New stuff

First of all Friday night was a lot of fun. A big group of us white people went to the yacht club, which is on the most beautiful dam I have ever seen, and watched the sunset. We had a few drinks, mingled with the local white people, and then we came back to campus to go the Hip Hop club’s show. The show was crazy. I had met most of the guys before hand and that is how I knew about it. They got us t-shirts of one of the local students who happens to have an album out. It is an awesome t-shirt. The guys name is Ostrich and the t-shirt is black with a big circle and an ostrich in the circle. Then the back says Ostrich. They are all really nice but they are the only people around here that I have seen who dress and act like ganstas. Most people are very clean cut around here it’s pretty crazy. The guys usually wear a nice pair of jeans and a nice button down shirt to classes and the girls well they all look phenomenal all the time. I don’t understand how they do it. Of course I only have a very limited selection of clothes so I am behind in that department.

Anyway, so that was my Friday night. I met a lot of new people and Emilie and I stayed out til about 3 am and we had to meet at the bus at 8 am. Which meant we had to be packed and everything by then. It was the worst day in terms of hangover, really long bus ride, vinyl seats, 100 degree weather, etc. But we got to see a lot of cool things. I took some great pictures. We went to all of these different villages and we’re able to learn a lot of things. We went to the Phuthadikobo Museum in Mochudi. It was built by a group of people called the Bakgatla and was basically artifacts and pictures and stuff that showed the different aspects of their cultural heritage. There was one specific display about the coming of age ritual which they don’t do anymore. But, they used to have young men live in the bush for two weeks and learn how to survive; they circumcised them, beat them, and did everything the believed would make you a “man”. The females were taught how to be wives and mothers, and they were also circumcised which is the reason that it is no longer happening in their culture but the said it wasn’t abolished until the 1990’s I think.

Then, we went to the Matsieng footprints, which weren’t really exciting at all and I don’t think I took a picture of them but it is a creation legend for the Batswana. There was this pool with a really deep part that they believe (d) that a giant man came out of and started roaming the earth and populating it, or something. I am not really clear on the story. But everyone told us that it was a giant footprint and when we got there it was maybe the size of a really tall basketball player’s foot and it didn’t even look real so it as kind of funny. But it was interesting to hear the story of what people believed. I guess they used to come take water out of the place where he came out, to keep. Anyway, that was our second stop.

Our third stop was the Manyana rock paintings which were pretty faded but also very cool. They were painted by the Bakgatla, I think. But you could really make them out as well as I had hoped. I did get one picture I think but I don’t know how well that is going to turn out. Oh by the way, Manyana is pronounced just the word for tomorrow in Spanish. (In case you were interested) J Then, we went to David Livingston’s tree which apparently he stayed for a couple weeks before moving on to a village. The tree was the most amazing tree ever. The trunk was sort of split in two and it was so thick and the branches were so thick and long and twisty they were sort of forming their own trunks. The shade from the tree completely covered you and it was markedly cooler under the tree than outside. It was a significant difference. It was beautiful. I didn’t get any pictures outside of the tree only on the inside which I am kind of upset about but oh well, I am sure someone has them.

The landscape here is unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it before. I was extremely impressed. It was the first time I really felt like I was in Africa. Before, I was just in a city with mostly everything I would have at home and with more malls that Logan, by far. It was an awesome experience. Anyway, our last stop was this cultural lodge which was fun. We were met at the gate by these older women doing crazy dances and seeing cool songs and very happy to see us. The head lady kept calling us her kids and she was our grandma. Then there was this really cool old guy just sitting in a chair, blowing a whistle and sniffing snuff, and then he did an awesome dance! I got video of it on my camera. He was really funny. They showed us how to grind sorghum the old way and how to play games, and do the traditional dances, etc. Then we ate. It was the best traditional food I have had since I have been here. Oh yeah and we got to try the traditional beer which doesn’t really have a whole lot of flavor. Well, I guess it tastes like a beer version of those drinkable yogurts.

Then Sunday, we went to the Mokolodi Nature Reserve which was the coolest experience. It is a game reserve so we went on a game drive but before we left they served us Champagne! Then we piled into these safari vehicles and just drove around this reserve and we got to see Impalas, and another like species (can’t remember the name), warthogs, lots of cool birds, ELEPHANTS really close to me! It was crazy. I could have touched it. And they were apparently still teenagers. We saw a giraffe, and some zebras, and the head of a leopard, but we didn’t get to see a rhino, or a hippo, or a crocodile, but it was still really awesome. Then they served us lunch in this clearing in the reserve by a beautiful lake. Then we drove back down and then went to a not so exciting water park. Finally, we ended up back here. Oh yeah, we saw the cutest little kids on our trip. There were a bunch of little boys that would follow us around and they chased our bus when we pulled in. They were so cute. I took lots of pictures of them. Also, this weekend I made some really nice local friends. They all said that I was really good at picking up the language and jokingly asked if I was sure I hadn’t been here before or learned the language which I was really happy about.


That's it for now!