"Da Yoopers"

Bots 11 is filled with characters, and actually, I'm not gonna write about the real character in the group, which is Brandon, but this story belongs to our nicest character in the group.  We'll call him Adam.  Now Adam is just a kid from Michigan with flair, intelligence, and wit, yet under his sweetness, there has to be a dark spot.  We all have 'em Adam, so come on boy, show it to us!  But wait, he's from where!  MICHIGAN!  Ah, a midwest boy with depth!  I grew up thinking that there was New York, and well, there was New York.  Little else existed except maybe we heard about Florida because the old folks left us for a month or two in the winter.  Frankly, I live in California now, and still think that only New York exists!  How's that for good reality testing?  Ok, back to Adam being from middle America.   I decide to look up a few facts about Michigan, and we'll see how this fits in with him:  People from Michigan sit on their lakes when it's 30 below with their fishing poles: they don't talk for a week when U of M loses:  a party store equals a place to buy beer and chips:  they can quote Hoyle on Euchre:  they may have even invented Euchre:  there are 4 seasons in Michigan--mud, July 4th, winter mud, and mud:  it's Michigan, not Michi--gun:  they wear something called nukluks---sounds like one of our Setswana words!:  when asked if they ever went to Europe, they reply no, but I've been to Ann Arbor: and lastly, deer season is an official holiday.  Now how on earth did a boy from somewhere that has all these unique, if not bizarre, qualities get into the Peace Corps, and better yet, sent to Botswana.  Well, let's examine this a bit---Botswana has animals, maybe his recruiter thought he can relate, but I sure hope he's not one of those who understands the true meaning of Michi-gun, and starts shooting the lion outside his front door---he's teaching us to play Euchre--now we all go around quoting Hoyle, but it shows the PC that he sure knows how to create a bonding situation---the places that we buy beer and chips from sure can look like a hokey place in Michigan---and Adam's newly shaved head can remind someone of a nukluk, whatever on earth that is!  Botswana has some seasons too, hot and hotter, rain and hot, and cold and dry.  I bet Adam can't wait to see some mud to make him feel right at home.  He'll love the cold too, I'm sure he'll wear a sweatshirt and shorts, and laugh at the rest of us freezing our butts off in 30 degree nights.  I have seen Adam quiet at times, I hope it wasn't because Michigun, ooops, Michigan lost again.  Gee, what do ya think?  From the looks of things, I think the boy will fit in fine here in Botswana!  He may even learn a thing or two about HIV if he can put the deck of cards away!

 Adam will be placed in a small out of the way village right on the cusp of the Kalahari.  He'll be doing life skills with primary aged kids in a small school, and will, in all likelihood, be teaching them Euchre as his primary project because people from Michigan think that Euchre is life skills.  Just make it sustainable Adam!  He'll make the kids laugh, he'll help the kids create fishing poles out of reusable materials, and he'll sit telling them the meaning of "Da Yoopers," and singing the songs.  But seriously folks, he'll make the kids feel like their worth a million bucks, just because he's Adam, our nicest Bots 11!

P.S.  You can see Adam's picture in my Halloween Blog...he's the one dressed as a Tuck Shop! There are also photos of him in my pictures page!  You can double click on a photo to enlarge it!