No one should ever have to wake up at 4am. I was anxious about shadowing and meeting my host, so I didn’t go to bed the night before until well past 9pm only to wake up at 4:30am. I quickly finished my packing and sat outside to wait for my ride which would arrive between 5am and 5:45am. By the time my tea was cool enough where I could take a sip, I saw lights and heard honking on the other side of the gate. I quickly rushed outside and started my journey to Molapowabojang.
The first bus was from Serowe to Gaborone which made good time, arriving at 9:30am, usually over a four hour ride. The bus was overcrowded and jam packed with people sitting in every available seat as well as many standing. I was lucky to have a window seat, avoiding the hustle and bustle of people getting on and off the bus. I couldn’t imagine having to stand crammed for a four hour bus ride. Many other volunteers were also traveling to Gaborone before catching a bus to their next destination. I sat beside Jamie and chatted most of the ride, making the three and a half hours fly by.
I couldn’t wait to get off the bus and give my legs a stretch. I walked through the mall with other volunteers looking for a place to have lunch before parting ways. Jessica, the volunteer I would be shadowing for the next few days, arrived shortly after. She decided it would be easiest to meet me in Gaborone to have lunch, food shop for the week, and show me the bus system.
Jessica is part of Bots 14, the group that arrived before ours, and has been volunteering at site for about a year. She is also a life skills volunteer and works in tow different schools. I learned about her village, what she does in her down time, what projects she is working on, and what it’s like to be a volunteer. I learned all this over food shopping, so this will be an information loaded couple of days.
After buying food we sat outside to enjoy lunch. I had a sausage, chips, and yogurt. I bought lots of fruit, salad, and yogurt to eat over the next couple of days and was reminded how excited I am to shop and cook for myself.Soon it was off to Lobatse where we would catch another ride to Molapowabojang. This second bus was the most painful of them all. We missed the first bus that was at the stop because it was too full, so we found two seats on the next bus that was slowly filling up. We ended up sitting in the hot, cramped bus for 45 minutes waiting for it to leave. There were several loud men walking up and down the aisles selling water, fruit, candy, and frozen pops. These men couldn’t just stand in one place, but instead insisted on walking up and down, passing each other and other passengers who were trying to get on the bus. With every pass I experienced a cold tingle from the water or frozen pops which was a welcomed, cold brush against my shoulder, but this was often accompanied by an elbow to the head or hip to the face.
In Lobatse we just needed to catch another short combie ride to Molapowabojang. A combie is a significantly smaller van that they manage to cram 14 people into, including the drive. While we waited inside the combie for it to fill up, Jessica bought us both a Cool Time, a guava nectar treat. The frozen guava nectar comes in a little plastic bag and you bite off the corner before sucking out the slushy juice. It was exactly what I needed and was a perfect treat to enjoy and cool off with, if I could ever get the package open.
On the ride to Molapowabojang we saw baboons hanging out on the side of the road, just to remind us we’re in Africa still. I was soaking up everything, enjoying the short drive. The land was no longer flat, but instead we weaved through hills and Botswana’s version of a mountain, a larger than average hill.
We were dropped at the post office and had a short, five minute walk from there. Jessica pointed out a chicken in a tree. At first glance I thought it was nesting in the tree, but upon further inspection I noticed the head was dangling upside down, soon realizing it was sitting dead in the tree. Jessica told me someone threw the chicken in the tree for no apparent reason. Unsure why someone would hurt an innocent chicken, we continued walking to Jessica’s little pink house.
Her house is in a larger compound with a few other homes. The woman who owns the compound owns chickens, so she gets free eggs as well as the protection of close neighbors to watch over her house. There are certainly perks to living in a compound like this, but I’m not sure how I would fare with neighbors constantly knowing what I was doing. Jessica’s front door enters into the kitchen with a fridge, stove, and small sink. To the right of the kitchen is a living room with a table and couch set. To the left of the kitchen, divided by a shower curtain as a door, is the bedroom and beyond the bedroom is the bathroom, again divided by a curtain. The front door is the only door in the house. Jessica was serious when she said there is a lack of privacy in her house. It was nice to get a sense of what living conditions may be like. I’m hoping to have more than one door.
We spent the rest of the afternoon exchanging movies, music, and books. I now have 200 more books to choose from when I’m reading my kindle. I should be set for the next two years. For dinner we had taco salad with ground beef, tomatoes, avocado, cheese, and fresh lettuce. It has been over four weeks since I’ve had fresh lettuce and it was just what I needed. I would have licked the bowl clean if I wasn’t distracted by Jessica smashing a cockroach just across the room.
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