Food!

I'd thought I'd take a minute to tell you guys about the food so far..and so far I've been pleased with it all! One of my favorite means is a bean and corn mixture. It's kidney beans and what looks like giant corn kernals and we each get a huge serving. I would much rather have a plate of beans than questionable meat, so I'm ok with that's for dinner. Another meal is the rough equivalent of polenta, but we eat it with our hands. My favorite bread is called diphaphata and it's cooked over an open fire and looks like an english muffin.

The most bizarre thing i've been served/helped make was pasta with mayo and ketchup on top. I have to admit, I was hungry enough to eat all of it, but I can promise that it won't be something I'll make once i'm cooking for myself.

There is a large grocery store near our school that has a lot of familiar foods. Who knows how far away i will be stationed though or what my regional 'store' will have stocked. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Peace Corps doesn't pay families to host us; they give them extra food and supplies.

A couple of stories with food and communication breakdowns/cultural differences:
I believe it's custom to eat only one big meal a day so my family was sending me off to school with an apple and banana (for 8 hours). I could have said, "oh, I will need more food" and they would have found something else to give me. But because I didn't on that first day, I'm assuming they assumed that i didn't eat very much. I bought bread the other day so I could make sandwiches. My family said, 'oh, you like peanut butter and bread?' So, when I woke up the next morning i had bread and peanut butter for breakfast- and lunch. Also, people really don't drink very much liquid, especially not water. They have tea a few times a day (with milk and a TON of sugar) but never drink anything at mealtime. However, my family has hosted a PCV before so they expect me to carry my nalgene of water around everywhere I go.

Botswana: safe and sound

Hi All! I wrote this in my notebook on 4/17/10 and this is the first time I've been online to post it.

It has only been one week, but it feels like so much longer. ALthough things do not feel normal yet, I am surprised how well I seem to be adjusting. Let me quickly summarize the events in the past week and I will try to pick out some highlights.

THere is nothing like a long, boring travel schedule to bring people together. Yahtzee at JFK. Apples to Apples in Johannesburg. Many movies and laps around the plane to stay sane. Monday evening we arrived in Gaborone (ha-bor-on-e) and at our hotel- the Big 5 Lodge. Very surreal. Palm trees, tiki huts, pool. We had three days there- classes on Setswana (national language), intro to PC sessions, dinner with the ambassador. Swam in the pool as much as possible- as I probably won't see one again for a long while. Matching ceremony on Friday- to be matched with host family. My family's name is Ramakhati. My setswana name is Neo (nay-oh) Ramakhati (ra-ma-cot-i) which means gift. I am now staying with my mother (Tiny), father (whose name i don't know) sister (Lindoh, 21) and brother (Modiri, 17). I think there are 3 or 4 more siblings, but they don't live here.
So here is in Molepolole where I'll have pre-service training for the next 8.5 weeks. We will be at school from 8-5 everyday. Lots more setswana (which is great because only my host sister speaks English well) and also some cultural and job training sessions.

There are 57 PCV that started with me and we all get a long fairly well. I havea few in my neighborhood who I will be able to walk to school with. We have cell phones as well so there is at least the allusion that we aren't alone.

I am really very happy here and am surprised that i seem to be handling everything so well. So far I should say. I might still be in culture shock.

Donkeys and goats roaming around. No indoor plumbing at my house. Latrine outside. Bucket bathing in my bedroom (got a demonstration tonight from my sister). Beef, cabbage and doughy bread stuff for dinner. Worried about what I can make them for dinner- they want me to cook something. Tomorrow I will wash my clothes and want to explore the neighborhood a little more. Hot during the day but cool in the mornings and evenings. Have realized how hard things are to convey...

Maybe some day I can upload pictures but for now imagine red dirt, blue blue skies, and barking dogs lulling me to sleep.

Love you all. Miss you all. Thinking of you.

And if you want to call or text me...(it's free for me!)
011-267-7262-7853

Let the traveling begin

Everything fit! To make the weight limit I did have to put all of my books in my carry-on. I think there are 8 in there; I just couldn't decide which ones to take, so I'm taking all of them.

In a few hours I'll leave on my 9:31am flight from Providence to Philadelphia. There, I'll meet my fellow Botswana volunteers and have a few brief orientation sessions. Then, the excitement starts:

2am check-out from the hotel
2:30am bus departs for JFK
11:15am flight from JFK to Johannesburg - 15 hour flight
8 hour layover
45 minute flight to Gaborone, Botswana

I will let you know that I've made it as soon as I can!

Packing for 2 years...

As most of you can imagine, the most daunting part of this Peace Corps preparation is not all the paperwork I needed to fill out (although that was a pain to keep organized) or the language exercises that I struggled through, but it's from the PACKING.

The rational and logical part of me says not to worry too much about it; I will be able to make do with what I have or find a way to buy it when I'm there. No problem. The other part of me, the part that can keep me up at night (and can annoy some of you who know me well) can't stop making lists, over-thinking everything and in general, second-guessing each thing I've already put into massive piles around my room.

Instead of boring you with everything that is making up the 80lbs of stuff I'm bringing, I thought I'd share a few things that I wouldn't have expected to pack.

- A world map (not sure if this will be to show people where I'm from or to decorate my walls- but I suppose it could do both);
- Index cards (apparently my love for flash cards will come in handy during training);
- Lots of games- thanks to generous family members- I'm on track to be the most popular big sister with my host family;
- Plastic screening for me to hang in windows if necessary;
- Lots of travel sized kleenex (for those who have been in places with no toilet paper, you know how much of a godsend these little guys are);
- An Audubon Society Field Guide to the Night Sky- so I can check out those stars on the other side of the world;
- A can opener and vegetable peeler (although I wonder if my dollar store purchases will be any better than the kitchen tools I could buy there);
- A calendar of New England pictures (thanks for the idea Camia!) courtesy of my Grandmother and SmithCo Oil.

The rest of bags are filled with what you might expect: clothes for both hot and cold temperatures, a few pairs of shoes, a hat, lots of books, photo album, a sleeping sack, etc.

I bet one of my first posts from Botswana will be about how much unnecessary stuff I brought. I should probably take some clothes out and put more kleenex in...