After four weeks of training the 59 Bots 14 were sent all
around the country for shadowing. This meant that 5am Sunday I was picked up by
the Peace Corps van and taken to the bus rank (terminal) along with 35 other
Peace Corps Trainees who all boarded a bus to Gaborone (Gabs). In Gabs my
amazing host, Terri met me and I found the rus rank to be far less intimidating
then I thought it would be. Ah, traveling by bus, no problem its affordable and
convenient. I felt like a Botswana travel maven, until I realized I did not
complete any aspect of this journey on my own, someone was holding my hand the
entire trip (since I was traveling with Americans and not Batswana I do not
mean this literally). Although I do not deserve the credit for a smooth trip I
do feel prepared for my next bus endeavor. Flash to the return trip which ended
with me peeling myself off the person sitting next to me since our combined leg
sweat fused us together from the waist down, yep still feel like a Botswana bus
maven.
Kanye is a little less then two hours outside of the capital
and is a village of approximately 50,000. I was shadowing at a senior secondary
school which includes form four and form five, roughly the equivalent of junior
and senior year of high school in the States. Due to various life complications
this meant that some of the students were as old as 25 and consequently a few
years my senior. As a Peace Corps Life Skills volunteer I will be placed with a
counter part who is in the guidance department and could be co-teaching classes
on life skills ie goal setting, self-confidence, etc. However, as with all
Peace Corps activities this all depends on my location, but this is the reality
for my host.
At the school I was introduced during the all school
assembly. This included all 1,800 students thus leading me to smile and I hoped
look mature or more accurately foolish in front of all of the student body. I
am not sure how well the whole mature” look worked for me since many people
then continued to ask how old I was (still baby Bangert no matter where I go). Student’s guesses ranged between 13 and 30.
Mind you the students guessing my age were between 16 and 20 with a handful in
their mid-twenties. I am going to chalk the 13 year-old guesses up to a
language barrier and misunderstanding the question. Right? I may have a baby
face but 13…
Terri’s counter part in the guidance department is a very
progressive thinker and a genius at what he does. I was privileged enough to
watch him have conversations with various individuals about extremely rough
topics where I would have lost my cool and been ineffective. He was firm yet
graceful in all of these conversations. Unfortunately problems of male
chauvinism and sexual assault are not unique to the states and happen around
the world. The conversations I was privy to in the guidance office in Kanye
were all to familiar to me and resembled conversations I had on my college campus.
This week has reminded me of the power of positive people.
Terri is an amazing woman with her fair share of struggles that she talks
candidly about thus sharing her strength. It has been incredibly empowering to
have an example of a woman who has over came hardship and continues to push herself.
Also she makes a mean grilled cheese, which was all the more delicious because
cheese is hard to come by.
Also keep an eye out for a video of me doing aerobics in
sandals with socks, yep I am a classy lady!
Where might you find this video? Good question, since it was taken by a
passerby I have no idea. However, I can tell you that for the extremely
coordinated like myself an aerobics class is the perfect way to be humbled,
have a good laugh, meet really cool Batswana ladies, and get a heart pounding workout.
Next time I make it to a class I may even come prepared with gym shoes.
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