Botshelo bo bontle. (Life is beautiful.)

In 2004, after an on-again, off-again relationship with the Task Force, I decided to move to Los Angeles and work for them full-time. At the time, it was both pursuing a dream, and also jumping into something I was very unsure about.

Knowing the internal struggle I was having, and the usual pattern of my emotions, one of my best friends, Cyndy, sent me this card:

On the inside, part of the message reads: “Keep the front of this in mind when you start to question whether you made the right choices. In the end you always do.”

I kept this card as a reminder, and it’s one of the few things hanging above my desk in the office. I’m reminded that the big decisions I make in life are ones that I’m not quite sure of, but I dive in because it feels right. Although I see myself as a highly rational and logical person, when it comes to big decisions, I go with what I feel, not necessarily with what I think. Therefore, I usually end up doing work I’m intensely passionate about, but there is often a lack of certainty clouding it.

4 years later, when I came to Botswana with the Peace Corps, I found myself in the same boat: following my heart, yet unsure of this big decision I made. I am again reminded that the world is far from perfect. It can seem dreary and chaotic, but there is beauty to be found everywhere.

Botswana, for example, is mostly a very dry country, a typical desert climate, but in a few places, it is bursting with life.

Thanks to some recent developments, I can upload and post a lot more pictures. When I first got to my site in June ’08, there were two ethernet cables in the office, and they were only in the front office. Now there are Ethernet cables everywhere, both front and back office buildings, and it's usually reliable. It’s like I’m watching the country develop right before my very eyes! Therefore, I’m backtracking a bit, and I’d like to share some of the natural beauty I’ve found here.

Below are photos from visits I took to two drastically different landscapes in Botswana. The first slideshow is from Kanye, in the southeast, where we had IST (In-Service Training), one of several trainings that Peace Corps hosts for us to support us in this work throughout our 2 years. Kanye has a gorge that called us to come play in it.

The second slideshow is from Shakawe, in the northwestern-most part of the country. I went there to pay a visit to the local GLOW Chapter with my counterpart and try to help them with some planning. Shakawe is just above the Okavango Delta, the world’s largest inland Delta, of which my village, Maun, is just below. To give some perspective on distance and travel time, Kanye is 12 hours south by bus. Shakawe is 6 hours north by bus.