Not too far from home

This morning after doing some handwashing I went to the mall with my friend Kourtney in search of Cadbury Maple & Pecan Mousse chocolate for my roommate to use as an example for her presentation on how maple syrup is made (which I helped her write. ;). We no sooner walked into the store than were greeted by a stand of Valentine's Day gifts, from the chincy to the cheesy. Okay, I thought they were all cheesy. But what can I say: I've never been a fan of Valentine's Day.

The holiday is pretty well-celebrated here. Several people were wearing red shirts today - especially the BDP people, whose shirt is red, and which they were even selling at a booth outside. I would say at least 40% of the campus that I saw, if not more. I received an anonymous text wishing me a happy Valentine's Day, and multiple friends that I ran into wished me a happy Valentine's Day as well. Not to mention that the number of guys and girls actually holding hands in public today was much higher than it usually is.

Today is just a short post. Just a little bit to say that I find it funny how a commercial holiday in the U.S. is practically the same here, with the red, the gifts, the couples, the advertisements for V-Day dances, the cheesy romantic music playing on the UB radio station, and whatnot. You name it, it's probably here. Today, I could have been in the U.S. and seeing the same things. Interesting how things carry over like that.

One time at Choir Camp...

I have decided that the UB Choir is one of the best things that has happened to me since I came to Botswana - right up there with the discovery of phaphata.

This weekend the choir went "camping" (more like a retreat) at Oodima Junior School about a half hour or so from Gaborone. We spent our time there in a mixture of activities ranging from intense rehearsals (we got a new song that is in Italian - or will be when we add the words - and is very, VERY difficult) to eating, to goofing around. The "official" camp lasted until about 8 or 9 o'clock on Saturday night, leaving the rest of the evening and the following morning for games and fun. And there was plenty of both. We had a braai (bbq - pronounced like "rye" with a "b" in front), but we didn't eat until after midnight, so the intermittent time was spent chatting, goofing off, singing fun songs, and playing games. Not only did I get engaged, but I also learned more games than I can shake a stick at - it was an absolute blast!

I was the only international student who went out of the three of us who have been attending more-or-less regularly. At first I was a bit nervous - the language barrier can make things pretty awkward, especially when you don't know people. But by the end of the weekend, I was glad that I had been the only international because it forced me to come out of my comfort zone and really start to make friends with the locals - and gave them a chance to make friends with me, the less outgoing of the international students in choir. When Sunday rolled around I was someone people could have fun with, and no longer just the girl who comes in and tells people how to sing rhythms because they don't know how to read music, I was Botshelo (boht-SAY-loh), the international student who somewhat fits in as a very light-skinned Motswana. I also became much more comfortable with the situation of having people speak Setswana around me. And, while my Setswana still isn't good enough to be conversant, I would say that I am starting to speak it myself - little by very little - and that I can actually somewhat follow conversations (the more English helper-words thrown in the better!) and stories even though I don't have much of an idea what they're actually saying aside from a couple words and phrases here and there.

My next goal is to find someone who will be willing to help bring me up to conversational level, because the Setswana course we take is not terribly immersive or intense, and if that's all I have to go on I won't be speaking much better than I am now by the end of the semester. My professor told me that I didn't belong in the class because I was putting things together too fast and asking too many questions about manipulating the information I already knew to make out information I haven't been taught yet, which tells me that it will be entirely up to me to take my Setswana to the next level before I go.

Well, I hate to sound like a broken record, but I have to finish my light supper before I head off to choir rehearsal. Hopefully we can make a bit more headway on this terribly difficult new song of ours!

Until next time!

~Botshelo

The Black Market on Lab Coats

It was Tuesday, the day of my first real lab in Principles of Ecology. I sat awkwardly at the back of the room, positioning myself behind the other students to hide my color in a sea of white. At the University of Botswana, it is mandatory for all students to wear a lab coat, buttoned up, while in the lab - even if all you're going to do is count colored corn kernels and it's 86° outside with no fans and no AC to cool you down.

The lab began with the usual announcements, and a stern warning about wearing the proper lab attire for future labs - a sort of "we'll let it slide: this time." I partnered with a random guy at the back who introduced himself as Owen. Our experiment, a simulation of natural selection which required the counting and moving of colored corn kernels, was a breeze. We flew through it, and were out of our three-hour lab session about half-way through. The first ones - and no one else looked even close to finishing.

On the way out, he asked me, "Do you need a lab coat?" "Yes," I replied. "How much can you pay?" he asked. "Fifty pula," I stated. "Ok, I'll call you when I get it." We exchanged numbers, parted ways, and I headed off to an early supper before choir rehearsal. Let me explain something about what just happened: lab coats are not cheap. The school bookstore has the monopoly on them, and the chances of me finding such a random article in another store are slim to none. The cost for a lab coat from the UB bookstore? app. P180. That's about $30. And P50? You're looking at about $7.40. It's a pretty significant difference.

The next day I was eating lunch at Moghul when Owen came up. Turns out he'd been calling me all day but had one digit wrong in my number. No matter: he pulled out the lab coat, I tried it on, folded it into my bag, and handed him a P50 bill. Transaction complete.

It was Tuesday, the day of my second real lab in Principles of Ecology. I sat right up front, just another white lab coat in a sea of white lab coats. And of course, at the University of Botswana it is mandatory for students to have their lab coats buttoned in the lab, even if all you're going to do that day is watch a video, so I was sweltering in 86° heat with no fan and no AC to cool me down. But standing at my workbench, lab coat shining in the sun, I have to say that I felt pretty darn cool.

:)