Bobby's a-coming.... I think

Bobby heads out from Louisville today, we all are looking forward to seeing him. No major plans yet, we're going to play it by ear. But I believe a bus trip is in the works...

We are preparing for the salt pans as well as making plans for Bobby... He will be joining us for our big trek across Southern Africa(details tomorrow)... But are going to head out to Swaziland, St. Lucia, South Africa and Lesotho.. I'll have websites for you to look at tomorrow... It should be a great trip and we will see 3 different countries, 3 different terrains... You can ski in Lesotho.

Yesterday, I headed out to see my friends in Gabane.. I love that place.. They all know me.. I met 2 older gentlemen who never met me before but knew everything about me.. They told me they were sorry to hear about my dad and asked if I was doing ok..
They are in one of the photos.. (robert and thomas) Also photographed is a pit of chibuku cartons, waiting to be burned,a wash basin, mother and child and Franny trying on some sun glasses..

busy few weeks ahead.

As we finish out the month of July, we head into a very busy stretch of weeks.. Well, busy in the sense that we'll be doing some cool stuff... I hope....
Michelle's brother Bob heads into town and at the end of the week, Jacob and MIchelle head out to the salt pans for a 30km walk/3 night camp out.
Should be awesome. Then next week, we'll head up to camp as a family in the Rhino Sanctuary, then Bob and I will head out to the salt pans as well.(I think).
The kids will start another month long holiday on the 8th of August.god help us.

We went out to the bush again yesterday to have lunch with some friends.. It was a nice afternoon, the kids had free roam of the place...
Our friend James showed us his roof top tent, a safari tent that opens up on top of your roof rack, and can sleep 5.. it was incredible, I had tent envy... Basically it's convenient and seemingly out of harms way when camping around predators...

All for now.. Jude is sick as a dog and sleeping on the couch.. I think Franny is quietly enjoying him being out os commission, it allows her a chance to play without being beaten up. She is building a castle for me as I write this... But she does show compassion to him,, rubbing his back every once in a while. Jude peers at her as if to say, "enjoy your time now, but when I'm well, I'm coming to get you!"

Photos included are the twins when healthy, as well as a photo from Kubu Island, which basically is this island of baobab trees in the middle of the salt pans.. The trees are enormous and are thousands of years old..Jacob and Michelle will be camping here. Apparently the space is so vast and desolate, optical illusions occur and if you read the guide books, you must know what you are doing when you go out there..Your sense of direction/space get distorted and it becomes very easy to lose track of where you are. Fun, eh?

All for now.

Serious Softball

Being the serious baseball lover that I am, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to take in a few games that were happening at the fields near our home.. Apparently there was a secondary school tournament going on.. After talking to some of the coaches, the tourney had been going on for 2 days, the schools were from all over the country and were all camping around the fields during the night.. The teams shared the same bats, helmets, etc during the games and the play was excellent. I was surprised by the level of play. I just figured it was a game that was being learned and new to these parts.. I was wrong.. It was fast pitch softball, they understood the situations/fundamentals, everything.. One gentleman told me it is the 2nd favorite sport of the country. the kids were great. The fans cheer on their teams with singing and calculated chants... And again reinforced the fact that our sports at home is taken way, way, way too serious and way too expensive.. The kids here have nothing and don't need anything... They just play the game, congratulate each other, get angry with each other, exactly the same at home.. But without bat bags, individual helmets, sponsorships, batting gloves, names on their shirts, etc.
Made me feel like an idiot. I gave a young boy my old glove and a few baseballs and he about crapped his drawers.. He's not even a lefty! Made me think about how much stuff we could get together and bring over to allow these kids some simple pleasures.
A few coaches approahed me about buying their teams some bats and balls.. They assume b/c I am not from here, that I have money.. I told them I didn't have money to donate, but would look into it... Any interest?
You could find 3 million good causes here and never run out of work..

Ok, enough of this talk... the game... It was great... I've attached videos..
1 is a slideshow of photos from the days events, the other is actual video footage from the games. The footage shows a girls team after a victory, they kneel when congratulating the other team and then gather in the middle of the diamond to pray as a team. My favorite part of the video is the constant cheering, each and every pitch.
Actual vidoe footage-



photo slideshow-


The fields were dirty, full of trash, full of people who were glue to the game.. It was perfect softball. The dugouts were old tarps, the grandstands would never pass inspection.. It included an ump that called it old school, screaming "Yer out!!!" every possible opportunity, A young pitcher that was a stud, fanning everyone in his path(you can hear the girls screaming "Bhuti, Bhuti" with each pitch)and hundreds and hundreds of on-lookers.

Needless to say, I enjoyed myself.. I may even play in a league that starts up in August..
Ok, I hope you enjoy the photos.. Also attached are photos of Kate and her friend Hannah, our local ice cream men, who drive around on bikes blowing a horn, and some pics from the game..
Jacob is out walking 28 km. this morning, while the little ones battle a cold.. Weather is getting a little warmer. still sunny

video for thursday.

Sorry, I intended to get this video up yesterday, but experienced technical difficulties...
Mind you, the video is dull but it gives you a sense of the place we camp here.. There is no camp ranger, no one looking out for visitors, etc...We camped about 20 miles away from the main gate. I think most of the drive was video taking by me during our quest for firewood, which is an adventure in and of intself..
there is a segment from shovel boarding as well.... again, my personal opinion is that shovel boarding in the bush isn't the brightest of ideas, but we survived.. One of the fathers that was new to this game looked at me from the front of my car and said.... "I see alot of lion tracks on the sand out here... do they know there are lions here?" Which we laughed at, but quietly hoped we wouldn't see one.. Of course, I had my camera ready in case it did happen.. Imagine how many viewings that would get..



Nonetheless, it was a great trip.
Jacob had a cricket ball throwing competition yesterday and came in 2nd. The babies are still terrorizing the place and destroying everything in their path..Franny's favorite thing to say now is.... "Hi dad, How are you?" well, that's my favorite things she says.
They all have a bit of a cold and their skin is dry as all get out due to the cool, dry air...I'll spare you details of my skin...
Jacob and Michelle are preparing for their walk across the salt pans, we are preparing for another visitor(michelle's brother Bob), and are finalizing our next big trek through southern Africa.. I'll give you specific webpages next post, but as it stands now, we are headed to Swaziland for 4 days, South Africa wetlands for 5 days and the mountains of Lesotho for some pony trekking for 3 days... Sould be an adventure..
Lastly, I am a loser, and so are the guys that play cornhole with me.. They are totally hooked and we are in the process of making t-shirts..yes, yes Iknow, a little silly, but when that's all there is to do, that's all there is to do.. Anyway, Paul and I had a photo session with the cornhole set at Khutse, we're going to make this photo into a t-shirt and superimpose some lions in the distance..We call ourselves.... are you ready? .... "The Kalahari Cornholers" No, we are not 12years old... We are grown men, most of which are MD's.. The other photo is the stud Jude with Celeste.

All for now.. cut and paste the you tube site into your web browser

no one mauled by lions!!!!!!

We survived another camping trip to Khutse(as I write this,Jacob is still there.. He stayed for an extra night).. This one was alot more relaxing for me, simply b/c I had the appropriate equipment and knew what to expect. I didn't sleep at all, not b/c I was worried for my own safety(just a little bit), but b/c I can't sleep in a sleeping bag on a stretcher that is way too small for me..
We arrived there just before sundown, set up shop and started working on dinner.
Within an hour of our arrival, someone heard some rustling in bushes near the camp... Hyenas were staking out our site and waiting for someone to drop a chicken bone.. A friend of ours got into his truck, turned on the lights and started beeping his horn. We didn't hear or see them again, but I think they came back through the camp during the night.

The sunset/moonrise and stars at night were again, unbelievable. There wasn't much activity in terms of animals during game drives, but the scenery was great.. Open spaces and blues skies. On our way out of the park yesterday we did spot a trio of lions hunting, we followed them for about 30minutes and then lost site of them.

Each night I woke up to the sound of roaring lions in the distance as well as jackals and what i thought were hyenas. Cool stuff.

Jacob introduced cornhole to his friends, went shovel boarding, hunting for wild cucumbers and osama melons. The shovelboarding is something that the families we camped with do each time they go... basically they tie a shovel to the back of a truck, have the kids sit on it and drag them through the sand.. Mind you, there are lions throughout this whole place.. I don't necessarily like the idea, but just kept a watchful eye on everyone involved..

I have video of the drive to and from Khutse, which is an experience in and of itself... You drive about 120 miles outside of the city, the tar road ends in the middle of this village named Lethlakeng at a small gas station, and from there it becomes a sandy road for another 80 miles or so.. On these roads you see young children begging for "sweets", riding their horses and donkey drawn carts, while tending to their cattle... You pass 2 small villages and that's it.. You always need to carry extra fuel with you in case you run into trouble. Fortunately, old "Babs" came through again... Several vehicles got stuck in the deep sand in the park, while my old Pajero, loaded with firewood, tents, jerry cans and accessories tackled the road with no problems.. I love that thing..

Attached are photos from the trip... Jacob shovelboarding, our friend Paul who went with us at the tropic of Cancer, mud huts on the side of the road, the last stop for fuel before heading off to Khutse, and a beautiful tree near our site. Also pictured is a posting by the parks board that is hung inside the pit latrine... You can enlarge the photo by clicking on it in order to read it...

There is nothing like camping out in these places.... It is a rush heading off into the unspoilt wild, hoping that you'll make it, never seeing a single soul the whole time you are there, and the silence....I will never forget it.... It is truly amazing.. You can sit on top of your truck, look out over a vast space and hear nothing but the wind.... all day long... but not too long because you got to watch your back..

We are still on holiday here today, not much going on.. Kate and Maura are enjoying the sunshine and bathing all of their stuffed animals, while Michelle and I do a little housekeeping and coffee drinking.
I will have some random video clips of the khutse trip up tomorrow.

All for now.

khutse

I don't have much time to talk.. I've been running around most of the day getting things ready for our trip to the bush..
We head out to Khutse tomorrow, which is on the edge of the Kalahari Desert.
There ain't nothing more peaceful than to be lulled to sleep by the roaring of lions, hyenas, leopards and wild dogs..
I'm looking forward to 2 sleepless nights and peeing in a 2 litre bottle in the middle of the night in the comforts of your tent because you are too scared to go outside.

We'll be back on Monday, so please tune in..

Major Tom and Gabane makes big time!!!

Well the play was a smash and the kids were awesome. There was singing and dancing, some audience participation, and a hippy astronaut that helped Snow White escape death(for a small fee). Jacob did a great job acting as the old hippy, but we weren't allowed to take any photos.. so I don't have anything to pass on to you, but they will be selling photo CD's next week.
It was great to see him trying something that I don't think he would have necessarily tried at home.. He had play practice almost every day for the past month and I think he really enjoyed the time being involved in something other that sports.. which is what most of his after school activities consisted of.
The girls went with me and Michelle and even Maura thought the show was funny. Today, Celeste and Kabo will go check out the play.

I went to Gabane yesterday for the first time since my brother and sister were here. It was nice to get back into taking photos and talking to locals. I still think they're not sure what to make of me. I met a very nice man named Boniface, and 2 woman who take care of a young girl that is a patient at Baylor. Suzanne and Neo are looking after a young girl whose mother passed away and were kind enough to let me take photos of them and their home..(the hut is on their property)
Some of the other photos include a girl named Jackolet making a fire while her friend and daughter sit trying to warm up. Other photos are a bowl of "firewood", Johnny, Boniface and 2 local children that look alot like Jude and Frances!. The resemblance is amazing.
As I write this, Michelle is headed to Ghanzi,a small village in the Kalahari Desert to do outreach work. She's now flying in some little prop plane probably wearing one of those old leather helmets and wrap around goggles.
After I wrote this entry, I just checked the headlines on Yahoo.... look at the photo on the slideshow.. It's my peeps from Gabane!!!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080717/ap_on_go_co/global_aids;_ylt=AiECxA_kedZHzc56wJxioW8TO7gF
All for now.

All for now.

classic Botswana opening nite

Jacob's opening night for " Snow White and the Seven Aliens" didn't even start...
There was a power outage in our neighborhood from about 6:30- 8:30 so they had no electricity to run the show. Forutnately for us we will now get to experience opening night. I got a sneak peak at the characters last night, it looks like a pretty elaborate production. They were even selling items outside(alien socks), and had photos of the key characters in the play on a marquee(Jacob Eckerle as Major Tom). Kate has an assembly this morning and will be reading poetry, she spent most of her evening last nite composing music and writing songs.. "I'm headed home, going back to Pixie..." I think she meant Dixie.
I am going out to catch up on some photography.. It has been a long time since I've done that and I have to get back into it. I am receiving text messages from people in Gabane stating.. "Have you forgotten us in Gabane?" This doesn't help my Catholic guilt. Michelle heads out on another outreach tomorrow... taking an airplane to the middle of nowhere.

Gotta go, Jude's new hobby is tearing up all the books in our small, crippled library. THe clouds are officially out of sight.. The great thing about a power outage is you get to see the stars/sky at night... I think this is the only place I've been where you could easily play a game of basketball/soccer/cornhole at night without any lights... The moon is so bright, it illuminates the whole place.

opening nite!!!

Cold again today, but turned sunny late morning.. I think we had our cloudy day for the winter. Today marks a year to the date when this whole adventure began.It was this day last year that Michelle headed to Houston for her training. That was a fun month. We are anxiously anticipating Jacob's school play which opens tonight. Michelle and I will be taking the girls tomorrow night..
It should be fun, and apparently Jacob is a hit. He plays a hippy-astronaut and looks like John Lennon.. I made him a hand held rocket for the show, all the parents think it looks like joint(which coincides with his character). That's exactly what I was shooting for.

He's headed up to school in about an hour to prep for his first performance.. We'll see how it goes.
I hope to take in some of the home run derby tonight, everything is taped and showed a day later here... which means All Star game tomorrow night.

All for now.

jakes soccer match

Don't have much to say, it's really gloomy and cold today, very uncommon from what I here. Feels like October. Jacob has a big week today, they are performing their class play all this week, we plan on going on Wednesday night.
Not much else to report, the twins are officially 2 and have decided they are going to try their best to skip naps from here on out. Jude is able to get out of his crib(which I've stated), but his new clever idea is to open up the cabinets and empty them out into Franny's bed, as she tries to sleep. Right now they are having a screaming match in their beds as I write this.

We have a long weekend strating Friday and will head out to the bush on saturday for a few day camp out..

Here's a link to some video of Jacob's soccer match from Thursday.. They lost 4-2. It seems as if the International schools here are outmatched by the local Botswana schools. Their ability to play,pass and move as a team seems so natural.. It's fun to watch.. Here's the link.. not that exciting, but gives you a brief glimpse.


All for now.

Happy Birthday Jude and Frances!!!!

We had cake and ice cream for the twin terrors last night with some friends. Michelle made a great cake(which can be difficult here)and we enjoyed listening to the twins scream and holler. It rained and thundered for the first time in months and we all fell asleep on the living room floor.. Thunder and lightning here is a bit scary and last night was no exception. I can't believe 2 years have gone by, they have turned into their own little individuals. Not much else to say, we are going to try and enjoy the day and go to a store called "Game" and get them a few gifts for turning 2.

Well, we just got back from "Game" and got them a few things for their birthday.. The toy selection here in town is downright horrible.. There was a whole row in the toy section selling nothing but Halloween bowls..We got the kids a new doll baby, a few trucks and will probably go out later this week to finish up..

Here's a video of our celebration last night..


Going to go,have to go make plans for the campout this weekend.
Happy Birthday Jude and Franny!!!

Pitch party

Well it's the weekend again and we had a great evening under the stars at Northside School. Every so often they have what's called in these parts as a "pitch party". Basically, they have kids from school sign up who want to play in a soccer match(for 20 minutes), they play fairly organized soccer matches throughout the evening, the parents sit around, sip on wine, have a few beers, braai and eat unbelievably delicious homemade Indian food. It's a great idea and would go over really well back home...

We went up last night at about 5:30, and came home, kids sleeping on shoulders at around 9. It was a nice evening and we noticed something a little different about Jacob....
We think he's finally noticed girls and is smart enough to use his twin brother and sister to spark interest...
There were several times last night where he offered to watch the twins, grabbed them, took them over to a group of girls and the flock came-a-coming. By any means necessary is what I always say, so he's smart about the whole thing. And you can't go wrong with the "look, here's my cute brother and sister, aren't they cute?..yeah , i watch them sometimes... oh, sure you can hold him....oh, yeah he's a pain sometimes, but I like to take care of them. " that angle works everytime...
His friends Resego, Sana, Dudu and Nastia were all over the babies... It's scary..
Michelle made the comment that we finally have a teenager, but we still feel like teenagers ourselves.. it's weird.

Not much going on today, I think we are going to take the kids shopping for b-day gifts, and make a cake for the twins.. They turn 2 tomorrow. That's hard to believe as well.

Maura had an International day yesterday at her school and we dressed her up in Red, WHite and Blue. We had to bring an authentic dish from our country.... we made brownies. I thought of just buying some fast food burgers and dumping them on the table, but went the sweets route.. Good ole American cuisine.

Tomorrow we have to meet with some people to plan out the camping trip in Khutse. Michelle and I still have to figure out which one of us is going to spend 2 sleepless nights in the bush.

All for now

My Dad's Birthday.

I woke up and felt there was something a little different about this morning..It wasn't the fact that for the 20th day in a row we had slept through the alarm and had to hurry the kids to school(some things never change).. But that today was my dad's birthday. The last blog post I wrote so eloquently about the sunset here, but the sunrise is just as amazing.. And from our bedroom window you can see the sky slowly change from about 5:30- 6:30 above the rooftops of our neighbors.. It is unbelievable. I laid in bed, watching this process for the 100th time and thought of my dad... It was a sad start to the day, but Kate(who at some point in the night came into our bed) started to kick me and took my blanket as well. She kind of ruined the whole somber mood and just made me mad... and cold.

So to honor my father, who was a carpenter, I thought I'd share some of the photos I took recently of a group of carpenters that have a small stall on the side of the road right near our home.I love watching these guys work... And for some reason, they remind me of my dad, not just because they know how to use a saw, but becuase they make me very happy. They are the most unconventionial, hard working/least working group of guys I've met.. And what's great is that each time I drive by them , they wave as if we hadn't seen each other for years.You get alot that here, and the fact that we have 5 kids kind of makes us like rock stars. Andrew, Peter and Peter are their names..
Not only do they build furniture from scraps, they sell chicken manure(one of them has a farm and his specialty is selling the manure). And they are renowned in these parts for building the first cornhole set in all of Botswana.

I took the cornhole set to them to get it "upgraded" the other day when I took these pictures.. Somehow they charged me the same amount for the repair as they did to build the whole thing.. I didn't care.. That's what's so great about getting something done by these guys.. They have built us a bed, a few tables and a cornhole set.. WHen I ask them how much, they just blurt out a number, no real thinking involved.. And usually its very cheap.. Not beautfully done, but useful.When I took the cornhole set in they said, "since you are our friend, 100pula."I told them, "that's how much you charged me to make the things." They said, "then you got a deal."

Jacob has a soccer match at Northside today versus Phakalane, hope to get video.. He has 2 more rehearsals for their class play, "Snow White and the Seven Aliens", which debuts next week, and is gearing up for a walk through the salt pans and a camp out with the lions, hyenas,leopards, etc... Michelle and I are debating who's going.. Don't worry, down the street from us is a vendor who rents lion proof tents, lanterns, cots, parafin, everything... we've booked oursevles one.

Apparently, Jacob is getting alot of praise for his creative writing skills over the past few weeks..His teacher says he just finished a writing assignment that is one of the best pieces he has ever seen, which we were very happy to hear. They are discussing the Holocaust in his class and he had to write a paper about a movie called "paper clips"... He is also visiting a cancer treatment center here in town next week which he will have to write about and will be discussing HIV/AIDS next term.. He has yet to post a blog entry about his trip to Durban

One last note..... GOOD LUCK RYAN IN THE CITY TOURNAMENT. JACOB IS JEALOUS.. HOPE YOU GUYS DO WELL... GET A HIT FOR YOUR COUSINS IN BOTSWANA... OR ELSE WE'LL BRING A BLACK MAMBA OVER THERE AND STICK IT IN YOUR BED WHEN YOU'RE NOT LOOKING

All for now.... Happy Birthday Dad.

I am spoiled.

Celeste was sick today and i told her to go home for the day.....
She has been such a great help throughout our stay here and I think today was the first day in a long time that I had all the kids on my own since we left the U.S. I have been spoiled.

I decided it was time to get out there and do the things I'd normally do at home.. I went grocery shopping at the mall with the twins(mistake), ate lunch with the older kids at NOrthside with the twins(mistake) and did a few other errands around town with them(mistake). It's very difficult to do these things here. 1. There's nothing to entice them with, there's no playgrounds..(except at the recycling center that is littered with broken glass), etc. Plus, they didn't nap,which is becoming a problem. At Northside, they tried many, many times to climb the jungle gyms that they are much too small to handle.. It was somewhat of a mess. They are just difficult to handle. And when you throw Maura in the mix, it becomes a nightmare.. Plus the constant staring that happens because there's this white guy downthe aisle that has twins all by himself... I always get this question..."Where is their mother!" As opposed to the one I got at home.... "Dad's day with the kids or giving mom a break eh?" Truth is the twins don't get out much, and spend alot of their days playing around the house.. so when they get the opportnity to get out, its as if someone slipped them a cup of coffee.. They go nuts. And I have to prepare myself mentally for it..They swarm the truck, salivate when they see it and sprint to it when I open the door. We did, in all honesty have a good day, I'm just spoiled.. I am used to taking off and getting the older kids with ease and bringing them back home with ease..

I really think the age is what's the most difficult.. they are fast, know what's up and love to play "Catch me" at the same time.

Oh well, wouldn't trade it for the world... or would I?

Look forward to tomorrow... I am headed out to take some more shots around town and we are officially starting up our cornhole league.. .

One thing... Botswana sunsets are the best.. I have a friend here who's lived all around the world that says.. the sunsets and the stars at night are the best he's ever seen.. I dont think I need to live anywhere else to find this out.I was grilling around 5 pm this evening and the light of the evening, the color of the sky is absolutely amazing. It's quiet, happens quickly and changes each minute..And it happens every day... So I guess I'm spoiled that way as well.

weekend wrap up

Well, we had a very nice and almost busy weekend. It was a good time had by all and as we wrap it up, we are all laying around the house taking in a movie. The kids and I just got back from doing some errands, and I thought I'd take the camera along just for kicks.. I should do it more often, we had a good time at the BBS mall. Jacob and I tried some traditional Setswana food while the girls put on a show for all the stall owners. The food was amazing.. A huge spiced steak with pap and a side of chakalaka was ours for the amazing price of 15 pula (2.50USD). It was delicious.
Some of the photos include the meat, the women making the food along with a man name Shine, who asked for his photo with the girls..

The weekend... We spent the 4th at a friends house and had a traditional meal of burgers, cole slaw and potato salad. Kate found a new friend (Charlie) and we kept the babies up way too late.
Saturday was full of American celebration and the evening was a fundraiser for Jacob's Pans walk.

We went to Northside , where we hosted a table for 8 friends, made snacks, brought a cooler and played "Name that tune" against about 11 other tables. There was also an auction for 2 sheep and a hunting expedition for a wildebeest.

We started out strong, keeping pace with 2 other tables, then lost it the second half.. We couldn't figure out some of the South African tunes(ping pong song?)
and weren't quick enough with our buzzer... There was one small section of name the TV show tune and we even lost "WKRP in Cincinnati" theme song.. Horrible.
Then we spent the rest of the evening doing the "Chicken Dance" the "Put you left foot in" and other favorites.. Felt alot like home...
Getting ready for dinner, should go.. Michelle is getting accosted by the kids as I try to write this.. HOpe all is well at home..
Lastly, our friends the Caplans left today.. Very sad. Arthur and Frances became great friends to us and they will be missed. The have a great blog as well.. He and I were always comparing photographs.. here's their site.
DOn't change allegiances, they've left..
http://caplansmobotswana.blogspot.com/

Happy 4th dudes!!!!! And Zimbabwe

It in no way feels like the 4th here... kids just left for school, it was about 40 degrees outside and there's no baseball on TV. Ghostbusters was on last night, so it made it a little easier to manage. There are no smoke bombs, sparklers, snaps, snakes or bottle rockets to light in the neighborhood. Only smoke from burning tires, snakes that can actually kill you and broken bottles in the streets. Hey that was pretty good!

We are headed over to the Shepherd's house tonight, a family from the U.S. to celebrate the holiday . they lived in Nigeria for the past 3 years and moved here a few months ago.. tomorrow is an Embassy party.. Jacob has a 22 km walk tomorrow morning at a farm outside the city at 6:45am.
The big news yesterday was that Kate has been awarded a certificate of good penmanship, which allows her to start writing in cursive. She's pretty excited, and was practicing all night last night.

Zimbabwe- I don't know how publicized the problem in Zim is back home, but it is pretty bad, and always in the news here. It's a situation that has affected Botswana in many ways, namely that many Zimbabweans flee their country and head here, a neighboring country. It seems to get worse each day,and yesterday there were people taking shelter in the U.S. embassy in Zim.
Celeste, who is from Zim. says that her relatives that live there say its gotten out of hand, and some call it a genocide. The situation hasn't affected Botswana in any violent way, but most of the people here in this country do not welcome those from Zimbabwe.
Celeste was supposed to go to Johannesburg for a church function, but wasn't allowed across the border b/c she holds a Zim. passport. The concern in South Africa is that they'll go across and never return.
Most people here think Robert Mugabe is insane.

Anyway, it's a sad state of affairs, and it seems everyday I run into 2 or 3 people from Zim. looking for a "piece job", simply to make money to buy food.
Celeste believes the situation will get even worse before it gets better.

Attached are photos of the twins from yesterday morning.. I've also posted 2 videos for your viewing pleasure.. the first one is of the wedding I photographed.. When the bride and groom arrive, the families parade them in with singing and dancing.. It was cool and the video doesn't really capture the singing... Motswana have an unbelievable ability to sing together, in harmony, off the cuff...



this video is of out trip to Khama. Not much wildlife, but you get to see the older kids...


Again.. copy and paste into your browser.. Happy 4th everyone!!! Hope all is well and that you are enjoying the hot weather.