Peaceful Pathway☮

I can’t believe that I’ve already been here for over two months…though the days seem like they drag on, the months truly fly by.   I’ve received my other bag from storage and am currently in the process of packing up my things. Either I’ve acquired so much crap, or I’m just not packing right! I have no idea how so many little things can accumulate to make such huge piles! I’ve already filled my big bag to its maximum capacity and I still have to pack my clothes! Eeesh, it’s going to be a long Sunday. Yesterday was the family appreciation ceremony.   I’d say even with all of the running around, it was a complete success J .   The hall was filled with families and trainees, everything worked properly, and I even had 5 people in the audience just for me!   My host mom came with her sister and niece, and two of my Batswana friends arrived from Joaneng (Keitumetse and Tshidiso)!   It was wonderful! The ceremony started by me singing the Botswana National Anth...

As the date nears, I’m getting more and more excited about moving to Gobojango (Gobos).   I am also realizing even further how truly alone I will be in exactly 8 days.   My Peace Corps experience thus far has truthfully been a unique one.   Though Botswana is fortunate enough to be considered a “middle-income” country, I am not necessarily living the “Peace Corps experience” I had originally intended or expected.   I have access to the internet, I have running water (sometimes) and electricity, and I feel pretty dang safe here walking alone.   What else could one ask for? Though I have been fortunate on many fronts, I believe we are faced with different predicaments that go alone with our kismets.   Adversity considering race relations is one thing I’ve had somewhat of a difficult time with.   Whether I like it or not, I stand out here.   I cannot walk to the tuck shop right up the street without everyone staring, trying to get my attentio...

The past couple days have been quite pleasant and fun-filled! I had a great weekend, mostly spent my time walking around Kanye and meeting different people. Then I spent a lot of time at Kogae Café (the “likoa” hang out apparently) with my friends and shared some friendly conversations and drinks.   I was even able to have a few full-on Skype conversations with my parents, TJ, and Ben! It completely brightens my day when that happens.   Sunday in it of itself was quite the adventure for me.   While I awoke early to do laundry and attend church, I decided after I had changed into my “church-going” clothes that I was in fact too lazy to do so.   I changed into jeans and a t-shirt and decided to take a box of Kraft mac’n’cheese over to my friend Jessica’s house.   We cooked, ate some yummy comfort food, and watched Back to the Future on my laptop.   It was the most normal afternoon I’ve had in a while.   (Well, I don’t know if you can call it en...

Hello again friends! I write you now with less than three weeks to go until I move to Gobojango.   For the past few days I’ve done some things worth writing about… First:   last weekend was our group’s visit to the cultural lodge.   We arrived to the village after about an hour in a bus from Kanye.   For the following couple hours, we had the great fortune to be able to watch some traditional dances.   As we arrived, women singing and holding drums awaited us at the entrance to the kgotla (wall-less hut). We entered and all took our seats as the presenters took their places in a line in front of us.   Then, the kgosi (chief), who walked with a cane, proceeded to dance for us as his peers sang behind him.   Next, they taught us how to grind sorghum between two rocks.   Selecting only a few people from the audience, the main presenter allowed Tate, TJ, and some other volunteers to happily walk to the front to give it a try.   After that...

So it has been quite a while since my last detailed blog post, sorry about that! Things have been pretty crazy recently! Let me back track to about a couple of weeks ago and my visit to Pandamatenga.   I had one of the best weeks of my life!   The transportation up there was a little unnecessary…15 hours in a crammed bus with hardly any pit stops was just too much to handle in one day.   But when I did get to Panda (which was just two silos and a dirt road), Christina and her boyfriend Coenie were waiting for me.   They then took me to a local lodge where we immediately saw an entire herd of sable.   It was beautiful.   Then, right as we were sitting down to eat; I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.   Out in the distance was a giraffe drinking water. It was so surreal!   The rest of the week seemed to fly by.   But in the course of only a couple days, I visited a local women’s group meeting, walked to Zimbabwe, gardened wit...

I've discovered where I will be living for the next two years! Gobojango is my home from now on =) Below is a picture of my own, one-bedroom house that I will have allllllll to myself! (it is the house on the left) I'm about 15 km from Zimbabwe and very close to the Northern Tuli Game Preserve/Safari Area.  I will definitely update later when I have more time, but for now, here is a navigable link of my future home village. Thinking about you all always! <3 Nina

So, this weekend I will actually wash my clothes can you believe it!! Haha, there are no washer machines so I'm learning the good ol' fashion way, with a little elbow grease and hanging wire.  Today we spent the majority of the morning under a mesh tarp learning how to perma-garden (those of you who are interested can click the link for more info).  I didn't want to be one of the trainees sitting on the side watching everyone else doing the work so I jumped right in with a shovel and dug a 6ftx3ftx1ft sized hole.  That was considered our "first dig", then we continued with pick-axes and dug even deeper, softened the hard red clay, and added dried chicken manuer to provide nutrients to the dry dirt.  Finally, after re-filling the hole, carving a damn around the large mound of dirt, and adding more chicken manuer, we planted two rows of spinach! Throughout the process, I became filthy.  Like no lie, my legs are seriously orange right now. But it was fun! I hope...