So, this morning I decided to try some new things... ok, to be honest I did one of them under duress, but I'm coming to that.
I woke up around 8:30 - it's Saturday! I lay in bed thinking about what exactly I wanted to do this morning... unpack? eat? do laundry? clean? I couldn't decide. So, I meandered around for a few minutes and finally decided I was hungry. I had found a recipe for porridge last night and found some Maize in the pantry so I thought maybe that would be worth a try. I threw some of the Maize into cold water, not thick enough so I added more... still not thick enough, but what do I know? So, I added it to boiling water, like the recipe said. What exactly do I get for all that effort?? A paste like substance that resembled (and almost tasted like) glue. I would have tried to eat it, but after a small taste, I decided that it would be much better to let the trash can take care of it! Chalk that up to another lesson learned - at least the Maize was free :). I'll try again, but probably not any time soon! In lieu of porridge I opted for toast (which is a lot less complicated) and tea. It was lovely and it killed the glue taste.
My next idea was to try doing laundry. I pushed as much as I could into the small washing machine, turned on the power and water, pushed the door shut with a piece of wood, and turned the knob to the right setting... no dice. The thing wouldn't start, so I repeated the process... still not luck. I tried a few other things like kicking it and staring at it, but it refused to cooperate. Ok, so now I've got a ton of clothes that need to be washed and no washing machine (if you hadn't guessed the one here is a bit antiquated - it's on the list of things I think we inherited from the 70's). After sitting there staring at the machine for a few minutes, I noticed that there was hand washing powder on the top. I thought, "why not?" and pulled my clothes out of the washer. I've never done laundry by hand before, so I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking. Anyhow, I did it anyway. I then filled up the sink with hot water and washing powder. Somehow (by the grace of God) I managed to get all of my clothes clean and on the line with no problem! I still have to work out a few kinks in the process (like how to ring out clothes so they are closer to dry when I hang them up), but I think for a first attempt it wasn't so bad!
After that, I did fairly normal stuff: getting ready, sweeping, cleaning, etc. I quite enjoyed my random morning and will probably never work up the nerve to eat porridge again! Bye for now!!
04 July 2009
30 June 2009
Wow... It's been a long time!
Eish! I've been gone from the blogging world for too long! Hakuna matata (which still makes me giggle, but they actually use it here!). Things have been going well in the village! The first outreach team is preparing to leave. Their ministry was such a blessing. We spent time working on the property and doing hut-to-hut evangelism in the village. Since the team was fairly small (six people), I've gotten to know everyone really well. I've thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait for the next team to arrive!
Today's Adventure:
I decided to catch a ride into town. I needed to pick up a sweater and some meat pies... meat pies are delightfully tasty and I've gotten the team hooked on them. One of the people at the mission was headed into town, so I asked for a ride. The driver had wanted to show one of the team members his home, so I collected the team member and off we went.
Our first stop was his home. It was really nice for the area - walled in and large, which is fairly unusual. Most people here have small brick houses (big enough to fit one or two rooms) or a traditional mud hut surrounded by a wire fence that doesn't seem to do much outside of marking the property. Anyhow, back to the point. Saw the house, met his two of his adorable children, and left.
We then headed into town to pick up the aforementioned supplies. Apparently when I requested a ride I wasn't specific enough and it turned out to be a one way ride instead of it being both ways... Oops... So, the team member and I are stuck in town. I called Kevin, as he is the head honcho around here. He advised me to call our maintenance director, which I attempted to do. However, any time I am in dire need of help, this particular individual is incredibly difficult to reach. One would be amazed how often his phone works when I don't really need help! Anyhow, no way I was getting a free ride home. So... a taxi it would have to be.
The team member and I headed out to the taxi area to find a ride. There were probably six or seven taxis sitting around waiting for fares, but only one had a driver in it, so I decided to use that taxi. I talked with the driver and managed to get the fare down from P40 to P25 - we have to take specials to the property since we live far enough out in the bush that it's a pain to drive to, a normal taxi only costs P3. I then got in the taxi and waited while the team member got in the other side... and waited... and suddenly hear a huge commotion which seems to be centered around my taxi. Three or four other taxi drivers are standing around the car fussing, the team member can't get into the taxi and the driver has locked me in. I unlocked the door and opened it trying to figure out what was going on, the door shuts and is locked again, and I unlock it and open it again. I still have very little clue what's going on. I hear someone telling the team member, "explain to her, explain to her." Of course, the team member has been in Botswana for all of two weeks and doesn't quite understand, so I had to ask the individual to explain to me. Before explaining what had happened, I would like to state that the Batswana (people of Botswana) have an incredibly sense of fairness and don't really understand convenience quite the same. So, I ask the man what's going on. He holds out a small notebook and says something about a list and taxi numbers. Which would make very little sense to someone who hadn't been here very long, but having been here for six months the statement made perfect sense to me. Here's how the system works: they assign one individual to stand in the rank and keep track of what order the taxis arrive in, then they assign fares to the taxis in the appropriate order. I didn't know this and the taxi I had hopped in was last on the list... Oops... Sorry Botswana. I got out of the taxi and went to the taxi that was first on the list. Again, I have to haggle the price down to P25, which I still think it about P5 too much. He agrees, the team member and I get in the car (we both make it this time) and we prepare to leave. Unfortunately, the driver doesn't know exactly where we are headed and has to consult the other drivers. They stand there and chatter in Setswana for a bit and the driver finally understands where he's headed. He drives off muttering about the price being too low (again, I still maintain it is too high), but he's agreed to the price. We get to the turn safely and are almost home when our combi cruises by and recognizes us. Both drivers pull over and we switch from the taxi to the combi... about ten feet from home. I might as well have walked. Finally! We arrive on the property and all is well... That might have been enough of an adventure for the next few months!
Random observation about taxi drivers in Botswana: they seem to be on the phone an absurd amount. I'm not entirely sure how they manage to drive (not that they do that well) and talk/text at the same time considering most cars here are manual shift.
Today's Adventure:
I decided to catch a ride into town. I needed to pick up a sweater and some meat pies... meat pies are delightfully tasty and I've gotten the team hooked on them. One of the people at the mission was headed into town, so I asked for a ride. The driver had wanted to show one of the team members his home, so I collected the team member and off we went.
Our first stop was his home. It was really nice for the area - walled in and large, which is fairly unusual. Most people here have small brick houses (big enough to fit one or two rooms) or a traditional mud hut surrounded by a wire fence that doesn't seem to do much outside of marking the property. Anyhow, back to the point. Saw the house, met his two of his adorable children, and left.
We then headed into town to pick up the aforementioned supplies. Apparently when I requested a ride I wasn't specific enough and it turned out to be a one way ride instead of it being both ways... Oops... So, the team member and I are stuck in town. I called Kevin, as he is the head honcho around here. He advised me to call our maintenance director, which I attempted to do. However, any time I am in dire need of help, this particular individual is incredibly difficult to reach. One would be amazed how often his phone works when I don't really need help! Anyhow, no way I was getting a free ride home. So... a taxi it would have to be.
The team member and I headed out to the taxi area to find a ride. There were probably six or seven taxis sitting around waiting for fares, but only one had a driver in it, so I decided to use that taxi. I talked with the driver and managed to get the fare down from P40 to P25 - we have to take specials to the property since we live far enough out in the bush that it's a pain to drive to, a normal taxi only costs P3. I then got in the taxi and waited while the team member got in the other side... and waited... and suddenly hear a huge commotion which seems to be centered around my taxi. Three or four other taxi drivers are standing around the car fussing, the team member can't get into the taxi and the driver has locked me in. I unlocked the door and opened it trying to figure out what was going on, the door shuts and is locked again, and I unlock it and open it again. I still have very little clue what's going on. I hear someone telling the team member, "explain to her, explain to her." Of course, the team member has been in Botswana for all of two weeks and doesn't quite understand, so I had to ask the individual to explain to me. Before explaining what had happened, I would like to state that the Batswana (people of Botswana) have an incredibly sense of fairness and don't really understand convenience quite the same. So, I ask the man what's going on. He holds out a small notebook and says something about a list and taxi numbers. Which would make very little sense to someone who hadn't been here very long, but having been here for six months the statement made perfect sense to me. Here's how the system works: they assign one individual to stand in the rank and keep track of what order the taxis arrive in, then they assign fares to the taxis in the appropriate order. I didn't know this and the taxi I had hopped in was last on the list... Oops... Sorry Botswana. I got out of the taxi and went to the taxi that was first on the list. Again, I have to haggle the price down to P25, which I still think it about P5 too much. He agrees, the team member and I get in the car (we both make it this time) and we prepare to leave. Unfortunately, the driver doesn't know exactly where we are headed and has to consult the other drivers. They stand there and chatter in Setswana for a bit and the driver finally understands where he's headed. He drives off muttering about the price being too low (again, I still maintain it is too high), but he's agreed to the price. We get to the turn safely and are almost home when our combi cruises by and recognizes us. Both drivers pull over and we switch from the taxi to the combi... about ten feet from home. I might as well have walked. Finally! We arrive on the property and all is well... That might have been enough of an adventure for the next few months!
Random observation about taxi drivers in Botswana: they seem to be on the phone an absurd amount. I'm not entirely sure how they manage to drive (not that they do that well) and talk/text at the same time considering most cars here are manual shift.
16 May 2009
I've Returned!
Greetings and salutations! I feel like I've been gone for a while... almost a whole month. Sorry about that! Things have gotten really busy over the course of the last few weeks.
The first things to take me out of the blogging world was a trip to Gaborone. Second was the return of the infamous boarders... more about them later!
I decided on a Friday evening to go to Gaborone for a little bit of training. There is a pastor and his family who live there and have been heavily involved in short term missions for many years. So I went to visit them! Two days later (Sunday), I hopped on a bus (like Greyhound... only, not...) and left town. Riding a bus is an interesting experience. For one thing, it took me eleven hours to get to Gaborone, this was expected, but not really thought out. The reason it took so long is because the bus has a tendency to stop... often. I'm convinced that we stopped at almost every town or hut along the transkalahari highway (which amounts to two whole lanes! One going in each direction.). We made several stops where you either had the option of getting off or were told you were getting off. The veterinary stops were like this - so many cattle in Bots that they would prefer to keep hoof-and-mouth disease in the regions they started in (surprisingly, they let the girl with chronic foot-in-mouth disease through :). Anyhow, the other amazing thing is that once you have a seat, you have a seat whether you get off for a moment or not. On the way there, this wasn't a problem, more about the way back to follow. I made it to Gabs safely and had really random experiences with men at the bus rank (appearently they didn't realize that a white woman standing the bus rank means she probably doesn't have money). Finally found the family I was planning on staying with and left.
The rest of the trip was nice! I spent an entire week reading (finished two books and started another one), watching tv with the kids, talking about short term missions orientation, shopping, and hanging out with the family. It was really nice. I have to admit that I got a little enthusiastic when I discovered there was a bookstore in the mall, this may have been compounded by the discovery of a coffee shop that sold not only espresso drinks BUT chai... could a girl's day get any better? So, I spend a few hours sitting in the coffee shop reading or perusing the book store. It was really nice. I learned a lot too. I have SO much to learn about short term mission and I know they've impacted my views on it enormously.
The family I stayed with was Nigerian, oddly enough since I live in Bots. It was really interesting. The food was amazing! They eat fairly similar to Latin Americans (they even eat fried plantains!), so it was really easy for me to eat it despite the spicyness. They are wonderful people who have been missionaries in Botswana for over 17 years and have worked in a variety of different capacities. Currently, the do pastoral training and help to organize/run preschools. They work closely with LBOM to train national pastors in our region.
After a week it was time to go. I said good bye to the family (they had a really sweet family night to say goodbye!) and headed for the bus rank. I hadn't completely thought my plan through and had decided to leave on a Sunday... on month end... and a holiday. Since Gabs is the ONLY large town in Bots - and it is still a bit more like a collection of villages than a proper town - everyone heads there around month end or on holidays. This means that everyone also leaves at the end of the weekend so they can return to jobs on Monday. I arrived at the bus rank with barely enough time to catch the bus and had to get on while the bus was still moving. The money collector pointed me to what was probably the only seat on the bus and I sat in the front in a seat all alone and surrounded by luggage (most of it in front of the chair). Everyone else had to stand after that, so every chair was full as well as the aisle and front of the bus (not even standing room only). So everyone crammed into the bus and got as comfortable as they could. After a few minutes, I noticed that the young girl - who was kind of standing in front of me and kind of falling onto me - was getting smooshed. I offered to share my seat. This may not have been the most comfortable decision, but at least the little girl was content and not getting run-over. So we sat and I attempted to read (which attracted many confused looks). We puttered along the road and eventually the young girl and her mother got off the bus and I had a seat to myself again... until a few minutes later when a mother walked by and pointing to a small space on my chair, said "sit there" to her small child. So once again, off we went, puttering down the road with me and a small child smooshed into a seat. Again, this wasn't really a problem. We eventually rearranged ourselves so he could sleep and I could feel my legs, and things improved dramatically after that. He was a cute little kid! Eventually, he and his mother got off the bus. The mother was adorable. She rattled something off in Setswana to the child that ended with "thank you" and the little boy looked at me and said "thank you". It was really sweet... I felt a little bad after that for not being entirely thrilled over the idea of having to share my seat... Again I arrived safely at home (this time with no men problems) and headed straight to Nando's - after eleven hours, you've got to eat... not that I couldn't have eaten on the bus, but that's a whole other story.
Two things amazed me about the bus as I sat people watching:
1. No one stole anyone else's seat when we all got off. Everyone knew who belonged with what seat - if you were sitting you kept your seat, if you were standing you remained standing. Strange concept for a western mind... people aren't so selfish about little things like that here, I for one would have been trying to steal someone's chair :(.
2. Everyone looked out for the kids who had to stand. It was almost expected. There was another young girl who road with us for the whole trip. A few of the older women sitting in the front made sure that she had somewhere comfortable to sit and made sure all of her belonging were stored somewhere out of the way. It was so sweet! If only I were like that... again, I know I probably wouldn't have cared much about a kid traveling alone.
The first things to take me out of the blogging world was a trip to Gaborone. Second was the return of the infamous boarders... more about them later!
I decided on a Friday evening to go to Gaborone for a little bit of training. There is a pastor and his family who live there and have been heavily involved in short term missions for many years. So I went to visit them! Two days later (Sunday), I hopped on a bus (like Greyhound... only, not...) and left town. Riding a bus is an interesting experience. For one thing, it took me eleven hours to get to Gaborone, this was expected, but not really thought out. The reason it took so long is because the bus has a tendency to stop... often. I'm convinced that we stopped at almost every town or hut along the transkalahari highway (which amounts to two whole lanes! One going in each direction.). We made several stops where you either had the option of getting off or were told you were getting off. The veterinary stops were like this - so many cattle in Bots that they would prefer to keep hoof-and-mouth disease in the regions they started in (surprisingly, they let the girl with chronic foot-in-mouth disease through :). Anyhow, the other amazing thing is that once you have a seat, you have a seat whether you get off for a moment or not. On the way there, this wasn't a problem, more about the way back to follow. I made it to Gabs safely and had really random experiences with men at the bus rank (appearently they didn't realize that a white woman standing the bus rank means she probably doesn't have money). Finally found the family I was planning on staying with and left.
The rest of the trip was nice! I spent an entire week reading (finished two books and started another one), watching tv with the kids, talking about short term missions orientation, shopping, and hanging out with the family. It was really nice. I have to admit that I got a little enthusiastic when I discovered there was a bookstore in the mall, this may have been compounded by the discovery of a coffee shop that sold not only espresso drinks BUT chai... could a girl's day get any better? So, I spend a few hours sitting in the coffee shop reading or perusing the book store. It was really nice. I learned a lot too. I have SO much to learn about short term mission and I know they've impacted my views on it enormously.
The family I stayed with was Nigerian, oddly enough since I live in Bots. It was really interesting. The food was amazing! They eat fairly similar to Latin Americans (they even eat fried plantains!), so it was really easy for me to eat it despite the spicyness. They are wonderful people who have been missionaries in Botswana for over 17 years and have worked in a variety of different capacities. Currently, the do pastoral training and help to organize/run preschools. They work closely with LBOM to train national pastors in our region.
After a week it was time to go. I said good bye to the family (they had a really sweet family night to say goodbye!) and headed for the bus rank. I hadn't completely thought my plan through and had decided to leave on a Sunday... on month end... and a holiday. Since Gabs is the ONLY large town in Bots - and it is still a bit more like a collection of villages than a proper town - everyone heads there around month end or on holidays. This means that everyone also leaves at the end of the weekend so they can return to jobs on Monday. I arrived at the bus rank with barely enough time to catch the bus and had to get on while the bus was still moving. The money collector pointed me to what was probably the only seat on the bus and I sat in the front in a seat all alone and surrounded by luggage (most of it in front of the chair). Everyone else had to stand after that, so every chair was full as well as the aisle and front of the bus (not even standing room only). So everyone crammed into the bus and got as comfortable as they could. After a few minutes, I noticed that the young girl - who was kind of standing in front of me and kind of falling onto me - was getting smooshed. I offered to share my seat. This may not have been the most comfortable decision, but at least the little girl was content and not getting run-over. So we sat and I attempted to read (which attracted many confused looks). We puttered along the road and eventually the young girl and her mother got off the bus and I had a seat to myself again... until a few minutes later when a mother walked by and pointing to a small space on my chair, said "sit there" to her small child. So once again, off we went, puttering down the road with me and a small child smooshed into a seat. Again, this wasn't really a problem. We eventually rearranged ourselves so he could sleep and I could feel my legs, and things improved dramatically after that. He was a cute little kid! Eventually, he and his mother got off the bus. The mother was adorable. She rattled something off in Setswana to the child that ended with "thank you" and the little boy looked at me and said "thank you". It was really sweet... I felt a little bad after that for not being entirely thrilled over the idea of having to share my seat... Again I arrived safely at home (this time with no men problems) and headed straight to Nando's - after eleven hours, you've got to eat... not that I couldn't have eaten on the bus, but that's a whole other story.
Two things amazed me about the bus as I sat people watching:
1. No one stole anyone else's seat when we all got off. Everyone knew who belonged with what seat - if you were sitting you kept your seat, if you were standing you remained standing. Strange concept for a western mind... people aren't so selfish about little things like that here, I for one would have been trying to steal someone's chair :(.
2. Everyone looked out for the kids who had to stand. It was almost expected. There was another young girl who road with us for the whole trip. A few of the older women sitting in the front made sure that she had somewhere comfortable to sit and made sure all of her belonging were stored somewhere out of the way. It was so sweet! If only I were like that... again, I know I probably wouldn't have cared much about a kid traveling alone.
20 April 2009
Banking in the Village
I have started running errands for the mission on a regular basis. It's been really fun! I go into town almost every day and am learning my way around town much better than I could have ever imagined. Today, like any other day, I collected the people who needed to go to town and headed out. Our first two stops were at various homes to drop off a few items. Both houses were small brick buildings located off a dirt road. The first house had just a tiny plot of land. Enough for one family to live peacefully with two dogs lolling around in the dirt inside the fence. The second plot was a bit larger. For one thing, I was actually able to drive right up to the front of the house. Also, there were several other houses. I'm guessing (though I don't know for certain) that more than one family lived there. The woman's children were running around being goofy. One greeted me with, "Hello, my sister". She was the youngest of four. She ran up and chatted incessantly, then hopping in the car she pretended to drive. It was adorable!
After dropping things off at people's homes we headed towards the bank. The bank is a whole different world! Yes, we have ATMs here, but no one has automatic deposit. So, when month end rolls around (most people are paid on the 15th, 20th, and 25th - everyone heads to town around the same time... month end) the banks are absolutely packed with people. Generally speaking they are all waiting for the first few teller booths marks "Deposits & Withdrawals". Around 12:00 we quickly hopped in the line marked "Withdrawals Only" with fewer people. So, we got in line, waited between 15 and 30 minutes, and handed the teller a check asking for a withdrawal. I usually expect money when I ask for a withdrawal. At home, teller are allowed to make withdrawals up to a certain point, making it easy to get money. Here, on the other hand, one is required to wait at least 15 minutes while the transaction is processed by person other than a teller. Therefore, we waited... and waited... and then decided to leave around 12:45 for another stop on our journey. It was a quick one, so we returned to the bank shortly to inquire about the check. It still wasn't ready. We went and ran all of our other errands (about four stops). It probably took us an hour or so to finish those few errands: a stop at the office supply store, another bank, the post office, and the cable tv office. Then we went back to the bank for the third time, almost an hour later. The check has still not been cashed! We probably waited an extra 15 to 20 minutes for the check! The funny thing is: everyone here is used to this process and it still blows my mind! This, as I was later informed, is the normal procedure. Some times, people have to wait until the next day to get a withdrawal.
After dropping things off at people's homes we headed towards the bank. The bank is a whole different world! Yes, we have ATMs here, but no one has automatic deposit. So, when month end rolls around (most people are paid on the 15th, 20th, and 25th - everyone heads to town around the same time... month end) the banks are absolutely packed with people. Generally speaking they are all waiting for the first few teller booths marks "Deposits & Withdrawals". Around 12:00 we quickly hopped in the line marked "Withdrawals Only" with fewer people. So, we got in line, waited between 15 and 30 minutes, and handed the teller a check asking for a withdrawal. I usually expect money when I ask for a withdrawal. At home, teller are allowed to make withdrawals up to a certain point, making it easy to get money. Here, on the other hand, one is required to wait at least 15 minutes while the transaction is processed by person other than a teller. Therefore, we waited... and waited... and then decided to leave around 12:45 for another stop on our journey. It was a quick one, so we returned to the bank shortly to inquire about the check. It still wasn't ready. We went and ran all of our other errands (about four stops). It probably took us an hour or so to finish those few errands: a stop at the office supply store, another bank, the post office, and the cable tv office. Then we went back to the bank for the third time, almost an hour later. The check has still not been cashed! We probably waited an extra 15 to 20 minutes for the check! The funny thing is: everyone here is used to this process and it still blows my mind! This, as I was later informed, is the normal procedure. Some times, people have to wait until the next day to get a withdrawal.
16 April 2009
Things I've Learned...
I've been amazed by what I've seen since I've been here. Granted, I've
only been here a few months and I know that there is more to see. Much
of my time is spent at the mission, but recently I've been running
many, many errands in town. Some of the things are absolutely
ridiculous - i.e. a whole herd of goats crossing at the "zebra"
crossings, which is fairly amazing... at least to me. Other things are
pretty powerful - i.e. over Easter I realized what it really means to
wear a crown of thorns. We have the horrible, horrible acacia trees
everywhere and it's really easy to get stuck in them. Their thorns
grow to be anywhere from 3 to 6 inches, maybe longer. I cannot imagine
what that would feel like on my head. Some things are simply practical
- how to take bucket baths or funky water pressure, how people see the
world, which animals are most likely to cause you grief (I live in the
donkey capital of the world). It's been interesting to learn how to
adapt to a whole new world. There isn't nearly as much concrete, much
more sand, more dancing (even at church... shocking, I know), fewer
people and more poverty. All this to say, I never thought I would live
in the desert... a real, hot, sandy desert. My hope and prayer is to
learn more about God and life while I am here.
only been here a few months and I know that there is more to see. Much
of my time is spent at the mission, but recently I've been running
many, many errands in town. Some of the things are absolutely
ridiculous - i.e. a whole herd of goats crossing at the "zebra"
crossings, which is fairly amazing... at least to me. Other things are
pretty powerful - i.e. over Easter I realized what it really means to
wear a crown of thorns. We have the horrible, horrible acacia trees
everywhere and it's really easy to get stuck in them. Their thorns
grow to be anywhere from 3 to 6 inches, maybe longer. I cannot imagine
what that would feel like on my head. Some things are simply practical
- how to take bucket baths or funky water pressure, how people see the
world, which animals are most likely to cause you grief (I live in the
donkey capital of the world). It's been interesting to learn how to
adapt to a whole new world. There isn't nearly as much concrete, much
more sand, more dancing (even at church... shocking, I know), fewer
people and more poverty. All this to say, I never thought I would live
in the desert... a real, hot, sandy desert. My hope and prayer is to
learn more about God and life while I am here.
01 April 2009
African Animals in a Nutshell
I was talking to a friend (who also lives in Africa) today about how animals in Africa are perceived. I realized that what I thought before moving here and what I know now, it is so different! Yes, we have lions and rhinos and hippos and elephants, but they are an every day sight... ok, the hippos live about two miles away during the winter. The animals I see most? Donkeys, cattle, goats and sheep. No joke! There are probably more donkeys than people. The loiter on the road sides, in the middle of the road, in front of stores. It's amazing. One of my friends says she's even seen them use the "zebra-crossings" (cross-walks). I'm not entirely sure about that... But they are everywhere!! The funniest part is that it is probably worse to hit a donkey/cow/sheep than it is to hit a person. A person has to run across the road, risking life and limb to reach the other side. But a cow? a donkey? goats (they tend to hang out in the middle of the road together)? You slam on the brakes and pray you miss the thing even if you run into a tree. IF you do hit one by mistake, you might as well kiss your pay check good-bye. Not only will you be responsible for paying for the dead animal, but also for the twins it was conviently pregnant with. We actually have elephants, rhino, and lions in the region as well; but you have to travel into the delta or the bush to find them.
18 March 2009
The Shopping Trip
This is a Toyota Surf...
On Monday, this particular car was not in my possession... yet. The entire adventure began in a Corolla (which, by the way, I have decided is quite possibly the national car of Bots). What began as a simple trip to town with a visitor became one of the most insane adventures yet.
The trip began with two of us headed on a simple drive through of town. A general survey of the area if you will. Being that there isn't very much here and everything is located off the tar road, it usually takes about a half hour or so to introduce town and perhaps another hour to go for a quick shopping trip. I told someone that we were headed to town. She needed groceries, so I said, "of course you can come!" The three of us were quite prepared to leave around 2:30 in the afternoon.
A little while later, after a conversation with our COO, I realized that we needed to do ALL of the shopping for the ENTIRE week to feed the boarders. Not quite something I wanted to do, but it was ok... I figure I could get the comvee no problem... No, wait! There was a problem... We have no buses running to take children home from school. The comvee was a neccessary part of that plan. Oh well! Something was bound to work out.
After getting a plethora of checks from Finance, we decided to head towards town. The one problem this time? We had the Corolla. Wonderful little car, but we had to pick up the boarding groceries. Ok, time to think about all of this. I had just seen one of the pastors leaving in a red Surf, not the biggest car in the world, but maybe that would work...? I had to track down someone who knew who had taken the car. Once I had the information, I made arrangements to switch cars in town. The three of us went to pick up the woman who does all the ordering and shopping for the boarding house and headed towards town.
We needed to stop and drop a few things off at immigration first and collect the Surf and rid ourselves of the Corolla (we also switched drivers at this point, someone else was much more familiar with the car!). I then dropped the woman off to do the shopping and the rest of us headed out to do personal shopping. We went, we charged, we conquered! Back to pick up the woman doing the shopping. Upon our return, we discovered (as she began to pass parts of her list out) that she was no where near finished. Fanning out, we attacked the store with a vengance, hoping to finish shopping soon. We discussed and debated the various ideas and quantities of food; we collected food and baskets; we ran and talked our way around the store. Finally, we were finished. The damage? Six shopping carts filled with food. Man, it takes a ton of food to feed sixty boarders!
The Toyota Surf enters once again... Our mission, which we had to accept was to fit six full carts of food and four people into the car. I had been attempting to calculate all this while we were shopping as I really didn't want to take two trips. As luck would have it, we ran into the pastor we switched cars with and someone went back to the plot with him. So now, we only need to fit three people in with all that food. Again, we went, we charged, but did we conquer? Out of the store and down the ramp we went collecting baskets. While the baskets were being brought, we began to pack the car. Having learned long ago to pack things in a particular order, I went to town (figuratively, that is). We crammed as much as we could in the back and one side of the car. Only a few items left, so what should we do? We laughed the entire way home. It was actually quite nice!
End result: The back of the SUV was filled to the roof. Both sides were more or less filled to the roff as well, as I was sitting under a plastic bag of chips with a box on my lap. And finally, the woman in the front seat was covered in bags of chips and other such items (actually, she had begun with a box, but the driver couldn't see out the side mirror. So, she pulled all the bags of chips out of the bag and threw them on her lap. The box ended up on the ground next to the car).
We somehow arrived home safely without anything happening to us or the vehicle. Once back, we did the obvious - took pictures. I had recruited a few of the boarders to help with the unpacking. Everyone just stared at the car in disbelief for a moment. It worked out quite well and the SUV was rapidly unloaded.
And thus ended (more or less) my Monday adventures.
*Special thanks to Mills for her stellar and patient assistant in this amazingly long shopping adventure and to my dad for teaching my how to pack things incredibly effectively.
**Eventually I will manage to post the pictures :).
On Monday, this particular car was not in my possession... yet. The entire adventure began in a Corolla (which, by the way, I have decided is quite possibly the national car of Bots). What began as a simple trip to town with a visitor became one of the most insane adventures yet.
The trip began with two of us headed on a simple drive through of town. A general survey of the area if you will. Being that there isn't very much here and everything is located off the tar road, it usually takes about a half hour or so to introduce town and perhaps another hour to go for a quick shopping trip. I told someone that we were headed to town. She needed groceries, so I said, "of course you can come!" The three of us were quite prepared to leave around 2:30 in the afternoon.
A little while later, after a conversation with our COO, I realized that we needed to do ALL of the shopping for the ENTIRE week to feed the boarders. Not quite something I wanted to do, but it was ok... I figure I could get the comvee no problem... No, wait! There was a problem... We have no buses running to take children home from school. The comvee was a neccessary part of that plan. Oh well! Something was bound to work out.
After getting a plethora of checks from Finance, we decided to head towards town. The one problem this time? We had the Corolla. Wonderful little car, but we had to pick up the boarding groceries. Ok, time to think about all of this. I had just seen one of the pastors leaving in a red Surf, not the biggest car in the world, but maybe that would work...? I had to track down someone who knew who had taken the car. Once I had the information, I made arrangements to switch cars in town. The three of us went to pick up the woman who does all the ordering and shopping for the boarding house and headed towards town.
We needed to stop and drop a few things off at immigration first and collect the Surf and rid ourselves of the Corolla (we also switched drivers at this point, someone else was much more familiar with the car!). I then dropped the woman off to do the shopping and the rest of us headed out to do personal shopping. We went, we charged, we conquered! Back to pick up the woman doing the shopping. Upon our return, we discovered (as she began to pass parts of her list out) that she was no where near finished. Fanning out, we attacked the store with a vengance, hoping to finish shopping soon. We discussed and debated the various ideas and quantities of food; we collected food and baskets; we ran and talked our way around the store. Finally, we were finished. The damage? Six shopping carts filled with food. Man, it takes a ton of food to feed sixty boarders!
The Toyota Surf enters once again... Our mission, which we had to accept was to fit six full carts of food and four people into the car. I had been attempting to calculate all this while we were shopping as I really didn't want to take two trips. As luck would have it, we ran into the pastor we switched cars with and someone went back to the plot with him. So now, we only need to fit three people in with all that food. Again, we went, we charged, but did we conquer? Out of the store and down the ramp we went collecting baskets. While the baskets were being brought, we began to pack the car. Having learned long ago to pack things in a particular order, I went to town (figuratively, that is). We crammed as much as we could in the back and one side of the car. Only a few items left, so what should we do? We laughed the entire way home. It was actually quite nice!
End result: The back of the SUV was filled to the roof. Both sides were more or less filled to the roff as well, as I was sitting under a plastic bag of chips with a box on my lap. And finally, the woman in the front seat was covered in bags of chips and other such items (actually, she had begun with a box, but the driver couldn't see out the side mirror. So, she pulled all the bags of chips out of the bag and threw them on her lap. The box ended up on the ground next to the car).
We somehow arrived home safely without anything happening to us or the vehicle. Once back, we did the obvious - took pictures. I had recruited a few of the boarders to help with the unpacking. Everyone just stared at the car in disbelief for a moment. It worked out quite well and the SUV was rapidly unloaded.
And thus ended (more or less) my Monday adventures.
*Special thanks to Mills for her stellar and patient assistant in this amazingly long shopping adventure and to my dad for teaching my how to pack things incredibly effectively.
**Eventually I will manage to post the pictures :).
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