I am the lucky one.

Tonight at dinner, our new friend, Bogolo, gave some of us Setswana names (Setswana is the language spoken here.) The name she gave me was "Kesego," which means "she is lucky."

I loved it. Lucky is what I've felt all along my journey to Botswana. I was lucky to have been chosen by Penn to come to Botswana. Yes, we've had some problems this first week - getting housing settled at the University of Botswana, getting in to our selected clinical sites - but all eight of us agree that we are incredibly lucky to have Jodi as our instructor here. She's been working tirelessly to make sure that we all get the best clinical experiences possible; there'd be some pretty desperate-feeling nursing students here if Jodi wasn't here to help us get settled.

I'm also feeling lucky to have these amazing group of students with me. Everyone has brought unique perspectives and experiences with them to Africa; so far we've been able to share those experiences with each other in a pretty constructive way. If someone has a frustrating day, or sees some things that are difficult to stomach or even comprehend - so far the group has been able to pull together, to listen to each other, and to support each other. Tonight we sat around talking about HIV treatment and ARV regimens, and why some patients have a difficult time adhering to those treatments. We've gotten angry together over the way standards of patient care vary here from the standard of care that patients might receive in the States. We've stayed up late talking with each other about life, love, and other matters of nursing.

So it's true - I do feel like I am the lucky one, with these opportunities, these mentors, and these friends. Let's hope the luck continues.

Love made visible

As Derek mentioned below, last night we went out to dinner, and the servers' jackets' had the above message on the back. I thought it striking, and an appropos message to ponder as we embark on our nursing clinical work. Something like love is exactly why I'm going into nursing.

The note was all the more poignant at the very end of the night. As we were leaving, we mentioned that we were nursing students. The server stopped cold. "I'm glad you are here. Our people are dying." He went on to tell us that his cousin had just died; he was going to her funeral in a few days.

We were all humbled by what he said. On the way home that night, we talked about how interesting it is that wherever we go around the world, we tell people that we are becoming nurses, and they are suddenly willing to open up to us about the most intimate parts of their lives. In my opinion, that trust is one of the best parts about this profession.

Love, made visible.

We're HERE!

After 24+ hours of transit, we made it to our new home for the next five weeks: the University of Botswana Grad dorms. Half of our bags didn't make it with us, and we've had a lot of complications with our housing, but those are other stories all together. Our first day in Botswana has been very eventful - stay tuned for more posts!