Wow so I’ve realized its been two weeks since I last updated, where has time gone? To be fair, I’ve been quite busy. Here goes the week of Feb 8-14. This was a fairly normal week. After the robbery I had a few scrapes on my knees. Everyone in my classes were very curious as to how I got injured. Of course I told them the story, and mostly the reply was, “Oh I’m so sorry that happened” or “Hey if it helps, I’ve been robbed also.” At least I was not the only person to get robbed. The week was pretty normal, well as normal as it gets in Botswana. I played lots of softball this week. I also traveled to a local school for a project that I have to do in one of my classes. The school is out of Gabs and you have to take a combi to get there. I just dropped off a letter to the teacher explaining what the project was. I have to do a project where I go to a school and observe a kid who could potentially have ADHD. You have to observe at least 6 times. Its an interesting project. The weekend was fairly uneventful. On Saturday Feb 13 we went out to celebrate my friend’s birthday.
Monday came and it was sure a rough one. I had an essay that I finished over the weekend and turned in on Monday. I also had an illustrated essay for my Traditional African Architecture Class that was due Tuesday. It was about describing, by drawing and words, the setting and place I grew up in. I also started studying for the 4 tests I had later in the week. I had two tests on Thursday Feb 18, one on Friday, and one on Sunday. I can’t believe I took a test on Sunday, I’ve never taken a test on Sunday before in my entire life. It was strange and took up the whole weekend. I did play all 7 innings in a softball game on Saturday. On Sunday I was finally done. It was quite a hectic week of school. Its really the first time I had to study and turn in papers, so I should not be complaining.
On Monday Feb 22 I went to Bull and Bush for 55 Pula ribs with about 10 of my friends. It was a nice start to the week. On Tuesday I traveled to the school, hoping to observe a kid for my project, but the teacher was not in and therefore I was unsuccessful. On Wednesday, I got my first haircut in Riverwalk Mall. My hair was so long, as I had not had a haircut since mid December. It felt good to get a haircut and I finally got a new camera! You will see pictures soon. Today was a success because I traveled to the school, received a kid to observe for the project, and then got to observe her. It sure is interesting sitting in a classroom in Botswana, I’ll go in detail in a later post. I also got a 1.25 liter of Coke in a glass bottle, how cool is that? I didn’t know they made glass bottles that big.
As I finish this post, I am just about to leave for my spring/ short break trip. In my next post I will go in detail about some observations and more daily life in Gabs. For now I’m going on a 14 day adventure. I’m going to Maputo in Mozambique. From there I’m going to be in a rented house on Tofo beach in Mozambique. I’m traveling with four friends. I’m going to be snorkeling and doing tons of swimming. Also a visit to national park that is a group of islands is another activity. The last half of the trip I’m going to Kruger National Park where my friend and I will take a safari organized by our hostel which includes a one night stay in the park. Also we’ll do some hiking in the area and then make our way back to Gabs. Its going to be a great trip with lots to see and do.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Weeks 1-4 and my robbery story
Alright, so it has been a bit of time since I’ve last posted, but here it comes all at once. I was in Durban, South Africa, two weeks ago, and I have not had internet in my room for a week now. Supposedly its getting fixed tomorrow, but I’ll see if that actually happens. I also got jumped/robbed over the last weekend, read next posts.
During the first week, the International office, organized a cultural dinner. Here I saw traditional dances and ate these Mopani worms. Click on the picture slideshow for more info. On January 11, classes finally started, well sort of. I showed up at my first scheduled class at 9am and the professor did not show up. At 10am I went to the start of my Macroeconomics class, only to again have the teacher not show up. My next class was at 2pm and its called the Roots of Crisis in Modern Central Africa. The teacher showed up late and just handed out the syllabus. My next class, was called social problems of Southern Africa. I say was, because I later dropped that class, due to various reasons. So Monday was done and later that night, several of my friends and I went to Bull and Bush for some good ribs. Tuesday, I got up for one of my classes, only to not be able to find the classroom. Actually, it turns out that I found the right classroom, but the class actually had been rescheduled for a different day and room, perhaps a sign of things to come. That was it for Tuesday. Also during this week, it was the chance to add/drop courses, and boy did I ever. It was almost impossible to find course descriptions before I came to Botswana, so that is why the need for all the changes. Also, my home university, changed some of their requirements for those graduating after the spring of 2010, basically allowing me more freedom. On Wednesday, my professor for Development Impact Assessments, showed up and we actually had class. My next professor showed up as well. I attended another class later that day, which I ended up not signing up for. The next morning I went to a 7am class, yes a 7am class called Education of Children with ADHD, which I have ended up keeping, as part of the class involves a project to travel to a local school in Gabs, and observe kids who potentially have ADHD. Also later that day, I met with a guy to inquire more about a class called, Traditional African Architecture. I ended up taking that class and I’m loving it. Friday was a bit hectic, as it was the last day to add a course. I attended a course called the Demography of Botswana, which I have stuck with to this day and it provides me with a direct insight into the culture of Bots. I handed in my registration form and the total was 7 classes worth 18 credits. My traditional African Architecture class actually ends halfway through the semester. Three of my classes are only 2 credits each. So onto the weekend.
Early Saturday morning, all the international students, including myself, boarded a University of Botswana Bus for our weekend overnight cultural excursion. Our first stop was at a food research center, where scientists are researching which foods can be produced locally in Botswana. Very few foods are produced here, and almost all of the products in grocery stores come from South Africa. Even the power comes from South Africa, well at least some of it. The next stop was at the village kgolta of Kanye. Here we met local chiefs and learned about the village. Next we went to a lake to have a braai, or bbq. I skipped a few rocks with some local kids. After lunch, we hiked up a gorge. My friends Kate, Eric, Dalton, Villa, and I hiked up to a spectacular view of the surrounding countryside. We arrived at our lodge area. We slept in tents, with two to three people in each. It was a very traditional way of staying in tents. This place had a outdoor shower, which I took advantage up. It was one of the top 5 showers I’ve ever taken in my life. And the sun was setting as I was taking a shower. For dinner I had some traditional beer, which came and out of milk carton and had small seeds in it. It was interesting. I saw traditional dances and gazed at the stars. The stars are different as I am down in the Southern Hemisphere. The next day, we saw some rock paintings, the Livingstone Tree, and went to a water park. The highlight of the day was a game drive in the Mocolodi Game Reserve. Here I saw giraffes, elephants, a zebra, wildebeests, a cheetah, antelope, and warthogs. It was so much fun. The neck of a giraffe is huge. Its nice to see them in a natural habitat. It was the en d of a great weekend.
The second week of classes started, rather its really the first real week according to the local students. On Monday of course, I went to Bull and Bush with friends for some ribs. It’s a Monday night thing you know. Classes were uneventful, but during Tuesday and Wednesday, it was raining cats and dogs. And the drainage system didn’t could not exactly hold all of the water, thus causing the street outside my dorm to be completely flooded. A backhoe came through to try and shovel water into the grass. There was also Spectacular thunder and lightning. For the weekend, on Friday night, my friends and I went o Lizard Lounge. Saturday was spent hanging out with my friends Montle, Kabo, Ras Diva, and Vinny. Kabo and Ras Diva are members of a local band. I saw them practice. Later that night, we found live music in Gabs. Week three of classes started, and guess what, on Monday I went to have Bull and Bush Ribs once again. On Tuesday I went to softball practice for the Universities’ team. Softball in Africa you may think is strange, but it is actually more common than you think. It brought me back to the days I used to play baseball. It was quite fun. I continued to go all of that week. My friend Eric, and I went to a cricket practice. It was fast paced. I also went out for the running team, and did various track workouts during the week.
In the middle of the week, several of my friends, Antonio, Eric, Andrea, Lucile, Dalton, and Morgan traveled down to Durban, South Africa. I decided to join them on Friday night. I left Gabs on a combi at 6am in the morning. A combi, is a mini-van type deal with about 15-20 people inside. At the border of Bots/South Africa you get out of the combi and walk through to the South African side, where you meet your vehicle. Its quite funky. The combi went to Johannesburg or Jo’burg as will call it from here on out. Nearing the station, there were mass amounts of people going every which direction. It also looked like you could buy your whole household needs from the numerous street vendors. It was mass chaos. Various people opened the combi door and inquired where I was going. I told them I was headed to Durban and they said they could lead me to the bus station. The driver of the combi, specifically told me to stay on, as those people will lead you and then ask for money. The driver said those people can be dangerous and are not to be trusted. Speaking of danger, Jo’burg is one of the world’s most dangerous cities. I always took the necessary precautions of guarding my stuff and never giving anyone money. The combi driver had actually arranged for someone to walk with me from the combi station to the bus station, which was right next door. I appreciated how my driver was looking out for me. I got into the bus station and purchased a 2:00pm bus ticket to Durban. I had about 2 hours to kill and just hung out in the station. I boarded the double decker bus and ended up having to sit next to a very large man, who was halfway on my seat. He was so fat, the armrest could not go down. I had a picture, but lost my camera. The journey to Durban lasted about 7.5 hours. The bus stopped and I got out to rain and I thought to myself, I’m actually cold, for the first time in a month. These two nice Indian ladies, helped me get a taxi to my hostel and at 10pm I walked into the hostel. Outside of India, Durban has the largest population of people living in a city with Indian decent. My friends were shocked to see me, as they were not sure if I was going to make it down to Durban. We went out and had a great night. The next day, we went to the beach, where I saw and swam in the Indian Ocean for the first time. That night, we went out with some South African guys we met at our hostel. Sunday was another beach day. Later that night I got my seafood fix at Italian restaurant. The only downer of the day, was that my friend Dalton, got his shorts stolen with his wallet in it. Someone swiped it right off the beach while some of us were sitting there. His shorts were behind the group. Swimming in the Indian Ocean, was nice and warm. Sadly we had to leave the hostel and Durban. The hostel had a pool, was extremely clean, and had a great atmosphere. It was the best hostel I stayed in. We took a night bus back to Jo’Burg and then early Monday morning took a bus from Jo’burg to Gabs. After a long night/morning of traveling, Dalton and I went straight to our class at 2pm.
And so the 4th week of classes started. I handed in a project in my architecture class. I continued to show up for softball and running practice. I went to this thing called poetry night, where students perform songs and other things they have written. The weekend was interesting. On Saturday my friend and I decided to go on a hike. We left this shopping mall and headed out on a road towards a quarry and then turned off to hike this hill. We were surrounded by about 20 baboons. We continued to hike up a the hill and came to an area that had 3 rock walls around it. We were just about to climb up the side of one of the walls, when these three men came out of nowhere. We were going to ask them if we were going up the right way. The next thing you know we were both tackled to the ground. There were two guys on me and one guy on my friend. All of them were bigger than us and were in their late 20s early 30s. I had a backpack full of our stuff, thus the reason two men were on me. I struggled with them a bit. They opened my wallet took all my cash out of it, about 30USD. They took my camera out of my pocket, and proceeded to go through my backpack. They took my friend’s camera, which had his money inside. At one point ,one of the men tried to choke me, as I was making a ton of noise and trying to stand up. I pushed his hand away. I tried to throw my phone into the bushes, but to no avail. They got off and my friend and I both stood up. They had my water bottle and a pair of headphones, which somehow I asked for them back and got them back. They were headed towards the road, we were also headed there. They realized we were not stupid, and turned around with broken glass in their hands. At that point we just raised our hands. We did not fight back during the entire deal, as you do not know if they have knives or any weapons. They proceeded up the hill and we gathered ourselves for a minute and immediately headed back down to the nearby mall. At this point I realized I had sustained several cuts from the dirt, on my knees, elbows, and hands, but nothing serious. Once there, we explained to security what happened and after about 10 minutes we finally got our point across and they called the police for us. While my friend, was waiting for the police in the mall parking lot, I went to the edge of the mall parking lot, to see if maybe the guys would come down the hill. I would ask people and several people told me that they had fellow co-workers at the quarry have their handbags stolen. So it was fairly common. The police finally came after an hour of waiting. Eric was in the front seat and I had to go in the back of the covered pickup. When I sat down, I looked across at the window and side panel of the pickup to see multiple blood stains. I thought, oh I had better watch out for my open wounds. We went back to the site with the police officers and there was not much they could do, and so we went to the police station. My friend rode in back with me and at every stop light, curious onlookers would point and laugh as we were in the back of a police truck. We arrived at the station, and went in to give our reports. My friend sat in 1 room and I sat in another giving our stories to the police people. In the room I was giving my report, there were tattered cushions everywhere, and something about social studies on the board. I thought, gee am I really in a police station. There was also another man and a woman in the room giving a report to each other. The man was more curious about me and asking what part of the states I was from etc. I could care less as I had just gotten jumped/robbed. I finished the story and went back into the main part of the station. Here my friend and I sat for another long time. At one point I went through my backpack and found Eric’s phone, what a nice surprise. I went to find a bathroom, only to find no toilet seat and poop left in the toilet. Also the sink did not work. Again I am in a police station. My friend was asked “Do you believe in God?” He said yes and then gave an oath swearing the story was true. I did the same. Everything was done in paper in this station. The phone jack was crooked coming out of the wall and there were piles of paper work. One police officer came in with this traditional beer called shake, shake. When we were just about to leave, a man came in with no bottom teeth and only two upper teeth. We had to explain to the police, that we had no money to get a ride home. Well actually the thieves did not steal my wallet or cards in the wallet, so we just needed to get to an atm. Also at 515pm, 1.5 hours after we had gotten into the police station, they asked us if we needed to go to the hospital. I think at this point I would have known if I needed to go to the hospital, I would have told them already. Again this is a police station. As we got into the back of the police truck for our ride back to the university, the police said, “do you mind sitting with a bloody person?” We of course said no and they dropped us off at a nearby mall and we took a combi back to campus.
Several things were shocking about this experience. The most important thing is that we are both completely SAFE and unharmed minus the few scratches. You think it only happens in movies, then it happens to you. It’s a bit surreal. Also the police was the most shocking of the day. Their response time, was pitiful. Once in the police station, I thought to myself, this is why Botswana is a third world country. The police station was run-down and nothing was electronic. I wonder if Eric or I had gotten stabbed, what the response time would be. There were paint chips everywhere and the bathrooms were filthy. This is what its like to be in a third world country. While, Botswana may have first world ideals, its still important to remember that it’s a third world country. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that my friend and I did not get stabbed or seriously hurt. We remained calm throughout the entire experience which helped us out, though we were a bit frustrated right after the incident, nonetheless still took the necessary steps. My friend and I walked to a restaurant later that night with some other friends, to have a celebratory, we did not stabbed dinner. These things do happen in Southern Africa. No country, even Bots, is exempt from this petty crime. I am continuing to enjoy my time in Bots and will continue to do my daily activities. I am completely fine, as these things happen. I do not feel anymore unsafe in Botswana. This happened to people last semester as well. Please do not worry, though I appreciate your concern and thoughts on the issue. I stress that I am doing well and having a great time in Bots. I’ve finally caught up and will post pictures, once I get a new camera.
During the first week, the International office, organized a cultural dinner. Here I saw traditional dances and ate these Mopani worms. Click on the picture slideshow for more info. On January 11, classes finally started, well sort of. I showed up at my first scheduled class at 9am and the professor did not show up. At 10am I went to the start of my Macroeconomics class, only to again have the teacher not show up. My next class was at 2pm and its called the Roots of Crisis in Modern Central Africa. The teacher showed up late and just handed out the syllabus. My next class, was called social problems of Southern Africa. I say was, because I later dropped that class, due to various reasons. So Monday was done and later that night, several of my friends and I went to Bull and Bush for some good ribs. Tuesday, I got up for one of my classes, only to not be able to find the classroom. Actually, it turns out that I found the right classroom, but the class actually had been rescheduled for a different day and room, perhaps a sign of things to come. That was it for Tuesday. Also during this week, it was the chance to add/drop courses, and boy did I ever. It was almost impossible to find course descriptions before I came to Botswana, so that is why the need for all the changes. Also, my home university, changed some of their requirements for those graduating after the spring of 2010, basically allowing me more freedom. On Wednesday, my professor for Development Impact Assessments, showed up and we actually had class. My next professor showed up as well. I attended another class later that day, which I ended up not signing up for. The next morning I went to a 7am class, yes a 7am class called Education of Children with ADHD, which I have ended up keeping, as part of the class involves a project to travel to a local school in Gabs, and observe kids who potentially have ADHD. Also later that day, I met with a guy to inquire more about a class called, Traditional African Architecture. I ended up taking that class and I’m loving it. Friday was a bit hectic, as it was the last day to add a course. I attended a course called the Demography of Botswana, which I have stuck with to this day and it provides me with a direct insight into the culture of Bots. I handed in my registration form and the total was 7 classes worth 18 credits. My traditional African Architecture class actually ends halfway through the semester. Three of my classes are only 2 credits each. So onto the weekend.
Early Saturday morning, all the international students, including myself, boarded a University of Botswana Bus for our weekend overnight cultural excursion. Our first stop was at a food research center, where scientists are researching which foods can be produced locally in Botswana. Very few foods are produced here, and almost all of the products in grocery stores come from South Africa. Even the power comes from South Africa, well at least some of it. The next stop was at the village kgolta of Kanye. Here we met local chiefs and learned about the village. Next we went to a lake to have a braai, or bbq. I skipped a few rocks with some local kids. After lunch, we hiked up a gorge. My friends Kate, Eric, Dalton, Villa, and I hiked up to a spectacular view of the surrounding countryside. We arrived at our lodge area. We slept in tents, with two to three people in each. It was a very traditional way of staying in tents. This place had a outdoor shower, which I took advantage up. It was one of the top 5 showers I’ve ever taken in my life. And the sun was setting as I was taking a shower. For dinner I had some traditional beer, which came and out of milk carton and had small seeds in it. It was interesting. I saw traditional dances and gazed at the stars. The stars are different as I am down in the Southern Hemisphere. The next day, we saw some rock paintings, the Livingstone Tree, and went to a water park. The highlight of the day was a game drive in the Mocolodi Game Reserve. Here I saw giraffes, elephants, a zebra, wildebeests, a cheetah, antelope, and warthogs. It was so much fun. The neck of a giraffe is huge. Its nice to see them in a natural habitat. It was the en d of a great weekend.
The second week of classes started, rather its really the first real week according to the local students. On Monday of course, I went to Bull and Bush with friends for some ribs. It’s a Monday night thing you know. Classes were uneventful, but during Tuesday and Wednesday, it was raining cats and dogs. And the drainage system didn’t could not exactly hold all of the water, thus causing the street outside my dorm to be completely flooded. A backhoe came through to try and shovel water into the grass. There was also Spectacular thunder and lightning. For the weekend, on Friday night, my friends and I went o Lizard Lounge. Saturday was spent hanging out with my friends Montle, Kabo, Ras Diva, and Vinny. Kabo and Ras Diva are members of a local band. I saw them practice. Later that night, we found live music in Gabs. Week three of classes started, and guess what, on Monday I went to have Bull and Bush Ribs once again. On Tuesday I went to softball practice for the Universities’ team. Softball in Africa you may think is strange, but it is actually more common than you think. It brought me back to the days I used to play baseball. It was quite fun. I continued to go all of that week. My friend Eric, and I went to a cricket practice. It was fast paced. I also went out for the running team, and did various track workouts during the week.
In the middle of the week, several of my friends, Antonio, Eric, Andrea, Lucile, Dalton, and Morgan traveled down to Durban, South Africa. I decided to join them on Friday night. I left Gabs on a combi at 6am in the morning. A combi, is a mini-van type deal with about 15-20 people inside. At the border of Bots/South Africa you get out of the combi and walk through to the South African side, where you meet your vehicle. Its quite funky. The combi went to Johannesburg or Jo’burg as will call it from here on out. Nearing the station, there were mass amounts of people going every which direction. It also looked like you could buy your whole household needs from the numerous street vendors. It was mass chaos. Various people opened the combi door and inquired where I was going. I told them I was headed to Durban and they said they could lead me to the bus station. The driver of the combi, specifically told me to stay on, as those people will lead you and then ask for money. The driver said those people can be dangerous and are not to be trusted. Speaking of danger, Jo’burg is one of the world’s most dangerous cities. I always took the necessary precautions of guarding my stuff and never giving anyone money. The combi driver had actually arranged for someone to walk with me from the combi station to the bus station, which was right next door. I appreciated how my driver was looking out for me. I got into the bus station and purchased a 2:00pm bus ticket to Durban. I had about 2 hours to kill and just hung out in the station. I boarded the double decker bus and ended up having to sit next to a very large man, who was halfway on my seat. He was so fat, the armrest could not go down. I had a picture, but lost my camera. The journey to Durban lasted about 7.5 hours. The bus stopped and I got out to rain and I thought to myself, I’m actually cold, for the first time in a month. These two nice Indian ladies, helped me get a taxi to my hostel and at 10pm I walked into the hostel. Outside of India, Durban has the largest population of people living in a city with Indian decent. My friends were shocked to see me, as they were not sure if I was going to make it down to Durban. We went out and had a great night. The next day, we went to the beach, where I saw and swam in the Indian Ocean for the first time. That night, we went out with some South African guys we met at our hostel. Sunday was another beach day. Later that night I got my seafood fix at Italian restaurant. The only downer of the day, was that my friend Dalton, got his shorts stolen with his wallet in it. Someone swiped it right off the beach while some of us were sitting there. His shorts were behind the group. Swimming in the Indian Ocean, was nice and warm. Sadly we had to leave the hostel and Durban. The hostel had a pool, was extremely clean, and had a great atmosphere. It was the best hostel I stayed in. We took a night bus back to Jo’Burg and then early Monday morning took a bus from Jo’burg to Gabs. After a long night/morning of traveling, Dalton and I went straight to our class at 2pm.
And so the 4th week of classes started. I handed in a project in my architecture class. I continued to show up for softball and running practice. I went to this thing called poetry night, where students perform songs and other things they have written. The weekend was interesting. On Saturday my friend and I decided to go on a hike. We left this shopping mall and headed out on a road towards a quarry and then turned off to hike this hill. We were surrounded by about 20 baboons. We continued to hike up a the hill and came to an area that had 3 rock walls around it. We were just about to climb up the side of one of the walls, when these three men came out of nowhere. We were going to ask them if we were going up the right way. The next thing you know we were both tackled to the ground. There were two guys on me and one guy on my friend. All of them were bigger than us and were in their late 20s early 30s. I had a backpack full of our stuff, thus the reason two men were on me. I struggled with them a bit. They opened my wallet took all my cash out of it, about 30USD. They took my camera out of my pocket, and proceeded to go through my backpack. They took my friend’s camera, which had his money inside. At one point ,one of the men tried to choke me, as I was making a ton of noise and trying to stand up. I pushed his hand away. I tried to throw my phone into the bushes, but to no avail. They got off and my friend and I both stood up. They had my water bottle and a pair of headphones, which somehow I asked for them back and got them back. They were headed towards the road, we were also headed there. They realized we were not stupid, and turned around with broken glass in their hands. At that point we just raised our hands. We did not fight back during the entire deal, as you do not know if they have knives or any weapons. They proceeded up the hill and we gathered ourselves for a minute and immediately headed back down to the nearby mall. At this point I realized I had sustained several cuts from the dirt, on my knees, elbows, and hands, but nothing serious. Once there, we explained to security what happened and after about 10 minutes we finally got our point across and they called the police for us. While my friend, was waiting for the police in the mall parking lot, I went to the edge of the mall parking lot, to see if maybe the guys would come down the hill. I would ask people and several people told me that they had fellow co-workers at the quarry have their handbags stolen. So it was fairly common. The police finally came after an hour of waiting. Eric was in the front seat and I had to go in the back of the covered pickup. When I sat down, I looked across at the window and side panel of the pickup to see multiple blood stains. I thought, oh I had better watch out for my open wounds. We went back to the site with the police officers and there was not much they could do, and so we went to the police station. My friend rode in back with me and at every stop light, curious onlookers would point and laugh as we were in the back of a police truck. We arrived at the station, and went in to give our reports. My friend sat in 1 room and I sat in another giving our stories to the police people. In the room I was giving my report, there were tattered cushions everywhere, and something about social studies on the board. I thought, gee am I really in a police station. There was also another man and a woman in the room giving a report to each other. The man was more curious about me and asking what part of the states I was from etc. I could care less as I had just gotten jumped/robbed. I finished the story and went back into the main part of the station. Here my friend and I sat for another long time. At one point I went through my backpack and found Eric’s phone, what a nice surprise. I went to find a bathroom, only to find no toilet seat and poop left in the toilet. Also the sink did not work. Again I am in a police station. My friend was asked “Do you believe in God?” He said yes and then gave an oath swearing the story was true. I did the same. Everything was done in paper in this station. The phone jack was crooked coming out of the wall and there were piles of paper work. One police officer came in with this traditional beer called shake, shake. When we were just about to leave, a man came in with no bottom teeth and only two upper teeth. We had to explain to the police, that we had no money to get a ride home. Well actually the thieves did not steal my wallet or cards in the wallet, so we just needed to get to an atm. Also at 515pm, 1.5 hours after we had gotten into the police station, they asked us if we needed to go to the hospital. I think at this point I would have known if I needed to go to the hospital, I would have told them already. Again this is a police station. As we got into the back of the police truck for our ride back to the university, the police said, “do you mind sitting with a bloody person?” We of course said no and they dropped us off at a nearby mall and we took a combi back to campus.
Several things were shocking about this experience. The most important thing is that we are both completely SAFE and unharmed minus the few scratches. You think it only happens in movies, then it happens to you. It’s a bit surreal. Also the police was the most shocking of the day. Their response time, was pitiful. Once in the police station, I thought to myself, this is why Botswana is a third world country. The police station was run-down and nothing was electronic. I wonder if Eric or I had gotten stabbed, what the response time would be. There were paint chips everywhere and the bathrooms were filthy. This is what its like to be in a third world country. While, Botswana may have first world ideals, its still important to remember that it’s a third world country. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that my friend and I did not get stabbed or seriously hurt. We remained calm throughout the entire experience which helped us out, though we were a bit frustrated right after the incident, nonetheless still took the necessary steps. My friend and I walked to a restaurant later that night with some other friends, to have a celebratory, we did not stabbed dinner. These things do happen in Southern Africa. No country, even Bots, is exempt from this petty crime. I am continuing to enjoy my time in Bots and will continue to do my daily activities. I am completely fine, as these things happen. I do not feel anymore unsafe in Botswana. This happened to people last semester as well. Please do not worry, though I appreciate your concern and thoughts on the issue. I stress that I am doing well and having a great time in Bots. I’ve finally caught up and will post pictures, once I get a new camera.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Arrival and Orientation
I started my long two day flight journey on December 31, 2009. I left Seattle at about 3:30pm and arrived in San Francisco at about 530pm. My flight to New York JFK took off at 10:20pm, so I had a few hours to kill in the SFO airport. I wandered around for a bit, looked at endless magazines, and eventually bought one. I had a nice and simple dinner at the Anchor Steam Restaurant in the airport. I wandered around some more and eventually found my gate and took off to JFK on a plane. On this overnight United plane, they had movies and great service. Apparently this was what’s called a Premium Service flight, a special only to a from JFK to SFO and Los Angeles. I was in the very back of the plane, but I had a seat with extended leg room. I did not sleep much on the plane and it even got into New York about 30 minutes early. So I had 4 hours to kill in JFK before my next flight took off to Johannesburg, South Africa. I thought about going into the city as I had to go through security again anyways, but decided against it when the people at the JFK Airlink connect to downtown Manhattan told me that since it was new years day, service was extremely irregular. So I waited for a few hours in JFK before boarding my plane to South Africa. The airport was so busy even on New Year’s Day. I left JFK at 1030am and was due to arrive in Johannesburg, South Africa at 8:35am Jan 2. During the flight I slept a little, and watched almost 4 movies. It was a long flight, the longest ever in my life. 15 hours and 5 minutes. Got into and through the passport control at Jo’burg (as locals call it) and had a 3 hour layover. I took a nap on a bench and then went to my gate. Here I met my roommate, Eric, and my director Ouma, and an assistant to the director, NJ. All four of us took the plane from Jo’burg to Gaborone. It was a quick one, before I knew it I was on the ground again in Botswana after a total travel time of roughly 35 hours. When I stepped out of the plane, I thought to myself here we go, just a little over 4 months in Botswana. The heat was a bit stifling as I stepped out of the plane, I thought to myself, I wonder if its going to be this hot during my entire stay here. It was about 90 degrees at 1230pm. Walked onto the tarmac and around the soon to be new airport, and through customs. All of my baggage arrived safely and we headed to our rental car. Sitting right next to our rental car was an old Volkswagen rabbit probably from the late 1980s. Apparently you could rent that car.
As I was driving through Gaborone, I started to notice some things right away. There were no sidewalks and very few traffic lights. I noticed that there were no cross walks. People walked on dirt paths and quite frequently got in and out of these mini-van type things. Later I found out these were called combis and are Gaborone’s transportation within the city. From now on I am going to refer to Gaborone as Gabs. I noticed that houses had fences all around them. I kept seeing these security signs, saying Group 4 Securior protection. I noticed that there really were no tall buildings. In reality there are three buildings, what we in the states would call mid-sized skyscrapers. And of course the major thing was that they drive on the left hand side of the road. I knew that funny left hand drive thing was going to take awhile to get used to. From my observations I knew I was in a totally different world.
We got to the “lodge” we were staying at during our orientation. We stayed at a place called Lalowopa Lodge, which was right next to the University of Botswana(UB). My new roommate, Eric, and I shared a room. This room had a huge bed stuffed in it as well as a small one. Luckily it had air conditioning. After lounging about in the lodge for a bit, we decided to go to the Riverwalk, about a 5 minute drive from UB. At Riverwalk, I had not so tasty milkshake. Later that day, we went into the city center to whats called the main mall. The main mall was the city’s first mall developed in the 1970s. It is a bit ancient, but at the end of it, sits the Botswana Parliament. There is also a Spar on the main mall. Yes a Spar. For those of us who were in my CIEE group last semester we all know about Spar. I thought they only existed in Europe, but I guess not. Spar is a grocery store for those who don’t know. At the Spar in Hungary, everything was obviously in Hungarian. At the Spar in Bots, everything is in English, a nice change from a foreign language. Don’t get me wrong, the Spar in Hungary was quite interesting to navigate and I always ended up getting what I want. Later that night, we had dinner at this place called newscafe, where if you buy a drink, you get free internet for an hour. After dinner, I crashed and finally got a nice long night of sleep.
The next morning, we went to Newscafe for breakfast and then left for a day excursion. This gentleman picked us up in a Land Rover and drove us around Gabs and the surrounding area. We had a tour of the film spots for the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency, a film that is based in Bots. We also went to Mochudi, a village about 20 km north of Gabs. Here we saw a kgotla, a central meeting place for the people of the village. Punishments and city/governmental proceedings take place at the kgotla. It is a very important cultural tradition in Bots. In the village, we hike up a small hill and got a gorgeous view of the surrounding area. For being extremely hot, Botswana is very green. Greener than some places in the US. After the day excursion, I ran into a German exchange student, Caroline, who was staying in our hotel and studied at UB the semester before. She invited us and we went to a place with live music on Sunday nights. I also met her local friend Montle, and we have been hanging out ever since. Also I met my friend Kabo, who occasionally performed at this place. It’s a very local scene, except that some members of the live jazz band were from Zimbabwe. It was a fun night to celebrate officially being in Gabs. The next day was full of orientation stuff and what not. Also I went shopping for some dorm room essentials. My most expensive purchase was my $30 fan. Later that night, I met some more international students, Lucy, Ayumi, and Machy. We went out to this place called Bull and Bush. Here we had ribs for about $9. The next few days involved more orientation and figuring out which classes to take. At the end of the week, I was ready for orientation stuff to be over. A whole bunch of the international students went out on Friday for some fun. On Saturday I continued to meet more locals. And on Sunday I went back to the same place that has live Jazz on Sunday nights. A packed first week indeed.
As I was driving through Gaborone, I started to notice some things right away. There were no sidewalks and very few traffic lights. I noticed that there were no cross walks. People walked on dirt paths and quite frequently got in and out of these mini-van type things. Later I found out these were called combis and are Gaborone’s transportation within the city. From now on I am going to refer to Gaborone as Gabs. I noticed that houses had fences all around them. I kept seeing these security signs, saying Group 4 Securior protection. I noticed that there really were no tall buildings. In reality there are three buildings, what we in the states would call mid-sized skyscrapers. And of course the major thing was that they drive on the left hand side of the road. I knew that funny left hand drive thing was going to take awhile to get used to. From my observations I knew I was in a totally different world.
We got to the “lodge” we were staying at during our orientation. We stayed at a place called Lalowopa Lodge, which was right next to the University of Botswana(UB). My new roommate, Eric, and I shared a room. This room had a huge bed stuffed in it as well as a small one. Luckily it had air conditioning. After lounging about in the lodge for a bit, we decided to go to the Riverwalk, about a 5 minute drive from UB. At Riverwalk, I had not so tasty milkshake. Later that day, we went into the city center to whats called the main mall. The main mall was the city’s first mall developed in the 1970s. It is a bit ancient, but at the end of it, sits the Botswana Parliament. There is also a Spar on the main mall. Yes a Spar. For those of us who were in my CIEE group last semester we all know about Spar. I thought they only existed in Europe, but I guess not. Spar is a grocery store for those who don’t know. At the Spar in Hungary, everything was obviously in Hungarian. At the Spar in Bots, everything is in English, a nice change from a foreign language. Don’t get me wrong, the Spar in Hungary was quite interesting to navigate and I always ended up getting what I want. Later that night, we had dinner at this place called newscafe, where if you buy a drink, you get free internet for an hour. After dinner, I crashed and finally got a nice long night of sleep.
The next morning, we went to Newscafe for breakfast and then left for a day excursion. This gentleman picked us up in a Land Rover and drove us around Gabs and the surrounding area. We had a tour of the film spots for the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency, a film that is based in Bots. We also went to Mochudi, a village about 20 km north of Gabs. Here we saw a kgotla, a central meeting place for the people of the village. Punishments and city/governmental proceedings take place at the kgotla. It is a very important cultural tradition in Bots. In the village, we hike up a small hill and got a gorgeous view of the surrounding area. For being extremely hot, Botswana is very green. Greener than some places in the US. After the day excursion, I ran into a German exchange student, Caroline, who was staying in our hotel and studied at UB the semester before. She invited us and we went to a place with live music on Sunday nights. I also met her local friend Montle, and we have been hanging out ever since. Also I met my friend Kabo, who occasionally performed at this place. It’s a very local scene, except that some members of the live jazz band were from Zimbabwe. It was a fun night to celebrate officially being in Gabs. The next day was full of orientation stuff and what not. Also I went shopping for some dorm room essentials. My most expensive purchase was my $30 fan. Later that night, I met some more international students, Lucy, Ayumi, and Machy. We went out to this place called Bull and Bush. Here we had ribs for about $9. The next few days involved more orientation and figuring out which classes to take. At the end of the week, I was ready for orientation stuff to be over. A whole bunch of the international students went out on Friday for some fun. On Saturday I continued to meet more locals. And on Sunday I went back to the same place that has live Jazz on Sunday nights. A packed first week indeed.
Monday, January 25, 2010
A story about the internet
I’m sure many people are wondering why my blog has not started earlier. Well there are a variety of reasons as to why this is the case. I would have started it before I left the states, but time was an issue. I had an 11 day turnaround between my European adventures and leaving for Botswana. Also for the first week, I had lots of orientations and errands to attend to. I was only able to get on the internet once that week and only for about a half hour at a restaurant. Once in the dorm, the ethernet jack did not work. University of Botswana (UB) does have wireless access, but only in a small part which is not near the dorms. I was able to gain an access code to the wireless, but again had limited time. I It took until last Thursday to get my jack in my room working, well sort of. I had a weekend excursion in which I detail below, on Saturday and Sunday. When I came back Sunday, the internet jack does not work. I have been in the process of trying to get it fixed as I write this. Let me explain how this process works. You have to go to the IT department, meet with someone and then wait until they have the time to service your room. I have had a busy week with classes and hanging out with new people. It will work out eventually, I’m not bothered, its such a small annoyance. That’s the deal about the internet and why all of this stuff is coming at once.
Just A Brief Introduction
So as many of you know I am currently studying abroad in Gaborone, Botswana. This marks my second consecutive semester abroad. While the University of Denver is on the quarter system, every place outside the US is on the semester system. Most students at my school only study abroad for only a semester and it is usually during the fall of their junior year. Very few students go abroad for the entire year. One of the reasons that I can go abroad for the entire year is because I have not taken any classes that don’t count towards my major. Back in the fall of 2008 I knew I had wanted to study abroad. I have to give credit to my friend Roy, who gave me the idea to study abroad for the entire year. He is also studying abroad for the year as well. Last semester he studied in Florence, Italy and is now going to be in Oman for the second semester. Last semester in Europe, I was fortunate enough to meet up with him and another friend in Paris, Normandy beaches, and Brussels, Belgium. Roy, if you are reading this, that was such a memorable trip, I had so much fun. So anyways, I figured out that I could study abroad for the year and was extremely excited. I knew I wanted to do a European experience during one of my semester s. I decided to go to Budapest on CIEE (Council for International Educational Exchange) program and absolutely loved it. I had so much fun with everyone in the group and traveled a ton.
So why Africa? For my second semester I wanted to go somewhere unique and a bit off the beaten path. Botswana topped that list. I had considered going to South Africa, but I figured I would be a little adventurous and try a country where I knew absolutely nothing about. Only one other student from DU has studied at the University of Botswana. He partially studied here last semester. Also DU had an affiliation with a program called Interstudy. Insterstudy attracted me for a variety of reasons. I could pick all of my classes, got to live on campus, and included in the program was an orientation and several excursions within Botswana. So far it has been excellent. Botswana is full of adventure and endless travel opportunities. As I go through the semester I hope to fully discover what life is like in Southern Africa
I have created this blog to detail my experiences throughout my semester in Gaborone, Botswana. I think it is important to document and share your memories. I think that Africa is a bit of an unknown for most people and I would like to share my stories so that you have a maybe a slightly better understanding of what Africa is. I warn you know that I am certainly not the best writer, but I will always try hard to produce something I think you would like to read. Also I have never done a blog before. Always feel free to contact me through email, facebook, and even skype. I am always open for contact, especially if you are particularly curious about something.
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