14 Sept 2012

14 Sept 2012

[NOTE: This email was written the day after I arrived in Botswana. I stayed the first night at the Big Five Lodge in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. I was able to type this email to my family from my friend’s iPad.]

Our flight was long but not too bad! The food here is great. Lots of fresh, delicious meat. Plenty of fruits and veggies imported from S. Africa. All of the volunteers are really smart and special and deserving. I have bonded with several and we get along great. My closest new friend, Liz, who was my roommate at the lodge for the first night is going to be in the same ward as me in Kanye for the next eight weeks. A ward is like a neighborhood. We are having a huge ceremony this afternoon to meet our new families. These people take good care of you. Your new host mom pretty much adopts you. We spend all weekend with them and then start the very intense training process on Monday.

My room at Big Five lodge. Very fancy!

I'm sooo excited to start training and meet my new mom. Please don't worry about me. I am being well taken care of. PC Botswana is one of the best branches. They give us everything we need and more, including spending money.

I am also the only southerner in the group of 35 which has been interesting!