Week 1

Whew! What a busy ten days this has been. The flight out was long, but I made it! So far we have not had much to do. Everyone is settling in. All of the international students have made several shopping trips for things we have forgotten or for food. I feel as if I never want to see another mall again.

Classes started on Monday. Finding your way around this campus is a bit confusing, but everyone here is very helpful. Methodologies and Setswana are going to be interesting. Professor Cain is an enthusiastic teacher and I am very excited for his incite this semester as I am developing my own research project. As far as Setswana goes, I'm not quite up to speed when it comes to some of the more interesting noises that accompany specific words. However, I imagine I'll get it eventually. I think that my Families and Households class will be interesting, but the professor hasn't shown up to class yet so we shall see.

I have had a couple of cultural adventures this week. On Wednesday, a few of us climbed Kgale hill. It was so much fun! We also got to see baboons for the first time. I did not realize how vicious they were. There must have been some territorial dispute going on. I also saw baboons on the way to the local grocery store. The whole experience was a bit surreal.

Also, on Friday, all the international students went to a cultural dinner. There was dancing, singing, and game playing. I also got to eat the infamous mopane worms. They actually tasted good. Our host soaked them up in some sort of tastey, spiced liquid. There was also pop (ground sorgum), rice, soup (a sauce that goes on pop and rice), something like spinach, chicken, and goat intestines. Overall, it was a good experience and I'm glad that I had the chance to participate.

Go siame, Michaela