The Braai (May 1)

I had no idea what to expect when I arrived at Sir Seretse Khama Airport in Gaborone, the capital and largest city of Botswana. Embarrassingly, it was just a few months prior to my arrival that I was using Google to locate this country on the world map, surprised to discover it was nearly the size of Texas. How did I miss that? Random images were zooming in and out of my thoughts like a projector reel, some borrowed from books or movies or documentaries, still more extrapolated from my conversations with other residents who had ventured here before me.  I prepared myself for the worst, but felt strangely confident that my time in India (Ambala, in particular) had somehow prepared me.  

Much to my surprise, Gaborone seemed cleaner and more organized than I had anticipated.  A driver picked me up and drove me to a gated apartment complex, a short 10 minute walk from the hospital.  I shared a flat with three medicine residents (Sarah, Luke, and Elana) and a dermatology resident (Julia).  Two other flats in Pilani Court had medical students and a psychiatrist working in the area as well.  We had a maid, hot water, wifi internet, couches and a microwave.  The skies were clear and blue, and it was hot enough to wear shorts but not feel too hot with the cool breeze.  The transition seemed almost too easy, and to be perfectly honest, it felt like a vacation.  

And indeed it was a vacation! Although I arrived on a Tuesday and spent most of the afternoon getting official clearance to work in the hospital, Wednesday was a national holiday - Labor Day (or Worker's Day), a commemoration of the labor movement and force.  In support of this event, my new roommates hosted a Braai (Africans for "barbecue"), which is a social custom in South Africa, Botswana and many other African countries.  We did this in the backyard of our shared community. In true customary style, Luke used wood to get his fired started (and maybe some charcoal helped as well).  While we had plenty of meat, we supplanted the traditional corn accompaniment (Pap or Samp) with Shelton's banana bread.  Before we knew it, the sun had set and our sangria was finally finished. We even managed to throw together some smores with strawberry flavored marshmellows.  All in all, it was a great start with some new friends to kick off my arrival to Gabs.

As I drifted off to sleep, again I found my mind racing, not knowing what to expect on my first day in the hospital tomorrow.  Perhaps there I would encounter those harsh realities that I had imagined earlier but had been immune from for the past 36 hours.  I was less sure my preconceptions would be proven wrong this time though.