I thought I would share these three stories for posterity, this post will be a lot of narrative with no pictures, I'm sorry for that, I will do a "day in the life" photo-shoot soon but today is not that day I'm afraid.
Story #1: Registration
So, this process was done over a week ago and as time has gone by many of the details have faded but I have also gained perspective on the whole thing. The other day Dylan asked me "So dude, what has been your worst experience here?" My answer, simply: Registration.
Before I came to Botswana, Ross (last year's participant in the same program who is currently doing research for his SIP here) said that registration was strange at UB. He mentioned that they have the technology to do digital registration but they don't use it. At the time I suppose I didn't fully appreciate what that meant; now I do.
Before we ever left America or even completed our applications to study abroad we were required to go through UB's course catalog and select 5 courses of no less than three credits. That wasn't easy but we accomplished it, but at that time we didn't know what would be offered when, or if we would even qualify for some classes. Skip ahead a few months and on our second day in the country we were confronted with the application and those five classes we had choosen earlier. At this point they asked us make sure none of the classes conflicted in terms of time. Of course, several of them did. We choose new courses as needed and dropped the ones that didn't work. With that out of the way we resubmitted the course selections to the international office and they promised to have us all done with the registration process by Friday (four days later). We went in on Friday to find that the registration hadn't been completed yet. Granted the registration for normal students involves walking all over campus standing in hour long lines just to get signatures, so I was pleased to avoid that part. We returned to the office every day of the next week and they still weren't completed. Finally on the following Friday (seven days after promised) Dylan's registration was done. But there was a problem with mine. Bad news since classes had already been going on for a week and I had attended some. Monday of the next week I received my schedule but it was all messed up, I was in a class that was only worth two credits and I only had been registered for four of my five classes. I had to add two and drop one class and the add drop period ended on friday. I had to find new classes, get them approved, meaning walking to the department talking to the Chair and getting them to sign off. The whole process took until the last minute of Friday. The whole process was a nightmare and was a source of constant stress for me for almost two full weeks, the only good thing about the experience:its over.
Story #2: Getting My Passport Copy Certified
I knew from the get-go that in order to stay in Botswana for more than thirty days I would have to apply for either a waiver or a residents permit. For many reasons it became clear that a waiver would be better than a residents permit (save 500p). The international office assured us that we had nothing to worry about and encouraged us to put off worrying about it until after registration (see above). So that is just what we did. When registration was finally done we began thinking about our waivers. Step one of the process was getting a photocopy of our passports certified (kind of like a notary). This meant taking the photo-copy to the embassy of your home country and getting them to sign that it was indeed legitimate. I should mention that we were given 30 days right off the plane and those days expired 8/27/08 (yet again a deadline). We endeavored to get the whole thing behind us as fast as possible so that very day, the 18th of August, we went to the embassy at 3:30pm with the knowledge that it was open until 4:30. We arrived only to find that the person who we needed to certify the passports (the consulate) is actually only in on Mondays from 8am-12pm and Wednesdays from 12-4pm. With a big sigh we returned home knowing that this was going to turn into another ordeal. Wednesday came and went and on the following Monday I knew it was basically 'now or never' with only two days left on my visa. I skipped sociology to get to the embassy well before the closing time. I got in and talked to the consulate only to find out that in fact the consulate is not the right person to talk to, I needed to go to the police station. Mercifully I found the police station without too much incident. I found the room where certifications were going on and got in line. After about thirty minutes it was my turn and I went up and was told "We don't certify foreign passports." My jaw hit the floor. I explained clearly my situation and they sent me to a new office to talk to the chief. After explaining my story again he signed off on my copy and once again, at least this ordeal was over.
Story #3: The Waiver
If you have a pulse you have already found the pattern. This story is more a continuation of #2 and it picks up where that one left off.
With certified passport in hand I got up nice and early on Tuesday morning to get to the immigration office with some spare time before I got kicked out of Botswana for good. I got a cab and asked for the immigration office. The cabbie didn't hesitate so I didn't share any more. He dropped me off at a shack in the middle of the bush (it seemed) with lots of people coming in on the back of trucks jumping off and scurrying around (Desperate immigrants/refugees from Zimbabwe). I avoided eye contact and went to a man who seemed to have some authority. I explained what I was there for and he told me I was in the wrong place *SIGH*. I needed to go to some place called the Universal Building. He pointed and I headed off. I had no idea where I was going and only sheer luck brought me to downtown Gaborone. *Side Note* There is some very nice architecture downtown, but I was in no mood to observe it*/Side Note* After thirty minutes of brisk walking in no particular direction I stumbled into the lobby of a building and sure enough it said "First Floor: Immigration" I blinked in disbelief, Could I be this lucky? I went to the counter and asked about the waiver. I told them I needed a waiver and was told I wasn't in the right place. No, I can't be THAT lucky. I needed to go to the "regional immigration office" the rest of the women's directions were unintelligible. I returned to the same shack in the bush, by a shorter route this time after asking directions at the ministry of education. There I was told yet again I needed to go to Block #8. I KNEW that was where I had been before but I had no other choice. I walked back over there and this time I got more help. This women repeated the name of the Universal Building and said it was near the G4 Security Office. I walked to the U.S. Embassy and asked where I could find that. Please note that I had been wondering around at this point for 3 hours, I was lucky I knew my name, much less any manners at all but I did. They said I would need a cab for that. I got one (cha ching again) and finally at 11:30 walked into the Universal Building also known as industrial block #8, not corporate block #8 where I was before. I walked to the counter and the woman looked at my papers. "Everything's good but you're missing your letter." WHAT!?! impossible, GAH! I got back to school, another Taxi and went to the International office. Too bad the women who works there is out of town for the week. Fortunately the secretary knew what I needed and provided it for me. I know knew where I needed to go and I had everything. I decided I would rehydrate and go out after Setswana. I went to class and found a couple other students headed out there at the same time as me. We shared a cab, that made things feel better and I finally got all of my paperwork submitted. I haven't yet picked up the Waiver itself, but I trust that will be easy (famous last words).
Finally, the Message
I suppose all of these experiences have taught me that I need to be prepared for nothing to ever work as it should, that way, if by some miracle it does, I am pleased and when it does not I am not surprised. If there are deadlines to meet I need to be wary that it is me that is responsible for meeting them, not others. I guess all of this is a good learning experience but it sure was annoying all the way along.
Lots of Love,
Tommy
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
The Politics of Botswana
So I had a fascinating conversation about the political system of Botswana with a few Batswana today. I should note from the outset that the following is a combination of my observation and the results of my conversations with only a handful of people so it should be taken as only worth a grain of salt, but still, I believe them to be valid or else I wouldn't publish them in the public sector.
A short history to begin.
After tensions escalated between the Tswana and the Boers the Tswana appealed to the British for protection. In 1855 the British obliged and Bechuanaland (modern Botswana) became a protectorate. It maintained this status until 1964 when the British accepted proposals for Botswana to become a free and democratic state. Independence Day was celebrated September 30th, 1966. At that time Seretse Khama became the first executive and held that position until his death in 1980. After his death his vice president, Quett Masire, succeeded him and held the position until 1998. He retired and was replaced by his Vice President, Festus Mogae. He held the position until 2008 when Seretse Khama Ian Khama took over. If the name looks familiar (as well as unusually long) it is because he is the son of the first president's son and adopted his father's name in his memory.
(The Parliament of Botswana)
During the whole history of the Country only one party has ruled, the Botswana Democratic Party. Opposition parties do exist and there are genuinely free and open elections, no one questions that. However in every previous election the opposition parties fragment and leave the BDP alone at the top. This has provided them the opportunity to maintain the presidency for the whole free history of the nation.
In itself this is odd, but not extraordinary. However, the succession pattern is irregular, perhaps even disconcerting. The first president was the leader of the freedom movement, the second was the first's best friend. At the time of the third president's election he was the most elite person in the country and a close partner of both the first and second presidents. And obviously the fourth is the first presidents son, a General, in fact the youngest general in the history of the country, thanks to who, his father the first president. This tangled web is not that surprising though, after all the first president, Khama, founded the party who has ruled the country all along so it makes sense that he would choose is his closest allies to lead the party after his passing, but does this sound like a terribly democratic process? I don't think so.
So the question becomes if this is a problem and there are no barriers to political change why has the democratic constituency not rearranged the leadership through the elective process.
In order to answer that question a simple knowledge of the demography of Botswana is useful. Botswana has two major groups of people, the rural and the urban. Botswana has only one real city (perhaps one would count Francis town but lets make it simple and say it is a large village) Gaborone. So politics become Gaborone vs. the Rural areas. Gaborone outnumbers the rural areas in terms of population as well as housing most of the richest, best educated people. The rural areas are traditional and as such, tribally driven. But even most of Gaborone is very traditional. As one of my Batswana friends said, of the 4 districts in Gaborone only the Central District, where UB is located, is actually political all the other are traditional.
This means that in most cases political decisions are made by who you are, not what you stand for. Chiefs and there relatives generally always hold political positions and once they have them, it is nearly impossible for them to lose them because there constituency, their tribesman, is fiercely loyal. To demonstrate Khama was the Chief of the largest tribe in Botswana, the Bamangwoto. His son Ian is also chief and thereby very powerful in Botswana politics. As my friend said, "real politics won't take place until the two systems [the Tribal and Political] are separated." The president is not the only incident either, most politicians have these types of connections and therefore political change is hindered. This means that the ruling party is allowed to grow corrupted.
An example of this corruption is the fact that the wealthiest people in the country are also the most powerful, the politicians. There has been significant public outcry recently about a P10million settlement given to an outgoing politician as well as the gross wealth of the BDP treasurer but the tribal nature of politics keeps electoral change from happening.
Another example is a vastly unpopular recent media censorship bill that would increase the governments control over the media, the bill was rejected in Parliament but significant media censorship already takes place. For example after publishing the recent pamphlet "Presidential Succession in Botswana: No Model for Africa" the author, Kenneth Good was deported. There is some thought that his deportation from Ghana, and Zimbabwe, may have some impact on his deportation but the fact of the matter is that serious political criticism is not easy to swallow here. (More Info on the Ken Good Case)
I pointed out to the Batswana I was talking to that the Government is not all bad and in fact has developed the country well and that stability and safety have value but they argued that any party could have done that.
Personally I think the government is more good than bad and they are truly trying to make the country a better place but there are serious ills that should be modified before the country can truly modernize and be considered fully developed.
A short history to begin.
After tensions escalated between the Tswana and the Boers the Tswana appealed to the British for protection. In 1855 the British obliged and Bechuanaland (modern Botswana) became a protectorate. It maintained this status until 1964 when the British accepted proposals for Botswana to become a free and democratic state. Independence Day was celebrated September 30th, 1966. At that time Seretse Khama became the first executive and held that position until his death in 1980. After his death his vice president, Quett Masire, succeeded him and held the position until 1998. He retired and was replaced by his Vice President, Festus Mogae. He held the position until 2008 when Seretse Khama Ian Khama took over. If the name looks familiar (as well as unusually long) it is because he is the son of the first president's son and adopted his father's name in his memory.
(Seretshe Khama overlooking Parliament)
I describe this succession pattern in order to provide historical background as well as to demonstrate obviously one of the major peculiarities of the system. The system is parliamentary in nature and the executive is elected from among the ruling parties parliamentarians, very much like the British system except the Executive is then named President, not Prime Minister.
(The Parliament of Botswana)
In itself this is odd, but not extraordinary. However, the succession pattern is irregular, perhaps even disconcerting. The first president was the leader of the freedom movement, the second was the first's best friend. At the time of the third president's election he was the most elite person in the country and a close partner of both the first and second presidents. And obviously the fourth is the first presidents son, a General, in fact the youngest general in the history of the country, thanks to who, his father the first president. This tangled web is not that surprising though, after all the first president, Khama, founded the party who has ruled the country all along so it makes sense that he would choose is his closest allies to lead the party after his passing, but does this sound like a terribly democratic process? I don't think so.
So the question becomes if this is a problem and there are no barriers to political change why has the democratic constituency not rearranged the leadership through the elective process.
In order to answer that question a simple knowledge of the demography of Botswana is useful. Botswana has two major groups of people, the rural and the urban. Botswana has only one real city (perhaps one would count Francis town but lets make it simple and say it is a large village) Gaborone. So politics become Gaborone vs. the Rural areas. Gaborone outnumbers the rural areas in terms of population as well as housing most of the richest, best educated people. The rural areas are traditional and as such, tribally driven. But even most of Gaborone is very traditional. As one of my Batswana friends said, of the 4 districts in Gaborone only the Central District, where UB is located, is actually political all the other are traditional.
This means that in most cases political decisions are made by who you are, not what you stand for. Chiefs and there relatives generally always hold political positions and once they have them, it is nearly impossible for them to lose them because there constituency, their tribesman, is fiercely loyal. To demonstrate Khama was the Chief of the largest tribe in Botswana, the Bamangwoto. His son Ian is also chief and thereby very powerful in Botswana politics. As my friend said, "real politics won't take place until the two systems [the Tribal and Political] are separated." The president is not the only incident either, most politicians have these types of connections and therefore political change is hindered. This means that the ruling party is allowed to grow corrupted.
An example of this corruption is the fact that the wealthiest people in the country are also the most powerful, the politicians. There has been significant public outcry recently about a P10million settlement given to an outgoing politician as well as the gross wealth of the BDP treasurer but the tribal nature of politics keeps electoral change from happening.
Another example is a vastly unpopular recent media censorship bill that would increase the governments control over the media, the bill was rejected in Parliament but significant media censorship already takes place. For example after publishing the recent pamphlet "Presidential Succession in Botswana: No Model for Africa" the author, Kenneth Good was deported. There is some thought that his deportation from Ghana, and Zimbabwe, may have some impact on his deportation but the fact of the matter is that serious political criticism is not easy to swallow here. (More Info on the Ken Good Case)
I pointed out to the Batswana I was talking to that the Government is not all bad and in fact has developed the country well and that stability and safety have value but they argued that any party could have done that.
Personally I think the government is more good than bad and they are truly trying to make the country a better place but there are serious ills that should be modified before the country can truly modernize and be considered fully developed.
Monday, August 18, 2008
The Cultural Experience Weekend
This weekend the International Office organized a trip to some of the "cultural" highlights of this region of Botswana. I thought it would be a great experience and at only 304P (around $50) I thought it was a good deal too.
So we met at around 9am and the bus left around 9:30 with around 24 internationals aboard including people from Norway, Germany, The USA, Zambia, and The Netherlands. The first activity was a museum about 20km from Gaborone in a town called Mochudi.
(A view of Mochudi)
The Museum was very small, about three rooms, and told the story of the local tribe that had been there since fleeing the Boer War in South Africa in 1891. We had a quick tour and while exploring the museum we overheard a lot of singing accompanied by some dancing. It turned out that there was a group from a wedding taking pictures on the rock outcropping that overlooked the villages right next to the museum. Many of the students were very curious so they scurried outside followed hesitantly by the more reserved among the group (including me).
(Some of the eager Internationals)
The location was really quite nice and the whole wedding (what we saw) was very beautiful.
(The Bride and Groom)
The older people were in more traditional clothing, but the wedding party was in outfits that were similar to American styles.
(Some of the wedding Party)
(The older people)
All the while people were chanting, singing and dancing and random group dances constantly broke out even while photos were being taken.
(A picture of one of the "random" Dance breaks)
While watching them take pictures the groom approached someone from our group and said that they would be thrilled if we would join them in celebrating at the reception. The group talked it over quickly and decided that we would like to see the reception, over the protests of some of us (again I find myself in the reserved group). We quickly gathered together some cash, although apparently wedding gifts aren't a major thing in Batswana weddings, to give as a gift. I contributed 20P (around $4) which is apparently VERY generous (crazy huh?).
The reception was at a nearby house at 1pm so we busied ourselves for the interim and then headed over to the reception. It is apparently tradition in Botswana to attend a wedding irregardless of the receipt of an invite. It is simply understood that if you have any relationship at all with the couple you are not only invited but expected. That means that the food is cooked for a huge number of people and apparently plus or minus a bus load of white people will not make or break the reception. Can you imagine a bus load of tourists showing up at an American wedding and not only being invited in, but becoming the guests of honor. I was very uncomfortable the whole time because we weren't formally invited, we didn't know anyone, and we weren't dressed appropriately but in hindsight I realized they really appreciated having us there. Some of our Batswana friends said that the bride and groom were probably thrilled to have us because it is considered honorable to have LOTS of people at your wedding and having exotic people (foreign white people) would probably make the wedding the talk of town for months. Anyway the wedding was nice but the unplanned detour put us well behind schedule.
After we left the wedding we went to a place called Matsieng.
Matsieng is apparently the "Garden of Eden" of the tribe that has inhabited the area for centuries. The legend goes that this is the sight were the first ancestor emerged from the ground and thereby began all of humanity. There is a very deep hole accompanied by some gigantic foot prints, except that all the prints are singles, not pairs.
(Matsieng's Hole)
(Matsieng's Foot Print)
Apparently Matsieng had only one leg. Geologists and Archaeologists suggest that as opposed to the traditional explanations the hole was formed by ancient volacanoes and the footprints are ancient carvings, a common form of traditional art work. The site was fascinating for me because we had actually discussed this very site in my Archaeology class on Friday. Talk about learning in application.
From that site we decided that the wedding had put us so far behind that we would not be able to make it to our other two stops for the day before dark (remember the sun goes down very early here in the winter) so we headed straight for the place where we would sleep. I was disappointed because I had been very much looking forward to the next stop but they promised we would make it to them the next day.
Where we slept was a traditional resort. When we got there we were greeted by a group of women singing and chanting who marched us into the campsite, showed us where we would be sleeping, chalets for the girls, tents for the boys, and began to perform some traditional dances.
(One of the "Chalets")
(The dancers)
After that we were fed traditional food but we all agreed it was nothing compared to the food we had been fed at the wedding. After dinner we sat around the fire chatting until late in the evening. As we went to bed we found our sleeping places, thin mattresses and only one blanket, which would have been fire except that Botswana's nights are very cold, this night was about 40 degrees (Fahrenheit of course). It was freezing and not terribly comfortable but I managed to fall asleep quickly and sleep reasonably well, my only major complaints being that the water tasted so bad it was almost undrinkable, and the temperature. In the morning we were fed and hurried to a place called Manyana. This was the part of the weekend that I was most looking forward to. Here we saw cave paintings that ranged over the period of two thousand years. The paintings were fantastic. I was fascinated at the techniques employed by those early people to create something so permanent. Apparently they used a mixture of iron compounds, animal fats, animal blood, urine and other dyes to form paints. It makes me wonder what of ours will still be around and beautiful two thousand years from now.
(An abstract cave painting)
(A flake of flint that would may have been carried hundreds of miles thousands of years ago)
After than we went to "Livinstone's tree" which is apparently the Tree. This is where David Livingstone set up camp for a while. The tree is massive and beautiful but to me was not terribly interesting, after all it is just a tree. (more info on David Livingstone)
After taking some pictures our group got back on the bus and headed to the main attraction of the whole weekend, Mokolodi Game Reserve. We got there a little early and had some time to check the place out. The staff provided our group with several bottles of champagne and we met a group of (apparently) world famous poets who agreed to perform a few poems for us. It was very entertaining and quite pleasant. It was clear that this was a major tourist attraction as opposed to some of the other places that only had a fence.
Eventually we were loaded on a bush truck and taken to a beautiful pavilion to have the best food we have eaten since being in Botswana (the traditional variations of Beef, Pop or maize meal, and some butternut squash). After the meal we got on the truck again and they took us on an hour long game drive. About half way through the drive I realized we were in effectively a glorified zoo without too many cages. The hyenas and Cheetahs were caged and tamed and when we asked I we would see any giraffes the guide responded that they had not yet been let out of the stables. Nonetheless seeing the Antelope (several species), the Rhinos (perhaps too close), Baboons, and other animals in close to a natural habitat was very cool.
After the drive we headed back to UB (University of Botswana) extremely tired but very satisfied.
It was a very good weekend.
(more pictures)
Lots of love,
Tommy
more pictures coming...
So we met at around 9am and the bus left around 9:30 with around 24 internationals aboard including people from Norway, Germany, The USA, Zambia, and The Netherlands. The first activity was a museum about 20km from Gaborone in a town called Mochudi.
(A view of Mochudi)
(Some of the eager Internationals)
(The Bride and Groom)
(Some of the wedding Party)
(The older people)
(A picture of one of the "random" Dance breaks)
The reception was at a nearby house at 1pm so we busied ourselves for the interim and then headed over to the reception. It is apparently tradition in Botswana to attend a wedding irregardless of the receipt of an invite. It is simply understood that if you have any relationship at all with the couple you are not only invited but expected. That means that the food is cooked for a huge number of people and apparently plus or minus a bus load of white people will not make or break the reception. Can you imagine a bus load of tourists showing up at an American wedding and not only being invited in, but becoming the guests of honor. I was very uncomfortable the whole time because we weren't formally invited, we didn't know anyone, and we weren't dressed appropriately but in hindsight I realized they really appreciated having us there. Some of our Batswana friends said that the bride and groom were probably thrilled to have us because it is considered honorable to have LOTS of people at your wedding and having exotic people (foreign white people) would probably make the wedding the talk of town for months. Anyway the wedding was nice but the unplanned detour put us well behind schedule.
After we left the wedding we went to a place called Matsieng.
Matsieng is apparently the "Garden of Eden" of the tribe that has inhabited the area for centuries. The legend goes that this is the sight were the first ancestor emerged from the ground and thereby began all of humanity. There is a very deep hole accompanied by some gigantic foot prints, except that all the prints are singles, not pairs.
(Matsieng's Hole)
(Matsieng's Foot Print)
From that site we decided that the wedding had put us so far behind that we would not be able to make it to our other two stops for the day before dark (remember the sun goes down very early here in the winter) so we headed straight for the place where we would sleep. I was disappointed because I had been very much looking forward to the next stop but they promised we would make it to them the next day.
Where we slept was a traditional resort. When we got there we were greeted by a group of women singing and chanting who marched us into the campsite, showed us where we would be sleeping, chalets for the girls, tents for the boys, and began to perform some traditional dances.
(One of the "Chalets")
(One of tents)
They were very impressive, and were made even more impressive by the fact that the dancers were not terribly young, in fact the oldest was sixty years old.
(The dancers)
(An abstract cave painting)
(A flake of flint that would may have been carried hundreds of miles thousands of years ago)
After taking some pictures our group got back on the bus and headed to the main attraction of the whole weekend, Mokolodi Game Reserve. We got there a little early and had some time to check the place out. The staff provided our group with several bottles of champagne and we met a group of (apparently) world famous poets who agreed to perform a few poems for us. It was very entertaining and quite pleasant. It was clear that this was a major tourist attraction as opposed to some of the other places that only had a fence.
Eventually we were loaded on a bush truck and taken to a beautiful pavilion to have the best food we have eaten since being in Botswana (the traditional variations of Beef, Pop or maize meal, and some butternut squash). After the meal we got on the truck again and they took us on an hour long game drive. About half way through the drive I realized we were in effectively a glorified zoo without too many cages. The hyenas and Cheetahs were caged and tamed and when we asked I we would see any giraffes the guide responded that they had not yet been let out of the stables. Nonetheless seeing the Antelope (several species), the Rhinos (perhaps too close), Baboons, and other animals in close to a natural habitat was very cool.
After the drive we headed back to UB (University of Botswana) extremely tired but very satisfied.
It was a very good weekend.
(more pictures)
Lots of love,
Tommy
more pictures coming...
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
GSA Meeting
I can not believe I didn’t write about this earlier and now that it has gone so long I am sure I will have forgotten some of the details about this experience so hopefully I will do a decent job of recounting the tale. This post should have happened in early august.
After all of the orientation activities and the first uneventful but stressful week of classes including registering and adding and dropping all of us international students were pretty on exhausted. I for one just wanted to fall into a routine to and settle in but with all the shifiting and changing and things that had to be done that process was not an easy one.
Amongst all this commotion an ominous notice was posted in the graduate village (where we live) reading ‘ATTENTION ALL INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: An urgent meeting has been called (blah, blah..)’ Immediately rumors started swirling about what could possibly be the meaning of this. We had been warned repeatedly in the orientation that living in the graduate village was a privilege and that we should be careful (see pot from 7/30). Immediately I began to fear we would be kicked out of the graduate village and have to live somewhere else, having seen the other rooms and I did NOT want to live there. Also I had just gotten the internet working in my room and I did not want to give that up. Others were sure that there were other reasons.
Dylan and I showed up right on time and sat down. All the other international students trickled in and found seats. We were seated in a circle but when Charity and Dr. Malete came in they asked that we please move so that all of ‘them’ could sit at the head of the table. ‘Them’ was the two administrators, and two students from the Graduate Student Association (GSA). We began with pleasantries from Charity and Dr. Malete but soon enough the GSA representatives launched into a tirade. Apparently someone had been caught smoking in their room (seriously, that was dumb) and ‘everyone’ had been complaining about how much of a nuisance we are. One of the GSA reps, a Canadian girl, pretended to be on our side but it was clear he didn’t want us there. Throughout the meeting it became increasingly clear that GSA had fought hard to keep the international students out of the Graduate village and it became clear to me that the GSA never had had any intention of giving us the opportunity to prove ourselves worthy. After all, how was it possible that they had had “tons” of complaints in less than two weeks? At one point GSA and Dr. Malete got into a confrontation about how the GSA had fought us being there, it was clear that there has been a bitter issue of it prior to our arrival and all parties were not yet over it. At one point the GSA president said “you have to remember we are older than you and you have to respect us.” Needless to say that did not go over well as some of the international students were actually older than him and no one particularly liked the idea of bowing to people purely because of their age. At another point the GSA president used the phrase “you people” obviously he did not understand that in America that phrase is off limits and some of the American black students quipped back. The meaning was clearly lost in translation and it offered a little comedic relief but the emotion remained so intense that I dared not laugh.
Eventually as the meeting progressed the international students managed to gain the offensive and stated that the GSA was being unfair, judgmental, and had made no attempt to be welcoming. These comments clearly put the GSA reps on the defensive. Finally Dylan said loudly, “I have done nothing wrong” and stormed out. Every sat in stunned silence for a minute before the debate raged on. At the end of the meeting nothing was concluded and clearly bitter feelings were the only result. Needless to say it was not a good experience during our first weeks in Botswana.
In the end the whole ordeal was an empty threat, the GSA wasn't ever in a position to put us out and I think simply hoped to scare us straight, in the end I think the bitterness that resulted had the opposite effect and today some international do things to intentionally poke at the GSA. Such is life.
Thats all for now,
Love
Tommy
After all of the orientation activities and the first uneventful but stressful week of classes including registering and adding and dropping all of us international students were pretty on exhausted. I for one just wanted to fall into a routine to and settle in but with all the shifiting and changing and things that had to be done that process was not an easy one.
Amongst all this commotion an ominous notice was posted in the graduate village (where we live) reading ‘ATTENTION ALL INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: An urgent meeting has been called (blah, blah..)’ Immediately rumors started swirling about what could possibly be the meaning of this. We had been warned repeatedly in the orientation that living in the graduate village was a privilege and that we should be careful (see pot from 7/30). Immediately I began to fear we would be kicked out of the graduate village and have to live somewhere else, having seen the other rooms and I did NOT want to live there. Also I had just gotten the internet working in my room and I did not want to give that up. Others were sure that there were other reasons.
Dylan and I showed up right on time and sat down. All the other international students trickled in and found seats. We were seated in a circle but when Charity and Dr. Malete came in they asked that we please move so that all of ‘them’ could sit at the head of the table. ‘Them’ was the two administrators, and two students from the Graduate Student Association (GSA). We began with pleasantries from Charity and Dr. Malete but soon enough the GSA representatives launched into a tirade. Apparently someone had been caught smoking in their room (seriously, that was dumb) and ‘everyone’ had been complaining about how much of a nuisance we are. One of the GSA reps, a Canadian girl, pretended to be on our side but it was clear he didn’t want us there. Throughout the meeting it became increasingly clear that GSA had fought hard to keep the international students out of the Graduate village and it became clear to me that the GSA never had had any intention of giving us the opportunity to prove ourselves worthy. After all, how was it possible that they had had “tons” of complaints in less than two weeks? At one point GSA and Dr. Malete got into a confrontation about how the GSA had fought us being there, it was clear that there has been a bitter issue of it prior to our arrival and all parties were not yet over it. At one point the GSA president said “you have to remember we are older than you and you have to respect us.” Needless to say that did not go over well as some of the international students were actually older than him and no one particularly liked the idea of bowing to people purely because of their age. At another point the GSA president used the phrase “you people” obviously he did not understand that in America that phrase is off limits and some of the American black students quipped back. The meaning was clearly lost in translation and it offered a little comedic relief but the emotion remained so intense that I dared not laugh.
Eventually as the meeting progressed the international students managed to gain the offensive and stated that the GSA was being unfair, judgmental, and had made no attempt to be welcoming. These comments clearly put the GSA reps on the defensive. Finally Dylan said loudly, “I have done nothing wrong” and stormed out. Every sat in stunned silence for a minute before the debate raged on. At the end of the meeting nothing was concluded and clearly bitter feelings were the only result. Needless to say it was not a good experience during our first weeks in Botswana.
In the end the whole ordeal was an empty threat, the GSA wasn't ever in a position to put us out and I think simply hoped to scare us straight, in the end I think the bitterness that resulted had the opposite effect and today some international do things to intentionally poke at the GSA. Such is life.
Thats all for now,
Love
Tommy
The Hill that was to be a Mountain
So that is a pretty epic title, no? I think it is. Anyway there seems to be a chronic shortage of recreational opportunities in Gaborone and that becomes even more apparent on weekends(especially when water, electricity, and internet are all liable to go out at random). It was from this seeming shortage that Dylan and discovered there is a hill in town that some of the other internationals had climbed.
(Kgale Hill, right next to Game City)
We decided that we would hit the hill on saturday and see what it was like. We had planned to take Onky but there was some miscommunication resulting in his flaking out. The name of the hill is Kgale Hill and sits right on the outskirts of the city.
Between the two of us we really had no idea what to expect but we packed some water, some snacks and my camera and jumped in a Taxi and asked for Kgale Hill. He sped off confidently but as we drew near we realised he really hadn't understood. Finally we made him aware that we wanted to climb the hill and we stopped along the side of the road near a gate. We paid the man and headed for the gate. As we got out of the car about three baboons came over the gate (it was a cattle gate) and looked sideways at us and then disappeared back to the other side. We assumed we would see many more so we didn't worry about a missed opportunity to photograph the Baboons, we were wrong.
(Kgale Hill, right next to Game City)
Between the two of us we really had no idea what to expect but we packed some water, some snacks and my camera and jumped in a Taxi and asked for Kgale Hill. He sped off confidently but as we drew near we realised he really hadn't understood. Finally we made him aware that we wanted to climb the hill and we stopped along the side of the road near a gate. We paid the man and headed for the gate. As we got out of the car about three baboons came over the gate (it was a cattle gate) and looked sideways at us and then disappeared back to the other side. We assumed we would see many more so we didn't worry about a missed opportunity to photograph the Baboons, we were wrong.
We climbed the gate and quickly found the path and headed off. There was garbage and the remnants of fires all over the place so we immediately got the feeling we were in the right place. We carried on for a while and as we did the paths seemed to get lighter and lighter and shoot off in all sorts of helter-skelter directions. We continued on confidently but the paths totally disappeared quite quickly. Dylan and I jointly made the decision to press on see what we could manage without a real path. We pointed ourselves toward the desired peak and pushed on with the reckless abandon only attainable by over confident adolescent boys.
(a picture of the "trail")
The hill got steep quite quick and we had to push through many thickets of what we have affectionately termed the "death plant" (acacia plants, or thorn trees). We managed to get to the top of a rock out cropping but quickly discovered we were no where near any kind of path that we had heard existed. We knew that in order to get down we would need to find a better way, we hoped a trail. We decided that our best chance of finding the trail was to get to the top of the hill.
(a picture of the "trail")
(view from this point in the journey)
We pressed on knowing full well that we were probably the only people who had ever been on this particular trail. We followed Baboon trails off and on and I saw the largest hare I have ever witnessed but no people. We climbed over some boulders and pushed through some more trees and rocks and we climbed to yet another peak. We knew this wasn't the top but we thought maybe from here we could scout the real trail and find a way to the top.
(pictures of Dylan and I at this point as well as the path across the boulders)
We continued up the hill through the steepest and roughest terrain yet. At this point we had ceased calling it a hill, we knew it as "the Mountain" because we felt like real mountain climbers. Finally we reached the top and the base of the TV tower that stands at the very peak of Kgale Hill. There was a gate with a lock on it but the lock was ajar so we snuck in to get a better look. While looking around we saw some other people and realized not only had we found the top but we had indeed found the path we rushed to the area where the other tourists were.
(pictures snapped at the peak)
(pictures snapped at the peak)We asked the people at the top how to get down and they pointed us to a trail. We followed it but honestly we decided that the trail was not as good as the way we had come up. It was an easier climb but there were so many rocks and it was so long that we missed the climb up. The climb down wound all over the hill for about two miles.
(a picture of the trail down)
When we finished the trip down we found ourselves at the front gate of the Gaborone quarry. We were momentarily concerned about being able to find our way back to road to be picked up by a taxi but we quickly found that we were actually very near to Game city. As we were walking to Game city we heard some chanting that we initially thought were "bush people" but as we looked closer we found there were people on the hill with a sizable bonfire chanting and dancing. Later, Biki informed us that it was a church service on the hill. While watching the singing and dancing we also caught only our second glimpse of a baboon in the whole day.
(a picture of the trail down)
When we finished the trip down we found ourselves at the front gate of the Gaborone quarry. We were momentarily concerned about being able to find our way back to road to be picked up by a taxi but we quickly found that we were actually very near to Game city. As we were walking to Game city we heard some chanting that we initially thought were "bush people" but as we looked closer we found there were people on the hill with a sizable bonfire chanting and dancing. Later, Biki informed us that it was a church service on the hill. While watching the singing and dancing we also caught only our second glimpse of a baboon in the whole day.
(Church service and baboon)
If you would like to see more pictures of our adventure you can click this link (even if you don't have facebook)
More later,
Lots of love,
Tommy
More later,
Lots of love,
Tommy
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Class & Life
So yesterday was the first day of "class" here. I conspicuously place class in quotations because it is that only in name.
I woke bright and early leaving plenty of extra time to find the class before it started. I circled the campus twice before finally pinning down the location of the building and room I was looking for. You see the campus is organized into numbered blocks, trouble is there is not a logical order to the numbering. For example 240 maybe quite a distance from 230 and 270 may fall smack in between the two finding my way is quite an experience. Anyway I found my way into the medium sized lecture hall about five minutes before class was to start and found a seat. The room slowly filled in but the lecturer didn't arrive until quarter past when the class was to begin at 8am sharp (again with this "sharp" word, it really has NO meaning at all here). He didn't even address the class until about 8:20. He talked for a while explained it would be a reading intensive class with three tests and no assignments. He asked if anyone had any protest to that and one student did but to no one surprise his pleas for more assignments fell on deaf ears. You see lecturers are not encouraged or inclined to yield to the requests of their students. After that the lecturer walked right up to me and asked if I would be with the class the whole semester. I responded that I would, I lied and claimed to be pursuing my Bachelor in law (in Botswana a Law degree is a five year undergrad program not a three year grad program). He turned to the class and said "Well it will be nice to have some color other than the usual blackness." The whole class laughed (I think at my expense) but I was just happy for the confrontation to be over with. We got out of class at 8:45 (five minutes early) and I began searching for my next class, Archeology.
As I was searching a girl came up to me and introduced herself. She said she would help me look but she had no idea where it was either. I searched until 9:15 and finally gave up. I exchanged numbers with the girl on the pretense of perhaps studying together. More about her later.
At 1pm I had my Economics class. This time I found the room with ease and saw many familiar faces in the class. Many of the international students are also taking the class. This time the professor was on time but class still only lasted 15 minutes. I think economics will be quite a good class.
At 2pm I had Setswana (my language class) I arrived on time only to see a group of international students telling me that the class had been canceled (seeing a trend?).
So we all went to the international office as we had been asked to do with the promise of finally being registered and receiving our schedules and student ID numbers. No luck! "Not till tomorrow" is becoming a common chorus.
So I decided I would return to my room for some rest. The girl I had met early had already called and texted me four times. Asking to meet my friends, share dinner, go to the mall and all of these types of things. Apparently she had a different impression of our relationship than I did. This encounter reminded me of the encounter I had had on Friday at the night club.
At that time a girl had approached me to dance. I obliged figuring an innocent dance would do no harm (I had permission from Whitney in advance). But after the dance the girl followed me around the club the rest of the night like a sad lost puppy, asking me to buy her things, groping me inappropriately or to go back to her place (ok, so not like a puppy). I told her I had a girlfriend but that didn't mean much to her. Long story short, girls here and persistent to a fault.
I promised to also write in this entry about my living situation. I am in the graduate "hostels" which is just their word for dorm. This means that I am in a suite of six rooms with a kitchen, sitting area, shower, and toilet room. Each person has their own room. It is really very nice, much much nicer than the alternatives in the undergraduate dorms. I quite enjoy the privacy. I have five roommates including two Americans and three Batswana. Matt, Brian, Ketumile, Puso, and Bikki. You can figure out which ones are American for yourself. Dylan lives in the next building over but his roommates are actually faculty and are a little cool to the idea of living with an international student so he spends most of his time in my room, which is ok with me.
I should also mention here my good friend Onkabetse Nkane. He is obviously a Motswana but he studied at Kalamazoo College and while there became quite good friends with Dylan and has been a great asset here because he understands our minds and is able to show us around and help us out. He was the one who explained how much average salaries and average housing cost here. He has also been gracious in helping us through some of our complaints as well as sympathizing in many cases. I am sure I will mention him many times in the future and I may refer to him as Onkabetse or Onky (my personal nickname for him).
Well that is plenty for now.
Love to all, as always,
Tommy
P.S. Skype is working now, my skype name is tcmturner
I woke bright and early leaving plenty of extra time to find the class before it started. I circled the campus twice before finally pinning down the location of the building and room I was looking for. You see the campus is organized into numbered blocks, trouble is there is not a logical order to the numbering. For example 240 maybe quite a distance from 230 and 270 may fall smack in between the two finding my way is quite an experience. Anyway I found my way into the medium sized lecture hall about five minutes before class was to start and found a seat. The room slowly filled in but the lecturer didn't arrive until quarter past when the class was to begin at 8am sharp (again with this "sharp" word, it really has NO meaning at all here). He didn't even address the class until about 8:20. He talked for a while explained it would be a reading intensive class with three tests and no assignments. He asked if anyone had any protest to that and one student did but to no one surprise his pleas for more assignments fell on deaf ears. You see lecturers are not encouraged or inclined to yield to the requests of their students. After that the lecturer walked right up to me and asked if I would be with the class the whole semester. I responded that I would, I lied and claimed to be pursuing my Bachelor in law (in Botswana a Law degree is a five year undergrad program not a three year grad program). He turned to the class and said "Well it will be nice to have some color other than the usual blackness." The whole class laughed (I think at my expense) but I was just happy for the confrontation to be over with. We got out of class at 8:45 (five minutes early) and I began searching for my next class, Archeology.
As I was searching a girl came up to me and introduced herself. She said she would help me look but she had no idea where it was either. I searched until 9:15 and finally gave up. I exchanged numbers with the girl on the pretense of perhaps studying together. More about her later.
At 1pm I had my Economics class. This time I found the room with ease and saw many familiar faces in the class. Many of the international students are also taking the class. This time the professor was on time but class still only lasted 15 minutes. I think economics will be quite a good class.
At 2pm I had Setswana (my language class) I arrived on time only to see a group of international students telling me that the class had been canceled (seeing a trend?).
So we all went to the international office as we had been asked to do with the promise of finally being registered and receiving our schedules and student ID numbers. No luck! "Not till tomorrow" is becoming a common chorus.
So I decided I would return to my room for some rest. The girl I had met early had already called and texted me four times. Asking to meet my friends, share dinner, go to the mall and all of these types of things. Apparently she had a different impression of our relationship than I did. This encounter reminded me of the encounter I had had on Friday at the night club.
At that time a girl had approached me to dance. I obliged figuring an innocent dance would do no harm (I had permission from Whitney in advance). But after the dance the girl followed me around the club the rest of the night like a sad lost puppy, asking me to buy her things, groping me inappropriately or to go back to her place (ok, so not like a puppy). I told her I had a girlfriend but that didn't mean much to her. Long story short, girls here and persistent to a fault.
I promised to also write in this entry about my living situation. I am in the graduate "hostels" which is just their word for dorm. This means that I am in a suite of six rooms with a kitchen, sitting area, shower, and toilet room. Each person has their own room. It is really very nice, much much nicer than the alternatives in the undergraduate dorms. I quite enjoy the privacy. I have five roommates including two Americans and three Batswana. Matt, Brian, Ketumile, Puso, and Bikki. You can figure out which ones are American for yourself. Dylan lives in the next building over but his roommates are actually faculty and are a little cool to the idea of living with an international student so he spends most of his time in my room, which is ok with me.
I should also mention here my good friend Onkabetse Nkane. He is obviously a Motswana but he studied at Kalamazoo College and while there became quite good friends with Dylan and has been a great asset here because he understands our minds and is able to show us around and help us out. He was the one who explained how much average salaries and average housing cost here. He has also been gracious in helping us through some of our complaints as well as sympathizing in many cases. I am sure I will mention him many times in the future and I may refer to him as Onkabetse or Onky (my personal nickname for him).
Well that is plenty for now.
Love to all, as always,
Tommy
P.S. Skype is working now, my skype name is tcmturner
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