So life here is great. Awesome, really!
Last week, school ended so this week I've just been hanging out doing not a whole lot...hanging out with Laura (Tebogo) and doing nothing... it's been pretty awesome.
Um...I joined a choir! It's officially what I'm doing for my Independent Study Project. It's this choir called KTM and it's sort of funny because they're doing Christmas Carols right now so I know most of the music. Actually, the conductor wants to talk to me because he says he's not sure if I should stay with them since they're not doing any Setswana music right now. I mean, I'm thinking I'm going to ask my program director if there's any other choirs I could join as well as this one so I could sing traditional music, but even just singing in this one is so different from the choirs at home. The music is COMPLETELY different - there is no treble or bass clef - and no notes! It's written according to do-re-me and it's sort of hard to get used to. That and the way we learn the music is really different, too, so I feel like even if I'm not singing traditional songs, I'm learning something either way.
Last weekend, my mom had this soccer team, the Township Rollers, who are like THE team of Gabs staying at the lodge so I got to go on Saturday and hang out with them and it was awesome! Tebs came along and we went to a football game with them where they were getting in free since they're an organized team, but the people at the stadium were giving them all sorts of crap since me and Laura were quite obviously not on the team. But this one, Not Kago (we thought his name was Kago for a long time, but it's not and we don't remember what it is so we call him Not Kago) told them we were team doctors and the team ushered us in and it was awesome. It was pretty cool sitting with them, too, cuz they're pretty famous-ish and everyone was asking about the game they had the next day against the Police. Then, we went back to the lodge and hung out with some of them some more - we mainly hung out with Chicken (they call him Chicken Nandos cuz his last name is Koko, which is "chicken" in Setswana and Nandos is a chicken place here) and Bernard, who's from Zambia and it was awesome. Bernard kept showing us pictures on his phone of his wife (who he called his queen) and kids, and kissing his phone (btw. they range in age from 17 to 30). And we listened to music on Chicken's phone and talked. We met this guy, Gumgum (they call him Gumgum cuz he likes to listen to his music real loud and all you can hear is "gumgumgumgum") who is the team captain and who is BEAUTIFUL. He hung out for a bit which was awesome and this other kid, Aubrey, who's the 17 year old, came and hung out and he's sort of a brat, but it was fun. And then Bernard got up and was dancing all crazy and Chicken got up and joined him and it was so so so much fun!
Then, the next day, we saw them off to their game and Gumgum was playing music all loud from the combi (of course) so I danced a bit with this kid Lesego (which is funny cuz that's my name) and he and the goalie, Toldo, told us they'd take us out dancing sometime so that's super exciting. We went to their game and they tied 0-0 but it was SO nerveracking because the Police were playing super dirty and the ref wasn't calling much and now that we knew them, we were so worried for them. Ha, but it was awesome.
Oh, and I dyed my hair! (yes, I found a way to dye my hair all the way over here). It's just a blond stripe down the right side of my head, but it's pretty much awesome. My little brother now calls me "Jeff Hardy" because that's a wrestler who they call the "rainbow haired warrior" cuz he has his hair dyed all different colors which is AWESOME because Jeff Hardy is absolutely my favorite wrestler (did I mention that I have become grossly obsessed with WWE RAW here? It's like the best thing ever!). Actually, Nicki and I went to this flea market-type place the other day to try and get Jeff Hardy t-shirts but all they have is J ohn Cena, so this guy we met gave me his number and might import some shirts especially for us from South Africa! Ha!
Sorry I haven't put up any pictures, yet. It's really hard to get my pictures to a computer that has internet, but I have a TON and I can't wait to show them all off. AND. Lots lots of love to my wonderful Dad for being super awesome and cute with his comments and SUPER SHAME on the rest of you who are just living vicariously through me and not telling me so! Tahaha
I LOVE YOU ALL and miss you lots and CAN'T WAIT to come home and show off pictures and presents and happiness! YAY
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
A Whole New World!
Oh, I love Botswana!
So. A family bio. I live with a woman named Kemonnye who is 45 and she's not really around all that much because she's working at the lodge alot. But she's super nice and I really enjoy talking to her and last weekend, she made us have a photoshoot where she took 80 bajillion (or like 20) pictures of me in her garden to show off how pretty her garden is. I have a little brother, Ryan, or Kago is his Setswana name, who is technically a cousin (his mother was my dad's sister, but she died last year so now Ryan lives with us). He loves wrestling and dances all around the house and is in general an ADORABLE 10-year old. I have a dad who's only really around in the mornings before he goes to work and a semi-sister named Patience, or Naledi. She's actually a Zimbabwean maid, but I think of her as my sister. In fact, there were two little neighborhood girls at our house last week and Patience told them I was her little sister (she's 22) and one girl was like "but you're brown!"and Patience told her that our mother was white like me and our father is black like her. She's cute and super energetic. My house rocks.
Last Saturday, we all went back to Mmankgodi to see our first families and my mom picked me up and then we cooked diphaphatha (home-made bread) and it was awesome. Then we spent the night at Nicki's for a party for Greg's 21st birthday. I went to sleep around 9:30 cuz I'm just that awesome, ha! And now I have tor un cuz we're going to get ice cream and watch HOLES cuz we rented it! (We rented Aladdin and the Lion King too, I'm in heaven!)
HEARTS
So. A family bio. I live with a woman named Kemonnye who is 45 and she's not really around all that much because she's working at the lodge alot. But she's super nice and I really enjoy talking to her and last weekend, she made us have a photoshoot where she took 80 bajillion (or like 20) pictures of me in her garden to show off how pretty her garden is. I have a little brother, Ryan, or Kago is his Setswana name, who is technically a cousin (his mother was my dad's sister, but she died last year so now Ryan lives with us). He loves wrestling and dances all around the house and is in general an ADORABLE 10-year old. I have a dad who's only really around in the mornings before he goes to work and a semi-sister named Patience, or Naledi. She's actually a Zimbabwean maid, but I think of her as my sister. In fact, there were two little neighborhood girls at our house last week and Patience told them I was her little sister (she's 22) and one girl was like "but you're brown!"and Patience told her that our mother was white like me and our father is black like her. She's cute and super energetic. My house rocks.
Last Saturday, we all went back to Mmankgodi to see our first families and my mom picked me up and then we cooked diphaphatha (home-made bread) and it was awesome. Then we spent the night at Nicki's for a party for Greg's 21st birthday. I went to sleep around 9:30 cuz I'm just that awesome, ha! And now I have tor un cuz we're going to get ice cream and watch HOLES cuz we rented it! (We rented Aladdin and the Lion King too, I'm in heaven!)
HEARTS
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
The internets suckssss
So I'm in Gabs! That's Gaborone, the capital for those of you who aren't all in the know around here.
Last week I went up north where all the famous African wildlife is and it was awwwesome! We camped out for 2 nights in Savuti, where we couldn't leave our tent at night without a torch (aka, flashlight) and a buddy because we could get eaten by hyenas or lions. Needless to say, I just held my pee till it was light out again, especially after I heard all these growling noises the first night (though apparently they were just the elephants) and lions groaning the second night (that was confirmed - they were, indeed, lions). I got to see all sorts of crazy animals - more elephants than I could ever count, warthogs, which I LOVE and are my new favorite animal, hyenas, giraffes, some lions, hippos, and tons of antelope. We also got to go to Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls, which is one of the seven wonders of the world! We walked along all these paths to see the falls and on one of the last ones, off a side path, we managed to get really close to a baboon and her cute, cute little baby. But then, people tried coming down the other side of hte path (where there were other baboons) and the mother growled at us and we literally had to sprint away from her and another mother and baby as they chased us down the path. It was terrifying at the time, but pretty awwesome now!
The trip back was pretty awful; we had to take a combi, which is like a utility van, with 11 of us plus a driver and "conductor" and all our bags for 6 hours from Kasane to Francistown, then on the overnight train, they booked us in a car that wasn't actually attached to our train, so we ended up with 9 of us in 6 beds and I slept head-to-foot with Laura. Then, we got to Gabs and moved in with our families.
And, oh! Has my standard of living gone through the roof! My house is huge and has an air-conditioning unit and more than one television channel and really comfortable couches and TWO toilets (it doesn't even HAVE an outhouse!) and a shower and a tub and I get my own room with a little bit of closet space! That and the first night, my mom bought me pizza for dinner (did I mention I'm not so vegan here - just Vegetarian? I'm actually really excited to go back to being Vegan when I get home) and the second night we had corn on the cob!
Other than that, all is well; I'm learning the city and all sorts of good stuff. Sending my love toa ll of you at home!
HEARTS
Last week I went up north where all the famous African wildlife is and it was awwwesome! We camped out for 2 nights in Savuti, where we couldn't leave our tent at night without a torch (aka, flashlight) and a buddy because we could get eaten by hyenas or lions. Needless to say, I just held my pee till it was light out again, especially after I heard all these growling noises the first night (though apparently they were just the elephants) and lions groaning the second night (that was confirmed - they were, indeed, lions). I got to see all sorts of crazy animals - more elephants than I could ever count, warthogs, which I LOVE and are my new favorite animal, hyenas, giraffes, some lions, hippos, and tons of antelope. We also got to go to Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls, which is one of the seven wonders of the world! We walked along all these paths to see the falls and on one of the last ones, off a side path, we managed to get really close to a baboon and her cute, cute little baby. But then, people tried coming down the other side of hte path (where there were other baboons) and the mother growled at us and we literally had to sprint away from her and another mother and baby as they chased us down the path. It was terrifying at the time, but pretty awwesome now!
The trip back was pretty awful; we had to take a combi, which is like a utility van, with 11 of us plus a driver and "conductor" and all our bags for 6 hours from Kasane to Francistown, then on the overnight train, they booked us in a car that wasn't actually attached to our train, so we ended up with 9 of us in 6 beds and I slept head-to-foot with Laura. Then, we got to Gabs and moved in with our families.
And, oh! Has my standard of living gone through the roof! My house is huge and has an air-conditioning unit and more than one television channel and really comfortable couches and TWO toilets (it doesn't even HAVE an outhouse!) and a shower and a tub and I get my own room with a little bit of closet space! That and the first night, my mom bought me pizza for dinner (did I mention I'm not so vegan here - just Vegetarian? I'm actually really excited to go back to being Vegan when I get home) and the second night we had corn on the cob!
Other than that, all is well; I'm learning the city and all sorts of good stuff. Sending my love toa ll of you at home!
HEARTS
Friday, October 5, 2007
We Don't Care What People Say...
For those of you that don't know, that title would indeed be a tribute to the great Kanye West. Right now I'm living in Kanye, which is about 45 minutes southwest of Gaborone and is a big village. It's huge, actually, but I think I'm learning my way around.
I live with a pretty awesome family. My mom, Osadi, is 42, my uncle, Mpho, is 31, my sister, Monnye, is 20, and my little brother, Popo, is 15. Plus there are two other 20 year-old boys living in our house so we all just hang out. Oh, and I have a crazy gradnmother who talks to herself. There are only three of the 9 kids from my program in Kanye, me, Greg, and Nicki and the others are in Molepolole and Mochudi and it's been pretty rough being away from them. However, my family is pretty much amazing, so it's okay.
And a note to Claire, if you read this (if she doesn't, someone tell her to) - I told mom this, but Popo wants to move to the US and be a doctor and I think it would probably be best for everyone involved if you two got married. You know, once you're older, the age difference won't matter at all. And he cooks! tahahaha
I "teach" at a primary school (which is standard 1-7, essentially the same grade-wise). It's okay, nothing to write home about (ha!).
I also get hit on at least twice a day here (depending on my exposure). Just today, this man drove me and my principal home from school and told me I was beautiful, asked if Iw as married, asked if I had a boyfriend (to which I lied and said yes), and then proceeded to ask me if he could marry me AND when I went to get out of the car, asked if he could kiss me. It all sounds real nice and flattering, but it gets old real fast.
Oh, and I have a request for advice. For my Directed Independnt Study Project, I have the choice to go up north and work with the board of tourism or stay in Gabs with my friends and intern at a diamond valuing company. I want to study the ethics involved in either industry and I really have no idea so you should all write back what yout hink and why.
And now, I'm apparently on the only working computer and others want it so I must go. I LOVE YOU ALL and miss you ALOT!
I live with a pretty awesome family. My mom, Osadi, is 42, my uncle, Mpho, is 31, my sister, Monnye, is 20, and my little brother, Popo, is 15. Plus there are two other 20 year-old boys living in our house so we all just hang out. Oh, and I have a crazy gradnmother who talks to herself. There are only three of the 9 kids from my program in Kanye, me, Greg, and Nicki and the others are in Molepolole and Mochudi and it's been pretty rough being away from them. However, my family is pretty much amazing, so it's okay.
And a note to Claire, if you read this (if she doesn't, someone tell her to) - I told mom this, but Popo wants to move to the US and be a doctor and I think it would probably be best for everyone involved if you two got married. You know, once you're older, the age difference won't matter at all. And he cooks! tahahaha
I "teach" at a primary school (which is standard 1-7, essentially the same grade-wise). It's okay, nothing to write home about (ha!).
I also get hit on at least twice a day here (depending on my exposure). Just today, this man drove me and my principal home from school and told me I was beautiful, asked if Iw as married, asked if I had a boyfriend (to which I lied and said yes), and then proceeded to ask me if he could marry me AND when I went to get out of the car, asked if he could kiss me. It all sounds real nice and flattering, but it gets old real fast.
Oh, and I have a request for advice. For my Directed Independnt Study Project, I have the choice to go up north and work with the board of tourism or stay in Gabs with my friends and intern at a diamond valuing company. I want to study the ethics involved in either industry and I really have no idea so you should all write back what yout hink and why.
And now, I'm apparently on the only working computer and others want it so I must go. I LOVE YOU ALL and miss you ALOT!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
I'm in AFRICA
So this is really the first time I've had access to the internet in Botswana (except once for like 15 minutes at the University of Botswana - which, to Jen, everyone calls UB and it weirds me out).
I just left my village home this morning and I cried and it was rough. My family was amazing - I had a mom (Belemina) who was so proud and ran around yelling my name proudly (which around here is Lesego - "le-saÿ-ho" which means lucky), a dad (Mosetle) who wasn't around much because he worked in Gabs, but who was super nice, two older brothers, Collen (24) who was super fun and James (29) who worked most of the time but was nice. I had two older sisters, Nkamu (31) who always brought me yogurt when she visited (neither of them lived with me, they live in Gabs) and Mmaserame (26) who was chill. I also had a younger brother, Michael (19) who seemed nice but never talked and was only around like 4 days and a little niece, who I call a sister, Maoshubena (5) who was cute sometimes and an awful spoiled brat other times. Our house had electricity, but no running water, so I had to bath in a bucket in my room and pee in an outhouse in the corner of our yard, but it was cool. There are goats and donkeys and cows and chickens running all over our village, which was called Mmankgodi, and my great grandmother even gifted me a chicken on my last day (we neglected to mention to her that I had no intention of eating it, since I don't eat meat).
Um....the food here is gross, I don't even know how to explain it, so you'll just have to ask me later. Everyone in my village would call my name when I walked by because most of them knew me from the wedding and funeral that were across the street from my house at my grandmother's (it was like a movie - I went to a wedding and that night the father of hte bride died). Most of the little kids all call us "lekgoa"which means "white person"(or Ënglish person") which has gotten to be a little annoying. I've had two people offer to marry me and just today a guard at the immigration office told me that the best time to learn Setswana was at night (between the sheets) and that I have tog et myself a Motswana boyfriend.
So all in all, it's pretty wonderful here. We have a beastly suite at a lodge right now for our orientation to the big village and I'm super excited just to hang out and speak English and be American for a few days. So I send all my love and YAY!
Love love love love love!
I just left my village home this morning and I cried and it was rough. My family was amazing - I had a mom (Belemina) who was so proud and ran around yelling my name proudly (which around here is Lesego - "le-saÿ-ho" which means lucky), a dad (Mosetle) who wasn't around much because he worked in Gabs, but who was super nice, two older brothers, Collen (24) who was super fun and James (29) who worked most of the time but was nice. I had two older sisters, Nkamu (31) who always brought me yogurt when she visited (neither of them lived with me, they live in Gabs) and Mmaserame (26) who was chill. I also had a younger brother, Michael (19) who seemed nice but never talked and was only around like 4 days and a little niece, who I call a sister, Maoshubena (5) who was cute sometimes and an awful spoiled brat other times. Our house had electricity, but no running water, so I had to bath in a bucket in my room and pee in an outhouse in the corner of our yard, but it was cool. There are goats and donkeys and cows and chickens running all over our village, which was called Mmankgodi, and my great grandmother even gifted me a chicken on my last day (we neglected to mention to her that I had no intention of eating it, since I don't eat meat).
Um....the food here is gross, I don't even know how to explain it, so you'll just have to ask me later. Everyone in my village would call my name when I walked by because most of them knew me from the wedding and funeral that were across the street from my house at my grandmother's (it was like a movie - I went to a wedding and that night the father of hte bride died). Most of the little kids all call us "lekgoa"which means "white person"(or Ënglish person") which has gotten to be a little annoying. I've had two people offer to marry me and just today a guard at the immigration office told me that the best time to learn Setswana was at night (between the sheets) and that I have tog et myself a Motswana boyfriend.
So all in all, it's pretty wonderful here. We have a beastly suite at a lodge right now for our orientation to the big village and I'm super excited just to hang out and speak English and be American for a few days. So I send all my love and YAY!
Love love love love love!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Oh My, I can't believe I'm actually leaving.
So it's two days before I leave...less than 48 hours till my first plane takes off for Atlanta. Dunno which is going to be better...this blog or email, but I like email so who knows. Hopefully I'll keep them both somewhat updated.
Anyway, in case you lost it or something of the sort, my address in Botswana (well, the address to which you can send me things...like candy!) is:
Amy
c/o Pitzer College in Botswana
Box 1482
Gaborone
Botswana
And I can get care packages, letters, and all sorts of fun stuff, although I would recommend not sending like...yourself; you might get pretty beat up in transit. Plus I don't know how you would ever get through customs.
So here's to hoping I actually update this thing. Feel free to comment on here or email me (or just reply to my emails) at amy_callanan@pitzer.edu and let me know how things are at my various homes and at your various homes and all that good stuff.
I LOVE YOU ALL.
heart out.
Anyway, in case you lost it or something of the sort, my address in Botswana (well, the address to which you can send me things...like candy!) is:
Amy
c/o Pitzer College in Botswana
Box 1482
Gaborone
Botswana
And I can get care packages, letters, and all sorts of fun stuff, although I would recommend not sending like...yourself; you might get pretty beat up in transit. Plus I don't know how you would ever get through customs.
So here's to hoping I actually update this thing. Feel free to comment on here or email me (or just reply to my emails) at amy_callanan@pitzer.edu and let me know how things are at my various homes and at your various homes and all that good stuff.
I LOVE YOU ALL.
heart out.
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