little victories

Yesterday marked a monumental step in my Botswana life.

I went to cross the street 

and I looked right, then left.

This has been an ongoing battle since day one

and has resulted in more than a few "close calls" between the combis and I.

Since this is a former British protectorate, they drive on the left side of the road.

For as long as I could consistently differentiate between my lefts and rights I have been told by my parents'

"When crossing the road: left, right, left."

as to not be hit by a car.

Now, I have begun to adjust to life here at a subconscious level.

(This driving on the left side of the road thing also applies to walking. I have also adjusted to that. Now if you fail to pass someone on the sidewalk by swerving left, it is awkward because you practically run into them... but you won't face death, hopefully.)

I only have 59 more days in this beautiful country.

Sobs. 

That's 59 days to secure my 'left side of the road' thinking and return to the harb to literally run into every single person I meet in Albertsons.

So friends, prepare yourselves, I'm comin' in hot. 

waka waka (this time for africa)

Sadly, as of today, my spring break has come to an end.

I have thrown all of my incredibly dirty clothing onto my floor,

kicked my sand-filled shoes under my desk,

checked under my covers and bed for disturbingly large spiders,

and now,

I rest. 

Oh sleep, how you are welcomed here.

I'm exhausted.

But, I would be disappointed if after an week of camping in the bush I was perfectly energized.

This exhaustion is the result of adventure.

______

Saturday morning, at an ungodly hour, a few friends and I packed up and hopped on a combi to the Rail Park bus station in Gaborone, Botswana.

We then found a bus going to Francistown and hopped on in!

This bus ride was about 5 hours long.

Upon arrival to Francistown, we booked it through the bus rink in search of our bus to Kasane.

Unfortunately, we missed it by literally 3 minutes. 

Boo hiss.

It was noon.

We asked around about the next bus and found that it did not leave until 11:00pm.

So, we had three options.

1. Hitchhike 

2. Find a hostel somewhere.

3. Take the night bus.

We decided that option number three was the most logical, our group was too large to hitchhike in one vehicle and hostels cost money.

So, we waited around the bus rink for hours and hours until finally boarding our bus.

We arrived in Kasane, after the craziest bus ride of my life, at around 6:30am.

We then slept in tents for a few hours to power us for the day.

The sleep was so sound that when we all awoke, it felt like we had slept the whole night.

At 10:00am we made our way to Kasane where we boarded a boat and cruised down the Chobe River.

Holy hippos, it was incredible.

Our boat driver (captain?) was super adventurous, which made some uncomfortable, but thoroughly excited me!

He would get real up-close and personal with the animals.

He would do this so much so that as soon as they disappeared under water, he would have to floor it to avoid them attacking the boat. 

Hello Mr. Hippo

and Ms. Elephant.

_____

The next day, we went accross the boarder to Zimbabwe.

Here, we traveled to Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

and boy oh boy, does it deserve it!

I stared in awe at this massive cascade.

My brain could not/cannot comprehend the amounts of water pouring over the edge of the cliffs. 

A few friends and I hiked around the falls to different check points with fantastic views.

Now, this large of a waterfall creates mucho sprays.

If that were not enough, it was thunder storming.

Needless to say, we got a bit wet.

By checkpoint number three: we were drenched completely.

Thankfully, we had plastic-baggied our things beforehand.

So as an unfortunate result, I am limited in pictures of this beautiful scene. 

But oh baby, if God created this for earth...

Heaven.

_____

The following days we stayed in Chobe.

We were originally supposed to venture to the delta, but for time's sake and the desire to not take a 4 hour car ride in the back of a truck in the rain.... we stayed put. 

This was no bummer though.

It was beautiful.

_____

Every night of the trip, we camped.

Now, this was no camping for sissies...

This camping was intense. 

(All of you who know that joke, it's appropriate for you to laugh here.)

We pitched our tents in the middle of the Chobe National Park.

Literally, we were sleeping with lions, hippos, elephants, ect..

You could hear them in your sleep.

Have you ever fallen asleep to the sound of lions growling

or hippos grunting

or elephants stomping?

I have.

(and am eager to do it again)

_____

We went on two game drives per day, one in the morning at an again ungodly hour, and again before dinner.

lions

elephants

impalas

 baboons

all sorts of neato birds

monkeys

kudu

giraffes

zebras

and many more beautiful creatures

neef neef.

bashful baby baboon. 

my sassy impala friend.

she says hello.

oh hey there, watch out for dem alligators!

you're gonna here her roar.

_____

Unfortunately, my trip had to end.

I am, after all, in school.

I have quite a few papers and projects to complete by Monday.

So, the few of us who had demanding work back at UB packed up and headed back.

(The rest continued onto Namibia...

not jealous at all.)

We left Kasane to Francistown

and Francistown to Gaborone.

_____

I miss it already.

Easter break cannot come soon enough!

_____

Well, now I guess I'll go get myself an egg phaphata and begin my assignments.

If any of you are just dying to write a narrative post-colonial, historical interpretation of John 11, give me a holler and I'm sure we can work something out. ;)

Assuming I will have no takers on that offer, I really should be going.

_____

go siame. 

(goodbye.)

shadows

Dumela bo mma. Dumela bo rra. 

O tshogile jang?

O teng?

Ke na le mhikela.

______

Hello everyone.

How are you?

Are you good?

I am sick.

______

I was hit with a difficult reality today.

I walked into the student center, as per usual, to by myself an egg phaphata for breakfast.

The "line" is usually quite long and haphazard.

(I put line in "" because the concept of a line is foreign to Botswana. "Clump" or "Smoosh to the front with no personal space" is much more accurate.)

Today, there was no line.

Oh goody! I get to eat my breakfast and be on time to class today!

How splendid.

_____

Where are all of the people?

_____

Now, it was probably a combination of several factors that caused the line to be shortened today, but regardless it caused me to pause.

I looked around and saw lines of people congregated around tents.

Yes, tents. 

Inside.

_____

I asked some people what was happening.

They responded

"HIV/AIDS testing."

_____

oh.

_____

There are over 360,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Botswana today.

11,000 are children.

That is an extremely high number considering that there are only 2 million people in this country.

(The highest in the world, actually.)

There are 160,000 orphans.

_____

I'm sick. 

But I'll get better.

_____

It's hard to find the beauty in all of this
but I'm trying.

The David Crowder Band produced a stunning song on their "Church Music" album titled "Shadows"

It has been of great comfort as of late.

So much truth.

It goes like this:

"Life is full of light and shadow

O the joy and O the sorrow

O the sorrow

And yet will He bring

Dark to light

And yet will He bring

Day from night

When shadows fall on us

We will not fear

We will remember

When darkness falls on us

We will not fear

We will remember

When all seems lost

When we're thrown and we're tossed

We remember the cost

We rest in Him

Shadow of the cross"

_____

In one of my classes, taught by M. W. Dube, we are studying the Gospels in an HIV/AIDS context.

She calls us to question:

As Christians, are we to be fullheartedly and relentlessly involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS?

God is the creator and lover of life.

"It was good."

_____

So we fight.

In Him

With the power of the cross.

_____

Tsamaya sentle, pule e nele tseleng. 

_____

Go well, have a blessed journey.

Literally: Let it rain on you as you go. 

(Remember, this language comes from the desert) 

forced reliance

The last few weeks have been pretty rough.

Those of you who know me well and even those of you who barely know me at all most likely have observed that I am a fairly independent individual.

and by fairly independent, I mean quite independent.

and by quite independent, I mean extremely independent.

That, my friends, is why the last few weeks have been a struggle.

Here in Gaborone, my independence is super limited.

I cannot go anywhere or do anything on my own.

Back home, in Chicago, I spend my afternoons relaxing in different coffee shops studying and enjoying my much needed alone time.

I am so ridiculously productive, it's actually insane.

Also, I enjoy a daily run.

During this run I get to work out (appreciate the pun please) all of my stresses and come home a refreshed and sweaty human.

I also walk, a lot.

I walk to the grocery store.

I walk to coffee.

I walk to the lake.

I walk to church.

I walk to friend's places.

I walk walk walk.

I also problem solve.

I problem solve for others, I problem solve for myself, I even (on the not-so-rare occasion) problem solve for strangers.

I like to take things into my own hands and make my life my life.

It is difficult for me to let others help me.

because, I can help myself.

well

here

that

is

not

a

thing.

like, at all.

And boy oh boy, it makes life really hard.

I cannot walk anywhere by myself because it is dangerous.

So consequently, everywhere I go, I go with others.

I cannot sit anywhere on campus alone because it is not culturally normal for one to sit alone.

This results in me attempting to journal while constantly being asked "are you okay?"

Well, I was.

If that were not enough, I keep getting sick!

and not like, oh it's just a cold, sick...

but sick sick.

I am currently battling strep throat.

This has me stuck in my little room.

The aloneness is nice, but it is forcing me to rely on those around me.

Those same people that I am forced to be around for safety I am not forced to be around for general survival. 

They are kind enough to bring me food

water

internet

and drugs

penicillin to be specific.

They keep coming to help even though I do not ask.

It's good, because I won't ask.

because I can take care of it on my own.

all on my own.

because I'm strong

independent

and perfectly capable of not dying.

_____

Yeah Kayla, keep telling yourself that.

Forced reliance.

It sucks.

It's annoying.

I hate it.

I need it...

maybe

?

kind of

?

yeah...

_____

The weird thing is, I love community.

Oh man, community and I are tight.

Best friends.

Big fan.

Big fan!

_____

Forced reliance.

learning

to 

tollerate.

_____

ugh.

_____

I know it's good for me.