This won't be the long entry about swearing-in that I promised you all, since I'm at an internet cafe with limited time, but I thought I'd give you an update on recent events anyway.
There are 5 Bots 9 volunteers that will be serving in the Mahalapye region, and 3 of us rode up together in the same combi. Mahalapye is only a couple hours away from Molepolole, so this move should have been a relatively simple process- the key word however, is 'should'. I heard someone say that when you move to Botswana, you have to imagine yourself moving into a pot of honey. Everything is more difficult than it should be, and everything takes forever. Our combi was supposed to pick us up at 8am, but didn't arrive until 9:15. This was perfect actually, because our bags that had been in storage arrived at the same time (they were also supposed to arrive by 8). We had the driver bring us to each of our 3 homestay houses to pick up the enormous amount of baggage we've somehow accumulated in the last 2 months (I blame Peace Corps- who needs fire extinguishers, airhorns, medical kits, and mosquito nets?). This took some time, but eventually we were on our way. The drive should have taken about 2.5 hours, but we had the slowest driver in Botswana, so by 1pm, we were still over an hour away. It was at this point that the driver turned back to us and said "We have a problem". The gas guage said our tank was empty, and we were at least 50k from the nearest filling station. Since there was really nothing else to do, we drove as slowly as we could, and somehow made it all 50k to the filling station in Shoshong, at which point our driver informed us that he had no money for fuel. We paid with the fading hope of eventual reimbursement. Shoshong is actually a beautiful hillside village that I would love to come back and explore, so we didn't mind the detour too much. We got back on the road, and made it to our meeting point by 3pm. While we waited for the volunteers who live outside Mahalapye to be picked up, I texted my counterpart for directions to my house so the driver could drop me off there (remember that I have only seen my house twice, and only for 5 minutes each time). To my dismay, my counterpart said that my house was not yet furnished, and I would have to stay in another house for at least a week while transportation for the furniture to be found. The last time I had seen this other house, it was not habitable, and upon arrival this time, I found that nothing had changed. I won't get into details here, but I did not feel safe or comfortable staying there. I am a Peace Corps volunteer, and was prepared for hardships like lack of running water and electricity and availability of goods, but I won't compromise my health and safety. Luckily, some other volunteers came to the rescue, a wonderful Bots 9 couple that will also be staying in Mahalapye. I have been staying at their house for the last couple nights, and am grateful beyond words for their generosity. We have spent the last couple days shopping, scoping out the internet cafe, cleaning and organizing the house, and eating American foods. We have some more shopping to do before these meals are gourmet, but I'm pretty thrilled with grilled cheese and quiche with sausage and peas. I'll be staying with them at least for one more night, and then speaking to my counterpart about the situation when I arrive at the clinic for work tomorrow morning. I'm hoping to convince her to allow me to stay in my real house, with or without furniture- I have a sleeping bag for a reason! I just want to get settled into life here, and hopefully that's something anyone can understand. In the meantime, I'm just thankful to have friends that are willing to help me out!
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