LESSONS LEARNED AFTER 2 YEARS IN BOTSWANA
This week we reached our 2 year anniversary of living as Peace Corps volunteers in Botswana. As I was walking down memory lane this week-- seeing the 56 other new faces of anxious Americans, watching the African continent come into the horizon after 14 hours on board our plane, eating our first traditional Botswana meal upon arrival- I couldn’t help but feel how “green” we were back then.
The first few months of living here (believe me, they did NOT feel like a just a few months) we were like children finding our way around the world. Nervous, inquisitive, frustrated and astonished at what you would consider the simplest of things (riding in a car! Eggs sold in our village?! Chickens come when they’re called?! Rope: the developing world’s Duct Tape, can fix anything from a broken down car to a chair).
Fast forward two years and we now feel like veterans. We secretly giggle at the struggles and astonishments of the newer inductees (don’t judge! There’s not a lot to do hereJ ): because we’ve been there. We teach them how to talk to their co-workers to get what they want, how to make their meat chewable without hours of cooking and the best techniques for bearing through the weather.
In light of all this, I decided to sit down and make a “serious list” of “Things I’ve learned Since Coming to Botswana”. I’ll take these lessons with me through the rest of my life….
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| Our very productive garden the first year. We learned to garden in pure sand! |
- Chickens, like most other birds, sleep in trees! They’re especially fond of lemon trees. Also, despite what movies have taught us throughout the years, roosters do not crow at dawn. All chickens crow, squawk or otherwise make a terrible racket at ALL hours of the night!
- Free range livestock come “home” at night. You don’t even have to round ‘em up! They just know! Amazing!
- If you let them, dogs will take care of themselves. Yep, all that pampering and tending to you do for your dog…...is actually for you. Ok, maybe with the exception of man-made dogs that have been bred into stupidity. Dogs can and will find their own food. They heal their own wounds. They make themselves well again when they are sick (with a few exceptions). They get rid of ticks and other pests. They live in and take care of their pack. They play and fight other dogs and get stronger. It is incredible how intelligent, clever and resilient dogs are! Living here I’ve learned how important it is for ME to care for, pet, play with, talk to and nurture our three dogs. But it is fascinating to sometimes sit back and watch the pack take care of each other.
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| Our dogs' pack. Though we only own three of them, the other two have joined for their own security and we can do nothing about it. They all follow us everywhere! |
- Campfire Ash- the best cleanser man or nature can make. Step aside Ajax, Comet, Bar Keepers Friend and Oxiclean! Firewood ash will scrub a burnt pot clean and get grit and grime of any surface. Try it! (ps. many household cleansers in the US used to, or still do use ash in their products
Pouch-cooking over an open flame when we didn't have cooking gas - Shaving razor blades are re-sharpen-able! Stop buying those expensive razor blade cartridges every time yours go dull! You can simply re-sharpen your razor blades by running them in the opposite direction over (preferably course) hair. I use Todd's arm :) Whereas I used to go through a razor blade approximately once a week, I now use one for up to 3 months! Todd’s of course last much longer since he hasn’t gotten into shaving his legs yet ;)
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- Yes you can! make….anything: Americans are pretty obsessed with convenience in the U.S. This means we buy almost everything pre-made and rarely practice ‘Jerry Rigging’.
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| A very typical 'Jerry Rigged' fence using an old broken rake as a pole |
But when you move away and find these conveniences gone, you are forced to learn the art of self-sufficiency! Here are a few things we have hand-made or repurposed: all food (including breads and cakes, pasta, stocks, sauces, soups, syrups, pumpkin purée, cheese, soda, granola, and one time by accident; butter), a garden, tomato cages, fence, window screens, candle holders, baskets, body cooling devices, dog food, barbeque pit, toilet seat, artwork, storage containers. Once you start, it becomes a fun game to see how many uses you can get out of once piece of, what otherwise might have been considered, garbage!
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| Home made dog food- cornmeal cooked with beef fat with salt |
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| Our daily bread |
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| One of the many ways one can eat beans |
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| Learning to milk a cow |
- A thorough tooth brushing only requires 2 cups of water; bathing just 2 gallons; full scrub down with rinsing, using a bucket and a cup
- Donkeys: the eleventh plague/Gods only lasting curse on the earth: hideous nightmare creatures that ruin everything! arrrg
- The value of pizza: Oh the sweet comfort of a familiar and delicious meal! There is not much else we look forward to here. Pizza night is every Friday (and sometimes Saturday and Sunday ). When I asked Todd how to describe how much pizza means to us, he immediately says “Essential….an emotional stabilizer….. it’s a fixed point we can focus on to get us through a week”. Ha! Yes- It’s THAT important
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| A favorite, with back bacon, three kinds of peppers and mozzerella |
- There is no limit to the number of people and animals that can fit into a truck. In a place where transportation is rare and difficult, people will do anything to get a ride somewhere; inside, outside, on top, underneath- desperate times call for desperate measures. It's a good thing they don't mind (there is no such thing as personal space here).
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- How incredibly resilient the human body is: The first year of bearing through the 9 months of 95-105 degree weather and scorching sun brought a lot of heat sickness and many hours of my day were spent in a cold bath or otherwise trying to drop my internal temp. I was absolutely miserable. By year 2 the heat still sucked, but I could actually function despite it! An unexpected surprise my body gave me.
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| Components of a traditional medicinal tea I drank, which completely relieved me of a bad cold within 8 hours |
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| Working on the traditional fense that will keep animals out of our garden |
- The art of doing nothing: I have never been more INactive in my entire life. After a (long) while though, it became sort of nice. Sitting and watching nature, crawling the web, taking an afternoon nap, petting our dogs. The slow life is good too.
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| Todd playing a very common tire racing game with a neighbor kid. Hilarious to watch, the kid didn't stand a chance. |
- Special English: This is the unique type of English you must use when speaking to a Southern African. You learn it pretty quickly, after the use of standard American English fails you time and again. Hard to explain; it’s a mixture of elementary vocabulary, British English and some Afrikaans terms, and a funny African accent that over-enunciates each word. It’s like learning a whole new language- we only speak Setswana and Special English here. American English is reserved for other PC volunteers and expats.
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| We celebrated 45 years of Botswana's independance last year. A cake I made with local flowers for a party |
Way cool Amanda... You guys have alot to teach me...
It’s never too early to think about the Third Goal. Check out Peace Corps Experience: Write & Publish Your Memoir. Oh! If you want a good laugh about what PC service was like in a Spanish-speaking country back in the 1970’s, read South of the Frontera: A Peace Corps Memoir.
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