Thru dust and diamonds...

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We arrived last Saturday- took a whopping 30 hours to get here, but all in all it wasn't bad. Plane itenerary changed a bit from what we orginially thought, but it was interesting! We went from Columbus to Atlanta, Atlanta to Dakar, Senegal, Senegal to Jo-burg, South Africa and then Jo-Burg to Gaborone....landed at night- which was cool... 😊

Palm trees, dust, stone and desolation. It's really strange here- but not strange "bad"...just strange. It was exactly what I was expecting, yet not at all what I had expected. Wow- that was really weird. lol. 😉 Anyway- I thought it would be a bigger city, but in reality it's just a few malls and then about 5 miles from the malls there are government buildings- that's it. Very different from what my imagination had in mind. Funnily enough- this place is one of the top diamond producers in the world...they even have the processing building surrounded by barbed wire. lol

The houses here are really amazing...we went to Bose's house (Bose is a Motswana- person from Botswana- who is an OU student, but came back here with us)....she has many neices and nephews and we had a chance to meet them and play with them as well as visit with her sisters and mother. We walked around her neighborhood and played with the children. It was really amazing and Dee got some really good photos from the visit.

HIV/AIDS is WHOA over here. But- you wouldn't know it by looking at the people we come across who have the virus...no one looks sick. No one. Strikingly scary. It is so hidden and when people are afraid to get tested- that's how it is spread...you're afraid and you have sex anyway, not knowing.

I had originally thought I would work with a counseling agency here, but there is simply not enough time for training, etc. So, I've decided to work with an agency called "SOS"...whihc, I currently can't remember what the acronym stands for, but- it's a village for orphaned children. There are many houses, each house has 1 "mother" and 1 "aunt" and about 12-15 children for each house. Ages range from babies to 16. I'm really excited- and nervous- to teach/participate. I'm not at all sure what all it will entail, but I can't wait to get involved.

The food here is pretty good. Not too unlike American food...well, depends. LOL. They eat A LOT of beef and a lot of chicken- seriously- at every meal..."mez meal" which is like ground white corn.....like thick gritty cream of wheat, rice, and cool veggies. They don't eat sweet things here at all. 😉 It's crazy...maybe that's why some Africans are so skinny! DAMN THE SUGAR!!! 😉

We're learning Setswana...and it is HARDDDDDDDDDD...learning Korean was a thousand times easier. YIKES! I promise you- it's such a strange mixture of about 10 languages! The intonation makes it sound kind of italian...but then there's that throaty "huuh" that sounds kind of Hebrew...then part of it can sound French...and then in some ways- Spanish...in other ways....just very African. Intonation is key here and they do that "clicking" noise that ppl make fun of Africans for doing. :-p 😉 However- the fun thing is that when you're happy, you can do the thumbs up and say "Shop Shop" and it means "Everything's good!" lol...fun Everyone's english here is SO good tho so knowing setswana isn't really required.

I realized that I didn't bring my cord so I can't upload pix!!!! 😞 WAH! 😉 So that means you'll have to deal with this until I can upload pictures.

We have a great group of ppl here. Dr.Pillay is a hoot...so much fun outside of class. 😉 He gets embarrassed when he has to speak setswana...and it's cute. Dee and I are having a fun time. Everyone thinks she's Motswana- and they speak to her in setswana...she just laughs and nods. 😉 Today- there were a group of ppl at dinner, staring at us and she kept complaining about it. Well, Dee being Dee, she pointed at the guy and called him out. She summoned him to come to our dinner table and bluntly said, "Hey- you makin' fun of us?!" He said, "Ohh no no!" He went on to say that he and his group of friends were just commenting on the cultural differences and how we looked so different and our behavior, etc. I wanted to know WHICH behavior, but- still to early to ask 😉 lol

Ok, my friends, for now I have to go. The bathtubs here are amazing and I want to get in one!

With Love,
Sarah

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Comments

[Alicia]

Wow
Everything sounds amazing, Sarah! I'm definitely jealous. I can't wait to get the chance to head to Africa. Glad you're having a great time!

[Armando]

:-)