The Basics

The people who reside in Botswana also know as Botswana land are Setswana speaking Africans. The people are known Batswana (for plural) and Motswana (for singular). Never should you refer to them as Botswanians. Botswana is located in Souther Africa, not South Africa. It is a landlocked country that receives most of its water and food supply from South Africa. Botswana gained its independence in 1966 on September 30th. The country built its economy on diamonds, which were discovered the year after independence, in 1967.



Language: 

The people speak Setswana and English

Greetings/Mannerisms 

• Dumela Rra, le kae? -------- Hi Sir, how are you? 
• Dumela Mma, le kae? ------ Hi Ma'am, how are you? 
• Ee Rra/ Ee Mma--------------Yes Sir/Yes Ma'am 
• Sala Sentle---------------------Go well
• Ke a leboga ------------------ Thank you
• Gosiame------------------------Bye
• Ko Ko -------------------------knock knock (when knocking on a door/entering someone's home) 
• Wareng?-----------------------What's Up? 
• Ke itumetse go go itse------- I am happy to meet you 
• Tswee-tswee------------------Please 
• Ema mo stopong--------------This is my stop 
• O ema mo stopong------------ You stop 

Simple Sentences

• Ke bidiwa Tierra
• Ke tswa ko Philadelphia Ko Amerika
• Ke moithuti ko Univeristy of Botswana (UB) 
• Ke ithuta Setswana 
• Ga ke Setswana sentle
• Ke bereke ko Baylor Clinic
• Ke rata go bala le go bina
• Komoso, ke ya ko Kanye kagore ke batla go ithuta (how) go bua Setswana sentle. 
• Mme, o bua Segoka gape rre, o bua Sekoga. 

Translations

• My name is Tierra 
• I am from Philadelphia, over there in America 
• I am a student at UB 
• I am learning Setswana
• I do not speak Setswana well 
• I work at Baylor Clinic 
• I love to read and dance 
• Tomorrow, I am going to Kanye because I ant to learn ho to speak Setswana well. 
• My mother, she speaks English and my father, he speaks English. 

Transportation: 

Taxi- A taxi is very similar to our taxi system.

Combi- a Combi is similar to a bus in that each combi has its own route. About 16-18 people can fit inside one combi.

"Hacks"- I am not sure what they call them here, but there are men outside of certain malls who call out "taxi taxi'. They are taxi drivers but they remind me of hacks.


Currency: 

Pula is the local currency. 1 U.S dollar is equivalent to 10 Pula. I listed the prices of some general items so you can get an idea of the cost of living or at least daily expenses. Thebe is cents.

Combi Ride (1) - 3 Pula 50 Thebe

Taxi Ride - 20-30 Pula - if shared the 20  or 30 Pula could be divided among the passengers.
Standard Meal at campus cafeteria - 15 Pula
Senegalese twist (not including hair) -200-350 Pula
5.5 yards of African Print Fabric-200 Pula
Small Pizza- 20 Pula
Wet Wipes (depending on the amount)- 7-20 Pula 

Pictures coming soon