April 2008 Archives

If you're looking for a game that's cheap, compact, easy to learn, fast to play and not too nerdy—then Pepper by Out of the Box is a great card game for you. Pepper is played with 3-5 people and takes between 5-20 minutes to complete a whole game. Each player starts with hand of numbered/colored cards and bounces them to opponents around the table with each turn. The object is to run out of cards WITHOUT having a card hit back at you. There's a lot of randomness to the game, but you have to figure out the major strategies in order to have a chance to win (e.g., follow the highest number cards closely, stockpile high cards whenever you have the chance, get rid of your lowest cards first, etc.)

I like to think of Pepper as a warm-up game (i.e., you play a few hands before divulging into a more serious game). It's also a great game to play with people that don't play games. In fact, we've played it with a lot of dinner guests between the main course and desert. Future Peace Corps Volunteers take note: Pepper is a great game for cross cultural and mixed age crowds as the cards are only numbered 1-6 and one of four colors. Not to mention, the rules are very simple and easy to explain.

Note: A book review is buried in this post…somewhere.

I had never thought of myself as a language person. I took the minimum two years of Spanish required for college entrance. I liked the class and did ok, but it just never took. In college, almost doing a summer semester in Norway led me to memorize a few dozen Norsk phrases. Of course, I had forgotten most of them by the time we backpacked across Norway several years later. So living in Botswana was really my first real attempt at learning a language, with which I’ve had mixed results. I’m probably better than 90 percent of the other Peace Corps volunteers in-country, but I am not totally fluent. (After 15-20 minutes I start to run out of things to say.) The problem was that I gave up on Setswana pretty early on after having trouble with tutors and not having access to learning materials. But then I got really into it towards the end of our time in Molepolole and it carried in to Gabs. I think reached the point with Setswana that I needed to go Setswana-only with everyone no matter what and memorize lists and lists of nouns and verbs. It’s finally getting a bit too late to do that. Up until a few weeks ago I carried around my Setswana dictionary and a little note pad to jot down new words and phrases I encountered.

Leina la me ke Heather, mo Botswana Setswana ke bidiwa Lesego or Lesh. (My name is Heather in Botswana I am called Lesego (leh-say-go) or Lesh.) Our host family during training gave Brian and I Setswana names. Mine is Lesego, which means luck or lucky. (Together our names mean "my luck".) I probably would not have continued using Lesego after training except that Heather is extremely tricky for others to pronounce. (I've had many, many slaughterings of my name and one that closely resembled Hitler.) Lesego was seemingly easier for people to understand but I still get some who think my name is “Masego”, which is the plural version of Lesego. It’s also difficult to use Lesego over the phone because people get confused by the lekgoa voice (i.e. non-Setswana accent) using a Setswana name. In Molepolole I also got called Mma Brian (Mrs Brian), which I loved. Since moving to Gabs last year, however, I am called Lesego less and less (and Mma Brian almost never.) Just our landlady and a few people at work call me Lesego.

In Setswana there are several unusual letter combination. Take “kg” for example. At first you’re tempted to pronounce “kg” like a normal “k”, but native speakers can always tell when you’re saying it wrong. I try to say it with more of a guttural sound, but even that is not quite right. Some words that have “kg” in them include “kgomo” (cow), “kgosi” (chief) and “kgotla” (traditional meeting place.) Kgotla is especially difficult because it has another tricky letter combination – “tla.” “Tla” isn’t a click but it’s also not a “kl” sound either. I have never been able to pronounce it correctly. Other unusual letter combos include “kh”, ”ts”, “tsh”, and “tlh.”

I get asked a lot by friends and coworkers if I eat and enjoy setswana foods. Of course I do, though setswana foods are rather plan and unimaginative for the most part. Not to mention that a lot of setswana foods aren’t unique to Botswana or even southern Africa (e.g., stewed chicken).

Still, my favorite “setswana” foods are:

• Seswa (boiled goat or beef, then pounded apart to almost like pulled meat)


• Setampa le dinagwa (dried maize kernels and beans, then boiled until soft and topped with meat broth or vegetable stew)


• Bogobe (sorgum porridge)


• Lephutshe (pumpkin)


• Makgomane (greenish squash)

And the setswana foods I hate and won’t eat include:

• Metogo (sour porridge)


• Serobe (cow or goat innards—gross!)

But perhaps my favorite local food is chakalaka. I know, I know. It’s not really setswana food—even though it is a common side dish in Botswana, especially at the street tree vendors I frequent in Gabs. I’m told that chakalaka is South African fusion—a spicy vegetable stew or relish with onions, carrots, tomatoes, maize, and cabbage. A proper mixture of Indian curries and/or Portuguese spices is essential to give it the necessary kick, as is a little cane sugar to give it that sweet/bitter combination you find in a lot of Afrikaner dishes.

The beauty of chakalaka is that it tastes differently each time it’s prepared and everyone has their own variation and preferred ingredients. Whenever Heather’s away I make a very mean chili russian chakalaka that will turn your ears red and clear out your sinuses for a week (insert Homer Simpson uuuhhhhhhhhhhggggggggg sound here). I’m also a big fan a Koo Brand Chakalaka, though it’s a bit too oily.

Our expat friends in Moleps gave as new chakalaka recipe that we can’t stop raving about. So if you have access to South African foods I strongly recommend trying it out:



Gareth’s Chakalaka

• Heat up 3 cans of your favorite type(s) of Koo Brand Chakalaka.


• Add in a half a can of coconut milk


• Mix in 4-5 heaping spoons of peanut butter.


• Add in a bit of turmeric and/or cumin.


• Heat through.

Gareth’s Chakalaka is very versatile. It can become a major part of the main dish or a relish to a side dish. Due to its almost Thai-like flavor, however, I think it’s best served on a bed of basmati or jasmine rice. We’ve poached chicken directly in the chakalaka mixture and also used it as a topper for grilled chicken breasts—both delicious.

Enjoy!

One of the best food-stuffs in Botswana is juice. I think it’s the one product where we have more variety here than in the U.S. Flavors range from your typical orange, apple and grape to the unusual like litchi. Our favorites flavors include mango, tropical, peach, strawberry, wild berry, berry blast and breakfast blend. All juice comes in 1-liter boxes and is almost always 100% juice. Prices are about P7-8/liter for the non-premium brand but will sometimes go as high as P9-10 or as low as P6 on sale. Brian and I will normally go through 2-4 boxes a week.

Umvuvu Camp is a little known treasure in the northern Okavango Delta area. We only know about it because a PCV in our training group lived in Seronga and met the owners there. While I like other locations in this series on “favorite places” Umvuvu Camp is at the top of my list for many reasons. First is the facilities, including the best camping showers in Botswana. (Open-air with hot water and a changing room areayou’re your clothes don’t get wet.) I could spend hours sitting by the hippo pool and they provide a clean and convenient cooking area. The second reason I love Umvuvu Camp is the reasonable costs. Camping cost P66 pp pn or they have chalets with beds for P110 pp pn that looked super comfy. (We rented camping mattresses – i.e. mattresses literally ripped off the beds from the chalets – for the best P10 I’ve ever spent.) Finally, Umvuvu Camp has great staff. Al, Scott, Brian and I were the only people at camp and had great personal service from two staff in particular, Meshack and Lovemore. Meshack took us on an Island Walk and introduced us to the local flora and fauna used by people from the area for purposes as varied as teeth brushing to medicine. Meshack and Lovemore were also our polers for the mekoro trips where Lovemore was able to spot a herd of zebra almost 1km away and Meshack stopped to show us wild potatoes that grow in the river. (And collect some for a stew he would make himself for dinner another day.)

The very small downside to Umvuvu Camp is that Seronga is difficult to reach (but from there Umvuvu Camp will pick you up for P60 pp). There’s no public transport, to drive from Mohembo requires a car with clearance so the only other option is a boat transfer from Swamp Stop in Sepopa. We had to charter our own boat because there were no previously scheduled transfers while we were there. It cost P965 each way for four people and totally worth it. If your schedule is more flexible Ryk at Swamp Stop (+267 71379326) said they make regular transfers that would have been less expensive. Altogether, though, I can't recommend Umvuvu Camp high enough. They're building a lodge and putting in a swimming pool and I'm looking forward to visiting again the next time we visit Bots. Contact them at umvuvucampbots@gmail.com or call Mark directly at +267 72574643

After hitting all the Botswana highlights while Al + Scott were here I wanted to write a little series on some of our favorite places and things to do. I’ll try to include as much detail as possible.

Today I’ll start with Kasane and camping at Chobe Safari Lodge. The lodge itself was recently renovated and is gorgeous. There’s a lot of room to hang-out in the open-air area with extremely comfortable couches. On their website camping is advertised at $14 per person per night, but we paid only P65 pp pn (~$10). What’s great about camping at the Lodge is that you still get to use the amenities (like the pool and pool-side area) plus Sedudu Bar is in the camping area and has the best sunsets in Botswana. (And there are some pretty amazing sunsets here.) The campground bathrooms are also very nice.

While in Kasane there are two must-do activities: 1) the sunset river cruise and 2) morning game drive. At Chobe Safari Lodge they each cost P130 pp plus park-entry fees (P30 for residents and P70 for non-residents.) The park-entry fee is good for 24 hours so you can do the game drive in the morning and river cruise in the afternoon and pay only once. I think these activities are some of the best money you’ll spend in Bots for the variety of animals you’ll get to see.

The only downside in Kasane is that there are no inexpensive places to eat, especially for dinner. We got stuck with the P125 pp buffet at the Lodge the first night; the food is good but expensive on a PCV budget. After that we tried to eat a big lunch either in Vic Falls or at Choppies and then snack for dinner.

As I mentioned before Al + Scott brought items from the dollar store in the U.S. to trade for crafts in Zimbabwe. The economic situation there is completely out of control so people cannot get basic necessities. Several friends and colleagues suggested bringing inexpensive items from the U.S. to trade so we decided to try it out ourselves.

The most popular items Al + Scott brought were personal hygiene products like toothbrushes and bars of soap. This was followed closely by packs pens (in fact, packs of anything were pretty popular). Notepads, packs of playing cards and single pens were less popular, but we were still able to trade everything away. Brian and I, on the other hand, brought used clothes to trade. In retrospect we wish we brought more with us because we have plenty of old clothes and they were popular. We did find out that women prefer skirts (the pants I brought were all traded with men) but men’s pants and shirts were both very popular.

At first we were nervous about trading – you don’t want to scam people who are already much worse off than you – but once we started trading it was addictive. There are, however, a couple of keys to successful trading. The first is understanding a sellers’ trick. It’s the old “foot-in-the-door” persuasion technique – ask for something small and then up the ante. Many sellers will offer to trade for something they see on you, like the hat you’re wearing. Once you agree to trade your hat the seller then asks for your hat and $5. Usually people walks away saying, “I just got ________ for my hat!” when in fact they got it for $5 and the seller took your hat as well. Therefore the trick is to get the cash price down so far that the seller won’t accept it outright. Then, as you’re about to walk away, you offer a trade to sweeten the deal.

The other key to trading is that you will almost always have to include at least some cash in the deal. (Although I did get a set of carved wooden serving spoons for a pair of women’s pants and a Zebras4Life wristband, the asking price was originally $8.) It takes understanding that the sellers need cash to replace the item you’re buying, so the trades are something valuable to them but are cutting into their cash profits.
Altogether we got a bunch of great stuff. Brian and I got two wooden bowls, four hand-painted magnets, two pieces of decorative fabrics and a set of carved wooden spoons for less than $35 plus trades. Al + Scott got three wooden giraffes, a rock carving, a batik, and some small animal carvings. I’m not sure how much cash they spent, but they were able to trade everything away that they brought with them.

Here are some of my favorite pics from our travels with Al + Scott. It was a lot of fun to hit our favorite sites in Bots again. I've edited our pictures down to just over 700, not bad. Our itinerary was as follows:

Day 1: Pick up Al + Scott in Joburg.
Day 2: Drive Joburg to Gabs, braii at Ben & Sheelagh's
Day 3: Rest day in Gabs
Day 4: Gabs-Nata, overnight at Nata Lodge
Day 5: Nata-Kasane, sunset river cruise, overnight at Chobe Safari Lodge
Day 6: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Day 7: Rest day in Kasane
Day 8: Kasane-Sepopa, overnight at Sepopa Swamp Stop
Day 9: Sepopa-Seronga, overnight at Umvuvu Camp
Day 10: Mekoro trips
Day 11: Seronga-Ghanzi via Etsha 6 basket co-op
Day 12: Ghanzi-Gabs
Day 13: Molepolole day-trip via Thamaga Pottery
Day 14: Gabs day

(in no particular order)

• Braii at Ben + Sheelagh's
• Paying $160,000,000 each for lunch in Zimbabwe (approx. equal to $4)
• Trading stuff Al + Scott bought at the dollar store in the U.S. for crafts
• Sunset river cruise on the Choba River in Kasane.
• Driving through two large herds of elephants in Chobe National Park between Kasane and Ngoma
• Driving through the Caprivi Strip
• Umvuvu Camp
• Sleeping in tents everywhere we went but still getting a good shower.
• Lots of craft shopping

We had five cameras amongst four adults (not including camera phones) and took more than 1600 pics in a two week period. Not sure that I'll ever be able to edit them down. I'll try to post some of my favorites soon.

After months of waiting for acceptances and then financial aid info and then lots of indecision Brian and I have finally chosen where we'll be attending graduate school. Yea! So here's the big announcement:

Brian will be going to the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, Georgia where he was offered a scholarship and graduate assistantship.

I, on the other hand, will be attending the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. So, yes, we'll be living apart for awhile. I'll finish my degree in 11-months though so the plan is to graduate and then move to Atlanta while Brian finishes his.

Right now I am feeling nervous, sad and excited all at the same time. I'm nervous about going back to school. Changing my mindset to an academic one and whether I'll be successful at Hopkins. I'm sad about leaving Bots. That is going to come much too quickly now. But at the same time I am excited about what graduate school will bring, the new friends I'll get to make and about finishing up this phase of my life.

I will be posting here a lot as we start to wrap things up here. There's still Al & Scott's visit to review plus all the little details about life in Bots that I want to record. Stay tuned.