Hello All,
Today's post is going to touch on a sensitive issue: race. I'm not planning on saying anything offensive, but if you are upset/confused/amused by anything that I say, please feel free to comment/email me about it. I'm open to discussion. Otherwise, I wouldn't write a blog!
Before I start: Hi Reenuka! Hi Ravi! (And Demi, Emily, Eileen...sorry if I missed anyone MISS YOU ALL)
So, race. Coming as a white person from America, being a minority here has turned the tables in a few ways that made me think a bit. First off, the obvious: When my fellow students and I walk together, people hard-core stare at us. When I walk by myself home from the clinic, people stare but not quite as openly. Still, I stick out quite a bit. And the truth is, I've found myself doing the same thing when I see another white person in the mall or on the road. It's an adjustment, but so far one that I sort of anticipated.
On the other hand, one element has suprised me: The media. I remember reading and hearing complaints that ads in the US disproportionately feature white people, and that white people play most of the important characters on shows, etc. I sort of nodded along to these, since it seemed logical. It's a lot more striking, however, when pretty much every single ad and commercial features Black actors. I don't mean to imply that this is a problem, but it did make me realize that I'm used to seeing myself (or at least, my race) reflected back to me in ways that I may not be conscious of most of the time.
The same has happened with, of all things, fashion. I bought a copy of New African Woman magazine as part of an assignment to read local literature (and it turned out to be quite interesting, actually). After flipping through it a bit, I realized that I could completely skip all of the sections on hair and make-up suggestions...because they were all geared for hair and skin-type completely different from mine. It makes sense, of course. There's no reason to cater magazine articles to the tiny white minority in Botswana- but it definitely made me aware of how my life in America is affected by my being white.
Speaking of race, people LOVE Obama here. They tend not to know much about him or his politics, but he's definitely seen as an African, or at least closer to Africa than other presidents. After the US-Ghana game, some people were chanting something along the lines of, "Go home, USA! Come home, Obama!" Don't tell the birthers, they'll use it as evidence.
(In case you were wondering, I'm probably not going to get dreadlocks, speaking of hair. It would be possible, but a pain to take out.)
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
USA! USA! OBAMA! YES WE CAN! Oh wait...
Hello all,
So I'm sitting here in an internet cafe, sipping an espresso con panna (they don't have Starbucks here, but they do alright), and blogging when I should be frantically working on two assignments due tomorrow. But this is so much more important, because...
Last night, I went to Rustenburg and watched Ghana kill the USA in an epic game of football.
This game was pretty awesome. A few figures:
USA goals: 1
Ghana goals: 2
Souveniers bought: 0. This was not me being cheap...shockingly, they weren't selling any souveniers (except those cursed horns, which I'll get to in a minute) at the arena. I'll be sure to get some gear before I leave, since they're selling it (oddly enough) everywhere else.
Times I lost circulation to my extremities: 3.
Times I cared: 0. There was a game to watch. USA! USA!
Seats empty in the arena: 27 (out of 40,000)- this is an official figure
We somehow managed to hire a bus large enough to take all 18 of us, and the drive was about 3.5 hours from Gabs to Rustenburg. A sidenote about South Africa: Does anyone else think it's a tad obnoxious that they just named themselves for the entire region? Every time I try to tell someone that Botswana is in southern Africa, they immediately assume that it's part of South Africa and I have to explain that it's actually a country of its own. Granted, part of the problem here is that no one knows anything (myself included) about African geography.
To be honest, I'm happy that Ghana won. Firstly because my friends and I were surrounded by Ghana supporters, and I might have feared for my life if they'd lost. (Not really, they were all very friendly.) Secondly, soccer just really means a lot more to Ghana and the rest of Africa that it does to us. If the US went to the finals, most of us would be kind of excited, but it's nowhere near the same passion.
So, life has been pretty good. I should probably do some homework. Probably.
So I'm sitting here in an internet cafe, sipping an espresso con panna (they don't have Starbucks here, but they do alright), and blogging when I should be frantically working on two assignments due tomorrow. But this is so much more important, because...
Last night, I went to Rustenburg and watched Ghana kill the USA in an epic game of football.
This game was pretty awesome. A few figures:
USA goals: 1
Ghana goals: 2
Souveniers bought: 0. This was not me being cheap...shockingly, they weren't selling any souveniers (except those cursed horns, which I'll get to in a minute) at the arena. I'll be sure to get some gear before I leave, since they're selling it (oddly enough) everywhere else.
Times I lost circulation to my extremities: 3.
Times I cared: 0. There was a game to watch. USA! USA!
Seats empty in the arena: 27 (out of 40,000)- this is an official figure
We somehow managed to hire a bus large enough to take all 18 of us, and the drive was about 3.5 hours from Gabs to Rustenburg. A sidenote about South Africa: Does anyone else think it's a tad obnoxious that they just named themselves for the entire region? Every time I try to tell someone that Botswana is in southern Africa, they immediately assume that it's part of South Africa and I have to explain that it's actually a country of its own. Granted, part of the problem here is that no one knows anything (myself included) about African geography.
To be honest, I'm happy that Ghana won. Firstly because my friends and I were surrounded by Ghana supporters, and I might have feared for my life if they'd lost. (Not really, they were all very friendly.) Secondly, soccer just really means a lot more to Ghana and the rest of Africa that it does to us. If the US went to the finals, most of us would be kind of excited, but it's nowhere near the same passion.
So, life has been pretty good. I should probably do some homework. Probably.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Health and Such
Hello All,
This week I finished my first three days observing in a clinic. The experience has been extremely interesting, and I'm seriously considering becoming pre-med now. (Then again, I'm also seriously considering getting dreadlocks, so goodness knows where my head's at. Any advice on either would be greatly appreciated!)
You may find it amusing to hear that we've been told to wear white lab coats to the clinics to identify us as "student-doctors" or something like that. It's amazing and a little disconcerting to see that, in spite of the fact that I have zero medical training, people are willing to undress and discuss their health problems while I'm in the room...as long as I have that coat on. Stanley Milgrim, you have been proved correct yet again.
In brief, everything in this clinic is on paper- people carry their health records with them in folders to the doctor, and the doctors mark everyone who comes in a huge registry book. If someone forgets to bring a prescription, or any previous file, the doctor/nurse seeing them is at a huge loss to figure out what their story is. (This was particularly an issue in the AIDS section of the clinic, where previous medications are especially important.) They take blood pressure and temperatures the old-fashioned way, and the ante-natal check-ups are limited to listening for fetal heartbeat with a plastic tube. There's always a doctor in the AIDS section, but only twice a week for the general clinic; the nurses hold down the rest. They begin each day with a long prayer session. (Sidenote: These people can SING. Not only has every single person I met had an amazing singing voice, but they seem to be able to effortlessly fall into five-part harmony. I have no explanation, but I'm jealous.)
All of these things would seem to be huge, red-flag indicators of an efficient, broken system- yet it works, so far as I've seen, amazingly well. "Doctor's handwriting" wouldn't really fly here, and each of the nurses are skilled enough at what they do that nothing takes too long. If anything, the real issue (both in what I've observed and what we've been learning in class) seems to be the patients themselves.
In spite of the government's anti-HIV efforts, there's still a huge stigma in even discussing the disease. No one wants to admit having had sex, including pregnant women. The only place where people speak about HIV openly is on that side of the clinic (which is a separate building from the general clinic). When giving babies a check-up, (don't worry, I was only recording the information and not handling anything too complex) I was told not to ask whether the babies were HIV-positive or not...even though there was a section on every sheet to mark their status. Unless the results of the test were in the baby's file (which nine times out of ten they were not), I just wrote "unknown." In spite of the fact that about one-third of adults 18-59 in the country have AIDS or another STI, it's completely taboo to mention the disease even in a clinic.
I don't mean to be a downer; the experience has been quite positive so far. After spending the first day with the babies, I observed the AIDS clinic on Tuesday, and hung out with pregant women on Wednesday. Bewarel I'm starting to think in kilograms and meters.
This week I finished my first three days observing in a clinic. The experience has been extremely interesting, and I'm seriously considering becoming pre-med now. (Then again, I'm also seriously considering getting dreadlocks, so goodness knows where my head's at. Any advice on either would be greatly appreciated!)
You may find it amusing to hear that we've been told to wear white lab coats to the clinics to identify us as "student-doctors" or something like that. It's amazing and a little disconcerting to see that, in spite of the fact that I have zero medical training, people are willing to undress and discuss their health problems while I'm in the room...as long as I have that coat on. Stanley Milgrim, you have been proved correct yet again.
In brief, everything in this clinic is on paper- people carry their health records with them in folders to the doctor, and the doctors mark everyone who comes in a huge registry book. If someone forgets to bring a prescription, or any previous file, the doctor/nurse seeing them is at a huge loss to figure out what their story is. (This was particularly an issue in the AIDS section of the clinic, where previous medications are especially important.) They take blood pressure and temperatures the old-fashioned way, and the ante-natal check-ups are limited to listening for fetal heartbeat with a plastic tube. There's always a doctor in the AIDS section, but only twice a week for the general clinic; the nurses hold down the rest. They begin each day with a long prayer session. (Sidenote: These people can SING. Not only has every single person I met had an amazing singing voice, but they seem to be able to effortlessly fall into five-part harmony. I have no explanation, but I'm jealous.)
All of these things would seem to be huge, red-flag indicators of an efficient, broken system- yet it works, so far as I've seen, amazingly well. "Doctor's handwriting" wouldn't really fly here, and each of the nurses are skilled enough at what they do that nothing takes too long. If anything, the real issue (both in what I've observed and what we've been learning in class) seems to be the patients themselves.
In spite of the government's anti-HIV efforts, there's still a huge stigma in even discussing the disease. No one wants to admit having had sex, including pregnant women. The only place where people speak about HIV openly is on that side of the clinic (which is a separate building from the general clinic). When giving babies a check-up, (don't worry, I was only recording the information and not handling anything too complex) I was told not to ask whether the babies were HIV-positive or not...even though there was a section on every sheet to mark their status. Unless the results of the test were in the baby's file (which nine times out of ten they were not), I just wrote "unknown." In spite of the fact that about one-third of adults 18-59 in the country have AIDS or another STI, it's completely taboo to mention the disease even in a clinic.
I don't mean to be a downer; the experience has been quite positive so far. After spending the first day with the babies, I observed the AIDS clinic on Tuesday, and hung out with pregant women on Wednesday. Bewarel I'm starting to think in kilograms and meters.
Friday, June 18, 2010
A Few Fun Facts
Yay, I have computer access two days in a row! My host mother has very kindly allowed me to use her laptop for internet while we watch Generations, the most addiction soap opera on any continent. So, I'll use the opportunity to give a few fun facts/hopefully interesting observations for all y'all.
On a side note, feel free to email me to say hi or respond to something you see here- I didn't want to send mass emails just because they turned out to be not so successful, but private emails are no problem. I miss you all ;-)
Normally I don't think I'll talk much about our classes, since while I find public health interesting I don't necessarily expect all of you to, here's an interesting fun fact that explains some otherwise contradictory aspects of life in Botswana.
As you may or may not know, Botswana is one of the most politically and economically stable countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, yet one-third of the adult population has HIV/AIDS. This seemed contradictory to my dad and I when we were googling a few months ago. Today, my professor noted that when observing the health of a population, it's important to look not only at total prevalance of an illness but also of new cases specifically. The fact that so many people are alive with HIV in Botswana is more due to the government's successful efforts to treat HIV patients efficiently and affordably, as opposed to other countries where thousands of people are dying of the disease. The statistic then makes Botswana appear to have a relatively large problem (which, granted, they do), but hides the reality of their successful programs.
On a side note, this is the evil, evil result of a very socialized medical system. The system isn't perfect by any means, and the AIDS campaigns have been so successful mainly because most of the resources have been devoted to it- but still. Just a heads up.
If you're following the world cup, you've surely heard those horns that they blow constantly throughout the game. I can tell you, the noise from the TV doesn't come near to doing them justice. The Booboozhellas (surely spelled wrong, but that's how it sounds) are loud and unbelievably annoying. When some of my host mother's friends came over to watch Mexico vs. France last night (domage, mes amis) there were about four of them in the room, and it literally sounded like four shofars being blown simultaneously in a fairly small room. (For non-Jews: it was really loud.) So I'm sorry to tell my brothers back home in advance that I will not be buying them one, because I would have to kill them if they ever blew it.
Not-as-fun fact: Last night, there was a blackout in my family's home for about two hours. This has been happening on schedule on Mondays and Thursdays, from somewhere between 4 and 10 pm, for the last few months, due to...the World Cup! Yes, as it turns out, Gaborone gets part of its electricity from South Africa. Unfortunately, they're in need of a bit more power these days, so the solution is scheduled blackouts in different parts of the city for several hours each night. Well, that's one way to deal with the energy crisis.
Speaking of energy, BP is advertising like mad here in Bots. My guess is that they're hoping the news of their "almost-junk" status hasn't reached this corner of the world- I'm doing my best to make sure it does. I'm sure my host brother is sick of hearing me talking about the spill by now.
With that, I present to you a list:
Western Luxeries that You Didn't Know Were Luxeries
-Soap in public bathrooms. (The details of this one cannot be given in this blog, email me if you want to hear more.)
-Purell availible to buy. (See above.)
-Hot water
-Central heating/cooling (Actually, you probably knew this one)
-Schedules
-"Alone time"
-Set prices (as opposed to, "You're white so for you it's 10 pula more)
I'll probably add more as I go. I'm actually using this list not to vent my frustration at these things, which I pretty much expected, but rather at some of my groupmates who seemed not to understand that "developing countries" are "developing" for a reason. In all seriousness, the quality of life in Bots seems superior on almost all counts to that on the Navajo Reservation where I spent some time. (I may have said this before. Sorry. It's been a long week.)
Sorry for the incoherence of these posts. They're not so well-planned. You can make fun of me for them when I see you (whoever "you," my friendly follower, happen to be) in a few weeks.
On a side note, feel free to email me to say hi or respond to something you see here- I didn't want to send mass emails just because they turned out to be not so successful, but private emails are no problem. I miss you all ;-)
Normally I don't think I'll talk much about our classes, since while I find public health interesting I don't necessarily expect all of you to, here's an interesting fun fact that explains some otherwise contradictory aspects of life in Botswana.
As you may or may not know, Botswana is one of the most politically and economically stable countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, yet one-third of the adult population has HIV/AIDS. This seemed contradictory to my dad and I when we were googling a few months ago. Today, my professor noted that when observing the health of a population, it's important to look not only at total prevalance of an illness but also of new cases specifically. The fact that so many people are alive with HIV in Botswana is more due to the government's successful efforts to treat HIV patients efficiently and affordably, as opposed to other countries where thousands of people are dying of the disease. The statistic then makes Botswana appear to have a relatively large problem (which, granted, they do), but hides the reality of their successful programs.
On a side note, this is the evil, evil result of a very socialized medical system. The system isn't perfect by any means, and the AIDS campaigns have been so successful mainly because most of the resources have been devoted to it- but still. Just a heads up.
If you're following the world cup, you've surely heard those horns that they blow constantly throughout the game. I can tell you, the noise from the TV doesn't come near to doing them justice. The Booboozhellas (surely spelled wrong, but that's how it sounds) are loud and unbelievably annoying. When some of my host mother's friends came over to watch Mexico vs. France last night (domage, mes amis) there were about four of them in the room, and it literally sounded like four shofars being blown simultaneously in a fairly small room. (For non-Jews: it was really loud.) So I'm sorry to tell my brothers back home in advance that I will not be buying them one, because I would have to kill them if they ever blew it.
Not-as-fun fact: Last night, there was a blackout in my family's home for about two hours. This has been happening on schedule on Mondays and Thursdays, from somewhere between 4 and 10 pm, for the last few months, due to...the World Cup! Yes, as it turns out, Gaborone gets part of its electricity from South Africa. Unfortunately, they're in need of a bit more power these days, so the solution is scheduled blackouts in different parts of the city for several hours each night. Well, that's one way to deal with the energy crisis.
Speaking of energy, BP is advertising like mad here in Bots. My guess is that they're hoping the news of their "almost-junk" status hasn't reached this corner of the world- I'm doing my best to make sure it does. I'm sure my host brother is sick of hearing me talking about the spill by now.
With that, I present to you a list:
Western Luxeries that You Didn't Know Were Luxeries
-Soap in public bathrooms. (The details of this one cannot be given in this blog, email me if you want to hear more.)
-Purell availible to buy. (See above.)
-Hot water
-Central heating/cooling (Actually, you probably knew this one)
-Schedules
-"Alone time"
-Set prices (as opposed to, "You're white so for you it's 10 pula more)
I'll probably add more as I go. I'm actually using this list not to vent my frustration at these things, which I pretty much expected, but rather at some of my groupmates who seemed not to understand that "developing countries" are "developing" for a reason. In all seriousness, the quality of life in Bots seems superior on almost all counts to that on the Navajo Reservation where I spent some time. (I may have said this before. Sorry. It's been a long week.)
Sorry for the incoherence of these posts. They're not so well-planned. You can make fun of me for them when I see you (whoever "you," my friendly follower, happen to be) in a few weeks.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
It's Still Cold Here
Hello All,
I'm sorry that I haven't been able to update as often over the last few days- we've started our classes and having access to computers turned out to be a little more complicated than expected, but I think it should be worked out by now.
As the title suggests, it's still pretty cold. I'm not going to spend too much time complaining about it here, since it's pointless and we do it pretty much all day anyway. Suffice to say that, according to the thermometer outside the University of Botswana's entrance, it was 3 degrees celsius when we arrived this morning. According to my friend who is better with conversions than I, that's about 37 degrees. It does get marginally warmer around noon, thank goodness.
To highlight the last few days:
Last Saturday, we climbed Kgali Hill. Our leader, Batsi, (who is kind of insanely cool) feels that it's no fun to go up the same way you go down, so we hacked through the bush to get up before using the actual trail to go down. After the initial panic of avoiding thorn bushes, it wasn't too bad, so I guess he was right. It did take three hours, but that's par for the course with 20 people I guess.
Last Sunday, we moved in with our host families. My home consists of my mother, my 16-year-old brother, and my 19-year old cousin. They all get up around 5:00 in the morning and go to bed around 9:00 or 10:00 at night, and I'm going to have to get on that schedule too once our clinic placements start next week. (For now, I can sleep until the luxerious hour of 6:15.) The daily commute via khombi bus is a bit of a hassle, but I'm glad that I chose to do a homestay. The people in dorms are having fun too, but I do that all year round anyway.
We've all been following the World Cup here, since it's on TV and the radio pretty much constantly. I'm pickign the true underdog and rooting for North Korea. Those poor folks deserve a break.
Otherwise, we're still sort of in the initial stages of the trip. Next week, we'll be working in clinics 7:30-4:00 Monday-Wednesday, and then in class Thursday-Friday. It's still sort of unclear what we'll be doing in the clinics, since we're not legally allowed to administer anything, but I'm sure that will work itself out too.
On a side note, my fellow tea-drinkers may be encouraged to know that rooibos tea is actually quite popular here. The brand that my host family drinks tastes almost exactly like a red tea latte from Starbucks. It made me happy to know that my tea habit is actually somewhat authentic, and not just Starbuck's attempt at exoticism. (Red chai, anyone? I recommend it.)
I'm sorry that I haven't been able to update as often over the last few days- we've started our classes and having access to computers turned out to be a little more complicated than expected, but I think it should be worked out by now.
As the title suggests, it's still pretty cold. I'm not going to spend too much time complaining about it here, since it's pointless and we do it pretty much all day anyway. Suffice to say that, according to the thermometer outside the University of Botswana's entrance, it was 3 degrees celsius when we arrived this morning. According to my friend who is better with conversions than I, that's about 37 degrees. It does get marginally warmer around noon, thank goodness.
To highlight the last few days:
Last Saturday, we climbed Kgali Hill. Our leader, Batsi, (who is kind of insanely cool) feels that it's no fun to go up the same way you go down, so we hacked through the bush to get up before using the actual trail to go down. After the initial panic of avoiding thorn bushes, it wasn't too bad, so I guess he was right. It did take three hours, but that's par for the course with 20 people I guess.
Last Sunday, we moved in with our host families. My home consists of my mother, my 16-year-old brother, and my 19-year old cousin. They all get up around 5:00 in the morning and go to bed around 9:00 or 10:00 at night, and I'm going to have to get on that schedule too once our clinic placements start next week. (For now, I can sleep until the luxerious hour of 6:15.) The daily commute via khombi bus is a bit of a hassle, but I'm glad that I chose to do a homestay. The people in dorms are having fun too, but I do that all year round anyway.
We've all been following the World Cup here, since it's on TV and the radio pretty much constantly. I'm pickign the true underdog and rooting for North Korea. Those poor folks deserve a break.
Otherwise, we're still sort of in the initial stages of the trip. Next week, we'll be working in clinics 7:30-4:00 Monday-Wednesday, and then in class Thursday-Friday. It's still sort of unclear what we'll be doing in the clinics, since we're not legally allowed to administer anything, but I'm sure that will work itself out too.
On a side note, my fellow tea-drinkers may be encouraged to know that rooibos tea is actually quite popular here. The brand that my host family drinks tastes almost exactly like a red tea latte from Starbucks. It made me happy to know that my tea habit is actually somewhat authentic, and not just Starbuck's attempt at exoticism. (Red chai, anyone? I recommend it.)
Monday, June 14, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Written from Windsor Hotel, Gaborone
6/10/10
Hello All,
I apologize for the post below, it was composed in the type of stupor that can only be produced when the body isn’t sure if it’s 10:00 or 3:00 in the morning. I’m still working on that a little bit. There still hasn’t been much serious action and probably won’t be for the next few days as we continue to orient ourselves to Botswana time and our plans for the next few weeks. I have confirmed that I will be staying with a host family instead of in a dorm at the University of Botwsana, which means that I’ll get to learn the bus system in Gaborone. (Our director, Batsi, says that anyone who’s learned any American subway system will have no problems. It’s good to know that I learned more on the NYC subway that how not to make eye contact with people.)
I have also signed up- although this is not yet confirmed- to spend a week interning at an environmental organization instead of in a clinic. I chose to do this because it seems that most of the other students on the trip are pre=med, and that medical knowledge/experience would be necessary (or at least very helpful) in order to be of any use in a clinic. If I were staying for longer I’d be able to do both, but hopefully living with my host family and living vicariously through my other groupmates will give me a sense of how it works.
As many of you probably know, it is winter here in Botswana and it has been quite chilly so far. It’s getting more pleasant now (12:00 noon exactly) but was very cold last night and this morning. This is partly my own fault, since I only wore a sweatshirt on the plane and am still separated from my checked luggage (it’s in the airport, but we haven’t had a chance to get it yet). Luckily, lots of us were caught unprepared and we’ll make a trip to get fleeces tomorrow or Saturday. The custom of taking tea mid-morning, left over from Botswana’s British colonial heritage, has also been a great help.
Sidenote: Always bring a change of clothes in your carry-on bag. This is one of those travel tips that is actually quite useful- or would have been, had I taken it. I ask you not to estimate how many hours I have been wearing these same clothes because you’ll probably be grossed out and judge me forever.
Sidenote #2: Gaborone is pronounced Haboroneh. Just fyi.
That’s about all thus far, I’ll post all this just as soon as the hotel’s internet starts working!
6/9/10
Hello from Africa, finally! Rather than bore you with a litany of plane details, I’ve decided to boil my 15-hour ride into two lists: Highlights and Lowlights. Good news first.
Highlight #1: Got an aisle seat on the plane! Hours of awkwardness avoided.
Highlight #2: Seats were remarkably comfortable, and there was almost enough room to even stretch my legs while I was sitting. Why must American airline companies make flying so miserable?
Highlight #3: Okay, so this requires some explanation unless you were in my English class/were my English teacher (hi Ms. Stokes!), or have read The Road. In The Road, there is a somewhat obscure passage describing how the main character fills his bathtub with water immediately after a nuclear attack. In my English class, we spent the better part of a class trying to figure out what, exactly, was the purpose of doing that. Fast forward to this flight, when I was reading a 300-paged book called How to Survive a Zombie Attack (it was a 15-hour flight, don’t judge me). It explained that, in case of a zombie siege, the first thing that one should do is fill the bathtub with water, so that one has a big supply to use in case of long-term confinement. This prevents reliance on water pipes that can be cut or turned off when zombies (or nuclear attack, in The Road) turn society into chaos. The book went on so specify that the one may also need to hide from bandits that may take control in the face of said chaos- which is, in fact, exactly what happens post-nuclear fallout in The Road. Suddenly it all made sense.
So, long story short, highlight #3: Pondered great literature/ geeked out for a bit.
Highlight #4: Princess. And. The. Frog. So. Good! It wasn’t the only movie I watched during the flight, but it was by far the most exciting/adorable.
Highlight #5: Discovered by observation that putting the airline-provided pillow on the tray table and sleeping forward that way is actually relatively comfortable. Got an entire hour of sleep.
And bad news.
Lowlight #1: The air temperature was kept around 60 degrees the entire time. I literally wrapped the blanket (that South Africa Air so kindly provided) around my head and huddled for the entire flight. On another flight this would be a minor annoyance, but after 10 hours or so it was kind of sad.
Lowlight #2: Was not given my receipt when I checked my bag. Realized this may be a problem only when I got on the plane. See lowlight #3.
Lowlight #3: Bag did not arrive with me in Gaborone. I’m not too worried because several of the people on my flight also didn’t get their bags. Having the luggage receipt would have made it an awful lot easier to register the claim, though.
So, I know this wasn’t exactly cultured or even particularly interesting, but I promise I will have more as soon as I actually leave this hotel!
Hello All,
I apologize for the post below, it was composed in the type of stupor that can only be produced when the body isn’t sure if it’s 10:00 or 3:00 in the morning. I’m still working on that a little bit. There still hasn’t been much serious action and probably won’t be for the next few days as we continue to orient ourselves to Botswana time and our plans for the next few weeks. I have confirmed that I will be staying with a host family instead of in a dorm at the University of Botwsana, which means that I’ll get to learn the bus system in Gaborone. (Our director, Batsi, says that anyone who’s learned any American subway system will have no problems. It’s good to know that I learned more on the NYC subway that how not to make eye contact with people.)
I have also signed up- although this is not yet confirmed- to spend a week interning at an environmental organization instead of in a clinic. I chose to do this because it seems that most of the other students on the trip are pre=med, and that medical knowledge/experience would be necessary (or at least very helpful) in order to be of any use in a clinic. If I were staying for longer I’d be able to do both, but hopefully living with my host family and living vicariously through my other groupmates will give me a sense of how it works.
As many of you probably know, it is winter here in Botswana and it has been quite chilly so far. It’s getting more pleasant now (12:00 noon exactly) but was very cold last night and this morning. This is partly my own fault, since I only wore a sweatshirt on the plane and am still separated from my checked luggage (it’s in the airport, but we haven’t had a chance to get it yet). Luckily, lots of us were caught unprepared and we’ll make a trip to get fleeces tomorrow or Saturday. The custom of taking tea mid-morning, left over from Botswana’s British colonial heritage, has also been a great help.
Sidenote: Always bring a change of clothes in your carry-on bag. This is one of those travel tips that is actually quite useful- or would have been, had I taken it. I ask you not to estimate how many hours I have been wearing these same clothes because you’ll probably be grossed out and judge me forever.
Sidenote #2: Gaborone is pronounced Haboroneh. Just fyi.
That’s about all thus far, I’ll post all this just as soon as the hotel’s internet starts working!
6/9/10
Hello from Africa, finally! Rather than bore you with a litany of plane details, I’ve decided to boil my 15-hour ride into two lists: Highlights and Lowlights. Good news first.
Highlight #1: Got an aisle seat on the plane! Hours of awkwardness avoided.
Highlight #2: Seats were remarkably comfortable, and there was almost enough room to even stretch my legs while I was sitting. Why must American airline companies make flying so miserable?
Highlight #3: Okay, so this requires some explanation unless you were in my English class/were my English teacher (hi Ms. Stokes!), or have read The Road. In The Road, there is a somewhat obscure passage describing how the main character fills his bathtub with water immediately after a nuclear attack. In my English class, we spent the better part of a class trying to figure out what, exactly, was the purpose of doing that. Fast forward to this flight, when I was reading a 300-paged book called How to Survive a Zombie Attack (it was a 15-hour flight, don’t judge me). It explained that, in case of a zombie siege, the first thing that one should do is fill the bathtub with water, so that one has a big supply to use in case of long-term confinement. This prevents reliance on water pipes that can be cut or turned off when zombies (or nuclear attack, in The Road) turn society into chaos. The book went on so specify that the one may also need to hide from bandits that may take control in the face of said chaos- which is, in fact, exactly what happens post-nuclear fallout in The Road. Suddenly it all made sense.
So, long story short, highlight #3: Pondered great literature/ geeked out for a bit.
Highlight #4: Princess. And. The. Frog. So. Good! It wasn’t the only movie I watched during the flight, but it was by far the most exciting/adorable.
Highlight #5: Discovered by observation that putting the airline-provided pillow on the tray table and sleeping forward that way is actually relatively comfortable. Got an entire hour of sleep.
And bad news.
Lowlight #1: The air temperature was kept around 60 degrees the entire time. I literally wrapped the blanket (that South Africa Air so kindly provided) around my head and huddled for the entire flight. On another flight this would be a minor annoyance, but after 10 hours or so it was kind of sad.
Lowlight #2: Was not given my receipt when I checked my bag. Realized this may be a problem only when I got on the plane. See lowlight #3.
Lowlight #3: Bag did not arrive with me in Gaborone. I’m not too worried because several of the people on my flight also didn’t get their bags. Having the luggage receipt would have made it an awful lot easier to register the claim, though.
So, I know this wasn’t exactly cultured or even particularly interesting, but I promise I will have more as soon as I actually leave this hotel!
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