Until Next Time.

My last few weeks in Botswana were a whirlwind. There were parties, tears, dancing, chocolate tequila shots, braiis, goat slaughter, chakalaka, baskets, photos, a few squeezed in projects, one last camping trip in the bush, frantic packing and repacking, and lots and lots of cookies (thanks, Becky).

My experience in Botswana was truly everything I hoped it would be. I'm already missing my great big African sky, my kiddos, the ODC, and Etsha 13. 

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
-A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

The Things I Know Now

I've been in Botswana for over two years, how crazy is that? Of course living in a small, rural village in a developing country across the world from my home has taught me plenty about myself, Botswana, development, public health, etc etc etc, and so many things that will never be summed in a blog post. But I do love lists, so...

I know:

• how to make a party cup using an empty pop can and a can opener
• how to slaughter a chicken (and yes, they do move around quite a bit when their heads are cut off)
• you don't want to get between a hippo and the water
• how to get reasonably clean in 1/3 bucket of water
• zebra is delicious
• I'd rather love and hate something than be bored and apathetic
• behavior change is hard

• how to cook! chowders, hummus, yumm sauce, tortillas, curries, steak, lentils, beans...
• I will never be able to basket weave
• what it feels like when an elephant charges you
• how utterly freeing it is to be the village weirdo
• that sometimes, you just need to jump off the bridge. 
• all sorts of ways to use the internet using less data. o.facebook.com anyone?
• flies buzzing around your face are slightly more obnoxious than bug bites on your feet. slightly.
• all those pretty butterflies love feces and garbage
• crocs bite
• it's much easier to have never had something than to have it taken away
• kids pretty much the same everywhere
• the art of hitch hiking
• part of my heart is always going to be in the Okavango

New Address

I have a new mailing address:

PO Box 174
Etsha 6
Botswana

Why, you may ask, did I decide to get a new mailing address halfway through my service? Because no one from the hospital overseeing the clinic in Etsha can figure out who is responsible and how to pay for the post office box. I was patient and persistent for a few weeks, but then a care package was withheld and patience went out the window. Mail sent to the old box will be forwarded, but if you're going to be nice enough to mail something to me, send it to my new address!

On Floods and the Importance of Layers

In Oregon, if you count the erratic weather from March to June as spring, the seasons can be divided into four pretty easily. Season are nothing like that in Botswana. 

Seasons are measured in rainy versus dry, warm nights versus cold, floods or no floods, lush and green or dry and brown. Transition periods between these seem to be days to two weeks.

What I would consider as winter is here. When I woke this morning, I could see my breath; now, at mid day, it's still in the 80s. The floods are also up, and came quickly. I left my village for the one year celebration, and  when I returned, the floods had gone from about  2 km away to just behind my backyard. Luckily, that rate has slowed down and the water has not come too much closer to my house.

While I'm not looking forward to the point when it is too cold to bathe, even with heating water, I am really excited about enjoying hot tea, soup, and not sweating while sleeping. My favorite sign of winter is definitely the full floodplain (as long as it doesn't push anyone out of their homes this year); I've been enjoying many afternoons reading by the water, plus it is fantastic to have a back up source of water, like last week when the water was off for six days. 

Kids collecting water in the floodplain, directly across from my house. 

Facing the Post Vacation Blues

To be fair, it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. I was greatly aided by the pushing up of two workshops to the week I returned, keeping me busy. But, eishe, over the last couple of days in Cape Town I was dreading going back to site in a very strange flurry of being incredibly happy and sad at the same time.

Don’t get me wrong; I really do love my village. It’s adorable, I feel like a part of the community, and I am doing a fair amount of good work. I recognize how lucky I am to have all of these things in a Peace Corps experience. But the thing is, it was so easy to be happy in Cape Town. Here, you have to work at it. You have to find joy in small things- and even though there are lots of small things to find joy in it still requires a conscious effort. Getting onto my usual bus in Maun and the bus conductor greeting you by name and a mosadi magolo excitedly greeting you in Thimukushu can make your day (and it did for me on the return trip). It really is wonderful feeling like I am a part of this community.

I recognize that happiness coming easy, all of the time, isn’t true for anywhere. And that any vacation isn’t like day to day life, obviously it is going to be easier to be happy. But what I realized I was missing so acutely was much broader than what I realized day to day: the lifestyle. I miss being able to go to dinner with friends, and then go home. I miss any type of food whenever I want it. I miss hot showers. I miss drinking craft beer while listening to live music. And while these things are replaced with coloring with my neighborhood kids or boating on the delta, spending time in Cape Town, with all of these things easily in reach, evoked a feeling of homesickness that I hadn’t yet experienced.

Moreover, the trip was a wakeup call for parts of me that have been lost in the shuffle of this experience; parts that I really don’t want to lose. Somehow, I have become complacent here…. I’ve become okay with spending hours of a weekend at site watching too many episodes of something, or expecting and accepting mediocre work from not just others but myself. I think, well, I knew I would have to lower my expectations about how projects turn out; plus, I am happier than many other volunteers because at least I’m doing something… but really, I know my counterparts and I could have done better. And that’s just not how it’s going to be anymore.  

Cape Town also pointed out through some of my interactions with perfectly kind people that I have become far too skeptical and now assume the worst from others. I’ve always been a “people are inherently good’ type of person, but I’ve fallen prey to a common PCV shortfall of cynicism. So what if there are some less-than-stellar people out there who continue to call me lekgoa and ask for money for cigarettes every time I see them? For every one person that drives me up the wall, I have met four who have gone out of their way to help me or happily try to get past my poor Setswana and befriend me. I’ve met far too many jaded volunteers, and that is just a category I refuse to fall into.

So, since returning, I have been make an effort to makes some changes and avoid the post vacation blues. It hasn’t been perfect; I will admit to a day of watching far too much tv and as well as some planning and delivery in the workshops that I certainly didn’t give 100%.  But, I have been much more patient with the kids (and adults) in my neighborhood asking for things, have a better attitude about people in general, and spoke up to various counterparts about not just letting an event simply happen but rather preparing far enough in advance. Transitioning into 2013 seems like a perfect opportunity to make, and keep, these much needed New Year’s resolutions; well that, and exercising more J

The Training Wheels Are Off...

Being back in the village has been BUSY! And mostly awesome. Now that the training wheels of the community assessment are long gone, highlights include:

·       -  My windows have been fixed! No more chicken wire or boarded up windows.

·        - A series of productive meetings that led to PACT Club (youth health club) and HIV/AIDS Support Group meetings actually getting scheduled and planned.

·         -MAIL!!!!! Letters and packages galore. AMAZING. Thanks mom/dad, Aunt Tam, Grandpa Steve and Jan for some incredible, awesome, delicious, and fun things and  a little bit of ‘Merica.

·         -Observing/assisting with the basic non-bodily fluid based stuff of a birth! This was pretty awesome and slightly terrifying but mostly awesome. I was only able to observe/help with the tail end of things because she began during the lunch break, but hopefully I’ll get to help with another one soon.

·         -The first elephant sighting! Aimee and I had been on a mission to see an elephant for weeks, with the running joke that we only see animals after we’ve had really frustrating and unproductive days. The elephant showed itself after we had spent the day in Gumare trying, to no avail, to get our furniture sorted out. Just when Botswana has beaten ya down, an elephant will charge in front of your bus.

·        - Obtaining fruit trees for my clinic’s garden. And it was easy. Next to nothing is simple here… I showed up to the forestry department at 4pm on a Friday and someone was there, and she was helpful. Then on Tuesday, my clinic found transport to pick up the fruit trees. And we went and picked them up without a hassle. For all of these things to just happen, without any issues was absolutely amazing.

·         -Chicken slaughter (sacrifice!). Aimee and I, with the help of our friend Theo, slaughter, cleaned and cooked a chicken.  And then ate chicken tacos with some of the tasty stuff sent in care packages.

·         -Fishing on the delta. Obviously, that was amazing too. I think this picture explains why.

·         Taking my new friend, Moloi, home! Now I’m not really a cat person, but I have to say he/she (sex tba) is growing on me. Plus, I haven’t seen

·          -Turning 23 years of age.  I was able to see the Gumare crew, have more actually productive meetings, braii and video skype with my family for the first time in five months. And then get to party it up over the weekend in Maun for a joint bday celebration. Wonderful.

·         -First PACT Club meeting with the Junior Secondary School students, and it went well! I’m really looking forward to working with them and other students in the area.

·         -Teen Club, a group for HIV positive youth (almost all members were born HIV+) is up and running! Our first official meeting will be this weekend.

It’s funny, because during IST I was nervous about heading back to my quiet, little village after being around so  many Americans and shopping malls for a couple of weeks, plus the added pressure and expectation that projects would be off the ground and functioning. But almost magically, things starting falling together and programs that I had been pushing for weeks began to take off. There is a whole bunch of good things ahead too- Family Bonding workshop, GLOW camp (youth life skills stuff), Breastfeeding Day, and I’m starting aerobics classes twice a week in the evening. For the first time since being in Botswana, I’m feeling a little stressed about my workload! It’s nice change of pace J

That 'Community Assessment' Thing

During our first two and a half months at site Peace Corps Volunteers have one big assignment, known as the Community Assessment. As I’ve spent the last two months interviewing community leaders, observing trends, analyzing clinical data, and writing this report, I thought I would share a bit of what I am working with. Besides, I should probably describe what I am actually doing here beyond stalking hippos and learning how to cook elaborate meals.  

For some background, the reason that all PCVs are in Botswana is to work in one way or another with HIV/AIDS. Peace Corps actually left Botswana in the 1990s, but was asked back because of the pandemic in 2003. Botswana has the second highest prevalence of HIV in the world but is also considered a middle income country, hence the leaving and returning.  But about that- the area that I am living in is often overlooked, especially in comparison to other parts of Botswana. Etsha 13 and 6 have the worst (main) roads that I have seen in the country; numerous buses come through daily and, when packed so full that you’re standing on top of each other, choose to drive on the sand because the paved portion is so bad. The closest equivalent to a high school is 5 hours away by bus. There is only one hospital on this western side of the delta, and many of the clinics in between share ambulances.

We were told that most people have been inundated with HIV education so we’ll need to find other ways to reach people than plain and simple health education; this has not seemed to apply to many people in Etsha 13 and the surrounding areas. This sub-district has repeatedly scored among the lowest for HIV knowledge of prevention and transmission, Etsha 13 has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the region, and I have had some very interesting conversations with a couple of community leader who insisted that sperm is the only thing responsible for pregnancy and that women are just the carriers of the baby. Other PVCs in my region have told stories of ‘women giving birth to black mambas’ (and they mean the snakes, not the Duck's RB DeAnthony Thomas) or that HIV is one of the easiest diseases to have, because you don’t have to watch your diet like with diabetes. One of my neighbors is a traditional healer who regularly handles blood and other biohazardous waste without any sort of protection.

Thus, an area that I will be continuing to focus on is HIV education. Aside from these alarming anecdotes, nutrition, teenage pregnancy, lack of support for orphans & vulnerable children, and alcohol abuse are the other large issues in my village, and there just aren’t as many resources up here. Etsha 13 also has many challenges in terms of general education level and a huge language barrier between the elderly and the clinic staff. Transport is constantly a problem here as well, as there just aren’t enough ambulance to go around for the clinics and there are many rural communities (even more rural than Etsha 13) that maybe see some minimal sort of health care once a month, if they’re lucky.

In spite of the many challenges facing Etsha 13, there are also some wonderful things already happening. Backyard gardens are popular considering the very sandy terrain, three community mobilizers are working in the village to encourage a better understanding of HIV, and there are a few motivated individuals working on getting a support group for those infected and affected by HIV. My main projects for the next few months should revolve around a clinic-based garden, the support group, PACT/GLOW Clubs at the schools (clubs that promote healthy lifestyle, self confidence, leadership etc), and working with some basket weavers, for fun J I’ve gotten a few things off the ground for each of these and I’m looking forward to returning from In-Service Training in a couple of weeks to really dive into my projects!

Life in Etsha 13

Well, I have been a site for two weeks now and eesh has it been an intense two weeks. The upper delta crew didn’t make it out of Kanye for an extra day as our ride broke down on the way to pick us up. Once we were on our way, the trip went well. We were able to see a bunch of African wildlife on the two-day ride north, including a bunch of ostrich, warthogs, springbok, and wild dogs.  Finally, I was dropped off at my house (which was vacant for me! Not all volunteers were as lucky) and I got to see my village! As we got closer and closer (and further away from any big towns and well maintained roads) my excitement was ready to burst.  And then we entered the Etsha villages, which are fairly different from much else that I have seen in Botswana. With the exception of government housing, the majority of the village is traditional, and not necessarily in the typical Botswana fashion (the Etshas were created in the 1970s as permanent settlements for Angolan refugees and thus I will be learning a new language and culture from what I spent the past two months on. More on this later). Many of the houses are square huts, made of clay, sticks (because there are tall trees here!), reeds and thatch. It’s beautiful.

So the best part about Etsha 13 thus far is that I have a view of a lake! In a country covered by desert, the fact that I can see water is AMAZING. And there aren’t any scary animals (except for mosquitoes) that live in this part of the lake so rest assured I won’t be eaten by a crocodile in my backyard while I’m watching the hundreds of awesome birds that flock to the water (Lydia, I’m thinking of you every time I see African Fish Eagles fighting over food with these big white heron looking birds and wishing you were here to identify them for me!) Now this lake will recede at some point, and unfortunately also flood in some sort of high and low cycle over decades and has ended up displacing numerous people along the delta so there are some potential issues with the pretty water. But for now, I’m just enjoying some gorgeous sunsets.

As for my housing, two weeks in and I still don’t have all of my furniture or appliances, but I didn’t manage to get a bed and a stove so I can eat and sleep. It’s also crazy big, I did not think that I would be living in a house with two bedrooms, a flush toilet, electricity and a lake view when I applied for the Peace Corps. Though I have to say, it isn’t the physical comforts that make this experience difficult. You adjust surprisingly quickly to living without a shower and finding foods that don’t require refrigeration. That said, I can’t say I’m disappointed I won’t be spending the next two years intimately acquainted with a pit latrine.

Beyond the housing basics, my first weekend consisted of settling in and trying to discover what food was available in my village and the surrounding larger, or ‘shopping’ villages. And cleaning. I forgot to mention that my house was a nest of semi-poisonous spiders and clearly had been empty for awhile. I’m still working on scrubbing down the house two weeks later.

As for the first week, it was… intense. exciting. OVERWHELMING. busy. fun. slow. confusing. interesting. clarifying. A dive into Setswana and Sembukushu. So many new people with names in three languages, each like learning a new word. Different than most of what PST told me to expect. Some parts were exactly what I was told to expect and it was like a light bulb of recognition. As I’ve said before, Peace Corps is a lot of things at once. The first week was an excellent example of this.

                 I’m stationed at the clinic, but I am a community volunteer. My counterpart has an excellent understanding of Peace Corps and what I should be doing as a volunteer; she should be fantastic in the long run but I was definitely lacking direction in the first week. She understands that I should not be in the clinic at all times and that I am not just another staff member, but I wasn’t really sure what to do outside of the clinic during work hours. She also wants me to learn Setswana and Sembukushu and thus doesn’t speak a lot of English except to clarify things. Thus, I’ve learned a lot of Setswana and a little Sembukushu in two weeks, but I’m not always clear on what is happening and spend a lot of time trying to decipher Setswana or just spacing out during meetings.

The second week was a lot less overwhelming, confusing, and intimidating. At first, I felt as though all of the ideas I came in with and my background would be completely useless, as there are some really great things already happening in Etsha 13 and I had no clue what I had to offer the village. Thankfully, the ‘I’m in way over my head’ feeling has receded and I’m starting to find my rhythm, see potential projects, and get a clearer view of Etsha 13.

One thing that really helped this change was when Aimee, a volunteer just north of me, and I went to Gumare to do some grocery shopping last weekend. The minute we saw each other on the bus it was word vomit, neither of us could shut up over our weeks. Aimee’s village is comparable to mine and we had a very similar first week, so it was wonderful to know that I wasn’t the only one feeling a lost over where to start. We met up with Dave and Jeff in Gumare and got to talk out our weeks and I returned to Etsha 13 feeling much more capable and comfortable.  I’m looking forward to what week three brings!

It's Official!

After two months of training, a yearlong application process, and a decade of interest in the Peace Corps, I am officially a sworn-in Peace Corps Volunteer! Oh man has it been a long time coming. I remember looking up all of the places that Peace Corps sent volunteers as a middle school student, high school senior, college freshman, college senior, six months ago when my Honduras placement got cancelled, and here I am in Botswana working with HIV/AIDS. I think my 14-year-old-self would be pretty stoked to know I ended up here.

We were sworn in by the US Ambassador and in attendance was the former President of Botswana along with many other important figures in Botswana government, Kanye government, and the fight against HIV/AIDS. While the ceremony was long and we were able to see firsthand how protocol (i.e. individually recognizing important figures every time a new speaker has anything to say) can take something that should be 5 minutes and turn it into 10, it was very exciting and emotional moment when we took the oath to serve.

Swearing in also means the end of PST, which has its pros and cons (as with almost everything in Peace Corps). It means leaving the comfort zone of Kanye, other PCVs, our host families, and staff members and the nerves of venturing out on our own and entering a new community. It also means finally getting out of Kanye, getting away from other Americans, host families, and Peace Corps staff and getting out on our own and seeing what our new community is all about! Joking aside, it was sad saying goodbye to many of my friends, placed in every corner of the country, until In-Service training in August. We are entering the stage of training best known as “lockdown” although the Peace Corps name for the time period is less threatening. It basically means that we should spend the next two and a half months in our communities, only traveling outside for things like fresh vegetables in our shopping villages.  And instead of diving into projects, we are taking this time to really get to know our community inside and out and assess what the community wants and needs from a PCV.

As a whole bundle of emotions, the one that stands out the most among the nervous, content, nostalgic and stressful feelings is my excitement. I’m so excited for the journey ahead with all of the ups and downs that I know are coming and the growth that hopefully comes from all of it. I know that it will be tough adjusting to my community and that I will probably be completely freaking out within the next month or so but right now, I’m just excited to get to that point. I’m just hoping that I have a house when I arrive in my village. Getting housing set up for Peace Corps Volunteers is a nightmare in Botswana; if I’m really lucky I’ll have all of my furniture as well J

Etsha 13!

As the title of this post suggests, I will be moving to the village of Etsha 13 after I swear in as a Peace Corps Volunteer! I have no clue why there is a number in the name, but I do know that the village is small and on the Okavanga Delta. This means several things for me:

1.       I will be living among some real fantastic wildlife. Think elephants and hippos. Walking around outside my village is risky.  

2.       Much of Botswana is desert, but I will be living on one of, if not the, largest inland delta in the world. It’s a more lush part of the country and I can get fresh seafood! No small feat for a land-locked country.

3.       I will be working in a clinic, which I had to fight for so I am very excited. It is a small clinic serving a rural community and is staffed by four nurses, one layperson, and a health educator.  There are also opportunities to work with a primary school, a basket weaving group, and a dance troupe.

4.       I have heard several different things about my housing, from my country director, my counterpart, my program coordinator, and rumors from volunteers who shadowed in the area…. so I am just going to wait and see. But everything I have heard is awesome. And I will have cell phone service so I should be able to figure out something with the internet, woot!

5.       Getting in and out of my village should be relatively easy. There is a major-ish road with buses that come through fairly regularly, which means getting a hitch should be pretty easy too. This means that I can travel to the five other volunteers on that road with relative ease, and get to Maun (a city with four Bots 12 volunteers) within a few hours.  It’s a pretty small village though, so I will probably be doing my grocery shopping in one of the larger neighboring villages or potentially Maun. I’m really excited that I get to live the village life! Many volunteers are sent to more populated regions and don’t have that ‘traditional Peace Corps Experience.’

This is about all I know, but I am really excited about all of it. If I could have picked my region, the delta would have been it. Even my host family even said it was the best of area of the country. Plus, I’m just so thankful to be working in a clinic and I have some intriguing opportunities for side projects.  That’s not to say that I am not nervous; isolation and integration into the community are always nerve wracking, many of the people I have become close with will be on the opposite side of the country along with the majority of the other volunteers, and I am still not exactly sure what my amenities will be like. Regardless, I’m going into what I anticipate to be the most challenging part of this experience feeling like I can handle it J

Countdown to Site Announcement!

We find out our site placements on FRIDAY! After a month of waiting in country, and a year out of it, I will know where I will spend the next two years of my life in TWO DAYS. We are going all over the country, will have varying amenities, village sizes, etc and everything about site placements are full of pros and cons (pretty much like everything in Peace Corps). Before we arrive in country, Peace Corps has sites picked out for each of us. They don’t tell us until now because things can change drastically in this first month; some people ET (early terminate and go home), some sites fall through, they realize the original invitation is not appropriate, health issues come up, really the possibilities are endless for why things need to be changed up.

I have been preparing myself for the very least- no electricity, running water, and being at least two hours from any other volunteer. Odds are that this won’t be the case, but it is very likely that I will be without at least one of these amenities or that I will be far from other volunteers. I am expecting the worst and hoping for the best, but I really lucked out by just being in Botswana. Many PCVs worldwide would not have any of this as an option and it is truly one of the safest places in the world that Peace Corps could have sent me. Plus, there is no such thing as a perfect site. Often what we think would be the best region or crucial resources or what size village we want or whatever else is nothing like we expect it to be. I am trying to keep myself without assumptions or expectations, and I really hope that I can make the best out of whatever I end up with. Plus, I’ve gotten the hang of bucket bathing and my hair is the longest it has been in the past few years, although I think it helps that I can go about 4 days without washing it ;)

I am also less worried about my site placement because I have worked out one of my main concerns in the past few days. I haven’t gone into too much detail over my problems at site because there were many variables up in the air, but I am happy to report that my position has been worked out! For a little back story, I came to Botswana with the idea that I would be working with health education focusing on HIV/AIDS but involving a variety of topics. When I arrived, I realized that my ideas were not matching up to my job title and that my experiences and interests put me more in line with the position of a Community Capacity Builder. I immediately mentioned this to Peace Corps staff and long story short, the issue was brought up several times over the past few weeks and after being a very squeaky wheel in need of grease, I was switched. This means that I will be placed in clinic as opposed to an NGO/non-profit that might be health based where I would be helping the organization as a whole. It also means that I will most likely be placed in government housing which is often a bit nicer (although not always, so I still can’t assume anything) and I will be more rural, which are both more than fine with me. I am just very relieved that I will not have to worry about balancing my primary assignment with what I actually want to do! I am much more flexible with the rest of my placement and I am just excited to finally know the details!

The Beginning

I have officially been on Botswana soil for a full 24 hours!  I am moved into my home-stay, I have a cell phone, I know the names of most of my intake group (there are over 40 of us) although the names of my host family are not coming so easily…

Even though the flights were extensive and I was saying goodbye to a whole lot, I found myself remaining continually positive and freak-out free. The positive and excited feelings grew the closer I got to Botswana, even running on about 7 hours of bus/plane/airport sleep over three days I still had energy and excitement.  I have no doubt that this will catch up to me, but I’m seeing this as encouragement that I have made the right decision in joining the Peace Corps. Before leaving, I kept feeling as though I wasn’t prepared to make this journey or that I hadn’t actually thought the whole thing out because I hadn’t suffered a major freak out about spending the next 26 months on the other side of the world (with the exception of the Saturday, but I was much more based on stress about seeing everyone I love before I left and managing to get my 80 pounds of stuff underweight and in one piece to the airport over moving to Africa for two years). Now don’t get me wrong, I definitely had moments of doubt but, I was able to squash them within a few seconds. And I definitely cried leaving my parents in the airport. But it wasn’t the freak-out-oh-my-god-what-am-i-doing-turn-back-now type of panic, it was mainly sadness, but not regret, over leaving my life in the US behind. 

I can say that as of week one away from home… I couldn’t be happier to be here. I’m feeling that the long application, packing and goodbyes feel like they will be worth it. Being in Botswana seems really ‘right,’ as corny as that sounds. And, I can drink water from the tap… woot for no bottled water!

Staging, and the Transportation Hell to Come

In describing staging, the words tired, excited, extensive, and informative come to mind. There has been very little sleep, a lot of introductions, group activities, and our last American food and drink (so far I've been a little disappointed in the beer options in Philly, I had a terribly weak IPA and a weird amber, but maybe I'm not looking in the right places). I've really enjoyed meeting all 44 of the other Bots 12 volunteers! I'm so excited to be working with such a diverse group of people of different ages, hometowns, and experiences.

And now, we're truly off to Botswana! Transportation hell to include: 3 am, bus ride to JFK. If without delay, there will be several hours between our arrival at JFK and the plane taking off on a direct flight to Johannesburg, around 11 am. Six hour layover in Johannesburg, and finally, a quick flight to Gaborone. We'll be put up in a lodge there for the night. The next morning, we will head to Kanye, the village where I will go through Pre-Service Training.

I will be without much internet access for the first couple of weeks, but my next post will be from Botswana! Love to all of my friends and family!

Side note: Apologies if this post is terrible. I'm writing it at 130 am from Philly... no sleep till the bus!

THIS IS IT!

As I am currently on a plane heading to Philadelphia for staging, I guess it is about time for the inaugural blog post! Without a doubt, the past few weeks have certainly been a whirlwind of time with friends and family, long showers, the Magical World of Harry Potter, cheese, craft beer, Thai food and frantic packing. I have managed to feel what seems like a bagillion emotions at once; a whole lot of excitement, stress, anxiety, and sadness about leaving for so long. Obviously, the goodbyes that took place over the last few weeks were not much fun, especially when my parents (and Kate!) dropped me off at PDX. My mom, who I have seen cry fewer times than I could count on one hand, was crying. So if she cries, we all cry. Once I stopped crying (mainly by passing out after a very long weekend) I was excited again, because it’s finally here… the beginning of my Peace Corps journey!

I’ve noticed that most of my friends and family have asked me similar questions and this seems like a good forum to answer those questions. In order of which they are most often asked: Yes, Botswana is in southern Africa. It is a landlocked country that borders South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.  As for the weather, it’s a very sunny country so I will likely be missing the Oregon rain, well, eventually. Coming off winter I think I’m going to enjoy the sunshine for awhile. Since Botswana is in the southern hemisphere, their seasons are opposite. I get to experience winter twice! I’m told it will be pretty chilly.

I will be working as an NGO Capacity Building Volunteer; the details are still foggy though. After Pre-Service Training, our skills and community needs will be assessed and we will receive our placements. I will be mainly working on HIV/AIDS related issues, as Botswana has the second highest HIV rate in the world.  I will also have flexibility to work on secondary projects as well.

As for the logistics, the duration of service is generally 27 months, although I’ve heard that my program has only two months of training instead of three. The first two or three months are spent in training in the village of Kanye, outside of the c­apital Gaborone. During this time I will be staying with a host family, but once I receive my placement, I will be living in my own house in another village. I may or may not have running water in the house, electricity, or regular internet access, and I could be fairly near other volunteers or I could be the only volunteer in the area. And yes, Botswana does have those “Lion King” type animals, lions, hippos, zebras etc. I will have some time off to travel and see them.

Whew, I think that covers most of the questions I have been asked over (and over) again for the past few months. I really appreciate all of the questions, love and support I have received from everyone! Thank you all so much, it really does make leaving for so long much easier. Hopefully I will have some sort of semi-consistent internet access over the next two years, but either way I would love emails, Facebook messages, letters, and your addresses to send postcards and letters! Go siame America, dumela Botswana!