Nose to the Books:
Since Mother is coming to stay on Friday for the week, and since the week after that is the trip to Mozambique I am trying to get as much work done this week as possible. I don't foresee too much time spent on homework in the future. My Arc class has an important paper coming up and Batsi dropped a 5-8 page paper full of interviews and cultural research (scary!) on us. Have I mentioned that Jerk Face McGee is a completely worthless teacher? He was spinning some more ridiculous notions about things, so I made a face. He decided to then launch into an attack on the U.S. saying things like, “Completely twisted and back handed politicians. A dirty history of shame. A scare on our country's history.” Whoa, slow down there Mr. Insecurities, aren't you the one who never stops talking about the U.S. and Britain? Give me an example of a country whose politics aren't back handed and twisted. A scar on your country's history? Hmm...if I remember correctly it's the British who used you as a protectorate, ignored you, and then threw you away because of your apparent uselessness. Hmmmmm.
Anyway, today I left campus in the morning to get some passport photos and get paperwork from the Mozambique embassy for our trip. Along the way we were walking through a field when Jamie stops and says, “Elephants.” We were all confused for half a minute before we saw them. Two circus elephants peacefully munching on some hay next to their trailer. Nearby was a trailer made up of about six cages, each with two lionesses chowing on chunks of meat. There were two white lionesses as well and they were quite a sight. Behind the lion trailer was a similar trailer but filled with tigers. Only one tiger per cage, and the reason for that was they were already snarling and lunging at each other. It was pretty terrifying. I am against circuses because of their inhumane animal practices, but I have to admit the sight of all these animals just sitting in a field (or a cage) was impressive. So now I have seen my first elephants and lions in Africa. Too bad I couldn't rescue them.
Mom's Visit- 16.9.11
Picked Mumsy up from Sir Seretse Khama airport on Friday evening. The cab I called turned out to have a pretty cool driver, so that's a number to keep. I got to the airport about an hour and a half early; partly because I was excited and partly because I wanted to be absolutely sure not to miss her arrival. I ended up reading my Henry VII library book, which was boring, for a while. Then I wandered the tiny airport. Her flight arrival time from Joburg was pushed further and further back. Eventually I ended up at the terminal bar drinking a Savanna Dry to kill time. One flight got on, but it was from Francistown. A young Irish woman came to the bar and ordered a beer, so I struck up conversation with her for lack of anything else to do. We chatted pleasantly (she is from Dublin, is working in Gabs, has been here for a year) until Mom's flight actually did arrive. Mom, as it turns out, made a friend on the plane. Her new friend is a probably-diplomat with three children- a son not much older than me, and two young daughters. She and her son are from Bots, but lived in the States for about 20 years and now they are back. Apparently the son, Femi, misses the States, and so we exchanged numbers so that we could gather our US friends and hang out in the future.
We left the airport and got a cab back to Mom's hotel, Innisfree Apartments. The room is comfortable, clean, and has a great view of the backyard full of palm trees, grass, jasmine, and a small pool. It pretty much looks like Florida. After we dropped her bags off we went right to Riverwalk for a late dinner. The only place still open was Linga Longa and we got the last food orders in before the kitchen closed. The food was good, the people were noisy, and we were tired so after dinner Mom went back to Innisfree and I went to UB.
The next day, Saturday, we got up early and I met her at the hotel to walk to Riverwalk and check out the weekend craft market. Mom bought a gorgeous hand crafted bag right away (which was to prove very useful in all our adventures) and I got some trinkets for friends and a cool cloth map of Africa in the 1590's. After that is was off to UB for Mom's first visit to my tiny (yet cozy) dorm room and some classic UB food for lunch. Mumsy took a short nap and I worked some on homework. Amanda and Megan came by briefly to introduce themselves because that's how cool they are. When we were done at UB we took another cab to Game City for dinner and a movie. Only it ended up being a movie (Crazy, Stupid, Love) and then dinner. We ate at a cool Portuguese restaurant. Who knew there was one of those in Gabs? After dinner it was back to Innisfree and UB.
Sunday I got up early again and scooped up Mom and we caught a taxi to the bus rank. Just FYI, do NOT take Smiley Cabs if you are in Gabs because they way overcharge. They suck. The cab fiasco over, we got on one of the buses to Mochudi and were pleasantly surprised when it didn't fill with people, so we were able to sit comfortably. The ride was shorter than usual and we arrived in Mochudi ahead of schedule. We got on a route 7 cab almost immediately and what with one thing and another we ended up in front of Mogorosi Shop and my host family's house an hour early. Oops. When we walked through the gate into the yard we were greeted by my host mother and sister, who were busy hurrying around and getting things ready. Mom and I made introductions and then went out back so that I could introduce her to the pups. Sepiso informed me that they had sold the larger of the two white pups to a family in Remotswe. I hope he does alright! He seems very young to leave Mama Dog, but life is tougher for a pup her than at home.
After visiting with the dogs we visited with the family. We distributed the gifts and everyone seemed pretty pleased. Granny tried on her scarf and seemed pleasantly surprised that we had brought her something. Sepiso immediately put on one of the pairs of earrings and some of the blue nail polish. Lesedi tried on his shirts and gave us hugs. Lone toted her unicorn pillow pet around, and host mom came out of the kitchen to thank us for her kitchen accoutrement. Lunch was ready about 45 minutes later and it turned out to be a pretty rich spread. My host family pulled out all the stops, including using the nicest dishes and chair covers. We ate while watching some BTV, per usual, and then I helped Sepiso to clear away the dishes. I had a bit of a Nam flashback to doing dishes all the week before by candle light. Luckily this time I didn't actually have to wash anything. After the dishes were gone and we had sat for a bit host mom brought out the crowning glory of food on Mochudi; the trifle. I was so pleased! Mom and I discussed possibly making it at Christmas time. I took photos of it, so check out those on facebook and beware of your mouth watering.
We left about half an hour after the trifle and host mom and Sepiso put us on a combi to the bus stop. Mom's first combi ride! We didn't have to wait long at the bus stop, but it was hot and there was no shade. Luckily, Mom had her trusty umbrella with her, so there was some relief. The ride back to Gabs was very hot and we were on a bus circa the 1950's. I caught a small nap until we arrived in Gabs and got out at the bus rank. It took us no time at all the catch a combi back to UB.
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