I am now the wise old age of 22. One year ago I graduated
from University and became legally able to drink in the States and then
promptly moved half way across the globe to Botswana. A little geography
lesson, Botswana is located in Southern Africa resting just above South Africa
and bordered by Namibia to the west, Zimbabwe to the east and touching Zambia
at the site of Victoria Falls. The
official languages in Botswana are Setswana and English although there are also
a variety of other languages spoken including Kalanga, Sarwa, Ndebele, and
Afrikaans.
As of June 13th I have been living in Botswana
for 10 months and in the village of Moshana for 8 months. Frequently I question
what I am actually accomplishing here, however, I have some how managed to worm
my way into the hearts of the teachers at my school. In the staff room there is
a small calendar where I post my monthly schedule. The calendar is mostly so
the staff can see when I will be working in other villages however I also
marked my birthday. This did not go unnoticed (it also probably helped that I
told everyone) and the teachers threw me a surprise party complete with cake,
presents, and speeches. Highlights of the party included the photo shoot, where
everyone took a photo with me, which is made better by the fact that one of the
teachers tricked me into going home at tea for my camera saying she needed it
to film her students. She was a very convincing liar and although the project
was fictional, now that I know the idea, I would love to see it come to
fruition, and am grateful that the party was well documented. The presents
consisted of a space heater and a blanket, which could not have been better, I
am currently sitting under the blanket next to the space heater and I am quite
toasty. Hilariously I was a bit late to school today since I could not rouse
myself from the cold, with my new heater, I have no excuse. To conclude the
party the school head said, “This is love,” and I couldn’t agree more.
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