You Know You're Back in the Village When....

I recently returned from a week in Gaborone for my Mid-Service Training with the rest of my Bots 12 intake group. To summarize I'll quote my friend Tate; at one point she leaned over and asked, "Do you also feel like you've been a part of a 48 hour therapy session?" Along with a whole lot of talking through our feelings (okay, it was actually kind of nice to assess my own and hear from other PCVs), we exchanged best practices and spent quality time catching up. But now I'm back in my village, and after a week in the city, a few things stand out. You can tell you're back in the village when:

5. Your hair is dirty because after a week of hot showers, bucket bathing and washing your hair in the cold is no fun.

4. The people and children around you are screaming 'Lorato' instead of 'Lekgoa.'.

3. You hear gun shots, meaning there will be meat hanging under a tree in the afternoon.

2. You forget your groceries in a hitch and your driver was incredibly kind, went out of his way to track you down on his return trip to Maun two days later to give them back to you.

1. That driver was also easily able to find you and your house in which to drop the food, with only the name of your village.

It's good to be back in Etsha 13.

Namibia Vacation

Having just returned from an amazing vacation in Namibia, my top five:

5. Mma Tokalosi: She is the result of a “if it’s not a good time it’s a good story” moment. A khombi driver who was supposed to be our transport throughout our vacation was being a royal pain and screwing us out of money, so we decided to toss out that plan and hitchhike. This weird doll was sitting in the back of the khombi under a seat, so we decided she should come along with us for the remainder of the trip. The result was numerous entertaining photos with a creepy doll. I’m not sure if anyone else outside of the group there will think this is funny, but we all found it hilarious.

4. Hitchiking: As mentioned above, our transport was not as expected. Luckily, Namibia has a flourishing hitchhiking culture. I hitched over 1500 km throughout the trip, and never waited over half an hour for a ride. It was quite possibly the easiest time I have ever had getting around through hiking and we had some interesting rides.

3. The Atlantic Ocean: I saw the ocean for the first time in 8 or so months, so that was awesome. Cooler weather, salty air, and seafood (more on this later), what’s not to like?

2. Quad Biking in the Namib Desert: Swakopmund is a beach town famous for its food, adrenaline related activities, and sand dunes. We spent a day on quads out in the Namib Desert… so clearly this makes the top five. We also went sand boarding down the dunes that were much steeper than I was expecting, and proportionally fun.

1. Food & Drink: I think I ate my body weight in seafood, Mexican food, sushi, schnitzel, pizza, burgers, etc etc. I’m salivating just thinking about all of the delicious things I ate now that I’m back at site.  The first night in Namibia, we went to a restaurant that had game meat and beer from a microbrewery…. We were in heaven. I had a real beer and zebra, which was quite possibly the best meal I have ever had (although it is possible that my standards are a bit lower than normal). Regardless of where my standards fall, there was a whollllle lot of consuming. We joked that our goal was to come back from Namibia 10 lbs heavier and we gave it a good effort.

For all of the wonderful things that Namibia had to offer, I’m still really happy that I live in Botswana.  There were several ‘if it’s not a good time it’s a good story’ moments, most of which we did manage to make a good story out of it. There were a select few moments that were just infuriating and a good reminder that Namibia is younger than I am as a country and race is still a huge issue (Namibia was under South African rule until its independence in 1990). Suffice it to say, Namibia was a wonderful break from village life but I am really happy that I am living in Botswana. 

Top Five Reasons I Love My Village

5. The size. One of the things I thought I would be missing out on by coming to Botswana was the ‘traditional Peace Corps Experience’ that most volunteers have worldwide. Many volunteers in Botswana are placed in more urban settings, working in offices or the like so I was anticipating this to be the case for me. Turns out, I still get to live in rural Botswana and work out in the community, living in a village where most people know who I am (even if I have no clue if I have met them before or not).  About a week after I was introduced in the Kgotla (where meetings with the chief and other community leaders happen), all of these kids suddenly knew my Setswana name. I’ll walk by and they will either scream it “Loooooorrrrrrraato!” or they’ll whisper “Lorato,” just to see if I’ll really respond to it. Then I’ll look at them and say hi and about half will laugh and run away. I just wouldn’t get that in bigger villages.

4. The house. I may never get my bathroom sink fixed, who knows when the rest of my furniture is coming, and I’ll have lizards, bats, and semi-posionous spiders until I leave here, but my house is pretty plush. I have running water and electricity, and two bedrooms! And besides all of that great stuff, I have a cute little breakfast nook (chicken wire windows to be replaced) that looks onto a flood lake, at least for a little while longer, and into an awesomely traditional and beautiful compound with the best opportunities to people watch. They’re building a reed hut now, and pounding sorghum. It’s awesome.

3. The job. I get to make my own job, how awesome is that?! These first two months have been me assessing what the community actually wants and needs from me, and now I get to decide what to work on. I am just so excited to get up and go to work every day, seriously even analyzing HIV testing data is fun. How often can that be said about data analysis? My week generally start with some sort of plan, and then next to nothing happens the way I think it will. Luckily, something usually ends up working out one way or another, with a little wait time of course, but I can usually find something else to do in the meantime, like plan what I want my job to be. Plus, I get to work in exactly the area I have wanted to work in for years.

2. The Arts. For every event I have been to in Etsha 13at least one if not several traditional dance groups show up and perform, and each style is different and each dance tells a story. There are also usually musicians that come along with the performances. Most of all, I’m in the basket weaving capital of Botswana! I’m working with some wonderful women to get the basket crafts a little further off the ground and they’re going to teach me how to weave. It’s a crafters paradise!

1. The Combo. The fact that all of these things are combined into one site is awesome.  I get to live in a small village in a rural part of the peaceful country of Botswana, yet I still have running water, electricity, access to public transportation, and cell phone service.  Plus, people here make beautiful crafts and still carry on with many of the traditional aspects of life and because it is so underserved, there is a lot that I can do directly with the health education aspects of HIV/AIDS is amazing.