Precision Planter project
Blum Fellow Stephanie Lew
Botswana Summer 2017
It’s been a crazy change going from life in California to life in Botswana. I had a moment this morning where I was really missing home. I figured that I was missing the people I spent my time with and the predictability of my daily routine, but when I thought about what I was feeling even more, I realized that above all, I missed being comfortable. I miss comfort of being surrounded by my closest friends and family. I miss the comfort of showering. I miss knowing the social norms. I miss knowing how to speak the native language. I miss knowing what to expect.
I then came to realize the issue with this. I’ve always believed that growth happened when you push yourself out of your comfort zone. This is actually a belief of mine that I picked up from my first, and only international trip before this one, to Nicaragua. I’ve always preached to myself to strive to seek new, different experiences, and here I am, doing that, and I am feeling really thrown off my bearings and I’m really struggling with it. I know this is normal, and this is something I’ve always wanted to do, but it’s not like anything I would’ve imagined it to be.
I’d like to clarify that these differences aren’t bad. They’re just different... for example, water and electricity is intermittent. I take bucket showers. Bugs are everywhere in my hostel. Animals, such as chickens, donkeys, and cows that freely roam around. They are actually one of the leading causes of death—car collisions with animals. They drive on the left side of the road, but in the right side of the car. Their diet mainly consists of corn and meat, whereas, I’m used to fresh fruits and vegetables. Even more different is the standard of living. Most people in D’kar live in poverty, but similarly to what I found in Nicaragua, people seem happy. Houses look no larger than a bedroom. The poorer homes are built out of irregular wooden branches, cemented together by a mixture of donkey dung and sand, and the nice ones are built with cement blocks. They have no running water and electricity is too expensive. They cook outside with handmade fires. Some will grow their own food. Their version of a bathroom is away from their home in the brush. There are no refrigeration nor stoves. This contrast between life here and life at home makes me realize how excessive my life is. However, compare myself to wealthy people in the states, and I have nothing. So… this view of life and what is considered a norm and considered a necessity in life goes back to perspective. So if it’s all about perspective, it puts into question what really is considered necessary?
Not only am I surrounded by many differences, but I’ve also noticed many similarities to home.
One similarity is meals. A meal consisting of some sort of grain to fill you up and a meat dish is fairly standard in the states. Also, church. Uniting over some sort of religion seems to be universal as well. At the church service I attended today, I felt the same types of emotions and energy I felt at other services I have attended in the post. (the church songs were absolutely breathtaking.) Another similarity is this idea of community. Everyone here seems very close and there is as lot of good energy that seems to be found in shared spaces, such as the church. Also, homelessness. When we were at the grocery store, two men asked us for money and food. Music. I heard some Botswanan-South African rap music that was pretty catchy! Also heard some Carly Rae Jepson on our walk around the village. That’s all I can think of for now. But it’s just interesting living in a place where life can be so different, but similar at the same time.
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