More of the Crazy Kitten

As you can see, Zinzi is becoming a quite playful and fun kitten. Unfortunately, he likes to get into everything, and some things he can't get out of, like yogurt cups. Eventually his little head won't fit in them, but until then it is quite humorous to see him try and get it off his face. Also, the climbing the wall incident I think scared him enough because he eventually did fall but luckily I realized the inevitable and sat underneath him for when he did.

Weekend Trip

As many know, this past weekend I went to Victoria Falls and Chobe NP, both of which were fantastic. Driving to Victoria Falls through Zimbabwe was more than interesting. It's really sad to see how poor a once thriving country has become. Almost all (if not all) gas stations are closed down and you cannot even buy bread in the supermarkets. To get fuel, most people drive to Kasane, Botswana (quite a distance from some places) and walk to Zambia over the Victoria Falls Bridge to buy bread and other foods to bring back. It's also quite sad to see in malls and shopping plazas almost every store closed. It's crazy how things can happen like that.

As for Victoria Falls itself, it is more than beautiful. It is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world and I can definitely see why. At more than 1.5 km wide, it is absolutely huge. It also pumps over 100 cubic meters of water per minute. The only thing about this time of year is that it is the rainy season which means it is quite misty and that obscures parts of the falls. Also, Kelly and I got absolutely drenched at a place called Danger Point because the mist was so heavy and creating a downpour. I have some nice pictures at the link below. It explains better than I can.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034202&id=15002854&l=5bc997bc79

On Sunday, we went for a game drive at Chobe National Park and then a sunset cruise through Chobe down the Chobe River. Chobe NP is absolutely huge at just over 11,000 square kilometers of land. It is simply a national park, so the animals are indigenous to it and roam freely, no fences, nothing keeping them contained. There are over 60,000 elephants that call the park home, the largest such collection of naturally roaming elephants in the world. We got to see a great deal of animals, incuding lions, which are almost impossible to spot in the wild. It was quite funny actually because it seemed everyone in the National Park heard that the lions could be seen as about 10 safari trucks all parked side-by-side along the road watching the lions as if they were the entertainment for the day. We also got to get really close to Elephants, Giraffes, Crocodiles, Hippos, an assortment of birds and monkey as well. Some pictures are at the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034203&id=15002854&l=7f9d07f2ca

As for the ride home from Kasane, it was extremely long, boring, and at times painful. In total, between two buses, it took us 14 hours to go from Kasane to Gaborone via Francistown. The road between Kasane and Nata is terrible, loaded with potholes. Our bus driver has to swerve between lanes and across the "highway" to avoid huge potholes. At times you are going no more than 10 miles per hour, so it is quite annoying. The one cool thing is you do see elephants (and one giraffe) along the road as you drive. Out in these parts of Botswana, this sort of game just roams freely, so instead of watching for deer or moose, you have to watch for elephants or other large animals. So that quickly sums up the weekend. I just wanted to give a quick summary and post the pictures. I have some more things to talk about, but I will save for another day!

Hope all is well at home.

Beer and Cigarettes

This morning at the gym I saw the following crawl across the bottom of CNN World News: "Zimbabwe is 'surviving on beer and cigarettes'" This is precisely what my German friend Rupert told me as well. This weekend I am journeying to Zimbabwe (well, Victoria Falls) but I am more than curious to see the state of such a perilous country. I am leaving tonight via an overnight train to Francistown, Botswana and I will arrive there around 6 am Friday morning. From there, we are taking a bus to Kasane, Botswana where we will stay overnight. On Saturday, we are travelling to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe (and Zambia!) with a guide. It's only about 1 and a half hours drive to Vic Falls from Kasane, so it's really convenient. On Sunday, we are (hopefully) going to take a river cruise down the Zambezi River in Chobe National Park (tons and tons of Hippos and Elephants). It actually has the largest amount of free roam elephants in the world. We may also go for a morning game drive as well there depending on how things work out. On Monday we begin our trip back, bus then overnight train back to Gaborone, arriving about 6 am Tuesday morning here. I am very excited about this trip and will be sure to post pictures as soon as possible.

As for my crazy kitten, he's doing very well. He seems to be really healthy and very active (almost too much) but it is quite entertaining. I will post some pictures just now of some of his antics.

For school, not much has happened. So far I have been thoroughly unimpressed by some of the students here, and their seemingly lack of motivation to do well. Don't get me wrong that some do very well and work very hard, but there is a large minority that seemingly treat college as work, and just that. Quite an interesting dynamic created by having the government pay for schooling.

Pictures of Gaborone and University of Botswana

The pictures in this post are from Gaborone. Starting with the top one, here are what they are.

The first one is a combi or the minibuses I have been talking about. They seat around 14 people, and you can only imagine how cramped that is. Next is a picture of the construction site on campus I walk by everyday. They are building some general academic and classroom buildings here. Pretty cool to see the construction each day and its progress. The next picture is close to the same construction area and really close to my dorm. It's the business block or where all business, accounting, marketing classes are held. I also go here sometimes to use the internet at night, until I finally got internet in my room, which is why it's really easy to post pictures now! Also notice all the trash on the ground. It was taken on a Saturday morning and the kids here party until like 8 am and just leave everything on the ground and throw nothing out. Always tons of smashed glass everywhere. Next are two pictures of my dorm room and a picture of the outside of my dorm, nothing too glamorous. Then there is a picture of the hut I stayed in for a week during the strikes at Kagisong which is a village on the outskirts of Gaborone. Finally, this is a picture of the "sprawling downton infrastructure" of Gaborone, or as one travel guide put it. In reality, it's just a few modern buildings, albeit some really cool architecture.

If you all have been keeping up with Zimbabwean news, the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangiri and his wife's car were hit by a truck on Friday evening in Zimbabwe. His wife unfortunately died in the accident and he is now seeking medical help in Gaborone, which is neat. However, this is very suspicious because many opponents of Robert Mugabe have died under suspicious car crashes before. The former ambassador from the US to Zimbabwe raised serious doubts about the validity of this being "an accident." Many members of Tsvangiri's party, the MDC, are saying it was no accident. This is a crucial time for power sharing development in Zimbabwe, a neighbor to Botswana, so these developments are quite intriguing. If you want more information there is tons on www.cnn.com.

Also, I saw this morning the Buffalo Bills signed Terrell Owens. This should be one itneresting season. It's a one year contract so I feel Owens will be on his best behavior and skill level so he can try and seek a multi-year offer next year. Let's hope so because the Bills definitely need another receiving threat opposite Lee Evans, although I don't know how good an influence he will be on the much maligned Marshawn Lynch.

I'll post some more pictures later from my travels.

Beating! (Betsa)

Botswana has some very different traditions than the United States. One is corporal punishment used in primary and secondary schools. I have started tutoring a couple days a week at the SOS orphanage in Tlokweng Gaborone. These are all kids that for one reason or another cannot be adopted, so they live here until they are old enough to leave. Anyhow, they were telling us stories how in school they are whipped, slapped, or pinched for getting answers wrong, being loud, or any other type of "misbehavior" This was confirmed when we asked our Setswana professor during class. She recalled in second grade when she would hide and skip school because the beatings her professor gave were so bad. This helps explain a much different trend in the University classes of no one answering questions. I have noticed no one responds to a professor's question, even when it is a basic "how are you?" Because of the schooling they all went through in Botswana, they have all learned it better to never answer questions in class than to risk being wrong. This creates some really awkward silences in classes, since we're all so used to speaking a lot in class in the US. Also, when you get arrested here for things like marijuana, you go to jail for two days and get whipped then released. No fine, nothing, just a whipping. The capital punishment here is still death by hanging, which Kelly likes to point out is still on the books as the only capital punishment method in New Hampshire since they haven't executed someone in so long. With a recent case, that is being changed to allow for other methods. Our setswana professor was astonished at how teachers in the US aren't even allowed to hug a student, let alone hit one. She said she's still so scared from it, she refuses to send her kids to government schools and sends them to private ones instead.

I am starting to do well with Setswana and I can say many useful phrases now, which is good. The local people find it hilarious when I tell them I am taking Setswana as a course, since they find it so easy. I have been really intrigued so far by my Natural Resource Economics class. All of the examples we look at happen in Botswana, which helps me to learn more about the country too, specifically diamond mines, forests, copper mines, and water resourse issues. The class is quite long (1 3-hour lecture per week) but very informative. It has helped to steer me in deciding my topic for my honors thesis next year, which I will discuss in future conversations when my research and topics have narrowed.

I finally have internet in my room which is quite exciting. I can now use Skype to call home really cheap ($5 unlimited calling per month) as well as update my blog and check the news more frequently. I am hoping I can also upload more pictures too since I can now do them in the middle of the night when the internet is much faster. It takes a day or two to download a movie from itunes, but its worth it once its done. I have been renting them lately from itunes, which is a pretty good deal. Speaking of movies, I went to see Watchmen last night which was really good. It's the only movie (so far) that was released here the same time as in the US. Usually by the time I watch them here, they are ready for release in the US on DVD. Watchmen is based on the graphic novel of the same name. Watchmen is the only comic ever to be listed on Time Magazine's top 100 novels of all time, it's that well known. The movie was very good, albeit quite long, but was definitely worth it. The main story revolves around an alternate history of the US where Nixon is still president in 1985 and the US and Soviet Union are inching closer to nuclear war. It's based on outlawed "superheroes" which have no powers except for the glowing (literally) Dr. Manhattan. There are great themes throughout the movie and the director was amazing the way he did the shooting.

Hope all is well.

Zinzi - the kitten

Happy March

Last week, I had another full week of classes so it was good to get back into a real routine. Also, A little over a week ago I adopted a stray kitten. We had found it outside my dorm looking very small and very hungry. You could feel almost, if not all, bones inside her. The poor thing was also covered in green paint which it seemed to have gotten into somewhere. So we decided to take it to my room, which is now half empty because my roommate when back to the USA, and gave it a bath and bought her some food. She (or at least so we think so far) was also very sick it seemed and both eyes were swollen. Last Wednesday when I woke up, her eye had gotten really bad so Kelly and I brought her to the Vet Clinic in Gaborone. The Vet said she basically just had the flu, but other than that he said she looked in great health, just needed to eat more. He gave her some shots to help rid the sickness and gave us some eyedrops and pills for any worms she may have and we were on our way. One good thing is vets are very inexpensive here when compared to the United States. After almost a week of giving her eyedrops and feeding her real kitten food and water, she is looking amazing and finally acting like a kitten. When I first brought her to my room, she was very shy and would sleep in a box everynight, basically hiding, because she was sick and obviously didn't trust where she was. Now she runs around like a chicken with her head cut off playing, chewing, and "attacking" anything she can find from chair legs to water bottles to especially human feet. The vet said last week she was no more than 3 weeks old, so I estimate her age to be almost a month now. It sure is fun to have her around when I am doing work, etc.

As for the rest of life in Gaborone, not much else has changed. I finally got a refrigerator so I can buy some proper groceries from the supermarket and help supplement my meals from the refectory. I have taken to walking more around the city, which is very hot, but also enjoyable. You get to see more of it (while also saving tons of money) and interact more with the people. Last week I went to KFC for the first time in Gaborone (I had gone to one in Swaziland) and it was a million times better than the ones in the United States. It was quite surprising, and much cheaper, if that's believable. KFC is the only major food franchise in Botswana. Right now, McDonald's is too expensive of a franchise to be brought here, but I am sure one will show up in the distant future. There are a ton of McDonald's in South Africa, and it seems the trend that what starts in South Africa slowly moves to here. Pretty much everything you buy in Botswana at the supermarket or elsewhere is shipped from South Africa.

Some more interesting things I have noted...

Since most Batswana pretty much never use credit cards (or just don't have them) they must pay cash for pretty much everything. there are still many places where you cannot use credit cards at all. However, this makes for very long lines at ATM machines as I have noticed. On a Saturday afternoon at the closest mall, the line for the ATM machine for FNB (First National Bank -- a South African Bank, I believe, and most popular here) was at least a 30 minute wait. I am really glad I don't have to use the ATMs often, or else I would have to plan far in advance.

Also, ordering tap water with ice at a restaurant will sometimes get you dirty looks. Many times when I order just tap water I get a dirty look as if saying "You're white, why would you drink this" or "Spend more money." It's quite interesting actually. Many times at one place where I eat often, I have noticed they will not bring you the water until your food comes, but if you order a soda, or coffee, they will bring it immediately. Very peculiar.

Well, another week seems to be underway. I wish I had more interesting things to write about. If someone has anything, or any topic ideas that I should write on, please let me know and I will hopefully acquiesce. I am off to buy some airtime for my cellphone hopefully. The idea of airtime is also a great concept. Instead of locking into a 2 year agreement with a cell phone company, you just buy a cell phone (cheap ones are around $30), buy a sim card from one of the mobile providers (around $3) and then you can just buy airtime whenever you need it to make calls. It's also great for travelling because you can just buy a new sim card for whichever country you go to very cheap (as little as 50 cents in South Africa) and make local calls there without having y our phone locked as it is in the US. Pretty cool. Luckily, they sell airtime almost everywhere you look, so you never have to worry about not having enough to place a call or send a message.