After an epic journey to Botswana including 7 hours in JFK,
a 14 four flight that was just long enough for me to question why I was flying 8640
Km (5369 miles) to a place where I knew no one, and a beautiful African proverb
“Go alone and you will go fast, go alone and you will go far,” I had arrived in
Botswana to the warm greetings of current Peace Corps Volunteers and staff. Immediately
the fact that I had only slept a handful of hours in the last three days and
the fact that I was not entirely sure what day it was, ceased to matter. I was
home.
Tim Hartman is the Country Director for Peace Corps Botswana
and a name to know. He came to greet all 60 of us “Bots 14” at the airport and
continued to be personally involved in our adjustment to the country. Although
I now find myself in a completely different part of the world I have been given
the tools to not only adjust to, but embrace the culture and the world around
me. There will be days when I wonder why I am here, and hopefully I can think
back to this day for support.
After two days in Gaborone (the capital) it is off to Serowe
to meet our homestay families. When my name was called a dancing cheering woman
greeted me and immediately draped a shawl over me. The shawl became a little
more alarming to me later when my host mom whispered “this means you will be
daughter-in-law” however as she later said it was meant more to make me stick
out so she could recognize me, “since you all look the same.” Later when we
were in the parking lot trying to sort through the luggage we got disconnected
but luckily I spotted her just a few paces away from where I left her, so I
went and lovingly patted her arm, there is a lot of physical contact in Batswana
culture, only to have the woman stare confused at me. Yes, I had just stroked
some random woman’s arm and even in Botswana that is strange, but I felt okay
knowing that both my host mom and I had an equally hard time recognizing each other
that first night. I am happy to say that now that we have seen each other in
the day light we are both good to go. Although I cannot say as much for finding
my way home.
I have never felt so incompetent in my life. I am 21 years
old yet I cannot find my way home from training/School. The pink house on the
hill where I live is a 10 minute walk from the Serowe College of Education or
TTC where I have my training. On my first day it took me an hour and a half to
get home and led many people to worry about me. During my adventure home I had
also managed to turn off my phone without the password I needed to turn it on
again. Although I was a little stressed during my unplanned adventure and felt
guilty for having people worry about me the reality is I gave my host mom and
her neighbors something to laugh about for weeks. In turn I got a ride from a
Peace Corps Staff member and was able to watch one of the most beautiful
sunsets I have seen in my life with a light breeze hitting my face.
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