Touchdown in the dust bowl

Five days in Gaborone, Botswana under my belt! I will be living here for 9 months doing clnical research with UPenn. My project involves validating the CRB-65 pneumonia severity score in a predominantly HIV-positive population (if that means anything to you).

I picked this stunning brown color scheme because I think it represents the landscape quite nicely. As we approached Gabs in our miniscule propeller plane, after 16 hrs on a larger plane with a BROKEN ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM (see sad face picture attached), the flat orange dust with occasional pockets of brush called out to us as "home". I should clarify that "we" refers to me and Sarah, my partner in crime in my UPenn/Botswana adventure. After 2 months living together in Philly before arriving, we are decidedly co-dependent life partners for the year. In fact, we tried to get a couples discount at the gym the other day (after touring its gorgeous ourdoor 25 meter lap pool with our local real estate agent who repeatedly called us the "n" word, naturally, because we're American), but they wanted a marriage license.

We did, however, find an apartment! I'm referring to it as the "posh palace", because it is a fully-furnished mecca of appliances and cable television. The 20ft cement wall with another 10 ft of electric wires on top enclosing our landscaped patio should keep us incredibly safe, though I do not think that's what prisoners usually think when living in similar circumstances. Anyway, it's walking distance to the hospital and to Riverwalk, our mega mall, so I'm pretty satisfied.

That brings me to our next beast...buying a car. I have to admit that I am less worried about enrolling pneumonia patients without speaking a word of Setswana than I am about learning to drive on the left side of the road with a stick shift on the left. We are headed to "Motor City" this weekend, which is basically a giant alley of Japanese cars that failed emissions testing. After riding in a friend's car last night that is now missing both mirrors due to "charging goats", I am thinking this will be an interesting investment. Sarah learned the rules of the road the other day: If you hit a cow on a major highway, you have to find its owner, and they pay for the car damage. On the other hand, if you hit a cow on a smaller farm road, you have to find the owner, and pay for the cow.

More to come! Heading to lunch now at Sanitas, the city's premiere garden tea room.