Futbol: South Africa v. Spain

6 of the 14 of us that attended the game!

(Me, J.W., Lisa, Kate, Josh & Stu)

I had a pretty late night because I ended up chatting with Andrew for quite awhile when I got home. It was a good conversation and well worth adding to my sleep deprivation :) I'm really excited to see him when I get back. We've already started making some plans for things we want to do together and he's working extra hours the next couple weeks so that he can take a day or two off and we can spend a long weekend together which is a really nice thing for him to do! I can't wait!

I haven't done the coffee count in awhile..I'm trying hard to remember and I think it's around 28 for the end of week 2 lol

We left Gaborone at 9am, stopping by Riverwalk for snacks first as we headed to Rustenberg, South Africa. It was a 3 hour drive (only about 25 minutes to the SA border though). The roads here are not very well paved so it was a bit bumpy but nothing I haven't experienced before. The coolest part of the drive was when we saw two giraffe on the side of the road! I wish I had been able to get pictures but we were on the highway so by the time I got my camera out we were too far past. I'm sure I will see more when we go on the safari but it was pretty cool seeing them just hanging out in the wild so close to the road.

Our car was pretty full but it worked! We met Dr. Ryan at the McDonalds in Rustenberg then headed toward the stadium. We actually parked at the Olympia stadium and took a Kombi to the stadium where the game was held. It was an absolutely beautiful day so I

was thankful for that! Our seats were also pretty good. We were about 4 rows from the field. We're thinking that because we were on the side where the sun shines the whole time that that was how we scored cheap awesome seats. But whatever, I'm tired of the cold so the sun on me for a few hours was worth it. I'll squint, no problem! I'm not really that into soccer but there are a lot of sports that I find to be much more interesting at the games opposed to on tv and this was one of them. Because the game was hosted in SA and they were playing, there were a ton of people there and they were so enthusiastic! The only thing I didn't like were their noise makers. I found them to be obnoxious, especially the ones that sounds like a God awful child whining! Whoever invented that is on my shit list! We left about 5 minutes before it was officially over..SA had just score the first goal of the game and we assumed it was over. Once we were in the Kombi we heard they had scored again so then we really thought it was over but boy were we wrong. Apparently Spain tied it up and it went into overtime and Spain ended up winning. Kind of a bummer! Even more so once the U.S. ended up blowing their 2-0 lead to lose to Brazil. I think I'm a bad luck charm because every time I watch a championship game, the team I'm rooting for loses. Here are some pictures from the game:

Happy Birthday Zach!

Me & 16 year old Truth (the literal translation of his name) aka Stacks, one of the teen leaders of Teen Club Gaborone

I have yet to sleep in on this trip. Everyday there is something going on that I don't want to miss so yet again I sacrificed my weekend possible sleep in time but it was worth it! We met at Baylor at 8:30am to get ready and do some ice breakers. When everyone was standing in a circle it hit me that all of these young people are infected with HIV. I would like to say that I wasn't scared but there was a part of me that really was. I realize that the treatments are much more sophisticated

and that a number of these teens were not expected to live past their childhood and yet they are emerging into adulthood but the thought of living with this kind of disease is still very frightening to me. Eventually we headed to a nearby park and played sports with the older kids. Clare came, which was great because I had another athletically challenged person with me lol We chose to be on the tennis courts with some of the kids and played tennis (no net though), badmitton, and hula hooped. The kids were definitely better than me but that's not surprise! We got to meet some of the other volunteers and the Lindsay (the psychologist) who was very nice but super busy! We would love to work with her more but it's understandable that there is just too much going on at this moment. She said she will be out of the country again on Tuesday/Wednesday but hopefully we can discuss the group cirriculum when she gets back. I'm having difficulty finding information on HIV/AIDS Caregiver Support that I feel would be culturally appropriate. I'm hoping that they have some resources I can look at next week to get a better idea.

After teen club, Clare and I were worn out so we decided to nap. Unfortunately there were a dozen or so people in our apartment cooking a big birthday dinner for our roommates sister so it was a bit loud, even with ear plugs. I talked to Andrew for a little bit before finally falling asleep..I got about an hour in despite the noise so I can't complain too much. After I woke up I did some laundry the old fashion way and then got ready for our big night out. It was Zach's

birthday so most of the group headed to the Grand Palm casino. The place was AMAZING as we pulled up! I wish I could have gotten a picture but it was kind of dark and I

was in the back of the bus. We gambled for a little bit before one of the best meals I've ever had. Andrew asked me if was better than the Hacinda Sisel in Cancun, but I'm not sure I can really compare the two because it was different cuisine. Since the Gand Palm buffet didn't offer mexican which is a fav of mine, I will have to say Hacinda ranks first and Grand Palm is second lol Nonetheless, I stuffed my face...I included the pictures to prove it below lol I'm almost embarrassed to have these on here but what can I say, I wanted my P135 (a little over $25 dollars) worth haha I'm pretty sure I had 5 plates of food and thought my stomach was going to explode! After all my delicious desserts (apple pie a la mode, eclair, ice cream with sprinkles and chocolate chips) we went back to the casino while we waited for the bus. While we were there this Chinese woman came up Clare and asked her where she was from, then told her she was very pretty and insisted that she meet her husband. She literally drug her around the casino for a few minutes. She was a bit overbearing but I know she meant well. She did eventually get her husband and introduce them to Clare. It was kind of funny but I know Clare was a little thrown off!

After we left the casino we headed to Fashion Lounge. I liked how the bar was set up but there weren't very many people there initially. The bartenders said that people don't show up until 15 after midnight. Kind of late to pay the kind of cover they were charging! We've come to the conclusion that the 20 of us bring the party wherever we are anyway so it didn't make much of a difference. I was so exhausted from being up all day and running around but I got pretty tired so I had sit down for a little bit. It was still a lot of fun to take Zach out and he seemed to be having a really good time! Below are some of the other pictures I have from the night.

Zach's bday cake at the Grand Palm Casino restaurant and birthday shots with friends!

Meg & I at Fashion Lounge and the whole kombi on the way back from Zach's bday celebration

Linga Longa

Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinic Centre of Excellence

The last couple days have been basically the same. Wake up at 6:45 or 7, sometimes shower.. other times just get ready for work and hop online to read whatever message Andrew has sent me and write him back before UB blocks facebook for the day lol then we head to breakfast from 8-8:30 and walk to Baylor during which my feet are usually nearly frozen. Note to self: when they say its winter it's probably smart to bring shoes that cover your feet at least for the mornings and evenings! After dodging several lanes of traffic and probably almost getting hit by kombis because I continue to look the wrong way before crossing we make it to the clinic and head to the Visiting Scholar's room. We've been continuing to compile information for the Caregivers Adherence Brochure and were almost done. We just need to meet with Mmapula to make sure we got all the info she wanted and edit out some of less important info and decide how to best articulate the concepts. Bakani (the social worker) and Lindsay (the psychologist) have been wanting to create a couple different groups. Kate and I are try9ing to determine what we cand o to assist in this process and have decided to focus on the Caregivers Support Group and Child/Adolescent Grief and Breavement group. We hope to create a cirriculum that they can use once they set the group sup as the screening process has yet to be completed.

Some of the art from inside the conference room at Baylor

In the mornings we run the play group which is basically just hanging out with the little kids and playing games as they wait for their appointments. Yesterday I hula-hooped with a little girl for awhile and then played some soccer with the boys. Two young girls taught me some hand clap games they play. One was called Shakah and the other they sang to the ABC's song. Today I played badmitton with a couple different groups of kids and then sat with one of the boys who seemed pretty tired after only a few minutes of activity. He told me was 10 years old and about to turn 11 in a few days. I would have guessed he was 6 or 7 based on his size, his language on the other hand definitely gave way to his older age as he spoke nearly perfect English to me. He told me all about his family: his younger brother and two younger sisters. Apparently his one sister was bitten by a snake but said it wasn't that bad lol He also said that they don't live with him and that he is currently not going to school because he wants to go to a better school but has to wait for his parents to have the money to send him. He told me he had 4 dogs and 2 cats (which I found surprising since most people in Botswana do not like pets and especially not cats) but that his neighbor killed his dog as revenge, but he didn't say revenge for what. He said that some bad men came into his house and stole his television and that his father had to call the police. His mother was with him at the clinic and came out at one point. He told me she said that he could stay and talk to me until he was done. We probably talked for another 15 minutes and then I encouraged him to meet up with her because I felt bad that she has been waiting. I walked him up to meet her and she was very nice. I told her what a nice young boy he was and she seemed to appreciate the compliment. I wonder if I'll see him again since most of the kids only come in once a month. After that some of the older girls sat down with me and I helped them make some bracelets out of this random string we had laying around. They were pretty excited about them and I have one too! Some of the other girls in my group were saying that the little kids love their hair and run their hands through it all the time which I hadn't previously experienced but today while we were making the bracelets they kept touching my hair and going on and on about it in Setswana...finally one of the girls told me that they were saying I had smooth hair and they really liked it haha

Wedneday night we decided not to go out and watch the game and to just hang in instead. Kind of a bummer considering the U.S. upset Spain in futbol. Probably would have been really fun to watch with a bunch of the locals and other international vistors but we played some catch phrase, which of course I enjoyed. I got to call Andrew from skype and talked to him for about 12 minutes so that was nice. You never really realize how much you miss a person's voice until you hear it again! He's been good about sending me little messages every chance he gets so that's definitely helped but nonetheless it was nice to talk to him!

Last night (Thursday) we went to Linga Longa at Riverwalk to watch the Brazil/South Africa game. Josh and J.W. from work came also so it was a good time. It was a pretty crowded place so we had to stand the whole time ugh but we were only there til 10:45ish. Everyone wants to try and get tickets the U.S./Brazil game this Sunday so we'll see what happens with that!

The only thing different about today at work is we went out to lunch at Main Mall..there were actually quite a few of us: Me, Kate, J.W., Josh, Ed, Stu, Lisa & Maryah so it was nice to get to know a few other people. We went to KFC lol and it tasted pretty much like it does in the States. I particularly enjoyed their mash & gravy but was slightly disappointed that they didn't have mac & cheese or even some kind of variation. They do not seem to eat cheese here at all which I find disturbing because to me,

cheese is its own food group separate from dairy lol

1st Pic: Roommates (Kate, Mandy, Me & Clare) at Linga Longa

2nd Pic: Baylor Scholars (Me, Josh, Kate & J.W.)

I'm not really sure what the plan is tonight but I know we cancelled dinner...people were talking about going to get pizza (we all miss it!) or maybe I'll eat the P&J I had originally packed for lunch lol Clare had said something about going to see a movie (the Hangover, which I didn't get a chance to see before leaving) and some other people mentioned going to Bull & Bush again or somewhere similar. Whatever the case, I'm sure it will be fun. Go siame! (Goodbye: pronounced Ho see-ah-may)

"Just be what you are and speak from your guts and heart- it's all a person has." -Hubert H. Humphrey

Our sugar packets have insightful quotations on them and I've been collecting them daily so the title of this blog is from a packet I got last week. It fact, quote are incorporated in a number of places and there's something uplifting about seeing them throughout the day.

Something interesting popped into my head yesterday but I forgot to write about it. Since we've been here we've heard so much about how Motswana (They aren't called Botswanans like you might think) really care about their neighbor and will go out of their way for people they don't even know. And we've seen it as we've gone around the city and in our interactions with quite a few people. But despite this idea of camaraderie they are very worried about crime. There was a letter on our table about preventing theft in the apartments and it's not just locking your doors when you're gone, it's locking them when you're there which is not really something I'm use to. I just find it a little strange that a place that seems to have such a community, help thy neighbor, greet everyone you see attitude can have such a concern for theft. You would think that not stealing from your neighbor would just be implied. Maybe I'll ask someone to explain this to me.

(Pic: the 4 of us were crammed in the back of Pearl's car but you can only see Mandy & I in the pic haha)

Today was me & Kate's second day at Baylor. When we got there Dr. Ryan sent us off to a lecture which was really interesting. It was the KITSO training (Kitso means knowledge but is also an acronym) about Pediatric and Adolescent medicine dosage and adherence. Dr. Ryan was explaining that at Baylor adherence to taking medications is one of the biggest problems because if they fail to take their medicine at the right time they can develop and immunity and lower the longevity of their life. Dr. Partha who also works at Baylor and gave the psychosocial part of the lecture discussed ways to approach the disease with young children. He suggested describing the medicine as a way to help the child's soliders become stronger because there is a bad guy that makes them weak but when you take your medicine correctly he goes to sleep. This is essentially telling the truth about the disease, it attacks (the bad guy-HIV) a person's CD4 cells (soliders) and makes the child ill but if they take their medicine the viral load is lessen (putting the bad guy to sleep). He also expressed that full disclosure can be an important aspect of a child's medical and psychological health because they don't have secrets and have access to clinical, familial, social support that they may not if they don't disclose but he made it very clear that public disclosure is not usually that beneficial because of the stigma associated with the disease. Overall the presentation was insightful and I'm glad we were able to attend. It was interesting to be the only two white people attending though I'm not sure noticed initially. I felt bad that we had to leave as soon as he was done, it would have been nice to mingle with some of other people in attendance to see what kind of work they do but Dr. Partha said it was mainly pediatricians and doctors attending.

When we got back we helped Stu finish taking pictures of x-rays and labeling them. I'm amazed at how sloppy doctors write. I mean I knew it was bad but you would think they would at least make the name legible so that you know they could find the right file?! I did my best and now that project is completed. We also briefly met with the social worker and basically set up a meeting to meet with her and the psychologist tomorrow to discuss possibly creating the curriculum for parenting/caregiver groups that they have wanted to start. Then we had another lecture to go to called Better Medicine for Children, If Not Now...When? by Stuart MacLeod, a member of the World Health Organization. He was mainly discussing the lack of clinical testing of medication on children and how this can be detrimental. In the past 75% of drugs on the market had not been tested on children and yet were prescribed to them just the say. That's pretty scary if you ask me! I was getting pretty annoyed though because being "on time" is completely relative here. I could have showed up to the lecture 30 minutes into it and I don't think anyone would have cared, except maybe Dr. Ryan. People were coming in and out during almost the entire thing and it made it very difficult for me to focus on what he was saying. I felt completely distracted the entire time but as I looked around, it didn't seem like anyone else was phased by it. I can get being laid back but I guess to me it just felt really disrespectful to

have people showing up 40 minutes into the lecture and making so much noise while someone is trying to give a presentation. When we met with Dr. Ryan again he had talked to Mmpula about a pamphlet project they wanted us to work on so we have a meeting with her tomorrow morning to discuss what she needs from us. So it looks like we will be put to you!

I'm so tired anymore. I really think it's the lack of sunlight in the evenings because it just makes me think it's bed time. I laid down for a little after work but never really fell asleep. It's always pretty loud. The walls are thick but the doors are not at all so you hear every little thing. I think the other reason I was so tired today is because I was basically up from 4 something to 6:45 because the outside door kept slamming from the wind. I almost went crazy and knocked it down!! I hope it doesn't do that tonight.

Tonight Thato and Pearl took us to Square Market to get some groceries. Mandy and Kate have to pack their lunch unless they want to eat fat cakes and chips every day lol and I decided I wouldn't mind packing mine from time to time to avoid having to eat the same 6 items for lunch and dinner nearly everyday for a month! So I got some bread, peanut butter, jelly and chips to take with me.

(Pic:Here's Mandy and her sweet treat! I got 2 ice creams also but I'm saving them for later!)

Again, I don't have many pictures but there wasn't really anything to take pictures of today so I'll try to get some tomorrow because I know this is much more fun to look at when you can see the things I'm doing! I'm going to go shower and relax some before I head to bed. I may try to hit the sack again early in hopes that I will get a good nights rest!

5 Cow Special

I had my first day at BIPAI and it started off a little rough. We all loaded on to the bus and began to get dropped off. The advisors dropped us off and came into to ensure we were received. Unfortunately, the current program coordinator didn't know that we were specifically coming and was a little thrown off. He was really nice though and kept saying it wasn't out fault but that it does cause some problems because they have certain protocol that they follow pretty strictly. He took Kate and I into a conference room to ask some questions about our education background, experience, goals for our time there, interests, etc. He was really nice and helpful and seems to feel confidently that we can find some way to get involved. The staff psychologist and social worker were both out of the office today. The SW came back later and we met with her briefly before we headed home and will meet tomorrow afternoon to do paperwork and other logistical tasks.

After meeting with Dr. Ryan we met Ed who is in charge of a lot of their work with teenagers invited us to work with him and to go to their Teen Club meeting this Saturday. http://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/ They get together once a month with adolescents and play sports and offer educational information about HIV/AIDS and provide life skills training. This Saturday they will be doing football drills (remember, that's soccer in the States) and doing a crime prevention lesson. Kate and I are going to attend and Clare said she's interested in going too so I hope it's a good experience.

Stu took us down the play group area which is typically outside in a decently open space that also has tables so kids can play with blocks, legos, read books, color, etc. But when it's colder or raining they have the group in under the stairwell which is a pretty small space. It would be great if they could somehow get a covering for the outside area and an outdoor heater to keep it warmer. I spent most of my time helping a little guy build a lego house. He was so adorable. I taught him how to give me five and he would just get the biggest smile on his face every time I put out my hand. It was a little weird knowing that all the kids we were with had HIV or AIDS, not because of the disease itself but because they seemed so lively and smart. A couple of them knew very good English which seemed surprising since they appeared quite young and we were told that English isn't usually taught until they are 6 years old. They helped teach us some words also so it was a learning experience. I need to write down some common sentences so that I can refer to it and communicate better with them as Setswana is mostly the preferred language of the kids.

We went to the "Visiting Scholars" office with Stu (another intern from Michigan State) and we were able to get on the computer and read some more material about the organization. We also met a few other interns: Josh, Lisa, JW and a new employee B2. I was reading about these Hero Books that they have children create which seemed really interesting but also seemed like they would take a long time to complete. http://botswanateenclub.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/making_a_hero_book.pdf But I really like the concept of them and it reminded me of the Lifebook Shawna (another intern at OU's Counseling & Psychological Services) had told me a lot of Social Workers utilize with adopted children.

By the time we ate lunch, I was absolutely starving. I felt like I had a hearty breakfast and I'm still amazed that I get hungry for meals because of how much I eat during them but apparently I'm just burning right through the calories! Stu, JW & Josh took us out to the Main Mall area to get some food. I didn't catch the name of the place but it was traditional Botswana cuisine and really good. After that we headed back but it was pretty much time for us to leave. We lucked out because we are only about 5 minutes from our organization so we can walk to and from and avoid the long bus ride others have to take. Everyone was really friendly and seem like they do a lot of stuff together, they already invited us to hang out this weekend so we might go do something fun, it will just depend on everything else we have going on. The name of this post actually comes from lunchtime.. as we were walking to Main Mall, Stu was telling me how on a number of occasions mothers have offered him their young daughters because they want them to marry white men. A lot of families still use a dowry system which is why they would tell him you can have my daughter for 5 cows...this is a special price as the traditional village we went to said that 8-9 cows was standard, hence, 5 cow special.

We got back at like 3:30 in the afternoon and I decided to take a little nap. It was realively short lived as most of my naps here have been. I swear I can hear every little thing, and it probably doesn't help that I'm the room closets to the outside hall because I hear everyone coming in and out of their apts. After some other people got back we attempted to go to the bookstore but it was closed. Everything closes really early here. Then we headed to our first meeting to discuss how everyone's first day and first week has been. A couple people shared moments that really made them uncomfortable while they have been here. I'm grateful that they did share those stories even though it seemed difficult for them because it really helped put some things in perspective for me and will force me to keep remembering that being the minority carries certain implications unfortunately.

One of the downfalls of this place is that because it is a clinic there are a lot of regulations and we cannot take pictures or anything like that. It's was kind of a bummer to see other peoples pictures with the kid and how cute they look and to just see all the stuff they do and know that I can't really offer that for my friends and family. They do have awesome art work everywhere and the clinic tends to not to have very many clients after 3pm so I'm going to run around with my camera and get some snap shots of the things I like which I can post.

Well that's about it for today... I'm going to go over to the boys room and watch a movie and organize some things for tomorrow!

First Day at Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative

I'm up and ready for my first day! Heading to breakfast (and probably having 3 cups of coffee) then out to the bus so we can all get dropped off... the bus pick up makes me feel like we're in middle school again! Wish me Luck!!

P.S. Coffee Count Total for week 1 = 18

wow..either this stuff is not strong or I'm immune to caffeine!

Welcome to the Sunday Sermon

We woke up bright and early today and headed to Mmshumi's church. It kind of looked like an old strip mall that they had taken over and turned various building into different departmens like an office and then they had the actual chapel. When we first got there we stood outside for awhile, at first I was wondering if there was a problem with us coming but it turns out they pulled out all the stops for us. We were sitting in the main building 3 and 4 rows back from the stage, behind some of the elder preachers. We passed people sitting outside, and just a reminder it's winter in Botswana, under tents for the 2 1/2 hour service. I kind of felt bad being inside when so many people were outside because it is definitely colder in the morning. But they seriously wear sweaters and coats all day and it will be in the mid 70s! It's funny becuase they are like "It's winter, it's coooold!" and we're like "This weather is great!" We were all starving when we left church because I don't think anyone thought it was going to last until 10:30 and none of us had time to eat breakfast which we have become accustomed too. They served our breakfast at 11:00ish but a couple of us had to wait almost a half hour for food which wasn't a big deal except they said lunch would be at 12:30 and there was no way we were going to be hungry. Breakfast was good so I really wasn't hungry until dinner anyway and because we didn't eat lunch we missed out on live....oh darn! lol

Thato and Pearl came and took Me, Kate, Clare & Mandy to Game City for a girls day! I got a couple things.. a cute dressy top that's gold, a white long blouse, a pair of gladiator heels, and a necklace all for like 70 dollars. I can't get over how cheap things are. I'll spend hundreds of pula

but it only amounts to 30 dollars or something. Crazy. It's good to know that my shoe shopping problem translates across cultures but I love what I bought so far! I think Kate, my former college roommate for those of you who don't know, would be very proud of my collection! She's is the queen of shoes and it's definitely rubbed off on me!

Tonight after we napped and went to dinner we decided to go to the courts. Some people were playing basketball and soccer but some of the other girls decided to do our own exercises. We did a mini pilates work out and lunges, squats and ran. It felt good to do some physical activity because besides walking I dunno that I have done much. I think we're going to start making it a daily thing just because most of us feel better and have more energy when we work out in some capacity. Apparently there is a gym we have access to so that would be nice to figure out.

Tomorrow we start our placements. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I'm anxious to see what they will have us do. Here is the link for the their website if you want to check it out: http://bayloraids.org/africa/center.shtml and of course I'll let everyone know tomorrow how the first day was! I hope I can sleep tonight because I'm so excited!!!

I called my parents today. I finally figured out my skype account so I put money on it so I could wish my dad a happy father's day. The phone cut out a bit so I didn't exactly get to say goodbye but it was nice nonetheless. I let Mandy use it to because she doesn't have a computer and we still don't have phones here. It seemed like her parents enjoyed hearing from her. That's one thing I've really enjoyed about this trip, everyone has been sharing with everyone. Anytime anyone needs anything there's someone offering to help out, which isn't how things always are. I also called Andrew to say goodnight. We've mainly been using facebook chat and messages so it was nice to hear his voice. Well of course it's midnight already (where does the time go?) Broko.

Cow Stomach = Yuck! Fete de la Musique = Tres Bien!

These early mornings are straight killing me!!! You would think that I would be use to them because of my internship but unfortunately there was one week in between the ending of that and this trip and I got somewhat use to sleeping in... well at least until 9-9:30. We were out quite late last night though I slept like a log so that was good. Unfortunately I'm an idiot and left my ipod alarm set from the day before so I had the lovely Taylor Swift singing to me at 6:45am. I just went back to sleep for about a half hour, but it wasn't good sleep. So basically I'm running on 4.5 hours of sleep. Good call. I believe it was worth it...

We had our last class meeting. We played this game where you take 7 different beads and they represent important people in your life: mom, dad, brother, sister, best friend, etc and then you go to stations and roll a die. Depending on the number it lands on there are

instructions on the card telling you what to do. There were 6 stations and my life went like this 1) Life goes on as normal 2)

My mom is infected with HIV 3) My mom dies from AIDS 4) My grandma dies of malaria 5) My sister gets raped and contracts HIV 6) Life goes on as normal. Some life huh? Thank God these were just beads! But I got the point, it was to show us how easily something like this can affect a family and how it affects everyone, not just the person who contracts the disease. It was interesting to see what happened to other people because I didn't really read through the other possibilities. It also helped put into perspective the kinds of things I could run into while I'm here. We also received our placements and dun dun DUN.. I'm at Baylor Pediatic Clinic!! It was my first choice so I'm really happy. Kate, one of the counseling doc students, will be there with me which I think is awesome because she has actually worked in the field with families so I feel like I can learn a lot from her. I'm anxious to get acquianted and see what they do instead of just hearing about it.

After class we went to lunch there was new entree on board today. One of the girls informed us it was cow's stomach but I made a committment to try everything here (minus anything with tomatoes lol) so I had her put a little on my plate. Huge mistake. I wish I had taken a picture of it just so you could see how gross it looked to begin with. It was smooth on one side and reminded me of what an artery would look like, sliced in half. Then on the other side was this sp

ongy, broccoli looking stuff. Clare, Mandy & I cut off pieces and tried it. At first were like oh this isn't so bad..I mean it doesn't taste amazing but it really just didn't taste like much of anything. That is until you swallow it. It literally tasted the way poop smells. It was awful. NEVER NEVER NEVER AGAIN. I just gagged typing all this.

We spent the afternoon/evening at the French Music Festival or Fete de la Musique! We all thought it was going to be French music (which we also all thought was weird) but it was actually a wide range of different genres from hip hop to jazz to classical and afro-pop. I enjoyed everything except the heavy metal which actually had really good music and just horribly singing. I hate that stuff where people yell in the microphone and try to sound scary, it hurts my ears. But besides that it was really good. I'll try to add a video of it later but right now it's not loading.It was amazing all the sounds they could make just using their feet, hands, mouth and a whistle! I was quite impressed and it seemed like most everyone else was too. We decided to

just get

dinner at the festival instead of coming back to the cafeteria. I got all of that for 12 Pula or 2 dollars! haha On the other side of the stage there was a store that had all kinds of really cool African souveniers. They had all kinds of stuff from flags to scrapbooks to statues, walking sticks, and awesome pottery. I got myself this little wood container. I figure I'll find something

to put in it! The carvings are elephants! I think it's pretty neat looking though. I also got my nieces gifts for their birthdays and my mom something but of couse I won't disclose that here or she'll know! We heard that Main Mall has a lot of similar stuff and for even cheaper than this place. I got all my stuff for less than $80.00. I can't wait to get more stuff to take back! I honesly want one of the dish sets but I have no idea how I'd get it back with me without breaking it so I probably won't get one. Well now I'm pretty well all caught and of coure I didn't get to bed early like I wanted to. This is becoming problematic. Oh well, it was worth it to get to talk to Andrew for awhile. I miss him...

Bahurutshe and Bull & Bush

Yesterday was the most fun I've had so far! We started off the day at 7:30 of course with a delicious breakfast: fried eggs, toast and bacon.. I made a breakfast sandwich :) Then we headed to our final Setswana lesson of the trip. Le ithutile thata (I have learned a lot!) After that we preceded to Bahurutshe, a cultural village outside of the city. They demonstrated their traditional singing and dancing and also showed us their wedding day rituals. It really is a whole village celebration. It was interesting to hear them talk about how traditionally the bride and groom were cousins but only through brother/sister relationships not through sister/sister. They said that a lot of westerners say that the children will be messed up or have defects if they marry in their family but they felt this was only true if it was one sisters child marrying another sisters child. It would have been interesting to hear a little bit more about why they believed that. I'll be honest, thinking about it made me feel a little sick to my stomach. I just can't imagine marrying someone in my own family but I think I understand their reasonings. A main one was the idea of keeping the family's wealth within the family. If a woman married outside of the family then the son-in-law would be paying a dowry to a family outside of his own, if it's his cousin then it's sorta keeps the dowry within the family. Paying 8 cows to your aunt and uncle still gives you access to them. The reality is these kinds of traditions still go on in royal families throughout the world and yet because of their wealth we often ignore the incest component. They are less common than before and I feel that this is probably due to the fact that many cultures have eliminated a dowry component so there's not as much worry about where the money is but also disapproval by some larger groups seems to have made an impact in some areas. I think my real problem is less with the within the family thing and more to do with the age at which this tends to occur. I guess this is just one of those places you have to agree to disagree.

They made us a delicious lunch. I have been pleasantly impressed with the food. The only problem is while it may taste great, it doesn't always agree with my stomach which is nothing new since I'm lactose intolerant and love cheese, afredo sauce, and ice cream. But still having my stomach hurt a couple times a day is getting old. The one thing that does surprise me though is they always serve us pop or canned juice that's really sweet. There food seems moderately healthy so I would think they would drink a lot of water but we've only been offered water one time and of course we all took it. I think I'm really dehydrated so I've been feeling funny at times. I sure the amount of coffee I'm drinking isn't helping the cause but I only had one cup today because of the no water thing. Can't chance it when I don't know when I'll be able to flush again lol Thankfully the cultural village had water so I jumped at the opportunity to utilize it. Apparently you can stay their overnight. We went in the huts which were really nice, small but cozy. It would be the perfect getaway for a night or two! They also gave us clay and had us making something for them to keep in memory of us. I'm not so creative so I just made a sun.One of the ladies made a pig and handed it to me..I kind of wish I could have kept it but I don't think I was suppose to. It was really cool to see their traditions and even have opportunities to be participate in them. At first I was thinking I should have volunteered to play the role of the bride but once she had to take cow poop and spread it on the ground, I was glad I didn't! (The second picture in this blog is of the women showing her how it's done). I was advised by Dr. Bates to talk about the things I didn't like so much... for instance the men first rule and women do all the work. I prefer to feel as though chivalry never died and ladies go first haha no really I don't care who's first..I'd rather all go together. Then we were sweeping while the boys played games! I have seen documentaries in the past and it showed the men just kind of sitting around the village while the women cook all day and clean and hunt. It just seemed kind of ridiculous that they didn't help at all! It seems like so much more would get done and a women wouldn't have to spend her whole day slaving over every tasks but apparently that's not how they see it.

We still didn't have hot water when we got home and my hair was absolutely disgusting so I decided to wash my hair in the sink. It was awkward and the water was freezing. I compared it to dipping my hair into the Arctic Ocean. Of course about 4 hours later all the water was back but its whatever. Let's just hope there isn't a next outage!

It was our first night venturing out in Gaborone! Almost the whole group headed to a popular bar: Bull & Bush. There were a lot of tourist & locals so it was a nice mix of people. We met a lot of really nice people there including two marines. I was asking them quite a few questions since that's what Andrew plans to do next year. They actually made me feel a lot better than someone I had talked to a few weeks before. I guess each person is different but it's comforting to talk to people who are actually a part of it and see that while they have seen some scary stuff they aren't necessarily scared for life or anything. There's no doubt in my mind that some of the stuff they see will never leave their memory but all you can hope for is that they develop health coping skills and seek counseling if necessary. (Obviously I would say that since it's my field lol) It was a really fun night though! We were all dancing and just letting loose after a long week. I'm not gonna lie, I took one too many poker face pictures haha We also met up with some of the other exchange students staying at UB from UPenn, Kansas, Finland, Germany, etc. I had come to expect being hit on hardcore as we warned that the men often come on strong here because if they don't they are afraid you won't be interested but we didn't really have that problem at all. Maybe some of that had to do with being at a bar that had a lot of tourist or the fact that we were in a large group but whatever the cause I was happy not to be bothered too much! The guys we did meet were extremely polite and they had MANNERS! (Of course Andrew has manners as well, but I'm referring to how strangers in US with the ones in Botswana) Yes apparently on this part of the world they have no died yet! No but seriously, everyone- girls and guys alike, that we have met so far has been really nice. At the end of the night we went to Bimbos..yes it is really called that. It's pretty much like a Sonic so we all endulged in drunk food in Botswana and it was delicious!! Here are some pictures to document our fun times lol

with some new friends..

Manders & Corky :)

P-p-p-p-oker Face!

Clearly having way too much fun!

Now that we can blow dry our hair, we can't wash it..

So Clare's bag came today. Just as a I suspected, right after she replace all the things she thought she lost! Oh well...but hey at least we can blow dry our hair now...yeah that's what we thought until I came home and discovered that we had no water pressure. I know they told us to expect this from time to time but I dunno I guess I didn't expect it during our first week. I'm just going to hope that it's working in the morning...otherwise I'm gonna look a little gross.

So I took my computer with me to give me opportunities to write throughout the day and I'm just going to post everything I wrote before and then maybe add some more about the day.

I've drank too much coffee the last few days...case & point:
Coffee Talley: 11
Nescafe is the best thing ever invented. I’m glad it’s available everywhere unlike Starbucks.
I was up wayyy too late last night trying to get my last blog to post so I decided to bring my computer so that I could type throughout the day and not have to worry about doing it all in the evening.

In our Setswana lesson we learned their equivalent of heads, shoulders, knees & toes. It’s pretty funny watching a bunch of college kids sing and dance. I actually like this song because I actually learned the words pretty well.

I sorta feel bad because it seems like they are changing the cuisine to make it a little more American for us. While some of the food is definitely different than what I’m use to and I’ll probably not eat it when I go back but it is part of the experience. For instance, during tea time they keep giving us these really good muffins and they are an American recipe. At least they are made in South Africa, right? I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining though because these muffins are awesome. Tea time is my favorite time…even though I always drink coffee, I still love it.

I swear this food just sits in my stomach. We just finished lunch and I didn’t really feel that full initially but now I think I may explode. I guess this is my cue to cut back on my portions a little.
We just had several more organizations come talk to us about what they do and what we could expect to do if we worked with them. I narrowed my choices down to 1) Baylor Pediatric Clinic 2) Lifeline 3) BCC. Each have an emphasis on the counseling component so that made them the most appealing. BCC didn't actually come talk to us but from the description of our instructor it sounds like they do a lot of different things. I really feel like no matter where I get placed it's going to be an awesome experience. I'm just excited to find out where I will be!

Tonight we had a welcome dinner. The food was AMAZING! There was this shredded beef that I would have stolen if I could have. I hope they make that in the cafeteria sometime lol Afterward we decided to go back to our place and change and then just hang out at the guys room. I was going to shower and that's when I discovered..NO WATER. ughh, my hair is really gross. I hope it's working in the morning or I'll be doing a little cold water rinsing before the cultural village which I am extremely excited for! So then we still went to hang with the guys and played catch phrase. It was really fun! I love that game. A bunch of other people came up too so that made it even better. Titus and Karabo had never played before so it was fun to teach them...they actually did pretty well after the first couple tries :)

Ok I really need to stop staying up so late. Perhaps that's why I need 4 cups of coffee to function each day....BOROKO!

Dumela borra & bomma

All of us at dinner

I finally have my internet hooked up..after fighting with my web browser for an hour I miraculously fixed it! I really wanted it so that I can keep up on these blogs...there's no real point in having one of these things if you can never access/write in it.

So let's see..today was...long. Seems to be the theme haha but I really don't want to miss anything so I'm trying to pack as much in as possible. We had another Setswana lesson and I was using it correctly at breakfast & lunch today! I've trying to make sure I greet everyone when I walk by (refer to the title of this post...which means hi gentlemen & ladies) and this one cleaning lady always says Dumela baby when I greet her lol She's cute! I think they like my shoes too. They are always pointing and talking about them when I walk by...or maybe I just have ugly feet?

I'm blown away at how nice everyone is here. I have yet to run into one rude or unkind person. Our guides have been really awesome too! This weekend Thato and her friends are taking me and the roommates out to one of the nicer malls so we can get some cute clothes. They tried to tell us that they are behind us in fashion but they dress super cute so I'm really excited to see their shops. We actually went shopping today.. I bought 3 pairs of shoes which is insane but I only brought three with me (dumb!) so that's what happens when I try to restrict my packing.. I just come back with even more. I don't think I even have any space left on my shoe rack...The amazing thing was that 3 pairs of flats, 1 hoodie, 1 cardigan, 1 tee, and a purse was only about 60 bucks. This is my kind of place to shop...

We also had 3 organizations come in and talk about what they do and what we could expect to do if we were placed there. The first was SOS which is a children's orphange. It seemed like it would be such a fun and interactive place to work but is likely where a number of people want to go so I'm kind of already ruling it out just because it doesn't have an emphasis on counseling like some of the other orgs. The second one was SAPPSSI which is the Salvation Army's organization paired up with some churches and schools. It seemed like it would give people the opportunity to work in a variety of settings and again was mainly focused on children. I liked that they had a peer mentoring aspect to it...it seems like it's important for them to really empower the young people in Botswana which I think is really cool especially since one of our informed lectures today was talking about how so many young people get there information from their peers. What better way to provide them with the facts than through training the people they listen to? The third organization was Lifeline Botswana which is an international organization that's main focus is providing free counseling for people as well as a training and other servies that may require a fee. They work in conjunction with a women's shelter and hospice and serve all ages so again it would be an opportunity to work in a multiple settings with various groups of people. Right now that's where I'm leaning but we still have a number of groups to hear from and YOHO didn't show up today was definitely a place I had thought about so we'll see. We don't have to decide until Friday anyway.

-This is for Eric..Blue Sambuca!!

Side Note: The stray cats have vicious meows. Almost peed my pants when one started going nuts in our hall just a second ago. hope one doesn't bite me or I'll probably seriously regret forgoing the rabies vaccine....

Ke a otsela (I'm sleepy)

Boroko! (Goodnight)

When In Africa...

Me at dinner...notice, we got "fresh chips" tonight...aka french fries :)

It sort of already feels like I've been here for 4 days but its really only the second full one. This is probably because I haven't been sleeping very well. I have absolutely no concept of time because I figured I could use my phone as my watch despite having it turned off but unfortunately because it doesn't get service it won't even show the time at all. I'm relying on Clare to make sure I'm up on time and to meals on time..and everything in between. I think I need to buy a watch because I might go crazy. I actually woke up in the middle of the night and Esela (i think that's how she spelled) was awake.. I asked her what time it was and she told me 1am, I didn't believe her...she even gave me a clock and I was so thrown off that I turned on my computer just to see if she was for real. It's not like I really thought she was lying but I really thought I had been asleep a lot longer. Like I said...zero concept of time.

Botswana does NOT have a McDonalds!! However, it does have KFC..which I think is slightly odd...especially because I actually like the chicken they've been serving even better than KFC's and everyone knows how much I love KFC original recipe lol Breakfast was interesting this morning..the porriage was well...let me put this way, it's consistency resembled hair gel but it really didn't taste like anything until you added some sugar. They also don't really serve coffee but they have these instant packets that I love. And they have tea time in the middle of the morning which I think I'm going to need to incorporate into my life back home. If only they believed in nap time also...

We learned A LOT of Setswana today. Unfortunately most of the vocab is escaping me at this time because I think my brain just shut off.

We're trying to figure out what we want to do this weekend. Thato and Karabo (our guides) offered to take us to different malls and out and our roommates also suggested that we go to Botswana's 1000K Desert Race with them so I guess we'll see. I'm excited to get out and see other stuff though...it's been interesting so far!

Flight/Day 1

Kate, Clare, Mandy, Zach & I

Waiting at the ATL Airport

I’ve been on this plane for over 12 hours now but we just hit Africa! I took a picture of the coast line…we’re in the Northwest corner of Naimbia. We will actually cross over Botswana before landing in Johannesburg, South Africa perhaps we should just sky dive over Gaborone? If only we didn’t have so much luggage. I think I’ve slept for something like 4 hours. I did not take advantage of my sleeping pills because the movie selection on the plane was phenomenal and I was too excited to sleep until about 2am (our time) 8am Botswana time and then it just didn’t make much sense to sleep for 8 hours because I’d still be on my at home schedule. I think this will actually help me adjust a little easier to the time change because I’ll actually be tired when its night here.

So we landed in Johannesburg and then we spent about 2 hours waiting for people to find their luggage, which is still MIA. Thankfully it was smaller bags for most people and the really important stuff did make it but that’s probably not a great way to start the trip.

We checked into our hotel for the night. It’s pretty nice. We had a group dinner at one of the hotel restaurants, Montenegro Spur. So far the food is just like at home but we are in South Africa so we’ll see about tomorrow! It’s 11:30 here and I have to be up at 5:45am to make it to the airport so goodnight!