I’m sorry it’s been awhile since our blog has been updated but we’ve decided to write about every other month because not much changes from month to month for us anymore. We are still the only white people in Hukuntsi, it’s still too hot here and we are still figuring things out. We feel more and more comfortable. It’s definitely not as awkward walking around our village anymore. People are getting used to seeing us, fewer and fewer people are asking us for money and we’re making friends. We even have nicknames now. Chris “Tumelo” is called Tumesy and they call me ST short for “Sethunya”.
Cape Town, South Africa
I’m going to share with you the good and the bad about Cape Town. Let me start by saying the good definitely outweighs the bad.
We went to Cape Town for our one-year anniversary because we happened to find a free ride there with a girl named Victoria. She is originally from Cape Town but has lived in Botswana for most of her life and for some reason she has a German passport? The ride there was fun and the view was shocking to Chris and I after seeing only sand for the last 5 months. Mountains and ocean surround Cape Town so as you can imagine it was beautiful!
The first night we splurged on a good seafood meal since Botswana is predominately a beef and chicken loving country and the only form of seafood we have found, in Hukuntsi, is fish sticks. The next day we walked around the city and visited the water front mall. On the way back to our hostel we were approached by two young men who asked us for money. We are so used to being asked for money that this didn’t faze us at all. So we just said, “no”. Then one bumped into me and the other said to Chris, “give us your money”. We said, “no” and I said to Chris, “lets just cross the street”. So we did and they left us alone. We walked a bit further and said to each other, “did they just try to mug us?” We didn’t even realize it at the time because being asked for money happens to us all the time. We laughed the whole way back to the hostel and we were upset at ourselves for not stealing their backpacks.
The following day Chris and I went on a wine tour were we met people from around the world. The wine tour was fun and we would recommend it to anyone! We ended up hanging out with a few of the wine tourists, Jerome and Fabrice from France and Michele and Stefane from Belgium, in the days to follow.
We even climbed Table Mountain with the Belgium couple. It was a beautiful site.
We walked around the following day and on our last day we had one more stop to make. McDonalds…its funny because we don’t even like it that much but we felt it would be un-American of us if we didn’t get our fast food fix. We each had a big mac, a cheeseburger, fries and a coke. We felt sick afterwards but it was totally worth it.
One more incident happened to us before we left Cape Town. When we arrived at the bus station a young man asked us if he could help us carry our bags as we got out of the cab. We said, “no thank you”. Then he followed us as we proceeded to the bus station. He kept asking us for money and we kept saying no. Then he went next to Chris and said, “give me your money” and he showed him a small knife and said, “don’t make me get violent”. Chris said, “well don’t get violent”. Then a cop saw that the guy was bothering us and stepped in before Chris punched him. That incident shook us up a bit.
Tired and full of McDonalds we headed back to the capital of Botswana, Gaborone. We got a ride with our good friends who live in Gaborone, they happened to be visiting and leaving South Africa the same time as us. Our friends make up a family of three. Nat and Krishan are the parents and Meera is their daughter. They have treated us like family ever since we came in contact with them, which we did through my Mauritius friend that I met while in Australia. His cousin is Krishan. It’s nice to feel like we have some family near us.
Despite the unfortunate incidents we would definitely revisit Cape Town.
Work In Progress
We have a few work related updates. I switched NGO’s because the one I was at didn’t deal much with HIV/AIDS and that is the main reason why we’re here. So I visited with another NGO, called Youth Health Organization (YOHO), and they are very active in the community. They also wanted a Peace Corps Volunteer. I feel like I am contributing way more at YOHO and I’m surrounded by young men and women who will most likely be the leaders of the village one day. I am currently providing computer lessons to the staff and in the future we’ll be collaborating on various HIV/AIDS related activities.
Chris is getting along really well with his co-workers and they are becoming good friends of ours. Things are picking up a bit for him but things are pretty slow in most office settings in Botswana. He will most likely be taking on a project at work to help with condom distribution. The reason why he will probably be helping with the distribution is because they have condom dispensers in our village but they’re always empty.
Chris and I have decided what our secondary project will be. We are going to work with the community to raise funds to build a Recreational Center for Youth. The youth are extremely bored here which commonly leads to risky behavior and they need options for healthy activities. We are both very excited to begin working on our new project!
Out In The Wild
Recently we had the opportunity to go with his work and camp with orphans from our village at Moremi Game Reserve in Maun. The city of Maun is a popular tourist attraction since it is near the delta. The kids go to this camp for two weeks every year and they are taught about responsibility and discipline. We stayed for the weekend and attended the award ceremony. The kids were wonderful. They were so positive and bright despite all of the things that they have gone through and continue to go through. We taught them how to play Frisbee and they taught us Setswana.
While we were there we got to go on a Game Tour. Our guide was Patrick, who was also our driver from the government office in our home village. The tour was great! We drove around for hours on the game paths, we went across streams and we also blazed a few new trails. Patrick kept testing our truck to see how much water it could handle. All of us in the vehicle laughed nervously every time we approached water. At one point we nearly went under when it proved to be too deep for the truck. Patrick stepped on the brakes and all we could see out of the front windshield was water. He tried backing up and at first it didn’t go but eventually we made it!
On our tour we saw elephants, giraffe, spotted hyenas, impala, some sort of deer looking thing with a bulls eye on its butt, zebras, baboons and large elephant poop. It was seriously a frightening and impressive pile to come across. Unfortunately it was a rainy day, which means the animals don’t need to migrate to the watering wholes. So we missed out on a few of the prize animals like the lion and the water buffalo but there is always next time. Oh yes and we saw one of my favorite animals to spot on the way back to our village...the ostrich. They look so cool when they run!
Stronger, Faster
I’m not sure if it is proven but it seems that the bugs, here in Botswana, are much faster, stronger and wiser. The mosquitoes are more difficult to kill and don’t get me started on the flying beetle super bug. One day in our bedroom this black, flying beetle landed on me. I started hitting him and myself with my sandal and it wouldn’t die. So Chris joined in (if you ask me all too eagerly) and started hitting me with his shoe and it still wouldn’t die. Eventually it flew off of me and landed on the wall. We kept hitting it with our weapons every time it landed and after roughly ten minutes it finally succumbed.
Don't get me started on the wall spiders. They are fast, they are big and they visit way too frequently.
Another bug incident happened a few months ago. One morning I woke up with a bug bite on the inside of my elbow and I thought nothing of it. After a few days it began itching and on the third day it swelled up and the veins around the bite turned red up to my shoulder. We called the Peace Corps doctor and he told me to go to the hospital. We went and the doctor’s initial reaction was surprise, which scared Chris and I. He saw that there was a stinger inside my arm, so he started digging to try and remove it. He couldn’t. He noticed that Chris and I were whiter than usual and decided it would be best to numb my bite. He inserted the needle and the numbing medicine shot through the hole where the bite was and hit me in the face. He tried numbing me once again and success ensued. He then dug and dug in search of the stinger but to no avail. The only thing he did manage to do was make my armhole substantially bigger. I was then prescribed some meds, given a shot for the redness in my veins and I was sent on my way. On my medical chart it said, Scorpion? Wasp? Spider? Bite. It was quite an experience.
Trying To Understand
Some random things we haven’t figured out: Why the goats here make the same sounds as a sheep would. I know some of you might say that it may be a sheep but we have learned how to tell the difference. Things we have figured out: If someone offers you a seat in Botswana…take it. It is considered rude to turn down a seat when it is offered to you. Also, when entering a room no matter what is happening always greet those occupying the space. The other day Chris went into his office and his co-workers were in what appeared to be a meeting so Chris pulled up a seat off to the side so as not to disturb them. After a couple minutes Chris’supervisor turned to him and said, “Tumelo why haven’t you greeted us, have we offended you?” Chris explained that he didn’t want to interrupt the meeting and then they explained that it’s rude to enter a room without greeting, they expect you to interrupt.
Next Up Thanksgiving
For the week of November 23rd to the 27th we will be hosting a language week at our house. Which means Peace Corps language trainers will be staying at our house along with 10 other volunteers for an intense week of language training. We can hardly wait because our site is not near other volunteers and Hukuntsi isn’t the most exciting place to visit in Botswana so to lure the other volunteers to our house we told them we had a pool and a slip-n-slide.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Attention Teachers!
The Peace Corps has a program called World Wise Schools. It is a program where a teacher from the U.S. signs up their classroom to exchange letters with a Peace Corps Volunteer. It’s a really cool way to share cultures.
Go to, http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/ , to learn more! If you want to take part just email either Chris (zennercc@gmail.com) or myself (seriouslyshelly@gmail.com) so we can be paired up with each other. We can request specific teachers and teachers can request specific volunteers. Chris and I will wait to sign up so we can ask for a specific teacher.
Facebook Pictures
Chris and I usually post more pictures on facebook more frequently so if you have an account and would like to see additional pictures just add us as a friend.
Congratulations
My brother and sister-in-law had their first child! His name is Oskar and we can’t wait to meet him…congrats you two!
Gotta Love Snail Mail
We would like to thank you for sending us letters and packages. We truly appreciate it and its exciting beyond words to receive items from the U.S.!
If you would like to send a package here are a few things that we would enjoy: nature valley bars, or any healthy snack we can grab on the go, flavored water packets, almonds, dried fruit, magazines, books and games. We have had some books, magazines and games sent to us so just ask before you send to see if we have it. One specific item that I would like sent is a book for us to read to the kids about how to treat animals. People here are very kind and peaceful towards other people but some don’t treat the animals very well.
Current Address
Chris “Tumelo” & Shelly “Sethunya” Zenner
Private Bag 12
Hukuntsi
Botswana
Some More Pictures
A group of fellow volunteers at our In-Service-Training
Molly another volunteer putting me in a headlock...I guess I have that effect on people no matter where I go
Our friends from the capital came to visit us in Hukuntsi and they brought fireworks!
This picture is with Meera, Chris and I on the salt pan
Krishan, Meera and Chris trying to jump higher than the horizon so it looks like they're in the sky
Students at a prize giving ceremony at one of the schools close to our house
The kids LOVE to dance
So does my counterpart, Johnson, he is teaching the kids a special dance
More students...
A bridge over the delta at the Moremi Game Reserve
Patrick, our driver, kissing elephant poop. He says its good for making tea
Mama, pa and baby Ostriches
~ We love & miss you all ~
