back to school

I am back in school again. Well sort of…it seems the norm here is that the professors might show up for a class or two for the first week. I slept through my alarm on the first day, but it was okay because the professor did not show up for class. kind of annoying, but at least it lets us students gradually adjust to sitting in class again. My courses are Software Engineering, Computer Organization, File Systems, Linear Algebra and Setswana for Beginners. It turns out that I originally was registered for some classes that did not exist, so I had to do some work to get them all sorted out. Class structure has been pretty much the same as in Canada, my classes are a little bigger because it is a bigger university. My language course has probably been the most challenging course so far, it is difficult to remember all these different words.

Most of the week is pretty regular, things are settling into a bit of routine with class going on, not too much extraordinary goes on. I have taken the time to take some pictures of around campus.

 

these trees were purple according to google earth...apparently not right now

a prickly tree at the entrance to my dorm

I have walked to some of the nearby malls to do some shopping. There are some Americanized malls that feel like home, but there are also some market style areas as well. There are often people who will approach me just to say hi, it seems like it’s a novelty to them sometimes. Things are cheaper here, but I’m trying not to buy very much stuff because I’ll never be able to bring it all with me. The exchange rate is about 6.5 pula for $1 Canadian, which is a little bit weird to think with when shopping.

the Riverwalk mall

combis on the street near Riverwalk mall

To get around town, the primary method of transport are combis. Combis are vans that hold up to 16 (crowded) people. It costs 3 pula per combi. They are owned by individual drivers and follow virtually undocumented routes around various parts of the city. Basically the only way to find your way around is to ask people for help.

riding a full combi

I have been getting to know the other exchange students better, along with some of the local students who have been hanging out with us. We went out to a braii, which as a barbeque party. We basically had only meat for dinner and hung out, it was a lot of fun. People are friendly and fun to be with, although there is usually a bit of a communication barrier with how the Batswana speak English. I have also met some Christians around campus and have been getting to know them as well.

On Saturday, some of us went on a hike up Kgale Hill. It was a pretty big hike, especially near the top where it got really steep. It was a very nice view, we could see around the whole city and a lot of the surrounding countryside. There were some communications towers up there, along with this sign:

we're 6085 km from Cairo

My profile picture is currently taken up on this hill, along with the background picture for this blog.

My accommodations are in a double-room dorm block nicknamed Las Vegas. It has a nice bricked courtyard, and the rooms are pretty nice as well. There are 10 students per floor who share a washroom. Unfortunately there are no kitchens in any of the dorms, so we have to eat in the 'refectory' (cafeterias) most of the time. My roommate's name is Comfort, he is a local student who is studying physics.

hanging with roommate Comfort (next to me) and his friends

in front of my dorm