20 Oct 12

20 Oct 12

Le kae, rothle? How are you, everyone? I am very excited to share this weekly update for several reasons:

Grinding Sorghum!

1. I am typing this on my new laptop I purchased while on my shadowing trip! Not only am I typing this email (actually a document that I will send tomorrow when I have internet access), but I am watching The Shining! Volunteers here have an amazing amount of media, especially movies and TV shows. In the evenings, many volunteers enjoy relaxing with some Modern Family, aka the funniest show I've ever seen, or some Downton Abbey. I've been hoarding media files, saving them up for when I go to site.

2. I can finally tell you where I'm going to be spending the next two years of my life! The Site Placement Announcement Ceremony was today so read on to find out...

Site announcement was by far the highlight of my week, so I will save that for last. My last update was sent on Wednesday (I think) last week while I was at shadowing. On Friday, Dan and I made the trip to Francistown, the second largest town in Botswana. We spent the day shopping for a computer for me and then met up with a volunteer named Stacy who lives in Francistown. A friend of hers had invited the three of us to a traditional Setswana barbecue called a braii. That evening we went to the braii and had a great time, eating lots of good food and playing a game similar to charades. Early the next morning, Saturday, I made the long trip home to Kanye. I was able to stop in the capital and meet up with some other trainees to finish the journey together. I also met a volunteer named Patrick who attended the same high school as I did. Small world! I arrived home safe and sound Saturday evening and spent Sunday resting up. For those that are wondering, it took me about a week but I seem to have fully recovered from my food poisoning episode.

I spent this whole week in training sessions. Most of the sessions were language. Setswana, Setswana, Setswana. I have little excitement to report there other than I have been placed in the most advanced language group and I am really being challenged.

Trees with thorns for leaves? Welcome to Africa!

Just when I feel like I'm getting used to the idea that I live in Africa, something happens that makes me think "Welcome to Africa!" I have a "Welcome to Africa!" moment at least once a day, but I had some this week that are really worth mentioning. The rainy season came and went this week in Botswana. For about 3 days, we had lots of lightning storms and rain. On Tuesday night, my brother and I were sitting together in the living room, he playing a game and me reading a book. I think it started with the story of the three-headed snake in the Kanye dam, but over the course of about two hours my brother gave me a comprehensive lesson on witchcraft/demonology/satanism/all other scary things that people believe in Botswana. Keep in mind that my brother hardly talks to me at all (partly out of respect, partly because he is 15 and thinks I'm old.) This conversation was more than he has said to me in the last 6 weeks. While you read this summary of the things he told me, remind yourself that this is what the people here really really really believe (and also that this was all told to me during a thunderstorm with occasional losses of power = flickering lights=scary!):

-Witches are real.

-Witches can open your windows by magic, come in your house, leave some of their "medicine" around, and when you walk by it you will die.

-Witches can create zombie slaves. They kill a person, reanimate them, and then the person becomes a zombie that plows their fields, does their laundry, and cooks for them. No one other than the witch can see the zombie. So when your friend comes over for the dinner that they think that you have spent all day preparing, they are really eating food prepared by the invisible zombie in the kitchen slaving over the stove.

-There exists in Botswana a  cult of people who worship the devil. They are called Satanists, of course. In each Satanist lives a demon that must be fed human blood or flesh. After a person is buried in the cemetery, the satanists will go in at night, dig up the body, and eat the dead person's flesh. They call this "meat of the dead." If a satanist approaches you in an attempt to convert you and you decline, the demon inside will strike you dead.

-There is a demonic, monkey-type creature that can be sent by witches to do their bidding. The monkeys can kill people and rob banks. They can not be harmed and are unstoppable. I actually heard a story about one of these monkies when I went to church on Independence Day. A man was giving a testament of how he had been saved from a demon monkey by the grace of God. I didn't know what I was hearing at the time, but now I realize that he was speaking of these demonic monkeys.

-I also heard about various magical, satanic animals that can kill you, i.e. the 3-headed snake of the Kanye dam that can change into other animals or even people.

Interestingly, my brother said that the only thing that can protect you from witches, satanists, and other evil creatures is being a Christian. I'll let you make your own conclusions about the significance of that. Needless to say, after that conversation I couldn't help but think "Welcome to Africa!"

Thorns the size of my hand? Welcome to Africa!

I saw a beautiful bright green bird at the education center this week. It had lovely orange wings and a black and white striped belly. It was about the size of my fist and it was flying right past me. Just as I mentioned to my friend "look at that beautiful bird!", it landed right at my feet. You can imagine my shock when I realized that my beautiful bird was no bird at all! It was a BUG! One of the huge grasshopper looking things! Yes, the bugs in Africa are so large that you could mistake one for a bird. Welcome to Africa!

Me, before site placement

Now for the most important part of this update: SITE PLACEMENT!!!
I've waited 6 long, hard weeks to find out where in Botswana I will be spending the next two years of my life. Unfortunately for me, I had to wait another 6 hours to find out today, until the country director was able to make it to the education center. All the trainees were sent from our usual training room in the morning and the doors were shut and locked to prevent our entrance. When we were finally allowed back in around 2 pm, we realized why we had been shut out. The Peace Corps staff had decorated the room with balloons and had organized the chairs in a large circle. They had laid out cookies, monster pops (lollipops), and sodas. In the front of the room was a map of Botswana with pins indicating the location of all 34 sites. Reluctantly, we took our seats so the ceremony could begin. Under each seat, a number had been taped. The numbers corresponded with the order in which each trainee would come up and find out the name of their village. I was dismayed when I reached under my seat and came up with number 16. I wasn't sure if I could make it through 15 people finding out their sites before me.

When I had my placement interview 3 weeks ago, I asked to be placed in a small, rural village. I indicated that it would be ok if I didn't have electricity or running water, but that I just wanted a small village. I also asked to have my own yard, as opposed to living in a house on a family compound. When I walked in the room and saw the map with the pins on it, my heart dropped. There were only 3 pins out in the western part of the country, the Kgalagadi district, the real bush, the most remote and rural part of the country. All of the other pins were crowded together near the capital of Gaborone, with a couple stragglers further south. I thought to myself "I have a 3 in 34 chance of getting the rural site I asked for." I was so disappointed. I knew that one of those sites would belong to a girl named Emma, who would be chosen because of her language proficiency, so that left only a 2 out of 34 chance for me.

"My site is Tshane and I'm going to Tshane Primary School!"

So...all 15 people before me, including that girl, went up, got their piece of paper with their name and village, announced it to everyone, looked for their pin on the map, shook the country director's hand, and collected their cookie/monster pop/cup of soda. When number 16 was called, even though I was about to vomit from nerves, I went up to the table and got the paper with the name of my site. I said, "My site is Tshane and I'm going to Tshane Primary School." I walked up to the map and when the PC staffer pointed to my pin, I about died. There would be three people going to the Kgalagadi district and I was one of them!!! My hands were shaking so badly that I could hardly pin my name to the map. In my joy/relief I even forgot all about the country director and went right for the cookie! I heard "Sarah! Sarah! Country director!" and I rushed over to shake his hand. He was so amused that he actually bypassed the hand shake and gave me a hug instead. I sat down, ate my cookie (which was amazing) and my monster pop, and drank my cup of orange soda. After all 34 people had found out their new sites, most of us spent the afternoon celebrating at the local cafe/hangout spot.

me, my half-eaten cookie, and Lui the Photobomber

In conclusion, I got exactly what I was hoping for. I'm not sure how much my language proficiency in Setswana played a part. I am going to Tshane (pronounced tsa-neh.) The tsa is all one sound, think the last three letters of the word "mats" with an neh at the end. Tshane. You can look it up on a map of Botswana and see that it is in the south western part of the country in the Kgalagadi district. I will have to learn another language, Sekgalagadi, which is a kind of dialect of Setswana. I wonder if I will get yet another name!? I will find out more details when I meet my supervisor on Monday, but for now I know that I will be living in a government house, supposedly two bedrooms with electricity. The water situation there sucks because it is in the middle of the Kalahari desert. I will probably have to store water because there will not be consistent access. Tshane is about two hours away from the nearest grocery store, so I will be commuting every other weekend or so to buy food. The people there are of the ethnic group Bakgalagadi. From what I've heard the people are amazing, I will be surrounded by sand dunes, and I will love it. The main challenges of my school, per the pamphlet I was given, are HIV/AIDS, bullying, lack of respect, and needy children. I'm very excited and can't wait to move there mid-November!

I received several packages this week and would like to offically thank the people that sent them to me. I am currently hoarding American snacks and candy to take to site with me!

Thank you, everybody, for reading these posts and for your feedback! It really makes me feel great to know that somebody is interested in this amazing adventure I'm having out here! I hope that this post finds everyone well, and feel free to email me one on one if you have any questions!

Ke a leboga le tsamayang sentle,
(Thank you and stay well)