Woefully short of sugar

As it turns out, the Batswana do not celebrate Halloween so it has been a very tame October 31st for me and my fellow Americans. Altho some international students tried to organize a toga party (which is made twice as awesome because all of our sheets are stamped with "PROPERTY OF UB")but I abstained because 1) I think I stand out enough among the locals without inexplicably dressing up in bedsheets on an october night and 2) because I went out the night before and woke up with a case of food poisoning at 3am (cold chinese takeout food, poor choice) Food poisoning when hungover....shudder (probably on top ten list of miserable life experiences) As I spent the day delicately sipping 2 liters of "oral rehydration fluid" (read: nastiness in a bottle)I decided to go to bed.The only thing I really missed was the candy. There is woefully little chocolate in Gaborone, partially because it is so sunny and hot that it is impossible to keep it in a solid, edible form and I am seriously missing the snickers concept.
On the bright side of things, we did get to meet a traditional spiritual healer/ aka witch doctor who told us how the ancestors instruct him in how to heal people. He was mostly an herbalist who treated headaches etc but he also sold medicines that would help someone get a better job or increase their social standing. I was thrilled to hear that he frequently refered patients to the hospital for injuries and complex diseases but also alarmed because he believes in treating early-stage HIV/AIDs with laxatives. (I will post a pic of the guy another time because the internet is demon-infested right now and needs to be exorcised). I liked talking to the guy and I figure that if I carry through with my desire to work in medicine in third world countries I will come into contact with such traditional figures a lot and it is good to try to understand them now. If you want to purchase a curse, by the way, send me a check and I can see what he'll do.
After the healer we went to the game reserve and our advisor, Batsi/ Black Jesus (as he is frequently called) served us a lunch guaranteed to treat the homesickness borne of a missed holiday. We ate mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies and doritos (all of the things that are hard to find in Botswana) and did Americans proud by how many carbs were consumed. All the while we were observed by a large group of monkeys who I was convinced were plotting our destruction in order to steal the lunch. I tried to bring one home but his brethren resented the kidnapping so I backed off. Good times were generally had by all. I hope everyone at home had a happy halloween, and that they got miserably sick from too much candy so that I don't feel totally bummed for missing it. I'll again try to post the picture of the traditional doctor after seeking a healing from him for the demons from this laptop but do not hold your breath. Until then, peace out!

PS Ouch!: My politics prof (the angry one) was ranting about team allocations for FIFA in the UK (who is suddenly 3 countries and gets multiple teams while all of Africa gets 6) he said, and I quote, "The US doesn't split itself into its 53 states!" We looked at him quizzically and he responded, "Oh, sorry, is it 54 now with Iraq?" ZING! Want some ice with that BURN!? We didn't ask him what the other 3 states were for fear he'd have an answer. (altho later that week on the teacher evaluation form I explained that, "I was afraid to ask questions because he might kill me...with his mind powers" I wonder if they will be able to guess who's eval it is?)