Horseback Riding Video!

More Baboons!

have fun! this one's long!

Identity, Trotting at Arne's Horse Safari, Bull and the Bush, Goats and Sheep and Baboons, Oh My!

Identity (crisis?): So, this pic really pissed me off; the "masculine" advertisement showed the picture of a male being "masculine", apparently. The "feminine" advertisement showed a female being stereotypically "feminine". this came from a store called "identity", so i just wanted to relate this to myself and some personal reflecting that i have been doing while here. I have been politically, racially, and socially aware of most things around me and most disparities apparent in the U.S., but never have i been more aware of disparities than when coming here and witnessing the extremes of the classist societies in which we live, which in turn will continue to influence people's lives abroad. I will talk more about that in the following post. Right now, i wanted to speak briefly to my identity and how people relate to the world around them. Before i came here, i hated children, i did not want to conform to society's monogamous "i have to marry and settle down with kids" mold, and i wanted nothing to do with maternal care (yeah yeah, hate me all you want). This picture relates very well to my thoughts here, and how progressive evolution from one thing to another can change through feelings of personal inflection and through the changing societies that surround us. I am "finding" myself more and more here, enjoying my experiences with children here, finding myself being ok with certain lifestyles to which i am unaccustomed, and being ok with the more "masculine" side of derek. Yes, i think we can all agree i have definitely found and am OK with my feminine side, and, while i am still OK being "myself" here and being nelly and queeny whenever i want to with my roommates, it's also nice to find a new and different derek that hasn't yet been given the proper chance to emerge and blossom. I am focused on my time here, the children whose hearts i am touching (and who are, in turn touching mine!), the people i am befriending, and the experiences i am living. I am reading books (which i don't do), i am learning more and more about life and the world around me, and i am absolutely, 110% content with my life here in Botswana......

Trotting!: So, while 4 students (Michelle, yana, jenny, and caitlin) went to camp at the Khalahari Desert this weekend, Jody, Komal, Ginna, Andrea and I went to (and got lost on our way driving) Arne's Horse Ranch out in BFE (email me if you don't know that acronym). We took jody's little rental car (her land rover is kaput for a while), on some dirt road and finally found it. We were instantly welcomed by two native Zimbabweans, one of whom used to be a Jockey in South Africa and was our tour guide, named Ron. His face was covered with fresh, sun-induced freckles, and had the smile of a cheshire cat. His accent was mesmerizing, and, me being the beginner horse-rider, gave me Classic, the painted horse who is good with all the novices. Classic and I took an instant liking to each other, after i learned to gently squeeze my calves to get him going, and gently pull the reins left or right for direction of forward travel. We jaunted on our horses through the desert of Kopong, running in to random wild goats, mules, cattle, and saw some "authentic" african hut villages (not to be understood as the white man going in to an african village to see africans in their "natural" setting. i just didn't know how else to put it....lol). Ron wanted us to trot after a long time of walking, so we got the horses going fast, and Komal's camera flew out of her pants and she was HELLA scared (i believe the quote was, Oh My God, can we stop! I'm not comfortable with this!"). I LOVED trotting, but it HELLA hurt my hip adductor muscles holding on to my horse's side. I was bouncing up and down on the horse, and today my leg muscles (mostly groin area) hurt hella bad, but it was SO worth it. After we were done with 1.5 hours of riding, Ron took us back and we departed after bonding with the horses (we were told to wipe a smear of our sweat on the horse's nose, so next time we come to Arne's horse ranch, Classic will recognize my smell and bond with my instantly!)....

Bull and the Bush: So, there is this English pub, down some DIRT road we had to taxi to, in the middle of nowhere, and it's huge and it turns into a club after 10pm or so. the four of us go there to eat a late dinner. this was a nice epilogue to our long day on horses and some naptime back home. i got some hella good pizza, fed some HELLA cute stray cats, met up with our german friend Nicola (with whom i speak HELLA german!), and had a blast. Meine Familie soll wissen, dass Nicola ist viel spass, und spreche ich viel von meine Omi wen kommt aus Bremen! Ich Liebe die Deutschen! After kicking it there, we went back home and crashed....

Baboons!: OMG....so on our way running errands today, Jody was driving our car and just as we turned down a road, she was like "Look! A monkey! Do you want me to turn around (following by a prompt U-turn)...ok, here we go!". It was amazing. i got video a tons of pics of these random baboons, about 5 of them, roaming the highway of gaborone near Game City, scouring for any trace of food or water. we drove around in circles, following them for a while and loved it. Wow, the clash between urban sprawl and desert wilderness is more-than-apparent here on the paved Gaborone roadways.....

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.

Healthcare Work and Reproductive Rights

They separate males and females in the wards cuz of privacy issues, cuz they don't have the funds or resources for private rooms for procedures.



So, read the bottom middle part about HIV+ HCWs (healthcare workers) ...i though the guidelines were really interesting.

Loved this sticker... screw the male species suppressing the females and their reproductive rights!

For all of you Peds and Gyn Lovers:

Antioxidant Peanut Butter and Identity

So, check out this video: It's ALL about PB made here...



So, this store, called Identity, had some HEINOUS, heterosexist advertisements in the window, so I HAD to take pics (btw, "heterosexist" isn't registering as a word in my spellcheck on this computer. Someone call Webster please)



Here it is! BOOOO to gender stereotypes in this country! Makes me SAD :(



















At least the Mannequins were HOT and multi-racial! YAY!

Perceptions of poverty

So the UB nursing department suggested we attend international student orientation. One of our cultural events was a traditional Setswana meal at a local woman’s house. As we drove to the site of our traditional dinner, I anticipated the sights and sounds of village culture that are so vividly displayed in many media-produced images of Africa. The almost heart-wrenching outward compassion one feels for the people of Africa, the suffering, the dying, the forgotten, and the oppressed upon viewing the grotesque images of starvation and poverty is unfortunately characteristic of many parts of Africa. However, what we’ve found in Botswana, much to my surprise is that widespread poverty and its effects on the population cannot really be seen much in proper Gaborone. Much of it is hidden in small, surrounding communities and villages. I perceive Gaborone to be a wealthy capitol city; however, when I venture beyond the conventional and globalized developments of this city, another world is found. This world houses some of the most impoverished families of Botswana. I have been exposed to similar environments around the world, namely India, where the rich and poor are clearly separated; however, I came to Botswana expecting to have less of a middle class and more people on the same playing field, so to speak. After learning more about economic policy in Botswana, I realized that the wealth distribution here is characteristic of many developed countries. This distribution is one that upholds the rich and upper-middle-class and proverbially oppresses the poor simply due to the nature of its market economy and capitalistic values. And while it is obvious that the typical rich-poor gap exists here in Botswana, as it does around the world, the poor in areas around Gaborone are not visible unless one immerses him- or herself into village communities.