On Tour - Botswana

Just got an email from my friend, Michaela…she describes a little bit about life in Botswana:

The job is going well, right now i am pretty much processing foreign exchange transfer (very exciting), the big difference with canada is how little the internet and computers are used; most things are done manually and there is a lot of paperwork. So the actual job is not too much fun, but the people make up for it. everyone in the department is really nice, and they love to make fun of the new canadian girl :) we are all going out this friday so im sure it will get interesting, we'll see what the afterwork crowd is like here in botswana... probably not too different from canada.

I am living a rural village that isn't part of Gaborone, its considered tribal land. I will have to send pictures, because it really is what you picture Africa to be like, dirt roads, simple structures, etc. There are goats, cattle and donkeys always roaming around, i had to manoeuvre around about 5 donkeys that were on the road the other day, they didn't want to get out of my way, so i ended up getting out of theirs! At about 5 pm all the cattle/goats wander past the balcony, it provides a nice view as I sit there after work with a beer. The flat i am living in is very nice and new and about a 10 minute walk from the main road where I pick up the minibus (called combies here). They are pretty much big vans that travel along a set route. They honk and yell at you to see if you want on, and once in, you have to yell when you want to get off. They leave when they are full and don't have any kind of a schedule, its a little different from the buses at home! i got lost on them last week as I took the wrong one home, I ended up in the middle of no where, but everyone on the bus was really nice and pointed me in the right direction, and besides I got a free tour of the countryside.......

The girl I am living with is very nice and lots of fun. She is from Botswana but spent a year in Ottawa, so she knows what it is like to come to another country. She has been very inviting and I have been hanging out lots with her group. We are going camping in a game park next weekend, Im very excited, if I can get it organized I will send pictures.