Baboon and Bull and Bush

I apologize for the lack of an entry yesterday, but my day was very full with hardly any time to sit down! We finished up our orientation which was again unorganized and a bit boring. We got some good information about how the internet and email here work, however just because we got information does NOT mean that we understand. It seems to me that directions here are almost always hard to follow. I have gotten very used to the accent already, however the way in which the locals organize sentences can be a bit hard to follow. With time I am sure it will get much easier. Our orientation lasted until about 1 o' clock, ending with a nice section about using condoms. The HIV/AIDS campaign has really flourished here within the past years, and they are telling students much more about how to protect themselves. There are signs all over about using condoms, and in the bathrooms that lack toilet paper; there are boxes and boxes of condoms. Priorities eh? It is really good to see that they are all about HIV education now, because they said that the education is really helping the numbers of people carrying HIV much lower. Oh, and during orientation I spent most of my time enjoying some amazing instant coffee. I'm serious. No Folgers or water tasting coffee here, I mean REALLY good, strong coffee.

  After taking a lunch break, we all met outside the international dorms to get a bus tour of the city. Ironically the international hostel is called Las Vegas because it is the highest hostel and it is always very brightly lit. The local students however told us that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas applies to the building. I guess we will see what that means? We took a bus that was kind of like a coach bus in the states. It was incredibly nice compared to any sort of transportation we have had so far. We rode around the city so we could get a feel for what it was like. I do not remember if I have mentioned this yet, but no one lives in the city. It is just where everyone works, and all of the locals live in the villages. The city looks pretty much like the African desert that we all picture in our minds with a few buildings and small stretches of concrete along the way. It displays an upcoming city that is being made out of a natural area very well. (I might have already said this).
  Our first stop was at a monument called the Three Dikgosi Monument. The monument was incredibly large. Back in the 1800s Botswana was going to be taken over and become a part of the South African union, so these three chiefs went to Great Britain to visit the Queen of England to negotiate a way for the area that is now Botswana to stay a separate country. The locals were telling me that the monument signifies freedom for the people here, and represents their independence. The monument was huge! Very beautiful and detailed. I was able to use my camera to snap some pictures, but I was having trouble because I could not see the display screen, so I could not tell how the pictures were turning out. Oh well, I will improve!
  Our next stop was at a place called Game City. This mall was actually pretty boring. I felt as if I were sitting in west towne mall in the U.S. They had nike stores, clothing stores, the equivalent to an REI, and many other stores that looked exactly like forever 21. As we all know I hate shopping very much, so I sat down with three friends, got a beer, and just talked. It was really nice out-not too hot- so we just sat at an outdoor table. There is a mountain/hill right behind game city that is gorgeous, so the setting was really great. We are having trouble finding traditional food here. The locals say that the only way to really eat traditional food is to go into the villages. At the university and at the restaurants in shopping malls they serve very similar foods to the ones in the U.S. While we were eating, a little black kitten came up right by our table and took a little drink from the fountain- this is really common. Cats are all over, so Laura is in heaven! After eating we headed back to the bus (after purchasing a cheap cellphone) and of course had to wait for about 45 minutes because everyone is on "Botswana time" here. As I was sitting on the bus futzing with my phone I heard "Look! A monkey!". Everyone immediately jumped out of their seats and started scanning the parking lot from their windows. What looked like a baboon was just strolling through the parking lot! It was probably taller than my waist (while it was on all fours) and was just heading towards the shopping mall. He easily jumped over one fence, crossed the street (where cars were coming) and then jumped a very tall fence into the courtyard of the mall!! I have no idea what happened once he got over that fence, but it was a crazy sight to see! Even when we are in what feels like "little America" here, we get large reminders that we are indeed in Africa.
  After the baboon sighting, we headed back to campus. A couple of locals had offered to take us out to a club called Bull and Bush. So around 10 o clock we headed out to the club. There were about 8 Americans and 6 locals in our group, so we didn't stick out QUITE as much...until the dancing started. I have never seen so many good dancers in real life! As sad as this sounds, I felt like I was watching step up two. As "rude boy" and "Move, Bitch" (two American songs) along with some House music blasted loudly through the speakers, many of the locals formed a circle and each took turns showing off their moves. It was truly crazy. Very good dancers, very nice people and lots of fun. By the end of the night there were tons of people there and everyone was having a great time. It was a great experience because instead of just us going out together, we got to know the ins and outs of the club from the girls we went with. And let me tell you, the best dancers were all of the guys! Wish I had taken videos. We got home around 3 o clock and I immediately fell asleep. So, today I slept in until about 1 o clock, got lunch, and now I am writing to you. It has been cooler here the last two days so it has been very nice for walking around and being outside. I hope that it is getting warmer for you all in the US! I do not know what is in store for tonight, but I hope I get another chance to learn about the "night life" here! We have been talking to many local students at meal times who have been filling us in on the dos and don'ts-so many!
  I hope that you all are doing very well, and that every time you are hating the cold you can think of me and hopefully it will help you warm up a bit! (I slept under a light blanket for the first time last night!) I'm having trouble uploading the pictures because everything works so slowly on the computers here, but I am working on it! So pictures will be uploaded soon. Miss you all and I'm sending lots of love!

P.S. Still no sunburn and my knee is doing great.