Nice weekend, and good luck?

Well we had a very nice and quiet weekend.. Jacob hung out with his friend Steven while the rest of us bummed it on Saturday... Yesterday we headed out to some friends of ours(they live about 12 miles out of the city) completely in the bush..We went swimming, had lunch and dinner and enjoyed the sunset.. All the kids enjoyed the spread and Jude came home with some war wounds... A busted lip, a bloody foot , 2 large thorns in his foot, he fell in the pool, plus he did not take a nap.. Needless to say he was fast asleep as soon as we got in the car....

On a side note... We had plans to go about 6 hours north of us to camp at the Nata Lodge... It's a great place, out in the bush and is completely remote.. We stayed there for a night on our first trip up to Chobe, and wanted to go for a few nights camping over this holiday weekend.. Well it just so happens Michelle had to work today and that bit of news cancelled our plans...

I found out this morning that the place just burnt down due to a bush fire...
http://www.travelwires.com/wp/?p=2664 .....

So due to the unfortunate news of michelle working, we were able avoid a fire or the unfortunate problem of driving up on a place only to find out it had burnt to the ground.... It was a great place, and the first place we ever stayed in our travels through Botswana.....It's also where I remember all these big South African men stealing all of our honey... Inside story...

So instead, tomorrow we are going to take all the kids across the border to camp (really camp) in the bush at Botsolano game reserve... They have all types of animals except for the predators... so it's safe.. THis will be our first attempt to camp out in the wild with Jude and Franny, so we are keeping our fingers crossed...
We figure we should try everything before we go, and this is one thing we have yet to accomplish.... so scorpions, snakes, corn crickets, lizards..... look out! Jude is coming and he'll eat you if you cross his path...

TO those of you who have voted and put you contacts on our followers page... Thanks... It's nice to see that people are still keeping up with this thing...
HOpe all is well at home...

Northside rolls, Goodbye to Jing-Jing and the Gaborone Yacht Club

Sorry for not posting anything yesterday, the internet is moving very slow, which doesn't give me a positive feeling for the next few days..

It's saturday morning.. Michelle is out running 18 miles and some of the kids are still sleeping.... They stayed up late as Michelle and I went to the "Gaborone Yacht Club" . THis was the first time we went, we took Maura and kate with us, and i must admit, it was like being in a completely different country.. It was cool, lots of water and beautiful hills... It's right outside of the city and was a great place to watch the sun go down....Mr and Mrs. Howell were there(Gilligan's Island) as well as Judge Smells.. I wore a neck tie, smoking jacket, white pants, white shoes and captain's hat.. I looked smashing... For some reason, michelle wouln't sit with me..

Last night was the beginning of the holiday weekend and it was obvious as you drove around town... Lots and lots of drinking... Some driving, but mostly drinking..

THursday afternoon was my coaching debut.. Northside dropped the hammer down on Al-Nur primary school, 20-2.... 'nuf said. This country won't know what hit them when I'm through with it.. They have never seen this brand of softball played before...
Jacob had 2 HR's and reached on an error..

Yesterday, Maura had to say goodbye to her best friend Jing-Jing... She is headed back to China for a few months and won't be back until we are gone... The had one last day of playing and went their separate ways....So long Jing-Jing

Today I think will be a swimming day.. It's 8:30 am and is hot as a mug....
We are having Kate's s friend Hannah over as well as her parents tonight.. They are preparing Ox-tail, a favorite dish in these parts...it's pretty damn good... Put a little monkey gland sauce on it and you are ready to go...

Here's some photos.... Our way of clebrating independence day...Maura and Jing-Jing and another one of some other kids in her class.. Maura tells me they are Rehan, Thumi and Kaya.... Notice the John Cena shirt on Kaya....Cena rules here...

Jude

Apparently, last night Jude got out of his cot, walked down the steps and was able to turn on the TV and tune to "E" TV to watch "The Girls of the Playboy Mansion." Michelle and I were dead to the world and Jacob discovered our sneaky little 2 year old glued to the Tv set at about 3 in the morning... Good ole Jude, always keeping us on our toes..

Today is the big day.... First softball game with me at the helm.. I'll let you know how it goes.. Here is Botswana , there is never any chance of a rainout, you can a 162 game season and never have a single drop of rain...
Atong will be my leadoff hitter, Jacob and I made the lineup last night..

Took some photos yesterday, my favorite is of the girl with the umbrella at the tuck shop. Other photos are "Smallman" at the bottle store, a beautician(don't know her name), a billboard for the local cell phone company(they're everywhere) highlighting 4 of the stars of our soccer team... The billboard translates.. "you, Orange and the Zebras".. Also other billboards/handmade posters that litter the streets.. "o Tswa Kae" means "where are you from". See, I've learned a little here. oh and of course Maura on the couch with her new hat..
.. All the girls here walk with umbrellas to keep them shaded from the sun. It is very becoming and something I don't think anyone could pull of at home... I know I couldn't... Ok.. all for now...
Hope they don't postpone the softball game due to the financial crisis..

More from the 'hood

Wednesday here in gabs, the government is meeting to decide whether or not MOnday will be a holiday as well.. As it stands, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday and Wednesday are part of the holiday, but not Monday.... I have a suspicion that they'll make monday part of the independence day (week) celebration...

Jacob and Kate will be celebrating at their school as will Maura.. on Friday..
We have our first softball match tomorrow afternoon... I hope for a big turnout, let me know if you can make it.. the kids on the team, trying to be funny, huddle together before heading out to the field and say.. "Defense Ya'll!!!" Making fun of our crazy American accents.... I would rather say.. "good show ole boys" but they nixed that..

Today I've been around town doing some shopping with the twins.... They always get the attention they deserve from the locals and are always very pleasant with the check out women at Pic-n-Pay.. I think he has a thing for Tshepo, a girl who usually takes care of us.. As I am doing my silly and meaningless tasks around town, I realize that soon this will all be over..... No more "Dumelas" or "Sharpo" or being the complete minority and loving it.. No more buying bad meat, bad milk, going to gas stations that have no gas, roaches in your coffee(this morning), and clothes that you hang out to dry but end up more dirty that when you began simply because of the dirt in the air...No more star filled nights, moons that are as big as the sky.., blah , blah , blah .. another thing, occassionally we will be watching Animal Planet and the kids will say... "we've seen that!" What a bunch of animal snobs.. They will be never asked to go to the Zoo when we get home because no one will want to hear their stories about how they slept out in the bush with those, or.. "yeah they were around us..." . But I'm glad for their experiences.. they have been nothing but awesome this whole time we've been here.

The uncomplicated days of doing nothing and just being with the kids and Michelle are coming to an end.......It is very sad to think about, but I know that it's going to be a roller coaster ride of emotions , thoughts, etc for the next few months...
Really, living in Africa is wonderful. But for our kids who are used to routines, competitive sports, sleepovers and family and friends always being around... 18 months is plenty of time to be away.. the kids are itching to go home and rightly so... There are days when I still can't believe we are here..

Today I thought I'd give you a few photos of more people from around the 'hood...There is Michael, who insists on watching my car each time I go to BBS Mall. Matron,my friend at the bottle shop up the street. Tebojo(in blue shirt) the check out security guard at Choppies(grocery store) and some goats huddled underneath a tree, which is right off the side of the road in town...
I will miss all of these people... even the goats.. Well, I won't miss Michael so much.. he's a little pushy..

Ok enough of my silly talk... Point is.... I will miss it here when we leave.. I've said this a million times... I plan on saying it a few more times before we leave.
Going to pick up Maura from school.. There's a security guard there, named Mothusi...
He gives me thumbs up everyday.. I'll miss him too.

Happy birthday to grandma!

Happy 21st birthday grandma!!!!

We'll bring you some Chibuku home to drink in December to celebrate...
Hope you have a good day.

We are still trying to settle down from all the excitement of the weekend..Brian's circus will live with us forever. And now we need to prepare for this next weekend as it is a long one... Independence day here in Botswana so all the businesses will be shut down for 5 days... unless the president decides to extend the holiday for an extra day, like they did last year.. YOu have to love a country where the president says.... "you know what... let's shut her down for another day." This city becomes an absolute ghost town as everyone goes back to their home villages to celebrate... We need to stockpile all of our groceries so we can survive the holiday..Everything is closed.

We are planning on taking the whole family out for a night of bush camping on Tuesday of next week... Camping out in the bush with Jude and Franny could be alot of fun....or scary..

Other than that, nothing big.. I shipped our first box back home today, which is really the beginning of the end... It was a little sad... but at the same time, a good thing... I've been shopping around for at least a week now trying to find the right place/price to go through... Ithink i got it..

Now I just keep my fingers crossed and hope it makes it home...

circus a big success

We all survived the weekend and the excitement of the bigtop and had a great time seeing some really freaky stuff. This circus was like no other, but just as entertaining..

Drugged up lions and tigers, Davido the balancing act.... Chinese contortionist.. you name it, Brian's got it.. Jude and Franny even enjoyed it...

Not much else to say.. The twins are sleeping, Kate came home from school early(stomach ache.. yeah right) and Jacob has softball today..
Here's a few photos of the circus.. where you are forbidden to take any snapshots, so I got a few of Jude and Maura on the "race cars" .
yes and that freaky clown was back... But Maura handled it like a champ..

Lastly, I've added a few things on the side of our blog... 1 is a followers list.. I would love to know who, if anyone, is keeping up with this thing It's simple to fill out...just click on the link and go from there...
..... and 2. a little poll .. I'm curious who people think will win..

ALl for now.

Snakeshow, the African way.

Well, what we witnessed today will always stick with me..
1. it was very cool
2. it would never happen at a school festival at home
3. it was totally insane

We had the opportunity to go to a "Fair" at one of the local international schools.. It was nice... dunking booth, swing ride, juice boxes and hot dogs, firemen , etc.
But there was a truck from the BDF a.k.a the Botswana Defense Force..

We were eating our marhmallows, popcorn and lollipops when over the intercom they announce the beginning of a "Snake Show." Without a doubt my interest was sparked and it just so happened to be taking place at the BDF truck which was parked right next to us... I took Maura over, saw Jacob was already there waiting.....
Now, the only thing separating you and the space around the truck was a tape line... that's it..
The 2 BDF soldiers bring out 2 bags.... They untie them and dump them out in front of children of all ages......
2 snakes come out, ready to roll.... A South African Cobra and a Puff Adder..
The Cobra, quick as snot, flairs it hood and begins to move around freely.. so much so that the crowd gathered around the truck kept running away when the snake would move towards them... It was frightening... Needless to say, we had to keep a good eye on Jude.
The BDF soldiers would occasionally poke the snakes to make them strike, but most ofthe time would relax with one arm on the truck....
The cobra would move quickly and the children would constantly be on their toes... I've never seen so many kids captivated by an animal "show" before in my life.. I guess when your personal safety is on the line, that makes a big difference..

Well I couldn't envision this happening at a turkey festival or near the "Big 6" booth at home, but we are in Botswana.... and when they mean a snake show, they have no choice but to include deadly snakes..

I thought it was over, and then they pulled out a big, big bag..
It was a 15 ft. Python.... that came out striking at its handler... It was awesome.. Again, the only thing that was keeping it from eating any little toddlers around it was the safety of a caution tape...

The bad news... no video footage... the good news... NOrthside school will be holding their "Fair" in 2 weeks.... On schedule for the Fair... "BDF Snake Show". I'll be sure to get some footage...

Ok that's it.. what a strange, strange thing.... But made me wonder how uptight we are at home..... I mean really, so what if a child gets bitten by a deadly snake during a school fund raiser? It'll keep them coming back..

Headed to "Brian's" circus in 2 hours....

excitement is in the Air!!!! amongst other things

If you have been following our little blog since its creation, you will remember that this time last year was a stressful and somewhat strange time.. We didn't have a car, we were completely culture shocked, and we were still trying to figure out why we dropped everything and moved to Botswana, and whether or not that was a wise decision.... Then Brian Boswell came to town...

If you're not familiar with Brian Boswell(not Brian Bosworth), he has a circus....
and he travels around southen Africa bringing joy and freakishly strange enterntainment to all those willing to sit in a dust bowl.. It's the kind of circus where the people in the acts prepare,serve and sell the candy/knick knacks... It's weird... the woman taming the lions was making us cotton candy during the break...
It's old school, and very fitting of Botswana... I can remember walking away from that circus experience thinking.... Where in the world are we? It's truly a surreal experience, and one I am prepared for this time..

Tomorrow night we go and I can't wait. Maura refuses to go, she is still traumatized from last time...Look at the clown in the picture.... Maura will never want to go to another circus because of this man.
Here's the link to their website. http://www.boswell.co.za/

Other than that, Kate has her best friend coming over for the night and there is a school fair to go to tomorrow morning...

Hope all is well at home... Go Reds!!!

Cornhole takes a slim lead over Obama and McCain in recent polls

As the election race continues to get messier and messier at home, cornhole is attracting quite a following here in Botswana.. We have spread its good vibes now to people from 4 continents, 10 countries and dozens of people.. People will be talking about the game for years to come here in these parts and I think it will be my legacy here.. Last night, we introduced the game to a South African, and an Argentinian. The list continues and I am very proud to say that all who come into contact with the game, fall in love with the game... It's amazing....
It's like a drug that they can't put down....
The question remains, who will get the corhole set when we leave... They'll have to play for it....

Here's some photos from the neighborhood.... Keba is the little girl, she was sitting with her father Peter, who sells chicken manure on the side of the road, and the women who run the "The Anointed One Tuck Shop" .. Also a photo of the side of a building nearby.....steps that lead nowhere

All for now... it's officially "Africa Hot".

It's been a few days

I apologize for not getting anything posted lately... It's not that things have been too busy, but I just haven't had that much to report...
The kids are in full swing at school and afternoon activities have started up..
I am coaching softball (the Under 13 boys) and we had our first practice yesterday.. The problem.... teaching boys who normally throw a cricket ball the fundamentals of throwing a softball. It's very interesting, but was alot of fun.. The kids were attentive , eager to learn and trying very hard..
Jacob of course is the stud of the show... The only American in his class.... He's been waiting for this day since January...

Jacob will also be swimming, playing chess and computer lab while Kate tackles Pottery, computer , swimming and ball skills..

If you have yet to see the school kate and Jacob go to... here's the link..
http://www.northsideschool.net/ It has been a great experience for the kids.

Jude and Frances went to school today and are really enjoying it.. I wait to tell them they are going to school until the last minute, otherwise they bolt to the door immediately..
I will really miss the school they go to.. Maura loves it and the teachers are so nice to the kids....Plus, no one is getting a weekly sickness as was the case when Maura went to Tiny Bubbles..

We are still doing well... had a nice weekend of hanging out, preparing things for shipping home and visiting with some friends.

Other than that it is business as usual...

Hopefully I'll have some interesting things to post in the next few days..

I'm going to take a little different path today, just cause that's how I roll.. and give you an audio recording of the noises from our backyard.. Even though we live in the city.... the birds and calm on our little walled-in plot can be quite relaxing. You may be hearing more of these... I bought this awesome little audio recorder from Michelle's brother Bob and hope to use it alot before I leave.... just to get some of the great sounds of this place... here is one.. I was attempting to tape a laugh of a woman who lives next to us.. I'll get it soon. I haven't figured out how to just post an audio clip... so I put it on You tube with some video from Swaziland.. If you wanted to hear the kids , I 'm sorry. they don't say much.. but the sounds you hear are from our actual backyard.... It's great noises, but it begins at 5 a.m .. and it's really , really loud..

Saturday fun

Not much going on this morning.. I made some horrible pancakes for the kids and they are walking around playing shopping.. Jude is dressed in drag and Franny is creeping me out... Constantly staring me down and clicking her tongue to the roof of her mouth.. Jake had his friend Stephen spend the night and they are upstairs trying to sleep through the madness of 4 kids screaming at the top of their lungs...

Michelle is out running 15 miles this morning.... which isn't that fun here in Botswana, considering you can see all 15 miles ahead of you.
The good news is that it has cooled off considerably and is clouded over for the first time in 4 months.... It feels like home. No one here (Botswana locals) think Obama has a chance to win the election... They say America will never elect a black president. But, they are hoping..

Better get going.... the kids are destroying the place. I will try and write more later.

the "Herbal" treatment

Celeste had recently got her hair done and we were discussing the costs, etc... and she told me that as a regular treatment at the salons, you can get an herbal treatment, which keeps her hair from breaking... This treatment consists of putting a marijuana leaf paste of top of her head.... almost like a pot helmet...She says it feels great but she smells like a rasta-man when she's finished....

Jude and Franny survived another day of school yesterday, as did the older kids..They said Frances did really well and Jude was very quiet for most of the morning... I wonder if they got the 2 mixed up.. Franny fell out of her crib yesterday, trying to escape a nap, and chipped her tooth(just a bit)

Michelle is working in the Hospital this month and is very busy..
After I told Maura to stop shaking her naked butt around the house last night, she told me that her butt was doing it all by herself, and she couldn't control it..

We are carefully watching the presidential race here in Botswana, and the views here are a totally one-sided(in terms of who people want to win).. I'll spare you the details, but it is also quite interesting to hear the foreigners perspective as well.. Motswana, English, South African, they all have their opinions and are all very interested in our take on the race...It's like a bad soap opera.....and at times very embarrassing.
Michelle and I have begun our application process for an absentee ballot , and will hopefully be able to vote..

Just some random thoughts, happenings for the day... It's quiet in the neighborhood, except for a woman who lives next door to us behind a wall and some barbed wire... she has the most amazing, boisterous laugh I've ever heard... I'll miss that laugh...I hear it 15 times a day.. as well as smell the scent of pot being shared by all who live there.... that smell lingers 24/7....

I am in the midst of making T-shirts for all cornholers here... Here's a sneak peek... Notice the lions and buffalo in the background.. It's a dangerous game here.. got to be on your toes....

On a serious note... Flags at all American places are flying half mast today...

video for the day

The kids are all at school today and I think Celeste and I are enjoying a morning of no fighting, no spilt juice or screaming at the tops of lungs.. It is very hot now, and I don't think it's going to cool down until after we leave... IT hasn't rained in literally 4-5 months.

I had a classic day of Botswana life yesterday.... I laughed and cursed all day long..

I am trying to find out about shipping some large boxes back home and begin preparing all of our belongings for the shipping.. There seems to be a restriction on how much something weighs in order to send it through BOtswana Post http://www.botspost.co.bw/ but no one knew if there was a size limit.. I spent 5 hours driving around the city(got a nice tan on my right arm) and visited 2 freight carriers 4 post offices and DHL...

I was told from the 4 post offices that .... It was impossible, that the fragile material I was trying to send could only be sent(because of it size) in a bag and not in a box...that I needed to check with "sorting" and I should try and repack it...
I was finally sent to the headquarters of Botswana post, told to go around to the back alley, I met a man who I could have kissed... It was like being back home..
He greeted me, asked me what I needed... I told him I had an oversized package that I though was under the restricted weight limit(20 kgs) and asked him if he could help me... He went out to the truck, looked at it, weighed it and said he didn't understand why they didn't accept it at the 3 other post offices..
Good service is hard to come by here and it was a breath of fresh air, especially after the morning I had...
One woman was angry with me because I was preparing to leaved the country.. "Why do you want to leave Botswana?"
What fun.... The packages will take about 2-3 months to get back, but I'd rather to that than pay some of the prices I was quoted from the freight companies/DHL.

The day ended with some success, but it took me literally all day...

Today I am posting a video of the twins watching synchronized diving during the Olympics.... They really enjoyed it, as you'll see. One note... The olympics covergae here was awesome.. No stories, no commercials, no special interests.. We had 3 stations and were able to watch every sporting event possible, with an hour long recap show(no commercials) at the end of the day... No Bob Costas, which was a nice change...

Here's the video...

WANTED: Dead or Alive! and the beginning of the end

Here's Jude, sporting the "criminal" look.. which is totally in style here..
Sorry it took me so long to get it on the blog... I think he looks cool...Also photographed is Maura and Franny with her classic look of... "go ahead, try and make me laugh... you won't!" Now that I look at the photos, I think Franny is the one we need to worry about getting arrested... She's going to be a tough one..

Today starts the beginning of our last stretch of time here in Africa.. And as I spend alot of time thinking about the hows, whens and whats of coming home , I need to take the time to reflect on everything here.. Ever since we've come home from our long trek my mind has been wandering home... My mom emailed me the other day and stated how peaceful and quiet everything looks here... And it is...
Something I will always cherish about living here is it's calm pace...and it's people... I think we're going to be in for a rude awakening when we return..

Michelle and I went out for dinner last night and again the sun was setting behind some of the small hills that encircle the city...Every night, right on cue.... a beautiful sunset.... Of course there is a layer of dust and cows in the roadway, but I think I need to be more aware of our last 3 months here and not so concerned with getting things straightened out for home.. so we'll try our best to soak it up.
It's turning hot and the bathing suits have come out...
Maura starts back to Dipeo today and the older ones go back to school tomorrow.. If everything goes as planned... Jacob will graduate from Northside school in December.

All for now...

News of the day ..... Jude gets a BUZZ!!!!

Well, in a matter of 3 minutes last night, Jude lost all of his long locks of hair, which the local women totally dug him for...He has a new look now, and boy is it something to see.. Too bad I don't have any pictures of it.. yet... We have video of it, but the tape is not working properly.. Our electronics are falling apart in our last few moments here in Africa...

Jude looks spectacular... Like a giant baby or a man on death row... take your pick.... I like the first one.. Michelle started to cry as I began cutting his hair.. He was laughing most of the time.. It'll grow back, and for now, we enjoy rubbing his nearly bald head for good luck.. It doesn't take anything away from his winning personality or girlish long eyelashes, it just makes him look tough... like he should be packing heat... I think Franny enjoyed it... she kept looking on thinking... "Cut it. cut it.. cut it all off!!!!"

As for now, nothing else going on.. Michelle and I continue to train for the Soweto Marathon... She ran this morning with some other doctors and stated "there isn't anything more obnoxious than 4 white people running together." I thought that was kind of funny... I guess it is... wherever you live. But when you live in Botswana... it kind of stands out, considering no one else in the country runs because they all walk 30 miles a day.

The girls went to see "Peter and the Wolf" with Michelle this morning... Me and Jacob are taking mug shots of Jude and pretending he was arrested for "armed robbery and auto theft"... He looks as if he'd get busted for attempting to steal lottery tickets from a Newport Ameristop... I hope to God I didn't just predict the future.. I felt a strange tingle in my arm as I wrote that last sentence.

To make up for it.. heres some cute video of the kids at the beach... Cape Vidal and St. Lucia are the places .... the beaches were great.. rock pools for the kids to wade in... warm water and snorkeling for the older kids...

Enjoy the video.. Jude and his new doo-bust will be up soon..

Friday

It's Friday here in Gabs ,which means the beginning of another weekend of trash burning, hanging around the house and waiting for our tax return.....
We've exhausted all of our energy to do any other things, but may go putt-putting later this weekend...
The kids are doing great and enjoying the wonderful weather... Swimming time is soon. I'll spare you any more videos from our trip today, simply because I have to download more and it could take all morning.. I'll put it up this weekend..
I plan on taking some time this weekend to get the camera set up and start taking photos again..

Other than that, not much to report....Jude and Franny are sporting bathing suits aroumnd the house, and are getting close to potty training. We stopped giving them sippy cups, which should have stopped a while ago, andit has totally traumatized Frances... Jude just sucks down whatever liquid is in front of him, regardless what type of container it is in... Maura continue to gather flowers from the garden or any garden, put them in containers and hide them around the house...
Quirky? Here's some photos ... Maura and Michelle with the view from our place in Lesotho, Maura with one of her picked flowers, and Maura picking up something else in the middle of a village road.. She is a true gatherer.

I watched Rudy last night..... Man that kid liked Notre Dame.... I wonder how many people in Botswana watched that movie last night...

Lounging around, more video.

I apologize for all the videos , but I have nothing else to report.... or do.
I'll have a few more in the next few days, then I'll be finished...
Here's some of the kids, a drive through the hills, Jude with his friend Lucky..
Yes, Rihanna is playing in the background... That was Lucky's choice.. I swear.
Jude was mesmerized by Lucky, and wouldn't leave him be.. He wanted to be held by him the whole trip and had a hard time saying goodbye... We offered to give Jude to Lucky as a goodbye present, but he wasn't interested. Lucky was a sweet kid, who worked at the lodge as a guide for visitors who wanted to go to local villages and hikes...Michelle asked him how people make a living here, since there is nothing around.... He told her they work in mines in South Africa and come home during the weekends... Many work in mines near Rustenberg, SA, which is about 3 hours from us...
That means they travel about 7 hours away to work.... He told us that some of the men steal rocks and dirt from the mines, and bribe the policemen who guard the mines.. Here's the video...



The kids start back to school next week.. can't wait..
I hear Chad Johnson changed his name to "Ocho Cinco"... thank God.
And I saw the Reds were officially eliminated from any chance to make the playoffs.. Another banner year for my redlegs.. We get ESPN Sportscenter USA every once in a while, and this morning we saw that Adam Dunn hit a game winning hit for the D-backs.. And who is Chris Dickerson?

more footage and outcome of experiment

Our experiment failed miserably... Jacob and Kate were so miserable prior to dinner time that I gave in a made them soup and sandwiches for dinner.. Kate learned a lesson(so she says) and surprisingly ate all of her dinner! So now I know how threaten her.

It's getting hot here and you know the weather is changing b/c the lizards are back. They're everywhere. I walked to the Main Mall today and heard more movement in the grass than usual.

Not much to report, so I'll continue to post footage from our great trip.These 2 videos are of 2 different types of bands we saw in Lesotho.. the first is of the Malealea choir, the second is a junk funk band...
Both are great but the characters in the junk funk band take the cake... Instruments were made of throwaway materials, carved wood and garbage cans...
The bands were made up of younger men and women, shepherds,miners, horsemen that come together each night to perform for the guests at the lodge.

I hope you enjoy the videos.... In the junk funk video, check out Jude... 1) he is mesmerized... 2) he tries to dance..... not as good as the SaSotho men..
I'll have more of the kids up tomorrowand the next day. If you want to see the older kids and their pony trek, that is on yesterday's post..

Malealea choir



Junk Funk

Living it up the African way

After our trip to some of the poorer regions of Souther Africa, I decided to do a little experiment with the kids..
Kate is having a very hard time eating anything that isn't chicken or bread, so I decided to try and show her how fortunate she is to have so many options for lunch, breakfast and dinner.. Michelle and I decided that instead of soup, sandwiches, juice, milk, fruit, etc for today, that she'd eat like the average Botswana child..
Jacob decided to participate as well... and now I have been hooked into the deal
For breakfast they had tea, lunch- they'll have porridge, and the same for dinner- .

It's lunch time now, and Kate is not a happy camper... I'm a "mean dad" and she's telling me she wished she would have never agreed to the experiment and has vowed to not speak to me until dinner time..
Our washing machine is broke as well, and Celeste is teaching Jacob how to wash clothes by hand... I think he is quietly enjoying it.

I am planning on skinning our goat, selling the meat to local passer by's and brewing my own sourghum beer. Then, I'll take the donkey cart to the mall and pick up some flavored coffee and scones for our afternoon tea break.

Here's some video from our pony trek in Lesotho..Sorry, the video isn't that great, but you get the picture... It was a cool trip, riding through remote villages and seeing the beautiful landscape around us...Kate liked it so much, she did a whole day of trekking the following day, to celebrate her birthday.
Not much else to report... the day has been slow and uneventful.. Starting to think about packing.

seeing the land, meeting some people and peeing in diapers

We got back from our trek through 3 southern African countries. I think we saw everything we wanted to see and then some...
Swaziland was beautiful, with it's rolling hills, quiet nights and kind people. We took a bike safari, Bob and Jacob did some hikes and Michelle and I spent some money on some local art. Swaziland was also great because of our accomodations... We had a huge home, situated in the hills of Swaziland with a huge yard for the kids to run around.... There were monkeys, donkeys and goats to play with as well as 3 women who jumped on the beds with Maura and the twins.. Gugu, Bonsile and Tuli.

South Africa was just as beautiful. St. Lucia sports a beautiful dune filled shore, with hippos and crocodiles wading in water right next to the beach,as well as elephants, Rhino and other animals living near the shore. The kids went whale watching, croc and hippo searching and snorkeling at Cape Vidal. We stayed in probably the worst "Safari Lodge" I've ever experienced, with the sink hanging over the top of the bed, brick walls surrounding the whole place and an overall depressing ambience.... In St. Lucia, they told us to be careful walking the streets at night, because hippos and crocs walk the streets and take dips in the pools of the local lodges... That was comforting. We left our lodge and found a much better place to stay, with no sinks over the bed, some grass and a deck overlooking the estuary. The town was very nice, with shops and restaurants and felt very safe. With that said, our experience is South Africa was much more of the same in the past... Very difficult to feel comfortable, simply b/c the disparity between blacks and whites is so great... It's a country in a sad state and as many people there told us, it's going to get worse before it gets better. It's unfortunate, because the place is absolutely beautiful..
We spent five nights in south africa and headed to Lesotho, which I think was the highlight of the whole trip.
We had a setback in or trip because we left our camera on the side of the road..
Jude was putting on a show peeing on the side of the road near the Lesotho border and we wanted to capture the moment(of course). In all the hustle and bustle of the scene, and the changing of diapers, etc.... we left the camera on the side of the road. We didn't realize it until we reached the border, and by the time we drove 45 minutes back to the "pee location", it was gone. So I don't have many photos to share of the trip.
This set us back in time and we had to drive through the mountains of Lesotho in the dark.. The are no lights, no electric, no nothing through these hills and the directions we were given were a bit shotty.

Needless to say, it was a little scary, but we made it.... In order to save time, stay safe and let the babies sleep through the drive.. Kte and Maura relearned the art of peeing in diapers...
Kate, who seems to have liquids go through her as soon as she drinks it, had to pee 24/7 and always at the most inopportune times... Right after we would get the twins to sleep, Kate would yell out.... "I have to pee!" Michelle would tell her to put on a diaper and we would continue on our way.

In Lesotho, we stayed at an unbelievable place, called the Malealea lodge.. It had no electric, ran on generators for a few hours during the evening and then they shut it off at 10pm. After that,the sky was amazing. We slept by candlelight and bundled up under layers and layres of blankets. Everyone got chapped lips, cheeks, foreheads, eyeballs.... etc..
The lodge hd ping pog tables, a great bar and dining hall... Each evening before dinner 2 local bands performed. there was a traditional choir and then the "malealea junk funk band". this was comprised of a few local men(and one woman) who played hand made instruments using junk, and they performed some traditional Sasotho songs as well as songs they had written themselves.. When I asked about the significance of the songs, a local told me that last year they took a trip to England for a music festival, and the song was about the plane ride... The music was awesome, I'll have some video of both performances up in the next few days.

We didn't do too much in Lesotho, but each day we did some pony trekking through the mountains.... It was amazing....the hills were quiet, scattered with local shepherds, and small villages... It felt like the "real Africa"... Very poor, very beautiful and very friendly.. A guide (Lucky)took us to buy local blankets and to see a waterfall, and held Jude the whole way..(photo included).
We were literally in the middle of nowhere, and the guides had not stepped out of this region of the world their whole lives.. they didn't know any of the names of the wild animals that lived there, nor the names of the mountain ranges... just that beyond that hill, there's a village.. and beyone that hill is a river... and the snakes that live here " are black and very dangerous.." One guide told us that he knew they were cobras that spit, and they were very scary because they hid in pumpkins... so when you cut open a pumpkin, you had to be careful, because a cobra could be there...

Kate celebrated her 7th birthday in Lesotho, with a full day of pony trekking.... Picani, her guide took her and Jacob for a 4 hour ride to a waterfall, where we met them... We took a group of 4 local kids for a ride on the top of our truck, and they "guarded" our truck from any thieves in the area..

The lodge was a great place, supporting the local people and giving back to the community.. The pony trekking was run by locals, and gave the people who owned the horses an opportuniy to make money... there was a development trust set upfor the local village and was run from the lodge.. they knew we lost our camera and let us borrow theirs for the time we were there...Then they gave us a CD and a laptop to burn them to before we left..

I think all in all, Lesotho is a country worth exploring and we hope to go back sometime in the future... It was beautiful and the people were awesome....and as Michelle and i talked about where we would like to come back to do more work in Africa, I made it known that Lesotho is tops on my list.

My photos are limited and don't do the place justice... I'll post video of our pony trekking and the music we saw when i get the chance...

Now we are back in Botswana and the kids have destroyed the home yet again... School starts back up in ten days and Michelle is back at work...
I must admit, with as wonderful as our trip was, it was a great way to wrap things up here. I think we all realize that our time here is coming to an end, and the trip helped put it in perspective... We left, I think ready to start thinking about coming home.... Maura kept asking in Lesotho, when pointing at the stars... " Is that Kentucky?" It might as well have been, since we were in the middle of nowhere.

I think coming home is in the forefront of our minds now, but we have a few more debt causing adventures up our sleeves before December...

For now, it's just trying to figure out how the hell we are going to get all the things we've purchased back home...

One last note about the trip.... We had to stay over near Jo'burg on our journey home and stayed in a hotel with some good ole' boys from Stubbenville, Ohio...
They were awesome!!! They were there doing some work with batteries or something..It was like being at home, with talk about Montgomery Inn ribs, and if I had seen the Ohio High School state football games. I told them I didn't, but they continue to roll off names like... Kettering and Alter, and that Kettering had a linebacker or something that was the sister of Bobby Briscoe or something like that.... a girl linebacker? this was after the gentleman from Stubbenville had had 24 Castle Lagers.. and 8 packs of smokes. But, they were a breath of fresh air, considering we were surrounded by other whites, who I'd rather not talk to... They stood out like sore thumbs, in this upper establishment, with their Marlboro packs, in each back pocket, Rick Flair hair, and Harley Davidson shirts.. Their foul mouths didn't help much either... It was like being at the WEBN fireworks.

All for now.. good to be back.. I'll have things posted of the kids soon.