Peace Corps Life in Botswana

of course these are my opinions and i fully understand that some social aspects are generalizations and take from it what you want. just remember that your experience in Botswana should and will be yours alone. Good luck nonetheless!

Things to think about before leaving for Botswana. If you're a District AIDS Coordinator (DAC):

• take no more than 10 ties. you'll BARELY need them and men dress very casually
  
• bring many short-sleeved dress shirts. i brought long-sleeved ones and it's TOO hot for them most of the time
• a cell phone with a 900 MHz frequency.
• 2 pairs of casual shoes or nice boots (like Clarks) to have some diversity during the cold 2-3 month spell (depending where you are placed)
  
• many dress sandals. i wore a pair of Chacos and Keens to work and my coworkers loved them.
  
• more than a pair of sunglasses
• hats
• fleece gloves (if you are a coldy-locks like myself)
• seeds, if you plan to garden
• a memory stick with U3 software. most have an antivirus (like Mcafee) installed on the memory which will allow you to scan documents copied to it but computers also where you'll get your doc.'s from. the antivirus is free and all you'll need is sporadic Internet access to download the antivirus files. this helped me and others a lot!
• if you're a techie, a gameboy or whatever when you want a non-book distraction! i even brought my laptop with games on it cause there will be a lot of downtime

• PATIENCE. Botswana culture is similar to latinamerican culture in the sense that it is laid back. but in Botswana, multiply that by 1000 and add some lack of urgency and laziness? to it too.

• there is a general and very well-publicized feeling of Xenophobia in Botswana, especially in the rural areas/villages so be prepared for many challenges!

for more info, I've pasted edited letters i sent to friends during my stay in Botswana describing my experience. the surprising thing was that more than 90% of us Peace Corps Volunteers had (those who are still there continue to do) the very similar experiences.