When I meet people, they usually think that I'm from South Africa. The reaction I get when I tell people that I'm a Motswana born and bred in Botswana tends to be of shocked surprise and disbelief occasionally followed by a tentative interrogation, especially when they learn that my mother and her siblings were also born in Botswana.
This is something I have grown accustomed to and I often enjoy these conversations. The most interesting topics that have come up have been what it is that makes a true Motswana, the modern perception of nationality and its relevance. Yet, as a matter of fact, Botswana is the only home I have ever known and I can't imagine myself living anywhere else.
I was born in Francistown. When I was two-years-old, we moved to a beautiful area of bush in Notwane where I spent my childhood in harmony with a variety of wildlife. Those were the good old days when one hundred Pula was considered a lot of money, as much as one thousand Pula is today.
