Anthropological research was traditionally conducted by foreign researchers in ‘exotic’ places. However, the trend changed over the years due to various reasons such as less funding for research abroad, resistance from new independent states, and the realization that, after all, the ‘exotic’ could be found even ‘at home’. The research dynamics changed further when those who were studied earlier began to study their own. This paper is a reflection of my participatory observation in the 2009 bojale (girls’ initiation) revival ceremony of Bakgatla-baga-Kgafela in Botswana. I entered bojale with dual roles of initiate and participant observer for my research. My ethnographic research was among my own and I was expected to adhere to the ceremony's rules in the same way as the other initiates. The discussion reflects on my dual identity experiences and relationships during initiation in order to interrogate ethnography among one's own culture. I conclude that, even though being ‘at home’ has advantages such as less travelling requirements and easy rapport, it is a complex process when it involves sacred ceremonies such as bojale because of the societal obligations such as adherence to secrecy that the researcher is bound by during and after the research.