The End of The Road - *tears* (too many tears)

Good morning to all of you in Canadian time!

This is it. My last blog post for this African adventure of mine and its' mighty sad trying to condense these final thoughts in a blog post. So my journey back,  my flights were all long, lay-overs and I aren't friends and I am still woozy from about 3 different time zones BUT I am back and safe.

The past day has been a giant struggle because of how foreign everything and everyone looks to me. The streets are packed and traffic is hell all over again. My house is way bigger than I remember and there are way too many white people here! LOL
I am freezing here in this 13 degree weather with non- stop rain, and I'm missing me some  fat cakes and phapatas ( classic breakfast food and snacks.

The past week in Gaborone was probably one of the best I can look back on in my life. My friends and I decided to Ball-Out each night and live like we were leaving (or dying) tomorrow.
Towards the last night things got quite depressing with goodbyes and a surprise visit from the tear factory. I rarely cry... as in never, and I told myself I wasn't going to feel like crying when I left these people... and all of a sudden I became the biggest cry baby of them all.
It was definitely hard saying goodbye, but we did remind each other that it was only see you later, and we are going to visit as soon as we save up some money since we're all in debt now!

This experience has been entirely life changing and once again, I've added another dimension to my perspective of the world. I have met the most amazing souls and made life long friendships through our shared experience of this journey. Botswana will forever hold a special place in my heart and even though I don't know when I'll be back there next, I know I will visit sooner than later!
For now, I've left my heart in Bots'

Thank you to everyone who has kept me in their thoughts,prayers and followed my blog for these past 5 months... it meant a whole lot more to me than you'll know.


So its' the globe trotter signing off to live a normal life in suburbia for the first time in 3 years and oddly enough, I'm excited!!!!!!!!

Home Stretch... Surreal

It has been nearly a month since my last post and here I am sitting in my room on a Sunday, typing what seems to be probably my second last post of this venture.

So April has been another hectic month, that started with a trip to Cape Town, South Africa. My friend-Lauren and I decided to spend about 4 days in Cape Town for the Easter Break and without descending into too many details, I will tell you about the trip. Though the journeys there and back were stressful and tiring; when we arrived, all those notions disappeared quickly as we were amazed at the scenic beauty all around. We were able to do 2 tours, one was a wine tour and the other was a Cape Peninsula biking/hiking tour. Along with seeing some great attractions and sceneries we were able to meet up with our other international friends visiting, Monica,Ali and Annie and were able to celebrate Monica's 20th birthday in style for about 3 nights in a row! 

I got back to Gaborone on the 9th of April, with about 10 days of classes left before exam mode would kick in. The middle of April was strictly devoted to writing papers and tests and doing group presentations. I see its a global trend to push everything to be due on the last month of the semester... charming.
Because of the level of "balling out" in Cape Town, I have been quite thrifty with my money as of late, (haven't drank since Cape Town) because I know expenses are going to add up towards the end of the month with celebrations and souvenir buying.

So here I am, about to get ready for week 1 of exams and I am trying to force myself to study... but so far I have miserably failed.
It boggles my mind and makes me real sad that I have 13 days in Bots' til' I come home. I have started to get accustomed to a routine I made for myself in these past 4 months and now that will have to stop.
What I do know about the next two weeks is despite the downer that is exams, I am going to be jamming!!!


Funny how I always think best here around 1-2 am .... I should probably get some rest before Monday rolls around.

Again, Good luck to all my friends who are still writing exams:)
I cannot wait to join you party people  for a summer full of shenanigans!

Just because there's a Door, That doesn't mean it can open...

What's going on party people.....

So upon writing my last blog, I started to notice a lot of things about Botswana Culture that I had not previously (in the last 3 months) noted and I decided- I'm gonna do my next post on this!

Part of the culture shock was the extremity of it all, it was extremely opposite to the way we interact, react and live back home.
Over the past week, (with the help of my friend Erin) I've made countless mental notes about big differences in day to day encounters with the people and the lifestyle in Bots.

Sleep Patterns
The way our residences are built, each block faces one another in one complex and so sound carries even faster. Local students go to bed late, at least my roommates do- around 1 am. Since the sun rises early here ( 4:55 am everyday to be exact) people are early risers as well. What you wouldn't expect is people waking up at 5 am, and blasting club anthems while cooking their traditional dishes for the days' meals. This coupled with the yelling from the windows across the complex to say Good morning and have casual conversation at 5 am can cause slight irritation at the least.

Interactions with Locals 
So you're trying to get to know your roommates except for the fact that they whisper when they speak to you and choose to yell when they're amongst bigger groups in a classroom setting.
Living with 4 other women in my apartment, I am comfortable coming out in a towel after my shower to walk to my room, minus the fact that there are normally a handful of different men each day in the living room chillin' as I awkwardly pass by them.  Sometimes you encounter a new friend in class and you think they genuinely want to get to know you until they mention that they want to work for you as your maid in Canada once they come there.... awkward.  Time has no value and 10 minutes normally means  half an hour...  "walking" means " on my way" and "on my way" means " just woke up", walking is always for leisure and never to get somewhere and if the day could have 48 hours in Bots even that would not be enough.

Local Men 
This was probably one of the biggest issues I had to deal with upon arriving in Gaborone. I had no idea that I was a hot commodity here.... nor did I want to be! Within landing and walking to the terminal through immigration, 2 men had already approached me and asked if I was married.
This really needs its' own post but I'm going to try and make it concise. Men are very forward here and  clear about their intentions, and being single is almost unheard of in University. When a girl gives a guy their number, it means she's interested..... like many international girls, I didn't get the memo. We had to find out the hard way... with stalkerazzi  calls at night, random weird texts and confrontation about being a couple from practical strangers.... all things that were difficult and beyond what I had bargained to deal with. It was also difficult when you felt you could have friends that were local guys and then you'd find out that they had feelings for you and then it became a sticky situation. One thing I'm going to be happy to get back to in Canada is no one giving a dam what you look like on the street and trying to holla at 8 am..... I mean seriously!

Dress
One thing I absolutely cannot bash is the incredible swag that Batswana have, both men and women. The students at UB got it going on for days' on end. I did not think that majority of the campus would be this fashion forward and trend setting but they literally have my jaw open every day with the outfits they pull off. Batswana are one of the most beautiful people I have ever encountered,their features are bold and gorgeous and they have this confidence that exudes all around them without coming off as extra or cocky. In comparison to students at Laurier, I can definitely say that UB is ten times more swaggin' and they put effort into their daily attire ( you can tell its ' a labour of love). I'd say they have to work harder because they have class as early as 7 am and about more than half do not live on campus so they got to commute with all that effort they put into their dress. I can't say I have leveled up from my style back at WLU (the classic Hobo look) but some days I do try and I do not hold a candle to these guys- they should all work at Urban Outfitters!  What's weird is that short shorts ( athletic/jeans/cotton) are considered trashy. But club tops that reveal cleavage and hooker heals are seen as fashion forward. High waisted shorts that end at the same length as short shorts are seen as classy but tank tops are seen as provocative.


To conclude this little comparison rant , I wanted to say its' amazing how regular things to them are so far from regular and normal to us and our etiquette/lifestyles.
These are only a few of the many things that have popped up in my head in the past 10 days or so.
Just thought I'd share. Also wanted to remind you that I didn't mean to offend any locals or Batswana with this post, I just want to point out how opposites our cultures are.


Alright its time for me to go to bed!!!

Have an unreal rest of the week!!!
best of luck to friends back home writing their final papers and getting in exam mode!

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) 

Spring Break 2012- In Africa

Hello friends,
I know its' been a month since my last blog post and you can believe me when I tell you everything has picked up since then. The last month has been a trying one to say the least, especially dealing with school and working with my peers. However, February ended the best way possible, with our semester break.
I just got back from one of the most amazing weeks of my life, I tried getting to bed coming back from the 12 hour bus journey, but I had to reflect on the past 8 days as soon as I got home.

Last Saturday morning at 5 am, 30 of us left for a week of touring Northern Botswana the best way they know how- camping in the bush! Real Camping- that's right!
Botswana has the largest inland Delta in the world called the "Okavango Delta". We spent Sunday canoeing along the delta in "Mokoros" ( the Setswana word for Canoes) It was gorgeous and incredible to be at level with the water and all the plants.
Between traveling through Maun and Kasane ( two northern areas in Botswana) we camped in Chobe National Park for 6 nights. Each day our group we wake up at 5 am and go on Game Drives to see the animals in our Safari Cars, we'd have to wake early if we wanted to see the rarer animals like lions/lioness.
I cannot tell you how thrilling it felt to be in the wild having elephants crossing your paths, leopards just sitting on the road waiting for you to say hi, and lions two feet away from you just posing for the camera!!! It was not the zoo, it was real life and it was WILD in every sense!
Each day we got to do two game drives with an added activity, including doing a rock painting climb, and  a boat cruise to se the animals. In the evening we'd drive back to our site to the view of the  beautiful African sunset.
We ended our week off with a day trip to Zimbabwe ( one of the four neighbouring countries to Bots) to experience Victoria Falls- one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Beautiful does not even begin to describe, and friends- sadly Niagara doesn't even come close to how incredible these falls are!!
A few friends and I also had the chance to meet a group of Zulu singers from Zimbabwe who taught us traditional song and dance and dressed us in their head gear- and  I even got a drum lesson!

Coming back from the week that just flew by, I am honestly stunned at how beautiful the simplest things in the world are. Every picture is a postcard and every moment was a dream that I wish never ended.

I'm back to life and reality now, about to start a week of tests and assignments and feeling pretty sad about it, but I am so glad for this week of wonder and discovery.
Expect many pictures- and expect to be amazed

Wishing you all a safe and happy week where ever you are, and reminding you to smile at the little things :)

lovelove

Routine? *Fingers Crossed*

Good afternoon fine people,

I'm in my room on a Saturday afternoon and was torn between doing laundry or procrastinating and doing a blog- yup you won!
So the last time I was here, I was telling you guys about the strike at UB and the exciting trip to Sun City I was going on!! There were 7 of us ladies, that ended up traveling together,  it was a really good group too.
Sun City was absolutely spectacular, never would I have imagined of having a resort vacation in Africa!
Sun City is essentially the Las Vegas of Africa, there's a water park, you can do pretty much anything you want activity wise including, jet-ski-ing, segway tours, safari drives, elephant riding, zip-lining, canoeing.. and so much more.
The only problem was the pricing of all these activities. Because it is a huge tourist spot, people come with their families and are normally older with savings and real jobs, so they could afford to do all these great things. So we had to strategically plan what we really wanted to do and what was worth the money. In the end, we chose to do a Safari Game Drive in the Sun City National Park (the largest in all of Africa), and then we did "Valley Of the Waves", the water park-which was my personal favourite!
The rest of the trip we had to relax and explore for ourselves. We definitely splurged on the quality of food, I have never eaten that many gourmet meals along with the most delicious deserts in one weekend.
Coming back to Gaborone on Sunday was a tad depressing but also exciting, knowing that school was finally going to start and perhaps we could get into the swing of something here.

So a quick recap of this week- CLASSES HAVE OFFICIALLY STARTED... aka we get homework and get to write more than 2 sentences down in our notebooks, its phenomenal.
I joined our residence in- house Basket ball league so we played 2 games this week, which were a lot of fun. I also started doing Zumba here thanks to one of the international students' who is a Zumba instructor back home in Idaho. So recreation has been a plus balanced with classes going on has made the week that much better.  I finally bought a fan, after a month of trying to convince myself I could sleep in 40 degree weather peacefully at night- it has made all the difference!
This weekend, we went out to a bar called "Bowl n Bush" and it was a lot of fun, good music and good company always seems to do the trick!

With all this underway, I'm really hoping for a routine to start so that I could feel more at ease and go about every day with less tension.
Fingers crossed for a smooth week
ALSO- I've been in Botswana for a month- how surreal is that!

What a Riot!

Hello friends,

So the past few days have been quite hectic and if you have been keeping up with my facebook status', you  would understand why.

In a nutshell, the Student body here at UB is unimpressed with the multiple changes going on campus. This includes things like: the on campus bar potentially being closed, the ending of supplementary exams, canceling inter-varsity sports, and the medical school not being up to date on the curriculum or the resources to provide students with. 

Because of the these issues, the students began to protest last Thursday, gathering in the student centre to start open discussions which turned into a lot of rowdiness quickly. 

Soon after, a ban of students became a mob and starting running through campus shouting, yelling and blowing horns in hopes of getting noticed and hopefully in light of being heard by the board. 

It died down during the weekend but sure enough, picked right up again yesterday with angry students in mobs running and chanting all over campus, picking students out of class to join them. 

Professors let students go early from class in fear of being attacked, some professors didn't even show up to class in fear of being harassed. 

Needless to say, SHIT GOT CRAY. 

I ran at least 5 times out of the cafeteria, open areas and out of class. I nearly once thought people were going to hit me- they looked angry as hell.

Later yesterday, I decided to go to class with a friend and a girl walked up to us and said " what are you doing?, you know if you go down there you're going to get shot". Immediately, we started walking back to residence ( no way in hell I'm going to class when I could be safe)

The police did get involved yesterday evening because of the barricades the students made to block cars from coming through and preventing cars from leaving campus. 

The police had to come fully enforced with their gear and they did some damage control.

Unfortunately, the mobs and riots are out of hand to the point where the University of Botswana has declared an official strike and classes are cancelled until Monday of next week. 

Though, at first this seemed very exciting and new, I did start to get tired of running from people every where I went. I do want to just go to school and learn without interruptions.

But on a happier note, because of this break, the international students are treating it as an early spring break to explore places close by, and have some adventure! 

A few of us are going to take a road trip to Sun City in South Africa tomorrow and stay there until Sunday night!! Sun city looks exquisite and apparently it is an oasis vacation spot in Southern Africa- so hellz yes I'm on that! Hoping to do some swimming and safari tours as well.

So here's how you take something negative and turn it into a positive

- yes, pitbull is to blame for that line! 

I'm attaching some pictures of Sun city- start getting Jelly! 

Tata