Class & Catching Cabs

Today was the first day of classes!!! It went really well! Left the house at 8:30, took the combis to school, and found my first class: Demographics of HIV/AIDS…the professor came in, handed us all a syllabus, and said see you Wednesday…and no class Friday. She spoke so quietly, I’m going to sit up front next time. I’m in the class with 3 other CIEE girls so it’s nice to know some people, but it also deters us from interacting with other students. I got the wireless on my laptop configured after that…which is pretty nice…and very unexpected. Then I had physical chemistry at noon…and we had a full introductory lecture!!! There were about 20 students in the class. The professor was very nice, and he offers tutorials, or study sessions, five times throughout the week…two of which I plan on attending. I’ve heard this class is a tough one! Then I had Setswana at 2….it was all of the international students, so like 30 of us. My next class was Physics at 4, and then most of the CIEE students planned on seeing Avatar at 5:30 at the Riverwalk Mall (about a 15-minute walk from campus).


After the movie (which is awesome…3D recommended), we ate at a Riverwalk restaurant called Linga Longa for rib night. Two racks, plus a side, for 49 pula (about $8). We all hung out there for a while, and I tried a the local ‘natty light,’ called St. Louis…not too bad  I called a cab to get home, because it was dark, so he arrived, I asked if he was the cab, to which he responded, “yes,” and I hopped in. A few minutes later, I get a phone call from the cab company, asking where I am. I suddenly got extremely nervous, thinking I had gotten into some random guy’s car, as many of the cabs are unmarked. I tell the man on the phone I’m already in a cab, and he says ok and hangs up. So, I’m sitting in the back of the cab, thinking of possible ways to escape if something goes awry (leaving my bags and running to the nearest house was my best idea), when I hear a walkie talkie go off and my name being said from the other end…..whew!!! I knew at that point that I had indeed gotten into the correct vehicle, and my driver did work for the cab company I had called. I was a little scared there for a while…however, those feelings went away only to come back when we arrived at my home and the driver said he didn’t have any change for my 100-pula bill. He said we could go to a gas station to get change…I reluctantly agreed, we drove to a closed gas station, and the guys hanging around outside gave me some change. It was a little sketchy, and I made sure to take my bag out of the car with me. It worked out fine, we made it back to my house, and I went inside after about a 20-minute conversation about Batswana dating white women…there is some interesting infatuation with it here…I don’t know, people here seem to think white ladies are very wealthy. Although most can attest that this is not a true statement, I can understand why Batswana may think that, as most of the white people who come to Botswana are well-off.

So, now I am finally inside and am about to go to bed…I must wake up at 5am to leave by 6 for my 7 o’clock lab…yikes! Goodnight!