"We have to keep the doors locked at all times. Even the kitchen door, or they'll break in and raid the fridge. When somebody knocks, we have to check its a human being before we answer the door." -Comfort
I am going to miss the sense of humor here. I can't think of even one person who doesn't know how to make delightful comical conversation. Batswana know how to laugh and make the obviously plain parts of life into comical one liners. Whenever I hear voices raised, I know they are raised in laughter. I'll never forget my first Sunday here. I couldn't believe how many jokes were made over the pulpit at church. Everyone was laughing and rolling around almost in the aisles. I'm off to South Africa now. I could stay another 6 months or a year without flinching, I'm just getting used to it here. Wish I could stay longer.
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"Ka go Tlhokomela."This means, "I can take care of you," OR in American slang, more simply, "Hey GURL! You lookin fine. Was yur name?" That's right. I'm totally cool with all the 14 year old boys. Not really what I am looking for, but everybody has their nitch right?
Not to miss: prepaid phone cards- 7 min=1$
Not to miss: exploding sockets
To miss: Olala doing the splits
To miss: Cookies at every function
To miss: walks home all across the small and beautiful city of Gaborone. This picture of a parliment buildling at night in the center of Gabs was taken on one such walk after work.
I discovered a small grocery/clothing store in the mall called Woolworths where they sell fancy British items. In the back is a fridge of frozen goods. You need to know that here in Bots the icecream (implying dairy), is actually made out of vegetable fat. This frozen fridge holds the only real solace for diary lovers all over Bots. I buy a new flavor whenever I can. Each one is surprisingly better than the last. I was feeling so strongly one afternoon that I sent this feedback to them:
Dear Woolworths,
I am in love with your icecream. I shop at Riverwalk in Gaborone, Botswana.
It is the best part of my week to buy a new flavor. It is unlike any icecream (or yoghurt) I have ever tasted. Thanks for stocking it. NEVER stop.
Dear Ms Dyer,
We always appreciate hearing from customers, especially when they take the trouble to express their satisfaction. At Woolworths, we are committed to quality in our products and ourservice and take pride in the calibre of our staff. You may be assured that your kind comments have been passed on.
Kind Regards
Jacky Van Der BergCustomer Services -Email
Administrator
As you can see, Botswana is quite flat. Kgale hill is the hill to go up if you hike anywhere. It's on the edge of town and has a great view of the area from the top. I attempted to hike this hill about 2.5 months ago and was chased down the mountain by baboons. No seriously.
Saturday, with a pretty big group (aka baboon proof), we trail blazed to the top.
Gabs doesn't have trash everywhere, people are employed to pick it up. However, there is a certain lack of accountability missing in the trash littering department. Wouldn't you agree?
The highlight of a 13 hour bus I took from Kasane to Gaborone was the Foot and Mouth checkpoint. At these, everyone disembarks from the bus and walks over a soggy blanket as I am demonstrating here. The bus drives through a puddle and then everyone gets back on. Simple. Apparently, they do this so that the European Union will still buy their beef. This is not the same check point from a story you may have already heard about occuring on my 4th of July. To read it, click on the comments.
(P.S. Just look at that African sky!)
Read more...I arbitrarily decided to wait until the 8th time I was told this to blog about it. That was yesterday. It's amazing to me that they can even tell. It's like they have a calorie radar built into their eyeballs.
I hitch-hiked home from Molepolole today. Its not only common here, there is a set national rate for hitch hikers to pay their driver. As we got closer to University of Bots I noticed he had an open bottle. Oh dear! Its just like that psycho educational course I taught last month. "What should you do if you notice the driver of your vehicle is drinking?"
I made casual conversation while judging his reaction time to impending problems in the road. I found that minus the slurred speech, he was effortlessly guiding the car around Gabs. This is more than I can say for most sober drivers here. He dropped me off at the UB campus bar and bid me farewell. He refused to take my money even saying, "Oh but if I see you that side (USA), you can do the same for me." Oh Africa, I'm going to miss you so much when I am gone!
Isn't that funny?
It still is to me, 10 years later.
The delta is a swamp in the Kalahari where most of Africa's water ends up and then evaporates away. Crocs, hippos, Zebras, Elephants, Lions, and you know... different kinds of deer with fancy names like Impala and Wildebeast. About 70% of the islands in the delta began as termite mounds. They get around in Makoro boats. Think itlay, but without the gelato, architecture, and roman catholic church.
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