THE DRAMA

Sorry for the cliffhanger, readers...it was supposed to be a ten minute one but I forgot to finish editing this post. So-

It was misty and mysteriously quiet in the dorms as we arrived in our taxi from the bus station. We didn't really notice. We went about our business, carried up our bags, and began to unpack and relax, when Todd, our program director, called me. "Well, so I have some news...it sounds like the student strike is getting worse, and so, you guys are being evacuated to a lodge somewhere off campus..."

Two weeks ago, for various complicated reasons involving the students not receiving enough allowance from the government to suit their fancy, the students began striking (ie not going to class). The Minister of Education was out of town, so it died down, but apparently rearose over our absence in Johannesburg. On Thursday night before we left, a huge crowd of students marched through the courtyard of our housing block (I estimate 500 at least), including right to below our windows, singing and doing coordinated movements - such are protest marches in Botswana. On Friday while we were gone, they apparently initiated a reign of terror, pulling people from class rooms, the library, and the dining halls, threatening them with sticks, and so on. Two of the other international students were eating in a dining hall when one such throng approached - one girl fled to hide in the kitchen while the guy tried to bar the doors but could not. He was pushed up against the wall and waved at with sticks. They were so freaked out that their university pulled all four students in Botswana home. We missed saying goodbye to them, and we very upset about this.

Anyways, we initially wanted to stay in the dorms because as long as you are not on campus, you won't get bothered, but our program director was uncomfortable with this. So we moved to the lodge. It was rainy that day, so the lodge was a sea of water and festering mosquito encampments bridged by concrete walkways. The rooms had mold, questionable smells, and made me sick. Also, it was in the middle of nowhere, requiring an extremely expensive taxi ride each way to get to a mall, where at least we could hang out in comfort. But, this was where UB had arranged for us, so we had no choice.

We stayed there for several days. No one knew what was going on. We got frequent calls from friends on campus who wanted to hang out, not understanding why we were gone (remember, with tens of thousands of students, 100-200 causing trouble can get lost). But the International Office gave us tales of tear gas encounters with the police, broken windows, and so on.

Finally, on Wednesday, the University made the announcement that they were closing. Students had 15 minutes to evacuate campus, enforced by police/soldiers in riot gear. The next day, international students were allowed to return to the dorms, which we did, and they made the big announcement: school is closed for this week! As a result, spring break has been eliminated (we are still going on safari, just missing school) and the semester has been extended by a week. Since protesters have threatened to recommence their efforts next Monday (Feb 16th) when school reopens, we don't really know what the ultimate outcome will be.

On the upset, after the announcement on Thursday, Madeline and I packed our bags and took off. We took a minibus to Jo-burg, stayed overnight, and then a flight to Cape Town on Saturday. We are staying in a beautiful hostel in an old mansion, breezy and calm, and planning to start seeing the sights tomorrow. It's nice to be out and about. We'll be here until Wednesday, when I plan to split off and take a bus to Lesotho, where I'll stay in a lodge and ride around on ponies (hopefully!), returning on Sunday.