Weekend Update

So, we had a good weekend. On Saturday morning, we got up and went to the Main Mall, which is downtown. This is a much more "African" experience than going to the Riverwalk Mall near our house. The Riverwalk feels much more Western, while the Main Mall is an outdoor mall with a long corridor where people sell there wares on the sidewalk, and then lined with interesting shops, including the Botswana Book Centre, and to Ted's delight, the Gaborone Hardware Store. There were also several purely African places to eat. However, I must admit, we lunched at ... KFC. I think it was good for all of us to eat somewhere that felt familiar, if nothing else. It was the first time Eden has been able to find mashed potatoes anywhere here, which was a high point.

We then went way out to the north part of town to Botswanacraft, a store that sells primarily locally or regionally made and traditional items, including pottery, baskets, textiles, and much more. The girls each got a stuffed animal, Trey picked out a handmade paper book, Ted got books on the trees of southern Africa and historical buildings of Botswana, and I got a neat little leather purse. We also got some marula candy (yummy!) which is made from marula fruit - something only found in southern Africa. (You can also get a liquour made from it called Amarula, which is quite good, eh Scott?)

Later in the afternoon, the girls and I went to my friend Kanana's house, so they could play with her kids. Liam is 7 and Khutlo is 4. Eden and Liam have become good friends, they play together very nicely. Hope is a bit more shy around Khutlo, but they did watch Mulan 2 together, and by the end of the afternoon Hope seemed to have had a good time.

This morning we went to church for the first time. Most of the churches have 2 services each Sunday, one in English and one in Setswana. We thought we were attending the English service at a UCC church, but it seemed like most of it was in Setswana, other than the more formal parts. It was 1 hour and 45 minutes long, with about 40 minutes of that being the sermon! However, all in all it was very lovely and we actually enjoyed it. The music was particularly lovely. With no piano, organ, or anything, people here are able to easily break into 2 or 3 part harmony that is just amazing to listen to. To my kids delight, one of the hymns was "Jesus Loves Me", which I sing to them often, but had never actually heard it sung in church before.

After church we went to this place called Sanitas for lunch. It is a teagarden in the middle of a nursery and garden store. It is all outdoors, under some big lovely trees, with a giant treehouse/playset for the kids, and several decorative fountains going - just a lovely place. We will definitely be going back.

After lunch when we came back here, the girls were playing a game in the living room and Eden complained that we did not have a vacuum for the rug. I suggested she could take it outside and beat it if it was dirty, and she said "Um, no thanks.". Aaahhh, I have my kids back :-)

A note to readers: Ted is now telling me that since I have posted this, he is concerned that no one is going to scroll down to read his posting below about the trip to the game reserve, so please make sure you read his post so his feelings are not hurt...