at this point, Tshane is home. Here's to another year!

Sarah

poor people art

PS- My latest craft project: toilet paper roll art. Home decor for us poor folks!

14 July 13: Sarah Has Sexy Talk with the Wrong Man and Gets PC Trail Magic

I was planning to write this post about the kindness of strangers, and I still intend to do that, but something just happened that I can't not write about first.

My best friend in the whole world and soul mate, Amber, used to joke with me that I was like a modern day Lucy Ricardo because of the outrageous and hilarious situations I'd get myself into. It's no coincidence that my blog used to be lifelikelucy before it became lifelikesarah, and maybe I should even change it back. I mean, really, the two are synonymous. I'll tell you the whole story later but for now I'll shorten it. So...I have been expecting a phone call from my new lust interest, a man I call "SJ" but whose real name is Mothusi. He works for the government and lives in Gabs. He was visiting the area for a few days and on Friday morning he went home having promised to call me when he got to Gabs. Friday passes and most of Saturday and I accept the fact that this guy isn't gonna call. At 11 p.m. my phone rings- I don't know the number. I answer it and it was him! I immediately recognize his voice and his crazy laugh. He asks "Do you know who this is?" My response "Of course I do!" We leave it at that. First mistake.

We have some romantic talk and he tells me that he misses me. Goodnight. This morning he calls me and asks if I'm going to church. Odd question. Whatever. I asked him if he was going to be off work for the next few days for the public holiday. He is. I invite him to come visit during the holiday. To be more specific, I tell him that he can come visit whenever he wants. Second mistake. He says "Well, I gotta drop some chicken at the prison, but then I'll come over."

HOLD UP. WAIT A SEC. Drop some chicken at the prison? Who is this????? This whole time I have been exchanging sexy talk and inviting over some RANDOM VILLAGE GUY THAT GAVE ME A RIDE ONE TIME. Really Sarah? I immediately try to explain that I had mistaken him for someone else. No, I don't want you to come over. No, I don't miss you. So sorry.

Now I can't even be disappointed about the fact that my new dude never called because I'm MORTIFIED that I just invited some random weirdo from the village to come stay with me for three days. How do I get myself into these situations? Moral of the story: just because somebody calls you "baby," don't assume that you know them. EPIC ROMANCE FAIL.

Now that I have put my shame into writing for all the world to read, back to the topic at hand. When I last wrote, I was sitting in Gaborone ready to enjoy some relaxing days, hot showers, good company, and great food. And I did! I stayed in Gabs for a while, downloaded lots of podcasts, met up with Diane, and slept in a real bed. On July 4th, we met up with some other PCV's and made the journey to the tiny village of Ranaka for an Independence Day party! We arrived at Lisa's house in the late afternoon and were greeted by at least 10 other volunteers! By the end of the day, there were probably 15 of us celebrating America's birthday with wine, the most competitive game of UNO ever, and a dance party (of course.) I spent two days enjoying the company of awesome PCV's. We watched The Sound of Music, played cards, and snacked.

Oakley

After spending four awesome days in civilization with Americans, I wasn't ready to go home. Just then, my friend Herb, whom I met in Maun and lives in Gabs, invited me to come and stay at his house Saturday night and have a bbq! YESSS!!!! Saturday morning, I took the bus back to Gabs and waited for Herb to pick me up. He and his girlfriend took me out for cocktails, and then we went back to their mansion, which he calls The Ritz. Not only was I able to take a shower in their glass shower-you can see the mountains while you're in the shower-but I got to meet their two parrots and iguana, eat RIBS!!!!!!, and watch a movie on their 3D TV. Let me be clear that I didn't do anything to earn this treatment. It was all out of the goodness of Herb and Elaine's hearts!!! As I lay in their cushy bed (one of their many guest bedrooms with its own bathroom!) I spent a long time thinking about the kindness of strangers.

Me and Oakley

Most of you probably don't know that when I come home, I'm going to hike the Appalachian Trail. There is something that exists on the trail called Trail Magic. Trail Magic is when a hiker receives random kindness from someone in the form of food, a ride, or anything else like that. People that perform these random acts of kindness are called Trail Angels.

Banjo loves him a shoulder sit!

Herb and Elaine showered me in the Peace Corps version of trail magic even into the next day. I woke up on Sunday to the smell of bacon and sausages. BACON!!!!! MEAT!!! PROTEIN!!! I haven't had bacon since I left the good ol US of A! Elaine packed up a picnic breakfast complete with cappucinnos and juice and we set our in their Land Cruiser on a game drive in the nearby game reserve! We saw lots and lots of wart hogs, impala, zebras, and some tiny little deer lookin things called dykeir? Afterwards, they took me to buy groceries and then dropped me off at the bus. Not at the bus rank. AT THE BUS. They took me literally to the bus. Elaine, who runs a charity that teaches financial management skills, gave me 50 budgeting books to use for workshops in my village.

I am still amazed at how Herb and Elaine just swooped me up, without even really knowing me, and showered me with generosity! How many people do you know would pick up a dirty stranger (I was dirty-there is no water in Ranaka so none of us PCV's had bathed for two days,) feed her, let her stay in their house, and then take her on a safari! They didn't ask me for anything. I didn't pay for my cocktail. I didn't contribute money for all the food. Nothing! And on top of that I got to snuggle with their parrot, Oakley, all evening! Herb and Elaine are truly Peace Corps Trail Angels.

Warthogs!!! Mokgalodi Game Reserve

After spending time with my peeps and experiencing Trail Magic, I was NOT thrilled to get back to the village. I was in a bad mood for a couple of days, which included a lot of sleeping and moping around the house. On Wednesday, I went to the prison to teach yoga and got turned away because they were doing a "random search for contraband." Uggh. I walked back to my house feeling discouraged and took a nap. As usually happens when you try to take a nap, somebody woke me up. Three somebodies actually.
I heard "Koko!" That's "knock knock" in Setswana. I looked out the window and there were three random guys standing in my yard. I threw on some pants and went outside to find out what was so important that they had to wake me up from my nap! They introduced themselves, told me that they were from the Botswana version of the FCC (called BOCRA), and said that they had come to Tshane to help plan the event that is taking place in August. Apparently there is going to be a 3-day event in my village to commemorate Vision 2016. Vision 2016 is Botswana's goal that by 2016 they will have zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS-related deaths, and zero stigma and discrimination. The gentleman wanted to know if I wanted to help them build a knowledge center! Well sure! We spent the next couple of hours getting to know each other, which was really a bunch of laughing and joking around. They invited me to accompany them on a trip to visit the surrounding Basaarwa (Bushmen) settlements the following day. Yes!

When people introduce themselves to me here I can't remember their names. Who can wrap their mind around a name like Tisoyaone Morongwakgotla? Too complicated. So I gave all three of them nicknames: Skinny Jeans (because he was rockin skinny jeans), Jelly Bean (because he reminded me of a jelly bean), and Cabernet (because he likes to drink Cab.) SJ (short for Skinny Jeans) is a 25 year old communications graduate, Gemini, funny as hell. Jelly Bean is an older guy, world traveler, and boss of the operation. Cabernet is a Kalanga man from up north, sweet as can be. And they are hilarious. Back to the story... SJ, Jelly Bean, and Cabernet picked me up at 7:30 on Thursday morning and we set out on our adventure. We had planned to return to the lodge where they were staying in Hukuntsi, eat dinner, and have drinks at the end of the day. We visited Monong, Ncaang (took me all day to learn how to say because it has a click,) Hunhukwe, and Ukhwi. At each village, we met with the chief and then toured the local school. I was really just tagging along but the guys were assessing the villages to see how they could help in terms of computers, communication, etc. We went to a RADS (Remote Area Dweller) hostel, which is a place where Basaarwa children from deep in the bush are brought to attend school. I couldn't talk to the kids because I don't speak Sesaarwa (too many clicks!) so we just played together. It was amazing. Ukhwi, the last village we visited, was so remote that it took us two hours on a deep sand "road" to get there. By the time we finished and headed back to Hukuntsi it was 6:30 and we were beat.

deep sand road to Ukhwi

Cabernet and Jelly Bean decided that we should take a "shortcut." The shortcut landed us on a barely used, I wouldn't call it more than a path, through high grass. Three hours and much talk about getting eaten by lions, starving to death, etc., we came out of the high grass onto a tarred road. We had made it to Hukuntsi, barely. We went to the lodge, ate a late dinner, drank some beer, and passed out.
The whole day, I rode in the back seat with SJ. At one point we were actually piled on top of each other in the trunk because the village chief was taking up the back seat. Needless to say, we really hit if off. Maybe because he is a Gemini and I'm a Sag. Who knows. But it was fun. We talked about the possibility of romantic involvement and he told me he would call me when he got back to Gabs. And that is how I got into the situation of expecting a phone call and blah blah blah that I told you about at the beginning of this post. SJ, Jelly Bean, and Cabernet are coming back here in a few weeks to do some more work for the event. Having spent 15 hours driving through the bush with these guys, I consider them my friends. I also consider them Peace Corps Trail Angels because they swooped me out of my village just in time to avoid an emotional breakdown. They are all educated, speak English, and of course-a good time! I am looking forward to seeing them again as we are planning a bbq at my house. They are talking about staying with me- who knows what kind of shenanigans we will get into!

School is out until August 6th so I'm doing a lot of nothing. I am still teaching yoga and doing health talks, but that's about it. I've tried to motivate the police officers to let me do a workshop with my new financial planning materials. We will see. I'm reading A LOT. I've almost finished The Bhagavad Gita. Highly recommend it. Also doing a lot of gardening. And making plans for my kids when school starts. This week I received a hundred handmade teddy bears from the Motherbear Project, a charity in America. When school starts, I'm going to pass out bears to the preschoolers, first, second, and third graders. I CAN'T WAIT. Diane might come out here for a visit later this month, which will be awesome. She is in America right now for her best friend's wedding and I am extremely jealous.

So to wrap it all up what have I learned from the last few CRAZY weeks? 1. Apparently I am a pro at networking. Two hours into the bush, I saw somebody I knew. What are the chances? 2. Just when you feel like you are alone in the world and you are down and out, someone will lift you up out of the muck that is your emotional state and shower you with kindness. I received more trail magic in the last two weeks than I have in the whole year that I've lived here. Why? BECAUSE I NEEDED IT. My job now is to pass on the karma to someone else who needs it. Or maybe, as Marshall suggested, I was passing out karma for 9 months and then somebody else passed it back to me. Who knows? But one thing is for sure: if I can keep this is up for another 1 year, 4 months I just might make it out of Peace Corps with my sanity (as least not any crazier than before I came here) and my heart! So for all of you who are still reading these posts, to the people who have sent me care packages, thank you! You all are my Trail Angels and I love you!

Namaste!