Dumela!
There seems to be a bit of confusion among some of you as to my exact whereabouts! For the record, I'm living in Gaborone (pronounced HA-bor-on-ee), aka Gabs, the capital of Botswana. I've been doing all of the exciting things one must do on moving to a new country, even temporarily. I've made not one, not two, but four separate trips to two different buildings trying to process my temporary visa. This is not a work permit, simply an extended stay permit, and I already had full documentation and paperwork done, including birth certificates, a medical note, cash, pictures, letters, copies, etc, etc. This adventure featured all that there is to love about the DMV, with significantly less organization. After I had exhausted the various line options, I ended up meeting with 4 different people in person, including (I think), the head of immigration for all of Botswana! (He called me madame and was quite apologetic). Turns out I also needed a separate medical permit certifying...well, I think it's worth quoting the whole thing. My PI had to certify that I was:
Not suffering from being an idiot; being an imbecile; being a feeble-minded person; being an epileptic; having had a previous attack of insanity; suffering from constitutional psychopathic inferiority; suffering from chronic alcoholism.
Not suffering from favus, framboesia or yaws, leprosy, scabies, syphilis, trachoma, tuberculosis or any other disease prescribed in terms of section 7 © of the Immigration Act.
I'm still not too sure about the "constitutional psychopathic inferiority" thing (wouldn't you say everyone has that at times?) but I definitely do not have framboesia--there's a fun google search for the med students out there!
I'm living right now in a very nice short-term apartment complex, even with heat and A/C, though I haven't needed either (yet). It's actually probably nicer than anything I've lived in before. I have a mini-fridge and a microwave, and the latest improvement is a hot plate, so my culinary options have just increased exponentially. The people who run the apartments are quite friendly, and let me occasionally dial-up to the internet from their computer.
It's just a 15-minute walk to work, and a 5-minute walk to a big shopping market (there are definitely some safety concerns about walking here, though plenty of people do in my neighborhood--so I'm strictly a daylight walker and carry nothing valuable). Taxis are another whole story. I even found a gym that's about a 10-minute walk, though it's proving challenging to fit it in around work within daylight hours. The good news is that the days will only get longer during the time I'm here (flipped seasons, you know). The bad news is that they will also get hotter!
I've actually been house-sitting for someone for most of this week, which included use of her car. I still have to think "left, left, left" when I turn, but being able to get around is great. She also has cable TV and, more to the point, a full bookshelf. (Of course, the power goes out for hours on end with some regularity, and I can only read so much by candlelight...) Books are
ridiculously expensive here, so I'm always on the lookout for new sources.
Gaborone itself is fairly universally described as a "sleepy town" in the various guidebooks, and let's just say they weren't exaggerating in terms of exciting cultural activities. I've seen a few billboards for "Annie," which is supposedly "coming soon" as "this year's musical stage show" (and no, I don't think that means "best show of the year!") I am, however, going to a
Mozart's Requiem concert tonight, featuring some of the people I work with, so I can't complain too much.
I'll try to write more as internet access and time allow. I won't be mentioning specifics about people or organizations I'm working with on this blog to protect privacy and stay out of blog-trouble. Please email me directly with comments or questions!
