Malls and Museums

According to my Botswana guidebook (compliments of Jacki and Terri at the library-thanks again!), “There’s not a whole lot going on in Gabs.” From a guidebook, this seems like a pretty dire conclusion; however, what I’ve come to understand it means is more that, unlike say Paris, Gaborone is not known for its array of weekend and evening entertainment. Rather, people do spend a lot of time out drinking, or simply going to the many malls to spend time with friends and interacting with other people. So, in the fine tradition of Gaborone, Ani and I spent this past weekend visiting the malls and exploring the city a little bit.

Walking has also become an important part of my life. So much walking!

Our first stop was Main Mall, which as I’ve mentioned before is the oldest mall in Gabs and is largely comprised of street vendors that run up and down a long pedestrian road. Batsi, our program director for CIEE, has given us all a “scavenger hunt” list, which includes items we should buy, places we should take pictures of ourselves visiting, and ticket stubs from various events. It’s designed to help us get out and about and also serves as a convenient excuse to buy items. So, Ani and I invested in some earrings from Main Mall and picked up two CDs by local artists.

We then proceeded to Gaborone’s historical museum (free!) where we learned a bit more about the history of Botswana and were also treated to a number of dead animal displays.

A display of life hundreds of years ago in Botswana

Traditional House

A scientific theory was also included

The next day was spent at Riverwalk, where vendors also set up shop on the weekends. They sell a variety of beautiful things in these markets. Obviously the request earrings and bracelets, but also some gorgeous wall hangings, shirts, placemats, etc.

Checking out the stalls

One thing you can’t miss around Gabs is the variety of signboards. A lot of them are geared towards lowering drunk driving, which is a real problem in all of Botswana, the inevitable Coke ads prevail, and then there is the HIV/AIDs campaign.

Coke! And football! Woo!

The Goalie encourages you to know your facts

As does the government

In addition to vendors selling jewelry and wall-hangings, there are food vendors everywhere. The most prevalent are little stands that sell a variety of hard candies for about 25 thebe (less than 5 cents). Alas, chocolate would never survive the heat of the day, so most of my favorite candies are not for sale. Although upon reflection, this might be a good thing! In addition to candies, there are vendors that sell full out meals. The food at these stalls is similar to that served in the dining hall and pretty traditional. A whole line of them set up just in front of UB’s main gate and give students the opportunity to buy a homemade meal.

UB’s vendors

On Sunday, we went to Game City (Ani and I needed swimming caps, which are required to swim in UB’s pool). However, unlike previous trips where we have taken a cab this time we relied on combi’s, putting our trust in Allie (a fellow CIEEer who is doing a home stay and thus has great knowledge of the combi system). Along with our friends Isabelle and Sophie, we went to the bus rank, which has more vendors than any other place we’d been so far. In addition to all the things mentioned above, they were also selling the much loved worms (Allie and Sophie bought some) and other roadside snacks. I got a bag of what seems to be the Botswana equivalent of raisins, a small little dried fruit with a hard seed center.

Ani, Sophie, and Isabelle at the bus rank

Ani and myself with the faux-raisins

They also braid and shave hair at the bus rank

Tomorrow I’m going to check out the Botswana Human Rights Center to see about volunteering! More on that if anything comes of it. Ani is waiting to hear back from the clinic. Classes continue to go pretty well and I have now successfully made pasta on several occasions in my hot water heater, so accomplishments abound here in Gaborone!