5.11.2014

Some Botswana Details


  • The cans in Botswana are made with more aluminum in the bottom, so it feels like you have a couple sips left even when it's empty. (Also, the Coke is made with actual sugar.)
  • Liquor stores are called "Bottle Stores." I'm not sure if this is a euphemism or not since alcohol is kind of taboo.
  • Cows and goats will move out of the road; donkeys will not. Cape buffalo and elephants will charge your car.
  • The exchange "How are you?" "I am well." in Setswana is something like, "Where are you?" "I am here."
  • Pula, their currency, is the same word for "rain." Their word for "money" is the same for "blood."
  • "Goodbye" = "It's okay."
  • Black Label, a local beer, is considered unfit for women to drink because of the high alcohol content (5%!). It, apparently, makes women crazy. The more "girly" cider has 6% ABV.
  •  So few people have cars that hitchhiking is an established institution. There are official hitch posts, and hitch hikers pay their drivers the same fare as busses. (When we hitched, our driver was pulled over by a police officer on foot.) If this was proposed and made popular in the USA, it would be hailed as green and progressive. 
  • Batswana do not know about Mexican food. 
  • It is mandatory for businesses to display a portrait of the president. #creepy
  • Botswana, as a country, has never been at war. 

No comments:

Post a Comment