Hey everyone!
I arrived safely at site. I have been attending meeting
after meeting since my arrival as well (some of them have been in English, some
have not). Last week I spend the whole week with my wonderful counterpart begin
introduced around the community. I have met about 2/3 of the NGOs and other
organizations in Kasane and will be introduced to the rest when I get back from
Francistown. My house is wonderful. It is really nice to have my privacy and to
really get into a routine here.
Kasane/Kazungula is a gateway to three
countries: Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Being In Kasane, I have a constant
stream of visitors coming through my house. Last week I have the lovely Julia
Byrd who spent the night on her way to Zambia. This weekend I am going to have
two Namibian volunteers staying here. So, while my weeks are filled with work,
my weekends are great chances to meet people. Most, if not all of you guys have
been seeing my pictures. I am located right next to a game reserve, which is
really great. I haven’t been on a game drive yet but that is soon to come. I
also need to go on a boat cruise down the river as well. I constantly have
baboons (terrifying) and warthogs (weirdest animal ever) roaming the streets
near my house. They are really kind of
a bother more than anything especially when they get in your yard and
more importantly in your trash.
Baboons have the tendency to stand there and bark at you.
Yes, bark. I was sitting on my porch one night and I heard something barking at
me… sounded like the strangest dog I had ever heard… it was a baboon. Ever since then whenever I walk by them
I give them a bit of distance because it was scary. Also warthogs can
also be quite horrible. I was walking down the stairs to get to Kasane and I go
over the hill, and there in front of me are two warthogs fighting. All the
Batswana were walking giving them a bit of room but overall just walking to
work as normal. I on the other hand was stuck at the top of the stairs just
staring at them and wondering what to do (and getting laughed at). I tried to
follow everyone else’s lead and just walk around them. It would have worked if
something hadn’t spooked them from the other side. So here I am standing
awkwardly on a path while warthogs are running straight at me. So I ran. Got
laughed at some more. Ran some more. I was fine… promise.
I had heard coming into Peace Corps that your highs are
really high but your lows are really low. After two weeks at site, I can
confirm this. You can even go from extreme high to extreme low in a matter of
seconds. Let’s just take yesterday for example. Saw a cat next to my house in
the morning and got waved at by children on my way to work (high… it’s the
small things alright). Got mean stared at (there's a difference) on my way into work then got talked about
in Setswana in front of my face when I got to work (low). Got hit on by a
superior (lower). Got hit on by a colleague (lower). Got talked to like I’m a
child (lower). Got hit on by another one of my colleagues (lower). Got randomly
hugged by a group of school children (super high). KFC ice cream (high). Got to
see my friend Kim who was in the Department of Health reviewing data (high).
Random guy in the street does that horrible tss thing at me and after I turn
him down for a date asks me to marry him instead (low). Get home fell
altogether very alone (low). And it goes on and on. I honestly feel mildly
bipolar here. I do hear that this constant flip-flopping of emotional highs and
lows is normal among volunteers though so I guess that’s good?
But anyway besides the lows, I am actually having a great
time. It’s hard and there are bad days but overall I am meeting some wonderful
people and experiencing some amazing things.
Miss you all!
Erica
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