So its our last night in Gaborone and what we have planned is a group dinner with alumni of Case who are from the Gaborone area. Most of them we are told are from the Bolton School of Nursing or the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences (MSASS); no CSE (Case School of Engineering) grads. We load up the vans, and head out. Some kids have left for the States already, so it isn't as crowded and cramped on the van. The first thing I notice after we leave the UB campus is the scorched metal frame of one of the public transportation vans just sitting off in the taxi/bus-pick up lane. Definitely happened in the last week. It was just there, a burnt husk, no tires; it had looked as it had just burned through and no one had stopped the fire.
Here are more funny things you notice while driving through Gaborone:
1. After seeing all the cattle, dogs, goats, and donkeys roaming free in the city, along highways and in the country, I finally see an animal hunker down and take a dump right in the middle of a dirt sidewalk as we drove by.
2. A road sign to entrance of a rather dusty road that says "Road Works Ahead." "Don't worry guys the road isn't broken, it's in fine working order." -John Hilty We later go down that road and the large rocks that would presumably cause problems are strangely aligned in straight lines on either side of the road, causing traffic to divert to the middle of the road.
3. Our driver tonight I don't think really knew how to drive the van. Will Cork and I thought that the person driving was actually the familiar driver's friend; the familiar faced driver was sprawled out in the passenger seat. The new guy's shifting, since all cars are manual here, was horrible. The speed bumps that are encountered throughout Gaborone, were essentially stop signs to this driver. Honestly though, in Gaborone, speed bumps get the job done, as oppose to stop signs or any other traffic signs and driving conventions do. We would literally slow down to a crawl, go over the bump with the front "tyres" (as they call them), practically stop, bring the back pair over, then start going like 15 mph in what should've been a 25 mph zone. We were going so slow that people uncomfortably close (in the U.S.) walking besides were getting places faster. Really? I shouted "Step on it!" from my back seat, but my demand was not heeded. We could've gone a bit faster over these bumps. I wanted to murder something when we came to three speed bumps, 10 meters apart. Absolute torture. Worst off, we got lost. Instead of following the explicit directions given to Dr. Sankaran by the alumna, they decided to take one of their shortcuts. Now, I'm not that easy-to-anger, but I was really hungry and super agitated with the driving. This could've been the last straw, but fortunately (for them), Dr. Sankaran had a phone number and we were there within 15 minutes.
We come to a white house with a formidable concrete wall with electric fencing atop it. We get out and are greeted by a half dozen Batswana women. After quick name exchanges and cordial handshakes, we are given beverages to keep us until a couple more alumni arrive. I had three cups: coffee, cocoa, and a mocha. Spoonfuls of sugar between them: I wanna say like ten, I lost count. Bad idea. I would later develop a bit of a headache that even plagues me now as I write this entry. A note about the weather: I guess our host wanted us to dine at 4:30, but there was a miscommunication and the earliest we could show up was at 5:30, which is what we did. The serving tables were outside. The sun sets like at 5:30 here. The temps quickly dropped soon after, which is partly the reason I was in need of those hot drinks. We waited until 7, and by that time, my mouth was going to pull a starfish maneuver, force its way out of my mouth and start engulfing anything edible in sight. But then our hosts welcomed us, and for tradition sake, the husband of the alumna welcomed us in Setswana, with Laone, a local UB student who hangs out with us, acting as the translator. The last phrase translated is a traditional saying of welcome, which initially all the Batswana laughed at, then we joined to once it was translated. "The dogs are tied."
Then we filed into lines for the food. Thinking that we're going to get some awesome home cooking and a break from the Curry Pot standard of rice-cornmeal-chicken-beef, we were eagar to say the least. That though is what preoccupied all of our minds during the afternoon and drive. The world is a terribly ironic place. They ended up having Curry Pot cater the event. And no, it wasn't of higher quality because of the event. (I actually had some delicious chocolate cake the morning of our flight to Kasane at the Curry Pot operated cafe in the airport.) It was literally the same menu we had two nights ago. But being the hungry and gracious guests, we didn't raise complaints, and I, for one, cleaned my plate. The alumni also made some of their own dishes as well; dishes of beans, peas, peanuts and other things I didn't get to try. Some went inside to eat, but I weathered the cold since I had a hoody. By the time I was done eating, everyone had moved inside and I followed suite. I quickly struck up conversation with the alumni along with Dr. Mohan and Katie. One said the thing that she missed the most about Cleveland was the snow! Yeah, turns out she loves it, and couldn't wait for the first snowfall her freshman year. Crazy. Then the power cut out leaving us in utter darkness; guess that you have to actually go to a terminal in your house and "put coins in" to keep the power going. Turns out they just forgot to in the hustle and bustle of the dinner. They came back on, and I later found myself talking the man who greeted us along with Doug, about politics, economics and crime in Botswana. Very insightful. After that, we took photos and then said our 'goodbyes' and 'go wells.' It was another beautiful night with the southern stars and wonderful evening spent with the very extensive family that is Case.
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