A Morning Entry

written 6/19

I woke up at 7:00 this morning from a wonderful dream about Thanksgiving to the sounds of Dr. Dre blaring from a neighbor's car stereo. This is strange for several reasons. Firstly, it is now 9:30 in the morning on a Saturday, and I have already been up for hours. This is unacceptable. I had to be up early every Saturday on Long Island because I had work, and I've had to be up early every Saturday since arriving in Botswana because I had training. This was supposed to be my first Saturday to really sleep in. Thus, I feel that I have every reason to balk a little at being woken up at such an early hour. Although it is a part of the culture here to be up early no matter what day it is, this is one part of the culture that I plan to refuse to conform with. Weekends are still weekends, and whether I am sleeping or not, I will be in bed until at least 9:30 on Saturdays.
Second, it is the middle of June, and I am dreaming about a holiday that won't happen for another half a year, and in Botswana, it won't really happen at all. I think I can explain this one pretty well, though. It feels like fall here, especially in the evenings and mornings, because according the seasonal schedule of the southern hemisphere, it is fall, almost winter. I wear a hoodie and jeans every day, and have squash and apples in my kitchen. The air is crisp and clear, and it gets dark early. Even some of the trees are changing color, although it gets too warm during the day to get the full array of colors and fallen leaves that we get in New York. The few trees here that change color generally turn yellow and brown, and a few leaves fall off, but you don't really see barren trees like we would in the US in November or December. Still, it's enough to allow my mind to believe that it is autumn, and that Halloween and Thanksgiving should be right around the corner. It should be interesting to see what Christmas feels like when it's over 100 degrees outside.
Finally, Dr. Dre? Really? I know I've covered this before, but it's still a little shock every time I hear American music in Botswana. Actually, I wasn't confused at all at first, because I woke up thinking that it was Thanksgiving on Long Island, which made everything make sense. Of course people were up early- it's a holiday, and people have to start cooking! And of course Dr. Dre is blasting, my brothers listen to rap all the time! It took me a few minutes to settle into reality and realize the absurdity of the situation.
It is now after 10am, finally an acceptable time to get out of bed on a Saturday and begin the day. On the schedule is shopping for previously mentioned necessities and going to Mike and Geri's to take a much needed bath. A worker finally came yesterday to install the geyser (water heater), but he was unsuccessful due to faulty electric lines and multiple leaks. He did fix the leak in my kitchen, but now my bathroom is flooded. I'm hoping that next week will be a week of many repairs, and by the end of it, I will have hot running water, no leaks, and a secure house, based on the security officer's recommended repairs. My goal for today is much less lofty- to set up my bed with sheets and blankets and my windows with curtains so I can sleep in my real bed. Tomorrow I may or may not decide to seek out the Catholic Church in town, and then I plan to spend the rest of the day cleaning the walls and cooking. I may even have my first visitor, another PCV who will be passing through on her way back to her village outside Mahalapye. Hopefully the house will be ready!
With that, I am off to begin a lovely fall weekend in Botswana. Maybe I'll even cook that squash or make some applesauce. Happy Thanksgiving!

An update: Aside from making applesauce (which came out weird, apples are extremely sweet and grainy here), I failed completely at today's mission, and instead spent the entire day watching movies on my laptop and taking the worst bath of my life (really, it was so miserable that I don't even want to talk about it- let's just say that it made me miss bucket baths, and I can't wait until I have hot running water). Things were quiet around the compound during the day, but of course now that it's the evening, the blaring car stereo has returned. Now it's playing Justin Bieber. And I thought I could escape him by crossing an ocean and living in the African bush. Sigh.