Giblet-eating and dunk competitions

Friends!!

Man. So many things going on these days. I've settled into an all-around great level of zen lately, and I'm really enjoying all the adventures and randomness I experience here.

Work this week:

- We're four interviews in!!! We were aiming for five by the end of this week, but hey, four isn't so bad. I've already started transcription…. save me! Seriously though, these interviews have been INNNNNNTERESTING! I felt a bit scared for the first one, it's intimidating being 22 and talking to middle-aged men about their personal lives, but after the first participant gave me a lovely 50 minute interview, I realized it would be completely fine, and SO FASCINATING. It was the perfect way to kick off the research. All of the men have been really open and goldmines for interesting information.

The questionnaire

I was really not expecting such VAST differences in belief systems. Some of the men have been amazingly progressive, whereas one in particular was extremely traditional in his beliefs. As an interviewer, I try and maintain as much neutrality as possible, but secretly in my head there were definitely a few "what!!!!!!!!" moments. One man flat out told me he doesn't believe in gender equality because of what the bible tells us about men and women. Another thinks that single mothers earning high salaries are damaging their children's development. Tradition calls for men to do "botsetse", a three month separation from their partner and newborn. Technically they aren't supposed to see their baby at all until botsetsi is complete. It is thought to protect the health of the baby. It's becoming more common for men to reject this, or to at least visit the baby during the separation, but all of the men I interviewed so far lived away from their partners following the birth of the baby.

So yeah. A lot of super interesting things so far. But the really good news is, all the men spoke EXTREMELY well about the Father's Group and MenCare in general, and they were all either excitedly expecting their child, or proud fathers of newborns (www.men-care.org).

- Mid-week we had a HILARIOUS combi ride. We take combis (basically a 12 person van thingy, although it usually ends up being like, 40000000 people squished together like sardines) almost everyday, but they are often a pretty dreaded thing. They're hot, slow, and SOOO squished. Personal space doesn't exist on these. So this one morning, we were waiting with some random guy in a uniform to catch a combi to work. This strange bus drives up. It was bigger than a combi, but sometimes the combis are nicer than usual, so we thought it was fine. The guy looked at us and asked where we were going. We said "Spar", the grocery store here, and he said "yeah, come on." We got on, and OH my GOD it was suuuuuuuuch a scene! We had boarded a bus filled ONLY with middle-aged, uniformed men, and they were FREAKING OUT that two white women got on their bus. They were HOWWWWLING with laughter! Kate and I were initially SOOOO confused, but after a few chats found out that we had boarded a bus that takes government workers to the work sites, and there are NEVER women on their bus, mind you WHITE women. It was honestly the most hilarious thing on the planet. All the men were trying to talk to us at once, they were ROARING with laughter and making jokes about us interrupting the sausage fest. I sat with the guy who was at our stop and asked him why he told us to come on, and he said he thought it would be really funny. He was right. SUCH a hilarious moment! We got to Spar, and the driver told us it was free of charge. I loved it. SO random!

- SUMMER IS COMING. I haven't had to wear my god damn grey sweater in ages, and I used to wear it every single day because it was the warmest thing I brought. The afternoons are ROASTING already. What will for realz summer be like?! I am already a sweaty mess 90% of the time.

Other non-work thing:

- Guys. I have a problem: bugs!!!!!!!!!

This week, I don't know WHAT is up, but suddenly I am finding really gross bugs all over the place. I know it's silly and ridiculous, but I don't do well with bugs at all. AT all. I freeze, I can't bring myself to kill them, it's just all around a bad scene. And now that winter is ending, I'm pretty sure that all the creepy crawlies are conspiring against me.

Kate has been an epic travel partner because of her ability to kill spiders for me. It's the BEST quality. One spider was in my closet for THREE DAYS stressing me out, until finally I called in the pro (Kate), and she took care of it in no time flat. I'm (usually) pretty rational about life, so I feel EXTRA idiotic when I completely lose my shit because of a wee, tiny baby spider. But I can't control it! So, the other day we were talking about bugs, and to save my ego, I may or may not have overstated my abilities a bit. I told Kate that it was mostly only spiders that posed a big problem for me, and that I could probably kill a cockroach if I had to.

WELL.

Lessons have been learned about talking big games hahahaha.

It was Friday night. I was in my gear, ready to do some yoga (woooooo goin wild on a Friday niiiiiiight!!!!!!!), and I got to my space, only to find a COCKROACH, stuck on his back, right by my mat.

It was instantly "oh god no."

So. I called in the pro (Kate), but since I'd already committed to killing the damn thing, I needed to save face. I was on my own. Kate has killed enough on my behalf already hahaha. Luckily she stayed with me for moral support, but it was AWWWWWFULLLLLLLLLLL. First of all, I don't think I've ever seen a real-live cockroach. Second of all, they are big. Third of all, THEY ARE GROSS. So. How to kill it? I couldn't just STEP on it, it was too big and juicy for that. I couldn't vacuum it, it would probably survive and become a mutant cockroach or something. After much deliberation, I devised a plan. Step one: drop a piece of cardboard on it (thank god the thing was stationary). Step two: SCREAM AND STOMP ON IT HARDER THAN I'VE EVER STOMPED. Ew, ew, ew, ew. Needless to say, it suffered a quick death. And I lived to see another day.

So, progress, right? I'm building my confidence. Facing my fears. Becoming more lionhearted. Hopefully it will get easier? Kate suggested we make a chart, so I did. Us versus them. WE WILL WIN.

If you have tips for overcoming an irrational fear of bugs, or know some surefire ways to end cockroaches (ugh, puke), let me know! I need all the help I can get.

Little roach, consider this a warning to your other friends.

- Saturday was another random and excellent adventure. I seriously live for our unexpected nights in Gabs. I never, ever know what to expect, and even if I think I know the plan, it always ends up being random. We thought we were going to a normal basketball game. But in the end, our night included (but was not limited to):

1. Randomly playing basketball at these public courts

2. Meeting a bunch of random people

3. Hanging out and drinking at a car-wash/makeshift restaurant. The host adamantly wanted us to eat the giblets she was cooking. We were both politely saying no thank you, until Kate pointed out how bonkers it is that I'll eat a mopani worm but not try giblets. True! SO, I tried giblets, and it tasted just like chicken.

4. Pizza-eating. NOM!

5. Visiting our friend's place, who literally has half a dozen dogs

6. Going back to the courts for a HUGE ASS BASKETBALL GAME/dance party. It was an all-stars game, and while the game was happening there was a bumpin DJ and a full-on dance party next to the court. Soooo random, SO AWESOME! There was even a dunk competition.

7. A stop at a random club that was too expensive for us

8. A two hour heart-to-heart, most of it spent sitting in our driveway

We got home sooooo late, but it was such a great night!

PACKED

The dance party right beside the court

DJ!

It's fair to say that we stood out haha

Dunk competition!

Choosing the dunk champion

- Sunday (today), we went back to Gabs for a 1.5 hour yoga session with a lovely WUSC volunteer who did yoga with us at Stepping Stones. It was a pretty intense session. I was SOAKED by the end of it. It was awesome to have a teacher though, I miss classes! I hope it becomes a regular thing. I have a feeling I'll be sore tomorrow.

The most gorgeous studio!

Some much-needed doggy love while waiting for a class to start

There are also a lot of exciting things on the horizon:

- By the end of this week, we hope to have a solid 10 interviews under our belt

- My family is coming in less than a month!!!! (In case you missed it, you should definitely send letters to my folks so they can bring them to me. You will get ten thousand gold stars!)

- We get a new roomie pretty soon!

- My birthday is a couple weeks away! 23 say whaaaaat!

My iMessage/Facetime isn't working and I can't figure it out. SO, get at me with emails if you need me, and I'm sorry if I left you hanging. Below are some random pictures. That's all for now! Peace and love! Send me your thoughts!

Oh and like Stepping Stones International (www.steppingstonesintl.org) on Facebook because duh, we rock!!!

shilaleblanc@gmail.com

Shila 

I've been meaning to post a picture of this for ages. This is the insanity bus rank. This picture doesn't do it justice because it was taken on a Sunday when a lot of the buses aren't running. It's PURE madness.

I really love the cool trees here

Fred came back for one last day. Goodbye Fred! We will miss you!

Random dance sessions in the hall

An income-generating activity: making necklaces. The kids use feathers for the finer-detail painting.

Making the beads to dry in the sun.

Oh heyyyy! They LOVE how you can see the screen while taking pictures.

Decorating tips and more

Internet friends!

I'm serious, Stepping Stones International (www.steppingstonesintl.org) has SO MUCH GOING ON! This week FLEW by, and there were tons of different things on the go. Every single week is a new adventure!

This week at work:

- On Monday, I did a yoga session with staff for a staff wellness activity! It went really well, and some of the women were interested in learning more, so we're now doing weekly yoga practice after work! DREAM COME TRUE! :D :D Photocred from the yoga session goes to Cate Gunn, a fantastic art psychotherapist from London. She was here for two weeks and sadly left this past week. Cate, it really was a pleasure, I enjoyed your company muchly! :)

Zennnnnn

Talking everyone through some poses

Checkin out the downward dogs of my new yogis/yoginis 

Feeling happy in happy baby

Savasana

- I'm diving into the new literacy modules, and so far I'm LOVING it! I've already seeing progress, and it's honestly the most rewarding thing everrrrrr! I had a moment this week where I was on the verge of tears of happiness. One of my students was finally getting it, and had the biggest, most PROUD grin as she read, and she was flyyyyying through the activity and getting it all completely right. SO amazing! We're working a lot on expanding their English vocabulary. It can be pretty challenging. How do you describe an elevator, for example?

- WE GOT ETHICS APPROVAL!!! It took us aaaaages, but we got it, so I hope that by next week I'll have at least five interviews under my belt. We'll see about that, my fingers are definitely crossed!

Yipeeeee!!!

- We sadly had to say goodbye to Fred, a German volunteer who has been with Stepping Stones for an entire year. It was pretty touching to see the kids saying thank you to him! Below is a video of the kids singing him a thank you song. It's a song about god, but the message is to give praise. I giggled because we tried to decorate the hall as best we could, but the only balloons we had said "Happy 9th Birthday!" Kate and I were hoping no one would notice, but the kids are so sharp, they were like "ummm… Shila, who's turning 9?!" I also made the HUGE mistake of randomly asking four girls to blow up the four balloons I had. It caused CHAOS, everyone wanted a balloon and they were so not pleased with me. I should have known better! I felt so bad, and ended up promising them all a balloon before I leave in December. So uh, hey mom…. wanna bring me 70 balloons when you come?!?

Practicing their songs

Rookie mistakes- asking kids to blow up balloons when I didn't have enough for everyone

The goodbye ceremony

One of my precious readers doing a skit about Fred helping them with computers 

Luckymore has a BEAUTIFUL voice

The attentive audience

Outside of work:

- It's almost the ONE MONTH countdown for my family's visit!!! I am SO so SO excited! Again, if you feel inspired to write me something, get at me for my parents' address! No need to mail something to Africa, just mail it to Halifax instead! I would love you forever and ever and ever!

- Guys, summer is coming! It was chilly here for a while, but now it's really starting to heat up. I can fully wear sandals and t shirts! I'm so excited to see what it's like to live in a +40C climate. I will be a puddle of sweat and I'm curious about whether I'll love it or hate it. Only time will tell!!

- I had a straaaaange moment early this week where I woke up super disoriented in the middle of the night because I thought my dog was crying at my door like he would in Halifax. Then I realized I was hearing a chicken, and that I'm not in Canada, but actually in Africa. It was the strangest feeling!

- I miss cheese graters

- This weekend was pretty low key. We went to Gabs on Saturday, got groceries, had a good meal, and got back late evening. It was good!

- On Sunday, Kate got her hair braided! Leanne, a lovely tutor at SSI, spent HOURS doing it. I suppose it wasn't technically braids, it was twists. I even learned how to do it, and helped do a few to speed things along. Final pictures to come

Kate's new hair dresser

Mad skillzzzzzz! Doing her hair took HOURS!

- We haven't had power outages in AGES, and I'm SO thankful! Today (Sunday) the power was out from the morning until 330pm, and I was so frustrated. I guess I've really gotten used to consistent power! When it used to happen all the time, I was barely phased by it. Thank god they are much less frequent! It was a rough start to things without power every few days. Elections are coming in January, so the president is doing extra to keep people with power.

- In case you were curious, the strawberries from last week have made the world's best smoothies, and the new handheld shower head has been the BEST THING ON THE PLANET! I am sooooooo muchhhhhh cleanerrrrrrrrrrrrr! Hygiene winnnnn!

My house, and "decorating" in Mochudi:

Sometimes, you just gotta make things work. Our house is a perfect example of this! I've attached some pictures of the place for your own enjoyment/curiosity. It isn't the nicest, but it's pretty fantastic compared to some other places we could be living! Like k, fine, I won't submit it to a decorating magazine, but it looks (and feels) a hell of a lot nicer than it did when we first got here! I'd show you the outside but I can't (because duh, safety) but it looks like a normal brick house. There are usually cows outside the gate. If I was here permanently I would probably put a little more effort, but this is working just fine. It's all about being resourceful. You don't have curtains for your bathroom? A random tablecloth will work just fine! Your couches are a filthy and hideous mint green? Some of them are unsafe to sit on? Toss the oldies, and get some sheets to cover the others! It isn't perfect, but I feel a lot better sitting on them without the fear of getting a rash/falling through. I also love the random mural someone painted in my bathroom. Seriously though, the place is coming along!

Tablecloth curtains for the win

Because OBVIOUSLY you wanted to see my toilet

I especially love this random mural in my bathroom

Our lovely dinner table and my yoga area by the front door

Using sheets to cover couches = makin it work! We don't have a TV, but we can always watch the window!

The hallway at the end leads to the rooms/bathrooms. Brown carpet and wood paneling? A decorating masterpiece haha

Someone bring me a cheese grater and a garlic press k?

The view from our kitchen sink. Kate was doing some laundry.

We are apparently cow whisperers. They're always hanging outside our gate.

That's all for this week, send me your thoughts!

Peace and love all the way from Botswana!!

Enjoy the video, and turn down your sound. It's NOISY!

shilaleblanc@gmail.com

I have no creativity with titles.

Oh hayyyyy

How is errbody doing these days? Another week in Mochudi has passed! I've been feeling pretty good lately, it's strange because I'm actually starting to feel really used to life here. In my mind, my Canadian life seems so surreal and distant now. My lifestyle is so drastically different here, and it now feels pretty normal. The thought of having sooooo many luxuries back home seems SO weird to me. I won't know what to do with myself when I'm back, that's for sure!

It's Sunday night and I'd say it was a good week, and a good weekend.

New things at work these days:

- Monday, I was at the MOST random conference ever, entitled "Service Providers Training on Child Related Legislation." The psychosocial support department at SSI was busy, so I was somehow roped into going. I was supposed to be there for two days, but it was FAR from fruitful, so I came back to Stepping Stones on Tuesday, thank god haha. I suppose I now know a lot more about the child protection act, buuuuut it was very, very drab.

- For the rest of the week, I was getting training for the new literacy program we're implementing. The assessments were a wake up call, to say the least. We're almost done testing every single kid, and the VAST majority of our kids are extremely behind in terms of their reading abilities. Only one kid is reading at their grade level. ONE! I'm SUPER excited to start these modules, but it is VERY bittersweet. I'm now going from 22 readers, to only six. With this new program, I'll spend every single afternoon doing 45 minute, one-on-one sessions with the six kids who have the lowest reading capabilities, and I'll be using a different model than the other tutors because of how low my readers are. This is EXCELLENT in the sense that I'll see these six kids every single day, and my sessions will be a zillion times more effective and structured. This is also really sad though. I'm pretty heartbroken that I won't be reading with the other kids anymore. I guess I've become pretty attached to them, and even though I know they'll be in the capable hands of other tutors, I'm a little crestfallen that I won't see their progress first hand. The readers I DO have are awesome though. Two of them are going to be huge challenges behaviourally speaking, but I'm ready for it. Even though they are hard to deal with, I'm pretty fond of them. Another one of my students is 20 years old, and he's reading at an early grade 2 level. SO, I'm sad to lose some readers, but I'm VERY excited to get in and there and do some intensive work! We'll train again for the rest of this week and formally start the modules the week after. The goal: get these kids to read to learn, not learn to read!

- Aside from the training, I have been working on the research stuff and on curriculum stuff for leadership

SO.

Other random things this week:

- We went out on Friday and had another very fun and random night in Gabs. Kate and I had some vino (thanks Julia, we miss you!) and started the night at a restaurant that had a band and karaoke. Then, we went to this huge bash (an eviction party, I suppose) for the last Batswana to get the boot on Big Brother Africa, and it looked like a fun time, but the line was HUUUUGE so we ended up going to a club instead. I was on the dance floor all night and it was a blast! I was hurting pretty bad the next morning though, and laid in bed for ages thinking about all the things I'd do for a greasy ol Big Mac. Whyyyyy doesn't Mochudi have pizza delivery?!?! Anyway, I felt a lot better after a lovely nap.

- Today (Sunday), we went to Gabs and had a successful shopping/eating/movie day. I happily found a bunch of things I'd been on the hunt for, so that was awesome. After shopping around for groceries and stuff, we went to see Wolverine and I loved it. I love X-Men stuff, and I'm SO appreciative of movies here in general. I also found STRAWBERRIES!!!!!! I was so happy. If there is ONE thing I've learned about shopping in Bots, if you see something you like, grab it then and there! There is zero consistency in terms of stock. Soooo I went a little overboard and got three packs, but man, they were DELICIOUS and my smoothies are going to rock now! I also splurged on pomegranates this week, but man, it was totally worth it. Fruit is SO delicious here.

- We're getting a new roomie in September! She's a Canadian from the west coast, and will be volunteering at Stepping Stones with us. She sounds really rad, and she'll be in Mochudi for three months. PUMPED!

- I've been pondering this for a while now, and in some ways I kiiiiiind of feel like this experience has made me a little materialistic. Not in a jerk way exactly, but in the sense that I now have SUCH a deep appreciation for certain things. It isn't like I want tons of stuff, I couldn't care less about owning a lot and we live a simple life here, but I never imagined a day where things like a familiar brand of lotion or a certain type of food could make me so happy. I guess I'm just ultra grateful for things now? I don't know. I found Reses pieces today and I was like !!!!!!OMG!!!!!!! So yeah. This is definitely an unexpected side effect of this trip, and I can't decide if it's a good or bad thing.

- We are slowly but surely making our house a comfy place to live. I'll upload pics next week, it was too dark to take pictures tonight, but we've improved our living room significantly and I'm pretty excited about it. Details to come :)

- The mouse has been MIA, which is awesome, but now our house is getting MAJORLY attacked by ants. They are taking overrrrr! We're going to have to get into extreme exterminator mode ASAP.

- I started watching The Sopranos series. I'm now on season 2, it's pretty addicting. The one downfall: I am having the craaaaziest mob dreams.

- Check out this YouTube video, it's a SUUUPER popular song here, we hear it every single weekend. Doesn't it just make you want to dance?!

OH!!!!!
And.

I almost forgot! 

Sending mail to Africa is kind of crazy. It takes a zillion years to get here, if it gets here at all. BUT! With my family coming, there is a veeeery magical opportunity to get letters to me! SO, if you happen to be in the mood to do some hand writing, write me something, ANYTHING, and all you have to do is send it to Halifax! Email me and I'll give you my folks' address! I would love you forever!

That's all for now. Sending big peace vibes, and extra big love vibes :)

shilaleblanc@gmail.com

I lent the kids my camera. Isn't this a great shot?!

Then they grabbed me from the office.

A gorgeous project from art therapy sessions.

Pals :)

Giving the kids a chat about the importance of good behavior

Giving one of our mentors a gift to recognize all of his amazing work. Way to go Raymond!

A conference about child related legislation.... DRAB

A huge eviction party for the last Batswana to get voted off Big Brother Africa. It looked so fun, but the line was wayyyyy too long.

We had our own fun Friday instead!

A club in Botswana! 

I took this from my bus window on the drive back from Gabs.

My fannnnntastic mini yoga studio.

STRAWBERRIES! So so so pumped!

Pomegranate. SO DELISH!