Botswana Opened My Eyes, Mind, and Heart. Now I'm Ready For Rest Of The World! Past Review
By Shannon I (Elementary Special Education, University of Hartford) for
University of Botswana: Gaborone - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
This experience changed my life. Not only did I meet my possible future husband, but I found my love for travel. I have already began to think about my future after graduation of possibly living in Harare, Zimbabwe and teaching at the International School thre, traveling up Africa through Europe and stopping to live, work, and volunteer in other places along the way for a few years. I am more culturally aware and interested in other countries and people. I now want to reach out even more to the international students at UH. (Do students study abroad at UH for a semester, or are there only 4 year and masters students?) -If you ever need anyone to talk to students about my experience and about how i think everyone should study abroad, let me know!!
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Discussed above. But I feel as though the Proffessors are not prepared, experiences, etc. to be good Professors. Most of them were horrible at actually teaching. There are some of these at UH too, but very few in my experience compared to UB. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The only think that I didnt like was I was the only one in the Interstudy program! But they did well and were there for me when i needed them, and when i didnt. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Housing was just like freshman dorms at UH. They were exactly what I expected and perfectly fine. Having a kitchen would help because food was a large issue, but we were able to figure it out! |
| * Food: |
DONT GET A MEAL PLAN! The food is the exact same thing for lunch and dinner every day, and you will not like it. Eat there at the beginning to at least know what pap and all the food staples are. But then get a fridge and go grocery shopping. To eat traditional food go to Botswana Craft or to a locals house. Eat at Nando's and Chicken Licken for fast food, and to go out eat at Primi, or anywhere at Riverwalk, and Gold Coin Thai at the African Mall. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Most cultural events I did on my own travel time, but the school took us all to a "mock village" which was great and to local attractions in the city and surrounding towns. My favorite thing was experiencing a new culture and meeting new people. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Health issues were fine. The clinic took forever and didnt do much for me or most people, but it was fine. The safety is fine within the city as long as you are smart. Dont walk alone anywhere at night, stay in big groups, know where the unsafe and safe parts of the town are, etc. health and safety was what I expected. Advice: Take your own pepto bismol, Ibuprofen, allergy medicine, etc. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I spent about $400/month on food, gifts, local travel, entertainment, etc. More money was spent on weekend and week long trips outside of the city. I also chose to spend money on gifts for all my friends and family and for myself which did add up. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Plan for spending money on trips to other places!! (this will end up being some of the best experiences of your trip, you dont want to skip them because of not having any money left!!) Plan for money for travel, accommodation, visas, etc. Use buses and combis, stay at backpackers and couch surfers. Find out visa information in advance (a couple weeks prior to your trip) sometimes you must go to the embassy and get one in advance and sometimes its easy to just get it at the border, and some countries you dont need one! |
Language
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Dont go to Botswana for the classes and to learn in the classroom. If you want to travel to exotic new places, meet people from all different walks of life, have the opportunity to make a difference in a school, orphanage, hospital, or HIV related organization, gain independence and explore a new city that is located perfectly in Southern Africa with opportunities to travel to South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Namibia.. then Botswana is your place to study abroad! |
