My type B personality matches the relaxed lifestyle found in Botswana. Everyone here is moving at their own (slow) pace. Everything often starts about 2 hours late. And everyone is used to it. When you go to a restaurant, expect to be sitting for a minimum of 2 hours. It is just how it works here. Batswana are always willing to have a conversation and go out of their way to help people. I definitely think that is related to the slow pace of how things move here.
At first, I thought I would get overwhelmed by it and throw a fit. It is just something you get used it. Whenever I go to a restaurant now, within 5 minutes of sitting down, I know to always place your food order. If you don’t, you could be sitting there until the sun sets. There is absolutely no rush in this country. Apart from having a type B personality helping me to navigate the Botswana lifestyle, a person also needs to have an open-mind that goes into every situation without expectations. If you walk into a situation expected something to happen a certain, you will be disappointed. Being open to change is an important quality to have in Botswana. For example, I had a presentation scheduled for 4-6pm on a Wednesday evening. At about 7 pm on Tuesday evening, my professor emails the class to say that she wants to change the time to Wednesday 6 am. No worries came from me because, you gotta constantly be on your toes here to make the most of your experience. Nothing is set in stone. Your professor might even throw in an extra group project that was not mentioned in the syllabus just for fun. The combi you need to take to school to arrive on time for an exam may take an hour to fill up instead of taking five minutes to fill up. All of these situations become 200% more manageable if you accept that they happened out of your control and the only thing you can do now is embrace the change.
I have noticed that “going with the flow” honestly does wonders for your mental health. It frees up your mind to focus on other things that are in your control. You now have the time to fully embrace culture and experience what Botswana has to offer you if you don’t constantly focus on the situations that were frustrating.