(no subject)
Homestays. Wow.
I've been living in someone else's house for the past two weeks.
And like I said, I got lucky. Flush toilet, electricity, TV. Those commodities seriously decreased my chance of encountering the GINORMOUS cockroaches that roam Botswana. These suckers are BIGGER than Georgia roaches, which are pretty damn big. They breed in the pit toilets. So, for the unlucky kids that had no electricity or flush toilets, they had to go to the outhouse at night, which apparently is covered in roaches. They trained themselves not to pee at night. For those of you unaware, I have a major fear of roaches. I think I'd rather be surrounded by scorpions than roaches. Apparently one of the homestays will be in a very rural area, where most likely no one will have flush toilets, and roaches just sort of chill in the family room with the family. I may just go into a voluntary two-week coma until it's over. Or buy an anti-roach nuclear force field or something. We'll see.
So that's constantly on my mind.
Homestays are tough. You have two weeks to not only adjust to a different culture, but to try and feel comfortable in a complete stranger's home. Today we left Kumakwane, a relatively rural village outside of Gabarone. My "mom" was a 68 year-old grandmother type lady who was a little matronly and bossy. She also had trouble pronouncing my name. "Strublah! You will bath now!" I'm still wary of her, but we warmed to eachother by the end of the two weeks. There was also a girl, apparently her maid, who was my age and stayed with her. She would just laugh at any weird cultural mistake I made and brush it off quickly. I'll miss her.
So I feel like I've finally been able to settle in there, get my bearings and familiarize myself with the wandering footpaths everyone takes to get around, and today we left. We're staying one, maybe two nights in a Gabarone hotel to decompress, and then we're being dropped off in someone else's home in Gabarone for two weeks. We'll have an intensive class schedule at the University of Botswana in addition to adjusting to a whole new family. Pressurepressurepressure. It's a little hard to relax when you're anxious about tomorrow.
BUT! Good things too!
- Obidiwa Naledi ka setswana. (I am called Naledi in Setswana.) It means "star".
- Kumukane was really a beautiful, relaxed village. Cows, donkeys, goats and chickens wandered around all over the place.
- I was on national TV last night! Sure, they only have one station here, but national tv is national tv. And it was a close-up, too. We went to the opening ceremonies of some athletic conference involving a bunch of countries that was being held in Kumukwane. I was a spectator.
- I still like eveyone in the group. 14 people. Three weeks. That's saying a lot.
- The other week we all visited this middle-of-nowhere bar/resturant that lets you braai (barbecue) you own chunk of cow. It was tasty, and just being able to chill there for a while sans awkward homestay moments was nice.
- I am looking forward to actually taking some classes! Ecology! I have thirsted for you!
- I can now speak Setswana basics. Sort of. Some letter combinations are hard to pronounce, and the language is tonal. So, depending on how you stress "mabele", you'll either say "maize" or "breasts".
I miss home, but I'm not homesick yet.
<3
P.S. Write me emails. Even the little stuff going on at home is nice to hear about.
I've been living in someone else's house for the past two weeks.
And like I said, I got lucky. Flush toilet, electricity, TV. Those commodities seriously decreased my chance of encountering the GINORMOUS cockroaches that roam Botswana. These suckers are BIGGER than Georgia roaches, which are pretty damn big. They breed in the pit toilets. So, for the unlucky kids that had no electricity or flush toilets, they had to go to the outhouse at night, which apparently is covered in roaches. They trained themselves not to pee at night. For those of you unaware, I have a major fear of roaches. I think I'd rather be surrounded by scorpions than roaches. Apparently one of the homestays will be in a very rural area, where most likely no one will have flush toilets, and roaches just sort of chill in the family room with the family. I may just go into a voluntary two-week coma until it's over. Or buy an anti-roach nuclear force field or something. We'll see.
So that's constantly on my mind.
Homestays are tough. You have two weeks to not only adjust to a different culture, but to try and feel comfortable in a complete stranger's home. Today we left Kumakwane, a relatively rural village outside of Gabarone. My "mom" was a 68 year-old grandmother type lady who was a little matronly and bossy. She also had trouble pronouncing my name. "Strublah! You will bath now!" I'm still wary of her, but we warmed to eachother by the end of the two weeks. There was also a girl, apparently her maid, who was my age and stayed with her. She would just laugh at any weird cultural mistake I made and brush it off quickly. I'll miss her.
So I feel like I've finally been able to settle in there, get my bearings and familiarize myself with the wandering footpaths everyone takes to get around, and today we left. We're staying one, maybe two nights in a Gabarone hotel to decompress, and then we're being dropped off in someone else's home in Gabarone for two weeks. We'll have an intensive class schedule at the University of Botswana in addition to adjusting to a whole new family. Pressurepressurepressure. It's a little hard to relax when you're anxious about tomorrow.
BUT! Good things too!
- Obidiwa Naledi ka setswana. (I am called Naledi in Setswana.) It means "star".
- Kumukane was really a beautiful, relaxed village. Cows, donkeys, goats and chickens wandered around all over the place.
- I was on national TV last night! Sure, they only have one station here, but national tv is national tv. And it was a close-up, too. We went to the opening ceremonies of some athletic conference involving a bunch of countries that was being held in Kumukwane. I was a spectator.
- I still like eveyone in the group. 14 people. Three weeks. That's saying a lot.
- The other week we all visited this middle-of-nowhere bar/resturant that lets you braai (barbecue) you own chunk of cow. It was tasty, and just being able to chill there for a while sans awkward homestay moments was nice.
- I am looking forward to actually taking some classes! Ecology! I have thirsted for you!
- I can now speak Setswana basics. Sort of. Some letter combinations are hard to pronounce, and the language is tonal. So, depending on how you stress "mabele", you'll either say "maize" or "breasts".
I miss home, but I'm not homesick yet.
<3
P.S. Write me emails. Even the little stuff going on at home is nice to hear about.