Well, I have passed the one-month mark. The past month has been pretty amazing. This past week I have seen more soccer than I have ever watched in my entire life put together. It is Euro Cup and one of my roommates has soccer-fever. She met some German human rights lawyers while watching, so I decided to tag along and see what information I could gather during half time. She also has a friend who did a masters in human rights at Columbia. Hmmm. Perhaps law school isn't the end...
My good friend Riley leaves for Canada tomorrow, she is headed home to visit and returns the day after I leave. I will miss her, she is a lot of fun! I found a ticket to Kenya to visit my friend Ruth, and I am pretty tempted. I would fly right to Mombasa and spend some time on the beach. I would also get to dance with my favorite dance partner again :) We are quickly running out of weekends and are scrambling to get plans together and fit everything we want to do into the summer. Wish us luck! I am hoping to get to Madikwe (a game reserve just over the boarder in South Africa) this weekend, so hopefully there will be some more animal pictures to post. The medical students who went this past weekend saw baby elephants!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Mokolodi Game Reserve
Saturday was the Botswana vs. Ivory Coast soccer match. It was crazy! The stands were packed and everyone was shouting. The Zebras (Botswana's team) managed to hold on for a 1-1 finish against the Elephants (IC), which is one of the best teams in Africa. I got to wear my new Zebras jersey and take part in the madness. Dave took some great pictures, so if I get ahold of any of them I will be sure to post some.
On Sunday we went to Mokolodi, a game reserve about a 20 minute ride outside of Gaborone. We pass by it on our way to work in Lobatse, so we were excited to check it out. It was a very beautiful place with great animals.
Impala
One of Mokolodi's two hand-raised cheetahs. The brothers were brought to Mokolodi when their mother was shot by a rancher for eating his cattle. The cubs were two-and-a-half months old at the time, and had to be raised in captivity because they never learned to hunt. They let you pet them, and they seem to like the attention--they were purring!
They were giving each other a bath, very cute!
The requisite "me with the cheetahs" picture
Female ostriches are grey... 
Male ostriches are black and white.
Unfortunately, the best picture I got of the mom and baby warthogs was of their butts as they ran away from the truck. They were pretty cute, for warthogs!
One of three trained elephants living at Mokolodi. They offer tours on elephant back.
Kudu
On Sunday we went to Mokolodi, a game reserve about a 20 minute ride outside of Gaborone. We pass by it on our way to work in Lobatse, so we were excited to check it out. It was a very beautiful place with great animals.
Impala
One of Mokolodi's two hand-raised cheetahs. The brothers were brought to Mokolodi when their mother was shot by a rancher for eating his cattle. The cubs were two-and-a-half months old at the time, and had to be raised in captivity because they never learned to hunt. They let you pet them, and they seem to like the attention--they were purring!
They were giving each other a bath, very cute!
The requisite "me with the cheetahs" picture
Female ostriches are grey... Male ostriches are black and white.
Unfortunately, the best picture I got of the mom and baby warthogs was of their butts as they ran away from the truck. They were pretty cute, for warthogs!
One of three trained elephants living at Mokolodi. They offer tours on elephant back.
KuduWork is still going well, and I have been given some very interesting cases. I took the bus to Lobatse for the first time today and it worked out very well. More soon!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Camping in the Kalahari
Last weekend we went camping in the Kalahari. This is the truck we rode in 4.5 hours to get to Khutse Game Reserve. Our guide, Tim, customized it himself.
The winter mornings can be a bit chilly to begin with, but driving down the highway in an open truck really made it necessary to bundle up.
This is one of many traditional houses we passed on the drive down.
Here is a flock of guinea fowl that ran in front of the truck for several meters before taking off on our game drive.
Springbok
Gemsbok or South African Oryx
Ostriches
I uploaded several more pictures, but they seem to have vanished. In the interest of getting this posted before any more of it disappears, I will publish this and try again soon.
The winter mornings can be a bit chilly to begin with, but driving down the highway in an open truck really made it necessary to bundle up.
Back Row: Molls, Kristin, Pratik
Front Row: Nina, Dave, Emily
This is one of many traditional houses we passed on the drive down.
Here is a flock of guinea fowl that ran in front of the truck for several meters before taking off on our game drive.
Springbok
Gemsbok or South African Oryx
Ostriches
I uploaded several more pictures, but they seem to have vanished. In the interest of getting this posted before any more of it disappears, I will publish this and try again soon. Tuesday, June 3, 2008
High Court
Well, a lot has happened since my last post. I found out that my family dog, Holly passed away on the 23rd of May. She had a tumor in her heart, so we knew it was coming but I don't think it has really sunk in for me yet. I hope Gordon will keep my parents company and cheer them up a bit.
Sunday night as I was setting my new radio alarm clock, I noticed the display flickering. I was checking to make sure the plug was not coming out of the outlet when *PANG* the lights went out in our apartment. We looked for a breaker box and couldn't find one. So we called our friend Lorato to see if she knew what to do and woke her up. She called Dr. Oagile, the program coordinator who called the security people and came over to keep us company. Security came with the president of the Graduate Student Association and opened the locked closet to reveal the breaker box. They flipped the switch. Nothing. So they were going to have to find someone else to try and fix it. We decided to go to bed and sometime in the middle of the night our power magically came back on.
On Monday we had our orientation which consisted of a TON of information from all sorts of offices here on campus. We had lunch at the cafeteria and then went on a bus tour of Gaborone. We also went out to the village of Tlokweng and visited the customary court there. We met with one of the tribal leaders who acts as an arbitrator and judge for the village. He showed us where they administer corporal punishment (caning) and we saw the cattle who had broken into a woman's field and destroyed her harvest. She "arrested" the cattle and they were being held until the owner came to claim them and pay damages for the lost crops. Free range is a way of life here and you will often see herds of cows, goats, or chickens wandering the city.
We visited the monument to the "fathers of Botswana" the men who asked the British government to form a protectorate when a corporation was buying up southern Africa. We ended the night with a traditional dinner, dancing, and song in a village just outside of Gaborone. It was quite the event.
The next morning at 9 am we were picked up in a government car and driven to the High Court in Lobatse. We met with Justice Unity Dow and she gave us a tour and introduced us to most of the people working in the building. At noon we got to sit in on a hearing and after that she took us to her house for lunch. We met her daughters Cheshe and Natasha and had a great conversation. We went back to the court and were driven home by the same government car.
The next morning Marilu (Judge Dow's other clerk) and I were given our first assignment. I was asked to write a draft judgment about a case involving a Union dispute. I spent the rest of the week working on the project and was loaned a laptop "Property of the Government of Botswana" to assist me in my work. Friday I worked from home and got some of my laundry done. That evening we went to the Bull and Bush with Hong and Jessie (the Penn students I met on the plane) and had some great steaks and got some souvenirs from the artisans selling their work out front. At 9 pm the restaurant turns into a disco and Jessie and I headed home. I'm an old lady, I guess. I hear it got pretty crazy.
Saturday I got up and went to the Main Mall with Nina (the Penn student doing the archaeology internship) to get tickets for that afternoon's soccer match between Botswana and Madagascar. I got myself some official Zebra wear to sport at the game. The game was quite the experience, though it ended 0-0. It seems the Madagascar team had been assembled just 8 days before the match so the fans were upset that the game ended in a tie. I hear the coach has been fired.
After the game we came home and changed and headed out to dinner and the Sex and the City movie. After the movie we decided to head to the famed Fashion Lounge. We were having a hard time getting a cab, so I called Maxy, a cab driver who had driven us home before and he came and picked us up. During the ride we discovered that neither of us has children, which I guess means we are meant to be together (?!). Later that evening I got a text message telling me that he was "missing me tightly." I have thus far been unable to figure out what that means... Anyway, I had fun dancing and ran into Riley's friend Ronald who I met at Mountain Lodge at the braai (barbeque).
Sunday we were all pretty tired. Most of the girls went to Riverwalk (a nearby mall) and I stayed home and waited for my friend Dave to arrive (he is the other Penn Law student working in Bots this summer). When Dave got here we went to the mall and got him some food to tide him over and had some really good Indian food. When we got home most of the girls went to listen to jazz, and Marilu and I stayed home to work on our assignments.
Monday morning was pretty funny. We thought the Court had arranged for a bigger car to pick us up because there are now 5 of us and we won't fit into the standard white Volvo along with the driver. This did not happen, however, so one of us had to be left behind. I volunteered and ended up getting to work at 11:10. I met with Justice Dow about the case I was working on and spent the afternoon working in our new office. I think I like our office better than the library where I was working last week. Monday is half-price rib night at the Bull and Bush, so we all went for spare ribs.
Today I did laundry and finished up my assignment. Working from home has its perks. Tomorrow I will go in and get my next assignment! Now that I have internet access in my very own room, I will do my best to update my blog more regularly. If any of these stories is unclear or assumes knowledge of past events that I have not related, please let me know and I will do my best to fill in the blanks.
Sunday night as I was setting my new radio alarm clock, I noticed the display flickering. I was checking to make sure the plug was not coming out of the outlet when *PANG* the lights went out in our apartment. We looked for a breaker box and couldn't find one. So we called our friend Lorato to see if she knew what to do and woke her up. She called Dr. Oagile, the program coordinator who called the security people and came over to keep us company. Security came with the president of the Graduate Student Association and opened the locked closet to reveal the breaker box. They flipped the switch. Nothing. So they were going to have to find someone else to try and fix it. We decided to go to bed and sometime in the middle of the night our power magically came back on.
On Monday we had our orientation which consisted of a TON of information from all sorts of offices here on campus. We had lunch at the cafeteria and then went on a bus tour of Gaborone. We also went out to the village of Tlokweng and visited the customary court there. We met with one of the tribal leaders who acts as an arbitrator and judge for the village. He showed us where they administer corporal punishment (caning) and we saw the cattle who had broken into a woman's field and destroyed her harvest. She "arrested" the cattle and they were being held until the owner came to claim them and pay damages for the lost crops. Free range is a way of life here and you will often see herds of cows, goats, or chickens wandering the city.
We visited the monument to the "fathers of Botswana" the men who asked the British government to form a protectorate when a corporation was buying up southern Africa. We ended the night with a traditional dinner, dancing, and song in a village just outside of Gaborone. It was quite the event.
The next morning at 9 am we were picked up in a government car and driven to the High Court in Lobatse. We met with Justice Unity Dow and she gave us a tour and introduced us to most of the people working in the building. At noon we got to sit in on a hearing and after that she took us to her house for lunch. We met her daughters Cheshe and Natasha and had a great conversation. We went back to the court and were driven home by the same government car.
The next morning Marilu (Judge Dow's other clerk) and I were given our first assignment. I was asked to write a draft judgment about a case involving a Union dispute. I spent the rest of the week working on the project and was loaned a laptop "Property of the Government of Botswana" to assist me in my work. Friday I worked from home and got some of my laundry done. That evening we went to the Bull and Bush with Hong and Jessie (the Penn students I met on the plane) and had some great steaks and got some souvenirs from the artisans selling their work out front. At 9 pm the restaurant turns into a disco and Jessie and I headed home. I'm an old lady, I guess. I hear it got pretty crazy.
Saturday I got up and went to the Main Mall with Nina (the Penn student doing the archaeology internship) to get tickets for that afternoon's soccer match between Botswana and Madagascar. I got myself some official Zebra wear to sport at the game. The game was quite the experience, though it ended 0-0. It seems the Madagascar team had been assembled just 8 days before the match so the fans were upset that the game ended in a tie. I hear the coach has been fired.
After the game we came home and changed and headed out to dinner and the Sex and the City movie. After the movie we decided to head to the famed Fashion Lounge. We were having a hard time getting a cab, so I called Maxy, a cab driver who had driven us home before and he came and picked us up. During the ride we discovered that neither of us has children, which I guess means we are meant to be together (?!). Later that evening I got a text message telling me that he was "missing me tightly." I have thus far been unable to figure out what that means... Anyway, I had fun dancing and ran into Riley's friend Ronald who I met at Mountain Lodge at the braai (barbeque).
Sunday we were all pretty tired. Most of the girls went to Riverwalk (a nearby mall) and I stayed home and waited for my friend Dave to arrive (he is the other Penn Law student working in Bots this summer). When Dave got here we went to the mall and got him some food to tide him over and had some really good Indian food. When we got home most of the girls went to listen to jazz, and Marilu and I stayed home to work on our assignments.
Monday morning was pretty funny. We thought the Court had arranged for a bigger car to pick us up because there are now 5 of us and we won't fit into the standard white Volvo along with the driver. This did not happen, however, so one of us had to be left behind. I volunteered and ended up getting to work at 11:10. I met with Justice Dow about the case I was working on and spent the afternoon working in our new office. I think I like our office better than the library where I was working last week. Monday is half-price rib night at the Bull and Bush, so we all went for spare ribs.
Today I did laundry and finished up my assignment. Working from home has its perks. Tomorrow I will go in and get my next assignment! Now that I have internet access in my very own room, I will do my best to update my blog more regularly. If any of these stories is unclear or assumes knowledge of past events that I have not related, please let me know and I will do my best to fill in the blanks.
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