Holiday tomorrow!

So, tomorrow is Sir Seretse Khama Day, the first president of Botswana and one of the famed "3 Chiefs" that went to Britain to dissuade them from making a colony out of Botswana along with South Africa. So I have off work! We had been planning on visiting the Kgosi's cattle ranch about 2.5 hrs from Molepolole on Saturday, but now we are going to go tomorrow. We are leaving at 5am, and the Kgosi said that I should be ready to milk! That should be interesting...

Today was exhausting at work. It started with a meeting with Angelina, during which we discussed how things were going so far at the library and at home. She and Max seemed pleased with the work done so far, and both are happy that the children's section is looking a bit more chipper with some of the projects I've been having the kids work on. The kids seem to really like the Moncure "letter" books, so I thought it might be a good idea to print out papers with the alphabet letters on them so they could draw things that start with the letter, and then I could put them up as a banner in the children's section. Yesterday we got all the way to "R" so we just have a couple left to go. I think they really like seeing their work displayed in the library and helps them feel ownership of the space.

Then, we came in on the tail end of a staff bible study. I guess they have a pastor come to the library every couple of weeks to read parts of the bible and have a short discussion. So, that's strange coming from the U.S., where religion is strictly prohibited at work! Then, the pastor asked that I lead the closing prayer! It was really hard and I did not know what to say, but I said what I could think of off the top of my head. When I was done Max said to me, "I will teach you how to pray." Mmm...not sure how I feel about that...hopefully that's the last time I'll have to lead a prayer.

After that we went to the Anne Stine Center with Lebogang which turned out to be a rather challenging experience. It is a center for children with developmental disabilities, and the children that go there are on a wide spectrum of mental capacities, so it was hard to interact with all of them together, as they were each on very levels of mental capacities. Lebogang read a story in Setswana, and then we played with some toys we had brought with us. They were all incredible eager to play with the toys and us! Immediately upon entering I had children in my arms. They were very interested in my glasses, so I had to keep a close eye out for hands reaching towards them.

I'll be looking forward to a day off and the visit to the cattle ranch!

Gaborone-Molepolole Bus Ride and Village Reading Room!

Well, we had a very pleasant Saturday in Gaborone. We had perfect timing catching the bus at 7 am, then a very pleasant ride into the city. I love to ride in vehicles and look out the window. Sometimes I feel I could do it forever.

We enjoyed a fresh-brewed cup of coffee and caught with very Cara- it's really interesting and comforting to hear about how things are going in Mmankgodi. Then we did some shopping- I'm on the look-out for a pair of jeans here, I only brought one pair of pants (what was I thinking?) but I didn't find any:( But, we did find the fancy, expensive, organic food section in Woolworth's - Awesome! It's all too expensive for me, but I'm planning on treating myself around July for my big 2-6.

We also ate a delicious meal at Linga Longa before getting on the bus ride back to Moleps. And it was a good thing I was happily fed and watered, too, as we ended up being crammed onto the bus, standing in the aisle for the whole ride! At one quick stop, a guy got out to go to the bathroom, and while he was mid-stream the bus took off! HA! Hopefully he was able to hitch the rest of the way back to Moleps. Very entertaining.

We were exhausted from standing on a bus going down a bumpy road for an hour, so when we got back we relaxed and then made some dinner before going to sleep- for a long time. Then on Sunday Max came and got us and we went over to his house to watch the England vs. Germany game.

Today, once we got transportation (I still haven't figured out why we need a driver to take us places when Max has a car, but whatever) we went with Max to a meeting he had with a Kgosi in a nearby village about their reading room. See, when the village is too small for a full library, BNLS makes a "reading room" which is a very small collection available to the community there. There is a campaign going on right now called the Sesigo project, funded by Bill and Melinda Gates (I think) that is offering money to different library projects, and Max wanted this village reading room to get in on some of that and establish a larger space so more people could enjoy the resources. Max said that the Kgosi seems into the project, so that's exciting. That took all morning, and then we were dropped off at our house for lunch, so I didn't get to see the kids this afternoon. I feel guilty when I don't see them, but I can't do everything, and eventually I'll be gone anyways:(

Long day, and another one tomorrow!

Staff meeting!

This morning I attended my first staff meeting. It was all in Setswana, but it was nice to pick out words here and there, and also to watch body language and pick up on the tone of things. It seemed from my perspective to be really good for staff communication and invigoration. Max was mainly briefing them on a conference he had last week at BNLS. They just got a new director a couple of months ago and it seems she has started to flex her muscles and get things moving with the organization.

They are sponsoring a competition between the library branches over collection of overdues, programs held, and teamwork within the library. So, Moleps is getting on the train and trying to work on all those areas. Programming is looking pretty good, as we've the schools coming in next week hopefully, and might be doing programs with one school in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Max has got me working on activities for English language learning. We got some playbooks in the batch of new books from BNLS, so I thought play reading might be a good activity. Also compiling passages from books, news stories, etc for reading comprehension. I've also got a fantasy about me and Rachel acting out little scenes and having the students answer questions about what was said between us.

Max had me try cow liver today at lunch! Yikes, I'm really racking up points on my "crazy foods I've eaten" list.

Yesterday Lobogang gave me a scarf-wrapping lesson, and she's on a mission to get me my very own scarf. I guess she buys them at church? So, I gave her 10 pula to get me one. Yay. She also has an outreach program going on with an organization that takes care of children with mental disabilities and is going to take Rachel and I with her next week.

Tomorrow we're going to Gaborone for the day, which I am very excited about. A fresh-brewed cup of coffee and lunch at restaurant? Yes, please!

Well, today was slightly disappointing as Dr. Totolo couldn't make her appointment with us, as Lucia, the librarian working with Cara in Mmankgodi is not at work this week. So we have rescheduled for next week.

Today I continued on my weeding project (or more exactly, removal of all duplicate books) in the children's section. For some reason, BNLS thinks it useful to order several copies of books that are already of questionable quality. So, I'm going through and taking out the duplicates in order to make more room for the new books, and just to clean up the collection.

We went to a primary school today with Max and had a meeting with a Standard 7 teacher and the guidance counselor/English teacher, to pitch our ideas for the homework clubs. It's been interesting to learn about the school system here. It seems that the biggest problem is the lack of parent involvement in their children's education. She also pointed out that many of their students are orphans, or living with their grandparents while their parents work in Gaborone. She also noted that she was worried about how the kids would get to and from the library. Max said that they might be able to provide transportation, although I'm not sure how that would work. The secondary school from yesterday contacted Max and told him that they want to send their entire Standard 7 class, 58 students! So Max proposed having a group of 12 come in every day of the week for one hour. Whoa! That's a handful. I'm not sure where he's thinking of holding the club, as to be in the library would take up the whole space, but we'll see.

The teachers seem eager at the opportunity to provide additional help to their students, so that's great. Hopefully Rachel and I can help here in the beginning to really get these clubs off the ground. Molepolole is in dire need of that new library building!

When we got back from the meeting, I was happy to see that Margaret, the head clerk and another library worker were having children's programming outside (I'd like to think I was partly inspiration for that, as I hadn't seen them do that since I'd gotten here, so I'll go ahead and toot my own horn). I sat with them for a little bit, just to see how they responded to programming in their own language. They were much more rambunctious, much more like the children I am used to working with in the US, so it was helpful to realize how much more timid they had been with me, at least while we were reading stories. Then Margaret showed me a bunch of old games they have in a cabinet, so it was good to see her interested in children's activities again. She also made copies of coloring pictures, which seems to be the favorite activity among the kids.

Well, the computer is acting funny so I better publish this while I can. Ray and I are having dinner by ourselves tonight, because last night after we made a nice soup for the family, they brought home KFC! Little rude, I dare say.

Breakthrough!

So, yesterday was a great day at the library, mainly because I got the go-ahead from Max to box up some of the terribly old materials and put those in the trailer instead of the new books. It felt SO good to take two sets of old Encyclopedia Britannica from the early 1980's in a box and replace them with some newer, more appealing, kid-friendly reference tools. I can hardly wait to weep through the rest of the collection.

Also, yesterday I had a successful afternoon of childrens programming. I had them start by talking about things that could fly, and looking at different books for birds, planes, etc. Then I taught them all how to make a paper airplane, a useful skill for any kid! After we were done folding and decorating our planes, we took them outside for an eagerly awaiting take-off. It was awesome, beautiful, really to see the barren courtyard filled with screaming children and flying paper airplanes. I got that feeling that I get every once in a while that is: Yes, I love to be a children's librarian.

Then, as if that wasn't great enough, I also got them to sit outside while I read them two stories! I had just grabbed them from the display of new children's books Rachel had made that morning, so I didn't know exactly what they were about, I chose them merely because they featured African children and looked about the right level and length for the children. One of them was called "Brave Rosie" and I didn't realize until I had started the story that it was about a young girl whose mother dies...oops. Fortunately it didn't seem to upset any of the children. The other story was called "Looking After Chickens," about, well, just that - a boy looking after a neighbors chickens. It was good though because when I asked the children if they had any chickens at home, they all said yes!

Then we went back in the library, and they colored and I hung up their paper airplanes on a shelf for a display which seemed to please them. It's hard to keep them quiet, though. I try to explain that although I would love to have them make as much noise as they want, the other library users and staff would not be happy with that. I assure them that in the new library they will have their own room to be noisy in.

After the day I went home to a dinner of chicken gizzards and bread, a first for me. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, and I managed to eat it without much of a reaction. After dinner Rachel and I did go back to our little house and make some plain pasta:)

Today we are finally going to the schools with Max to have a meeting about the homework clubs that Max is trying to get going. Hopefully it won't be ALL in Setswana, and I can get some words in. It would be nice to arrange a date that I could come in and talk to the classes about the library and read a story or something.

Well, today presented an interesting situation at the library. Once I got there in the morning, I noticed some of the library workers doing stuff with all of our boxes of new books, and asked what was going on and if I could be of any help. They said they were sorting the boxes by class (call number), which we have done three times now, in order to choose a handful of books to be added to the collection, and the rest being put back in boxes and into storage, as there is not enough room on the shelves for all of them! I thought about it for awhile, and then decided to gently suggest that perhaps we should go through the older books on the shelves now and put some of the older ones in storage, making room for the new books. Margaret, the head clerk, explained that the new books are being saved for the new library. This I would understand if I had any faith that the new library is actually going to be finished anytime soon. As I see it, it could be months or even another year before that library is ready to be used. So, I tried to reason that we should not put things off for the new library, and that we should go ahead and do what we can in our current space. Lobogang said she thought my idea was a good one and that I should run it by Max.

So...I did, later that morning after he had gotten back from a meeting. He told me that all the books should be shelved, that there was no use waiting for the new building, and that there was plenty of room on the shelves. "Yay" I thought. I couldn't stand to see all these new books we just processed be put back in the trailer, it was so nonsensical.

But of course now I feel that I may have ruffled the feathers of a few of the library workers. It's very hard here to communicate with the staff about their vision, or what they want for the library, and yet I'm supposed to be here being innovative and modeling "best practices." I don't want to override any of the library workers styles or quickly dismiss the way they do things...but it's hard to collaborate, and I'm not being given much direction or support.

Dr. Totolo is coming later this week with feedback on my proposed ideas for the internship, and hopefully we can have a discussion with Max about what I should be spending my time on.

Football early on a Saturday morning

Last night as we watched the World Cup game Rachel got a text from Talia, a US Peace Corps volunteer about a football tournament today put together by the "Be Mobile" campaign (a sports and HIV/AIDS awareness group) and a couple of other organizations such as the Kasigo Women's Shelter to promote HIV/AIDS testing and create awareness around domestic violence. We showed up early and it felt good to be put to some use with folding pamphlets, hanging up posters, and distributing condoms.

Also, it somehow got communicated that the library was a sponsor, so I ended up giving an impromtu speech in front of the crowd about library services. Yikes! I think it went alright though, and I was able to say everything that I wanted to about the current and future library and its services. Afterward a man approached from the community college and was interested in computer programs the library offered--in terms of learning from them and also eventually teaching some workshops. I told him that I'd only be here through the winter, but that he should stay in touch with Mr. Mazunga about programs at the new library.

I am beginning to think that just our mere presence here is helpful for promoting the library, because people ask us all the time what we're doing here, and we get to put a plug in for the library and help community members realize and/or remember that the library is a place to go within the village to gather information, and also to distribute information.

Talia is a really great person and it was nice to talk to her about her experiences here with the people and culture and know that some of our perceptions, frustrations, hopes and thoughts are similar.

As for the rest of the day, we've been waiting for our avocado to ripen so we can make some tuna, avocado and tomato sandwiches. Yum! It's hard to find good cheese here, so that's one thing that I've been missing. Good thing I ate about 5 pounds of fried cheese curds before I came here.

TGIF

Yay for the weekend! This morning at the library was spent tattle-taping our new books, something I'm not yet convinced is cost-efficient in this environment, but it seemed just as useless to try to convince the workers otherwise.

Rachel and I worked on a draft user survey that we will show to Max next week and see what he thinks of it. I also talked with a library worker, Lobogang, about going with her to visit a school for the (dis)abled that she visits occasionally and studies what library services could benefit them. It guess the next couple of weeks she is not visiting due to their preparation for the special olympics, but after that we're on! That makes me extremely excited, as disability rights are one of my passions next to library advocacy.

Seswaa again for lunch today! It's kinda-sorta not really growing on me.

This weekend Rachel and I are going to spend furthering our explorations of Molepolole. We might seek out a KFC, the only American fast food chain that has made it here! This might be the only country I have ever been to without a McDonalds! Joy!

Happy Day of the African Child! (Yesterday)

Yesterday I held the first successful children's programming of the summer/winter. For Day of the African Child Rachel and I bought some colored paper and crayons and some biscuits for the kids that showed up after school. There were about 5 total, but I was pleased with the crowd. They all seemed eager for attention and thoroughly enjoyed coloring, looking at books with us and chatting. It's hard because I would love to do tons of crafts with these children, and I know they would love it, but sadly enough crafts are not built into the budget within BNLS. I wish I were rich enough to buy them all the materials, but I'm not! So, I'm going to have to get creative about activities and such without any materials or resources.

Today I finally finished putting all the new books into the Accession Registry, yay! It was interesting to go through the books and become familiar with the publishing companies here, as they are different from the US. I had gotten used to a handful of children's literature publishers from my work logging multicultural books at the CCBC, and not many of the same publishers are producing things over here. It's some African publishers and then also publishers from Britain. One that remains the same though is the ever-reliable Marshall Cavendish! There are also a couple of authors that I've found make the overlap, like they have a Sandra Markle book here, and I found "Sheila Rae, the Brave," by Madison's own Kevin Henke. Surprisingly, it doesn't seem the childrens' collection here is anymore audience-appropriate in regards to cultural representation than in the US. There still seems to be a much higher rate of Caucasian children illustrated than African! Geez!

My patron from last week interested in tourism career resources failed to come in yesterday as he said, so my nice pile of books that I had collected for him had to be re-shelved today. But...yesterday another man did come in interested in our new books (still in boxes, haven't been shelved yet) and asked me when they would be ready to circulate. I checked with Max and they were fair game, and I helped him locate some autobiographies/biographies, the books he was interested in. While I was helping him he asked "Tell me what other services the library offers besides these books?" To which I replied, "I wish I could tell you there were other services, but I'm afraid I can't! What would you like the library to offer?" He of course said the Internet, and I of course said, "Yes, I know, hopefully when the new building is done there will be lots of programs and computers." So sad. I asked Lobohang, a library worker what the hold-up was with the new building, and she told me that they are waiting for the electricity to be installed, and the contractor is refusing to do it until they get the $1 million dollars still owed to them! Yikes! The new building looks like it has such great potential-I wish it could be finished up and ready to be used.

Last night the electricity went off for about 45 minutes. We went over to the main house to sit it out. I guess because of the World Cup South Africa is using much more energy to satisfy it's visitors, and the surrounding countries that get it's electricity from SA are paying the price. Our host brother and mother taught us how to make "paps," a porridge they eat a lot of there, by candlelight! It was hard, there is a lot of stirring and the porridge gets really stiff as it cooks.

We had another interesting cultural exchange the other day with our little host nephew, Atie(4 years). We noticed that he had been grabbing at our breasts, and of course we thought this was entirely inappropriate. However, it seems that it is quite normal. MmaKgosi explained that in Setswana culture breasts are not taboo and its natural for him to want to take them out. Interesting...

It's been freezing here! I'm wearing all my clothes all the time! I never realized how much I cherish indoor heating, installation and weather proof windows!

Ah, Tuesday. The days go by very slowly here. It was very cold and windy today! I'm on a mission to find a hat. Everyone here is sporting this fuzzy, beret type hat that I'm looking to acquire. The fashion here interests me incredibly. I love how off-handed it is, how people put patterns together that I wouldn't dream of. It's rubbing off...should be interesting how I start dressing when I return home, it might be crazy.

I slept alright, although the quality of my sleep has been on and off here. I find the animals to be incredibly noisy. I really want to love the rooster, but I am finding it difficult. Must you crow so early? At any rate, I'm glad I brought my earplugs.

Tomorrow is "Day of the African Child," and Rachel and I worked this morning to gather materials for a display. I'm also going to pick up some biscuits (cookies) and perhaps a coloring book or two so that we can have a program for the children. Hopefully the weather will be more pleasant, so that we can go outside and play. We have been told by Max that when the children get noisy in the library the adults just leave.

Tonight we were told that the Kgosi is having a visit from a Canadian doctor, should be interesting!

Well, I had a nice, relaxing weekend. Cara came from Mmankgodi on Saturday and stayed the night, so that was nice. We had told the Kgosi that we were anticipating a visit from Cara so we would cook for ourselves, to which he replied, "Oh, if Cara is coming, we will have dinner at the nice table," which we interpreted as them inviting us all for dinner. Well, it turns out that when we arrived for dinner, they thought we were preparing the meal! So we rushed back to our dwelling and were able to throw together a make-shift curry with beans, carrots and cous cous. The kgosi and our host brother Atie seemed to enjoy it, but Mma Kgosi was not so thrilled with the cous cous. Ah well.

The communication problems continued as last night Rachel and I thought we were being asked to go for a "pint," but alas, we were going for a drive to help a friend of our host sister's fix a "punch," meaning flat tire! It was nice just to go for a drive and see the stars out in the country, and Rachel was actually a help for the person as she knows more about changing flat tires than I!

Today at the library I made a bookmark to give to users that has core information on it such as hours, phone number, loan period, and resources available at the library. It looks pretty good! I also included a short blurb explaining the importance of returning materials, as it seems that it is a common problem.

I also started browsing the shelves in hopes to create some sort of booklists for parents and/or educators highlighting some of the resources the library offers. I'm looking forward to finally doing some school visits next week!

Today was exciting because Rachel and I had our first official reference question! Rachel initially approached the man and I followed up and bit and explained who we were and what we are doing here.

His name is Kagiso, and he is currently taking a class on Travel, Tourism and Hospitality. He was looking for information along those lines. The library has a very out-of-date travel book on Botswana, so I offered to bring mine next week for him to take a look at. He also wrote down some other content from his course, mainly Business, Accounting, Communications and Hospitality. I'm hoping to round up some materials for him and create a library believer!

It's hard to write this blog on such limited time always! So excuse the fact that they are often not eloquent or proof-read!

Things this week at the library have been going well so far. Rachel and I have been going in at 7:30am the past two days so we can watch them gather and enter their daily statistics regarding issues (check-outs, browsing numbers), registrations and overdues. They have a big overdue problem. Max the librarian told us that there are some 600 books overdue from as far back as 1990! Yikes!

Otherwise we have been working on entering new books into an Accession Registry, basically their inventory. We write each entry in by hand on these huge papers. It is a very slow process and not very orderly. The work culture is very different here, as yesterday Rachel and I were made fun of for "punishing ourselves" by working for an hour and a half straight after lunch without taking a break. So we went into the nearby break room (trailer) and had tea for about an hour before "knocking off" for the day. Not something I am used to!

I asked Dr. Totolo about that this morning when she came by to check in on how we were doing at the library and how things were going at home as well. She explained that that is a slight problem here, and that we should stick to our own routine and work ethic.

I gave her a sheet of ideas that I had been brainstorming for projects to work on during my internship here, and she is going to look them over and tell me what she thinks.

Yesterday we also went to the Molepolole museum and looked at a cultural exhibit that they have there right now. There were lots of beautiful crafts and painting on display.

This morning after our meeting with Dr. Totolo we went to the swearing-in ceremony of the Peace Corps volunteers here in Botswana, about 56 total, and 5 here in Moleps. We mingled and introduced ourselves and tried to network and stick a word in for remembering the libraries and perhaps using them during their stay here. The volunteers 2 years of pledged service make our 2 1/2 months seems so short!

This afternoon we have been invited to one of our kgosi's farms nearby and I am excited about that. I love to look at the scenery around here, it's mostly flat, but always beautiful. The ant hills here are as tall as me!

Molepolole Library

Today we went into the library and helped sort some new books from BNLS. We also received our library cards!

I spent some time looking through the children's collection. It is in need of weeding, pronto, although I'm not sure how they will feel about getting rid of books. The newer books they are receiving from BNLS are good material, but they are impossible to find amidst the older materials. Regardless, a bunch of kids came in this afternoon after school and sat quietly reading. Amazing!

Tomorrow morning we are getting there early to see how they process their statistics in the morning from the previous day.

The apartment is fine, although there hasn't been running water, except briefly at 2am when Rachel got and flushed our toilet and filled some buckets.

Dr. Totolo will be coming Thursday afternoon, and hopefully then we can talk to her about our ideas for the library and ways we can move forward this summer.

Flexibility is a Virtue

I am writing to you from Molepolole, my new site placement. Last Friday upon visit to Kopong, we realized that the site was not ideal for my internship and it was decided that I should go with Rachel to Moleps for my internship. We are staying in the chief's compound in a two-bedroom apartment to ourselves! It is very comfortable and safe, as no one is going to dare enter the kgosi (chief's) property without permission. Delinquent men are subject to a public "flogging" by the chief! There are orange trees and they also keep bees there so we will have fresh honey. Awesome.

We went to the Molepolole Library this morning and familiarized ourselves a bit with the collection and materials. We helped check in a box of books sent from BNLS and then had a short meeting with Max about the expectations and goals for our time here. He gave us some of the promotional materials they have been using and an outline of programs to be implemented. Here at Moleps they are eagerly awaiting the construction of a new library building. Right now it is only one room, making it difficult to hold programs because of noise created disturbs the patrons that need the space for quiet study. The new library is almost done and features separate rooms for children (0-11), youth (12-30) and adults. Then programming will be much easier.

Right now they also discourage from taking the children outside because they want them to be using the library inside and engaging in reading or puzzles and quiet activities. I am currently trying to think of ideas for library related programs that can be quietly done inside or persuading the library to allow me to take them outside for programs. They usually come in the afternoon so I did not get to see them today. It should be interesting to see how well I will be able to communicate with them. Max is already visiting primary schools to promote library services so I'm hoping that I will be able to go along and see what is being done.

I was given my Setswana name today from a lady in the library, Naledi, meaning "star." It took her just a couple of seconds before she came up with it.

That's all for now!

Dumela!

Well, there is lots to say and I have limited time at this internet cafe, but I'll see what I can fit in.

We got in Tuesday morning and Professor Mnjama and Dr. Totolo picked us up from the airport. From there they showed us to the graduate student hostel at the University of Botswana that we will be staying in for the week. It is very comfortable and accomodating. Tuesday we spent going to the Riverwalk mall and buying our cell phones and a couple of other things we wanted to pick up for our stay.

Everyone has told us that in Botswana greetings are extremely important, and it has definately proved true. We have spent the last two days meeting everyone!

Yesterday we met the head of the Library Studies department and the Dean of the University, a former librarian. Then we had a morning meeting with the Director of the International Studies Department and a couple of students about Setswana culture and what to expect when we get to our villages. In the afternoon we toured the University of Botswana library with librarian Blessing (cool name, huh?). It was very interesting. It seems that they too have a problem getting students to use their subscription databases instead of Google!

Today we spent the morning meeting EVERYONE at BNLS (Botswana National Library Services), and also me the librarians we will be working with at our village libraries. The commom consensus seems to be that the children in the villages like the libraries to play games, but it has been difficult to get the older community members to visit the libraries. One of our major goals here is to try to come up with ideas and ways to reach those people and bring them in the library.

We had a wonderful tea break and then went to Botswana Craft with Dr. Totolo, which is a huge and awesome craft store and outdoor restaurant. There is a lot of things that I would like to buy, but I'll wait until the end to go back. I tried the traditional food of Seswaa, a beef that is pounded for a long time until it is very tender. It sort of tasted like roast beef. It was delicious!

We also had a quick meeting with the U.S. Embassy representative, Dan. He gave us tons of valuable information on ways to reach the American Embassy and some useful tips for our travels.

Tomorrow we will be visiting all of the libraries we will be stationed at and meeting our host families. Exciting!

My time is running out at this internet cafe, but a quick exciting note is that we saw a monkey the other day cross the street!

Anyways, must go, more later!