Botswana transportation, laws, life

I wanted to talk a little bit more about yesterday before I talk about the music festival. On our way back from the cultural village yesterday Karabo asked me to hitch hike with him and pay a quick visit to his sister in Game City. I learned a lot on our journey which got me thinking, citizens of Botswana do not have a large mass transit system so they rely on hitch hiking. Cars will just randomly pull to the side of the road to pick up strangers and charge five or ten pula for gas money. This is something that has been outlawed in my state and will continue to be seen as dangerous. I asked Karabo why they are able to do so and if there is a lot of crime that happens in these instances and if girls are more at risk. He informed me that girls are actually preferred and that it is very safe no matter the gender. I found this hard to believe until he went more in to depth and explained how everyone in their culture relies on their neighbor or in this instance their fellow citizens. I found it funny that a man or woman driving a benz or BMW would pull over and pick up a random person but then it hit me. Botswana has outlawed guns; their police cannot even use or possess fire arms and in their country cable is a luxury which most cannot afford.

The news they do broadcast is positive, inspiring and represent an open door policy type government. The one thing I do not miss about the states is television, time wasting, boring, over emphasized. People in Botswana will read week old papers if they cannot afford them just to know what’s going on in their country and around the world; they even send them to their families in neighboring country. I read an article the other day which stated how the president was suing the newspaper and Titus asked me if this is possible in the United States and I believe freedom of speech protects people from stating anything they want however I have never heard of a U.S. president suing anyone during office. I am not saying freedom of speech is a bad thing but to many things occur behind closed doors in our country and all we are left with is to trust that person judgment. With guns outlawed there is hardly any violence, less fear among the people and more trust as law abiding citizens in their country. I admire their honesty and respect for one another. They also believe it is a MUST to know thy neighbor, by neighbor I mean anyone around them. If they were to sit on a bus it is their duty to know the person next to them. An example of this our teacher used was the movie Open Water when a couple is left at sea because no one accounted for them while they were scuba diving, she explained how this would never happen in their society because someone would speak up and make aware than the whole party was not accounted for.

Botswana Cultural Village

Hello all,

I haven't written in the past two days because I have had no time at all. I'll try my best to discuss the most memorable and impacting memories from the past few days. Yesterday we visited the African cultural village and I must say it was very interesting. We practiced their wedding rituals and the male and female responsibilities of their culture. Now there are not any villages like this anymore however they have modernized their traditions, we practice some in our country to this day. For instance the wife and husband building a home today and also practicing their gender roles to some extent. The five elders that explained their culture were female and showed us many dances and songs they play to keep their spirits upbeat and that play into some of their rituals.

I must admit that althought all of this was very interesting the highligh of my day came when we ate lunch at the village. Chris, Karabo (from Botswana) and Titus (from Zimbabwe). We discussed their cultural similarities and differences. They both agreed they both cultures have moderinized tradition. For example the uncle's in their culture are very influential. If your father were to die or brother dies you must take over responsibilities of their families by providing food, shelter and stability. We have discussed this week that it is cultural for the uncle to ask their nieces for sexual favors and that its their uncles responsibility to approve of their neices life partners. Kabaro and Titus explained to me that this does still go on in some places but it is very uncommon. I have been curious about how their nations view people from the United States so I thought it was very valuable to me to ask what they thought about us. I was shocked when they explained how much they love the United States and how we aid other countries. I have always been under the impression that Americans are hated and that people dislike us being in other peoples business all the time. This was not the case in most circumstances. They did not approve of George W. Bush majority of the time but they still admit he did some great things while he was in office. They also mentioned how they payed more attention to the US election that took place last year and how proud they were of our country. They said people were walking around with Obama t-shirts and that most students at UB were skipping class in anticipation of our next president. Even walking to the store the other day a man selling candy on the side of the street wearing raggy torn clothes yelled "Obama is my man". They have a profound love here for our country that runs deeper than most would expect. It is a proven fact that the U.S.A. has provided more aid and help to Botswana than any other country. Althoght China is catching up by providing more schools and HIV/Aid programs. I felt relieved and a great sense of pride when Karabo and Titus explained their love for our country, what we stand for and how we provide help where help is needed.

I mentioned how rascism and hate in our country still exist and how they might be a victum of rascism and they helped me understand how you will find rascism in any country and how it is much worse in Germany, UK or any other white civiliation they have visited. They said they would rather experience rascism in the United States than by arrogant countries who majority of their people find reasons to hate those of different ethnic backgrounds. I found this fascinating and I was overwhelmed with excitement. We do stand for freedom, we are a melting pot and we are the land of opportunity. Karabo and Titus both agreed that if they were to visit Germany, UK, Ireland or any other country how their pay would be less than half of the majority race. Titus told me that he feels very confident that he could move to the United States and make six figures and I believe he could as well. Later on that day Titus and I were discussing some of our favorite authors and when I told him I was born and raised in Ohio he encouraged me to run for a high office political position. After calling me Govern Zachary Tyler a few times we laughed about the posibility. I told him that I am not cut throat enough to play that game however I would consider another position of great influence and power. Titus told me how he was next in line after his father to be chief of his city which is the biggest and most important position one can have in his village. He also explained why he would turn it down if given the opportunity, he did not want to deal with some of the day to day duties of a village with a population of 100,000 peple. Its fun to hear people dream for you yet I still believe I will do big and wonderful things with my life, we both agreed that we cannot plan what lyes ahead and ended it with that. Well I must go to lunch now but I will continue my blog upon returning from the French Music Festival that is taking place in downtown Gaborone. If you guys have any questions about the culture or anything about my experience here please feel free to leave a comment. God Bless.