Basketball & More

Hey lovelies!

So first of all, I want to send out a HUGE thank you to everyone for the birthday lovin! It was the biggest treat ever to get so many thoughtful and kind messages. You all certainly know how to make a gal feel loved :) Thank you thank you thank you! I'm the most appreciative!

Another week has passed. It's reeeeally strange that at home summer is ending and everyone is getting back into the swing of things. Here, summer is just beginning, and it's getting hotter and hotter every single day. In the span of literally two weeks, it went from chilly and cool to full on ROASTING! It's a liiiiiittle intimidating because apparently it's going to get even hotter. At the moment it's mostly doable if you're stationary and inside, but doing things outside in the afternoon? I MELT! I'm gross and sweaty 95% of the time now. Even the evenings are warm! My bed is a sauna.

This new temperature makes me miss the ocean even more than ever. The other day I laid there for ages listening to a track of wave sounds. All I want is to jump in the glorious salty ocean and cool off! Polar dip when I'm back? Absolutely. We've tossed around the idea of getting a kiddy pool so we can laugh at ourselves and get some relief from this heat. I kind of hope that ends up happening.

Some things this week:

- Milena has finally arrived! It's lovely to have some new company, and Kate and I have been showing her all the Mochudi ropes. It was Kate and I as the Bots Babes Duo, so maybe we're now the Three Botswana Musketeers? It's super interesting that Kate and I went from being total noobs to knowing the ins and outs of this place. We aren't experts by any stretch, but we certainly know a fair amount about Mochudi life.

The new roomie

- At work reading is still going really well. The interview transcriptions are on track and the work is 

KILLING me, but luckily we're almost finished. As I transcribe I have more time to reflect on the interviews, and man, it has been SO interesting! I have one interview left, so I'm majorly hoping that it happens ASAP.

I love this gal

The leadership kids during rehearsal

- Even though we've been here for three and a half months, we're still figuring new things out. This week we discovered a new combi route which cuts a good 20-25 minutes of walking for us in the mornings. I don't know how we didn't find this out sooner, but anyway, I appreciate the extra sleeping time

- Speaking of combis, we had a super interesting combi drive to work early this week. The combi itself was falling apart, the door could barely open, but inside there was this massive screen with a random movie on about the initiation schools of Botswana! A ghetto combi with a TV screen?!?! Soooo awesome.

A screen?!?!?!!

- This Friday we had a games day with the kids, and it was such a blast! I was running the Monopoly table, and initially I was dreading it. I'm not a huge Monopoly fan and I thought it would be too complicated/boring/time consuming. But it was a lesson for me to never underestimate these kids- I was SO impressed with them! They were so committed to playing the game and figuring out all the rules. They took it far more seriously than I anticipated! It ended up being a GREAT Friday afternoon

These kids are so great

Monopoly, using the South African rand

Getting starting

The game of life

I was seriously so impressed with the kids

- Friday night was SOOOOOOO marvellous. It was Milena's first night with us, and it was a FULL ON rain/lightning/thunder storm! We haven't heard the rain in over a month, so we poured some wine, lit some candles, shut off all the lights, opened all the blinds, and watched the storm. The rain was SOOOO soothing, we even ran outside to feel the rain drops. It smells different when it rains here, I'm guessing since there isn't any grass. It was just so relaxing, and it was a perfect time to get to know our new roomie.

- This weekend we went to Gabs for Kate's first basketball game. It was awesome! And also insanity. I can't believe the players can run up and down a hot cement court in the middle of the boiling afternoon sun. SO hot! But Kate played like a pro and Milena and I were her proud groupies cheering from the sidelines. Following that we had dinner and drinks at an Irish pub (I know, such a weird thing to have in Bots), and took it pretty easy for the rest of the night. Sunday we went to Gabs for another fantastic yoga session. We had super bad luck getting a hitch into Gabs, so it took us almost two hours to get there. Finally, we made it, and got some groceries before the class. Milena is a fellow yogini (who even packed her mat) so I'm PUMPED for us to practice together and learn from each other. The class was lovely, and we even finished with a lovely glass of wine!

My epic new leggings, perfect for yoga

Kate is a basketball star!!!

Warming up is a hilarious concept when the court is already scorching

I KNOW HER!!!!!!!!!

Skilllllzzzzz

A piece of heaven

Yoga outside in the shade with a lovely breeze? I died and went to heaven

- There are no words for the wonder that is Magnum ice cream bars. Ohhhhh myyyyy god heaven. Kate and I have been indulging pretty often because of the heat, and omg, they are the most delicious thing on the planet.

- I miss comfortable couches. We sat on one last week and almost fell asleep it was so glorious. Comfy couches are the best!

- No cockroaches this week (YAYYYYY!) but I woke up and found a scorpion in the bathtub. Gross. This one was a lot smaller, but man, heart attack city all the time!

Here is a video of the leadership kids practicing. I wish I could get more involved with the music they're doing but with research and reading I dont have a lot of time. The plus side is hearing the lovely melodies while I work :)

So all in all things are rocking! I caaaaaant even handle how soon I get to hug my family!!!

Peace and love!

Send me your thoughts, ask me questions!

shilaleblanc@gmail.com

Shila

These are in a lot of combis... creepy

We noticed a very special section just for us in a spa brochure

On Friday we distributed a bunch of stuff we had building up in the storage room

Playing a game to learn the multiples of 3

Justice's second challenge: get a plant and grow it. Good call lad, good call

This is where we wait for a hitch to Gabs. The New Good Hope grocery store has the basics if we're in a pinch

23!

Oh hey!

It's Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow marks me being a human for an entire 23 years!

I'm not a super big birthday person, but I do like getting older and smarter with every passing year. It feels good! Thanks to everyone for all the love :) <3

Another busy week has passed with all kinds of interesting things going on.

This week at work:

- Power outages are on the upswing lately and it's driving me a little bananas. It always seems to happen at the most inopportune times. Kate has been using the time to organize SO many things at the office, and I'm helping a bit (even though I HATE organizing) so it helps the time pass. I didn't make as much headway with transcriptions as I'd hoped because of the power being out so often, so next week I'll have to push to stay on track.

One of my readers

We love love love this kid

- Early in the week we had a morning training for financial literacy in relation to NGOs. It was a really informative thing overall. We got into groups and had to create a hypothetical annual budget based on restricted funding from a donor. It was TOUGH! I have so much more respect for what our director has to deal with on a continual basis.

-Milena our new roomie is arriving shortly and I'm pumped. She emailed and said she isn't phased by killing bugs- WHAT A PLUS! :D

- Speaking of bugs, there is good news this week: I haven't seen a SINGLE cockroach! Or scorpion for that matter. The best!

- Thursday afternoon marked the day of prayer for those impacted by HIV/AIDS, so a remembrance service was held with the kids. The motto is "Building Botswana through zero new infections." It was a really lovely ceremony.

Such a beautiful set up

Ribbons for the kids

A time for remembrance

Praying for those infected or impacted by HIV/AIDS

- Some of my readers have been testing my boundaries a bit now that the novelty of the new literacy program has worn off. I'm trying my best to use positive reinforcement to keep them motivated. I still adore reading though, challenges and all. It's so rewarding. One of my kids went from knowing only a few letter sounds to only missing four (and four hard ones): w, y, g (which makes a different sound in Setswana), and q. Progress!

We found some hilaaaaaarious random papers while we were sorting through shelves. We have NO idea what these are from, but some of the answers were sooooo great.

It is danger hahahahahaha

This weekend was such an adventure! 

My upcoming birthday was the perfect excuse to do some fun things.

On Saturday, we went to Gabs and had the best day. It started at this mall we've recently discovered that has GORGEOUS shops and restaurants. We ran into a co worker and had a lovely lunch. Then, shopping around. THEN, we were booked in for a one hour massage! And wow, whaaaaat an experience hahahaha. So first of all, we got there only to find out that we had signed up for the double-therapist massage, so each of us had TWO therapists working on us at the same time. Four hands = wowwwwww! There were some… let's say interesting massage techniques used at certain points, so Kate and I had to restrain ourselves from laughing sometimes. And there was certainly no concern for keeping body parts covered, which was also pretty hilarious. But overall I'd say it was worth every penny. Around $35CDN for an hour massage with TWO therapists? Yes please!

In the waiting room

Carmen, Maura, Coady kids, I can't even wait to reinstate back massages during debrief!

After the massage (and we were so oily that we could have slid to the mall), we randomly decided to take in a five minute 5D movie. It was SOOOO ghetto fab, I almost cried it was so funny. The seats moved, the screen was 3D, the video itself was the strangest thing, and at one point there was even random water sprayed on us. It was so bad that it was good!

5D! So hilarious.

Bloody Road, anyone?

Then we had dinner and drinks, met a couple people, and went to a bar that draws the expat crowd. It was a ball! It felt so interesting to not be the only white folks. I got dance lessons from a new friend and had a blast on the dance floor.

Getting dance lessons. I was like "A hand on the head? Really?!" but apparently it's what all the cool kids do.

Pondering the meaning of life. Or maybe what beer to get next :)

Kate fell in love

The life of the party, obvz

Hiiiiiii

New BFFs

The dance floooooo

Oh hey

We stopped in to another (much sketchier) bar in Mochudi for a quick jaunt in the "VIP" section (a sketchy back room), and finally tumbled into bed at 330. It was awesome! All in all, a solid weekend was had. Kate even baked me a delicious cake!!!

Nomnomnom CAKE! Thanks Kate!

Thanks to everyone for the birthday love, I am the luckiest! 

TWO WEEKS til my family is here!!!

Family! Get at me!

SO so SO so SO excited!!!

Sending peace and love vibes to errbody!

shilaleblanc@gmail.com

Shila  

We walk this road every day

Some shops

On the highway

See that pile of mud? It's an ant hill! Some of them are probably as tall as me! They're all over the place here. 

I'M HALFWAY!

THE HALFWAY POINT!

Guys! I'm now 1/2 way through my time in Botswana!!!

This is kind of a big deal!

I have lived and worked here for a full three months, and I have a mere three months to go before I jet through the sky for 25 hours to get back to Canada!

I don't know. It's just a lot for my mind to process lately. My life went from pretty average, I was doing my thing, and then HOLY MOTHER suddenly I live in Africa, and all of these crazy things have happened, and sometimes even my own blog seems like a strange dreamland. I still have these moments where I stop, look around, and think "oh my GOD, I am seriously in AFRICA!" It's a mixed bag emotionally. On the one hand I'm closer to some lovely reunions with people I really miss in Canada, but on the other hand I'm getting closer to some dreaded farewells.

I'd like to dedicate this entry to some of the things I've learned thus far, because trust me on this, I have already learned a TONNNNNNN of new things!

A quick recap on my week before I get into things:

- If you've been following along, you will have read about a truly dreadful encounter I had with a cockroach last week. Well, folks, I wasn't kidding when I said the creepy crawlies are out to get me. Guess what I found the other night in our hallway? A SCORPION!!!!!!!!!!!! It ran away and disappeared (which, great, gotta love a scorpion lurking in the shadows). The good news is, we've discovered that the brown ones aren't poisonous, and it's only the black ones we should worry about.

We also found more cockroaches that were SO BIG WE COULDNT VACUUM THEM UP, not kidding. Mutant, gigantic, abbbbbsolutely disgusting. Like, these aren't bugs. They're SMALL ANIMALS, basically in the same category as mice. How do people kill these things??!?!?!?!?! It's AWFUL. There was one in a cupboard and Kate and I were screaming our heads off. I'm pretty sure our neighbours thought we were getting murdered. It seems like every few days I'm practically having a heart attack because of some unwanted creature discovery. I suppose the one plus from this is that spiders aren't that scary anymore. 

- I've gotten through 8 interviews, and oh my GOD I have heard interesting things. I've struggled through thick accents and language barriers, I've heard about affairs, about how men feel about their pregnant partners, about poverty, about cultural taboos, and it has all been THE MOST interesting! My first transcription is 26 pages long and took hours…. this will be one long haul.

My absolute favourite line so far is "it's okay for a father to be a mother sometimes, and a mother to be a father." <3

- Our 90 visiting days in Bots are up, so on Friday we went to immigration in Gabs to extend our visa for another 90 days. SUUUUCH a gongshow! We hit the road at 630am to get there early and waited in the waiting room for an entire four hours, only to be told to come back after lunch. After lunch, it took another hour and a half. We were sent to another section of the building, and then up in a room, and then back to the waiting room, and then to another section of the building, and then we were questioned by three women, and then sent back down again, and after EVERYTHING we STILL didn't get sorted. On Monday we have a bunch of paperwork we need to do before we get the extension. I did get to read a lot of my book though, so it could have been worse.

- This weekend we took it easy and went to Gabs for another lovely yoga session on Sunday. On our hitch in to the capital, these two guys tried to recruit us as models for the front of their car rental posters. Hahaha, nice try, but not happening fellas!

So, after three whole months in Botswana, here are the top 10 things I've learned (so far):

10. There are some really great people out there:

It isn't that I didn't know this, but I'm increasingly appreciative of people who rock.

9. Humor can get you through almost anything:

I've noticed there are always two paths to choose from when things get tough. You can get frustrated/grumpy/mad, or you can take a step back, throw your arms in the air, and laugh at the complete ridiculousness of it all. Botswana has this great way of continually throwing me these unexpected curveballs and when I stop and think about it all, it can actually be pretty hilarious!

8. Take the time for a happy headspace:

It's easy to get caught up in things, but I'm realizing how important it is to ALWAYS set time aside to do something that makes me happy, even if it's something small. Doing yoga every single day has done wonders beyond for my mental health (and my limbs are way more flexible), and I'm realizing that I need to prioritize my life so I always put wellness at the top of the list. I'm seeing how valuable it is to take the time for myself.

7. Resilience is SO powerful:

I'm very glad that resilience exists in the world. An excellent example of resilience is with Botswana and the HIV epidemic. One in four people are HIV positive. That is crazy, crazy, crazy! But people continue with their lives! They do their thing. They endure. They are happy! People are resilient and I love it. I'm even surprised by my own ability to adapt and settle into this life. In my first month I never would have thought I'd feel as settled as I do now.

6. Patience is reeeeeeally hard, but also really important:

Being impatient is probably in my top-three worst qualities, and if there ever was a place to test it, it's here. "Botswana time" is SUCH a thing here, and it took a lot of getting used to. Here, you "schedule" things, but it will likely be anywhere from a couple hours to a couple weeks later than expected. EVERYTHING takes long, whether it's getting to work, waiting in a line, whatever. My patience is being pushed each and every day, and I do feel like I'm getting better at taking a deep breath and accepting things. And although I do love efficiency, there is something to be said for this laid back lifestyle.

5. Scrap how things "should be":

There are hard things that happen here. Some of it really weighs on my heart. Some of it drives me completely bonkers. But I'm using my very own and very specific lens to see the world, and it's really important to always remember this. In Canada, we keep horses in fenced areas. Here, horses (and all livestock for that matter) are free to roam as they wish. Is there a right way to own horses? I dont know. I'm not a cowgirl after all. But in Canada and in Botswana, horses are getting along just fine!

4. Silver linings make the world a zillion times better:

It's ALL about finding silver linings! My bus ride may have been the most sweaty and uncomfortable thing ever, but that one lady gave me the friendliest smile, and another guy helped a senior citizen carry her bags. Yeah, we may have cockroaches, but at least we don't have… snakes? hahaha It could always be worse, and there are a LOT of things to be grateful for! In a lot of ways I'm the LUCKIEST to be doing all of this!

3. I want to learn foreverrrrrrrrrrrr:

I'm learning how important it is to be really open to learning new things. Sometimes I notice a small piece of me that's resistant to things that test my own world view, but I'm finding it so useful to be receptive to things, even if it initially doesn't gel with what I think. In both happy moments and uncomfortable/hard moments, there are things to be learned. I'm doing so much learning these days! I turn 23 in exactly a week and I'm excited! With every birthday I get a little smarter.

2. There are layers, and more layers, and layers after that:

If there is one thing I've realized in Bots, what I see and what is actually going on are two very different things. Culture runs deep here just like it does anywhere else, and I'm continually reminded of how I know only a tiny, baby tip of the iceberg when it comes to what's going on. It's a great thing though. As I become less sure in what I know, I ask way more questions.

1. The only way to go is with the flow:

My number one learning is this! It's reeeeeeeeeally essential, and I've discovered that you need it in ALL aspects of life here. You need to share a bedroom for a month? Be friends. You don’t have a shower? Use a bowl to wash your hair. You don’t know where to go? Ask. You're squished on a bus and your arm sweat is mixing with someone else's? Accept the sweatiness. You don’t have power? Headlamp/candles. You don't have what you need? Get creative. Each and every day, I adjust, I adapt, I go to plab B or C or D or E. I sort it out, I get it done, I make it happen. My wise friend Maura gave this year the most fitting tagline in the world: 2013, makin it work. It's ALL about makin it work! Once you are no longer phased by the never-ending change of plans, it can be a lot of fun!

So with that, I'm wishing you all a lovely week!

One week til I'm 23,

Three weeks til my folks are here!

Sending everyone lots of peace and lots of love!

Shila

shilaleblanc@gmail.com

This one goes out to my FANTASTIC and beloved friend Justice, who asked me to post a picture of  my favorite art this week. For one of our staff wellness activities, we were asked to fold our paper, and then paint something to depict the chaos in the lives of the kids that come here on one side. Then, we were told to fold the paper. The left side represents the impact that the kids have on our own emotions. As the kids experience stress, so do we (aka countertransference). And I very much agree! It can be heavy on the heart some days.

Saying goodbye to a lovely Canadian volunteer who did art therapy with the kids

Hey pals

Nice hat!

Performing for Haley's goodbye ceremony

Groovin 

Such rhythm!

Haley gave them all a Canadian flag with "Love Each Other" written on each and every flag. Isn't that lovely!?

One of the fathers I interviewed had a sweet henna tat, so after the interview I asked to take a picture. SO COOL

KJFHS:DKHG:KSDGJKLSD GROSS

I died laughing! THIS IS CHEESE!!! It costs 1075 pula, which is roughly $130CDN.
(Denique, do u want sum cheese?)

Time freezers? YES PLEASE

Anyone who knows me knows my IMMENSE love for Birks. Mine have taken QUITE a beating since getting here. I lost a strap, and there are cracks through the soles. I'm hoping they last for the rest of this- I would die without them!