Shadowing

My time is time online is limited folks, so bear with me. A couple weeks ago we shadowed current volunteers. It was like a breath of fresh air---but the bus rank at Gaborone was not. Right now its winter in Botswana, which doesn't mean much; its kind of hot. Its even hotter in the northern region where we were headed . Batswana are also a health conscious bunch (note my sarcasm)--they prefer to leave the windows up as not to let "the flu" in. Fortunately, there wasn't a smack down over the window but I've heard stories of miserably hot bus rides and window confrontations. Fortunately, I wasn't travelling alone. Two other volunteers were with me. We were shadowing volunteers that lived close to each other. We took a bus to a village called Letlhakane. The bus ride was 7 1/2 hours. All in all the bus ride wasn't too bad. I had fellow trainees to talk to and a good book to devour.
Current volunteers regard us (trainees) as underclassmen; they take good care of us. We spent the first night at one volunteer's house until I and another volunteer could take a coombi (which is a bus/taxi) to Mokabilo. This volunteer prepared a feast for us. I've never been so happy in my entire life to eat salad. Batswana food is very meat centered, and raw vegetables aren't consumed. Our language teachers look at us funny when we eat raw vegetables at lunchtime, but I digress. This salad was beautiful. The volunteer that I shadowed lives in a very rural village called Mokabilo. Mokabilo is sandwiched between Francistown and Orapa. Orapa is a diamond mining town and Francistown is the second city of Botswana. There are only two (Gabarone and Francistown). Despite the two modern towns it is in between, Mokabilo is a small rural village. Everybody knew this volunteers name; she speaks Setswana like a Motswana--which is funny considering that's she's lily white, blonde hair and all. They love her, and she loves them. She will leave soon and Mokabilo is opening up for the next volunteer. As charming as Mokabilo was, it was also a devastatingly desolate place. The vast majority of the town is poor and has a terrible alcoholism problem. Please note, that as wonderful as Botswana is, alcoholism is a HUGE problem, and it was amplified in this village. Chibines (which are like moonshine houses) were everywhere. They were literally across the street from one another, and they were bustling at 10am. Despite the alcohol problem (and believe me, AA would have a field day in this village) the village was great. We needed a break from training to break up the monotony. The volunteer's house was on a compound with a family. Her family was wonderful. Her host mother was a retired nurse and her father owns several stores, yet they live in this small village. Batswana are very attached to their villages according to this volunteer. Her host family is considered wealthy but they have yet to give up on their village; her host mother is constantly doing outreach and is one of the main reasons that Antiretrovirals are available in the village. We heard great stories about both of her host parents--they're an inspiring duo. Her village is very small and safe, but she got the added perk of running hot water and electricity (for 12 hours of the day) since she lived on a family compound. I finally got to take a hot shower, so I showered like I meant it. People, don't take running hot water for granted. Its a beautiful thing.