Things once foreign... but now are completely normal

Having 2 lizards live in your couch & stare at you throughout the day. You also tend to warn people of these tenets before they sit on that couch because they may come out to visit.

Reading random novels by obscure authors under a mosquito net by candlelight.

Having two way conversations with your dog and chickens when there is no one else to talk to.

Knowing what sound the water tap makes when the water will be off for at least 3 days. And leaving work to fill various buckets & jugs to get through the drought.

Lighting candles in the bathroom, not for the ambiance, but just in case the power goes out while you’re in the tub.

Eating PB&J, grilled cheese sandwiches, and burritos every week and thinking you have a well balanced diet.

Carrying toilet paper everywhere you go.

Getting stuck in a bathroom in town, crawling out the window, opening the door for the next unsuspecting victim and then doing it again the very next week.

Being hit on, told “I love you”, and proposed to routinely by men of the ages 16-75.

Being offered cows in exchange for my hand in marriage and turning the offer down because I have told myself I won’t be gotten for less than 250 cows.

Being asked for money every time you leave the house.

Telling the two frogs that live in your bathroom to keep the place bug free while you’re in the tub.

Not speaking for upwards of 48 hours.

Having people stare at you for long periods and not wondering why or what they are thinking.

Having a assigned spot in the morning meeting to stand because it is the place where the previous volunteer stood.

Being involved in conversations that last for hours and only saying 10 words.

Not watching television for more than 8 months.

Letting flies and other insects sit on your skin for long periods without flinching or brushing them off annoyed.

Seeing a spider the size of your hand come out from behind your stove while the oven is on and saying “Sorry Judes, I know it’s getting hot back there, but the cookies are almost finished and you can eat the flies that land on them”.

Killing chickens, goats, cows, etc.

Having to be home before dark…

Sitting next to a mother breast feeding in the back of the ambulance and talking about the terrible road conditions over the machine-gun rattling sound the door makes.

Saying, "I'm coming," when actually you’re leaving.

Having people talk about you in front of you and not knowing exactly what they are saying because they are speaking so fast.

Sitting at the bus stop for upwards of 6 hours waiting to hitch a ride into town to buy groceries.

Becoming a contortionist in the back of a small combi (mini bus) crammed with 15 people more than manufactures recommend and bags traveling at 120 kph and being able to sleep for hours with someone else’s baby on your lap.

Having upwards of 10 names you are called throughout the village: (just a few)

Refiwe Mokabedi
Refilwe
Ref
Fifi
Mma Jerome
Mma KC
Kara
Kara Tokar
Lekgoa

Being asked to sing in the Village Health Committee choir knowing that all of the songs you learn to sing you will know a total of what 6 words mean.

Not attending a meeting for a community event and being nominated for at least 1 committee.

Having kids everywhere you go to ask you for sweets.

Walking out into the bush, cell phone in the air, searching for network signal.

Knowing just where to stand on the hill, in the tree, with speakerphone on, to make a phone call.

Using at the very least 5 acronyms each day.

Boiling water for baths.

Waking up to the sounds of roosters, donkeys, and cows before your alarms rings.

Being able to tell which animals pooped in your yard by the size and shape of the poo.

Knowing that when the tub or kitchen drain isn’t working properly, there is a very large frog nestled inside the pipe outside.

Washing all of your clothing by hand.

Going weeks at a time without water or electricity.

One Year

I can't believe I have been gone a year already! It feels like just a month ago I was at the airport with Mom, Dad, Kyle and Justin saying goodbye. This year has flown by so quickly and I am sure this coming year will fly by just as fast (if not faster). I wanted to take this time to reflect on some of the lessons I have learned so far in the last 12 months living in Kachikau.

No matter what happens in the rest of the world, in my village life goes on as usual. I have noticed more and more that news of the rest of the world travels very slowly out here in the bush. I have been trying to keep up with election news and current events, but typically the news I hear around the village is at the very best 2 weeks behind. One of the great things about this is, life is so much simplier here. People aren't concerned with what's happening with the stock market, who won some reality tv show, who the next president of the states will be, etc. They are more concerned with where their cattle are grazing, what community event is coming up, and saying hello to neighbors as they pass. It reminds me daily to stop and think about the big picture in life.

Greetings are extremely important! I made the mistake not that long ago of going into the Kgotla (the Chief's court/offices) to use the telephone to call PC and the woman on duty was on the phone. I figured it would be rude to interupt her, so I went into the other office to use the phone. When I finished, I was severely repremanded for not waiting to greeting her. I typically try to greet everyone as I pass them, but sometimes it isn't always easy. I may be in a hurry to get to the youth center or clinic for a meeting and I will pass someone on the street and along with my greeting, they will want to talk about an upcoming event or project we are working on together. It is extremely rude to cut someone off and tell them you are in a hurry, so greetings aren't always convinient, but they are esential.

Big Brother is watching. I guess from the couple of years I lived in Lake Wales, I always knew that in a small town everyone knows all of your business, but it's different here. It's funny and I joke about it with other PCVs, but I really do believe that everyone in my village knows where I am at all times. I will walk into the clinic in the afternoon and a lady sitting on the bench waiting to see the doctor will ask me about some person I said hello to at 10:15am this morning. Or I will overhear someone say I spent 20 minutes with the Chief this morning, then went to the youth center to work, and when I went home for lunch Jerome didn't come with me. This has taught me that nothing I do is private. Every move I make may be watched, so I really should be setting a good example.

The idea that I may go back to the states is always on the community's mind. This is one that both annoys me and makes me laugh at the same time. It may be that I have been really busy at the clinic or youth center and I haven't taken a walk through the village in a while, or I may have a couple day workshop in Kasane, or I may go on holiday for the weekend. When I get back and someone who I haven't seen in a couple weeks will say something like "Ohh you're around... I thought you went back to the states". No matter how many times I tell people I am not going anywhere, it's a constant battle. Part of me feels that this is a part of PC that is never talked about. That our communities feel abandoned when we eventually complete our 27 months of service. But mostly it makes me laugh because most people expect me to tell them where I'm going and when I'll be back, it's like having a whole community of overbearing, but caring parents.

Family, friends, and a social life are necessities of life. No one likes to feel like they are excluded from the world around them. People need the love and support from people nearby. No matter how much friends and family are praying for you back home, there is just something missing if you don't have friends or a social life. It could just be my personality, I was probably a little depressed for a while when it was the holidays, I was missing friends and family. But now, I have an active social life both in my community and out of it. I have very reliable friends who are becoming more like family. And I am seeing the fruits of my labor. I really couldn't be happier. In fact, PC just came to do a site visit here with me. I got to meet the new APCD (Assistant PC Director) who is in charge of my program. They ask a lot of questions about how I'm doing, what I'm working on etc. Two other PCVs were with them and overheard the question "How are you doing?" I could hear them sarcasticly saying "Ohh Kara is just miserable here, can't you tell? She never smiles, she is never in her village, she is counting down the days till she goes home". I started laughing and it was in the moment I realized just how happy I am here. For those of you who know how bubbly I am most of the time, you have no worries. I am just a bubbly here as ever!

Everyone needs a place to vent their frustrations. Whether you keep a journal, listen to music, talk to friends, write letters home, draw, etc you have to do something to shed the daily frustrations here. I have days where nothing seems to go right... I loose electricity & water, the project I am working on still isn't going right, I sat though a 4 hour meeting (conducted all in Setswana) which I understood only about 10min of, I am still waiting for information from Kasane, people are asking me questions I don't have the answers to, etc. It's those days that I sit in the house and write like it's going out of style. These are also the days I appreciate my family the most. I see how important our family dinners were and how much I miss them.

Patience is a vertue. No matter if you have to wait 6 hours for transport, 2 months for a definate answer to a project you are working on, or weeks for the right paperwork to be filed, things take time. So for those of you who are praying for patience for me... please stop! I am certainly much more patient than I EVER was in the states, and with or without your prayers I am sure there will be plenty more things thoughout the rest of my PC service I will need to practice my patience with.

Letters/Packages from home make all the difference! I don't think I will ever be able to explain the feeling I get when I find packages and letters in my mailbox from home. Even the shortest card makes me smile and reminds me that there are people back home thinking about me. Thank you to all of you at the church who wrote little notes and put them in easter eggs for me! I can't tell you how much that made me miss you guys. Are you now thinking you should send me something, but just don't know what to send??? It's okay, here are the things I would love to have most:

1. Books - any good novel. I like to read while I eat my meals and before bed so I go though books like candy. I try to update my books read list, but seriously send me anything. They will all get donated to the village library when I finish my service, so you are helping not just me, but the many others in my village that love to read.
2. Music - I don't have a radio here. So I am falling behind on music very quickly. Burned mixed CDs are best, because it gives me lots of varity. But please include the names of the songs and their artists so I know who I am listening to.
3. Magazines - National Geographic, People, Oprah, Men's Health, Cosmopolitan, In Style, Glamour, Vanity Fair, Etc. Really anything is good and it doesn't matter if it is months old. I read them and then use them with the kids for LOTS of projects, so magazines like Oprah with strong black women pictured really help the kids to dream big.
4. Twislers, M&Ms, Milk Duds, any chocolate (although M&Ms travel best), Goldfish, pretzels, dried fruit (this is great for traveling), beef jerky, pasta sides, etc. I love junk food and I promise it will all get eaten!
5. Art supplies - I have a lot of the village kids that come to my house after school and they color, draw, etc. I can always use things/activities for them to do. Dollar store stuff works great!
6. Bath & Body works body splash - I am running out of my body splash, and I can't get it here. I really like Cherry Blossom, Cotton Blossom, Exotic Coconut, Moonlight Path, Sweet Pea, and Warm Vanilla Sugar.
7. Vera Bradly Journals - I am going though journals like crazy and I love the patterns with the Vera Bradly collection.
8. Pens - Bic pens are the best, colored, black, blue, clicky, non-clicky... it doesn't matter. Pens are like gold around here.
9. Anything fun for the kids in my village. stickers, small toys, pipe cleaners, glue, school supplies, etc. The kids love it and they make great prizes for the kids, and better incentive for them to read books for library club.
10. Children's books - I can't tell you how disappointed I was when I realized the lack of children's books in my primary school library. So send whatever you can. Its the best way for the kids to learn english and to read!

Last but not least - LETTERS!!! If you write me I will definately write you back!

My address is:
Kara Tokar
PO Box 917
Kasane, Botswana
Africa

The US Postal service has these really great flat rate boxes that you can stuff full and the weight doesn't matter. If you are just sending books & magazines, they have something called an M-bag. It is only for media stuff like books & magazines. It is a lot slower than the regular mail, but it's cheaper for the super heavy stuff.

Cheers & happy mailing

Traveling to KC

A Blurb from another PCVs blog that mentions what it's like to travel to Kachikau from Kasane. I thought you would all enjoy this as it paints the perfect picture of what it's like.

"From Kasane we went to a village called Kachikau (on a very “sad” bus, built in 1979, which lumbered approximately 20 mph down a dirt road through the bush- the bus was in it’s death throes right when we arrived, I doubt it made it much further after that- it took two hours to drive 40 miles!). Kachikau, pronounced “Catch a Cow”, is where another PCV, Kara, lives, in the middle of the bush, just south of the boonies, a little north of oblivion, an hour away from nowhere, and about 100 km away from absolutely nothing. There is no cell phone service there, she has no land line, no internet, and no post office. (Props to Kara for keeping it “real and “rural” and “really really rural”- she loves it there though)."

Thank you Andrea for visiting me and I miss you terribly.

Out with friends on the river

So this past weekend I got invited to go out with a bunch of the locals from Kasane into the Park (Chobe National) for a little R&R. Here are just a few of the pics.

Elephants in the park - they are super cute when they are little

Ryan and I on the top deck of the boat (Isn't he adorable???)

Jacques (the elephant hunter), Me and Ryan on the boat - These are the guys I hang out with most when I am in Kasane. No worries about them, they always take really great care of me. Yes, Jacques hunts elephants, but it's his job.

A couple of the girls relaxing.

As the sun goes down on the water

More pictures of Training Cont'd

Johnny & Joe (it's been a rough day for Johnny)

Standing on a chair to try and direct the trainees... I'm too short

Learning some traditional dances

Back on that chair again!

More pictures of Training

WARNING
This post contains Sexual Reproductive images!!!

The group of Trainees and Staff (can you find me? Cause I'm hiding)

The Management Team (what an amazing group of people)



Courtney and I teaching Reproductive Health

Courtney and I afterwards

Don't you just love teaching fun subjects???


For those of you who are wondering, Courtney and I were teaching about sexual reproductive health. This includes but is not limited to the following subects: anatomy, abstainance, condoms, partner faithfulness, masterbation, oral sex, and any questions the trainees had on the subject.

Pics of Training

Playing a game. I somehow got sandwiched between Big Mamma Mpho and Clearance.


Chami teaching a session on becoming what you want to be


The trainees playing "hide the ball" it's a game related to how difficult it is to know who is infected with HIV.


Giving Johnny a back rub