Standing in Line and a Stolen Bag - Jolene

Last Friday I decided it was time for me to get my Botswana driver’s license. Basically we’re getting it because if you have an accident after you’ve been here three months and don’t have a Botswana license, insurance won’t pay. So, now was as good a time as any, right? Roger had gotten his earlier in the week and it was fairly painless, although he also had to wait, just not as long as I did!
I arrived at the driver license center about 7:30 am, which I realized as soon as I got there, wasn’t nearly early enough since there was a very long line already and the doors weren’t even going to open for another 15 minutes. Finally the line started moving into the building and I got my number – I was #75! After that line, I stood in another line to get my eyes tested, and then another line to make sure I had all the papers that I needed (thankfully I did), and then it was a matter of waiting until they called my number – which they did five hours later! I did leave for a couple of hours and came back later, so that part wasn’t SO bad. I had everything I needed the first time and got my license!
When we came out of the building, our tire was completely flat, so Roger put air in it, and we went to a place where they could fix the tire. We backed up into the garage and a guy started working on it right away. When we were getting back into the truck to leave I noticed right away my bag was nowhere to be found. Roger, Renae & I were right outside the vehicle the whole time, but someone had stolen my bag right out of the vehicle in broad daylight with people all around. We’re sure we know who did it, and in looking back he was suspicious looking, but we weren’t thinking of anything at the time. The main thing that was missing was my passport (which I needed to get my driver’s license or I wouldn’t have had it with me), my brand new license that I had waited 5 hrs to get, a credit card, my wallet, my sunglasses and various & sundry other small things. Thankfully my cell phone was not in the purse, nor much money at all, only a couple of dollars. Normally when purses are stolen it’s cash and a cell phone they’re after, and neither of those were in it. SO, we went to the police station and filed a report, and then decided that since I had just gotten my license that day maybe I could go back & they could issue another one for me right away. So, I went back to the person I had seen before and told her the story. She said that she could help me after she had helped everyone else that was still waiting. So I sat down and waited for close to two more hours, and when everyone else was finished I again went up to her window, but now she said, no she can’t help me today, I’ll have to come back Monday, that there is another form I need to fill out for the duplicate license and I’ll have to re-test my eyes. Needless to say, I was not very happy. All in all, it was NOT a very good day!
BUT, there is a silver lining in this cloud! Two days later, I got a call on my cell phone from a guy that said he found my bag! So Roger met him and indeed he did have my bag. It had my passport in it and some other cards that are worthless here, but not my U.S. or Botswana license, credit card, sun glasses, etc. But I was very thankful to have my passport, which was the main loss and the hardest to replace. Hopefully I learned a lesson through this – I can’t be too careful – there are some very clever thieves out there just waiting for an unsuspecting person. In thinking about it later, we think it was an inside job, and the guy that was fixing the tire and the thief were working together, although of course the guy working on the tire insisted he didn’t know the man or anything.