Almost Got Arrested: It’s not what you think

During Easter weekend, four of my fellow classmates and I decided to travel to Swaziland. The trip was already off to a bumpy start when one of my friends slept through her 5 am alarm and we almost missed our bus to Johannesburg by a couple of minutes. But once we arrived at the border between Botswana and South Africa, the trip got bumpier. As I waited in line to get my stamps to cross the border, I did not have a worry in the world. I joked around with the immigration officer in Setswana and conversed with my friends in line behind me. That changed when the immigration officer started questioning me. Questions aren’t a good sign at the Botswana border.

She inspected my passport and noticed I did not have the number of days that I had left to stay in Botswana marked on my last stamp from when I went to Zimbabwe. (I was given 90 days to stay in Botswana and once my 90 days are up I must have a student waiver for the remainder of the semester). Since I was still within the 90 days, I did not bring my student waiver. Lesson number one: ALWAYS BRING YOUR STUDENT WAIVER.

The argument escalated and resulted with me being taken into a back room and questioned further. The words “arrested” and “fined” were thrown around by the officers, as I sat in a corner waiting to be interrogated. On the brink of tears, the officers decided to let me pass illegally. With the threat of arrest being postponed until my next border crossing, I cheered with my friends and proceeded to travel to Swaziland.

After almost getting in a severe car accident, we finally made it to Swaziland. The trip was exceptional. Swazi is gorgeous. The green land is full of mountains and fresh air. We stayed in a hostel, which was surrounded by unique trees that look as if they are doing yoga:

We hiked nearby trails that were filled with vines to swing on, logs to cross rivers with, and ladders to climb up rocks.

Hours later we made it to the top, with the help of these two dogs:

The next day, one of my friends took us to a refugee camp and introduced us to many of the sweet people he grew up with throughout his life. This was one of the most meaningful days of my study abroad semester. I learned more about humanity and the power of education by conversing with the people and observing their way of life. Walking around I could see the various projects that were started by outside organizations that had failed to communicate with the people living here and therefore their projects failed. Except for the school. The most beautiful building in the entire camp was the school. The outside walls were painted with pride and children exercised their imagination on the play ground. I asked my friend who took us here what he feels people here need the most and he responded with: education. I take mine for granted.

Later that night, the owner of the hostel we were staying at invited us to a house party. Turns out the party was for the owner of part of the KFC franchise. Driving up to this giant house and seeing a bouncy house, water slide and a large group of people dancing, I felt overwhelmed after going to the refugee camp earlier that day, but decided to embrace this opportunity. Turns out, this was one of the strangest nights of my experience abroad. I started off talking to people from the Peace Core, which turned into dancing and then going into the bouncy house. Upon exiting the bouncy house, I ran into this guy who took one of my Peace Core friends into a CLOSET and had us take shots. If I have learned anything from college, it is to trick drunk alcohol pushers into thinking I took a shot with them. Thank you freshmen year. After escaping, I went up stairs and found people stealing each others door knobs to have sex in random rooms. Apparently there was a shortage of door knobs. As the night came to a close, my friends and I were taken home by the KFC owners private driver!

The following day was Easter Sunday. We traveled to our friend, William’s, house. We were welcomed with many hugs and a big feast. The food was a blend between Burundi and Swazi traditional cuisine. After trading embarrassing stories with Williams family about his rapping and dancing skills, we left to go back to our hostel, only to find people dancing in the rain and having a jam session with various instruments. Best thing about hostels: you get a bunch of weird people from all over the world who love to share their talents with one another. 🙂

Unfortunately, we had to leave and I had to face my potential arrest.

We stayed the night in Johannesburg and as I made attempt after attempt to contact the US Embassy, Botswana Embassy, email my professor, and my school and get a permit to cross the border, it dawned on me that I was going to be stuck in South Africa for a few days. My friends left for Botswana and I stayed in South Africa. Alone.

Making the best of this situation, I decided to explore more of Johannesburg and traveled to Rosebank (a local craft market) and engaged in long conversations about politics with the hostel owner, and went on a date with a man from Germany. We went to see Fast and Furious 7; great movie! Then went ice skating and went on a scavenger hunt to find our hostel. Not having phones that work in SA was challenging.

Days later, I made my way across the border. Right as I arrived, one of the people from the University of Botswana dropped off my student waiver and I crossed with ease. To celebrate, I found my border buddy, whom I had met earlier on the bus, and we went to a nearby golf club. Her husband works there and it had been recently burned down. This added to the strangeness of my trip, but did not phase me.

I finally made it back to UB in one piece! Thank you to everyone that helped me!

Spontaneous Bonus Trip

My week of Safari ended with a bang. I crossed the border to Zimbabwe.

Shortly after getting off of the boat in Chobe, two of my friends (Rachel and Jele) and I decided to ditch the last three days of the trip and head to Victoria Falls. As our professor and fellow classmates drove off to their next camping destination, we stayed behind. With only one working cell phone, no money on hand, and the clothes in our backpacks, we set off to find a way to cross the border, only to find out that the bus station and travel agencies were closed and the nearest gas station was under construction. As we walked around aimlessly around Kasane talking to strangers, the message that has been instilled in my brain since childhood was growing louder, “Don’t talk to strangers, stranger danger!!” But as every twenty year old has practiced, I ignored the teachings from my childhood and proceeded to ask strangers for a ride. After a few rounds of rejection, we found a man with a van, but fear not he had candy so we wouldn’t starve! Sadly, I am not entirely kidding. As we arrived at the border, only minutes before closing, we bought a Visa and were on our way to find a hostel willing to take three last minute wandering travelers. Luckily, we found a place called Shoestrings (link to website: http://www.shoestringsvicfalls.com/) that happily housed us for the night. We celebrated with a warm meal at In-Da-Belly and ate Crocodile, Warthog, and Impala. Yummy-in-my-tummy.

The following day we set off to explore the town and make our way to one of the 7 natural wonders of the world! A sales man approached us with great deals on all sorts of fun adventurous activities to do at the Falls. He hooked us with white water river rafting, which had started 15 minutes ago. Thankfully, we only missed the safety speech. No big deal.

The hike down to the Zambezi river was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever had the privilege to go on. With our helmets secure and life jackets tight, we were ready to take on the wildest river to raft down in the world. The ride did not start off slow, we went head first into our first major rapid. Whirl pools were forming as our guide paddled around the large rocks. Every name of the upcoming rapid was funnier than the last. My personal favorites were ‘the devils toilet bowl’ and ‘terminator two’. Terminator two was a grade five rapid and almost wiped us out several times. As we came around a sharp rock you could see the power of the next wave sucking in the water underneath our raft just in time to crash down on top of us. This proceeded to happen for the next eight hours with small breaks in between each rapid. Our guide was kind enough to let us swim around and hang out in the warm water as long as we looked out for crocodiles.

Unfortunately, we were more focused on the beauty of the canyon and ended up staying outside of the raft as we passed through the one of the rapids. Hanging on to the side of the raft for dear life, I couldn’t help but to love the push and pull of the water. Once the water calmed down, our guide pulled us into the raft. I looked back at the other rafts that had flipped over and saw people scrambling for their lives. The guides were kneeling on top of flipped over rafts and were yelling out commands to the stragglers who had made their way into the nearest raft. A group of twenty piled into one boat suited to fit eight people comfortably. People were falling off like Jenga pieces.

Our trip down the Zambezi River came to an end and we started our trek back up the canyon. What feels like a lifetime later, I made it to the top where there was food awaiting. After scarfing down my first meal of the day, I decided to exercise my manners and make friends with my fellow rafters. Turns out they were from all over Europe, Australia, and the U.S.! We spent the rest of the day together and I must admit that they really inspired me to make sure that this trip abroad would not be my last and that the people you meet along the way may be some of your closest friends down the road.

We ended our trip at the heart of Victoria Falls. In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful, majestic, and inspiring places in the world. Before seeing the falls, you can hear the tumbling of the heavy water fall into the Zambezi river. Upon seeing the falls, you sink into a trance of pure bliss. I couldn’t help but to whisper ‘wow’ as I stepped closer to the edge. Rainbows blanket the water and sky. The surrounding vegetation is similar to that of a rain forest. My friends and I ran from one view point to another, splashing in the puddles from the pouring water along the way.

Inspired to take as many photos as possible, my friend Rachel took a picture of me doing bow pose on top of a cement block on the edge of the falls. Shortly after Rachel snapped the photo, I slipped. I held onto a thorny vine and survived with a few scratches. No I do not have a death wish. Although, I am convinced that this is the gateway to heaven.

Once reality kicked in, we realized we had an hour to get back to the border before it closed. Scrambling to our hostel, people pestered us to buy trinkets and continued to ask for our belongings. Once again, we made it to the border just in time, only this time we did not have a taxi available on the other side. As a result, a Botswana immigration officer kindly gave us a ride to a hostel in Kasane. The hostel was located in a touristy town and was way over our budget. We bargained and scored a luxurious room on the river for $30 U.S.! Rachel summed up our shower and sleeping experience perfectly when she said “I feel like a new woman!”

But our stay was short since we had a flight to catch. We woke up at four a.m. and had to break out of the hostel since the gate was locked. Avoiding the spikes at the top of the wall we leaped over the wall and raced to catch our bus, forgetting that we were in an area where the animals we had been seeing throughout the week also lived here. Minutes before the bus was scheduled to leave, we arrived at the station. Our adventure across the border to Victoria Falls was officially over. 

I recommend traveling to Victoria Falls in your lifetime if you ever have the chance. Definitely a highlight to my already glowing trip abroad.

Spring Break: How I Nearly Perished

Let me tell you about the ways I almost died this past week during my seven day safari trip. It started off like any other spring break, too much alcohol and a one night stand. Just kidding, instead of your typical spring break plans where you and your closest friends decide to take a trip to Florida, my friends and I went on a week long safari in Northern Botswana. Now before I get into this perfectly planned trip, I want to make it clear that this trip was with my program and was prepaid for and planned by professionals. With that in mind, I can now tell you about the numerous life or death experiences I encountered and how they changed my life. Obviously I am still alive and thankfully have all of my limbs. Sorry that I ruined the ending, but now to start at the beginning. Our base camp for the week was located at Audi camp; this place was suited for presidents and ambassadors. The tents had dressers and porches, I swam in a pool and ate on a deck over looking a river. Our mode of travel to our next destination was a giant safari truck that took down anything that crossed our path when we went off-roading. There are no seat belts when you off road.

At one point we crossed a rickety bridge made of wood. Come to think of it, this should have been my first clue that this week was going to be a bit unsafe. Our next mode of transportation were canoes. Here is a photo of how we almost sank:

Although I did not see any myself, I was told that black mambas and crocodiles were hiding in the grass that brushed against my canoe. If that doesn’t freak you out, then you should know that I did see a hippo, which happens to be the second deadliest animal in Africa. To make things worse, I continued to ask my guide to inch closer to the hippo. I am sure he thought I had a death wish.

Shortly after setting up our camp site for the night, we separated into two groups for a leisurely walk through the bush. This time the predators in the area were lions, leopards, and you can count elephants if you have fruit in your tent. Although we did not see any lions or leopards we saw elephants!

Shortly after seeing the elephants we came across over twenty hippos. Out of pure excitement, my group and I kept nearing closer to the hippos to take pictures. As a result of us infringing on the hippos territory, when we looked back to watch the hippos, they were drawing nearer as if to say “you make one ripple in our water and we are charging”. Of course one of our guides thought it was a brilliant idea to throw his walking stick in the water. I ran. 

The following day we woke up with the sun rise and a delicious breakfast. We started our day with another nature walk and this time we saw Elephants, giraffe, monkeys, and springbok. Later that day I swam in the Okovango Delta, the same water that the previous day I canoed in, yes I swam with snakes, crocodiles and hippos. After a few too many pranks by my tour guides, I decided to collect my shells for my little sister and get out of there. We traveled back to Audi camp and spent the night gazing up at the stars. Never have I seen so many shooting stars. We saw the milky way, mars, and a bunch of constellations that we rambled off to one another, we had no idea what we were talking about.

Over the course of the next three days, we spent most of our time traveling through the game reserves in our safari trucks. Our time was filled with singing songs from the sixties to now, playing road trip games, and sleeping. Caution: when sleeping in a truck without windows, you will get sun burned. On only one side of your body. Here is a photo of us pretending we are in a music video and some cute giraffes:

I must confess, the way that we were camping felt luxurious. We were spoiled with a crew of people who arrived at our camp site while we were looking at animals, set up our tents, showers, toilets, and dinning areas. We at three meals a day and had a snack before dinner, then dessert and wine. I am forever grateful for the people who made this week happen. 

Before I make us sound too spoiled, I’ll tell you something about having to take care of your business in the bush and keeping up with your hygiene. Our toilet was a hole dug in the ground with a little cover over the top. This did not keep away the bugs, nor did the aroma keep animals away. Before I get too graphic, I will just leave you with the image of me getting lost at night trying to find this ‘toilet’ and once I found it, there was a rodent inside and was convinced the bugs were going to get my bare bottom. As for the shower, bugs were not so much a problem as much as wild animals. I took one shower. While taking my bucket shower, I was facing the dark abyss full of wild animals. Keep in mind the night before we had a hyena come into our camp scavenging for food. As I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair, I saw eyes in the bushes. At that moment, I was fully prepared to streak across camp. Thankfully, there was no streaking involved, but I did go to bed with shampoo in my hair.

We ended our week in Chobe; one of the most majestic places I have ever had the privilege of traveling. In order to get the full experience, we went on a private boat tour. As we sipped our Savana Dry beer, animals surrounded our boat. Hundreds of elephants were drinking and eating around the water. We watched them fight, and chase each other. We saw a family crossing the river with a four month old baby. We even saw them mating.

Elephants were not the only animal at this beautiful watering hole. We saw Nile crocodiles, the deadliest of all the crocs. Feet away were cape buffalo and hippos; the two deadliest animals in Africa. Our guide told us it was a treat to see the hippos out of the water during the day. What he didn’t tell us was that they also liked to charge the boats. Every hundred or so feet a hippos would come charging into the water, disappear and then burst out of the water feet away from the boat snorting water. The goal for them was to flip over the boat. Our guide found this humorous, which seemed to be another theme of the week: Comedian Guides. As the sun began to set, our ride came to an end.

On our way back to camp our driver got a call. The speed of the car increased. Confused and curious, we patiently waited to know what was happening. Once we drove behind some trees, it all became clear. There was a family of lions. We were so close that when we climbed onto the top of the truck, if I were to fall I would have landed in the lap of a lion cub. I have never been happier to be so close to death. Later that night our camp site was surrounded by lions and elephants. We went to bed to the sound of trumpets and roars. This was one of the best weeks of my life.

Khama Rhino Sanctuary

Animals are gorgeous creatures. I don’t want to pretend like humans are separate from animals, because I know we are animals and we posses our own beauty. But growing up traveling to zoos, having pets as a part of the family, and learning about other majestic animals in class, instilled a deep love of animals in me from an early age. 

I traveled to a Rhino Sanctuary in Serowe this weekend. I stayed in a lodge in the middle of the bush. Since the only predator that lives in this particular sanctuary is a Leopard, people are free to camp here. After a night of playing volleyball and sitting around the camp fire roasting marshmallows and swapping childhood camp stories, we were ready to wake up early and go on a safari.

Safaris, at this point in my life, are one of my favorite things to do. Hopping into a safari jeep and going on a scavenger hunt for animals, even if you just see them for a second, brings me joy. There is something about the bumpy dirt road, tangled hair, and slightly uncomfortable seating that becomes appreciated just because it is a part of the experience.

Today I saw kudu, ostriches, wort hogs, zebras, red heart beast, kudu, springbok, wildebeest, vultures, and RHINOS! The safari guide allowed us to walk towards a mom and baby rhino! We we in a single file line with our tour guide leading us, telling us to stop and go with hand signals. There was a nearby wildebeest that started to become threatened by us. I looked at our tour guide who was holding a gun and then looked backed at the wildebeest, back at our tour guide. If that was going to be the end, might as well have died on an African Safari. Luckily, we safely scurried past the wildebeest and hid behind a tree to get a few snapshots of the rhino and some zebras. Everyone survived.

This was all before 9 in the morning. Today was going to be a good day.

Welcome to March! Xoxo

Here is a link to the Sanctuary:

 http://khamarhinosanctuary.org.bw/

Johannesburg, South Africa (Part 2)

I have learned of the horrors that have been inflicted upon the people and the brutality of the tug and pull of races in power. Apartheid has divided the people, cities, countries and nation. On an international level, not much has been done until it was too late. The discomfort and horrifying torture that has been inflicted upon the people is in the forefront of this generation of South Africans memories. The Apartheid era is not only those of their ancestors, but was fought within their own lifetime. 

After visiting a handful of museums and memorials scattered around South Africa, specifically Soweto and Joberg, I have only learned a small portion of the history of South Africa. I traveled here with my professor who is from Zimbabwe. We went to the Apartheid museum and as we moved through the exhibits we watched a video together. Watching this video, I caught a glimpse of these large military trucks that terrorized cities and snatched children on the streets, shot innocent citizens and looked at the cities of South Africa crumble in flames with leaders struggling to keep unity among one nation. As the video ended I looked at my professor. As he looked at the military trucks again, the memories of his childhood were reflected in the tears that spilled over his face. 

Later that day we had coffee with a man kind enough to tour us around SA and share his inside knowledge of this land and its inhabitants. As I sipped a cappuccino within the comfort of a nice restaurant and trusting company, I listened to this man tell his story of the 1976 Soweto uprising as a second grader, and how he was a student leader by the the second uprising ten years later. He spoke of his drug dealing, bombing and killing. He spoke of his 6 six months of imprisonment and the torture that was inflicted upon him and his fellow student leaders. He spoke of the ways of copping. Drug dealing, abuse, disloyalty, and worst of all silence. He explained that they grew up being told not to speak of their hardships and emotions. I asked him what mental tools he used to start to overcome the prejudices he held and the anger he felt, he responded with “dialog.”

We need a dialog and safe space where the government, communities, children can all communicate and share the stories of the past and understand how to make a better future. We can not, will not, achieve peace as we digress back into our old ways. Which, he fears, is happening. This same fear has been expressed to me before, particularly the day prior at the Mandela center of memory by a man named Vin. He unlocked some of the flaws that the romantised view of Mandela covered up and shared the same theme of opening a healthy dialog with the public. He explained that this is the first step in the direction of unity. At every level leadership is failing, with exceptions of a few pockets of strong leaders that will take this country and the current problems and head in a direction that frees the people of HIV/Aids, frees the people of violence, crimes, murders, segregation, poverty, and fear.

These issues are not isolated to only the country of South Africa or even Africa as a continent. These issues are worldwide and it is time to break the stereotypes held against Africa in general. The issues of racism, sexism, crime, violence and poverty can be found anywhere. I go to school in the outskirts of Chicago and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. The issues of yesterday are still the issues of today. We need to unite. That does not mean agree on the same method of solving these issues or agree on which issue is the most important. We just need to acknowledge others opinions, open our minds, and find ways for a better tomorrow. Hopefully one day we can say the issues of yesterday are no longer prevalent today. This starts with dialog.

The places in Africa I have had the privilege to travel to have been eye opening. Before coming here I knew only what was shown on the news, read in history books, and talked about with my fellow peers and family. Let me tell you, my perspective was skewed in a negative direction with the exception of how beautiful the wildlife and friendly some of the people are here.

Now I only know a tad more than before, but what I do know is that people come from all different backgrounds. We do not always know the struggles and stories that lie beneath the skin. I have learned that hope and community are the glue to what holds people together. I have learned the true meaning of the phrase “take what you need and give the rest”. I have learned not to live in a constant state of fear of the unknown or fear people whom the only stories I have been told were not their own. I am learning what my role is as a world citizen. And I am learning how to understand people who do not share the same culture, complexion, or language as I do. And I want to learn what my next steps are to take these lessons back to the states with humility and understanding and how to integrate them into my life.

Links to my inspiration:

http://www.apartheidmuseum.org/

http://www.mandelahouse.co.za/

http://archives.nelsonmandela.org/home

Johannesburg, South Africa (Part 1)

Let me start off with saying I am a twenty year old undergraduate student from the United States. Everything I have experienced and voice is from my own perspective.
This weekend I traveled to Johannesburg in South Africa. If you have heard anything about South Africa, Johannesburg in particular, I would understand if your initial thoughts when I said Johannesburg were related to murder, rape, poverty, or just plain dangerous. Based off of statistics those dangers are all prevalent, but not isolated to only Johberg. This city and more importantly, the country of South Africa, has more to offer than the negativity that is linked to the people and cities. There is delicious food, sporting events, friendly people, diverse communities and a deep history. With that said, as I traveled from one museum to the next I tasted only a sliver of the injustices that have occurred since the 1700’s.
I started my weekend by going to the Human Origins Museum (http://www.southafrica.net/za/en/articles/entry/article-southafrica.net-origins-centre-south-africa) and then Constitution Hill (http://www.constitutionhill.org.za/). Constitution Hill is a famous prison that imprisoned well-known leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Gandhi. Nelson Mandela once said “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside the jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens but its lowest ones–and South Africa treated its imprisoned African citizens like animals.” This statement held true the more I met survivors who were tortured during the time that this prison was still active. As shown in the photos below, even in prison, people were not treated equally.

Here are some other images from the prison:

Beach Day in the Indian Ocean!

After an entire days trip, I finally made it to Durban, South Africa. The main motivation for traveling to the beautiful city of Durban was to swim in the Indian Ocean. My hostel was located right on the beach and I could not have felt luckier (I highly recommend this hostel to anyone looking for an affordable room and free breakfast: http://www.durbanbackpackers.com/) . The waves were powerful, tumbling over me one after the other. Every time a life guard blew their whistle I knew it was directed towards me and my travel buddies for being outside of the shark nets. Yes, there were shark nets. Unfortunately, they did not keep other large fish and jelly fish away from us. Never have I swam so fast towards shore, after two of my friends were stung by a jelly fish. The life guards and nearby locals thought it was quite the riot. Thankfully the stings were nothing that some sprayed Vinegar and delicious gelato couldn’t cure. No one tried to pee on the stings. Although I would have peed myself if I had to watch someone try and attempt to cure a sting with urine, I am thankful we did not have to deal with the awkwardness of depriving someone from relieving themselves on my friends arm and stomach.

Valentine’s Day at a Sharks vs. Cheetahs Rugby Game

Happy Valentine’s Day! I am thankful to have the opportunity to spend my valentine’s day with friends at a Rugby game. This part of my trip I would say was one of, if not, the best part(s) of my trip to Durban. After getting in for free and ordering a chili dog and a pitcher of beer, I knew this would be a good game. First off I must confess, I had absolutely no idea what was going on the entire game. I was definitely one of those irritating people who jumped on the home team bandwagon and followed the surrounding crowds reactions. No ragrets. Not even a cheer. Rugby seemed to be a game where there were no actual rules. It looked as though some football, soccer, and gymnastic athletes came together and constructed a game that meshed all three sports and resulted in a game of anarchy. Nonetheless, I could not keep my eyes off the game and loved the remote control toy car that came onto the field to give the kickers a little cone (Mom. Dad. I found my calling. I will one day control the remote control car at Rugby games).
After the game we were on a mission to eat some fish and chips at a restaurant located in a place very similar to Las Vegas. Before entering one of the tourist attractions of Durban, we listened to a lovely musician who sang American songs and I was given a rose by cupid.The real cupid, because it’s Africa and anything is possible. We ended the night at local pub called KEG and enjoyed celebrating one official month in Africa!

Here is a link to the stadium and the aquarium I went to today:

http://www.ushakamarineworld.co.za/

http://www.mmstadium.com/

Home Stay in Mochudi

During my stay in Botswana, I was lucky enough to spend the weekend with a local family in Mochudi. My mom’s name is Motena and she gave birth to six children. Her husband lives with their Cattle-post in another location and as her children grew older they moved to other parts of the country. The four youngest children (varying in ages from 22-40) all come together on the weekends  to visit their mom and children (who live with Motena). This family is very hardworking and loving. As each of them came to meet me they made me feel like a part of the family and named me Lesego, meaning “fortunate” or as my host mom put it “I am fortunate to have you as a daughter.” I felt like the one who was fortunate to have them as a family.

As the days past, I spent the hours watching Nigerian movies, attending family events, spending time with the children in the neighborhood, and asking the tougher questions that I may not have had any other opportunity to get a truthful answer.

[Me] Q: “Is it common for people to have HIV/aids here?”

[Malebogo] A: “Yes, some people are open about it, but more are private and do not accept that they have it .”

[Me] Q: “What is the general opinion about homosexual acts?”

[Malebogo] A: “It is not accepted by our churches. It wasn’t really talked about until a few years ago and it is said to be something that westerners brought here. It is common in South Africa, but is illegal here.”

[Me] Q: “Why do people not like people from Zimbabwe here?”

[Malebogo] A: “They steal. Back when our Government was poor and their president was corrupt & mistreating the people, many people fled here. Even illegally.” (Later she added: “We have rented out our side house to this lady from Zimbabwe for 3 years and they are very nice. We take it as an individual basis.”

[Me] Q: “Why do men here like white women?”

[Malebogo] A: “They see you and they see money. They also just love you. It is lucky to be with a white woman and house them. People are always asking ‘Is she eating your food and sleeping in your house?'”

[Me] Q: “Are there inequalities in occupations here?”

[Malebogo] A: “There are more nurses than doctors. Equal number of men and women in office jobs and teaching. Equal pay. But women are supposed to clean, cook, get married and have children. Even if both the man and the woman work. Women used to just be housewives. Now it is changing, but boys are expected to do heavy duty work.”

These are some questions that the family asked me:

[Prince] Q: “You look like you exercise. Do you exercise?”  “What do you eat?”

[Onketemetse] Q: “When you turn 21, I was told you Americans are given the whole package: money, a car, a house, and get married at an early age. Is that true?”

[Onketemetse] Q: “Why do people greet each other by kissing when they are not their husband?”

Once people heard that I was staying in one of the houses in their neighborhood, children would come and want to hangout with me. A majority of the hangout would revolve around them playing with my hair, teaching me Setswana, and teaching me hand games, similar to the ones I would play in elementary school. We also played with their makeshift toys such as, rocks or sticks. My favorite part was when they would ask me questions like: “Do you watch Amerika’s Got Talent?”, “Do you have kids?”, “Are you married?” or my personal favorite “Do you paint your hair? It is so soft.” I enjoyed all of the compliments I was showered with as they stared at my face and skin.

Funeral in Mochudi

I attended a funeral today. In order to prepare, I was told to take a bath. I went into the bathroom and there was a bucket of hot water inside the tub:

Looking at the bucket with confusion I decided to ask my home sister what to do, she instructed me to just use the bucket. Not entirely sure what that meant, but afraid to ask again, I did as I was told and used the bucket. There were rocks on the side of the tub and the water was scolding hot. I put the two together and dipped the rocks in the steaming water and scrubbed. I brought some soap from home and rubbed the key areas, splashed some water to rinse and got out of there. Later I found out that baths are the same as the United states and that they just didn’t have hot water, therefore you just make a cold bath and then dump the hot water in to make it warm. My host family is probably still laughing about the silly american girl who rubbed hot rocks on her to bathe.

After getting ‘clean’, I had to get dressed. It is not customary to wear black to funerals, but is a common theme among the family members of the deceased. The woman have to cover their shoulders, armpits, and tops of their heads. Since my hair is soft, covering my head was a struggle. Although I was more concerned with my ears, since my host sister kept un-tucking them from my head scarf.

The funeral was a pleasant ceremony filled with the women singing, a pastor preaching, and the men digging the grave. The ceremony lasted two hours, one at the house and then one at the grave site. Afterwards, people from all over come to the house and eat. The younger people in the group formed lines and passed plates of food down the line to the elders. The food was delicious, but not easy on the digestive track.

I hope this brightened your day with my embarrassing story. 🙂