Life in the Small City

The requests were: white socks, white sneakers, blue track pants and a red jacket.  After a 6 hour tour of Gaborone’s malls, Nenguba (my new BFF!) and I managed to procure all of these items for Ratika. The red jacket wins the prize for the hardest to find. Ratika wears children's clothes--there is a plethora of pink but red is scarce. 

 Gaborone has a shocking number of malls for a city so small.  I bet you could see everything there is to see by car in approximately 5 minutes.  Yet, we visited 5 malls. Fascinating.  

We traveled by foot or by Kombi.  Kombis are taxis—tiny vans that cram no less than 17 people and will not depart until full.

But it’s always a good ride. There’s usually excellent music.

I had just one request—to make a quick stop at a bookstore for Books 2 and 3 of the Hunger Games. (Thanks, Perry!) Oh, young adult fiction. Don’t judge—I’ve also begun Mukiwa, a novel of substance about the Rhodesian civil war. I go through reading quickly here.

In fact, today I finished Book 2 (Hunger Games takes precedence; I am not ashamed). I’m afraid I’ll have to ration Book 3.

After book 2, I wrote my South Africa field research report which I’ve shipped over cyberspace to NYU.

What else do I do, you may ask?

I busy myself with long, scalding showers, which I relish.  They were rare in South Africa and will be nonexistent after I leave Botswana.

I’ve also been doing calisthenics and yoga daily to try and get myself back in shape for Kilimanjaro. (Whatever shape I was in, I lost indulging in South African culinary delights.)

Today, mid-tree pose, Nenguba chirps, “Lexi, let’s go.”

This is the story of my life here. 

I follow Nenguba around like an eager puppy.  

She wants to show one of her coworkers her wig and who am I to protest?  What? Now? Sounds great!  It’s about a two mile walk which should make up for interrupting my exercise. Along the way, she grabs my iPhone:

“Lexi, show me American music.”

 I have exactly one playlist, and we each plug in an ear.  We walk to the beat, tied together like conjoined twins.  She loves Call Me Maybe and Rumor Has It.  Sidewalks are suspicious and Nenguba is fearless, walking on the pavement just inches from oncoming traffic, which makes me nervous, but what can I do? 

We are one.

It’s a unique experience for me to be attached to Nenguba’s hip because she’s a good three inches shorter than I am.  We might be the smallest people in Botswana and Nenguba might be the tiniest, 100% healthy person I’ve ever seen.  At work, they call her a toy.

If so, she is a mighty toy. 

I am under the impression she is queen of Gaborone.  When we’re in the city, we must stop every few minutes to chat with someone she knows.  (Perhaps this is why the Ratika shopping took 6 hours?)

She is also cat-called or literally hollered at, for lack of a better term, by every man in Gaborone.

She says it’s because of her figure.

Here is Nenguba doing a photo shoot while shopping, avec wig:

Isn’t she marvelous?

Although I didn’t see Tshireletso, I also captured Talent and Tigele today!

And, just for good measure—here’s Botswana’s Parliament, which we passed while shopping yesterday.

In my last few days, I have my sights set on the museum.

I would like to give a warm thanks and a shout-out to you for reading!  This may come to an abrupt end because I believe internet in Kenya is largely nonexistent (much like the hot shower). It's possible there might be a day or two of access in Tanzania.

Extra special love to Mom and Dad.

And Dougie, whom I will see in just 3 days!!!

:D

 Love from Gaborone.