Almost 4 months down...

Heres a rundown of what I've been up to the past couple of days:

Community Assessment: I'm finally somewhat motivated to get out and introduce myself to various clinics, NGOs, and schools. So Ive made my way around Tlokweng and stopped by a couple of clinics and schools. A fellow PCV gave me some suggested interview questions, so I used the questions to talk to some nurses and guidance teachers. I learned that several of the junior secondary schools had intentions of an abstinence or PACT club, but none of them seemed to be active.

BORNUS workshop: My M&E(monitoring and evaluation) officer and I attended a 4 day workshop this week for BORNUS (Botswana Retired Nurses Society) on strategic planning. BORNUS is a community based organization that provides care and support to PLWAs, OVCs, and the terminally+chronically ill. For once, most of the talking was actually done in english-as the facilitator was American as well; which made it a bit more interesting for me. However, during group discussions, many of the members wanted my help or input, but I found it hard since I was still learning about their organization and still dont really feel like im at a place to do that. But I tried to place input on where I could and found the workshop to be helpful in really getting a real grasp on how an NGO works and how the Batswana people work and think.

I actually met a young man, who went to college in the US and spent 6 years there! It was nice to talk to someone who somewhat understood me. We talked about food ha. He said he missed SUBS and Caribbean food; and told me he didnt blame me for hating bohobe- he agreed its completely tasteless! He said he spent some time in DC and really loved it (he even mentioned "Adams Morgan and Arlington" which was like heaven ringing in my ears! He was a really nice guy and when I tried to figure out if he lived in my village or not...disappointingly I found out he commutes from another village. Even though thats probably the last time I'll see him...it was nice to have someone to talk to...for once.

Moving offices: As I have stated before the DAC office was at the kgotla (or main meeting place), but as of today, we have actually moved locations. Apparently the move was supposed to be in January and kept getting postponed. We are now housed at the sub-district council offices/RAC. I was told we were going to be moving last week, and I was quite interested to see how it was all going to pan out in the end. And to say the least, it was interesting. We pretty much just threw stuff into boxes (that werent even taped on the bottom) and I still dont really know how-but somehow managed to get things over to the new place. Needless to say, there was not a single ounce of organization. And I found it funny that they wouldnt throw away 2 year old newspapers, yet the computers could not be moved, until we dusted them first. Clearly, my priorities are out of whack. But the new space consists of 2 rooms, which are pretty disastrous at the moment-since we dont have any shelving units to put all of our stuff. Again, moving in Botswana is quite the adventure.

Last week, I stopped in a 'school' for kids with special needs because there were rumors a Special Olympics tournament was coming up. And I can admit, I walked out of there in tears. I only spent about 5 minutes there and the woman I spoke to said I was welcome any time and I said hi to a few kids, but it just made me realize how much I miss that. I have to find a way to surround myself with the things that make me smile. And those kids definitely make me smile. (I was supposed to attend the SO tournament this weekend but we found out it was postponed. But hopefully I'll be able to go when it happens and I hope to find out how I can get involved with them.)

Along with all this stuff, ive been attempting to slowly make my house a bit more "homey." Last weekend I spent my saturday at a nearby garden center. It was nice to just relax and kind of clear my mind, but I was also like a kid in a candy shop-and wanted to buy everything. However, I maintained some self control and bought: 2 tools for digging, a packet of sunflower seeds, packet of "herb garden" mix seeds (i have NO idea which herbs were included, so it'll be a fun surprise), and 2 pots! Since I'm still figuring out exactly how I want to do my garden, I decided to start with just potting the sunflowers+herbs and if they get bigger, I can plant them outside later. But im happy to say- I SPY GREEN!!! Hopefully its not weeds...

I've also been cooking a lot, since it takes up time and the end result makes me happy...but Ive decided I need to figure out a new hobby. If I keep cooking, the way I have been for the past 2 months...I'll be 100 pounds bigger by the time I get home. And coming home from Africa, heavier is just plain wrong. So...anyone have any good ideas? I was thinking about trying to teach myself to knit- but the book I saw was wayyyy too expensive and in all honesty-i'll probably try it out for like 2 seconds and than ill give up. So again, ideas welcome...

As I've said before, im trying to set up things to look forward to and break up my time here as well. So in 3 weeks, I'll be heading to IST (PC training) for about 2 weeks. It will be a nice break and I'll get to see the other volunteers; even though I dont actually get to leave site-because its at the Oasis Motel, which is in Tlokweng. yay. BUT the weekend we get out, is my birthday weekend, so I plan on having people over and celebrating! I have hopes of making lasagna...even though it probably means I'll be eating rice+ketchup for the rest of the month! But it'll be SOOOOO worth it!! AND I found out IRINA (one of my best friends from home) will be vacationing in South Africa with her family, and Im hoping to make my way to Cape Town to visit with her!!!