Dumela!

It wasn't real yet when I packed my luggage into the car, drove to JFK, and hugged my parents goodbye. It wasn't real yet when I met my awesome classmates for the semester and flew to Atlanta. It wasn't real when I sat in Atlanta International eating Panda Express and watching the Jets' game.

It started to hit me, just a little, when we boarded th plane to Jo'burg via Dakar, Senegal. It was exciting to watch the airplane-map-GPS-thing as the plane landed in Dakar. I was listening to pirate music. We sat in Dakar for an hour while they cleaned, secured, and resupplied the plane. During that time, we were IN AFRICA. For REAL.

And then we lifted off again as the sky turned from black to orange to pink to blue while the sun rose over the coast of West Africa. Following that, the flight attendants walked up and down the aisles spraying EPA-approved insecticide, as required by South African regulation. That threw me off even more than hearing the security guards speaking French(-ish) (I think).

Other than being really, really long, the flight(s) were nothing unusual. There was a little turbulence and I was terrified. There was an empty seat next to me. Delta failed to understand that "vegetarian and dairy-free" doesn't mean "you can pick the cheese off the pasta." I got a decent amount of sleep. There were good snacks.

From Dakar to Jo'burg, I made friends with a flight attendant who conspired to feed me. He smuggled a fruit salad and a cheese-less sandwich from First Class for me. Sweet.

The Jo'burg to Gabs plane was small. It had propellers. No chickens, though.

The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane was the smell. Botswana smells...different. I can't describe how. Perhaps it's the completely different combination of animals, plants, and people.

Culture shock first hit in the car, listening to the radio. They were speaking Setswana! I didn't recognize a single world. Then they played Bob Marley and all was okay.

Our academic director Simba says, "if you involve your emotions, you'll learn so much more." Damn right.

Our first destination was the Mokolodi Nature Reserve. Dry, red, desert sand, just like pictures. Falling asleep right away and then waking to the light, I walked outside to see monkeys racing across the roof of our dormitory-style building, where we had slept. Down a dirt path was their wildlife rehabilitation center, which housed an eagle, some vultures, and a deer/antelope thing.

That morning, I had my fourth cup of rooibos in two meals. It was at that moment I realized I liked this place.

Some comments from our academic director, Simba:

"You are all crazy to leave your schools and come here."
"You like the beach? Good, there's lots of sand here."

During class that day, a family of warthogs walked right by the classroom and then a baboon crossed in the distance.

More pictures, stories, and cultural commentary in the next couple of days. No time now.