Andy, Photographer from the U.S. of A

I finally took the plunge and became a phtographer. I had the morning free and pursued what I've been wanting to since we arrived... I drove off to a local village, parked the car and walked. I drove to Gabane, 17 km. outside of the city, . I don't feel comfortable approaching people here about pictures, simply because i heard they find it insulting. I wandered and wandered, camera in hand.. no pictures..
I decided to walk into a local goods shop and buy a coke(Boipelego shop). The owner of the shop said hello in Setswana , I replied and asked how are you in Setswana... She answered, laughed at me and then corrected my pronunciation. I asked her if I could take a picture of her shop,showed her and others my camera. They loved the camera, couldn't believe you could see yourself right away, and that was that. I gained some confidence, told them I was a photographer from the U.S (hilarious) and got the guts to beging taking photos. I now understand why photographers love their job and what I've been missing being as a painter all these years. I got suckered into taking photos of these guys at a car wash, which was a blast. I promised them that for their time, I would make copies and drive it back out to them. I'm most interested in windows and walls for some reason though.I think the colors here are so vibrant, the sun so incredibly hot and bright, you have to take pictures. It somehow makes you want to record every second of your experience. Hard to explain. I'll post a few of them in a couple of days. But for now, here is Aubee, me and a few of his friends. Koketso(man) in front of shop, and Banyana(in front of shop). enjoy.
The whole experience was surreal... Being in this small village, in the middle of Africa, surrounded by quiet, and having a blast with people who I'm sure are laughing at you right in front of your face. The surrounding felt like an old western ghost town. On the way home, I gave 8 hitchhikers a ride back into town. Little did I know that all of them wanted to get off at different spots. It was a great morning.
One note... Images look best if you click on them to blow them up...
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