Our New Home

Richard and I have been in our new home in Gumare for a week and a half now. We left Molepolole last Thursday and arrived in Gumare the following day. Since it is such a long drive (10-12 hours), we spent the night in Ghanzi, which is one of the bigger cities in the West (Kalahari). Since there are no big supermarkets in Gumare, we stocked up on stuff like granola, cheese, cereal, etc. that we can’t get at the general dealers here. You can get a lot of the staples and basics like milk, eggs, rice, and canned goods in Gumare, but we will probably be going to Maun (the tourist capital of Botswana ), which is three hours by bus, at least once a month to buy our specialty items at the supermarkets and stores there. For those who know my diet coke addiction, I am happy to report that I can buy diet coke in Gumare, though I have curved my intake due to budget restrictions.

We both started work last Monday. Richard and I work down the hall from each other the Rural Administration Center (RAC) for the Okavango District. It is about a twenty minute walk from our house to work. We are often escorted in the morning by the neighborhood pack of 5 dogs, who like to hang out in our yard during the day. The government working hours in Botswana are 7:30-4:30 (with lunch from 12:45-1:45). Since we are usually up with the morning calls of the roosters and the donkeys, it hasn’t been a big adjustment to start work earlier than we did in the United States. Since it is winter here, it is quite chilly in the morning, although not as cold as it was in the southern part of the country where we were training. The days are pretty warm (low 70’s), though I hear it gets very hot and humid here during the summer.

The emphasis on the first 2.5 months of Peace Corps service is on community integration and getting a feel for our jobs/project. Every village in Botswana has a Kgotla (similar to a tribal court), which is a central meeting place (usually near the tribal offices and usually a semicircular enclosure), where the kgosi (chief) consults the people, where decisions are made and problems resolved, and where everyone (regardless of social standing) has their say. One of the most important parts of community entry is meeting the kgosi, which we were able to do this week. We have also been walking around quite a bit during the last two weekends to get a feel of the town and meet people. Our neighbors are very nice and we have made friends with some of the kids in our area. This Tuesday is actually a holiday (Sir Seretse Khama day- in honor of the first president) so we have day off to explore the community more.

We're Official Volunteers

Training has finally ended. We swore in as official Peace Corps volunteers yesterday afternoon. It was a really nice ceremony. The US Ambassador to Botswana swore us in. Former president F. Mogae (who left office in April) was also on hand and we got to shake his hand. It was a bittersweet moment though. We are looking forward to going to our site, but it is hard to say goodbye to our friends and our host family.

On Tuesday, we got to go shopping in the capital Gaborone for stuff for our houses. It was quite funny to see all the stuff people are dragging to their sites. Richard and I managed to fill a shopping cart.

Today, we are heading towards to our site and we will start work on Monday. It is a long trek to Gumare- 10-12 hours. Last night, our host family killed a chicken for us as a goodbye present. They wanted us to taste real Setswana chicken (instead of the frozen stuff shipped in from South Africa). It has gotten really cold lately, especially at night. I am looking forward to be in the north, where it is quite a bit warmer right now.

Almost There!!

So Richard and I did our site visit to Gumare last week. We only had a few days there because it takes 10-12 hours to get to Gumare from our training site. We overnighted in Maun on the way there to break up the trip. Our house is very cute. It is a government house with two bedrooms, electricity, hot running water, a porch, and a yard. We even have a pack of dogs who serve as our escorts around the community. Once we move in, we also planning to get a cat, which we heard are good for killing snakes. We met our counterparts, who are both very nice and knowledgeable. Both of our jobs are in the Rural Administration Center- we will be in the office most of the time (which is an unusual Peace Corps job). I will be working with the orphan care coordinator for the Okavango sub-district and Richard will be working with the DAC. We are now back at our training site, finishing our last week and half of training. We swear in on June 18th. We can't wait!!!