First, a little background: People from Botswana are called Batswana, not "Botswanese" or "Botswanans" or "Botswanites". A single person from Botswana is called a Motswana. The primary language spoken here is Setswana or Tswana.
The common greeting in Setswana is "Dumela", which stands in for "hello", "good morning", etc. This is followed by either "mma" or "rra" if addressing a woman or man, respectively. This is repeated in response. When translated literally it means "agree". So their greeting is essentially saying "Hello, we agree to be friends". This is generally followed by "O kai?" (or "le kai?" which is technically plural but used in the singular sense frequently as slang). This is usually translated as "How are you?" but it literally means "where are you?". The response is typically "ke teng", or "I am here". I find this exchange to be fascinating. It seems to foster a personal and immediate connection much more than our typical "Hello, how are you? I'm fine". "Hello, let's agree to be friends" "Yes, I agree" "Where are you? (figuratively)" "I am here, with you". Sublime.
I have noticed that very few of the Batswana wear sunglasses and, when they do, it seems to be only young men that are dressed in very stylish clothing. I suspect that sunglasses are pretty much just a fashion accessory here. I wonder if they see me walking down the street and think, "God, who's this American douche-bag, with his sunglasses? Who does he think he is?". I've been considering carrying a white-tipped cane to give me an excuse to have them on.
As promised, here is a picture of Doris, our house-keeper. She seemed to enjoy the attention. To remind you, she cleans the whole apartment and does my laundry, including ironing and folding, every single day. Potential spouses take note, this is now the standard you must live up to.
Signing off, from Gabarone.
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