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!
Emily Nicole 
Jesus Christ!
Jesus Christ is right!