June 28

Jolene
Today is to be the last day in Gaborone, so there was still lots to do – details to finish up. We didn’t get done nearly everything we had hoped to, so it most likely won’t be till at least noon tomorrow when we get off. Oh well, so what, right?

The morning was not terribly productive and more talking got done than actual work I think. But we did get to the bus station for lunch, which we remembered from before but was actually quite different. Totally local – no other white faces there! We ate there and bought some fresh produce before heading home. Tina (from Flying Mission who is helping Nicole with finding a place for her to work & live when she stays for three weeks) had said Nicole could go in the afternoon to the place she’ll be working, but she hadn’t called about a time or anything so we were waiting for that. She did finally call, and Nicole & I went with her to Holy Cross day orphanage and preschool. The kids are all either orphans or vulnerable kids whose parents are drunks, or live with a grandmother or relative that doesn’t really look after them. Nicole will be VERY popular there – they were literally all over her!! Seems they are very needy kids and any adult attention they get they soak up. And they loved her hair and were touching it all the time. The language will be a bit of a barrier with the kids, but the other women that work there she will be able to communicate with pretty well. Nicole was hoping to be able to live in a village, but a family was not found for her to live with, so she will be living in the city with another woman in a house whose owners are on home leave right now. Holy Cross is on the other side of town, so she’ll have to learn the ‘combi’ (taxi) system to get there, which should be an interesting adventure!

While we were doing that the rest of the family went grocery shopping. Erin & I had made lists of meals & things we needed to buy and divided up all the lists among everyone so it hopefully wouldn’t take so long to do the actual shopping. We were buying for about the next five days or so. That’s a lot of food for 7 people with healthy appetites! Tina brought us back here and had tea and talked quite awhile, so it was good to catch up with her, even though we weren’t getting the packing done we were hoping to! By that time we had pretty much decided that we weren’t going to get off early in the morning anyway. And that evening after supper, Maurice called (he works in Gabs) and said he’d stop in after work, which he did. So that was good to see him again. He was funny & had everyone laughing with his Australian accent (he had lived there 2 yrs).
He left & it was bedtime.

There was mention earlier that I was the first one to get sick on our trip. Yes, well, I was and now I’m feeling much better. Monday was the worst with a fever & chills and frequent trips to the bathroom (toilet here). I’ve had diarrhea basically all week until today, but have not been in bed since Monday. I’m feeling fine again. I was just glad it happened while we’re sitting in one place & not on the road!! There have been a few other complaints of diarrhea, but it doesn’t seem like anyone is really sick or it’s ongoing. We have learned once again to carry toilet paper with us every where we go. Even the hospital bathroom did not have it.
Jolene