Frustration, Fury.......Fun!

Hello friends,

This just in: I miss home a lot a lot!
The feeling has come and gone periodically within the past two weeks and today its' been strong.

 So, March like back home; is a month of paper writing and doing final big assignments before exam season. That being said- I finally had work to do in Botswana and needed to simmer down on the loafting and get into the books.
Many things about the school system at UB frustrate me, like the resources, the availability of professors and the classes themselves. It has been a challenge trying to feel challenged in class and I literally have to force myself to think critically on behalf of my peers and proffs'. Another struggle I have is being the student who answers every question and responds to discussion questions. I don't want to be "That girl from abroad, who thinks they run show and are smarter than Batswana (what people of Botswana are called) students".
For most of the past two months, I've been relatively quiet in class but some days I just have to pipe up because nothing progresses in discussion, no one has the answers or an answer and it just becomes annoying.
The material in my 4 classes is not that thought propelling, and because sometimes there can be a language barrier- I don't understand the jokes the proffs' do make in class to engage the class. Professors are very lazy at UB and grade everything through group work, making them mark less. It is an unjust system just because the students are equally lazy and when put in a group, really drag their weight. I've had two group experiences here so far and they've not gone over so well.
Because of these reasons, it has been hard for me to always be excited about class and when assignments did come up I started to procrastinate a lot. When I did end up writing my papers last week, as I was about to submit them- my work got erased permanently because Microsoft Word has corrupted and wouldn't let me save anything- IT SUCKED!
But instead of pouting and freaking out, I decided to forget it and focus on my trip for St Patrick's Day weekend.
The Fun was finally had at the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in Northern Botswana. 

It was a girls' weekend, 8 of us rented out a van named Noah and drove for 8 hours to the Pans! 

We were ready for a weekend of no stress and drinking!  The Salt Pans were gorgeous and we also got to have some great interactions with Meerkats- I got to pet one in the wild! 

We stayed at Planet Baobab- a really unique lodge/camping ground. We had ourselves some great beverages- a few too many, but hey- its' St Patty's! 

All in all, I'm really glad I got to spend my St. Patty's Day this year exploring some more of Botswana's beauty. I got to know some of the girls' I travelled with a lot better, which is always a good thing! 

I am trying to actively hope that this week will be better academically and I will re-write my papers without pouting too much! 

I'm attaching some photos of my trip this past weekend-- don't get too jealous! 

Miss you Canada!!! ( 11 weeks down and 7 more to go- bittersweet)