Good luck; hope you get things sorted out!

First, I should mention that I changed the name of my blog which means your link to me doesn’t work Here’s a new one http://brandysbustlings.blogspot.com/ (Fixed it! -Arlo)

The Bus Rank
The Bus Rank is an experience like no other. The day I had to go there, by myself, to buy bus tickets (there actually are a few buses that you can buy tickets for) will go down as one of the scariest days of my life. You two were lucky; your bus left as soon as you arrived. We were told to arrive at 5:00 p.m. and that we would board at 6:00 p.m. We left Gaborone at 9:00 p.m. “No Hurry in Africa”.
Also, it’s always the random guy that knows what he’s talking about. That’s one of the things I loved best about Botswana. If you didn’t know something, you just asked someone, anyone. As we prepared to climb Kgale Hill for the first time, it was the random guy walking down the road who assured us that the baboons were not dangerous. I’m pretty sure they are dangerous if you piss them off, but we didn’t so they weren’t.

Safety
Did everyone on your bus have a massive blanket in addition to whatever else they were carrying? On our bus up to Kasane, it sure seemed like everyone did. Odd, I thought, until I realised how cold it gets at night on those buses.
The problem with people stuffing everything in those overhead bins, is that they stuff everything in those overhead bins. Then, at 7:00 a.m. passengers like me, awaken to a suitcase falling on their head.
As for safety in general, I have one thing to say. Botswana is all safe and comfortable until someone steals your cell phone and bites your hand in the process. That is all.

Wealth
It amazed me how the class differential was so blatant in South Africa, but Botswana remained seemingly untouched by that disparity. The reason, as non-pc as it may sound, is due to a lack of rich white people. At least that’s what I would attribute it to. The lack of large haves and haves not populations was comforting, until I spent some time in Maun and saw it happening there. Those rich white people I mentioned run the city center in Maun, while the poor black people struggle to survive in the village peripheral.

Demographics
It’s kind of like living in a zoo. I loved being the minority in Botswana. That was one of the experiences I was most looking forward to. Being the one stared at all the time gave me some insight into how the students I was working with would feel when they arrived in Canada.

Language
That high-pitched sound to which you are referring is “Aeish” with a definite focus in the upper vocal register on the first three letters. It took me at least a month after returning to Canada to stop saying it when something surprised me in an “I don’t believe it” kind of way.

Drugs
Wasn’t Dr. Khan just great?! Her counterpart however, (I don’t remember his name) told me I didn’t need stitches after stabbing myself in the hand with a serrated steak knife. I’m pretty sure I should have gotten stitches, but I have a pretty wicked scar now. I tell people that a bush baby bit me!

Men’s Room Behavior
I was never in a men’s room, but I can tell you that the women definitely aren’t as shy. Most of the time, I would walk into a bathroom to see a woman sitting on the toilet going about her business. Not because there weren’t doors on the stalls, but just because they didn’t really care who saw them. I suppose those actions add some literal meaning to ‘pubic restrooms’.
And toilet paper…I have to mention toilet paper. There was never any, anywhere. I carried toilet paper or Kleenex with me everywhere I went. Oksana may have noticed this a lot more than you, Arlo.

HIV/AIDS
I spent a decent amount of time with an HIV/AIDS expert while in Botswana. Bots is actually a success story in terms of HIV treatment. In the last decade (I think) they’ve cut the mortality rate in half. This is happening, of course, because Botswana was one of the first countries to implement free anti-retrovirals (ARVs) to people with HIV. The stats that are pouring out of Botswana look great and they are…sort of. The problem lies in the fact that the incidence rate isn’t changing nor is the number of cases (there’s a fancy name for that too, but I can’t remember it). Botswana is doing wonders in terms of treatment, but nothing in terms of prevention. In fact, the government doesn’t even have any budgetary money set aside for prevention strategies. As for Sex Ed in schools, while I am not positive on this, I am quite sure that it doesn’t exist. People are still very unwilling to talk about sex; HIV/AIDS is still highly stigmatised.

In terms of who is to ‘blame’ for the promiscuity issue. All I know is that we were ‘warned’ on numerous occasions that the men of Botswana cast a wide net. It’s likely the same for the women. You know, the old fish in the sea cliché. Well plenty of fish…wide net in the hopes of catching something. Pun totally intended there. I won’t even get into the numerous stories I have about being hit on and proposed to. What I will say is that one especially forward cab driver was pretty taken aback when the four Canadian girls he wanted to marry started asking him how many cows he had to offer in exchange. He only had ten (which I’m pretty sure translates to zero) which clearly wasn’t enough when the going rate for a Canadian girl was at least 150!

Diet Coke and Mopane Worms
Just because I can, I must inform the reading public that Diet Coke does not actually exist in Botswana. It’s called Coke Light, but it tastes and the packaging looks exactly the same. Annoyance is indeed thinking you have at least one more sip when the can is actually empty. I never did get used to that, even after four months. As for Mopane worms, if someone asked me what I regret not doing in Botswana, I’d say trying Mopane worms. I ate cow intestine after all; I doubt Mopane worms could have been any worse.

Ke Rata Botswan (I love Botswana)

Congrats you guys, and looking forward to more posts and videos from your journey.

-DT

I’m looking forward to writing about many of the things we did (and thing that happened to us) on our trip… starting TOMORROW (Jan. 1!) If Oksana winds up with a job in Australia, I’ll have a year — and more importantly, no excuses — to distill that output into a book. That’s the plan. Stay tuned!

Wishing you both all the best (sleep and more dreams come true) in 2012!