Beautiful Sunset at The Old House

Will be adding more pictures on Facebook shortly if the internet is fast enough!

First Impressions

Sorry this is coming a bit later than I wanted, the internet has been out at the center since yesterday morning so I haven't had a chance to get online for a little while!

      Since I only described travel last time, I figure I should probably be a bit more descriptive of what it is like here so that the rest of the blog is easier to understand. Well it is Africa! There are many things similar to Ghana that I was not surprised of: non-main roads in pretty bad condition, very dry air (until December), shortages of water and electricity, very laid back people, the typical ‘Africa’ things I suppose. But there are differences as well. The scenery here is a bit more Lion King-esque, as well as the plethora of animals. Especially during the dry season when animals need to come to the Chobe River for water, there are elephants, buffalo, baboons, waterbuck and bushbuck, lions, hyenas, wild dogs, jackals, impala, and many others, passing through the town or the outskirts from day to day. The birds are remarkable! All different colors, shapes and sizes. Some are similar to American birds (we have heard a dove several times, and seen some vultures) but they are different as well. Most have some kind of bright coloring or special tail or beak. We will be going on a birding trip this weekend in the park so I can’t wait to find out what all of them are.

     Yesterday, a Ground Hornbill was brought in to the center by a person who saw it get hit by a car. This species is an endangered species of hornbills so we are trying our best to save it! Maria, the veterinarian here, gave him water and got him situated. He survived overnight and this morning we thought we may be able to get an x-ray on him at the hospital because he was still unable to stand on his legs, even though he was flapping his wings. We drove him over there only to find out that the machine was broken. We brought him back and rigged up a sling so that he could ‘stand’ without assistance and hopefully get his strength back. His right leg seems to be the injured one so we hope we can get him back to full health to be released!

     Anyways, Kasane is much smaller than I imagined, for being a ‘city’ with an airport (granted the airport was very small). There are two main roads that run parallel to each other, with an area with houses and neighborhoods between and shops on the other side of the road closest to the river. There is pretty much everything you need there, but it is rather minimal! Kazungula is a smaller town about 6 miles down the road where we are living. I don’t think there is as much there, but don’t know that area as well. Maria lives close to us so she picks us up in the morning and brings us to ‘work’. The past couple days have been very laid back as we wait for the rest of the team to get here and we get work to do. I will most likely not start teaching until August because we are reaching the end of a quarter so they have finals and then have a ‘winter break’ for all of July. So I will be helping mostly at the center until then, and preparing the lessons and a schedule for when I do start teaching. That’s all for now, I think. Don’t want to bore you too much!

We Made It!

    Well, wow. I can’t say that I ever want to make that trip again! Picked up Kristen, a friend that was traveling with me, on Saturday night and headed home to repack and finalize some last things. Then we were off to the airport bright and early Sunday morning! (Left around 5:30am). We were able to reshuffle everything to make them the correct weights and get bags checked in. Goodbyes took a little while, sad moments of departure :’(  Then Kristen and I were off to go through security and through to the gate! No glitches and we were there in plenty of time to go to the bathroom and wait for our flight to be called.

     The Dulles to JFK (New York) flight was surprisingly small! I guess I understand because most people would just drive that distance, and it was only about a one hour flight. All went smoothly, then we disembarked at JFK in the rain and ran in to find where the South African Airways flight would take off. Luckily we were able to check our bags all the way through (and they made it!) So we just had to take the tram thing to get to the right terminal. Not too difficult, all-in-all, and again, made it in perfect time to take a bathroom break and get some money.

    Boarded the South African Flight hoping I would have an aisle seat because I thought that’s what I requested, but it turns out I was in the middle of the middle row (one person on my left, two on my right) because it was such a large plane. The lady on my left was a little large, but very nice, from Puerto Rico on a month-long mission trip in South Africa, and the man on my right was tall, and was a snorer. Seeing as this flight took off at 11:15, we flew for a lot of the day, then they gave us ‘dinner’ and told us to go to bed in order to get on South African time (6 hours ahead). That was fruitless. I couldn't get comfortable in the chair, so I got maybe 20 minutes between movies a couple times. But then my tv stopped working so I couldn't watch movies. Made the situation even worse cause now I was stuck in this seat without anything to distract me! Tried reading my book and that usually helped me get sleepy but at a certain point I think I was just beyond tired and couldn’t get anywhere. So that was a slightly frustrating flight – I didn’t think it would ever end!

     But it did! Finally, after 14 and a half hours, we got off the plane and were in Johannesburg! It was chillier than I thought it would be, probably fifties. Here, we had to wait to get our passport checked for entering the country, pick up our baggage, go through customs (basically an honor system if you have anything you want to declare). Then we had some lovely airport employees proceed to help us to our check-in location, then ask for a 100 rand tip…. Thanks to Kristen who had rand and gave them a reasonable tip… 40ish. Waited for a while at the AirBotswana check-in, and they were kind enough to allow us to check both of our huge bags and carry on overweight bags because we had come from an international flight. The conveyor belt was a little messed up and took my bags before she had tagged them so I was a little worried my luggage would get lost but its such a small airline, they made it!

    This plane beat them all – was quite unique and tiny! There were maybe 20 passengers so we got to spread out for the hour and a halfish flight. Took some pictures with my new camera…… love it!! Then we finally pulled in to Kasane!! Very exciting, went through immigration, they weren’t too tough on us, grabbed our bags and went out to find Rob, Maria, and Lipa (sp?) waiting for us with signs and ‘african flowers!’ It was very nice and welcoming! We loaded everything into the big suv truck vehicle and stopped by the center, which is actually very close to the airport. It was rather small but very neat! We saw the lab room and the waterbuck and some other animals they have there. Will get a more thorough introduction throughout the week. Next we headed to the bank where we were both able to exchange our USD to pula’s so we could head to the grocery store and get the basic food we would need. Then, Maria brought us to our home for the summer in Kazungula. It is a house where two guys live already (with a dog – definitely a plus!) and all four of us girls will be sleeping in one large room upstairs! This was a last minute change from what we thought we would be having: a completely empty house. Positive and negatives both ways, as we are farther from the center now, but it is mostly furnished. We met our roommates (Johann and Matthew) and unpacked and showered (well not quite, I didn't get one because the water shut off - a common occurrence, especially the last two weeks) and we are going to have an early night! Can’t wait to see what the rest of the week has in store for us. 

Stuff

    I’ve been asked this question quite a few times: ‘What are you going to pack?’ Well, I suppose I’m just packing the things that I feel I would need to survive a year away from home. Clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, a couple pairs of shoes, pictures of family and friends, computer, a few pens and pencils… the list goes on. I was happily surprised as I was packing my first suitcase and realized that more stuff would fit in there than I thought! Unfortunately, there is a 50 pound weight limit on my checked luggage, so that is the limiting factor (thank you to Chelsea for the idea to pack my pillow!)

    As I’ve been unpacking from school and repacking for Africa I’ve thought about the essentials. If you had to fit your life into one suitcase (granted, I’m bringing two), what would you pack?? First, I would have Hermione do that extendable charm thing…. But really, when it comes down to it, we don’t need that much! We tend to lose sight of that, I think, as we acquire more and more things to fill our nice spacious houses. I think my mom is hoping I learn this lesson and decide to get rid of all of my ‘stuff’ that is now being stored in our basement… But it is the lifestyle and mindset we have, I think. It’s important to think about the things you could live without!

   Unpacking from school also led to a lot of cleaning out. I finally had to go through the things that I’ve just been letting build up for four years… old keepsakes and school stuff. As I went through, I just kept thinking, ‘Will this mean anything to me in ten years?’ Lots of times the answer was no, so it would go in the trash, recycle or get-rid-of pile. I know that this is definitely NOT how everyone thinks about cleaning out, but that’s how I can tell for myself what is worth keeping and what isn’t.

Heading out tomorrow morning, ready to get there and sort everything out, but sad to say my last goodbyes! 

Closure

     The past week has been a whirlwind of goodbyes, graduation, crying, packing and some more goodbyes. As I left Blacksburg for the last time in my undergrad career, I couldn’t help thinking back to my first drive to Virginia Tech for school in the fall of 2008 (I honestly don’t remember it very well). But I do remember the moment when my family pulled away in the car after helping carry all of my stuff to my room. We had unloaded everything, got my computer set up, and finally my mom said, ‘Well, I guess we can go now then.’ On the inside I screamed “No!!!” but on the outside I said, ‘Yup, guess so…’. They hopped in the car, waved goodbye, and there I was, walking down the street, terrified to face one of the largest steps out of my ‘box’ I had ever taken. I had made the decision to go to a school five hours away from home, where I knew virtually noone. I was scared, sad, and excited all at the same time.

     Well those feelings sound familiar. Here I am, entering the next ‘stage’ of life, with the same feelings, right back where I started four years ago! In reality, I think that the past four years have been preparation for this point. I managed to make some amazing friends and have some great memories and experiences in college that will stick with me for a lifetime.

     As I was leaving, I had to say goodbye to all these wonderful memories as I leave not only Virginia Tech and Blacksburg, but the country. I’m not really a closure person, though. I tend to just be a ‘see ya later’ person, even though I know I won’t see you for who knows how long. I also really like to put goodbyes off – oh, I’ll see you again before I leave, right? Maybe it is because I haven’t needed closure before, I’ve never moved, and saying goodbye just emphasizes the fact that someone’s leaving and it is just sad!

    Well I felt the need for closure of my college career, especially since I knew that my goodbyes couldn’t be followed by the usual ‘I’ll come and visit soon’. But how do you sum up four years of amazing relationships and fun experiences in just one simple goodbye? You can’t. I think that’s what makes it so hard not to cry! I am definitely NOT a big crier, but as I think about how much these people mean to me and how I won’t see them for so long, it’s hard not to. But it’s good to cry, it always relieves some kind of pressure that builds up inside. As I leave, I can now look back with fond memories and hopefully keep in touch rather than just disappearing from everyone’s lives. I think I have finally convinced myself that closure is a good thing!