Thank goodness for the Mongoose with TB

First, and foremost, I have to say CONGRATULATIONS to my wonderful, amazing, epic, UNC Men's Basketball National Champions. I was extremely sad to miss out on the fun, of course, but I was elated to hear the great news. I knew that they would win this year, due primarily to the fact that I have left the country...I like to think of it as taking one for the team :). My lovely UNC study-abroad mate, Christina, and I attempted to watch the game. At 3am. But, since we are camping at a lodge on the outskirts of Maun, it was pretty much impossible...though it was nice to have someone to celebrate/be sad with. I hope one of you lovely UNC girls and/or boys have saved me the DTH from yesterday...

**Side note: Although it made me a little bit homesick, I LOVED the picture my lovely UNC girls sent to me. It was wonderful. And it made me miss you all like crazy. My father taped the game for me. We must all watch it together in our UNC apparel at my lake house this summer. That is a must.

Now, back to Botswana...

This week has been pretty much amazing as usual, even though we have been lounging around camp and going into town to run errands all week. We are technically in "ISP prep" week, and I am currently working out the logistics of my new ISP...drum roll please...

I am going to be working near Chobe National Park in northern Botswana, in a little town/village known as Kasane. I will be following a troop of mongeese and collecting behavioral data for a month. The mongeese in this particular area have seemed to contract a human strain of Tuberculosis, and I, Erin Elizabeth Hester, will be contributing to the research :). They have found that more specifically, the mongeese that are contracting the particular strain of TB are mainly the mongeese who are foraging on trash around the neighboring lodges. This is not my lemur ISP that I had previously planned on. But it is pretty damn close (considering the fact that I will still be doing animal behavior field research) and even more interesting due to the fact that my research is now a little more unique. I still do not know how things seem to work out so well for me these days.

I have discovered that cooking for myself is quite enjoyable, though making a fire and keeping it burning is quite annoying. I have found ways around this though. Two nights ago I made a version of my mothers asian coleslaw without a recipe...and it turned out to be quite delicious. Other frequent meals include oatmeal with apples and cinnamon/sugar for breakfast. Apple and peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. Pasta, veggie burgers, or salad for dinner. I have also recently discovered that I like beets almost as much as the citizens of Botswana (they eat a ton of beets here)...beet salad is delicious. The most difficult mountain to overcome is the fact that I don't have any refrigeration, and that eliminates butter, cheese, etc, though I have discovered that cheese can last a pretty long time without spoiling (granted the ants don't invade first). I can buy a cooler box, but I want to wait until I get to Kasane to purchase any more cookwear.

The rest of the week has been spent beside the pool, listening to music, going for morning jogs, leisurely reading "What is the What," cooking out on the grill and drinking cider with the guys, doing my laundry, napping in Matt's hammock, and trying to sort out things back home (class schedules, internship information, etc). Evenings have included much of what you can imagine normal college kids doing at night. We went out to the local club last Saturday night, which was an interesting experience. We left the lodge around 12pm, all piled into a little safari truck, and voyaged out among the rest of Maun's night life. Halfway to "Trekkers" we got a flat tire...and the evening progressed from there...long story short, we made it to our destination, danced like crazy, and had a great time.

Today, I had to sit down and actually get some work done. This week I have a couple of papers due and tomorrow I have my "final exam." And this morning was the happiest I have ever been while writing a paper. Since I am not bogged down with tons and tons of unnecessary work here in Botswana, I can enjoy the times that I spend in my academic world, evaluating and expressing my own scholarly thoughts and ideas on paper. I cannot remember the last time I got excited about writing a six page report. It feels so refreshing.

I am leaving this Friday for Kasane. Currently, I am planning on being there alone, since most everyone else is planning on staying in Maun or going to another part of the country. I will be taking a 5 hour bus ride with ALL of my things. I am going to miss Matt and all of my new Botswana friends. But, throughout this experience, I have become so much better at meeting new people. I am excited to see a new part of the country and meet some new interesting individuals. The journey should be quite interesting...

<3 to you all,

erin elizabeth