Halloween and Birthdays

There isn’t a whole lot to do in Kanye besides go to training, study, and....party.  So even though the people of Kanye have no idea what Halloween is, a lot of volunteers managed to come up with costumes.  We had fun, and the Botswana staff thought we were hilarious.  We had classes in the morning, and in the afternoon went outside to learn a few of the games that Botswanan young people play.  A lot of us will work directly with school children, so it could be helpful to know about these.  And we all had fun, including the older volunteers!!

Here are some of our fellow trainees in make-shift costumes, posing on top as a box of Chibuku (the local beer made of sorghum) and below as one another on the left and right....like we said, limited costume supplies, but we are a creative bunch!

Since the next day was John’s birthday - 66 years ! (which is equal to the sum of the ages of three of our youngest volunteer trainees) - Carol decided to organize a little party.  We had found a restaurant different than the one that most of us volunteers hang out in, with the easy-to-remember name of Mmaphakhukhu Cafe, and thought it would be a nice change for us older volunteers to have a nice quiet dinner.  But when she let a few volunteers know, it turned out that everyone wanted to come.  And everyone did!   John can say that it was the best birthday he has ever had in Africa.  Seriously, it was a wonderful way to celebrate, and it took away some of the homesickness for family and friends.

Here we all are with the birthday "boy" at the head of the table!

Becky, our youngest trainee at age 22 with John, the elder, at age 66 celebrate their birthdays!

Carol at Game City Mall on November 8 --- note the Christmas decor!

Carol enjoyed her birthday in Gaborone on a Peace Corps business trip with our training group in the final stages of training as we prepared for our swearing-in the next day.  Shopping at the mall, fresh flowers from John, lunch out, for a moment it felt like home.  Oh yes, except for the baboon eating his lunch just outside the mall and Peace Corps office!