I'm sitting crossy-legged on the carpet in the Business Block, in one of the lounge rooms that has been stripped of chairs, trying to plow through a stack of emails while attempting a stealthy pop-and-lean to Common, when I see a pink shirt approaching in my peripheral vision. It is not one of my new Business Block friends, like the girl who, when told what building I'm living in, says "oh, you're those white girls who are always dancing in the window!" or Jeremy of Zim from 20 minutes ago downstairs. I tend to make lots of friends here because my behavior (that is, using the internet on my laptop) is inscrutable and quirky enough to fascinate the Accounting and Finance students. And, of course, I don't blend super well.
"Sorry - do you work for the C -- I -- A?"
"Excuse me?"
"Do you work for intelligence?"
I wiggle my toes and stare at him for a sec. "Um, no."
"Because whenever I see an American, I think they're working for Intelligence."
"Nope, sorry, no intelligence here."
Blank smile.
We had a good but exhausting weekend. Friday we went to dinner and a movie at Riverwalk. Riverwalk is my favorite of the many malls that make up Gabs, partially because they have milkshakes and pasta and delicious Nando's, but mostly because there is a fascinating array of different ethnicities floating through like passing bubbles. The Arab families with several enthusiastic sons bouncing around dad while mom, covered save her eyes, pushes a stroller and holds an ice cream cone I can't envision how she'll consume. Small hoards of (South African? American?) tweens, the boys with their shaggy surfer cuts and girls in denim minis. Nicely dressed mixed couples on dates. The Chinese or Japanese couple with the girl on her cell, tiny stuffed creatures hanging off of it.
Anyways, Friday after the movie we went to the Hiphop Freestyle Show (themed, irrationally, "Barack Obama", apparently because that was the name they shouted when they ran out of things to say). We were, as usually, placed in the very front where the camcorder guy could film us. Most of the rappers are surprisingly good, very fluid in delivery, and extremely enthusiastic. We made more friends. Etc.
Saturday, we were invited to a BBQ at the house of Nick, a British-Zim who has been living in Bots running an IT company for several years. He bought us all of the ingredients we requested, and we made a delicious pasta salad, some regular salad, and an apple and berry crisp, to accompany his chicken and pork rashers. He also invited his little band over, so they jammed in his upstairs loft, outfitted with foam cushioning to improve the sound, while we snoozed on lounge chairs by his pool. Not a badly spent day. That evening, a local student hosted a party at his house for international students, for which he killed and stewed a goat and whipped up various other food. We dropped by. Sunday we relaxed at the coffee shop at Riverwalk, did some grocery shopping, took an evening walk, and had a rousing round of spoons with two omnipresent friends (Danger and Sam).
And that, friends, is a typically spent period of time here.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Important Characters
There are three other girls on the ACM program with me: Madeline, Emilie, and Jordan. Madeline is from Macalester, and Emilie and Jordan are from Lake Forest College (near Chicago). Jordan is originally from Utah, the other two are from the vicinity of their colleges. All are Sociology majors, but are doing various double majors (in Anthropology, Economics, and so on). Emilie is an ex-professional ballerina. Jordan is a certified pastry chef. Madeline has a Phillipino boyfriend in Japan and can do some impress body roll moves. They each have many more traits besides these.
There are about 15 international students living in Las Vegas, and about 15 more from the CIEE program living in graduate student housing. That division is fairly distinction, although there has been cross-group mingling and the CIEE kids are nice.
The Las Vegas Internationals:
1 German guy
2 Finnish girls
2 Swedish girls
3 from North Carolina – two guys and a girl
A couple from Wheaton
1 girl from UPenn
1 other girl from the US
Herbert:
Herbert is a Motswana (person from Botswana) that we met in the grocery store. He asked us for ideas for a food that is healthy but disgusting to eat (we suggested oats, he chose dog food) for a health event he was hosting, and we got to talking. He is co-founder of a microfinance organization, but not much older than us. Since our meeting, he took us out to a delicious Indian restaurant, and we also went to his apartment in a swanky part of town for a delicious Nando’s meal. He is quite entertaining to hang out with.
Nick & white guys from the Yacht Club:
The Yacht Club is at the Gaborone Dam, which is a beautiful bar and stony patio overlooking the lake. It is a bit of an ex-pat hang out. There, we met Nick and his friends, who chatted with us extensively. Nick is a British Zimbabwean who was kicked out and is now living here. He has a barge he invited us for a picnic on. I am not sure what a barge means, but we will see how this develops.
Ostrich, Deep, Danger, & the Hiphop Club:Took a shining to Jordan particularly, and have since become pals of ours. Ostrich has sold over 500 CDs and has a t-shirt (a silhouetted ostrich in a circle) which is worn by many members of the Hiphop Club around campus (Ostrich stands for “Obstacles Overcome to become Rich”). I now have my very own (pictures hopefully to come). We were invited and specially seated at their weekly freestyle, and are generally considered legit.
There are about 15 international students living in Las Vegas, and about 15 more from the CIEE program living in graduate student housing. That division is fairly distinction, although there has been cross-group mingling and the CIEE kids are nice.
The Las Vegas Internationals:
1 German guy
2 Finnish girls
2 Swedish girls
3 from North Carolina – two guys and a girl
A couple from Wheaton
1 girl from UPenn
1 other girl from the US
Herbert:
Herbert is a Motswana (person from Botswana) that we met in the grocery store. He asked us for ideas for a food that is healthy but disgusting to eat (we suggested oats, he chose dog food) for a health event he was hosting, and we got to talking. He is co-founder of a microfinance organization, but not much older than us. Since our meeting, he took us out to a delicious Indian restaurant, and we also went to his apartment in a swanky part of town for a delicious Nando’s meal. He is quite entertaining to hang out with.
Nick & white guys from the Yacht Club:
The Yacht Club is at the Gaborone Dam, which is a beautiful bar and stony patio overlooking the lake. It is a bit of an ex-pat hang out. There, we met Nick and his friends, who chatted with us extensively. Nick is a British Zimbabwean who was kicked out and is now living here. He has a barge he invited us for a picnic on. I am not sure what a barge means, but we will see how this develops.
Ostrich, Deep, Danger, & the Hiphop Club:Took a shining to Jordan particularly, and have since become pals of ours. Ostrich has sold over 500 CDs and has a t-shirt (a silhouetted ostrich in a circle) which is worn by many members of the Hiphop Club around campus (Ostrich stands for “Obstacles Overcome to become Rich”). I now have my very own (pictures hopefully to come). We were invited and specially seated at their weekly freestyle, and are generally considered legit.
Food
Botswana is a meat country. Standard fare consists of a choice between chicken and beef, cooked in seasoned meat juice, with rice or pasta. Coleslaw is the most typical vegetable. Sometimes butternut squash is served on the side, or potato salad. This fare is served in its most minimal and barely consumable form at the refectory, where we have been given a meal plan for dinner (the exact same food every day). It is also available from some stalls which are outside of the main entrance every day, and is absolutely delicious there. “Hot dogs” are also available from campus stalls, which are really gigantic sausages with sweet chili pepper sauce, as well as meat pies (essentially hot pockets that taste like chicken pot pie).
Off campus, there is an array of delicious restaurant food. Nando’s, a South African fast-food chain, makes delicious, fresh grilled chicken with a special peri-peri hot sauce. There are various American bar and fast foods, delicious Indian, pizza, Italian, and some Asian places we haven’t tried yet.
“Traditional” food is similar to standard fare, but generally not as good, which may explain why it is not available in the city unless you arrange a special tourist meal. Gritty goat meat or intestines are often involved, as is pap and sorghum, which are grain-based starches pounded into dust and recrafted into mashed-potato like consistencies (expect much lighter). They also eat cooked mopani (sp?) worms. These are crunchy with an interior like shrimp and an extremely salty flavor. They are not revolting but with not be tasted again by this author.
Off campus, there is an array of delicious restaurant food. Nando’s, a South African fast-food chain, makes delicious, fresh grilled chicken with a special peri-peri hot sauce. There are various American bar and fast foods, delicious Indian, pizza, Italian, and some Asian places we haven’t tried yet.
“Traditional” food is similar to standard fare, but generally not as good, which may explain why it is not available in the city unless you arrange a special tourist meal. Gritty goat meat or intestines are often involved, as is pap and sorghum, which are grain-based starches pounded into dust and recrafted into mashed-potato like consistencies (expect much lighter). They also eat cooked mopani (sp?) worms. These are crunchy with an interior like shrimp and an extremely salty flavor. They are not revolting but with not be tasted again by this author.
Wildlife
Lunch yesterday involved a walk through Black Mamba Country. Black Mamba Country (BMC) is a field next to Las Vegas where there are grasses and so probably snakes, we’ve decided. There are probably many snakes in Botswana but the most fearsome is the black mamba. He is highly territorial and, when bothered by you, will chase you forever until you get your brother to shoot him with a rifle (so says a Zimbabwean Brit we met recently). Of course, snakes cannot chase you and bite you at the same time, but the black mamba can probably wear you down and then strike. He is so fearsome that there is a special task force of the Botswana Special Forces which comes to remove him from your property if he is spotted.
Anyways, as I walked through BMC I sensed a rustling under the tree I was passing. There, about five feet away, was a warthog. He was not threatening, and was apparently just chilling under the tree. I watched him sniffing about for a few minutes. That was my first spotting of wildlife on campus except for the cat which darts back and forth between the planters at night.
In other wildlife news: last weekend, on a cultural excursion arranged for the 40-ish international students by University (UB), we visited the Mokolodi Game Reserve, which is about 30 minutes from Gaborone. There we saw a giraffe, three elephants, various kudus and impalas and so forth, and some ostriches.
Anyways, as I walked through BMC I sensed a rustling under the tree I was passing. There, about five feet away, was a warthog. He was not threatening, and was apparently just chilling under the tree. I watched him sniffing about for a few minutes. That was my first spotting of wildlife on campus except for the cat which darts back and forth between the planters at night.
In other wildlife news: last weekend, on a cultural excursion arranged for the 40-ish international students by University (UB), we visited the Mokolodi Game Reserve, which is about 30 minutes from Gaborone. There we saw a giraffe, three elephants, various kudus and impalas and so forth, and some ostriches.
Dorms & Campus
We are in undergraduate housing, the snazzy Block 480, also known (due to its very snazziness) as “Las Vegas”. The building is pretty new, relatively functional, and clean. Six rooms in a unit open into a shared big room, which has a table, a kitchen sink, and a few empty cupboards, one single-person bathroom and one shared bathroom with a few sinks, toilets, a shower. You can’t really put things in the cupboards because anyone could walk through and snag it, as they could the toilet paper, so you keep things in your room and you carry some toilet paper around in your pocket if you are clever. I am generally not.
The rooms themselves are shared. I am sharing with Madeline, another girl on the ACM program, and the other two ACM girls, Emilie and Jordan, are in the room next-door. The shared room is U-shaped with a wall between my side and Madeline’s, which is where we each have a closet. The bottom of the U is where the door into the hall is. We each have a bed, built in desk, chair, two shelves, a bulletin board, and a window. We have furnished things with a fan, some food, books, plates and cups, etc. Not much decoration on my side yet – everyone else brought pictures and art; I brought my still-life from 3-year-old Evie. We tend to have electricity in our plugs and hot water in the shower. Sometimes electricity and hot water wander away, and the Batswana laugh at us when we report it because no one else ever has these problems.
Campus is big. We are in the corner so it takes ten or fifteen minutes to walk to classes, the library, the refectory, and the piles of offices we have to visit every time something goes wrong (holla, admin building!). The library is much nicer than UChicago – big beautiful glass windows and simple, open spaces. It also has wireless internet, but we can’t talk in there, so I’ve been Skyping on the planters right outside (where the bitey ants and the bees live, unfortunately). Classroom buildings are one story with various lecture configurations and sometimes air conditioning. There is also a track, pool, business building (also nice with these cool zigzag ramps that lead you processional style, as if from the sky, straight from the upper floors across everyone’s vision to the doors), snack shop, bookstore, etc.
The rooms themselves are shared. I am sharing with Madeline, another girl on the ACM program, and the other two ACM girls, Emilie and Jordan, are in the room next-door. The shared room is U-shaped with a wall between my side and Madeline’s, which is where we each have a closet. The bottom of the U is where the door into the hall is. We each have a bed, built in desk, chair, two shelves, a bulletin board, and a window. We have furnished things with a fan, some food, books, plates and cups, etc. Not much decoration on my side yet – everyone else brought pictures and art; I brought my still-life from 3-year-old Evie. We tend to have electricity in our plugs and hot water in the shower. Sometimes electricity and hot water wander away, and the Batswana laugh at us when we report it because no one else ever has these problems.
Campus is big. We are in the corner so it takes ten or fifteen minutes to walk to classes, the library, the refectory, and the piles of offices we have to visit every time something goes wrong (holla, admin building!). The library is much nicer than UChicago – big beautiful glass windows and simple, open spaces. It also has wireless internet, but we can’t talk in there, so I’ve been Skyping on the planters right outside (where the bitey ants and the bees live, unfortunately). Classroom buildings are one story with various lecture configurations and sometimes air conditioning. There is also a track, pool, business building (also nice with these cool zigzag ramps that lead you processional style, as if from the sky, straight from the upper floors across everyone’s vision to the doors), snack shop, bookstore, etc.
Weather
On the way back inside from evacuating another bug refugee attempting an illegal immigration through my winter, I saw the sky light up with lightening across the road, in the direction of the Choppies grocery store. This explained the surging bug population in my room – pea-sized black beetles and green leaf bugs and various ambiguous gnatty things tend suddenly appear inside when it gets rainy – as well as the temperature drop. My little alarm clock’s temperature reader (which, it must be said, has never reported a temperature other than 84, 86, and 88) says its now 84 degrees, which means it is probably a bit lower. It is windy and it pours and drizzles. Lots of thunder. Then after an hour or so it passes, leaving enough water around to keep the temperature down for a half day or so. This won’t happen anymore in February, they tell me. It will be really quite hot. Of course, that will not reduce the number of students walking around campus in jeans, in sweaters, in knitted tops, in thermal beanies, and all the like. A high number – probably at least 20,000 of the 50,000 students.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Arrived
I am in Botswana as of a week ago, and let me just say that just now, as my internet sprang to life on my laptop for the very first time, after all the frustrations and teases and false positives and steps here and there and forms to fill out and someone will do this tomorrow and lunch breaks and wrong directions and everything....after this morning when, five or so steps away from internet, we suddenly realized it may not be this week...after all that --- I literally almost cried to see it. What a blessing!
This feeling is amplified by the fact that the other three girls on my program have already been able to chat with their parents on the phone and somewhat relieve the stress of all of the little disappointments and frustrations we've been having. And we have had a FLEET of problems, let me tell you.
1. Graduate student housing? With kitchens? Nope, no kitchens. And no nearby access to food.
2. No internet in the dorms ever.
3. Plugs in our rooms only suddenly blew out.
4. We weren't registered at this University, so we had to do it again and the forms be processed slowlyslowly.
5. We can't eat at the Cafeteria until....not sure what. Sign from the gods.
6. I'll continue this list later.
Anyways, despite this overload of problems I've actually felt quite positive about being here. I love the country already, I feel that happy travel lightness and magic that has been missing for ages. The pace is slow, and that's nice. Every person you talk with, you stop to ask how they are doing, you chat, you don't try to rush anywhere. All very nice. Best of all, I really get along with the three other girls I'm with. Someone is always on the same page, but we are calm and pleasant in general. All working well. Also, our program director Todd and his family (wife Debra, two girls ages 6 and 9).
Time to go - more coherent update to come. Be well!
This feeling is amplified by the fact that the other three girls on my program have already been able to chat with their parents on the phone and somewhat relieve the stress of all of the little disappointments and frustrations we've been having. And we have had a FLEET of problems, let me tell you.
1. Graduate student housing? With kitchens? Nope, no kitchens. And no nearby access to food.
2. No internet in the dorms ever.
3. Plugs in our rooms only suddenly blew out.
4. We weren't registered at this University, so we had to do it again and the forms be processed slowlyslowly.
5. We can't eat at the Cafeteria until....not sure what. Sign from the gods.
6. I'll continue this list later.
Anyways, despite this overload of problems I've actually felt quite positive about being here. I love the country already, I feel that happy travel lightness and magic that has been missing for ages. The pace is slow, and that's nice. Every person you talk with, you stop to ask how they are doing, you chat, you don't try to rush anywhere. All very nice. Best of all, I really get along with the three other girls I'm with. Someone is always on the same page, but we are calm and pleasant in general. All working well. Also, our program director Todd and his family (wife Debra, two girls ages 6 and 9).
Time to go - more coherent update to come. Be well!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Contact Info & Time Zones
Some basic contact info:
I am at the University of Botswana, in Gaborone. I love mail, and can give my Botswana address on request.
I am on Skype. My Skype name is averybell.
To figure out the time in Botswana:
Add 10 hours to West Coast time.
Add 8 hours to Midwest time.
Add 7 hours to East Coast time.
I am at the University of Botswana, in Gaborone. I love mail, and can give my Botswana address on request.
I am on Skype. My Skype name is averybell.
To figure out the time in Botswana:
Add 10 hours to West Coast time.
Add 8 hours to Midwest time.
Add 7 hours to East Coast time.
Location: Newark Airport
The President’s Lounge at Newark Airport is peppered with a variety of chairs. The space is oblong with full windows facing the vigorously wheeling of service vehicles between gates 120-127 and 102-144 even. On one end is a bar, occupied by the expected barstools; a few of their cousins have set up a satellite community on the opposite side of the space, inexplicably parked in a small, awkward cluster amongst some of the dominant semi-lounge chairs. These are comfortable enough. Shrunken arm chairs, they are not designed for splaying but can be comfortable enough if one manages to finagle the proper neck angle. Some straight backed chairs live over by the phones along the wall, computer wheelies in the computer bays, and legitimate plush lounge chairs in the screening room.
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