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Published: August 27th 2009
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This blog is my personal views only and is not affiliated in any with the US Peace Corps and does not reflect an views of Peace Corps or the US Government.
Hope this entry finds everyone well. I am embarrassed to report that I’m addicted to fast, easy Internet access and continue to suffer severe withdrawals. Yes, the saga of the search for Internet, (as opposed to an Internet search) continues!!! After coming upon many dead ends, bitter ends, split ends, frayed knots and waiting for over a month, a new item came on the market, the Flybox, not to be confused with Livebox, which is, isn’t, is, isn’t available in Kopong. The night that we brought it home worked it well, but the next day we couldn’t get it to power up at all. On Monday I went back to the store which was beginning to feel like a second residence, but certainly not a home, to find out what our usage was, information we were told they could easily provide for us. NOT! After waiting about an hour and a half, a tech took the box, plugged it in and it came on immediately. Go figure. We’d tried
everything we could think of at home. I asked him about the usage and he said that no one had yet come up with a way for it to be monitored, but maybe he could get it through billing. I waited another 45 minutes and was told that maybe it is about 70 MB, but he wasn’t sure and maybe he could convert it to Gigabytes, but after he said he would, he didn’t. I asked if I would just be automatically billed at 1 pula per MB (at first I was told 20 thebe, 1/5 the actual cost) and if I’d have no idea what the bill is until I receive it. No one was sure. Someone said that they thought it would just cut me off and that I’d then have to go to Gaborone to get it to run again if I wanted to use it before the next cycle. After over 3 hours, I just left the equipment with the manager and said that I needed to have some certainty about the product before I could sign a one or two year contract, which is required to get the service. I emailed the customer service manager
from an Internet café and there is more to tell, but I won’t bore you with it.
Buying anything or getting any kind of service here, just often seems to become a time consuming ordeal, but people here will wait in a line for hours, take it as a matter of course that the power goes out one to three times weekly, sometimes for less than an hours sometimes for the entire day, just expect the water to be out half the time or more. We are without tap water for at least a part of every day. The contraption that heats the water and is known here as a geyser (pronounced like geezer) is another curiously functioning and widely accepted item. Batswana friends have been very helpful, supportive and expressed similar frustrations. With their continued support, I’m sure I will kick my addictions and behave less like a spoiled American with time, one day at a time.
In other news the next four weeks are scheduled with Peace Corps In-service Training in Gaborone. I’ll be gone for the first two weeks with a two day overlap with Steve’s group and then he’ll be gone for the first
Body Buildin in Botswana
Our friend, Mia, teacher and body builder part of September. It will be good to reconnect with other volunteers and to learn of some new resources and information to help us with our work, which still remain a bit of a mystery at times. I am blessed with a wonderful counterpart and very kind a supportive staff at my school and we are beginning to get a picture of where I may best be of help. However, part of my assignment in preparation for the in-service was to write a job description based on my experiences so far. Tongue in cheek, this is what I wrote.
“A Life Skills Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana must have the following qualifications: 1) a secondary degree in the school of hard knocks, preferably at a doctorate level 2) hold a current and internationally recognized certificate in quality self-care, 3) be fully licensed in the art of appreciating and enjoying humor at one’s own expense, 4) adequately bonded to handle the nebulous. In addition, candidates with experience in self-reflection, patience, and who lack both self importance and the ability to readily judge the difference between failure and success will be given first consideration. Duties to be performed include standing on overcrowded buses, sardine impersonations on khombies, sitting attentively at meetings where you will understand less than one quarter of what is being said, laughing in the face of frustration and living as fully and generously as possible within the time constraints of the present moment. Only candidates who are dedicated to building relationships and exercising a nonjudgmental attitude will be considered for the position.”
Some days I meet the criteria rather well, while on other days, I feel like the Ugly American, the aging American, the forgetful American, the confused and befuddled of any nationality. As my dear brother Dennis expresses it so well, “Sometime I think, oh well, and other times I just don’t know.” Yo no se. Ga ke itse. Our best to all.
Enjoy photos of Kopong where people are friendly, children laugh easily, dogs and roosters are noisy, donkeys roam free, and everyday brings a new adventure with a giant spider.
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Phyllis Hug
non-member comment
Surfaced!
So good to see another blog from you!!! I have missed reading of your adventures. Again, I must say, you are the PERFECT person for this kind of adventure! I am so happy for you because I know you are getting so much out of it and the people you are with are blessed to have you there! Keep em coming! Hugs!!!