Shila Travels: 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.