7/30/2011
Dumeyla!
Welcome everyone to my Blog about UB (see below for more). I have decided to make this blog some about my trip and some about tips to those who look into traveling to Botswana or other parts of Africa, it may not be the same everywhere but the trends are there. Read, criticize, enjoy as you will
Tip of the Day:
This is one of my first chances to get on the internet since arriving in Botswana on Monday, so quick tip before I start writing bring an Ethernet cord and adapter before you come to campus it will save you so much time you have no idea.
Okay so, My name is Brooke I am a wildlife Biology major studying at the University of Botswana in Gaborone for the fall semester of 2011. Botswana to those who don’t know is a landlocked country just north of South Africa it is unique in that it has both the savannahs, deltas and deserts so for those who love outdoors and traveling as well as seeing new cultures it is the perfect place to look at.
Alright well those are the facts cool I know but not near as cool as actually being here and seeing the city. The city and campus are amazing the drivers are crazy and you will see sidewalk businesses everywhere. That doesn’t even cover everything that I have experienced so far. My experience of being somewhere totally different actually started in Johannesburg where my flight in was delayed by 2 hours and the flight leaving Joberg left early by 15 minutes.
The Flight
Tip to remember when traveling long distances be prepared for anything, delays leaving the country seemed to be common with a lot of other students don’t freak out or anything it happens, also if you are fortunate enough to be able to get first class when leaving the states do so, its more comfortable, not that I didn’t enjoy learning about the two men to whom I sat with for 15 hours but trust me if you can and enjoy your sleep do so. But if you like sleeping close to others coach is the choice for you the bosnian man whom I talked to was very nice and played poker most of the trip. I watched movies in case you were curious.
Arriving in Botswana
One of the first things that I would advise to new people coming to Botswana or any other country is patience, seriously you will need it here, do expect that if they say we have a meeting at 3 it probably won’t start till 3:30-4 its almost always a safe bet, same with any schedule, they see timelines as more of an outline and its not just the school but the combes (mini-buses) and others as well, they will get there somewhere around that time, just wait.
The International Orientation which I just finished today is a two day lecture with registration before that. Be prepared in case you dont classes you requested, I would suggest bringing a copy of that with you and others you may like. A lot of people ended up getting different things and I have been told that this is common enough in other countries. But the people make up for it by being very nice and very polite. If you arrive on Monday student volunteers on campus will help you out with bedding and shopping, by now I have been to all the malls and they are all awesome in their own way. Game City was the largest and Main Mall has some awesome street vendors.
After registration you will learn more about the services offered at Botswana and receive a tour this includes a walking tour of campus one day and a bus tour of the city another. The orientation is interesting they have an amazing clinic and health services here as well as a huge 7 floor library its bigger than ours back home, though I haven’t been in it yet, you need a student ID card. I’m planning on going and doing that soon so no worries I will let you know how it is.
Traditional Food
Food here is a bit different from the states for those who love beef and chicken you will love the cafeteria some form of that is always available during lunch and dinner and its so far been really good, they also have pap which is like a maize type of food and rice. Fat Cakes which is like fried dough is amazing! Usually we eat that at breakfast.
We went to a traditional dinner tonight. From which I just returned before coming and typing this. It was held at a nearby village where we ate goat, chicken, pumpkin, rolls and other things including mopane worms a caterpillar that is usually cooked in oil and salt and eaten like that or dried. They are salty but different. The meals where good and as always the people were very nice I even got invited back to the village.
Well that is all I got, not bad I think for my first post ever on this blog. I will definitely try to upload pictures soon as I figure out this program they have on here ^^. I shall talk to you all later