The First Week!

I made it to Botswana! After thinking I was going to miss my first flight from Boston to JFK, the rest of the trip was pretty easy and not too stressful. I sat in the airport in NY waiting to board the plane to Johannesburg, South Africa and noticed how many kids were going to be on this 15 hour flight, including babies. As much as I love children, the last thing I wanted was to be stuck next to a handful of screaming children while I tried to sleep. And if you havnt already guessed where I was going with this... I ended up next to two families with three children each. Surprisingly they were very well behaved and it wasn't a problem at all! I sat next to a kind middle aged women who was doing mission work in Zimbabwe with her church who gave me a spongebob square pants celebratory thing that you blow into and it unrolls (do those have names?) to celebrate the new year, then I went back to sleep.

In Joburg I met up with NJ, my interstudy orientation guy (interstudy is the program I am studying abroad through). We took a short flight to Gaborone, Botswana: my home for the next 4 and a half months. We checked into our lodge/hotel place where we stayed for three nights until I was able to move into the University of Botswana. I loved my stay there.. air conditioning, wireless internet, a big bed, my own bathroom, and someone who came in and cleaned and organized all my stuff.. what else could I ask for?! During those three days I was with NJ and my interstudy mentor, Boitumelo (or B2) going over information and eating at different places like Nando's, a fast food chicken place known for spicy chicken, and News Cafe which was right across the street from my hotel.

After getting settled in NJ and I went on an excursion based off

the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency books, which is based in Gabs and was written by a guy from Zimbabwe who started up the law school at University of Botswana. The excursion was good considering the fact that I only read the first 100 pages of the first book in the series and I forgot to watch the movie. First we were driven in a big jeep up to Mochudi, a village north of Gabs. I learned some history of the city and about their culture from our guide. We walked up a hill to the Mochudi National School which has now been made into a museum. Atop the hill we stood on boulders that overlooked the village. I could see big hills off in the distance that were really close but were actually in South Africa (I think Gabs is only about 10 miles away from S.A.?). We walked around the village a little bit, where I no doubt stood out as the white American. My skin color is one thing, but everyone here in general can tell I'm American from the way I dress. No one but foreigners wear shorts, everyone wears pants even when its 95 degrees out.

Next we went to the set of the movie (or I think it may have been a T.V. series) which was starting to fall apart, and did not have too much meaning to me, so the most interesting part was the nests made by the birds! Then we went into the city, saw some memorials and statues, and walked through the Main Mall. It was an educational trip that I enjoyed, but I hated how much the tour guide would quiz me on book knowledge and Botswana knowledge... I know some things, but that's why I came here... to learn!

Now it is Thursday and I have moved into my room at UB. I live on the 4^th floor with my roommate Jen, from Washington, who I get along very well with. We both don't have meal plans, and we both want to travel a lot, and volunteer as much as possible. There are 88 international students total this semester, which is by far the largest number they have ever had. Way more people from the States than I thought there would be... I'd say about 65 of that 88 are from the U.S. and the rest being from Canada, Mexico, Finland, Germany, and maybe a couple other places outside of Africa.

We are yet to register for classes, which was supposed to happen on Wednesday because “the system is down”. We received a time schedule of the classes, and of course many of my pre-approved classes that took forever to get signatures on at Hartford are all at the same time so I had to find new classes. I am hoping I can get them approved through email and everything works out, but we'll see. So my days have consisted of eating not so great meals at the dinging hall, walking to the Riverwalk Mall, and meeting new people. The food I've been eating has mostly been breads, chicken, pasta, papa (a thick grits like food made from corn) and soup like stuff. It has not been very good, but everywhere I have eaten out has been delicious! I do not have a meal plan so I plan to eat street food and buy food that doesnt need cooked and keep it in my room. I have already begun to live a more active lifestyle here. I have walked to the mall three or four times to get things I needed for my room, which is about a 20 minute walk each way from my dorm. Carrying everything I bought back turns into a real workout. I just always feel like I am walking everywhere, which I love!

Today at the international student orientation we went over all the basics and boring stuff including how to get a waiver to stay here (kind of like needing a student Visa). The lasy had us open up our passports and explained that it should say we have 30-90 days until we need to get our waiver, and if you do not do so before the days are up, then you are illegal. As we all opened up our passports, others saying 30 or 60 or 90 days.. mine said 10 days. The lady was making sure everyone had at least 30 days, and when I raised my hand and said I only had 10 days, she was very surprized and said I needed to talk to her right away. Since I have been here already for 6 days, that means I have 4 days to get the paper work done, and get my waiver from Botswana or I am illegal. She told me to meet her on Monday morning, which is the last day I have, and they will help me to get my waiver. Classes are supposed to start on Monday but when I brought that up, people at the international office said that classes probably will get pushed back to Tuesday or Wednesday because of the system being down. I'll keep everyone updated, but if you see me back in Massachusetts in a couple days.. I did not get my waiver (haha, just kidding! That wont happen).

The people are so nice here, always saying “Dumela!” and giving a smile. Many locals are helping us out and all the other international students are so kind. The combination of the people and the sunshine makes me so happy to be here!