I live in a beautiful country with a wide expanse of sky. My
friend was walking me home the other afternoon and I said “Ke rata loapi” (I
like/love the sky). This is not only something I am able to say in Setswana,
but also something that I feel on a daily basis. The sky here never fails to
fill my heart with joy, as I wake it glows with a gentle yellow and by the time
I have made tea it is an intense orange. Through out the day it never losses
its power over me with its seemingly never ending reach. Some days a glance at
the sky is my saving grace and other days it is simply the cherry on top of a
heaping delicious sunday. To my Setswana, my friend replied, “AH it is because
you are new, because you are not from here.” This may be true, but I hope that
this deep awe of the sky at any given moment never wares off. I may be
constantly adjusting to a new normal but I never want to see the sky as just
whats above me but instead to take it in and enjoy it for the privilege it is.
Not all of my interactions here are as poetic and another
norm I am adjusting to is the lack of anonymity I have. Previously I was a
resident advisor at my University and on occasion I would introduce myself to
someone and they would say, “I know who you are.” This always struck me as a
bit funny however now I am surprised when this is not the response I receive. I
can take people’s actions personally and need to remember that the world does
not revolve around me (and as my friend would say “everyone had a morning”
which is dictating how they are acting). However, here I have to ask myself if
the action was related to me, and more often then not I find out it was.
I had a frustrating afternoon the other day and on top of it
all I was out of vegetables and on my last piece of fruit. This would just not
do so I decided to go on a vegetable hunt, aka go to Kanye my shopping village
to pick up some groceries. The combi (bus) does not have a set schedule and I
was in no mood to wait so like the insolent child I was feeling I starting
walking. Soon after a teacher friend of mine driving past picked me up and took
me to just outside of Kanye where I then decided to walk to the grocery store
instead of taking a taxi. This walk was refreshing and I finally felt a little
anonymity, not everyone I was passing knew who I was, and this felt good.
Although not everyone who passed me knew me that did not mean that a fair
number did and the next day I was asked where I was going? Why I was walking?
And a slew of other questions. I guess it was a false sense of anonymity, but
in the moment it was what I needed. Other lessons learned included: walking an
hour to the grocery store is a bad idea because then all I want to buy are cold
sweet things, never be too tired to be polite because the next man to approach
you may not be harassing you but instead the Kgosi coming over to see how you
are, and although you may not understand the conversations on the combi, they
are probably about you and someone may tell your land lady who will then tell
you. All in all I now have fruits and vegetables in my fridge, know that I was
proposed to yesterday, and all of Moshana knows that I went for a long walk
yesterday, I feel content.
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