Eckerles in Botswana

Long time eh?

2009-11-02T20:23:00.000-08:00

Not much to post. I was logging on to the old blog to relive some of the memories from our time in Botswana. Needless to say our mind tends to wander these days back to our wonderful experience "that side". I dearly miss it and wonder if we'll do it again. I think we will and hope that it is sooner than later.
It is late and I have to be at work in the morning. Michelle is at work now.
Hope all is well.

summer ending

2009-08-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

Well, a summer back in the U.S. has finished.. i start back to teaching on Tuesday and the kids are getting back into the swing of things... It's been a great summer, and it's a bit sad that it is ending. But, the kids need to go back to school before we lose our minds. Maura has come up with a few songs over the summer including..."Reach for the Flag" and "You make me crazy, I make you lazy"(my personal favorite).

Life goes on but as Michelle and I discussed last night, Botswana is never far from our minds. I think about our experience quite often, and hope that we can make it happen again. We're working on it, but it's going to be a while.

Ok, gotta go and prepare for teaching.. Here's a few photos from our trip

summer time has hit...

2009-06-19T04:21:00.000-07:00

Well, life trudges on here back in Northern Kentucky. Summer is upon us and activities for the kids begin. Jacob has taken up swimming for a team, Kate and Maura have lessons... Jacob is almost finished with baseball, etc, etc...

The only activities Jude and Franny have are being carted around to everyone's activites.But they enjoy it..
Michelle and I are doing well. I recently got a job at the local high school(teaching art) and will be going back to work in August. I'm very excited about the opportunity, but at the same time realize that a chapter in my life will be closing. I have a stay at home dad for the past 7 years.It will be strange not to be in that role, but I felt as if I needed to jump at this opportunity.

Attached are a few pics from early May. Kate's First Communion as well as Kate and the twins makeing goofy faces...

ALl for now.

update

2009-04-30T19:40:00.000-07:00

just a quick note as to what's up with us these days.... Baseball, projects around the house and a dog that won't learn how to pee outside...

Jacob is doing well with baseball...pitching 2 complete games in his last 2 outings(one of them a no-hitter). Michelle and I are up to our necks with things to do around the house, but it's going well.
Kids are great, living the AMerican life of busy school days, not enough sleep and hanging with friends... So all seems to be going well. Better go get some sleep, it's late and the marathon is in 3 days! We'll see how it goes.

1 year ago

2009-04-05T04:20:00.000-07:00

Friday was the year anniversary of my dad's death. It was a strange day full of mixed emotions and rain. I think I spent most of the day wondering how a year could go by so quickly. I remember this being a very difficult time for us while living in Botswana.. We went ot Mass with my mom that morning and then hung out as a family in the evening. I think of him everyday.

April was hard while in Botswana... Yet Michelle and I discuss our time in Botswana often and I have nothing but wonderful feelings about the place. Just the other night the mini series "no. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" was on... it brought alot of great memories back,was sad and it felt like I was looking at pictures from home... weird.

We will go back someday... not to visit but to live. When things aren't so complicated.

But for now, we are cleaning up dog poo off the kitchen floor. I love dogs...
I have cleared our backyard of concrete(paid someone do to it) and have spread topsoil. Now we just have to grow grass to have a yard. Our home has been great so far and I've really enjoyed being back in the old neighborhood, with its perks...
Yesterday we walked to Jacob's soccer game, Jacob went around the neighborhood with friends til 10 pm.. Kate had her friend over, then went to their home for the evening.. I had my sister, brother in law and brother over for some eucker(sp?) while the kids played... it was a good day.

Michelle is in Seattle for a conference this weekend and will return on Monday.. Looking forward to seeing her. Unfortunately she returns to Cincy right in the middle of opening day for the Reds... The only day of the year its fun to be a reds fan... the rest of the year is just sad, b/c you know we're headed for 3rd or 4th place.

Sun is coming up and Jacob is out the door.. He plays a double header in baseball today...

All for now

Moved in and making stupid moves!

2009-03-22T05:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a while.... But without videos to post from game drives and undiscovered territories, posting blog entries doesn't seem so exciting.

We have moved into our home in Fort Thomas.. My dad is probably cursing me from his grave, but I'm sure it would be all is good fun. It is great to be in our own place, where the kids can wander the neighborhood. walk to school and be closer to friends.

Whether or not getting a dog and a cat were a good idea remains to be seen.. but that's what we did yesterday.. Maura got a cat and Kate picked out a dog.. Maura named the cat "snoofy" b/c she can't say snoopy for some reason..
Jacob pitches this morning in his first ballgame since before we moved to Botswana.. Hopefully it goes well and he doesn't take it too seriously.

Needless to say, we are feeling more normal again.. But there isn't an hour of the day where my mind thinks of Africa. I think that's a good thing. But I miss it.

My mom has moved back to her own home which is wonderful news.. She is adjusting to a new sense of normalcy, driving and doing everything else. We got together with her to celebrate st. patty's day and it was great to see her back at home.

One quick note... Jude and Franny have moved to toddler beds which is nice, but also makes napping a bit of a problem.. 2 days ago, I went to check on them and Frances was sound asleep in her bed, while Jude was nowhere to be found..

After some investigation, I noticed him sitting up in a stuffed animal toy bin fast asleep. You had to be there.

It's a beautiful chilly morning here, i'm going to enjoy my coffee, head for a long run later and check the house to see what the cat has ruined.. Kate is pulling Frances around by a leash and collar. Should I be concerned that Frances plays a convincing dog?

adjusting

2009-02-10T04:24:00.000-08:00

Life is settling down.. I knew it would but I just wasn't sure when. We've gotten into a groove, the kids seem to have adjusted back to their old school and my mom is doing very well. It's funny how things seem to always work themselves out. SOmetimes, you just have to give it 3 months or more...

that doesn't mean we don't think about Botswana every waking hour.
Michelle was working in the hospital yesterday and took care of an African woman and her child. Once they were finished with the meeting, the woman took a cloth and strapped her child on her back..
Michelle asked her where she was from, she said Zimbabwe. Immediately there was a connection and a sense of togetherness.. In true African fashion, the grandmother wants to babysit for us... She told michelle..." i can come on Friday and stay til Sunday."

We've purchased a house and if all goes well will be moving in late March.. That's good.
All for now, the kids are wakin up.

michelle gets published!!!

2009-01-16T07:51:00.000-08:00

Michelle has her name in the NYTimes.. She wrote a great piece regarding our experience running the Soweto marathon, and I must say, it looks pretty damn good.
Here's a link to it..

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/sports/othersports/15marathon.html?emc=eta1

I,on the other hand, have not been published and am currently sporting an "Uncle Al" hat playing "fairies and pirates" with the three little ones.. They are currently in a shouting match regarding who will kiss the fairy to wake her up from her sleep.. I got out of the whole thing by telling Jude(Pirate #1) that I was in "my ship".The ship being of course this chair and my computer. That got me out of moving around and able to type this little bit on the blog. Kids are so dumb...

It's cold as a mug here in CIncy.. -3 to be exact. I am listening to some tunes on a great site .... www.zimaudio.com .. I just purchased an album, got an email/receipt, but no music.. I think it takes a day or 2. Anyway, it's a great site if you'd like to sample some great African music.

Tomorrow is an African festival at the Museum Center.. We plan on going and seeing the sites.. Kate has her first ever basketball game tonight.. can't wait for that... I hope she knows how to bounce a ball.

notes for january 15.. i think

2009-01-15T04:50:00.000-08:00

As I write this, I can't remember what day it is.. I know it's Thursday.. I know there are ways for me to check the date, but I'm too lazy to do it, the kids are peaceful, so I'm going to use the time to write..

Now, it's been a month and a half since I've been back.. My mom is getting stronger and is scheduled for surgery for her hands next week. She looks great, seems to be in good spirits and physically looks healthy.It's great to see considering most people we've talked to say people don't normally recover from such a serious illness.

We(my family) are doing well. Adjusting, looking for a house and busy with school. Jacob is doing homework all day and trying to catch up to his classmates.. He's handling it well. Although, just last week he said he wanted to move back to Botswana.... I took it with a grain of salt. Kate is Kate, which is what I always say about her.. She rolls with it and seems to be loving being back at home. She misses her friends from Botswana, but has adapted to her new school so easily it seems as if she didn't miss a beat. She has her first basketball game on Friday night, joined the Brownies and signed up for spring soccer.

Michelle and i are doing well. There isn't an hour of the day my mind doesn't wander back to Botswana... I'm sure Michelle is going through the same thing.. maybe worse. I have a feeling it will be like this until we go back again.... which I really hope we do. But, things here are going well.

I think i have gained some weight as I'm having a hard time saying no to almost anything since we've been back..

Twins are great, enjoying cousins and taking drives where there are things to see... like buildings, trucks and vans... I don't know, Jude just really likes to go for drives.... I think our trekking them across southern Africa for hours upon hours with nothing to do really gave them patience with being in the car...

I miss Celeste and her friendship.. She and I probably spent the most time together during our time in Africa... She was a friend/ daughter/ nanny, etc... I miss her for obvious reasons, but just our daily conversations and her wonderful smile is what I miss most. My kids miss her as well... When we see black skinned people in town(a rare sight) Jude always does a second take.. I know Jacob misses Celeste, she was a great friend and role model for him..

I think that's it.. It's -12F here today, so I think I'll clean my mom's house.. No reason to step outside.. the coffee is nice this morning and my kids are still playing well together.. no, no that's over....

Here are some photos from our marathon experience....the one where you can see off into the distance, I am the white guy with the white shirt and blue shorts.. kind of dead center of the photo..

No much else to say today.. just doing everything I can to stay inside..

poor Jude

2009-01-02T20:14:00.000-08:00

I noticed something very strange today as we were outside trying to enjoy the warmer weather .. Jude is terrified of airplanes flying overhead. He has no idea what is going on and screams at the top of his lungs as soon as he hears one. In Botswana, there was one a day.. around 3:30-4pm, a plane could be seen quietly passing in the sky.. Here, every 10 minutes or so delta planes fly at lower levels and fill the air with their sounds.. It must be strange for a little one to feel that way about planes.. Something I totally took for granted and never imagined would be a problem once we returned.
Weather was nice today.

back here in the U.S.

2008-12-31T05:05:00.000-08:00

People keep asking whether I am going to continue to blog after our adventure, and I haven't felt like it has been worth it since our return to the U.S. But I've been wanting to write just a little bit and thought maybe I would add a few things when i have the time...
As for what we've been up to here.... nothing.. It's been a transitional time, had christmas and now we simply prepare for school, amongst other things.. We are continually helping my mom get better and that seems to be going well.
But I think we are sad. We miss just about everything that we had back in Bots, and things here seem totally out of touch(i am speaking for myself). I just can't figure it out. I think this is a re-introduction into what we once had, but it just doesn't feel right.. I think in time this will pass, but for now, things seems very strange here. I am excited to be home, to be here with my mom and family, etc. but it isn't Botswana. I think this is what people mean when they say..." once you go to Africa, it will stay with you forever." I don't know who said that, i could have just made it up, or maybe i read it somewhere, but it's very true.
It's early in our return and i'm sure things will feel normal again, but my mind wanders alot back to Botswana.

The photos... Me and Celeste just before we left(as you can tell, I had gotten a little choked up). Celeste was like another daughter to me and I wasn't expecting to get so emotional when I left.. I think it was mostly just being rushed home without properly saying goodbye.. the night before i left, I drove her home and we sat outside her gate for the longest time. She cried like a baby and told me how much our family meant to her.. It was nice.
Jude as a shepherd and Maura as an angel in their school Chrismtas play. They continue to run around my mom's house screaming the song.. "little donkey, little donkey on a dusty road!!!"
Jude after Frances left.. Jude became confused after Franny left and wasn't sure what to do with himself. So he began dressing up in dresses.. alot.

All for now, Michelle is off work today(cincy Childrens) and we have some plans to see friends this evening.. Hopefully all goes well.

Not quite the last one....World AIDS Day

2008-12-01T09:16:00.000-08:00

This post is from Botswana, but not from Andy...luckily, his mom is doing much better. The rest of us are heading out this Saturday. In the last days, thought I'd use the blog to do something I haven't before, which is appeal for funds (not for us). Today is World AIDS Day and I wanted to use this blog to make a request from anyone who’s been following us in Botswana over the past year. In particular, I wanted to give people a way to help who maybe have been wondering what they can do.
You might know about the situation in Zimbabwe. The country borders Botswana to the north and there are huge political and economic problems there right now. The population of Botswana is about 2 million people, but it is estimated that there are an additional 2 million Zimbabweans living here as well. No one knows how many of them are HIV infected, but from our experience here it is hugely prevalent. In Botswana, all citizens receive free treatment for HIV. However, the program does not apply to Zimbabweans. Myself and all of the people I work with meet HIV-infected Zimbabweans nearly every day through working in the government hospital. I’m sure you can imagine how it feels to see a child whom you know would be able to thrive if they were on ARVs (anti-retroviral medicines for HIV). I recently had a patient die at 18 months old. He had been in and out of the hospital for the past 9 months with recurrent infections. His mom looked everywhere for treatment. She has been living in Botswana for the past 3 years but is not a citizen so the programs here were not accessible to her. She even went back to Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, for 2 months, looking for a place to get treatment. There had been ARV programs in Zim, but they are pretty much non-functional at this point.
She was unable to afford the medicines and her child died of meningitis. There are so many women in her situation. These people are living in an environment in which very few people want to give information or help and there are no readily available resources for them. They might come into the hospital, find out that they themselves are infected and then be told to stop breastfeeding because of the chance of passing it onto their baby. However, no one asks them if they have money to buy formula…I have had 3 month olds existing on cow’s milk and tea because of this type of advice.
There is a private practitioner in Botswana who has chosen to basically treat every Zimbabwean who comes to her without regard for cost. She charges them very little to nothing and is taking the costs out of her bottom line. Several of us at my workplace are working on establishing a systematic way of treating these patients, but until all logistics are in place, there are people who are really in need of help.
What I would like to propose is, if you have a desire for your money to directly make a difference in someone’s life, I will be the conduit for your funds to reach those who need them. If you would like to give money, I will deposit it directly into a trust fund established by this doctor to pay for the costs of treating these patients – for ARVs, medicines for other infections, formula for those no longer breastfeeding, transport costs, etc. To give you an idea of costs, ARVs for an adult are about $30 USD/month, for a child about $45 USD, formula is about $15 USD for one can. A woman cleaning houses (the main type of job that most of them can get) here can expect to be paid about $50 USD/month.
I can assure after working with this doctor for the past year and a half, the money will directly go to the patients. You will be helping people who really have no other resources right now. Just to give you an idea of how desperate some of these situations are, I recently saw a patient and her 4 month old baby boy, both HIV infected. I asked her to come back next week so I could check on her before she goes back to Zim to see her younger siblings who are still there. She asked if I could do it earlier, because she was worried that the river would get too high for her to cross with the baby tied on her back. She travels this way because she is in Botswana without documents and is worried that if she leaves via the border she won’t be able to get back in.
There are legitimate solutions to this problem in the works, but until then, the people who care for these patients are emptying their pockets to try to help as many as possible. I think anyone who has worked in a situation like this realizes that while the only real solution is large-scale change, in the interim, we all need to do what we can to help people who can’t help themselves. Just drop us an email if you’d like to help – my address is michelle.eckerle@gmail.com. Thanks so much.

final post, coming home

2008-11-25T00:48:00.000-08:00

this is my last and final post from this place..
I don't know what else to say.. Not much to say at the present time. My mom has taken a turn for the worse and I am headed home. Frances and I will be leaving tomorrow morning and making the long way back. Michelle and the rest of the family will come home next weekend. Not much is known about her condition and I won't go into details, but it is time for us to come home. Please keep her in your thoughts...

monday morning in Gabs

2008-11-23T21:53:00.000-08:00

The rain has moved away... it stayed around long enough to dampen our game viewing experiences over the end of last week...Now it's hot again.. Makes things feel normal. The twins are reading books on the ground and the kids just left with michelle for school. This is the last full week of school for the kids.. next week is fun days with galas, celebrations, etc..

Maura and the twins have been prancing around the house for the past 3 weeks singing christmas/religious songs thanking Jesus for everything under the sun..

We had a few friends over last night who have little ones as well and who have just arrived from the U.S. They are really great and our kids and their kids seem to get along extremely well.. It's too bad that we are catching them in the last part of our stay here.. I knew our time here was over when Michelle started dispensing out all of our malaria medicine to them.

On a much more serious note.. I received a note from my brother regarding the status of my mom.. Apparently, the nurses are surprised that my mom even made it through the first night she was in the hospital. She has come a long way and seems to continue to get better... Again, they are baby steps, but they are steps in the right direction... She was taken off the ventilator and is now breathing fully on her own..she is off the BP medicine and things seem to have stabilized.. There is some serious concern about her hands, and that is something that will be addressed. We continue to play computer tag with family... Thank God for the internet. Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and she continues her road to recovery.

I leave you today with a video slideshow made by Kate... Yesterday, she kept busy by opening a hair salon, making cribs for her baby dolls, doing a leopard project(on Word), helping Maura compose a "colorful" Zebra project, and creating a video slideshow of our trip to Madikwe. It is well done, I did nothing except help her download the music and tell her how to make the opening and closing credit pages...
I love the music choice... Enjoy! the music is so fitting for the images..

update, trip to Madikwe

2008-11-22T19:42:00.000-08:00

It's now Sunday morning and things are stable with my mom. I think she had a bit of a setback yesterday morning, but according to family, this past evening things had gotten back to normal... She is still on a ventilator, but they have plans to get her off of that very soon...Out thoughts our always with her as we hope that she continues to get stronger and stronger each day.. We will be leaving in 2 weeks.

As for us, we returned from our trip to Madkiwe yesterday.. And even though our thoughts were at home, we promised the kids a trip to see some more of the African wild.. In order to stay close to home(in order to stay in contact with family), we chose to drive about 30 minutes outside the city to a beautiful game reserve in South Africa called Madikwe.. We stayed in a beautiful lodge called Tuningi and were treated like kings... The game viewing was scarce.. due to the rain that occurred all week long. But the highlight of the trip, for everyone, was seeing a leopard up close... That is Jacob and Kate wanted to see, so they got it. We really lucked out and had the rare experience of seeing it within 15 feet of our truck.. Jude and Franny were in the truck screaming while Michelle and I tried to stuff crackers in their face in order to keep them quiet.. but we were able to get a few good photos before it his away in the bush.. It was truly amazing.. Another highlight was getting even closer to a group of about 20 elephants.. they encircled our truck.. the guide said... "If I say scream, I mean it.. scream as loud as you possibly can." that was scary.. expecially when the people at the lodge were telling stories of some workers/guides getting crushed by elephants in the past years.. This ain't no zoo...It was awesome, and I think my favorite game viewing experiences here , have to be all the elephants we've encountered... I will have some video up in the next few days of both encounters..
I think that is all for today... we continue to sort through things and prepack bags.. And as beautiful and amazing as going to the African bush is, our thought are at home and getting there....

Wednesday

2008-11-19T00:26:00.000-08:00

It's wednesday, very nice morning.. overcast and quiet. At home my mom continues to slowly get better or more stabilized. Not out of the woods yet and still in the ICU, butI can sense from my family that things seem to be moving in the right direction.. It's simply a waiting game now.That's a good thing to hear, but the waiting is difficult fromsuch a far distance. The time change makes it difficult to follow the hour to hour progress. Please keep her in your thoughts.

We were scheduled to leave for Chobe this morning, but have decided against it for obvious reasons.... It's just too far out in the middle of nowhere and we would probably be out of touch from anyone.. Plus, Michelle and I weren't sure if we could handle another 12 hour drive with all the kids.. under the circumstances.. We have opted to head to Madikwe with the kids and take in some wildlife and a bit of fun for the last time.. We will leave tomorrow and be gone for 2 days.. Ths in only about40 minutes fron town and technologically savvy.. We wouldn't normally go, but the kids have been promised another trip, and michelle has taken the time off.... One more bush experience...

I have yet to comment about Jacob's softball experience. It was a great trip for him and his peers. We played in a tournament against the Northern Schools from Botswana. We won 2 games to 1 and took home the trophy.. It had been so long since we have participated in anything super competitive, it was a little overwhelming at first..but alot of fun.. Pictured is or championship team and it's 2 outstanding coaches... Also is a photo slideshow of some of the action... A few of our boys played in bedroom slippers.. Not like Knothole at all .. But we had great umps who were as professional as can be.. Calling balls and strikes as if we were in the big legues..

a few other photos are of a storm that rolled through Palapye during our first evening there.. I had just finished being bribed by a police officer and pulled over to take a few of these photos... It was really cool and I don't know if the photos do it justice.. It was the first time I was out of town to witness a true African rain storm.. It was much different at home.. and I can't really put my finger on it.. Gotta go, kids are tired and ready for a nap... A couple other notes about softball to mention before i go... the difference between an African softball field and an American softball field that was so obvious to me.... the African field is totally alive... millipede 12 iches in length, lizards, probably snakes, biting ants, etc just litter the playing field. Other photos include a typical road picture... notice not only the feet in the back, but the goats on the side of the road.

Please keep my mom in your thoughts.. thanks

update on my mom

2008-11-17T23:16:00.000-08:00

As it stands now, things seem to be slowing moving in the right direction..Slowly.
I am receiving word from my brothers and sister about her status and it seems as if they have located the source of the problem and are letting the meds do their things... She is still very , very ill. My brother Kevin arrived yesterday and I think they are taking shifts in the ICU waiting room.

As wonderful as this experience of living in Botswana has been, this has been the most difficult aspect... Being helpless, unable to do anything and just waiting for someone to text you with an update.. When my dad died, it was surreal. Hearing him over the computer for the last time, realizing that I couldn't do anything for him.. and now this.. I am considering coming home, but it is a very tricky time.. We are slated to leave in 3 weeks.. and to leave here with Michelle having to finalize everything on this end would be difficult. THe doctors have stated that I should just wait.

Nothing else to report. Please keep her in your thoughts...

my mom

2008-11-16T22:32:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we got a call from my sister saying that my mom had been admitted to the ICU... She has been there for the past 2 days and without going into much detail, we are just waiting it out to see what is going on. She had a surgery last night to remove a kidney stone, but other than that, we are all in waiting mode.

Please keep her in your thoughts.. I will update the blog later, once I find out more information.. It's about 2:30 am Cincinnati time, so I'll know something later in the day...

I will let you know that Jacob and my Southern Schools Softball team are the Country champions... We took 2 games out of 3 from the Northern schools team.. I'll have photos up later.. today doesn't seem like a good time. Jacob was the team captain.. chosen by his peers.. They did a very good job..

All for now.

softball update, black mamba in a pool

2008-11-13T00:16:00.000-08:00

First things first... Good friends of ours found a black mamba in their pool. Not much else to say.. We go out to their house at least once every 2 weeks to swim in that same pool.. I hate snakes, and I really hate the dealiest snake in the world..

We lost our match yesterday and the second game was rained out.. A few mental errors, baserunning mistakes and some nice defense by the other team did us in..
My dad would laugh at this brand of softball.. the main problem I'm having is the kids don't understand that they need to stop at the bases and not run through them.. In cricket, which is what most of them play, you run through the base when you beat the throw. there have been at least a half dozen times when they'll steal third... but run 15 steps past it.. the other problem is that the gloves are actually a hindrance... They are used to catching with their bare hands.. yesterday, Jacob made a play and threw to the first baseman.. He stretched took his glove off and caught it with his bare hand.. It was a web gem without a doubt... but they can't catch a pop up to save their life.. And when they do.. it's like we just won the World Series..

Jacob and I leave tomorrow morning for Palapye and the Southern Schools/Northern Schools showdown.. I love the drive from here to anywhere outside the city. .You really leave a place that feels a little like home and head out to the middle of nothing.. We'll be back Saturday night. I'll update the blog on Sunday...
Everything is going well here, we just miss Michelle. She heads back on Friday. Jude came home from school because he is running a temperature.. He doesn''t look well, but now he is beating up Franny, so he isn't completely gone..

I've posted a few more photos from yesterday. As I post them, I wonder if people are tired of seeing them.. i really love taking them and have loved the opportunity to get out and meet people and get a glimpse of what life is like here.. I know a few photos of the kids would be a nice change of pace, so in the next few posts I'll put some up.. The photos.... A man drinking Chibuku( the sourghum beer here).. It's in a carton served warm and has the consistency of wheat paste... "barkeep! anouther round Pleassseee!!!!" It's an acquired taste and the locals have done a very good job of acquiring a taste for it..they've worked really hard at making sure they like the stuff.. 50 cents will buy you a carton.. I usually end up buying a round of chibuku when I head out to these places.. Another note of interest is the girls in the religious outfits.. I don't know what religion this is, but it is very popular.
The girls put them on after they told me they wanted their photos taken.

Here's a video of some of my drive out to Odi and Mmankgodi.. As stated before .. I love the drives to these places.. Always waves, thumbs up and smiles... oh yeah, and stares..

Be back on Sunday...

baking clothes

2008-11-11T21:39:00.000-08:00

With the rains come an inability to dry anything.. The kids clothes continue to hang on the line but remain wet. i need the Botswana sun!!! I have taken for granted the power of the sun here in Botswana. you can put out a load of sopping wet clothes to dry and it might take an hour to dry all of them.. And then it rains for the first time in 9 months and you have laundry hanging all over the house.. this morning Jacob was prepared to go to school in a soaking wet uniform, so we put it in the oven to dry... I never realized how well that worked. And althought Jacob went to school looking as if someone had put out a pack of cigarettes on his shirt, he went dry...

The children of Mmangkdodi were unable to put on a christmas pageant for me yesterday due to the rain.. So the plan is to do it next week...
Jacob has a double header in softball this evening, so we are very excited about having to actually play a few games.. My team is ready! Unfortunately, the games are only 2 innings long, so as soon as the kids feel comfortable, it's over.
Michelle continues were teaching in Ghanzi, she said she was talking with all of the workers of the lodge about american politics and Barack Obama... Everyone here calls him "Uncle".

The sun is creeping through the clouds as Frannyand maura play with puzzles.. I am about to take Maura to school. Jude is still sound asleep upstairs.. He had a difficult time last night due to the lightning and thunder.

I guess that's it for today.. Tomorrow, I 'll post a video of some of my drive to mmankgodi. Last night I packed some bags for our trip back home.. I realized we have lived here for a year and a half with nothing...it's been nice.

back out to Mmankgodi

2008-11-11T01:36:00.000-08:00

today is tuesday and for the past 8 tuesdays I have been going out to Mmankgodi to spend time with the kids at the orphanage.. i have a ton of photos to drop off to them.. and they are aweseom pictures.. I will try and get a slideshow up of them for you to view.
today is a special day because they are going to performa Xmas pageant for me..to thank me and Thato for coming out and working with them on their photos. It should be great.
Michelle is still in the middle of nowhere, Ghanzi, a true Botswana village. She told me last night it was the typ of place you could hear the wind heading your way from 10 miles distance.. She said she had her door open in her room and a chicken walked by, then a group of guinea fowls, then an ostrich.. Not your holiday inn. She is staying in the Khawa lodge.. I equate these places to an old Clint Eastwood spaghetti western.. Without all the killin' and pillagin'. Just an African version with Kudu, lions, leopards and the like.. The lodge actually has a website..
www.khawalodge.co.bw/

Me and the kids are chillin' here in Gabs.. Jacob has a swimming gala this afternoon, while kate heads over to a friends house.
Here's some photos from last Tuesday's trip to Mmangkodi... Hope you like..getting bags out to see how much crap I can fit into them.. and also finalizing paperwork to have my baby (the truck) sold and shipping all of our booty back home. Really exotic stuff. I plan on treating myself out to a night of playing pool with locals tomorrow night.

our home becomes a day care..

2008-11-09T02:11:00.000-08:00

Kate has Maura napping on our living room floor because that is what the schedule calls for.. this morning she has taught maura(the excellent student in teacher Kate's words) symmetry and how to spell butterfly.. Maura is relaxing on the floor reading quiet books while classical music plays in the background... This is Kate at her best... She does this stuff at least once a day.. And when it occupies the little ones for the majority of the morning.. it's a bonus..

I am listening to my favorite radio station(WMKV 89.3 Cincinnati).. the old folks station.Right now they are playing "Love on a Greyhound Bus" by Guy Lombardo..
Everytime I listen to this station I want to pull my pleated wool pants up over my belly button and smoke a pack of Pall Malls, while mustering up some refreshing JELLO for the kids... What a great station. At least it's great here during the day.. I know late, late, late night at home is when they play the best music.

I just took Michelle up to the clinic, she is now on the road to Ghanzi to teach a class for the week... I already miss her.

The kids and will perhaps take a little game drive this afternoon to pass the time.
Busy week here in gabs as there are several softball games as well as getting things tied up before we head back.. I'm sorry that our adventures have been extremely lacking lately.. We'll have one more big hurrah in a week and a half.. Chobe once more.

Mom... right now they are playing... "Rendesvous with a Rose" by none other than the Eddie Duchen (sp?)!!!!!. You gotta love Eddie..

Ok... all for now all you dames and fellows... I gotta get me a cup of joe before nap time is over here at "eckerle day care".

Congrats to Jacob!!!

2008-11-08T04:09:00.000-08:00

Jacob had his final tryout today for the Southern Schools Softball team.. sort of like an All Star team for the southern part of the country... We will head up to Palapye next friday for 3 matches against the Northern Schools All Stars..
I am the asst. coach.. I think he will be playing shortstop and will be hitting 6th in the lineup.. Anyone know any famous left handed shortstops? It should be a fun few days for him, considering sports and competition seem to be last on everyone's list here.. Jacob will be headed up with a team of 13 boys, 2 others from his school.

I was in charge of drills and infield practice today, and was simply blown(and continue to be blown away) by the manners of the young men Jacob's age... Each boy says..."Yes sir, no sir, thank you sir..." on every occassion.. When practice is over, each of them sought me out to shake my hand and say "Thank you for practice". The thing about it is, the parents aren't telling them to do it, they simply know to do it.. It's very nice and hopefully it has rubbed off on Jacob.

We had cornhole last night, but it was moved indoors due to the intense lightning and thunder and .. rain. The lightning and thunder was what you would expect from Africa.. Seriously dangerous.. I've never heard or seen anything so intense.It was crazy.. But we did actually play in our house.. we have a long open space that is perfect for any cornhole venue.
Headed to some friends' house today for a cookout, but it's raining steady.. It's wonderful..feels like home and has cooled off everything.

Michelle heads out tomorrow to teach a class in Ghanzi... About 7 hours out in the middle of nowhere.. Anyone available to babysit?

Less than 4 weeks and our adventure is over.. everyone is asking us for our stuff

Obama brings rain to Botswana, High School Musicl 3

2008-11-07T01:56:00.000-08:00

It has finally rained substantially here.. the official first rain of the year is here and it may stay for another day or 2.. According to a woman I see everyday on the street, The rain has been brought here by Barack Obama.. She stated, "the day he was elected president, it began to rain." And she is right.. It hasn't rained for 9 months and for some strange reason, it rained the evening we went out with a bunch of other fellow Americans. I think we can all agree that if Obama can bring health and prosperity to another country without raising our taxes.. that that is a good thing.. I wonder who she thinks bring the heat and drought that this country experiences for the other 360 days out of the year.

School is going well for the kids and they seem to be wrapping things up a bit. They are starting to have school assemblies, award ceremonies and invites to end of the year school parties.. Jacob will officially graduate from Northside School and Kate from standard 2. Maura will have gained an increasingly annoying accent(very South African).. she even says things like... "Come on boy, you musn't do that" when reprimanding Jude. No one says musn't at home. She will really miss her school and her friends.. Her school teachers adore her and I will miss the price for preschool...

Driving around town this morning, I am always impressed with the fact that everyone says hello to each other.. A simple wave, a smile , etc.. makes the drive a hell of a lot more enjoyable.

"High School Musical 3" is tonight and the kids are very excited.. I am having a cornhole tourney tonight and hope to convert a few more cornholers... Michelle leaves on Sunday for a week to go out to the middle of nowhere and teach a class in Ghanzi...

Other than that,not much else to report.. All is well herein Bots.
I'm holding out to see if obama will help me out and pay for all of our plane tickets home.. I have a good feeling about it.
I'll be happy if he could simply fix the problem of all the milk going bad here before its expiration day.. You buy a 1/2 gallon of milk with a good 5 days to go, go home and open it up only to find it's cottage cheese.

Celebration here in Botswana

2008-11-04T21:50:00.000-08:00

This morning I am truly proud of my country.. Barring any discussion about the economy, the war, whether or not he'll be a good president, etc... Being in Africa and seeing an African American voted as president is truly incredible.. i can't deny it... It was awesome.. For the fist time since I've been here, I can voice out loud that I am American and feel good about it.
There will be major celebration here this evening and throughout the week... We will be celebrating as well.

on another note... here's a small slideshow of some photos taken in Mmangkodi and odi.. you have seen some of them already,but i added some voices of the children I work with.. It gives you a sense of the language and the joy in their voices.
There is another voice you can hear of a young man. This is older brother of a patient of Michelle's. He is taking care of his younger brother, giving him his anti retroviral drugs and making sure he stays healthy.. he has given up several jobs and moved back to Botswana simply to take care of his little brother. both parents have passed away. He is a great young man and has been a huge help to me and the kids at the orphanage.. Here's the slideshow..

All for now.
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"it's OK"

2008-11-03T23:27:00.000-08:00

Something that gets lost in translation that drives me nuts here is the phrases.. "it's ok" or "It's just ok". It is used often, but I can never tell whether or not it is really ok, or if it's bad.. At home when someone states, "yea , it's ok" when you make an arrangement or business negotiation, "it's ok" usuallycan be translated into... "it's not really that great". the words great, awesome, fantastic... those sort of words to describe how something is.. are non-existent. therefore, I am always left wondering if the other person is really happy or not.. It drives Celeste nuts and she has adopted the word "Awesome" , although it doesn't come out as nice from her beautiful African accent.. it'smore strained than anything else...
One other tib-bit.. Celeste and Kabo state that Americans here stick out like sore thumbs.. they always have a bottle of water and are carrying a huge backpack... they are exactly right..

More photos posted from my recent trip to Odi.. Notice the photo of the girl holding the bird.. She caught it in her yard just before we took the photo. The makeshift chicken coupe(sp?)and a young girl carrying her little cousin...Women at the chibuku stand and a few others i think..
Election day here.. Unfortunately we won't know what's up until late , late, late night/morning.. That's just ok.

The People's Race

2008-11-02T21:42:00.000-08:00

Got in from Soweto last night at around 7:30. It's 7:30 a.m and I can't move.. Michelle and I are feeling pretty sore and wondering why we put ourselves through this yet again..

We drove down to Soweto on Saturday morning and arrived about noon.. And similar with most things in life, "you can't judge a book by its cover." When we told many people we were going to Soweto, an acronym for South West Township, they wondered why and feared for our lives... Soweto was the home of many uprisings and violence during the Anti-Apartheid movement.. it is probably the poorest community in Johannesburg, but one that seems extremely proud of its political past.. We were a bit concerned with our drive into Soweto... But, as we drove around, I couldn't help but think how cool of a place this was .. it felt like a lower class/middle class neighborhood, where everybody knew each other and had a common bond... The likes of Nelson Mandela, Bishop Tutu resided here and you can feel how proud people are of their community and their fight for freedom.. They are poor... Poor as I've seen, but not shocking.. Corrugated metal homes, with no water, no electricity, packed like sardines..... you wonder if anyone will ever make it out of some of these places..Attached is a photo of a typical Soweto shantytown...

We hit the Apartheid Museum, and I must admit, it was great to be in a museum for the first time in a year and a half.. the museum was terrific, and I learned alot... some of it I knew just from being here, but the museum itself was very well done and visually mesmerizing.. Some of the videos and photographs were fantastic... it made me sick to your stomach, but I left strangely feeling envious of the African's ability to perservere and fight for something that we essentially take for granted. the amount of racism, hatred and disrespect they experienced(and continue to experience) on their own continent was horrible.. But what's very interesting about soweto is that there is just this sense of pride and bond because of this struggle. I left wishing I was African.

www.apartheidmuseum.org/ Check it out..

Race day.... The Soweto marathon.... perfectly African, there was no idea where to go to start the race, they were still setting up the course prior to the start and i don't think the organizers told many people in the community that the race was happening(the traffic caused by the race was ridiculous...... It is called "the People's Race" and that's what it felt like.. I have never been so excited by the energy of people getting ready for a race.. They were huddled around dancing, singing and celebrating.... I would say that unlike other marathons I've run, we were the huge minority... 1 out of 50 runners were white...Needless to say, the makeup of the runners wiped out thought that we may win.. All these runners were sleek, and ready to go... Everyone else was from any number of countries, but mostly SOuth Africa.. and it seemed many from the neighborhood... It felt like being in Cincinnati, because many runners would say hello to the spectators or even run over to give them a hug..
It surprisingly started on time and the course itself stayed in Soweto... We ran through dusty old streets lined with shacks and middle class cement block homes... Very little english was spoken during the race.. I could hear Setswana, Zulu, Siswati and I'm sure other languages... But even though we were completely on the outside, people were so kind and inviting(perfectly African). I had a young boy with no shoes on and dressed in rags sense I was struggling, ran next to me saying " come on, you can do it... faster , faster..." He held my hand and we ran for about a Km together... I ran with a group of Africans who were singing and chanting the whole time... " Easy!! easy!!! Take it Easy!! easy!!" the whole time. The spectators would chime in offering us shots of beer and other alcoholic beverages.. It was 7:30 am.

"oh my God!!!" That's what I was saying most of the time to myself during this race.. This was, hands down, the most difficult course I have ever run.. Everyone agreed.. There were at least 20 hills on the course.. some of them the equivalent of the cut in the hill.... It was demoralizing.. I don't think training in Botswana helped, considering it is the flattest place in the world... I was on pace to run a 3hr50minute marathon.. and about mile 20 I cramped up and mentally was defeated... The last 6 miles, I think I walked 3 and ran 3.. Ended up at about at 4hr. 30 min.. It was rough.. But the course, as difficult as it was, was great because it was strictly through Soweto.. Full of character, charm and history... Dead rats on the road, coke was offered at the drink stations.. bags of water as opposed to cups.... and the only marathon where the children on the street begged you for water(which was very sad). Michelle ran next to many barefoot runners and a woman who ran with homemade shoes... tire tread cut in the shape of her feet...strapped with masking tape.. Michelle said the woman with tire shoes ran right past her.. Unfortunately, Michelle had to stop for about 30 minutes to assist a man who had a heart attack during the race... She doesnt think he was in good shape obviously.. I'll spare you the details, but she thinks that he probably passed away. I'm not surprised though, the course was so rough and the heat was difficult to work through as well...

We ended up having about 8 runners from Baylor join us and I think it was a great experience.. Our travels to South Africa are finished.. We had our last border crossing, our last trip to what everyone calls a very dangerous country.. But we have never had anything but a great trip. .. I will miss South Africa for its natural beauty.. and with Soweto, I'll never forget the spirit of togetherness of the people. If you ever feel the urge to go to South Africa, I highly recommend Soweto.

recovering today, and making plans for a celebration night/ or depressing night on Wednesday(depending on the election) . One month left here... driving through south Africa as the sun went down last night... absolutely beautiful.

1 more month of blogging, Maura's B-day! and Soweto

2008-10-30T22:51:00.000-07:00

Today is Halloween here in Botswana, and there's no trick or treating..
But it is Maura's B-day and I am heading to her school to dish out some cupcakes in an hour or so..
She turns 4 and seems very, very excited. In honor of her birthday I thought I'd pull out 2 classic Maura videos for your viewing pleasure.. Now you may suspect some bias here, considering I did nothing for Jacob. Keep in mind Jacob just turned 13 and refused any birthday endorsements. No photos, no nothing..
Maura can't log onto our blogsite yet, so she can't do anything about it..

Sorry, I am too lazy to make up another video... I had alot of time on my hands last October, probably was a little more depressed about being here then as well.. So I made alot more creative things back then to take my mind off of it.

Enjoy!! THings have really settled down here and we are in the home stretch.
We are trying to just simply enjoy our days here and are taking full advantage of our pool. It is "Africa" hot here... and there is no relief in sight. I am sweating through my shirt while typing on the computer.
THis will probably be the last post until sunday evening...Michelle and i head to Johannesburg, South Africa to run the Soweto marathon.. We leave early tomorrow morning and will be back Sunday evening.. I hope to God it is not this hot in South Africa..

Be back on Sunday. Happy Birthday Maura!!!!

last big trip now set,

2008-10-29T02:54:00.000-07:00

As the heat picks up each day, it's a good thing that the marathon is this weekend. It is getting too hot to run and very uncomfortable to anything after 8 am.. But the evenings are still nice. We have just found out that Michelle will be teaching a class in Kasane in 2 weeks..therefore, we will be heading up north to Chobe one more time, with the hopes of seeing Victoria Falls, lions, wild dogs and leopards before we come back to the U.S.

Headed back out to the orphanage yesterday, and I have to admit, it was tough.. The kids seem very happy, but I just can't seem to shake feelings of sadness for the kids.. Everytime i go there, they are all huddled around each other in the middle of a sandy field, staying cool under a tree. Every day.They have lost their families and seems to really rely on each other. THey look after one another, are respectful to each other and genuinely care for each other..

I think having 5 healthy little ones whose major concern is whether or not Dad cleaned the pool makes me feel very sad.. these children have nothing, and some are sick. I know the pictures they take is something they really look forward to , but what are they going to do when this is over? i just hope they have some sense of normalcy in their life..

ok, i think that's it... Nothing else to say... I'll try to be funny tomorrow..Sorry blog post was such a downer.

Figuring out what to do... twins sing High School Musical

2008-10-26T23:10:00.000-07:00

With a few weeks left, we have one more opportunity to do something.... It all depends on Michelle's work.. We were supposed to go to Chobe for a conference, but it may be cancelled... So now we are left with nothing... But we are going to do something, regardles.. We have yet to go to the major tourist destination besides Chobe... The Okavango Delta.. We may head there.. But have heard stories about the wildlife being so abundant and your proximity so close.. that people have had their children snatched right out of their tents by hyenas and the like.. Needless to say, that doesn't sit well with us...

But if you stay in a lodge, it's a different story...

The long weekend is over and the kids are back in school. This is the last week before Michelle and I head out run the Soweto marathon in Johannesburg on Sunday...
Looking forward to being finished with the training and excited about running through such an historic place...

Ok, here's a new audio clip for you.... As High School Musical 3 hits Southern Africa this friday, I thought I'd entertain you with the twins rendition of "I gotta go my own way." It's heartfelt, honest and beautiful. Enjoy

saturday...swim day.. jacob takes up tennis and barack obama t-shirts

2008-10-25T04:41:00.000-07:00

Jacob had a nice evening of hanging out with his 2 buddies... Then this morning, had tennis lessons nearby at a tennis club.. He really enjoyed and would like to continue.. Just another thing to drop some cash on. We treated him to Nando's, which is actually a nice fast food chain here, that specializes in grilled chicken..
When we went to pick it up at the Mall, there was a bunch of young high school aged girls walking around with Barack Obama t-shirts on... I commented to them about their shirts, they asked if I wanted to buy one... They said they were sellng the shirts to raise money for a class trip.. I thought that was hilarious.. In Botswana.... people are raising money for their school by selling "Barack Obama is my Homeboy" shirts.. I bought one and wished them well.. Next thing I know, they had sold another one to the man next to me..

People here are just waiting for this election to implode... The whole continent is just hoping for him to pull this off... And come to think of it, what a huge celebration there will be here if he wins....

Swimming this afternoon, then having a friends over for dinner.. Apparently they are brining impala to eat...(photo) No other news.. I joined Facebook yesterday and am completely sucked into it... The kids have soiled themselves, have their fingers in electrical sockets and are swimming without supervision, but I am determined to make sure I add more friends... God, I'm an idiot..

Michelle has booked our flight out of Gabs.... We leave here December 6th and head to Cape Town to try our hand at flying all 7 of us standby to Cincinnati... Keep your fingers crossed.. The good news is.. If we get stuck in Cape Town.. We are stuck in Cape town.. I can't think of a better place to have to hang out for a few days..

December 6th we begin our journey back home. When Michelle told me she got the confirmation, I was excited, but also very sad.. Our adventure is coming to an end..

Jacob turns 13!!!! I have gray hair and my Mmangkodi Photographers

2008-10-23T12:18:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by andreweckeckerle

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Originally uploaded by andreweckeckerle

Jacob is officially 13 today... I cannot believe it, but I'll have to deal with it. We have no set plans for the day, although I think he has plans to hang out with friends this evening. We opted not to go camping this weekend considering we are going to Soweto next weekend for the marathon, and it just might be too much.. Jaob, as I've stated many time before, has handled this move to Botswana better than I ever expected.. To be moved from all of your friends, a school you had attended for 6 years, leave family and move 9000 miles from home.... he has adjusted and really taken advantage of the experience.. We are planning a party for him in 2 weeks, and until then... i'll probably treat him to lunch and take him out to get something. Last night we had our first major rainstorm.. It has cooled off the place by about 10 degrees and it feels like home.. It's nice.

I had the first of many rolls of film developed yesterday for the children in Mmangkodi.. Needless to say, they are some of the most beautiful photos I have ever seen. This of course is my opinion, but the photos are striking.. And what some of them lack in high quality, they make up in their simple and touching imagery..

One side note.. When I went to have the rolls of film developed, the owner of the shop donated 17 rolls of film to the cause.. I though that was pretty awesome and very thoughtful..

Here's a slideshow of some of the children's photos.

Happy Birthday Jacob!!!

Mmmm.... Magwina!

2008-10-23T04:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am back online.. my computer is back and the kids are on a long weekend... Again.
It's like they never really go to school.. Jacob has completed his large project on Malaria and apparently passed with flying colors.. 2 nights ago, we were invited to a viewing of all of the major projects completed by the Standard 7 class.. There were projects devoted to Xenophobia, Malaria, child slavery, African poverty, Pollution, Immigration issues, Poor rulers, Genocide..etc.. It was an impressive display of work by the kids and something I don't Jacob would have ever been exposed to back home.. I know he learned alot from doing the research as well as from his classmates..

Now, onto Magwina.. which is Setswana for "fatcake". Every morning a husband and wife team walk the streets with 2 buckets.. 1 is filled with soup, the other is filled with Magwina.. The are basically large fried dough balls that are absolutely awesome... They stop by our home every morning, our gardener and security guard always buy one, I usually buy 3 or 4 for the kids.. Cost is 1 pula each(about 12 cents)... If you want soup, the pour it into a sandwich bag and dump the magwina in the bag as well.. Jude loves them..

They are sold in the shops nearby, but the husband and wife team are my suppliers..

I am still debating as to whether Jacob , Kate and I will head to Khutse for one more camping trip with the lions, leopards, cheetah and hyenas.. I am waiting for Jacob to decide.. He turns 13 tomorrow and it is up to him..

Life is going well here and things are getting busy.. We are preparing to come home, but at the same time are trying to stay focused on things here.. Michelle seems busier than ever with work...
I picked up the cameras from the children in Mmangkodi yesterday and had the film developed.. There are some amazing photographs, many that I hope to included in my exhibit when we return..
Many of these children live in horrible conditions, but seem to manage to keep their head afloat, and always seem happy..

I have lots of photos today... Jacob with his project... Kate looking half asleep... Michelle's friend Agnes who runs a tuck shop outside the hospital.. Magwina!!!!
some of the children at Mmangkodi.. One of them is a small class of youngsters singing "put you left hand in..." etc . A little girl who I hope I will never forget(in the blue school uniform).

It's hot, kids are swimming, twins are sleeping, Kabo(the piano teacher) is sleeping on the couch, Steven(securtiy guard) is sleeping under a tree...It's nap time here in Botsawna.. Not much else to do, considering it's too hot to go outside..

ALl for now.. If we camp, wish us luck... The third time is a charm!!!

ne

check back tomorrow or friday

2008-10-22T09:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks, my computer has been sabotaged by Jacob for his class project.. He is displaying all of his work at school and it looks great.. I'll have photos up later.. But for now, He needs my laptop during my peak posting time. I will be back tomorrow or on Friday.. we have another long weekend this weekend and me and the older kids may go to Khutse for one more sleep out with the lions.. We'll see..
It is Jacob's birthday on Friday, so it's up to him...
I will show you photos of the greatest Setswana food ever next post.. makgina(sp)
as well as an update from Reneestwe and other news.. ALl for now.

weekend update

2008-10-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

we had a nice quiet weekend here.. It involved a little bit of swimming, eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with ostrich and zebra, sitting on our butts and a drive out to a local village.

On Saturday afternoon Michelle and i packed the kids up and headed out to Thamaga to pick up some local pottery.. With our time here coming to a close, it is time for us to stock up on all of the goods..It was a nice drive out into the bush, and Thamaga is your usual type village. The warehouse for the pottery was simple and pottery was abundant and cheap.

On saturday night, we headed to our neighborhood game reserve with our friends and had sandwiches and chips while Jude scared away all of the ostrich and zebra in the vicinity. Kate and Maura played with their friends in the bush while the adults had a few sundowners.

On Sunday Michelle headed out to a funeral for a patient of hers, then we headed out to some our friends' home in the bush.. They rent a beautiful thatched roof home out in the middle of nowhere.. When we entered the home, there were a few warthogs munching on the grass right in the backyard.. Jude tied to mount one but was unsuccessful.. We hung out there all day sitting around and letting the kids entertain themselves. A nice way to spend a sunday. Being a curious person who is still absolutely scare of snakes, I asked them if they had spotted any in their yards.. Because where they live, the likelihood of coming across a snake is 100% greater than where we live. They told us that just recently their gardener had killed a spitting cobra. Now that's a snake!!!

Life returns to normal this morning and all the kids are off to school.. Jacob returned to us last night and says he had a great weekend in South Africa.. Apparently he swam a 600m event did well... He was exhausted last night and went to bed at 6:45.

My goal for this remaining time is to take as many photogaphs as possible.. We'll see. Trying to plan one last long weekend excursion soon.. as we begin to say goodbye to this wonderful place..

All for now. The pictures are the kids at the game reserve.. One is the kids eating under a hide/game viewing area, Michelle and Frances standing in the middle of an open field looking for zebra, ostrich, etc... And surprise!!! Jude eating

Take 2 Bar.. take two!

2008-10-18T01:17:00.000-07:00

Headed out to Odi again on Friday to drop off some photos to the patrons of "Take 2 Bar", as well as visit the Odi Weavers and place an order...
Due to the Wall Street problem, etc.. the dollar to pula has gone up.. When we got here, the dollar = 6 pula... now the dollara =8.. which is a great thing for us.. And if you feel the urge to visit South Africa, the dollar now = 10Rand.. It was = 7. So things look much more affordable... Almost a steal.

Well, it wasn't difficult to find all of the people who I had photos for, there were all there sitting in the exact same places they had been last week.. I did meet an older woman who was waiting for the combi... In one of the photos , you can see them hailing down the packed mini bus..

The place is absolutely great and everyone is very, very kind..
Jacob has headed out to Sun City in South Africa.. THe equivalent of Disney WOrld in South Africa.. He headed there with a friend and will be back on Sunday.. They have a casino for kids...What a great way to get little ones into a wonderful addiction like gambling.. I gave Jacob some money and told him if he didn't double the amount playing Black Jack, that he shouldn't come home...

It rained slightly last night as a huge storm passed through,(first time in 6 months) but with no real rainfall.. It was enough thunder and lightning to cancel the softball games..
It's late morning here, not sure what the plan is this afternoon.. Tonight we are meeting with friends for an evening game drive and picnic with the kids... Should be fun.. But it is about 600 degreees outside...

All for now, hope you like the photos..One of them is of the botswana currency, the Botswana Pula...Pula means Rain.

Simba and Scar were from Botswana..

2008-10-16T06:01:00.000-07:00

Can't talk long... busy day today.. not really anything significant... but just busy.
My sources here tell me that "Hakuna Ma thata" is Setswana.... And it really does mean "no worries, or "no matter" . Therefore, one can say that "THe Lion King" did take place in or around Botswana... Where , I don't know... But timon, Pumba and all the gang lived somewhere near here.... pretty cool eh?

Judging by the landscape of the movie, I would say Tuli Block or Kasane...
"no ma thata" is said alot here and it's only taken me a year + to figure that out...
I'm a slow learner..
Nothing going on.. It's blazing hot.. the kids are out swimming and I am making some pizza.. Kate had swimming today after school and simply kept on her swimming kit, as they like to say here, and jumped as soon as we got home...

Jacob is finishing up a major project on Malaria and has done a very good job handling all the work.... The twins are refusing to sleep during the afternoons, which is becoming a problem... oh well.... Hakuna ma thata!!!!
Gotta go!!! I think the whole city stayed up to watch the debate last night...

sobering day

2008-10-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

I headed out to Mmankgodi yesterday afternoon and took along a young man who has offered to work with me in order to make some money for his younger brother who is suffering from HIV... He was a great help and a wonderful young man. Michelle has really been talking to him most of the time and it was her idea to get him involved in my photo project.. We took a drive out to Mmankgodi, about 45 minutes outside of Gabs. This young man(23 yrs old) left a job in Johannesburg to come back to Botswana to take care of his younger brother.. He was working in a gas station at nights, and for the afternoons was making sure his brother got the appropriate treatment. The job at the gas station became too much and he is presently looking for a job.

He was awesome with the kids at the orphanage, and worked with them in showing them how to use the various cameras and explaining what to do .... The orphanage was tough to visit...alot of young kids, all left alone(many due to HIV). Giving them a camera to take photos was a big highlight and was received warmly.. My young man talked to each individual child and explained exactly what he wanted them to do.. On the way back to gabs, he expressed his thanks for the "piece job" and said how wonderful of a person Michelle was... I agreed... because as a husband, that's what you have to do.... Honestly it was great to hear and I knew his situation way before our meeting because Michelle has been speaking about him for quite some time.. It was good to give him some help...

When I returned home, Michelle gave me the news that another one of her patients (that she has mentioned in past posts) had passed away... He was 16..

This was sad news and made me again realize how fortunate we are.... It's difficult to complain about a single thing when you are discussing life with a 23 yr. old who is willing to do anything to make some money to feed himself and his brother who is trying to cope with AIDS.. It's difficult to mope and whine about the difficulties of managing 5 healthy children when children who have already lost their parents , pass away at a very young age..

The thing that I find most striking, is that no matter how difficult things have gotten for some of these people(particularly the young man who helped me) is that their outlook is still very positive, optimistic and happy...
Here's some photos of the kids and their cameras.

radio highlights

2008-10-14T00:11:00.000-07:00

This morning, as most are, was a bit hectic. Getting the kids out of bed, dressed, fed, and off to school on time can be a struggle.. School starts at 7:25, so we usually get going around 6. I got them packed and in the truck and off to school. It's a great feeling... And the great thing is most of them are very eager to go to school.

This morning on the way I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness that our time here is almost over(sorry mom). And as much as Michelle and I have talked about eventually settling down here later in life, it'll be hard to cut the cord on this place in December.. I am very excited to come home, but we have been very happy here... I feel like we've gained alot being from here and have made some very good connections with people here.

I saw the usual characters walking to work, or setting up shop along the street.. The 800 car wash spots that the men sit in all day long waiting for a customer, the women sitting in the middle of a dusty lot with a small table full of popcorn bags, cheese curls and phone cards... shattered beer bottles, trash, run down bus stops... These things I love and will miss.

oK, enough rambling.... Here's some audio clips.... I take an recorder around town with me as much as possible.. this is a few samples of some recordings..
1.The news at the top of the hour...The best news intro I've ever heard.... sounds like a cool marching band.
2Jude and his new found friend Lucky.. Who jude was totally fascinated with and would not let go of..
3. Celeste saying "cut the grass" in her native language Ndebele.
4. Me taking photos in the village of Odi.. it's a boring sound clip, but gives you a sense of how quiet life is here... Notice the 2 or 3 cars you hear rolling by.. It's very nice.... like being out in the country... but there are deadly snakes lurking in the bushes...

Ok.. all for now.. I am headed to Mmangkodi today to meet with kids and give them some cameras to give them a chance to take photos of their daily life.. Hope all is well back home

my kids talk funny

2008-10-13T01:51:00.000-07:00

With 7 weeks to go in our adventure here in Africa, things are going well...
We had a nice weekend with some activities, but still alot of downtime..
Unfortunately, Maura decided to unleash her South African accent on us as well...

As I'm sure most South Africans find my accent ugly and crude, I find the south African twang simply annoying...It's hard to describe, kind of like a rugged English accent... Instead of Yeah, they say Yaw... Not Ya'll ,Yaw...

I think it's mostly the inflection that drives me nuts.. It's like being on a roller coaster ride.. Where the sentence or phrase will gradually go up, then quickly come down at the end.... In terms of how it really sounds here... check out this You tube video about the Afrikaaner accent... It's really funny... I can't embed the site, so you have to cut and past the address into your browser

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNJVMJH5OhI

Then, if you want to hear the real Afrikaaner language, check out the Simpsons!!!

But my children have developed their English accents and hopefully it will go away when they come home... Then they can talk like funny Americans.

Yesterday was officially our first day of hanging poolside.. It was a nice day and it's getting hotter...Jude and Frances enjoyed hanging out in their intertubes

I went to the bank this morning to cash a check... Took a magazine, expected to wait in line for an hour only to be turned for a number of reasons... (didn't sign the check right, bank didn't have any money, closed for lunch break at 9am, etc)... Well as I've stated before... expect the worst and you'll be pleasantly surprised.. I walked in, 3rd in line and got my money in less than 15 minutes.. It was grand

Here's another video for you viewing enjoyment .. It's the kids at the pool.. Hope you enjoy..

sunny saturday

2008-10-11T05:27:00.000-07:00

It's hot. a white person need not lay out in this sunshine.. you will fry.
Jacob had softball tryouts this morning for the Southern Schools Botswana team...
He made the squad and will head to Francistown in a few weeks to play the Norhern Schools team in a few matches..
I think he's pretty excited about it... Point is, my neck is burnt to a crisp.

The Nortshide team is now 2-1.. We lost a tough one last night 9-8.. That's what happens when no one on the team can catch a ball. But last night's game was the start of the friday night league here in town.. It's really a great venue.. families from the school, even if they don't have kids playing, come and bring a cooler full of beer or wine and sit and enjoy the game...As I know I've stated before, sports just aren't something parents go apeshit over. It's a part of life, but it's totally relaxed..and fun.. What a novel idea.

Kate is now serving well in tennis and Maura is continuing to draw 24/7. Kobus(kate's coach) seems to think she is getting better and better each practice...

I went out to Odi a few days ago to take some photos.. It was alot of fun as I hung out at the "take two bar" and watched a group of young rastafarians take part in their "religious rite" . They really enjoy practicing their religious beliefs here and word on the streets is that the Botswana government is considering making marijuana legal for rastafarians due to the fact that it is a part of their religion.. If this happens, there will be the biggest conversion to Rastafarianism ever....

Odi is one of my favorite places to go... It's totally quiet, dusty and almost feels like an old western town..The people are always friendly and interested in what I am doing.. As i was driving into the village I came across an old abandoned home... I decided to take some photos..

Michelle and Kate went to a ladies luncheon and the 3 little ones are sleeping.. Jacob and I are watching baseball and enjoying having the doors and windows open... Nice breeze today.. Our neighbors who I would assume are the leaders of the local rastafarian church are taking part in some "rasta fun" and yukking it up, while our other neighbors are practicing their violin.. What a strange mix of neighbors.. Speaking of my pothead neighbors... I made them a Beach Boys CD the other day... they asked for some music.. "Beach Boys and Simple Minds." Simple Minds?
I gave them the Beach Boys and some James Brown instead..
Here's some photos of my little day trip to Odi

Some of my arty images from the abandoned home, some signs at the bar...a few women from the bar... and of course, the rasta boys... who all wanted to go to American.. When I told them you can't smoke pot out in the open like you can here, the reconsidered.

The local clothing store... "Mafia Gear" are now selling Barack Obama t-shirts...
The headlines at home will probably read.. "Obama linked to Botswana Mafia!!!"

classic Botswana

2008-10-09T00:26:00.000-07:00

Well,
My attempt to ship a heavily debated box back to the U.S. has failed...I will spare you the ins and outs of the the whole experience... But here's a quick summary..

1. took the box to 3 local post offices, no one knew if I could ship it.
2. took it to the sorting division... they weighed it , said it had to weigh under 20kgs... it weighed 20.5
3. reboxed the contents, took it back, it weighed 20.3... uncacceptable.. Told me to split the contents into 2 boxes... Brilliant idea!!!! right???
4. took 2 new boxes back, each box weighed under 20 kgs.. they said ok... I put them in their storage area and went to get cash out of the ATM machine to pay for shipping... ATM machines weren't working.... any of them.... found one eventually, went back to find 5 people huddled around my boxes(this was yesterday)... They questioned me as to what was in the boxes, I told them.. They said "why can't you put them in smaller boxes? They are too long." Told them I couldn't, unless i cut up the contents..I was furious...but kept my cool. I explained to them that I've been there 3 times and no one had told me about the boxes being too big in size... and that as long as it was under the weight restriction there was no problem.... No one knew the rules, they sent me to the main office.. No one there knew, we went back to the "sorting division", met with 5 other people and they came to the conclusion that it was, in fact too long... My options.... send it anyway, but that the packages will probably be sent back by South AFrica...

It was classic.... I knew it was too good to be true when I pulled into the office and there was a parking space right next to the loading dock.. But we all learned a lesson yesterday... the 5 managers at the post office learned the rules of shipping, I learned that you can never, ever be certain that things are going to go your way here... there's always a glitch... And i should always be totally pessimistic all the time. If I stay pessimistic, those rare occassions when things do go smoothly(like money in an ATM), are like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day... Which is a bad analogy here, where there is never any clouds to begin with.. I have learned this lesson at least once a week since we've been here... But such is life.

Michelle is out in the boondocks today, seeing sick children in the remote village of Ghanzi, on the edge of the Kalahari.... Another classic Botswana instance..Michelle was supposed to fly there this morning,but the plane has a problem.. So she is driving the 7 hours through the desert, spending the night there and coming back tomorrow.. What else would you expect? I am heading out to take photos.. need to get back to that.. It's been some time.. Going out to meet with the people... the "Mothusi Six Packs" . A little election/Botswana name humor. Get it? There's noone here named Joe, so I inserted a common name form Botswana... Funny? Maybe not..

Kids are doing well, Jacob is up late at night preparing his "exhibition work". He chose a major problem facing africa, and his topic was Malaria... He's made a brochure, a research paper and a powerpoint presentation...And he intends to make a video as well... We'll see how it goes, but he seems to be quietly enjoying it... My prediction is that Jacob will be a graphic designer when he grows up.. He'll spend hours cutting and pasting images and manipulating fonts....

All for now..

a day at the park

2008-10-07T01:52:00.000-07:00

Well, a park here is a little bit different than at home... Kids can't take off their shoes(too much glass) there's no swings(just the polls) and slides that have rotted and have huge holes in them.. So there's no real sitting down and watching your kids at this park.. But it was nice to get out with the kids , take a walk and talk to some of our neighbors..
Here's some photos of the kids as well as some of a family and their children who were there playing with us...

Today , the twins went to school, excited as all get out.. It's quiet here at home..

no luck with the snakes

2008-10-05T03:39:00.000-07:00

Went to the Northside school fair yesterday, anticipating to get some great photos for my blog... No snakes, no BDF, nothing.. I was misinformed and am very upset..
But, we had a nice afternoon visiting some of the booths, having a few beers and enjoying the great weather.. The kids had a nice time and enjoyed the company of their friends...

A local artist named Puni was there, selling many of her hand made dolls, paintings and magnets .. We talked to her for a while( Ihave met her before) and purchased a few things..
We plan on getting together with her before we head back home..
I've posted 2 photos of her work.. One is a magnet and the other is a recent painting of hers... I dig her work..

Speaking of artists, Maura is the second coming of Picasso... She draws 90% of the day... Non stop, anything and everything... It's fun to watch and at times a little frustrating.... I don't know where to put all of her stuff and she'll use a ream of paper in a few days. Her work is... brilliant... I realize my opinion may be slightly skewed, but it is fantastic..

I've posted a self portrait she drew... she is sitting at a table drawing...surprise...

Another sunny afternoon here is Gabs and I am doing one of my most enjoyable chores.. honestly... Handwashing laundry...
Jacob went sailing with a friend at the Gaborone Dam, Michelle went to get her hair cut at a salon where the owner told her.. "We know how to do white people's hair", and the twins are not doing a good job of taking a nap...

I am enjoying some time to myself, hoping that Jude will stop trying to entertain Franny and simply fall asleep.

Waiting in line in Botswana

2008-10-04T00:06:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to write about this for a few days.... but standing in line here, for anything, is an absolute chaotic mess...Particularly at the bank. Last week I waited for an hour to use an ATM machine.. When I was about 3 people away from the machine, a gentlemen brushed his hand back and forth in front of his chest (kind of like a backwards wave) telling the rest of us in line, that the maching was finished.. no more money.. For the past 2 weeks I have tried to use many of the ATM's in town only to find out from the security guards that sit next to them all day that... "they work, but they don't have any money in them."

But the notion of a structured line with rules... like no cutting, and if you move from your place and are absent for more that 5-10 minutes you forfeit you spot, those kind of simply things are nonexistent.

For example, that same line I was in at the bank, a woman came behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and said.." i am here." i said ok, watched her walk away and go into a grocery store..She came out 20 minutes later with a bag of fruit, a drink and proceeded to sit under a tree and have a snack about 50 feet from the line.... Then she went to her car, make a few phone calls and then went shopping for a new broom.. about 20 minutes later, she gets back into line.... no one takes issue with this...
You could be in a line and be cut by 10 people who claim they were there an hour ago.. It happens all the time... I find myself getting furious, while everyone around me takes up no issue with the circumstances..

That same day there was a scene at the entrance of the bank because a Chinese man(I think American Chinese) was waiting for the security guard to let him in..
A few men came in front of him, the guard let them in as the men stated they were there earlier in the day.... The foreigner went nuts... screaming how long he had been in line, that it's ridiculous that he let them in, etc.. etc.. etc..
He was getting very angry and I thought he was going to get into a shoving match... As this happened all of the locals just laughed.. not at the man, but just laughed, as if to say..."you need to chill out, this isn't a big deal, you'll get into the bank eventually." That's how life is approached here... It'll happen when it happens and if all I accomplish today is that I stood in line for 3 hours only to findout the ATM is broken, then so be it. I'll come back another day..

As for me, I find myself laughing and saying... "of course the ATM doesn't work....I should have known... "

Today is the Northside Fair... A snake show should be coming our way... I'll try to get some images...

Say it ain't so, Joe!!! But the election coverage has got to go!!! What???

2008-10-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

I've spent most of my morning in email mode... and checking out the election coverage... Even from this distance, it has paralyzed me... I can't stop checking the polls... I need to stop.. If one specific presidential candidate wins and another specific presidential candidate loses, we will be staying in Botswana for another 4 years..

When you have the BBC, Botswana TV, SABC(south Africa), Al Jezeera TV, India TV, Australian TV, German TV, CNN, MSNBC, and Sky TV(not sure, I think Englan) weighing in their opinions, it can get little addiciting... All of thoses stations this morning were critiquing the debates this morning..
Therefore perception that you want your country to portray seems a little bit more important than usual.... Acutally really important.. I was up at 5:30 watching MSNBC and their doggone "expert" panel discuss the debate.. I think they had 15 people on that panel... 10 of them didn't open their mouths.

A teacher at Jacob's school told me they have used video of George Bush's speeches to teach the children how not to speak in public... They told me the children thought they were spoofs... Everyone here is very interested/concerned as to what the outcome of this thing will be. And they all know the issues and who stands for what... It is amazing how ignorant I really am.

I went running today.. 12 miles... the traffic into town around 7 am is absolutely a mess...Not much they can do about it either... with roundabouts and single lane roads headed every which way.. it gets to be a mess.. Along with the exhaust fumes, the sun and the heat, it was a memorable jog..

As I was running, I thought about the training Michelle and I have been doing for the past 3+ months...
In that time, I have only gone for 1 run when it was cloudy.. there has never been any rain or wet pavement. It has been sunny and clear for every single run...every single mile.... Makes me yearn for a cold January morning or a cloudy fall day..

Had to go pick up the truck from Michelle this morning when she was at work...This is her last shift at the Public hospital.. When I went into the pediatric ward, I saw many, many children lying on cots on the floor, some sharing beds and many who appeared seriously ill.. I know Michelle will be sad to leave this work.

Nothing else to report... last post I mentioned laying in the tent the other night listening to the wildlife that surrounded us... I did some research and found a great website that has sound clips for many of the animals that we've heard on our journeys here... Check it out... Copy and paste into browser..
http://zar.co.za/sound.htm

Enjoy...
Tomorrow is the fair at Northside school.... which means another SNAKE SHOW!!!!.
I plan on at least taking some photos.. Stay tuned!!!

a night in the bush... with all of them!!!

2008-10-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

I was not so excited about this trip.... But as Michelle put it, "what else are we going to do?" and "it'll be another thing we can cross off the list...

On Tuesday(Independence Day) we packed up the truck yet again and headed across the border to Botsalano Game Reserve in South Africa... It was about a 2 hour drive to the Ramatlabamba border post and then about another 20 minutes to the campsite...
The campsite(as is with most campsites around here) was rugged but had all the amenities.....Braai area, fire pit, bush shower(which I highly recommend), a toilet(which I highly don't recommend) and running water...cost us about 40$

We got there around 2:30 and started to set up camp.... The twins, needless to say, did not cooperate.... As it took Michelle and I 2 hours to set up this ridiculous tent, Jude and Franny decided they wanted to explore.... Explore the bush, everything we brought with us, matches, a toilet full of bees, the inside of the truck,all electrical equipment, the firepit, the list goes on and on. .. and while we would gain ground in setting up the tent, Jude and Frances would do their best to destroy all the work we had just done... Once we got our camp set up(around 5) we headed out for a game drive... This place had no predators, but it did have a ton of giraffe, white rhino, hyena and a ton of different types of antelope... The older kids got on top of the truck while Michelle and I wrestled with the twins to keep them from jumping out the window.... Needless to say, they did a good job working on our patience most of that afternoon...It was a worthwhile game drive as we came across several rhino and giraffe at the watering hole near our campsite...

Fixing dinner...... This was also alot of fun with the twins... Jude and Frances found this to be an opportune time to trip over the tent, rip up all the styrofoam cups we brought, and try to play with a huge fire and the propane stove we used for cooking...
once we sat them down to eat, the bugs literally covered the sausage and bread we made to eat... But they didn't seem to mind(the twins)..... Maura asked if animals knew what their names were, Michelle laid the twins down for the night, and we had some about 2 hours of peace and quiet under a star filled sky. The kids made smores... or as they call it here, Digestives... sounds like a version of alka seltzer to me....

Amazingly enough, we all slept in one tent and the twins slept all night... It was great... Unfortunately, I can't sleep when camping and sat there listening to hyenas and jackals laugh nearby, as well as other little critters that ate Jude's scraps that were left on the ground during dinner... I have yet to feel fully comfortable in the African bush... This time it was not about lions invading our territory, it was just a worry that one of these huge rhino that left huge amounts of pooh around our campsite, might get really angry with us and decide to trounce us...

Nonetheless, the kids slept well and had alot of fun sleeping in the tent....
We got up the next day, took another game drive, had breakfast and kept Jude and Frances from destroying themselves and everything else in the surrounding area...

Photos inlcude my man jude chillin', the border post...a garbage can and toilets in the distance at the BP gas station in Ramatlabamba, Michelle who gets no webtime... thought i'd sneak one in there for you..

One note... the border crossing... It can be a pain in the butt, where you wait for an hour of so to stamp your passports, etc.. and when we walk into these small builiding with 7 in our party, we get greeted with a huff and puff and a look like..."ok, give me your passports...this is going to take me a while"

You have to go through.. 1. the Botswana post and then drive through and 2. the south african side.... with all 5 kids.. and for some reason, our kids are the only ones who feel it necessary to run around the building as if it was their duty to ake mom and dad look like idiots... It is a bit nerve racking...

But the trip was fun and it did allow us to check off one other goal we had... To camp with all 5 of them... Another camping trip like that will have to be put on hold for when we return home...

Today, the kids head back to school for 2 days... Jacob has a softball game today at the Baobab school.. We will win!!!

All for now.

Nice weekend, and good luck?

2008-09-29T04:23:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-24T02:48:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-23T03:02:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-22T04:07:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-09-20T05:46:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-17T01:42:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-16T02:43:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-13T00:16:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-11T02:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-10T00:51:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-08T22:18:00.000-07:00

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!!!!

2008-09-06T02:44:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-05T00:37:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-09-04T00:35:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-03T02:43:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-02T02:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-31T23:04:00.000-07:00

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.

And we're off!!!!

2008-08-15T06:20:00.001-07:00

Don't have time to write, I am busy packing for our big 2 week adventure... The Eckerle tour will hit 3 countries in 2 weeks....Swaziland, St. Lucia,SA and Lesotho... We have alot to do before tomorrow morning, so I'll bid farewell for 2 weeks..

We'll be back the last day of the month.. If I get a chance I'll try to post something, somewhere during the trip...
All for now.. Hope all is well at home..

Bye!!!!

Not sure what to write about this trip, so I"ll just post a ton of photos

2008-08-14T06:42:00.000-07:00

We are all doing well today, everyone is relaxing. Bob and I went out to have spiced meat, pap and greens at a restaurant in Gabane, and the kids and I went to a local park that just opened up down the street. It still is polluted with shards of glass, so it's not that relaxing of a place to take the kids.

The trip with the kids to the Rhino Sanctuary was great. We went for game drives, the kids played in the bush and had a nice time outdoors..
After the weekend, Bob and I headed to the salt pans with our guides.. They took care of everything and introduced us to Onion Marmalade(a huge hit with both of us) We hiked a bit, took in the eeire landscape, watched an amazing sunset and enjoyed a night out under the stars..
I'll just post some photos... It was a great experience and the landscape was amazing..

I apologize for seeming so rushed in this, but the day is rushed and we are preparing for our next adventure....Instead of pontificating on the beauty of the place, i'll just give you some photos.. If you ever come to Botswana, the salt pans may be a great place to go.

back from Mars

2008-08-13T01:44:00.000-07:00

We all returned from our camp out in the bush.. the kids had a great time, got plenty dirty and enjoyed sleeping out in the bush.. Bob and I returned from our trip to the salt pan, we took a 4 hour bus ride home last night. We are busy running around getting things ready for our big trip this weekend, so I'll post some pictures and a little more information about our weekend either late tonight or tomorrow. Needless to say, the trip to the salt pans was surreal... a very cool and quiet place in the middle of nowhere.. More later...
Got to go get ready for Swaziland.

bob returns

2008-08-07T22:46:00.000-07:00

We picked up Bob and Celeste last night at the bus station, it seemed the trip was a very good one. I'll try and have Bob write a small, uplifting paragraph or two about the state of Zimbabwe... But I know Celeste had a good time being home with family.
Today's agenda is to prepare for our weekend in Khama Rhino Sancutary, and then a night in the salt pans..
I won't be back til Tuesday, so the Blog will take a short break...

The following weekend, we take off for our big trip... Swaziland, Lesotho, and St. Lucia, South Africa.
Here's some site for you to look at about the trip..In Swaziland we are staying in an old dairy farm, and going to try and do some white water rafting..maybe
www.welcometoswaziland.com ,
Here's where we are staying in Lesotho - http://www.malealea.com/ (check out the photo pages.)
and info about St. Lucia- http://www.stluciainfo.co.za/

All for now.. be back in a few days.. The photos are Katie taking a jump and the three little ones in the waiting of their school.

Ok, all for now..

twins start school!!!!

2008-08-07T00:03:00.000-07:00

Well, today was a banner day in the Eckerle household.... Not because Jude and Franny started their first day of school, but because all 7 of us got out the door, on time, clean, dressed and fed. I couldn't believe it.. Michelle asked me last night.. "do you think we can do this?" as if we were planning a robbery.. Getting out the door as a group is very, very difficult for us, especially when the parents who are in charge have such a low standard of cleanliness and the place you are taking them requires the opposite.

Jude and Frances were welcomed into the yellow bumblebee class this morning at Dipeo and were literally bouncing off the walls at home when we told them they were going.. "bye-bye cars". They went nuts, were banging on the door, ready to roll..As of now, they'll be going 1 day a week...

We took them to school, they played shy for 2 minutes, then Jude start putting on the moves towards his teacher.. Franny of course, backed herself into the wall, played "i'm too smart for this silly behaviour" then eventually gave in and started to play with the toys surrounding her.
The school is fantastic.. Wide open, plenty of space, music playing and tons of teachers to lend a hand... I'll put a photo up later when I pick them up...
I didn't want to push my luck this morning...

Kate has field day today and tomorrow is "Crazy Hair Day!!" Should be a blast discussing hair options with a 6 yr old going on 16... I'll get some video of Kate showing off her athleticism tomorrow..

All for now... the house is exremely quiet.. and clean this morning.

Maura's video is here!!!

2008-08-06T01:12:00.000-07:00

After some time I finally have Maura's performance up and running.. I hope you can see it via the blog page, I am having a hard time viewing it from our computer. Also on todays post is a video shot by Jacob in the salt pans.. It's just him and his friends goofing off. Not much to report today, everyone is off school, we have conferences.. Bob is still in Zim, be home tomorrow.

All for now.. If you missed the photos slideshow of the pans walk, it is posted on yesterday's post.
Here's Maura's video

Here's Jacob...

salt pans trip , mauras video plus more tomorrow

2008-08-05T01:59:00.000-07:00

Michelle and Jacob arrived last night after a long a dusty trip to the earth's version of the moon. The pictures are amazing, nothing I've ever seen before.. It sounded like they had a great trip... And Jacob enjoyed his 30km/time with his friends....

They stumbled on petrified flamingo eggs, elephant tracks, and baobob trees that are 4000 years old.. Apparently, some of the trees had huge boulders in the branches of them, that had been picked up by the tree as it grew over time. Bob and I head there next week.I'm sure the photos don't do the place justice, it looks totally surreal
Here's a video slideshow of their trip.

Bob is in Zim with Celeste, and Michelle has taken anotherplane ride to a remote village somewhere.. I live the adventurous life, and am getting ready to head out to the grocery store, then off to pick up the kids from school. Jealous?

All is well.. I will have Maura's performance from school up tomorrow.. Sorry for the delay, but I have run into some technical difficulties...
Enjoy the photo slideshow from the pans walk.. My plan is for Michelle to write a little more about the trip in days to come.

Bob's adventure

2008-08-03T23:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't given you any updates over the past few days, but with no camera, video and all the kids, I've been busy and the posts would have been dull.
Bob is out seeing the country right now, via a bus...

He went with Celeste to Francistown, then over the border to visit Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. They left this morning at 6. Celeste is going to visit family there, and Bob tagged along. They went shopping yesterday for food(there is none in Zimbabwe) to take over to her family.
Should be a very educational trip.. They should return on Thursday night.

Bob says he's enjoyed his jet lag, napping when the time feels right.
We took him out to eat Apache Spur, then Paul and i took him to a true Botswana watering hole, don't remember the name of it... But it was quite an experience. True Botswana dancing, true Botswana drunkards.
We went to the village of Odi, Main Mall and a few other places...So far, I think Bob has enjoyed his time here.

Michelle and Jacob haven't been heard of for 3 days, but I think are doing well.
They are camping in on of the strangest places in the world and we should get pictures tonight of their adventures...
saturday we leave for the Rhino sanctuary, and will show Bob some of the wildlife here, while sleeping in an A-frame on the edge of a salt pan.. Then a guide is taking us(bob and I_)to the salt pans for a night under the stars. Looking forward to it..

The kids are tearing up the place and are doing very well..
All for now.. Photos and video of Maura's performance will be up tomorrow.. Stay tuned.

Bobby here, and Maura is a ladybug

2008-08-01T00:52:00.000-07:00

Cant write much,headed out to see some sites with bobby.. He's here, flew 1st class the whole way..

If you like Maura, you'll check back in in a few days when I get my video camera back from Michelle.. Michelle and Jacob left for the Salt Pans this morning.
Yesterday , Maura had arts and crafts show and she dressed up as a ladybug, and sang some songs... I'll post the video on Monday..
But for now here's some photos of her, with her friend Masa and teacher Tumani.
All for now, more soon.

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

2008-07-29T23:54:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-07-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-07-23T23:53:00.000-07:00

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!!!!!!

2008-07-22T02:38:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2008-07-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2008-07-15T04:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

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!!!!

2008-07-13T01:43:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-11T23:41:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-07-10T00:17:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-07-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

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.

odd load

2008-07-03T02:16:00.000-07:00

Michelle came home from her outreach trip. She said the place was in the middle of nowhere.. Seemed like the people were cut off from the rest of civilization. Trips out to those places reminds us how far away from home we really are, and gives a better sense of the true African experience.. She also told me the drive was very interesting..
Just like at home, Botswana has the occasional large, irregular, wide loaded trucks that barrel down the freeway.. at home, they are usually accompanied by a well mark truck, with lights flashing, etc.
Michelle said they passed a large "odd load" marked truck that had a police officer on a motorcycle motioning people with his hand to get out of the way as he drove in front of the truck. Seems like a perfectly safe way to tell oncoming vehicles that are going 80 miles an hour to take caution.. Perfect Botswana...
Jacob has soccer game today again the Rainbow School, should be a tight match.
Jude has taken a liking to wearing girls boots lately.. I'll have to get a photo for you. He looks striking in them. The boots are black with pink lining and tassels.
Should I be concerned?

Other than that, not much to report. I'll head out tomorrow to continue taking photos, it's been a few weeks since I've been out. the weather here continues to be perfect.

All for now.

khama rhino trip

2008-07-02T02:27:00.000-07:00

the kids and I ventured about 4 hours north/west to the Khama Rhino sanctuary on Sunday.. We had a nice time checking out the animals , riding on top of the truck and running around on the salt pans.. We chased a group of road runners, Jacob drove for the first time and we saw a beautiful sunset...

Here's some photos from the trip with the kids, Babs the truck, and the natural beauty/vastness of some small salt pans..

Today is Wednesday, nothing much going on.. Michelle is in Ghanzi today doing outreach work and was on the road at 6:30 this morning... Our Marathon training officially started yesterday, not sure what we're getting into..

This weekend we celebrate the 4th of July with a Embassy party at NOrthside school.. should be fun....

I said goodbye to my friend Arthur last night, he heads back to The U.S with his family on Sunday... his family was a great help here and we becam great friends over the past 12 months.. Plus, he speaks fluent setswana and it's always a laugh to see him speak to the locals.. they are blown away... We went to George's Bar last night.. Apparently a local dive but a great time. Our other option was to go to the Policeman's Mess Hall to drink..It was closed due to the holiday. Apparently they serve subsidized beer, and its open to the public... Only in Botswana...
Alright , all for now..

1st day of July

2008-07-01T04:12:00.000-07:00

It is now the 1st day of July, and it in no way feels like a July day at home. We made a fire in the backyard this morning, and enjoyed the morning..Now we are trying what to do this afternoon, unfortunately, there's nothing to do here..

We got back from Khama Rhino Sanctuary, had a great time with the kids. I'll put some photos up and some video of our time tomorrow or later toay...

It's a national holiday here, so nothing is open, nothing is going on..and there isn't much to do..
don't have time to write, but I will put some stuff up later..
all for now.

wedding night and photographing a prom?

2008-06-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate to experience a very nice ceremony last night. Celeste's friend Joyce was married, and i was the photographer.... It was alot of fun, the people were great, the food was outstanding, and the reception included a group of people that could actually dance!!!!

The ceremony/reception had all facets of an american wedding... but simplified.. by about 10,000USD. There were no elaborate settings, no wait staff, no loud DJ. Just a young boy popping in CD's every once in a while, friends of the brides serving the guests and cooking all the food, etc..

It was a nice experience..
The wedding parties arrived via pickup trucks with people filled in the bed, they marched in singing and, by Botswana law, had to married before the sun went down..
or 6pm..

So the religious ceremony was stopped(b/c we were running late), they signed the papers, then the ceremony continued.

Joyce's brother made the dress and the suit for her fiance(Modie) and I was the photographer...
I was thankful for the time and I think have landed a few more jobs in the near future..one of the photos is a group of boys playing soccer in the courtyard of the church.. during the ceremony.

On another note, I stopped at the photo shop to pick up a memory card, there was a group of high school girls trying to get help with their camera.. they wanted to take a photo of their group for a friend, they asked for help, I took their photo with my camera, they liked it so much, they want me to photograph their prom...
I told them they need to talk to the "prom committee/administration,etc", they told me they were the prom committee.. it happens in November, so I may be taking photos for a high school prom.. The girls were very cool, and attempted to talk like Americans(very successful). Their photo is the group.

Not much else to say.... Jacob is going out to eat with his friends Ryan and Pavle, then to a movie, while Michelle and I head to a Mozambiquan festival this evening.. Should be fun..
I am taking Jacob, Kate and Maura to Khama Rhino Sanctuary tomorrow to take some game drives and stay at the Lentswe Lodge.. http://www.lentswe.com/ Our plan is to hunt for some Rhino.. We are staying in the CLiff Lodge, which has an unbelievable view of the sky at night...Hoping for no clouds.. I think our chances are pretty good.

fruit freakshow and our little convicts

2008-06-26T22:26:00.000-07:00

Not much to report. still sunny as all get out.. No clouds for 4 weeks now..looks like another beautiful day today... it's getting old.

We took the kids to the grocery store last night to get a few things.. We came home with a bag of bananas and Maura found a double banana in the batch. Pretty crazy eh?the photos are obviously of the 4 little ones(maura and kate are sporting their new pj's. Jacob opted out of the photo shoot.. THe kids look like convicts, who are getting their mug shots taken..kate and Maura look like they were pulled right out of their bed and dragged to the station.

today I went to Odi to take some UC law students(believe it or not) to get some weavings.. They are here interning with the government and will be here until August. i ran into them at the Pic and Pay supermarket, they looked lost and brand new(like we did last August). we got to talking, only to find out they were from Cincy..

that's it for now.. the long weekend is here.. The 3 older kids and i are going to Khama rhino sanctuary on Monday. I am heading out to photograph a wedding here in town.. all for now..

slideshow of chobe now ready!!!

2008-06-26T03:01:00.000-07:00

My god, it's taken me long enough to get this together, but I finally have something for you to see. Here's some photos of our trip to Chobe, I hope you enjoy them.. This will be the last time you see Chobe until hopefully November, when we try to head up before we leave in December..

It is truly an unbelievable place.. Here's the slideshow...

again.. copy and paste into your browser
The wildlife can be so abundant that you become an animal snob during your stay there.. You find yourself driving past elephants on the second day thinking.. "Ah, it's only a group of 10 elephants.. let 's see what else is here." It is totally quiet, with nothing around you.. except for wild animals, some that could potentially kill you in 3.5 second.
We are fortunate to have a 4 x 4 vehicle and can go anywhere in Chobe, which we did... We went about 20-25 miles into the park, which I think is about 1/2 in....there is no tarred road, no one policing the area to make sure people are safe..nothing.. It's kind of frightening at first, but really a true "wild " experience. The only people that work in the park is the people who work at the gate..(pictured) We entered the Sedudu gate, but there is no fence.. the animals roam freely , can be seen on the side of the road, near and around the village, etc...
I hope you enjoy the photos...

In terms of today.. not much going on.. I've been shopping for fruit at a local market/mall (BBS). Every time I park there this guy named Michael finds me and says he's "keeping my car safe for me". which basicaly means he saw it, knows its mine and knows that he can always get a few pula out of me.. Shopping for fruit here is a daily thing.. the kids eat nothing but fruit.. I'm not complaining, but the amount of fruit they eat is disgusting... THeir favorite is Nartjies(sp?) like tangerines..... they're very good, but Jacob and Kate leave the peels everywhere.. I mean everywhere.. in pants, in the bed, on the couch, etc.. Jacob has a soccer game today against Broadhurst.. I don't think they've won a match yet this year... Playing the locals is a daunting task.. and one they are not very successful at.

Ok,, that's about it today... I am meeting with the bishop of a local church regarding the wedding I am photographing tomorrow night... Should be cool..Other than that, we are preparing for a long weekend with the kids.. i am planning on taking the older 3 up to the Rhino sanctuary to spend a day chekcing out animals and eating good pizza at Lentswe lodge.. We'll see what happens..
All for now.

Tuesdays news..

2008-06-24T05:54:00.000-07:00

Tuesday has no news.. we are continuing to chug away at school and deal with Jude's stinky feet.. His feet smell like a Heineken beer that's been left out all night. It's gross. I went to the store "Pep" to get him some shoes, they are just too big for his feet. I have to take them back, fill out 10 forms and answer several questions as to why I don' t want the shoes.

Jacob had an oral report last night on his trip to Durban.. He still needs to write about his experiences... one of these days. Anyway, it was a great site to see. each child in his class was designated to write about a specific event of the trip.He is becoming very independant and growing up..Jacob's event was general... "spending time on the beach." He did a great job as did all the kids in his class. Judging from the slides they showed, the trip looked like a great time.
We have been asked to go on another camping trip to Khutse(lion country)... this will take place in a few weeks.. for 3 nights this time.. Michelle and I have not discussed who is going... we may pass it up and head to the desert instead.. there is a half marathon race in Ghanzi, on the edge of Botswana and Namibia. So we'll see. I am thinking i may give Michelle the opportunity to experience the lions and hyenas in Khutse if she wishes.. There's no reason why I have to have all of the fun.The picture I posted today is one of accomodations in Ghanzi... traditional Bushman huts.. I can picture Jude destroying the sides of one these..

Other than that, nothing new.. No clouds in the sky for the past many weeks..
Last note... Jude has learned to climb out of his crib... He gets out, sometimes climbs into Franny's, sometimes turns on the radio and tunes in a channel, or simply begins to wander around the upstairs.. Franny continues to throw strange fits when she gets mad. Her favorite is backing up into walls..
We have nothing to look forward to this week, but the kids have a long weekend this weekend, and a big 4th of July party next weekend. i have my first gig on Friday... I am the "photographer" for a local Mormon wedding(one of Celeste's friends) Should be fun.

saturday... not much to report

2008-06-21T06:29:00.000-07:00

just thought i'd take a minute to put down a couple words.. Not much going on this afternoon. we are having our friends the Caplans over for dinner... they head back to the U.S. in 2 weeks. jacob is in the back yard teaching his friends Shreyast, Atong and Stephen how to play cornhole..
What a cool name... Atong... I 'm not sure how it's going.. None of them are old enough to drink yet, so probably not that great...
They just got back from seeing a movie at riverwalk Mall..
For some reason.... our backyard smells like a Slim Jim...
Kate is spending the night over at her friend Hannahs house. Maura and the twins are watching Dora while I write this and search for homes online.... Kate and I were looking at a calendar this morning and realized that we only have about 5.5 months left in botswana.. and while i'm excited about coming home, I'm not ready to say goodbye to this place.. We're going to have to make the most of our time here...

Working on getting a video slide show of all the animals from our chobe trip... it'll happen soon.. I'm sure all are waiting impatiently...
Hope everyone has a nice weekend..