Recap

Don't know why I have not written any recently. Honestly, with both cars broken and no leadership to things have been pretty slow. THere are a couple of cool things though to recap:

• Took a most awesome boat ride down the Chobe river. Honestly, I think it made this last aweful week worth it.

New Day

Today is a new day! Which means I am not thinking about the events of the past 48 hours.

I was awakened at 5:30 this morning by a strange noise right outside my tent. I could hear wrappers and I was thinking, who in our group would be eating candy at 5;30 in the morning? So I unzipped my tent and ........ a baboon was eating our hard candy. I watched as he unwrapped it, popped it in his mouth then unwrapped another. It was amazing. When I went to scare him away he grabbed the cand bag and bolted. It was good candy, I cannot blame him from taking it.

Good Thing

At first I was annoyed that I could not post these blog entries instantly. Now I realize it is a good thing. I wrote a rather mean entry about a certain Dr. yesterday that I am glad never got posted. I am a very patient person, but rudeness and incompetence pushes me beyond my limits.

Chobe

Made it back to Botswana. It was a minor ordeal. Drove the car through this weird wash to help prevent the spread of hoof and mouth. Not in the greatest of moods.

Eric Sucks.

Saw no animals on our drive though Chobe National Park. BUt once we made it into town we say baboon, elephants, and warthogs. Yep, right in town. There was one baboon that was especially cool to watch, she was carrying two babies. One was hanging on her back the other on her stomach.

Eric is a Jerk.

We finally found a campsite right as it was getting dark. I am tempted to write to lonely planet and tell them they suck. I bought this cool Namibia / Botswana tour guide and we were going to stay at one of recommended campsites, Thebe Lodge. Problem was it was a pit. The state prison was within 30 feet of the entrance. It was half closed because they were buring fallen trees. And it was an elephant corridor. The rate was great, the place sucked. So we ended at Chobe Safari Lodge, which is $10 US a night. I seem to be constantly worrying about moeny, but I have been reassured multiple times that my finances are in order. Odd that 10 a night seem like a fortune to me. My bill in Namibia was 302 US dollars for 12 nights, you would have thought I was paying that a night with my crazy reaction to the bill.

Eric leaves in 9 days.

Jing and Kalanie are sick. Neight are taking Malaria mesicine for some unknown reason, but we don't think that is what this is. They seem to have the stomach flu. Malaria does not make you yak your guts up right?

Eric is an arrogant jerk, who should never be in charge of groups.

Jing, Jessica, and I went to find dinner in Kasane around 7. You would think that would be simple in a populat tourist town. WRONG. Everywhere closes at 7. It was recommended that we try a chicken place called Albacks. The second I turned into the parking lot I knew that it was not where I was going to eat. Sketchy does not even bein to describe it. Then we tried to get dinner at a Shell station. All they had though was chips, cookies, water, and beef jerky. Yummy. As a last resort we tried this pizze place around the corner from the gas statation. It tasted ok. I did not tell Jessica or Jing that I saw a mouse as we were walking out.

Eric = Rage = Ignornace = Stupidity = Annoyance

Jessica and I closed the night out by sitting around the nonexistent campfire and talking. It seemed to help us relax a bit more. I wish that we had done that before I spoke with my mother. I think she is a bit freaked out by my everyone suck phone call from earlier.

Oh, I forgot to tell the most interesting story from the day. Jessica, Pat, and myself set ff in the CAM to Katima because we needed to cross the borsder into Botswana. The car sounds like crap. It is making this terribe noise. So we pull into the gas station where the other car is waiting, and they give us this terrible look. When we get out of the car I ask Jessica if we have a flat tire, I thought that was the odd noise. Nope tires look dine, upon first inspection. After getting gas Eric is messing around with the car trying to figure out the noise when he looks at the back left tire. There are only 2 of the 6 bolts on the tire. The day before Jessica took the CAM into Katima to het the flat tire fixed. So the guys at BP put the car up on a jack and the tire was incredibly loose. Not only were we missing 4 bolts, but the 2 there had been broken by the mechanic. We stole bolts form the other three tires. Were told that we could not get replacement bolts in Namibia. So we crept across the border. Me driving. Thinking that a tire would fall off at any moment. I never went more than 30 km per hr. So a 2 hour trip from Katima to Kasane actually took close to 7 hours. Well at least the CAM is still rolling.

Thank god Eric picked a campsite on the complete other side from us. He knows we are pissed.

Sorry for the grumbles. Tired of the lack of organization, and Eric's inability to grow a pair.

Sleep is what is needed. Why is it that a long car ride make you so tired? I mean all you are doing is sitting in the freaking car!!

Feedi the Fish

So Laurence, the bartender here at Namushasha just came down to feed the fish. I went over to watch as these bream went crazy. I thought it was cutre, he said he feds the fish every Tuesday. Then at the end he looks at me and says "and after 6 Tuesdays of feeding there are big enough to eat." Yep, Africa bit me in the rump again. Cute feeding the fish......yeah right.

Generator

The generator for the lodge just went out, which for us basically means bedtime. Its only 10, and all of us are ready for bed.

Generator

The generator for the lodge just went out, which for us basically means bedtime. Its only 10, and all of us are ready for bed.

No title

Think there is a hippo on or near our back porch. The clapping does not seem to be working.

Laughing

Long series of hysteria on this day!

Today was our last work day in Wuparo Conservancy. This last day comprised of two events, a results presnetation and an environmental history focus group. Well we had no survey results, because the surveys were not entered. So I was left to give a climate change presentation.

As usual things in Africa move a bit slow. So our meetingi nthe village that was supposed to start at 9 actually stated at 11:30. While we waited a group of us read through Eric's health in Africa book that is put out by lonely planet. Basicall it scared the crap out of us with talk of Creeping Eruption, Leishmaniasis, and Plites. The funniest part of reading the book was Jing's reaction to the section on genital warts. After reading the symptoms he announces to the group "I'm depressed. I have all of these." We probably should not have cracked up, but we did. Jessica, in the straightest face ever mentions that he needs to see a doctor. Eric told him to stop sleeping with skanky Chinese women, and I basically fell out of the car laughing. Turns out the first three symptoms were: body aches, restlessness, and something else that is common. All of which Jing has since Africa does not seem to agree with him. It was hilarious.

Additionally, while reading the health book TaTa and Jing come across the word Hemorrhoids. Through laughs and embarrassed paused I explained to them both what it was. They and I were ready to die.

Once we all got organized our work actually started. My presentation lasted about 20-30 minutes. Where I got to be the reaper of doom. Basically telling them that the rain is seriously going to decline......oh and there there is nothing they can really do about it except for adapt. In all of these presentation that I have given in the last couple of weeks people ask "how can we stop this from happening?" At first I tried not to flat out say there was nothing they could do to stop it. I hemmed and hawed about peoples impacts on the landscape. Eric clarified quite nicely in Kwando when he said there is jack that you can do to stop this, basically adapt. So I took that same approach today. The your SOL approach as I now call it. The focus group was really interesting, too much detail to write aout though.

After we arrived back at the lodge all of us started to break down came, thinking that things were acutally going according to plan and we were leaving for Kasane. Well turns out Africa came to bit us in the butt again. One of the tires of our car literally fell off while Shylock and TaTa were driving. Everyone is safe, but now we need to find a mechanic, which will probably take hours.

Oh no, the laughs of the day do not end there! After I broke down my tent ans packed the car with my stuff (not in my pack, which was in the chalet). I drove the car towards the lodge. About halfway there I see this gate that leads right to our chalet. I parked the car on the side of the road, jumped out, grabbed my camping supplies and headed for the gate. When I got there it was locked, but I had all this crap in my hands. So I proceed to throw it over the gate, and run back to the car. Which I quickly drive back to the campground. When I arrive back at the campsite I grab my last few thing (dirty clothes, a carved hornbill statue, etc) and take off running so that people don't steal the stuff I threw over the fence. About 2/3 of the way back a freaking fruit tree comes along. And you know those cartoons where people slip on a banana peel? Yeah, you guessed it. Erin took a nosedive, into the dirt. But I was still worried about my camp stuff so I shake it off and collected the rest of my belongings.

I was too embarrassed to tell this to anyone until later on when all us grils went to bed. We were laying there craking up about the days events. And I was like, well.....there is one things you don't know about. More laughing. As Jssica says, "I should have started drinking a breakfast." She did not start that early but several of them laid one on pretty early in the day.

Peace Everyone. No trips to Chobe tomorrow. More Namushasha. Oh darn.

The Shakowee Wowee Hypothesis

All of us have been a bit confused as to how people are sustaining themselves in these villages. In several places people are getting no help from the government, they have no jobs, and they grow no food, but they spend tons of money on cell phones and go to town a lot. So Jessica nad I talked about how they could be making money, and the answer literally walked right past us at the gas stations. A guy was smoking pot in broad daylight while pumping gas. We believe Jane should go to NASA and tell them that we have completely figured out how people are adapting to climate change in Southern Africa. They are growing and / or smoking pot. A hypothesis we have dubbed Shakowee Wowee.

Thanks for the million NASA. It was well spent!

FYI: Jing and I later confirmed our hypothesis while doing training samples. Let's just say traipsing through the bush becomes totally different when you stumble across a grow house. Also, so people don't think we are unsafe. We were given permission to work in the region where the pot was located!

Today (6-6-10)

Most people stayed in camp today to enter data, but I decided to go out to collect training samples. It was a hot but interesting day. Several days ago Jessica and I came to an interesting hypothesis about how people make their income in theseareas, a hypothesis we call Shakowee Wowee. That hypothesis was confirmed during a training sample today, but if you want the full story you will have to ask me back in the states. It is to good, I want to see peoples faces when I tell it.

We had a Braai in camp tonight for Shylocks birthday. FYI: Braai is a BBQ. It was nice but Patricia insisted on taking over. I had everything planned nicely. Jessica and I picked everything up at the grocery store. Pat goes to the kitchen to pick up the food then proceeds to tell me that I did not buy enough for 8 people. Here is what I bought, you decide. 24 hot dogs, 3 steaks, 9 sausages, enough vegs for 20 kebabs, chips, soda, beer, and 2 loaves of bread. Sounds like enough right? Well, she proceeds to order a large bowl of salad, pop, and stew from the kitchen (which I flat out refuse to chip in for). Guess what, none of her crap gets eaten and there is a bit of leftovers of my food. TOLD. YOU. SO. Even Eric was confused about why she was butting in and usually he thinks she walks on water. HAHAHA

Made up a word today. Holy Monkaturd. Yep thats right. Thats what I yell when I am laying in bed and a HUGE spider is in the mosquito net. You would yell something similar.

Headed back to Wuparo (the bush) one last time. Giving one more presnetation and then focus groups.

The lodges generator will go out soon (9-10) so we go to bed rather early. Last time I was reading at 10 when the lights just went out. I was like, oh well time for bed, and I closed my book and went to sleep. It was a bit like when you are young and your parents say lights outs.

NEVER. EVER. take Malaria medicaiton on an empty stomach. Felt like a lead weight was resting in my stomach. That will teach me!

The Greatest Gift Ever!

If anyone is ever in the Caprivi Strip of Namibia, look up the Namushasha Country Lodge. This place rocks!! The manager, Brenda, gave the girls an awesome present several days ago. A free chalet!!! 1 week in an awesome room that usually goes for several hundred US dollars a night. Sorry guys, hope you enjoy camping. THe girls have moved out of the campground and the boys have renamed it Camp Testosterone. First time we have had a roof over our heads in 5 weeks!

TBC

• As I have mentioned before hitchhiking is very popular in Africa. But there are a few things I would life to tell people who want to be picked up on the side of the road. (1) Do not carry an ax and / or rifle. We have all at least seen the previews for those type of horror movies. (2) If you are picked up do not immediately turn to the driver and ask for TB pills. I can officially hold my breat for 3+ minutes now. (3) Sometimes we do not want to pick you up. So do not run into the middle of the road. That is not incentrive for me to stop and pick you up.
• Took one step in Babwata National Park. Yep, just one step
• Was told how to keep hippos away. Simply clap your hands three times in rapid succession and they will back off. Jessica and I have tried it multiple times. Honestly, I think the staff at the lodge are joshing us. Probably recording the hilarity and playing it back saying "look at what we got the stupid american girls to do"
• Killed a lilac breasted roller on the CAMs windshield. RIP friend. It brings the animal death total via the CAM to 3: Chicken, Hornbill, Roller. Near miss with a donkey early in the trip, but if you have been reading the blog you are aware of that.
• I let someone back in the state bother me way to much. I am working hard here, and its tough to listne to people complain about things not going exactly the way they expected it. Well get off your @$$ and get back tot he field yourself. I am not just here to do training samples I am also working in the communities doing surveys and presentation on climate change.
• Jing, poor guy, you are way over your head and you need to learn when to shut your mouth. He told Eric that to him women getting a PhD are a species in there own. Gotta tell ya boy, this girl is getting a PhD and it will be on a much more pertinent employable topic than you. So suck it!!!!
• Got my revenge on Jing today (6-6-10), went to do training samples and I made hime do all the hiking while I filled i nthe forms and kept people from bothering us. He did not put his tennis shoes on, because I am sure he thought he would be sitting in the car like normal, so he got his first taste of the briars and thorns this country has to offer. HAHA. Ohm and made him enter the data when we got back to the lodge. Girls getting a PhD, 1. Jing and his cray views, 0.

Peace Everyone. Still getting caught up posting. At this point we only had 3-4 more days in Namibia!

Welcome Back

So I have not been writing recently. Don't know why really. The days have been going well. So I will catch you up on the activities of this past week. Warning there is one complaint to come, basically I was upset that I let someone upset me (but more details to come).

• Two Favorite Quotes of the Week:
• Jessica turns to me when entering a survey with a blatently wrong answer and asks "What would Jesus do?" as in do we put what was said or what we know to be correct. My answer "Jesus would ignore it."
• When Jing asks Jessica how she is doing she responds "I have two drinks"
• Watched an elephant for 30 minutes in the national park, it was absolutely amazing. Except that the male elephant was a bit excited the entire time.
• Tsebee heard on the side of the road was awesome. I have never heard of them but it was pretty cool.
• A rare river dear, that I cannot remember the name of. He hung out around our deck for almost an hour.
• Chinese Checker Tournament
• Shopping at the cool Mashi Craft Market. Everything is super cheap, but way too big to get back to the states. I did buy an awesome hornbill statue that I have no clue how to get back
• Free chalet at the Namushasha lodge. The girls lucked out on this one. Poor guys are still amping, but I really have no sympathy for them. It is the first time since Gabs that I have had a roof over my head.
• We found a cope center in town that sells US magazines. I know that this seems minor, but i ran out of books to read 2 weeks ago. I am savoring the pages of O, Elle, and Marie Claire every night before bed.
• One of the coolest things about this trip is that Jessica and I have become close. Thank god that she is here. We really did not know one another before heading out, and I later found out that she used to think I was uptight. But things are cool now and we are really depending on one another for sanity.
• Our leader, who is sitting next to me as I write this, has been getting trashed the last couple of nights. I think the stress and lack of help from Brian are really starting to get to him. At least he is hilarious when drunk, but he does ask a lot of questions. Bit odd.
• More to come!!!
  

Blerg!

Not really having a great day, but Namibia is gorgeous. Tired of petty bickering. Tired of being with a large group of people. Thank god Jessica is here. She and I are trying to stay sane.

Eric is not dealing with the stress well. He got annoyingly drunk and was loud at dinner. Jessica and i left early so that we could chill away from the group. Such petty arguments that all stem from a freaking car wash. People need to get over themselves. Think about where you are and what you are doing this for. If you take that into perspective you wil realize how stupid today's crap has been.

Going to bed in a bad mood. Sorry all for the complaints. It is my resolution to not complain anymore after this post........lets hope there is no need for more.

Pictures

Have to figure out a way to post pictures. My tent is on a hill overlooking the river. I can hear hippos and elephants. Pictures to come hopefully.

Pictures

Have to figure out a way to post pictures. My tent is on a hill overlooking the river. I can hear hippos and elephants. Pictures to come hopefully.

Craft Market

Kongola has a cool craft mart. We only stopped for 2 seconds because no one has changed any money yet, but I will be shopping there within the next 2 weeks. The requested beads have been founnd finally!

Craft Market

Kongola has a cool craft mart. We only stopped for 2 seconds because no one has changed any money yet, but I will be shopping there within the next 2 weeks. The requested beads have been founnd finally!

Evening

Pretty damn sweet sitting beside the Kwando watching the sunset. Its been a busy and at times rough couple of weeks. But this has all been pretty darn amazing.

Evening

Pretty damn sweet sitting beside the Kwando watching the sunset. Its been a busy and at times rough couple of weeks. But this has all been pretty darn amazing.

Great Lodge

We finally arrived to Namushasha around 5 tonight. It is amazing here. The grounds are great and they are so friendly. This could be a great 12 days. I am going to take a boat ride down the Kwando! Oh yeah, work also.

Namibian Border

Traveling into another country has taken on a whole new meaning. The Namibian border patrol were the most invasive people we have ever met. First it took foreever to get through immigration because there were asking us all so many questions. Then they wanted to go throguh our bags at customs. They proceeded to separate the boys and girls, and go though all our stuff. FYI: Jing went in with the girls for some unknown reason. I was second in line, and had just seen them go though Patricia's bag very completely. So when she unpacks my backpack I told her that she can look through it all, but she would also be repacking it. I had spent an hour this morning getting everything into my backpack. She took out two things, my drink mix and my bath stuff. She was not interested in repacking my bag apparently, but she did take 3 of my drink mixes and my conditioned. Apparently I look like I could be smuggling cocaine into there country and she needed to inspect my drink mix. It was so messed up. She took Jessica's tissues also. We are carrying around expensive clothes, cameras, jewelry, and computers but they want conditioner and tissues. Smart.

Did I mention they kept asking us if we are bringing any diamonds into the country?? Um......Poor Student......No

The Suicidal Chicken

Today we are headed to Namibia (5-28-10). Everyone is pretty excited to head to a new area. We all awoke well before 6 to pack and head out. We started early with the bickering. Our translator / fix it / resident moron cleaned only one of the cars, and them complained when he did not get to ride in it. Heres the thing, you are an employee of this group. Who do you think you are throwing a hissy fit? I though Eric was going to burst a blood vessel.

So we finally got on the road about 8, and Jessica was driving. About an hour into the drive we heard this thump. Turns out a chicken ran across the road and into the path of the car. Jessica swerved to miss it but this chicken apparently wanted to die and it swerved as well. Feathers were flying, and some chicken bits were stuck in the car when we got to the ferry a half hour later.

Text Message

Got a cool text message from Heather today! Maybe it came a while ago, not sure how reliable the hetwork is here. If she is reading this. You make me smile to BFF!

(Wow feel like a high school student again after writing BFF. LOL)

Text Message

Got a cool text message from Heather today! Maybe it came a while ago, not sure how reliable the hetwork is here. If she is reading this. You make me smile to BFF!

Internet

After two weeks plus without internet Eric discovered that our campground in Seronga has a dial up network. After 10 minutes of loading gmail, we all decided that we could wait until Namibia for wifi. Boy are we spoiled. It was not that long ago that all of us used dial up.

Internet

After two weeks plus without internet Eric discovered that our campground in Seronga has a dial up network. After 10 minutes of loading gmail, we all decided that we could wait until Namibia for wifi. Boy are we spoiled. It was not that long ago that all of us used dial up.

Cinnamon Beef

The second night of beef cooking was supposed to be me in the kitchen. The women at the lodge offered to grind the leftovers and I was going to make burgers and fries. When I started to make dinner tonight Jing decided he was sick of all the food that we had been making and that we are lousy cooks. There fore it was his turn in the kitch (ie campfire). The results were terrible. What a waste of good foos. Beef with carrots and onions seasoned with cinnamon and what was labeled rice seasoning. Gross. Plus he used all of the rice and pasta we had left. Who knows what we are going to make for lunch tomorrow night. Canned fruit, bread, and water are about the only things left (I am being a bit sarcastic!) Maybe we can have some sort of iron chef contest with those ingredients!

Beef, its whats for dinner

Our work in Beetsha went very well. The people we hired were so good that we let them go on their own and we toured the village. This place has the perfect setting for a horror movie, a hospital that is completely empty. We talked to the burse of the clinic / hospital, fyi she is the only employee, she gave us a great but deprssing tour of the facility. All of the medicine is provided by the Bill Clinton Foundtation and she said that most of that gets pilfered even before arriving in Beetsha.

Our beed is waiting for us in the car. Woo Hoo. I will enjoy it after no protein or meat for 5 days. Carbs are making us cranky and sleepy.

Overall a pretty great day. The nurse gave us a bag of roundbuts which taste just like boiled peanuts.

Peace Everyone!

You never know

Heard and interesting story about Rodgers and Andrea last night. Writing this so that I remember to give Andrea crap about it back in the states. Ms. Okvango huh ?!?

Still Posting Old Entries

Promise I will catch up soon!

And the cow goes moo.....until you kill it

Usually I don't like steak, but it is on the menu for tonight. I am ready for it! Regarless of the fact that the cow is still alive in the village as I write this.

And the cow goes moo.....until you kill it

Usually I don't like steak, but it is on the menu for tonight. I am ready for it! Regarless of the fact that the cow is still alive in the village as I write this.

The match is set

We are going to have a rumble at our camp soon and all of us are a bit excited. After days of jabs and snarky comments the wrestling match is coming. Jing vs. Shylock. Both are in training. I have bet my 2 bottles of still water on Shylock. Carrying my camera everywhere so that it is handy if a match suddenly breaks out.

The match is set

We are going to have a rumble at our camp soon and all of us are a bit excited. After days of jabs and snarky comments the wrestling match is coming. Jing vs. Shylock. Both are in training. I have bet my 2 bottles of still water on Shylock. Carrying my camera everywhere so that it is handy if a match suddenly breaks out.

Kids

Hitchhiking is the most common form of transportation within Africa. It is pretty safe and traveling within such a large group gives us confidence that we are safe in picking people up. Yesterday (5-24-10) on our way home from Beetsha a group of children flagged down our car. I was driving and TaTa translated for me. We thought that they wanted a ride to Seronga (about 35 km from where we were), so they got in the back of the pickup and we took off. About 2 km later they pounded on the top of the truck and asked me to stop. They all jumped out, there were about 6 in all, and proceeded to run back towards where we picked them up. Turns out they had not ridden in a car for several weeks and just wanted to do it. They had no need for a ride but for the fun of it. It was pretty hilarous. TaTa said that we were through picking people up, but yet we picked on 2 the next morning.

These were pretty young kids too. The age range was 6-10 I would guess. Tells you a bit on how safe it is here that people let their kids hitchhike for the fun. Can you imagine something like that in the states? Before coming here people asked me if I was concerned for my safetly, and I was a bit hesitant to answer. Turns out people are perfectly lovely, and the wildlife is what to be concerned with. Case in point, we got to listen to the lion roar like crazy last night. At least it was fairly distant.

Back at it

Work begins again tomorrow (5-25-10) in Beetsha. Hope I am prepared. Hope I can avoid the sun a bit.

Wow

Drunken Chinese man is exercising outside of my tent at 11:30 at night. Yeah, whiskey doues not affect you.

Hmmm....

Life is pretty darn amazing

Closing Night

The night is coming to a close and we are sitting by the fire. It is the 24th of May, meaning that I have officially been in Africa for 3 weeks. The time is flying by.

Closing Night

The night is coming to a close and we are sitting by the fire. It is the 24th of May, meaning that I have officially been in Africa for 3 weeks. The time is flying by.

National Lampoons

Need to write a book or something about the hilarity that ensues during field work. National Lampoons Dead Donkey.

National Lampoons

Need to write a book or something about the hilarity that ensues during field work. National Lampoons Dead Donkey.

Sun

Frying like bacon. Sunscreen every hour. Still red.

World Bank

Started training in two villages in OCT, Seronga and Beetsha. I headed to Beetsha ith TaTa, Shylock, and Jing. It was interesting. I wrapped up and meet the chief, who spoke no English. Then we meet a large group from World Bank that are working in the area as well. They were getting ready to hold a community meeting so we attended as well. The whole point of this meeting was for the world bank to let pople know that they are working at ways to combat elephants. The two proposed ideas seem a bit farfetched if you ask us but hey they are the supposed experts. First they want people to start to grow chili's in order to make chili bombs which they will light at night to keep the animals away. This seems like a cool idea until you realize the inverstment it will take to make chili production work. Then add to that the idea of asking people to grind chili's into powder and mix it with dung and petrol. Oh yeah, then light it on fire. Hmmm.....seems a bit wrong. Secondly, they want to train German Shepards to guard the crops at night. Yeah. Really. You should see the condition of most dogs here, there is not one change that this will work.

Anyways, several of us made good contacts for the future. Shylock says that he will angle for a job in the future with them. Even if we think there program is rubbish we still want to work with them or get money from them. LOL.

During the translator training in the village school let out, and all of the students were starting intently. That seems to happen here a lot. White folks stick out like a sore thumb. It has made surveys a bit hard. In our last village we did not have enough women volunteers to help, so Jessica nad i worked with two men. Everywhere we went people would say comments, and while I never asked exactly what we being said it was pretty obvious. Hanging out with a white girl huh. Snicker. Snicker. No need to have that translated. It fits in to the universal language of mockery.

World Bank

Started training in two villages in OCT, Seronga and Beetsha. I headed to Beetsha ith TaTa, Shylock, and Jing. It was interesting. I wrapped up and meet the chief, who spoke no English. Then we meet a large group from World Bank that are working in the area as well. They were getting ready to hold a community meeting so we attended as well. The whole point of this meeting was for the world bank to let pople know that they are working at ways to combat elephants. The two proposed ideas seem a bit farfetched if you ask us but hey they are the supposed experts. First they want people to start to grow chili's in order to make chili bombs which they will light at night to keep the animals away. This seems like a cool idea until you realize the inverstment it will take to make chili production work. Then add to that the idea of asking people to grind chili's into powder and mix it with dung and petrol. Oh yeah, then light it on fire. Hmmm.....seems a bit wrong. Secondly, they want to train German Shepards to guard the crops at night. Yeah. Really. You should see the condition of most dogs here, there is not one change that this will work.

Anyways, several of us made good contacts for the future. Shylock says that he will angle for a job in the future with them. Even if we think there program is rubbish we still want to work with them or get money from them. LOL.

Plan B

The waters are rising. All of our villages are flooding. The Okavango river is a bit out of control right now. We are trying to come up with plan B. Might have to head for Namibia early. Otherwise we will need a boat to do surveys. That would be pretty cool though.

Tough Life

Sitting by the Okavango River entering data.

The Bar is Open

So on our first Friday night n Seronga a couple of my coworkers decided to have a few alcoholic beverages. Problem was we have nothing in camp. So Eric and TaTa decided to hunt down a tux shop (bar) to get beer and wine. Problem was all of the shops in town close at 8, but they were told of one place in town that is open until 11 that sells COLD beer and wine. The police station

Two thoughts come to mind:

(1) It tells you a bit about the efficiency of the police force in Botswana that they are the main bar in town

(2) The police stations are only open until 11. Guess crime does not occur at night in Botswana. LOL

FYI: Eric said it was the scariest bar that he has ever been to in his life (and the dude is pretty well traveled)

The Bar is Open

So on our first Friday night n Seronga a couple of my coworkers decided to have a few alcoholic beverages. Problem was we have nothing in camp. So Eric and TaTa decided to hunt down a tux shop (bar) to get beer and wine. Problem was all of the shops in town close at 8, but they were told of one place in town that is open until 11 that sells COLD beer and wine. The police station

Two thoughts come to mind:
(1) It tells you a bit about the efficiency of the police force in Botswana that they are the main bar in town

(2) The police stations are only open until 11. Guess crime does not occur at night in Botswana. LOL

FYI: Eric said it was the scariest bar that he has ever been to in his life (and the dude is pretty well traveled)