Cultural Differences

1. Sometimes people you don’t know will say hello or good morning as you pass, but they wait until you are exactly parallel or just past each other to say it instead of when you get near each other and can see each other’s faces. This confused me at first, and I would turn around while walking to try to face them while responding, but this is unnecessary.
2. Everyone gets up at 7 am, even students. And they carry out long conversations with one person on the balcony and another in the courtyard, screaming at each other to be heard.
3. No one wants to give you an answer they think you don’t want to hear. For example, when I locked myself out of my room the maintenance guy was MIA. The guards had no idea when he would return, but would not tell me that. Instead they would say, “Check me in a few hours, he’ll be back at 7 tonight.” He didn’t show up for several days before they relented and said they couldn’t get a hold of him. Better to completely fabricate information than to tell someone something disappointing!
4. No one can give directions because no one knows the names of streets. Even if I know the name of the street and tell the taxi driver, “turn right at Jawara” they don’t know which street that is. This holds for directions at malls or at university, too. They won’t tell you where to turn or be exacting, but will point vaguely in the direction of what you’re looking for and say, “It is just there.”
5. When someone leaves you for a few minutes they say, “I’m coming,” instead of “I’ll be right back.” Very confusing the first time I heard it.
6. They always say, “I’ll check you,” instead of “I’ll come by.”
7. Workers don’t mind making you wait. For example, at the kiosk, a line of ten people can take a half an hour because the worker person drags her feet while getting the food, then drags her feet to go get change etc. etc. It’s agonizing.
8. Infidelity is not as big of a deal here as in the USA. Some people have multiple boyfriends, and don’t worry about it because they assume their boyfriends have multiple girlfriends. One boy who had a crush on me saw no conflict in the fact that he liked me (and let me know it) and was also trying to get back with his girlfriend. Therefore, telling someone you have a boyfriend is not enough to deter them. Taxi drivers would just ask to be my “small house,” which means second husband (a term traditionally used for multiple wives when polygamy was common in Botswana). This trend is terrifying in terms of HIV/AIDS.
9. Batswana say “hectic” to mean “stressful.” For example, they would say a busy day was very hectic, or if asked about studying/exams they say it is hectic.
10. It is ordinary to be referred to as “Mamy” or “Mum” even as a young woman.
11. Women talk very quietly in English, but very loudly in Setswana. Some even seem to communicate with high pitched screeching when speaking Setswana.
12. When a professor tells of a due date, students are able to complain or act put upon, shaking their heads and intoning, “eh eh, eh eh,” and the professor will often reconsider and change the date.
13. Handing someone a 100 pula (equivalent to 12 or so dollars) often results in shaking of the head and disbelief. They will ask if you have smaller bills, or “don’t you have 5 pula?” One of my friends had her 50 pula bill confiscated and had to wait for other customers to pay until they had change for her. At the convenience store on campus a woman did this to me, and I said, “you have change, I just saw in the drawer.” And she handed me the change, disgruntled. So I am uncertain weather the annoyance over large bills is warranted or not.
14. People walk around with umbrellas when it’s hot out. It blocks the sun and makes them cooler, apparently (even though they are often wearing long sleeves or jeans…)
15. It is often impossible to find people in their offices. They will leave during office hours and lock the door. Or they will simply lock the door from the inside and refuse to answer. All offices also are MIA for an hour or more at lunch. So, sometimes it is impossible to ask questions of your professor and is frustrating to get things done on campus.
16. Classes don’t require you to buy the book and require very little homework. Tests are mostly based on in-class lecture material.
17. Batswana for the most part are extremely disgusted by homosexuality.
18. Men drink A LOT of alcohol. Students are given a monthly living allowance from the government but it usually spent in the first weekend on booze.
19. Men have sexist ideas. Some naively believe that women love laundry, and proclaim that they will never cook, while simultaneously asserting that they “greatly respect women.” It seems they respect women, but in some sort of different category from men.
20. Men who are friends hold hands and it does not imply anything romantic.
21. People walk VERY slowly from place to place, but drive extremely fast.
22. Cleaning ladies are present in the dorms all day. They wear little button up dresses the color of hospital scrubs and head wraps. They also have traditional brooms made of sticks for sweeping sidewalks, and they clean the bathrooms and the common rooms every day.
23. Many people love the United States. When I tell them where I am from they will say, “Ah, America. That is my favorite country.” Although most of them have never been there. It’s nice change from Europe where I was constantly defending the USA.
24. Nightclub wear is day wear. Enough said.
25. In addition to an apology, “Sorry” means “Excuse me” (when someone is in your way) and “Pardon?” (when you didn’t hear what they said.)
26. “Is it?” means “Oh, really?” (to show interest in something someone is saying), and “How’s it?” means “How are you?”
27. Public transport is by “combi” which are big white vans that say the route number on the front. The charge for a ride is 2.70 (25 cents US). Also, a combi is never full: the driver will make room to make money. Combis are not on a schedule but come fairly frequently and are a more reliable form of transport than the city buses in St. Paul/Minneapolis (no 20 minute transfers!)
28. On pay day in Gaborone all of the ATMs will be empty. Don’t even try to withdraw.
29. “The _____________ is finished” means “We are out of ___________” Most often refers to restaurant items, but also to tickets etc.
30. Men hit on women a lot more than in the USA.
31. No one calls each other. Phone plans are “pay as you go.” So most people save money by SMS-ing (texting). Also, most people run out of d-units (minutes) and can’t afford more near the end of the month before allowance pay day, so when you text them they cannot respond and may just show up at your room to answer you. Or they will text you and say, “call me back,” trying to get you to foot the bill instead of them. The first weekend I was confused when my friend Katlego was so unsure when I told her she could borrow my phone to call a friend. She was like, “are you sure??? Do you have minutes?” And I didn’t understand what the big deal was, but now I understand that d-units are scarce and highly valued here.