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!
