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.