Botswana in Tan |
It
was my fifth day in Botswana, seventh on the Continent. I had thought I began to figure things
out. The initial culture shock for many
had begun to wear off as we adjusted to life in the country. The culture was foreign to us but people
there were generally friendly, and English was spoken by all, part of the
reason I chose this particular trip.
Today was our first full day of classroom classes, aka lectures all day.
Although I learned much in the classroom that allowed me to greater understand
the people of Botswana, their history and culture, I did learn a lesson I had
not expected to have.
Student Union, Center; Our Classroom Building, Left; University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana |
In
the Student Union, there were two competing food counters that sold food, we
had access to a meal plan in a separate facility, but after a few days the food
grew increasingly repetitive. So on this
day we decided to visit one counter to mix it up. We learned quickly the idea of a “line” as we
have in the US did not really apply to Botswana and we had to be much more aggressive
in our ordering, but none the less we eventually got to place our order.
It
was then I received a great lesson from the man serving me. I ordered a tomato and cheese sandwich. He then asked “Do you want it toasted?” This seemed like a little surprise to me so I
said “sure, toasted”. The then responded
with “we don’t have a toaster” With a
dazed and confused look I paid for my sandwich and went to class.
I
told my class about it many of whom just laughed, it really was a strange
interaction that I would never have again even though I would continue to
frequent the food stand. I thought about
the incident for some time after the occurrence. I talked to the professor about it trying to
figure it out and they simply stated that perhaps it was a misunderstanding.
It all clicked.
I had been making the assumption, that because we all spoke the same
language it has all the same meaning.
English like any language is a simple blue print, and depending on how
you read the blue print it does not always mean the same thing to different
people. My take away was simple, just
because you speak the same language doesn’t mean you always communicate.
I have tried to write this as Native Americans
might. In the Native tradition it normal
to start any story at the true beginning, but I decided to spare the reader of
reading all the ways from creation to get this point across. As in Native American stories, I have written
a story that contributes to who I am a person today and why I think it is a
significant life lesson.
-Adam
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