5 Oct 12

5 Oct 12

So...next week is shadowing week, the week that all trainees get to spend a week with a current volunteer getting the in's and out's of real volunteer service. In a very dramatic unveiling ceremony, I found out that I am going to Tutume. Google it! It's a larger village up north, past Francistown. I am staying with a married couple (I think) and I am very excited. They are also planning a little party for me in Francistown before I leave. I am going to Tutume on Tuesday and will return to Kanye on Sunday. It is about a 6 hour bus ride to Tutume. Unfortunately, it is above the malaria endemic line. Beginning this afternoon (I'm waiting for the nurse to arrive now), I will have to take Mefloquin, an anti-malaria prophylaxis, and it has some pretty thrilling side effects.

Some exciting things that happened this week:

Traditional Dancing! 

-I took a field trip to a "cultural village." The trainees were welcomed by traditional dancers in traditional dancing regalia. They are absolutely amazing. Not only do they dance but as they are dancing they provide their own music with their mouths! Singing, clapping, dancing. Then we got to watch a mock wedding. I learned about the duties of woman after marriage, including grinding sorghum.

-I had another "real african bug" experience. I was laying in bed in the dark sending a text message to another trainee. All of a sudden a huge grasshopper thing, about 2 inches long, jumped right up on my face. I screamed, threw off the covers, and switched on the light. I noticed the little monster climbing up the wall, heading for the ceiling. Immediately I grabbed my Peace Corps issued bug spray, DOOM, which is banned in the US because it is soooo toxic. I sprayed that bug with the Doom and of course, it fell onto my bed still kicking. Without concern for the poisonous nature of the bug spray, I sprayed that bad boy and the sheets along with it. I scooped up the bug and threw it to the floor where I doused it in more bug spray. It died. I turned my covers so that the area I had sprayed was near the foot of the bed and reluctantly climbed back in. Scary.

Grinding sorghum. They will add water to the ground sorghum and cook to make a porridge.

-I have sustained my first "real african injury." I wore flip flops to the shops on Saturday and Lui and Diane decided that we should walk the several miles home. I agreed just to be agreeable and hoofed it in my flops. When I got home I noticed a very small blister deep under the skin on the ball of my foot. I ignored it. Over the course of several days the blister developed into a two inch long, one inch wide blister that required several lancings. The night before last I was in quite a lot of pain because there was no way for me to keep dirt and gravel from getting under the skin. Please note that there is absolutely no way for me to keep my feet clean here. They are always dirty. Walking around my house turns my feet black. Dirt was accumulating in between the skin of the blister and the meaty flesh underneath it. I took a tiny pair of scissors and cut away the skin over the blister so that I could keep it clean. I am walking with a distinct limp right now but the raw skin is becoming regular foot skin and I think it will be ok in no time.

-We had lots of sessions this week, including the much anticipated one coming up in half an hour: all the nasty things that you can catch in Africa, bug bites, snake bites, diarrhea, and STDS. Yesterday, we visited a school to see what it was like. There were no students around because they are on holiday all week (good planning Peace Corps!) but we were able to take a tour. Corporal punishment is practiced in schools here, which is probably one of the most distinct differences between US and Bots schools.

-I mentioned in my last email that last weekend was the start of the Independence Day celebration, which lasts all week. I agreed to go to church with my family on Sunday, the first and last time I will go. It was an interesting experience to say the least. The church was a large room, decorated in the colors of Botswana's flag. It was really quite beautiful. The service started with singing with accompaniment from a keyboard and drums. People in Bots have a natural ability to harmonize without any kind of practice whatsoever so you can imagine that their hymns are absolutely beautiful to hear. There was also lots of clapping and ululating, a talent that I'm working on with my sister. Once the pastor started talking he kept talking and talking and then when he was finished talking he talked some more. The service lasted a brief 3 hours and 15 minutes. Many people stayed after for lunch but me and my 16 year old sister, Casey, and I high-tailed it home.

My 16 year old sister, Casey. Isn't she beautiful?

-I have gotten to be pretty good friends with  Casey. She is the most amazing girl and she treats me like I am the queen of the world. She serves me and packs my lunch and tries to wash my laundry for me and asks if she can make me breakfast. I think she really looks up to me. I feel very blessed to know her and I'm going to be very sad when she has to go back to boarding school on Sunday.

-This week I had the privilege of meeting two female community activists who are HIV+. They did a presentation on the stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV/AIDS. One of the ladies, Francine, learned that she was HIV + when she was pregnant in the early 2000's. "Through the Grace of God", as she put it, and also through ARV drugs, she was able to deliver a child that is HIV- and another one a few years later. She was married to a Muslim man who was a denialist, meaning he denied the existence of HIV and did not believe in taking ARV drugs or using condoms. He would make her home remedies and insist that she drink them while he would throw her medication (the medication keeping her alive) in the latrine. She suffered in her marriage and her husband died a couple of years ago, from the disease caused by the virus that he denied. The other lady, Agnes, was motivated to get tested in the late 90's when she drove by a billboard that said "60,000 people living with AIDS." She thought to herself 'Where are all these people with HIV?' She got tested and found out that she was one of them. Her husband, also HIV+, was very supportive and they took care of each other until he passed away last year. Through the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission Program, she was able to deliver several babies that are HIV-. Because of her status, she has been unemployed for the past 10 years, as no one will hire her. She spends her time in the community facilitating support groups and educating people about HIV. Both of these women are an amazing inspiration for everyone, HIV+ and HIV-.

Botswana is getting hotter and hotter everyday. We have not had another rain since the one last week that knocked out the power. We are all perpetually sweaty and covered in the reddish brown dust of Botswana. I was very glad to see that a package had arrived for me yesterday. It was full of all the stuff that I couldn't take in my suitcase: lots of spices, soap, some clothes, and a can opener. I walked into my house after school yesterday and found my cousin, Neal, opening a can of jam with a steak knife. He was pretty excited when I opened my package and there was my can opener! Life is easier with a can opener!

cactus flower

I had my first language interview this week and I think I did very well. I have gotten good at having basic conversations with people that I meet while I'm walking to school. A lot of people just laugh at me but they seem to appreciate my effort.

One thing I always took for granted in America: hand towels. Many people in Bots don't wash their hands as frequently as Americans (it's quite impossible without running water) so they have little use for hand towels. My friend, Diane, purchased some hand soap at the grocery store and the clerk actually asked her "What is that for?" Hello, Africa.

This was a good week, things are progressing, and I am one week closer  to swearing in and heading for my permanent site. Thank you for all the love I got this week. I think about all of you all the time and hope that everyone is well and happy.

All my love,

Salang sentle! Stay well!