Birthdays, Yesterdays, and Tomorrows

Happy birthday today to my mother! I love you!
Yesterday, I was not too busy to post anything...in fact, quite the opposite. I felt that nothing had happened all day that I could write about. But yesterday evening, I had quite a good time. My friend in the Alumni/Development office took another exchange student (Aaron) and me out to dinner. We went to an Indian place, and then went to an Italian place next door for dessert.
I checked out Books 3 and 4 of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books from the school library yesterday. I'm hoping to get them read this weekend. Apparently the author visits MaP each year - hopefully I'll be here to see him!
Tomorrow, I have a service project, visiting Camphill, a residence, school, and community for children and adults with disabilities, at 8 o'clock in the morning. Following that I'll be going to Jessica's house. I'm glad that I'll be getting a change from the cafeteria food!
Yesterday in my homeroom class, I was surprised to read on a poster that Botswana's life expectancy rate was only 33 years. I asked my roommate whether this was true, and she too was incredulous. I checked the CIA World Factbook for verification, and unearthed some interesting figures. According to the CIA World Factbook for Botswana, the life expectany is about 50 years. Higher, but still rather low. Only 3.9% of the population is over 65 years old, compared to 12.7% of the United States. One major reason for Botswana's low life expectancy is a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. In 2003, 37.3% of the adult population was infected with HIV - 350,000 people. Yet because Botswana's total population is so low, the U.S. with a 0.6% prevalence rate actually has more than twice as many people living with HIV. Yet despite these rather depressing figures, Botswana has a literacy rate of 81.2%, with the literacy rate of females a few tenths of a percent higher than that of males. Their economy is growing - despite an unemployment rate of 24%, some of whom I assume are subsistence farmers.
Off to be lonely some more...oh well. Perhaps I will run into some friends on the way back to the dorm.

The Random Invitation

"I'd like to introduce you to somebody," said the staff member who had picked me up at the airport one week ago. Eager to meet a kind, helpful teacher or mentor, I followed her. But outside, a blonde-haired girl, also in Form 5, stood there.

After telling me her name, the woman said, "She has invited you to her house for the weekend."

My first thought: We haven't even met before!! I have no idea who she is!! Eek!

My second thought: Who coerced her into this? What teenager invites a random girl to their house without some adult involved?

Turns out, this girl's mother is on the PTA, and she was the one who initiated to idea. So now, on Saturday afternoon, I am off to this girl's house for the night. Hopefully things will turn out well…

At first I was afraid…but then, at our brief school meeting this morning, I received some words of encouragement. A drama teacher spoke about the recent xenophobic killings in South Africa. She said that the murderers only found themselves in a position to kill people because they had not addressed their fears – in this case, a fear of outsiders or strangers. She emphasized the point of irrationality that their fear had reached – irrationality, according to her, meaning not thought through, not contemplated. This teacher suggested – pleaded – that we all address our fears, rather than keeping them hidden and bottled up; that we think about and realize what our fears are; and that each day, we try to conquer at least one of our fears.

So today, I will try sitting with different people at dinner; I will try to visit someone in their room, and actually work up the courage to knock on their door; and I will look towards my weekend engagement with hope and excitement, rather than worry and fear.