Traveling here was definitely an interesting experience. From Washington D.C., I flew 8 hours to Dakar, Senegal, where we stopped to refuel and drop off some passengers. Then, an hour later we were back at it again, flying another 8 hours to Johannesburg, South Africa. I was lucky enough to meet up with 4 other girls in the program before the flight left, which was so nice because I hate traveling alone. The first 8 hours wasn't too bad but after leaving Dakar, it was rough. On the flight, I met a guy who was actually going to live with his Dad in South Africa for the next two years and study mechanical engineering! He's spent most of his life going back and forth between living in the States and South Africa. He gave me some tips on what to expect culture wise, which was very helpful because at that point, I felt completely unprepared.
After an hour long flight to Gaborone, we made it out of the airport and back to our hotel for the night. There, we were greeted by a candlelight dinner. Why? No romance in this one - the power was out. Gaborone is prone to random power outages in order to conserve power and electricity. They have a schedule, but unfortunately, they have to make unexpected cuts. Talk about a warm welcome! It finally turned back on and I was able to meet the rest of the 26 people in the program.
First day in Africa!
Our beautiful hotel
The next day we moved into the dorms. One thing that I have figured out about Africa is that they have a very different concept of time. In their culture, they are much more laid back and time is usually centered around 30 minute to hour long chunks of time. Due to this, it's not uncommon at all to see people running late or to have entire schedules reworked at a minutes notice. I'm trying hard to get used to this, but it's very difficult for someone like me who lives by the clock. So, moving into the dorms ended up being a bit of a mess, with rooms not ready and an uncertain arrangement, resulting in me changing rooms 3 different times. I'm hoping I'm finally in a room that I get to stay in for more than 48 hours. Cross your fingers for me!
Most days I've been spending in orientation lectures or out exploring the town/buying supplies for dorm life! On Wednesday, we were able to visit 3 different clinics in the area - Baylor Pediatric HIV/AIDS Clinic, Princess Marina Hospital (the largest hospital in the area) and the Extension 2 Clinic (the largest clinic in the area). I was only able to take pictures at the Baylor Clinic but I will be spending time at the Extension 2 Clinic so hopefully I can get some pictures then!
Baylor Clinic!
An amazing piece of artwork inside - Africa made out of patches of HIV/AIDS ribbons
We ended our orientation week with an overnight visit to the Mokolodi Nature Reserve! It was absolutely amazing but I have tons of pictures to post and lots to talk about so I'll be doing that in a separate post. I'll just leave you with a few other pictures from this week!
Spinach, Feta and Creamy Avo Sandwich from Juicy Lucy - a restaurant here {sooo yummy!}
All businesses have to have a picture of the President of Botswana in them - here he is!
Vicki {my roommate} and I at dinner!
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