It's all in the details.

Moths aren't uncommon here. Most windows don't have screens, and the bathroom windows are always open, so I see lots of different insects in my daily comings and goings. But this little guy I saw last night was definitely my favorite so far. Super small, and so beautifully and solidly colored that he didn't even look real at first.

It's the halfway point of the week and I've been busy. On Saturday I went to a Seventh-Day Adventist church service in the UB Student Center with a girl from the poetry reading sessions. On Sunday I went to an Anglican Church down the street. Both were interesting experiences, but I think I might keep looking around. Sunday afternoon saw me at choir rehearsal from 1600 to 1900, and then a skype date with my parents, leaving me pretty voiceless for the rest of the night. Monday was laundry and swimming - 1000 meters this time! - both of which occurred at portions in the rain, but luckily my clothes were still dry by the end of the day. Tuesday was another busy day of classes, including a fun ecology lab that reminded me of predation lessons from middle school science (probably the last time I dealt with most of the topics ecology is going to cover). At choir rehearsal last night they announced that we would now be meeting on Mondays and Wednesdays too. Since Wednesdays are when I go to the poetry reading session, I'm not sure I'm going to be making that, but we'll see how it all balances out. I could always come late to poetry, since choir is only one hour long and poetry is two and a half at least.

Today is paper-printing, more laundry-washing (if things stay dry), possibly swimming, and poetry tonight - at which I may just read my poem "Stairwell Jazz" that I wrote freshman year. I'll let you know how it goes if I do! :) The homework load is starting to pick up just a little bit, with a decent amount of reading and now a lab report to write for next Tuesday, but it still doesn't compare with the amount of work we have to do in the States. I suppose I can't really complain. I may start delving into some independent research of my own just to see, since I will probably do an independent study next semester. We'll see!

Gotta have my Chucks...

Converse All-Stars. Chuck Taylors. They are the iconic American shoe. Something we developed in the 20s or 30s and have kept looking the same classic style ever since. They've made appearances in several films, from Sandlot to Grease. It's fairly common for people to have them in the U.S., although I wouldn't say that everybody has a pair - maybe 50%.

In Botswana, that number is more like 85%, if not higher.

Chucks are super-popular here, and everyone seems to have a pair. In general, they cost more here than they do in the states. I've seen them go for around P300, or $45, and more, for just the plain classics with nothing special about them. Crazy! But as with the instance of the ethernet chord I got for P10 when everyone else paid P80+, you really just have to shop around and get lucky. I was at Main Mall and found a pair of burgundy hi-tops in my size only for P70 - just over $10. Best buy ever. I splurged, and now I have my first pair of real Chuck Taylors, and I wear them with pride with every other Motswana here. I've even been complimented on them.

Fashion is interesting here. It's a strange combination of meetings between African, American, Indian, and European styles. A lot of outfits you see people wearing have a bit of distinctly African flair, and there are certain brands (Ama Kip Kip!) that are specifically African, but you can see a lot of American influence in styles as well (need I repeat my epithet on Chucks?). And then there are the styles that perhaps existed in America at one point, but certainly aren't there now, but people are rockin' over here. Example: the girl I saw wearing boy-cut, semi-skinny jeans that had that bleach/acid stain pattern that was popular for awhile in middle school. But she was rockin' those jeans. No girls wear plain tshirts here - it's all fitted, and often fancy or stamped with some saying or other (some of which are funny to me, like "skate 'til you die"). I tried to fit in for awhile, but on the day when I ran out of fitted shirts I slipped on that baggy tee and blue jeans and I decided that I can't be dressing up all the time because it's just too uncomfortable for me. I love wearing t-shirts and jeans. And the Chucks, of course, are an added bonus.

So that's my little bit on fashion. I just thought I'd reflect on that a bit. I am now a member of poetry reading session, University choir, and possibly the History Society. We'll see how things go. No big plans this weekend, just hanging out, going to the movies, baking brownies, and writing my first paper of the semester. Should be good.

Until next time!

~Jaclynn

UB Choir

I know I only posted just a couple days ago, but I had to write a quick post on my experience tonight. After a long and full day of classes I wound my way through the maze of the western UB campus to find the "old student center committee room". The building has nothing on the new Student Center, but I do appreciate the open courtyards filled with trees. But I digress.

We found the committee room, and we found the UB choir. It is a club, sponsored by the Student Representative Committee (SRC). It is free to join, and probably contains about 30 singers by rough estimate. We sat around for a minute or two when a young man with impeccable posture in a wife beater and English cap led us all in stretches. Were we in the right place? Yes. This choir stretches, arms, legs, and back, before singing. After our stretching we did some vocal warmups. Everyone started singing a song that they all knew that I couldn't make out the foreign words to. But no matter, I picked out the alto part and sang along anyway, even if my consonants were all wrong.

Our director switched to a small man dressed very well who handed out sheet music and began to teach us a song in four parts with do-re-mi instead of the words that were given. I suppose that it was alright, since I would be trying to pronounce unknown words and sing notes I was unsure of at the same time. After we got through the first two pages, an hour had passed, and after some announcements we called it a day. It was an hour of listening to the strongest basses I've ever heard, to the untouchable beauty of African chorus, and to the simple language of solfege. Rehearsals are Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. The concert is the Sunday beginning Spring Break. Will I be able to be there? I don't know. But we'll see. For now, I enjoyed the singing and the song.

The first week of classes?

There's many factors that come into play when one discusses the first week of classes at the University of Botswana. I'll try to summarize them below:

1. Problems with registration (done manually here) meant that many people were still waiting for their print-outs (verification of successful registration) on Monday and Tuesday, or in my case, Thursday.

2. Professors, likewise, and for the same reasons, do not have print-outs of their class rosters.

3. Students received their monetary allowance from the government this week (and who wants to get an education when they're rich?)

4. It is typical for both professors and students alike to miss the first week of classes entirely because, as many Batswana will tell you, nothing really happens.

I survived my first week of classes, but most classes were sparsely populated and very little happened in many of them. After a bit of finagling, I have created a class schedule that leaves my Fridays completely open. Translation: I won't have to skip classes to get in a 3-day weekend of travel. My courses are as follows:

1. History - Growth, Policy, and Poverty in Africa, Latin America, South and Southeast Asia.

2. African-Caribbean Literature

3. Biology - Principles of Ecology

4. Introduction to Setswana

5. The Sociology of Literature

6. Children's Traditions and Dramatics (looking at children's game, storytelling, and other traditions. I thought it might be useful to my park ranger career. :)

The last two I am trying out new this week, and I may drop one or the other, or I may keep both if I think I can handle 6 courses. The credit load is only 16 hours, and the word on the street is that homework loads are much lighter here than back in the States, so I'm thinking I might be okay. Whatever the case, I need to keep myself busy, because so far I've been academically bored, and that's no fun!

A couple fun things I've done in the past several days include hiking up Kgale Hill (pronounced KHAH-lee; see pictures here), a visit to the National Museum and Art Gallery (where I was startled and a bit disturbed to witness the HIV/AIDS awareness movement in the form of phallus and condom art), the purchasing of a pair of burgundy hi-top Chuck Taylors for 70 pula ($10.57) in Main Mall, and this weekend's cultural excursion through the international office which included learning about traditional administration and judiciary goings-on at a kgotla (KHOHT-lah), ancient rock wall paintings, the biggest, oldest wild fig tree ever, sleeping in a mud hut, and more! (see pictures here)

The first real week of classes starts tomorrow, and I'm excited to see how school goes once we all fall into the swing of things.

Until next time!

~Jaclynn

Topics Course #1

I have a mini notebook that I keep with me here in which I'm going to write on various thoughts that occur to me during my time here. It's something a bit less formal than a journal, and a bit more commentatively specific. When I write a good one and choose to post it on here, I'm going to call it one of my "Topics Course" series. So, without much further ado, here is Topics Course #1: Ants.

How many of you have to shake the ants out of your toothbrush before your teeth-cleaning regimen? My guess is none, but I do. For some reason the ants really appreciate my toothbrush. Before brushing, I shake off my toothbrush case on the outside, open it and dump out my toothbrush before shaking off the inside, & then shake off the toothbrush itself. Kind of a process, I know, but it seems to do the job. I think that once I meet more locals I'll have to ask if any of them have this problem & what to do about it. Until then, they don't bother me too bad, so long as I don't eat them and they don't eat me - which is more than I can say for the vigilante mosquitoes.

Arrived!

I'm safe and sound in Botswana. The experience so far has been interesting, and I have been made grateful for my experiences in Zambia, which already taught me the art of patience in Africa. While many around me have been reeling at the unclarity and the long waits, I have simply observed and not partaken in their agitation. The weather here is terribly hot and sticky, but it's cooling down a bit at least for the evening snooze. Tomorrow we register for classes and the other students return to campus. We will also get moved into our official dorms (these were just placeholders for now) with local roommates. I'm excited to have someone to tell me what I'm supposed to do with myself. :) Anyway, I will write more later, when there is more to write. For now, I'm going to hang out with other international students, and then attempt to sleep off my jet lag. Welcome to Botswana!

Lift off!

It's the moment we've all been waiting for... well, maybe I'm the only one who's really been waiting for it fervantly. Regardless, it's here. In a couple hours my parents and I will be driving down to Chicago, to O'Hare, where they will drop me off and I will embark on the late-night beginning leg of my journey to the University of Botswana. I won't arrive until Wednesday morning, and I probably won't be able to sit for longer than 20 minutes until Saturday, but either way I'm pretty excited.

The bag is weighing in at 49.8 lb., with a stuffed carry-on and an equally-stuffed "personal item" to boot. Luckily I discovered that on the way back, South African Airways allows for 30kg in your checked luggage. Essentially 66 lb. But for now, I have to deal with the all-too-American limit of 50 lb. and cut my losses (namely several travel packs of kleenexes and two bars of soap).

It's hard to believe that I'm really on my way, that this day has actually come, and that in a few days, I'll be waking up in a dorm room in Africa. And the next time that I post to this blog, it'll be through the internet services of the University of Botswana.

You're allowed to think I'm nuts. :)