So I’m back ! Sorry I was incommunicado for a while, and kind of still am... so much has happened in one week... where to start?! I guess I will begin with how I went off the grid for a bit. It turns out that here in Botswana when you buy a SIM card it comes with a PIN number and a PUK number. When you turn your phone off and then back on, as I did when it died, it very conveniently asks for these numbers. Of course not knowing what they were I just guessed every number I could think of, until it was locked.
So Friday I spent the day calling the Mascom (cellphone company) call center... Let me just say I will no longer complain about Rogers ! Basically no one could help, all of Shakawe was out of the SIM card I needed and then I headed to D’Kar for the week.
This D’Kar is not the one in Senegal, contrary to what I had initially thought... yes you heard correctly...I thought I was flying across Africa for three days ... hahahaha.
There was no internet in this place, and as you read below there was no internet in Shakawe the weekend before I left... nor was there electricity on the Sunday.
I hope no one was trying to get ahold of me! By the way I do have a new phone number, and the old one will eventually be fixed so don’t get rid of it ! I’m not sure which one will be cheaper for me to text from, but the good news is the on the number you already have I’m not charged at all when you call!
Anyways we drove for about 5 hours to D’Kar, which is even smaller than Shakawe and we stayed at the Dqae Qare Game Farm... don’t even try to pronounce that, it has clicks in it :)
The Assembly was really good, there were people from all of the trusts that make up the Kuru Family of Organizations and we talked alot, had some fun and I met tons of people, even two old men who want to marry me! It was dreadfully cold though... hahaha right.. it’s cold in Africa, no seriously... I think it snowed in South Africa yesterday and that cold came right on up to us.. I could see my breath in the morning! I actually started a trend for the week of wearing your blanket from your bed as a poncho :)
We slept in a tent but the farm has rooms if you like more comfort and even traditional huts made of grass which are so nice! The only downside to the camping was the toilets that were in a room made of reeds which had no door and large gaps in the sides. This was a little awkward to manage with about 25 people staying there as well !
The Game Farm had animals all over it just wandering around! The ostrich would pretty much let you walk about 5 feet up to them which was really neat and even better was that we were staying there with San people, who are great trackers!
I went on a walk with some of the men and they taught me so much about tracking and which prints are from what animal and even how to tell where you should set up camp and how to hunt animals! There is so much traditional knowledge that is really interesting, the sad part is that a lot of it is not recorded.
The best part I think of the whole week was the food ! There was a woman I met there named Jennifer who is doing research for her PhD and she helped out with the cooking so for dinners we had lasagna and soups and even salad with tomatoes which was delicious! I was definitely spoiled, but I think I’m inspired now to try and bake in my scary oven.
At night we would sit by the fire and try to stay warm. I would listen to the language and try to make sense out of the many clicks that are interspersed into their words. We told stories and even saw some traditional dancers.
There were some annoyingly interesting parts, like waking up every night because of the cold, never getting enough food because all of the men dove into it like animals as soon as it hit the table... and the best annoying part was when my boss and ride home got up in the middle of a session, excused himself and said I am going to Maun for another meeting, along with two other staff members... cough... what?
So there I was thinking .. why did you not tell me this on the 5 hour drive here? Or even the last three days?? Oh yea Liz you aren't coming back with us.. but by the way don't panic we have made other plans for you to get back... just so you know...
Nope. Not a word. Like I said .. a little annoying. But Moronga saved the day and explained it all to me.. after I worried and made plans to hitchhike back for about 12 hours :)
On the way back I dropped by the Letloa health office to meet my boss, I believe, for the health program and go some more understanding of how things will work and what the issues will be. Then for about 3 hours I got to ride in the back of the pick-up truck with two San guys. It was awesome, until the end when Moronga started to drive faster and there were potholes and cows...:S I learned so much from talking to them! Hopefully I can go out hunting with them one day, I’ve been promised to have some game meat prepared for me, and possibly to be able to go up to a cattle post, where I can possibly ride horses. A sidenote... I saw so many horses today driving back, and they were gorgeous! Quite a few foals as well... it’s amazing that they can just wander around and they don’t get stolen by people... I was definitely tempted to take one....
So I’m back in Shakawe and tomorrow is Friday :) Oh did I mention I bought a mango tree? Everytime I look at it I start singing Mango Tree by Angus and Julia Stone... which I do not have on my ipod and drives me nuts because I don’t know all the words.
**p.s. the blood dripping from my ceiling has grown ! Pics to come soon! And I believe I am allergic to Botswana... or possibly the mice in my house...?
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