February 2006 Archives

Several people in the next training group have asked what it is like to be a District AIDS Coordinator volunteer. I will try to avoid repeating the jargon in your Welcome Packet that gives you a very technical description of the job. My answers to commonly asked questions are below. For the most part, I have generalized the experience of all of the DAC volunteers, so some of the things apply to me while others do not. Please feel free to ask me to expand on certain points or ask me anything else you would like to know. I will make a follow-up post, if appropriate, or reply to you directly.

I think I may be suffering from rugby withdrawal. Last Saturday was a bye week in the Six-Nations Rugby Tournament, the annual event pitting the northern hemisphere’s top national teams against each other with bragging at stake. England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Whales are set to play three more times in as many weeks.

It was two of our expat friends in Moleps, a Welshman and an Englishman, who raked us into the action. I’ll have to say that it’s almost as much fun listening to them as it is watching the games. From what I have gathered, England never loses they just have “too many injuries or don’t show up some weeks.” Likewise, Whales is “just warming up for the World Cup next year when it all counts.” At least they seem to be in agreement that the Italians are “dirty, cheating bastards” whose “home wins shouldn’t count.” With the absence of Scandinavian teams, I don’t know who I should be rooting for (as an American it’s assumed that I will be rooting for any team playing against France).

I like that rugby has more flow to it and less stoppages in play than American football. Each game has two 40-minute halves, mostly commercial free, with a running clock unless of an injury. Unsportsmanlike behavior is quickly reprimanded and players are more interested in setting up the next drive than in celebrating every routine tackle or three-yard run. Although Wrestle Bowl Mania XL was televised live on satellite dish in Botswana, I didn’t manage to see it. Quite frankly, I didn’t really care.

South Africa went rugby mad when its national team, the Springboks, hosted and captured the Rugby World Cup in 1995. Some interest has drifted across the boarder into Botswana and participation is growing, however, rugby is still considered an expat sport up here in the hinterlands.

I brought five pairs of shoes with me but in hindsight I probably would have brought only three. The five pairs I brought were: a pair of Simple’s, low-cut hiking books, running shoes, Teva flip flops (recently replaced by Chacos) and Sunspot sandals (replaced with Borns).

Before I go through the pros and cons of each I should share my shoe bias: I am a barefoot, sandal kind of person. I hate wearing shoes that require socks or pantyhose. I only wear running shoes for working out because I know they give me better protection than sandals. That being said, here’s what I think about the shoes I brought:

Low-Cut Hiking Boots: I was getting ready to write all about why I hated the fact that I brought boots. Then it rained everyday for the last week and I finally wore my boots to trudge through the mud to and from work. They were nice to have, but for one week of use they’re not exactly practical. If I didn’t have boots I probably would have worn my running shoes. So, now I feel kind of ambivalent about the boots. The other thing I wanted to say about the boots is that when I bought them I imagine a lot more rustic of an experience in Botswana. Molepolole is a village of 60,000 people. We have a lot of paved roads and roads of packed dirt. Except for this straight week worth of rain, it otherwise has not been very muddy here.

You know a blog sucks when the author(s) offer up apologies for not posting more often. So here it goes: I apologize for not posting more often recently. There. I said it. This blog sucks. At least my contributions, or lack thereof, suck. This isn't that I don't have a lot to say--I always have a lot to say--I am just so damn busy with work lately that I don't have time to say it. (Now that's a sentence that will make your 8th grade English teacher cringe.) I guess I would rather spent what little free time I have socializing, reading or participating in recreational activities. When things slow down I promise to add a few more posts (and respond to the emails in my inbox). Otherwise, I will have to continue offering lame apologies that make this blog suck even more.

• Valentines Day Candy: Receiving my February edition of Oprah magazine this week reminded me that V-Day is just around the corner. My favorite part about V-Day is the candy. I’m not so much a chocolate person, but there are all kinds of treats this time of year: conversation hearts by Necco, gummy cinnamon hearts, Gobstoppers hearts, etc. One of my favorite things to do is go to the grocery store the day after V-Day and buy all the leftover candy at 50 percent off. (My sister Allison must have been reading my mind (albeit a few weeks early) because just as I was writing this I received a package from her with Sees Candy sucker candies and conversation hearts. Yum!)
• Eight Principles of Fun: A couple months ago one of my favorite blogs had a link to this website – Eight Principles of Fun . After watching the cool little movie I signed up for their newsletter, Outside the Lines. I noticed at the bottom of the newsletter that they list all the countries where the newsletter is read, and that Botswana did not appear yet. Imagine my surprise when just the other day I get an email from the author (Michael) saying that because I’m the first person in Botswana to sign up for the newsletter he’s sending me a “Eight Principles of Fun” card pack. I'm pretty excited about that.
• Get ready to Be Obsessed: That’s what it says on the back cover of “The Original Sudoku” (a gift from Allison), and they’re right. I can’t get those little puzzles out of my mind. I’m even having dreams about placing numbers in the right place. It’s crazy! I’ve graduated from “Easy” to “Medium” but now I’m stuck. I’ve looked up tips for solving them online so hopefully they will help!
• Movie marathon: Brian is in Gaborone this week attending a workshop. It’s the first time I’ve stayed at home by myself since we came last year. I have to say that I don’t know how single volunteers live by themselves. I really miss having Brian around to talk to. In his absence I’ve watched a movie every night this week, You’ve Got Mail; Ever After and Moulin Rouge (all movies that Brian would never watch with me.) Despite the fun I’ve had without Brian, I am looking forward to him coming home on Friday.

• District 6 Museum: While Suzie and Fallon visited Greenmarket Square for one more round of shopping, Brian, Scott and I visited the District 6 Museum. I enjoyed learning more about the history of Cape Town and apartheid.


• Cape Flats: We decided earlier in the week not to do a township tour because they usually involved visiting local schools, entrepreneurs, and shebeens (bars). We felt like we get enough o that living in Botswana, and that it would be awkward being the “gawking” white person. I am so glad, however, that we decided to drive out and find the Khayelitsha Craft Market. The townships give you a whole new appreciation (or un-appreciation) of poverty. I can honestly say that I’ve never seen poverty on such a mass scale before. Hundreds of homes made from a few sheets of metal crammed right next to each other for kilometers. You have to see it to understand it, and even then it’s really hard to fathom. Next time I’m in Cape Town I might do a township tour just to experience the townships on a more personal level.

• Breakfast at Olympia Café: Hands down the best breakfast I’ve had in Africa – and maybe anywhere. Scrambled eggs, potatoes and bacon on toast. It doesn’t sound like much but the eggs were light, fluffy and moist, potatoes cooked to perfection and the toast was on this amazing piece of wheat bread. Yum! Oh, and freshly squeezed orange juice. Can’t beat it.


• The penguins in Simons Town: I’ve never seen so many penguins in my whole life! At first we questioned whether or not to pay R20 for park entry because there were so many penguins just in the parking lot outside the park entrance. Afterwards we compared everything to the park – is (blank) really worth twice as much as Boulders Beach? First of all, the beach is just beautiful. The boulders protect the area from waves so the water is absolutely clear and still (although absolutely freezing!) Secondly, there are hundreds of penguins everywhere! They are the funniest little creatures. Penguins in South Africa used to be called “Jackass Penguins” because their mating call sounds like a donkey. (That is a sound we are more than familiar with coming from Botswana.) Then it was discovered that penguins in South America make the same sound, so now they’re just called “African Penguins.” (How plain.)

• Shopping!: Our goal for day five was to take it easy and recuperate from Table Mountain. We figured that shopping would be a relaxing way to spend the day but because it was Saturday the shops are only open until 1pm, so we still had to get an early start on the day! We visited St. George’s Mall and Greenmarket Square again, where I bought the bandanas that Suzie and I are wearing in the lower right hand corner. I also bought a really cute skirt that’s pink and has flowers embroidered on it.


• Monkeybiz: After the outdoor markets we visited Monkeybiz in Bo Kaap. They are famous for making beaded long-legged dolls. I also wanted to visit because the artists for Monkeybiz are all from Cape Flats and a lot are HIV-positive. The crafts at Monkeybiz are absolutely to die for. Unfortunately, they’re also pretty pricey on a Peace Corps budget.

Day four, the day you’ve all been waiting for. :) I can summarize it in one word: abseiling Table Mountain. (Okay, that’s three words.) It was unbelievable! Let’s start at the beginning.

I woke up Friday morning and immediately looked out the window to check out Table Mountain. No tablecloth? Check. No wind? Check. “I think this is our day folks!” I said, waking up the others.

After eating breakfast at the lower cable car station we set out to hike Platteklip Gorge. The Lonely Planet City Guide to Cape Town says something like “none of the routes to Tabe Mountain is easy but at least Platteklip Gorge is straight forward.” That sounded better than description of the Indian Windows route that said, “the hikers you see from the cable car, perched like mountain goats on apparently sheer cliffs, are taking this route.” Uh, no.

We started off our hike at a pretty slow pace. When you go from near sea level to almost 1,000 meters there are not a lot of flat or downhill areas to hike. After being passed by other groups of hikers, including what must have been a 6-year old with his parents, we girls decided to give up. It would have taken us six hours – instead of the suggested two – at the pace we were going. Besides, it was Brian and Scott who really wanted to hike up. So, while Brian and Scott continued their trek to the top, Fallon Suzie and I headed back down to take the cable car. (Brian says you have to “earn” the views of Table Mountain by hiking. I say that I earned the R105 to take the cable car. :))

The cable car ride up is fun, but in context of the whole day, not much to say about it.

So we get to the top of Table Mountain and start walking around to take in the spectacular views. Anyone visiting Cape Town at least needs to take the cable car up, even if you’re not going to abseil. There are lots of little paths to walk all around and great views of the beach and city.

Now, as much as I talked up the idea of abseiling, I’m still scared of heights. (I liked to say that I’m not afraid of heights, I’m afraid of falling from them. :)) From the upper cable car station it was easy to spot the Abseil Africa crew setting up. When we found a spot to look over where the ropes were hanging down my immediate thought was, “Oh, uh uh. No way.” I had seen the pictures on their website, I literally gasped out loud when it loaded, but to see the cliff in real life is absolutely heart stopping.

We started day three hoping to hike Table Mountain. For our first two days in Cape Town the infamous “tablecloth” had covered the top of Table Mountain. Thursday morning we didn’t see the tablecloth, but forgot to take into account the wind. By the time we drove to the lower cable car station the winds were so strong we didn’t want to get out of the car to eat breakfast!

With our Table Mountain plans scrapped we headed for Wine Country. Highlights of our tour through wine country include:

• Shopping at the craft market in Stellenbosch. Pretty much everyone bought something there. I bought my first animal sculpture – an elephant made from iron wood. (My philosophy on buying animal crafts is that I have to have seen the animal in a setting other than a zoo. Our camping trip to Nata finally allowed me to purchase the elephant!)


• Being goofy tourists: There were a bunch of organized tours going through Wine Country; all filled with people old enough to be our parents. At the Stellenbosch Information Center they gave away free visors, perfect for the “older” crowd. Of course we had to pick up our own visors and stage a picture with the information sign. (Check out the top left corner of the collage.) :)