Village Visit

Right now I am staying in the Lolwapa Lodge right across from the University of Gaborone. Its an interesting time to be in the city because the students are on strike right now. Yesturday a huge group of them was gathered and police came in with tear gas to chase them away. A few of us SIT students were walking from the main mall at the time when a large crowd of Batswana students came running right behind us down the road. We started thinking that maybe we should run too, but they slowed down when they got near us. It was quite the experience; they were all smiling and laughing, probably excited to be skipping school and hanging out together. Don't worry me though, I'll been staying safely away from any big crowds of students. Today we had a village drop-off about an hour away from Gaborone. I went to Mochudi with 3 other students. This was a fabulous adventure. We got on a big bus and immediately people stormed down the bus trying to sell us everything from meat pies to belts. The village was wonderful- everyone was really friendly and happy to get to know us. We were definitely the only white people in the village. I got many funny stares from little kids who had obviously never seen a white person before. I also got to see some women Batswana wearing more traditional clothing. This visit has made me very excited for my first homestay starting this Friday in a village very similar. Miss you and love you all!