Makgoa!

They "Hey Whitey" incident was the big kick off to a long string of reminders that I am a white person in Botswana, and therefore a part of a small and relatively secluded minority.

From what I've gathered, the white people in Botswana live mostly in wealthier areas of Gaborone and speak very little Setswana. They seem to have a tendency to stay away from the poorer areas unless they are people like us: volunteering for NGOs.

We learned from Thato and Karabo that the word for white people here is Makgoa (mahk-hoa, 'g' in Setswana is guttural like a German 'ch'--the best way to translate it is with an 'h'). Just one white person is a Lekgoa.

The 'kgoa' sound is used to indicate that Batswana didn't know where white people were coming from--they just knew they had boats. So they assumed white people were spit out of the ocean. It's interesting, however, that they do not refer to Afrikaaners as Makgoa.

We explained to Thato and Karabo that, in the United States, somebody would never go up to a group of African Americans and yell "black people!" Karabo especially, however thinks this is hilarious and will often shout "white people!" to get our attention or "black people!" to refer to himself and other Batswana.

We've encountered some interesting situations here, ranging from completely benign to highly irritating, thanks to the color of our skin. We are often treated differently, for better or worse, than Batswana.

People here often automatically speak English to us, even when we tried to speak Setswana to them. At the stores, I might greet the cashier with "Dumela mma" and get "Hello, how are you?" in return. The assumption seems to be that white people just don't speak Setswana.

When we do get beyond "Dumela" in a conversation, people are always surprised. Kids have especially remarkable reactions. They rarely see white people, let alone white people who will wave and sing the Setswana version of "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes" with them!

Mostly, we just get stared at a lot, because we obviously don't belong, and often we're treated very well--it's like we're guests of the entire country. However, there have been a few annoying things about standing out so much.

Just today, Chris and I got a taxi with Karabo to go to Riverwalk mall to cash Chris's traveler's cheques. When we got the taxi, which is supposed to be 18 Pula, the driver charged us 30 Pula (more than a cab would charge!) just because we were obviously foreign.

Also, teenage boys here--like a most teenage boys--like to make cat calls to girls. Because we stand out so much, we are especially targeted. The noises they make to girls are hissing noises (tssss tsssss...) and clicking noises that one would use to get a horse's attention. It's never a good feeling to feel like a horse! We've realized that it's best to just ignore it, but everytime it happens, it's more and more tempting to yell something back.

So far, this trip has made me much more aware of my so-called "race." Being white in the United States is seen as a kind of neutral state, and being another race is often framed as a deviation in another direction from that neutrality. Here, being white means living outside the norm and being constantly aware of how you look to other people.

I've confirmed with a few other people in the group that we'd like to just yell, "Makgoa!" every time we walk into a restaurant, mall, or store to ease the tension and acknowledge our whiteness.

...But I'm pretty sure that'd just make us stand out more.

Orientation Day

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Today was our first day of real orientation to the University and Gaborone (pronounced Ha-ba-ron-eh in Setswana.) We began the day with some exercises to explain our expectations from the program and had a few Setswana lessons. We also got a tour of the University from Karabo and Tato and an welcome session from UB’s international office.

This is my first time in a foreign country at a University. I know many international students at Ohio University, but now I’m getting to experience what it’s like to be an international student myself. Along with that, I'm also getting the experience of being noticeably foreign--or "exotic" as Dr. Pillay says. In my travels to Europe, I've certainly stuck out because of my way of dressing, mannerisms, lack of fluency in the language, and my touristy activities. However, the way that I looked was never the thing that defined me as foreign. Now, the color of my skin makes me stand out as obviously "other." People definitely want to know who we are and where we came from. Only 3% of the population in Botswana is white; so even if we lived here, we would be oddities. While it's a little strange to be so obviously out-of-place, it is fun to greet people on the street with "Dumela!" They look so surprised to see white people speaking Setswana.

For breakfast this morning, we also had boiled and fried eggs and a little fruit. Also, today we had tea time, which was very well received. We’re wondering why we don’t have tea time in the States! I haven't been a big tea drinker for most of my life, but it's chilly in the mornings here and tea is a nice way to relax and recharge mid-morning.

We (and our digestive systems) are slowly adjusting to the food, but generally it has been very good. I’ve tried almost everything (there are too many options to try every dish at every meal,) and I haven’t yet found anything totally revolting. I have heard that there is a kind of worm that is a delicacy here in Botswana that we might be trying. I’m starting to psych myself up for that experience!

After our lessons today, we went back to the mall. I didn't need anything, but I went along just for fun and another chance to walk around the city. The weather is just about perfect here. Just a little chilly in the mornings and evenings and warm and sunny in the days; there is no humidity. So, I like to take any chance I can get to be outside. The designers of the University obviously understood the neccesity of taking advantage of the weather, because the campus is very open and airy with a lot of courtyards.

After we returned from the mall, we had some dinner and then changed to play some sports at the University sports areas. People played volleyball for a while and then I think they played some football (soccer.) However, I left with some of the other girls to get the internet working in my room.

That being said, the internet is working! Thanks to Clare Mulach's magical notepad with connection instructions that apparently work by simply being placed next to one's laptop, I was able to get the ethernet to connect. Hopefully this will mean much more regular posts (and no backdating--like I did on the last one!)

Today's the Day!

My flight leaves early this evening! It seems everything's in order for a smooth trip.

As a requirement of the program, I had to write an "Initial Impression Paper" to describe what I expected Botswana would be like. I decided to share that paper here:

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Initial Impressions Paper

When travelling, I try not to have too many preconceived notions of the places I am going. The images I create in my mind are rarely accurate and usually not as good as what I ultimately end up experiencing. That being said, however, I have of course begun to imagine what Botswana will be like. I do not know how correct these assumptions are, but they are nevertheless the basis of my initial impressions of Botswana.

One aspect of life in Botswana that I have been forced to confront is the weather. I cannot very well pack my suitcase without some prior knowledge about the climate. I will admit I have done some research. I know that Gaborone is very close to the desert, and I know that deserts have high temperature fluctuations. With that in mind, I looked up the average highs and lows for Gaborone in June and July, as well as the precipitation averages. The data confirmed my suspicion that June and July are the middle of a dry winter with very little cloud-cover, leading to big temperature differences. Unfortunately, this has made my packing more difficult rather than easier.

In previous travels, I have found that I remember certain colors. From my experience living with a host family in southern Germany, I remember Bavarian blue; reflecting on my trips to the Czech Republic makes me think of the red dye that many women there use in their hair; and, oddly enough, I will always remember the strange, pink sauce on my hamburger at a small racetrack in Estonia. I will not know the colors that remind me of Botswana until after I have returned, but I can imagine what colors might stand out to me. For some reason, I associate the African continent with the color yellow—maybe it is because yellow is a prominent color in African flags, maybe because a few of my African studies textbooks have been yellow, or maybe the Sahara and Kalahari look yellow on maps. Whatever the reason, I expect to see more yellow there than I do at home.

I also know that the colors of people’s skin will stand out to me. Obviously, the United States has a racial majority of whites/Caucasians, albeit this majority is getting smaller and smaller all the time. I think being in the racial minority for the first time will be an eye-opening experience. I am eager to reassess and reshape my expectations that most people are white; I look forward to a white person being an anomaly, rather than the norm.

Smells are some of the most difficult things to imagine prior to a trip, but smell is always the first sense to bring back memories of my time abroad. I can still imagine the smells of the Steinbergers’ old Bavarian farmhouse in Aich and the fresh air off the vineyards that poured into our hotel window in South Tirol. I can not conjure up the scents of Botswana without having experienced them, but I do expect them to be different from anything I have smelled before. I think the air there will be fresher and the scent of the dirt will remind me how far away I am from home.

Having been told that a lot of the meals in Botswana consist of meat and starches, I have been wondering what the food will be like. For a long time, I was not a meat-lover at all. I desperately tried to be a vegetarian but settled for very little red meat and more fish. After being at college, I have become a much less picky eater. However, I will still choose raw fruits and vegetables over beef or chicken if given the choice. To me, meat and starches at every meal sounds flavorless and heavy. I think the diet will be the part of the experience that will follow the culture shock phases of honeymoon, negotiation, and adjustment.

Finally, the sounds that I expect to hear in Gaborone are very much like the smells: difficult to create without actual experience. Based on the size of the city, I expect to hear cars and voices on the street. However, at night, I think the city will be quieter than most since it seems that it has relatively little public nightlife.

On the one hand, I hope that Botswana lives up to everything I have imagined. On the other hand, I also hope that Botswana is totally different from everything I have imagined. I think it will be a little bit of both: the country itself will be unlike anything I could dream up, while the experience will be above and beyond my imaginings.