As I have officially been in Botswana for more than a week, I consider myself to be an expert on all things Botswana and so I decided to share some fun factoids I have gathered during my time here:
First, apparently in Africa when one specifies a time for some function, that is only a very vague suggestion and it really means show up at your conveniencce some hours later. As a result, people walk very liesurely here. Some people back at home have perhaps suggested that I walk slightly faster than is normal; I have recently been informed that apparently the reason people stare at me here is not just because I am white but really because they want to know where the hell I am going in such a god-aweful hurry......oh
Second, the bathrooms here are not stocked with toilet paper or soap, one is expected to bring one's own supply. They do, however, hire a woman to wax the tile floors in the dorm EVERY SINGLE DAY; fyi, flip flops have no traction on a waxed floor and a fallen white girl is an infinite source of amusement for the locals.
Third, local girls do not go to the student bar on campus and if you show up with five other white girls to get a couple of beers to go you will instantly have five new male best friends who will buy you a beer and want you to take them back with you to the states in december.
In other news, I think I was proposed to today but it was kinda hard to tell over the noise of the washing machines in the background. I politely explained, however, that I promised my mother that I would not get married in Botswana. (he offered to go back to the states for the wedding, considerate of him). I also was informed by a fellow exchange student, after joking that I was totally chill and laid-back, that I have a "triple A" personality, but that it is delightful (Thanks, I guess?). Finally, I attempted to spread the neighborly word today and it was met with incredulity and slight alarm by my fellow students. Oh, and I recently fought off a rabid panda with my trusty pocket knife. Peace out home-skillets
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have read many of these posts now. am beginning, slowly but surely, to doubt the veracity of every story you tell involving a pocket knife. am beginning to think pocket knife is complex metaphor for neocolonial black market operation involving mercenaries, drug trade, and almost certainly government of china. wholeheartedly approve of this.
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