Day 4

(Dan’s comments are italicized)

WOW! I know the journey was long but I’ve never experienced jetlag like this before!! My brain feels like it’s moving around in a thick sludge; thinking is difficult and reasoning is nigh impossible! But I suspect I have company (and no, I’m not referring to Dan); I think there may be a jetlagged rooster around here as he crows every morning for about 20 minutes around 4, again at around 5, and again at sunrise. I suspect both our brains are addled and I feel quite an affinity with the annoying little creature as I, too, would like to run around the place waking up everyone…just because I’m awake! 😂

But this sleeplessness gives me the opportunity to let you inside my brain for a moment. As I lie awake at night, staring at the ceiling, and listening to my soulmate’s confused crowing, this is what I’m looking at..

My brain transports me to the top of a cliff where a dilapidated church overlooks an ocean…

Then, just by adjusting the color, I can turn the scene into one taken…

But I digress. On our first day here, I was thrilled that Dan got to experience first-hand why I love African people so much. Firstly, we walked to Gaborone’s oldest mall to change money (it was the only one when I was here last, 33 years ago, and then it was just called ‘town’)…

Actually, we didn’t walk there as a lady whom we met at a bank close to where we’re staying insisted on giving us a lift. You may be wondering why we needed to go to a bank at the mall to exchange money when we’d just left a bank…and this leads us to the next point; ‘saving face’ (both their own and yours) is important here. So if, for example, a bank doesn’t perform a service (such as money exchange) your problem (needing 💵) becomes their problem so they need to solve it (e.g. by sending you to a different bank because ‘their rates are better’). We managed to exchange money at the fifth bank…where we were helped by a bank teller who proudly showed us a photo of the only physical book he owned that is written in English. Africa is humbling! And that brings me to the third reason why I love this part of the world so much; if you can embrace humility with pride (think about it), you become relatable. After successfully exchanging money, we browsed around the market where one stall was selling powders and potions to enhance health. The female vendor patiently explained the benefits of everything I pointed to (and had come to stand on my side of the stall for a better perspective of what I was asking about)…until I pointed to one particular powder, when she became quiet, bit her lip, and shifted her gaze back and forth between Dan and myself. Sensing a ‘moment’ I commented that, maybe, I should buy that one…and this polite African lady burst out laughing saying that it had no benefit to me as it was only for men. As she and I were guffawing in each other’s arms and making pointed comments about the powder, the two husbands looked on, bemused! That ‘moment’ was one of a pure, unadulterated, joyous connection between two people from vastly different cultures, experiences, SES and educational levels. And it is a moment that will live on in my heart until my dying breath!

I still don’t know what the powder is for, but suspect it’s the local version of the little blue pill!

There’s more I want to share but this may be enough jetlagged, ADHD-brain ramblings for one post… except to share a photo of some local food. Many of you commented after last year’s travels that you wished we’d shared more about the food. So I thought I’d make the effort and took this photo…

I love the way food is served here so took a photo to share with you…then forgot to take a photo of the actual food itself 😂. And that, my friends, is the extent of my knowledge of, and interest in, food! Perhaps you’ll have better luck when Dan writes!!