the Dancing Sni

Lost and found

2012-02-08T06:24:00.000-08:00

I lost the keys to the office today. Actually, I should say that I discovered that I could not find my keys when I went to leave the house to go to the office. They must have been lost sometime between leaving the office yesterday and this morning. I was late leaving then because I had to turn the house upside down, all to no avail.

So, on the way to the hopelessly locked office, where I knew that Bahiti and Keene would be waiting for me to begin the day's work, I began to think of things that we could do instead, that didn't involve office space. I told them that we would have a field trip morning instead. There were some new Shiyeyi materials at Mrs. Musupukwa's place that Lydia had left there for me and I hadn't gotten around to picking them up; we would start there.

She wasn't there when we arrived but her daughter Pearl was. She welcomed us, we sat in the porch area. She brought out the new materials for me to take some. We ended up sitting and chatting for quite some time, switching back and forth between 3 languages the whole time; Setswana, Shiyeyi, and English. Bahiti shared about what we had been doing at the new office, told her how to find it. She had been meaning to visit but wasn't sure of the location.

After a bit, we left there and I asked if they would come with me to Sexaxa, where the Shiyeyi cultural village for tourists is. Bahiti said that it was not too far from where he lives and said that he could go with me; Keene came along as well. We drove out, just about 15 minutes outside of town.

To make a long story short, we spent an entire morning driving from kgotlas to basket shops to people's homes, looking for the contacts for the cultural village so I can arrange a visit when my intern moves here. Along the way, we talked to dozens of people. Each time, Bahiti shared about the Bible translation work and chatted a bit with whoever we found. The way that he introduced me to people was kind of fun; he said that I was a Muyeyi, that I speak Shiyeyi. And throughout the course of the morning, I did. Not streams of it, mind you; I can read and understand it far better than I can speak it, by a long shot. But in the moments where the appropriate response in Shiyeyi came to mind, I used it. People's responses when I do that are fun to watch. Shock usually features in. Laughter happens. And Bahiti smiles, like he's played a particularly clever trick on those who heard me. We had a good time.

Once we finally tracked down the contacts for the village, I dropped Bahiti at his place on my way home. We stopped for a moment to visit with his mother, who was visiting him there. Then, I headed back to town with Keene, to drop her at home also. Normally, she would grab a taxi from the office when we finish work but we could see a major storm coming and nobody wanted her to get stuck in that. It actually hit when we were halfway to her place. Rained so hard that we had to pull over and wait for the roads to be less flooded and for visibility to return. Lightning was everywhere. Rob called me while we were parked on the side of the road and asked if I had seen the strike just then from where I was (on the other side of the river). I had. He told me it had struck immediately next to the house, close enough that he was actually shocked, while inside the house. How wild is that?

Eventually, we decided to creep back onto the road and go slowly with the hazard lights on as the rain showed no signs of stopping any time soon. As we crossed into the main part of town, we drove out of the storm. Just like that, we were in a totally dry place. The sand near the road was totally dry and people were walking about freely, no idea of the deluge that was happening just a few kilometers up the river. I dropped her at her ward and began the trek home.

I couldn't help but notice that the morning had been highly productive in ways that I hadn't planned on when I got up this morning. I may have found a place where I can learn to dance with the mawayawaya (the reed skirt) and to weave a basket (ku ruka shiteko). I got out there and practiced using my Shiyeyi-ears and my Setswana-ears with people other than my immediate circle of friends and co-workers. I got to startle a bunch of Wayeyi with my presence and amuse them with my "Shiyeyi tricks". People in Sexaxa have been told about the Wayeyi Bible Translation Project.

So, am I sorry that I lost my keys? No, I can't say that I am. But I sure wish I could find them. God, if you were trying to lead me somewhere with this inconvenience, I have gone; thank you for that. But can I have my keys back now?

Akin to the whirlwind

2012-02-07T06:25:00.000-08:00

So, I'm trying to get a handle on Shiyeyi kinship terms today. I've read Thomas Larson's "The Bayeyi of Ngamiland" (naturally) and his section on kinship terms, about 2 pages long. The challenge is that it's all in prose, making it difficult for me to visualize how everyone connects. For example, he writes:

"The wife of one's father's brother is moshemoze wakaza mokorana. A father's brother's child is a tate yo xene, while the father's sister's child is called moyokoranga. One's wife's brother's child is mono mokarako zanga. Father's sister's husband is moramo moqhana tate. The mother's brother's wife is called wamokaza moora ima…" (Larson 1992, p9)

Now, that's all very well and good for him to rattle it off in prose but it sure makes it difficult for me to pick up reference patterns from a paragraph. It's even harder to try to use this as a reference for studying how to refer to someone.

Then, I found a handy free app – SILKin – for creating kinship charts. I've spent all this afternoon so far creating the charts and entering kinship terms in:

And I'm not finished yet. But my head is spinning and my chart is getting larger and larger and larger…

Running in circles

2012-01-24T03:20:00.001-08:00

I feel like I'm chasing my own tail today. In trying to enter a story into my linguistic software, I got bogged down with the ongoing issues in formal word division that the current version of the orthography has. So, I stop to try to write something up detailing what morphemes are the ones that seem to be the most problematic. In the process of doing this, I see that the problematic morphemes are generally ones that do not have a comparable utterance position to Setswana. Furthermore, some of these morphemes occur in tiny clusters... or are they actually separate morphemes in their own right that just share syllables with other morphemes? I decide that I need to go through the available grammars to see what they say about the nature of these morphemes. I'm going to write a simplified grammar based on these more complex ones, then test with Shiyeyi speakers to see which of these should be written separately from the morphemes around them.

Time from sitting down and starting to type in the story to beginning the simplified grammar? Four hours! Half a day and I feel like I'm getting nowhere! And I still need to come up with some sort of Language learning activity for tomorrow morning's session. Aaagh!

Leaping lizards

2012-01-23T08:35:00.001-08:00

Literally. Rob just heard a sound on top of the air conditioner. When he looked, he thought he saw a snake's head. Thankfully, it was just a lizard with a snakelike head. But when he tried to brush it off the air con and into a bucket, it leaped several feet across the room and onto the filing cabinet. Egads! I didn't know they could do that! He dealt with it with no help from me; I was in the bathroom, hiding out. He's my hero.

If you want it bad enough...

2012-01-16T22:58:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned before that true, Chicago-style deep-dish pizza is not (to my knowledge) to be had in the country of Botswana? Yet, sometimes, it is just the thing. The combination of watching Top Chef All-Stars and a sudden craving yesterday resulted in this brain-child. It took me about 15 minutes to make, from the moment of walking into the kitchen, concept fully formed in my brain, to serving it up. Here goes, the recipe for feeding two people:

Stewing sauce:
1 small (~410g) can of diced tomatoes
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp mixed "Italian herbs"
2 Tbsp red wine
freshly ground black pepper (I used about a 1/4 tsp)
salt to taste (I used about 1/4 tsp, Himalayan)

Combine in a pot that will have plenty of room for expanding dumplings; bring to a simmer. Let simmer while you grate cheese and mix dumplings.

On* Dumplings:
3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 egg
1/4 cold water

Mix dry together; add wet. Drop by the sloppy spoonful into the simmering tomatoes to make a circle of dumplings.

Grate:
mozzarella cheese - as much as you like (I did about 1/4 cup, when grated)

Immediately after putting in dumplings, sprinkle the cheese over them. Cover. Simmer without uncovering for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and eat.

I was floored by how well this satisfied the craving! Will definitely be doing this again and again. I may even introduce some favorite toppings in the future, maybe some sliced Kalamata olives, a little additional fresh basil. I hope that this brings many of you pizza-craving satisfaction, especially those who are living in places where great pizza is ne'er to be found.

* My only modification to the basic recipe that I know that I'll be trying next is to use a different dumpling recipe. I have two basic recipes, both of which I use and love. The only reason that I would choose one over the other is that one is designed to be cooked on top of a thick stew, the other is meant to be cooked in a soup. The On version is the one that I used this time - so you can use this dumpling recipe from above on top of any stew for beautiful fluffy dumplings every time, in just 3 minutes. But, as I noticed when dropping the dumplings, the tomatoes were really liquid enough that I should have used the In recipe, which is follows.

In Dumplings:
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup milk

Mix dry together; add wet. Drop by the mounded spoonful into simmering soup. Cover and simmer without removing the lid for 15 minutes.

Edit on January 21, 2012 - I take it back; I won't do the In dumplings in the future. I tried it last night and it was very similar to the On version. The primary difference is that the original On version was much faster and the melted cheese with the original recipe was more like melted cheese, less like a bubbly cheese-flavored foam. So, go for On!

Angel in the mophane trees

2012-01-15T07:47:00.000-08:00

We were arriving at church this morning and got out of the car, as we always do, grabbing our hymnbook, Bibles and the drum. On the way to the front door, I noticed that the ground seemed to be shifting around. I quickly realized that there were little caterpillar-looking things everywhere. And I mean everywhere. We went into the church, all the while my brain belatedly realizing that the critters were inside as well, teeming across the church floor. I went to the front pew to sit as usual, kind of on auto-pilot, headed for the best place in church to hold and play a drum comfortably.

Sitting down, I saw that the were not only coming in the back door; they were crawling through the front door as well. I froze. They would get too close to my feet; I would try to scoot them away with the (thankfully) closed toe of my shoe. Jumping in to the first chorus and drumming meant that one actually made it up onto the bare top of my foot without me noticing until I set the drum down at chorus-end. Flicking it away in disgust, I handed the drum to Rob and sat with my feet elevated.

Long story short, after seeing that one had actually made it all the way up to the skin of drum without me noticing its progress, despite my vigilance, I fled. I squawked, grabbed the drum and my purse and fled. Off to the car I ran, where I skitted from one foot to another - they were all around the car as well - brushing them off the drum before placing it in the car, closing the door and fleeing across the parking lot.

I had to go almost all the way to the entrance of the parking lot to find a place to stand where they wouldn't be sneaking up onto my feet. I had lasted only 30 minutes in the service before running from the wee beasties. I was actually shaking. I couldn't believe that people were still in there, carrying on with the service like there weren't little worms wriggling everywhere! I was a little surprised that Rob didn't immediately follow me out, I don't mind saying - more on what he did do later.

While I was standing there in the late morning sun, trying to clear my head, calm down and figure out what I was going to do next, a car pulled up. It was Luise, a friend of mine who had decided to come visit our church for a look see. She had already attended the Methodist church that morning but had somehow felt compelled to come to my church as well. She saw how rattled I was and got out to talk to me. When I pointed out the swarm, she agreed that it might be best to visit on another occasion and offered to give me a lift home. It had been about 15 minutes since I had run out of the church building and Rob still hadn't followed me so I thankfully agreed to the lift. I sent Rob a quick text message and hastily got in her car; off we went. On our way out, Luise noticed a cabbage patch next to the church grounds. We hypothesized that perhaps some pesticide had been recently applied and they were all just looking for a new home, seeking sanctuary in the sanctuary, so to speak. Later, I discovered that this was a smaller variety of the phane worm that lives in mophane trees, the worm that some southern Africans eat for food. These small ones are a real problem right now, competing for food with the larger, edible worms.

She took me to her house first, to show me around her new digs. While there, I had a cup of sweet tea and regained my composure. We chatted for a while about our respective Christmas holidays and plans for a Bible study that we hoped to begin in the new year. About an hour later, she was dropping me off at my front door, in a much better state than she had found me. I still had a serious case of the willies for
a while but I'm OK now.

It was a rattling experience to see those critters crawling across the whole church, structure and members. Rob got my text message late and so had been there for about half an hour longer waiting for me to return to the pew. But he reported that while I was gone, he too had been distracted by the sight of them everywhere; on the altar, the pulpit, the guy sitting next to him. On the one hand, I felt like I was witnessing some kind of wholesale desecration of "the house of the Lord", made all the more surreal by the people around me who were continuing with liturgy as usual, just as if the place weren't infested. I seriously was incapable of thinking heavenly thoughts during the entire half hour I was in there and, truth be told, for some time afterward. I rather felt like the first person to be kicked off of Fear Factor for failing an insect-based challenge and was feeling rather sheepish about it. I mean, what kind of missionary am I?

On the other hand, the arrival of Luise – out of the blue and entirely unexpected – could have been accompanied by blasts on a trumpet, so palpable was my relief. I have no doubt that she was a God-send; she agrees. And so, she had the chance to be the love of Christ to me in the midst of my own tiny, embarrassing crisis.

And I'm OK with that. And I know what kind of missionary I am. I'm not the kind of missionary who believes that the desire to live the Fear Factor lifestyle is an essential component of being a missionary. I'm the kind of missionary who lives elsewhere only because that's what the job that I've been called to do requires of me. I don't look for trouble and when trouble finds me I'm likely to run screaming like a little girl. But I run to God, to the One who sent me here, even though He knows how I feel about creepy crawlies. I'm the kind of missionary to whom God - in His mercy and grace - will send an angel in the mophane trees.

Trying to make microblogging more macro

2012-01-09T07:06:00.000-08:00

I've learned a new word this week: microblogging. That is the sharing of snippets of info and daily life via status updates, such as on Facebook or Twitter. And I've realized that microblogging is actually where I'm at these days, rather than standard blogging. Just read down this page, check out the dates; you'll see what I mean.

I've been doing the Facebook status update thing for several years now, at least once a day. I even found an app that allows me to share my thoughts on what I'm reading on Twitter with a few taps of the iPod screen. Now, I've discovered Paper.li and created The Exegette, my own media newspaper created from microblogging content. Look to the right of this post, in the sidebar - there it is!

So, even if I am not getting around to having anything more fleshy or pithy to say here on the Dancing Sni, folks can still read a little something-something without having to check all the different sites where I post stuff.

Your word is a stone is an egg

2011-09-05T03:23:00.001-07:00

One of the challenges in translation is the fact that a word in one language can have multiple meanings in another. This is something that was highlighted last week during my language learning session with Bahiti. We were going through the Shiyeyi picture dictionary that was published a few years back and he was pointing out to me the definitions that weren't adequate. For example, the Shiyeyi definition given to go with the picture + English word "egg" is the word ldiyi. Bahiti explained to me that, yes, ldiyi means "egg". But it also means "voice/word". The Setswana definition for "egg" is lee but lee, unlike its Shiyeyi counterpart, does not also mean "voice/word". The Setswana word for "voice/word" is lentswe. But lentswe also means "stone".

This is also an example of why a translation from something other than original languages can create a problem, especially if it then gets retranslated into yet another language. A Shiyeyi speaker who understands Setswana and translates into Shiyeyi from a Setswana Bible would have to choose which meaning of lentswe was intended in passages that contain that word. An English translator from Shiyeyi would then have to select the correct meaning of ldiyi. Imagine the difference that would be created with just one wrong translation choice in the transition from Setswana to Shiyeyi to English in Psalm 29: "The Lord's egg strikes with flaming fire!" Go ahead, read the whole chapter with "egg" in it replacing the word "shout" (in the NET Bible); it's good, clean fun!

An enduring Word

2011-08-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

I just had the most encouraging (and unexpected) interaction! One of our fellow local church-goers recently returned to Finland after 10 years of ministry here in Botswana and, shortly before her departure, sold her car. As it happens, the paperwork was not able to be finalized prior to her departure late last week so she asked if we would be willing to receive things from people on her behalf, to hand off to one of her remaining colleagues to forward to her when we see them. We agreed. Rob got a call yesterday from the new owner of the car, to arrange to meet for the transfer of paperwork. Rob told him that I would be in the office today, that he could drop them off here. The man, Edward, agreed.

He called me this afternoon and said that he would be by before 3:00PM, looking for further directions as he was at the bank but didn't know exactly where my office was. I agreed to walk out to the main road and meet him there. After a few minutes of not seeing him, I called again to make sure that he had not passed me in the time that it had taken me to walk to the main road. While we were talking, he said, "Oh, I can see you now!"

When he approached, we greeted. Then, he said, "I have something for you."

He handed me a small stack of papers. The top paper was the receipt for the car purchase transfer of funds. But the following sheets of paper were my sermon notes from a message that I shared with the ELCB congregation here in Maun back in January 2010: Why it doesn't matter What Jesus Would Do! He laughed when he saw my face. He then explained that he had recognized my voice on the phone – "As soon as I heard you speak, I knew who you were; you sounded just like you sounded when you preached" – and so brought these notes to prove that he remembered me. He said that he still wanted to keep the notes, he just wanted me to see them. He had been a visitor at our church that day and had asked for my notes so that he could study them in order to (as he put it) fully understand the message.

What a fun reunion… both with Edward and with my sermon notes! When Rob and I give a lesson or a message here, someone always asks us for our notes afterwards. Sometimes it is when their first language is neither English (what we have spoken in) nor Setswana (into which our message was translated), as was the case with Edward. We have often wondered aloud, between the two of us, what it is that happens to our notes once they are given away. If Edward's treatment of them is any indication of the kind of longevity such messages can have – at least in physical form – consider my day made!

Safe and sound

2011-07-21T02:44:00.000-07:00

We made it back and forth to the workshop OK. We noticed on our way up that the Toteng bridge had sandbags on it and that the water was all the way to the edge of the road but we went ahead anyway. On the way back, the water was creeping onto the bridge.

The workshop went well, all the remaining Shiyeyi hymns to be revised before the new printing were checked. Most of the changes were just to the new orthography. After the revisions were complete, on the second day, there was a Shiyeyi lesson.

The floods are here

2011-07-12T00:23:00.000-07:00

Have been seeing pictures posted on facebook in the past week by friends who live here in Maun of the floodwaters covering the roads to their home.

[photo from Sitatunga Dispatches, the blog of Elena, for whom we house sat a couple of months back]

I don't think we have anything to worry about here at our house. The real heavy flooding is supposed to hit on Friday, the day that we're traveling up to Gumare for a writers' workshop. Flooding is predicted to possibly continue until the end of August. It's going to be a wet few years, they say (the local flood-pattern experts, that is… not your typical, generic "they"). Still, when we head northwest, we'll get all our electronics off the floor. The complex that we're living in has been around for a fair amount of time, long enough to even show up on Google satellite maps, so I doubt that we'll have an issue.

My main concern is actually the route to Gumare. I'll have to keep an ear to the ground for the next couple of days, make sure we're not driving into a problem. Gumare doesn't flood, I hear, but the roads around it occasionally do. North of it, really. I remember well the writers' workshop around this same time of the year, a few years back, where we had reservations at a river camp in Sepopa that was flooded and had to leave the car at the flood edge to take a mokoro to the camp.

I would say "those were the days" but, as I'm beginning to think, these may be the days again. At least accommodation is now available in Gumare so we don't have to drive back and forth through the worst of the flood plain during this time of year anymore. I'll actually be able to walk back and forth to the workshop from where we're staying; thanks be to God!

Getting ready

2011-07-07T00:04:00.000-07:00

There are so many aspects of a translation project needing to be attended to that never occurred to me prior to being here, being an advisor to such a project. Like, it isn't enough to rent an office; the office building itself requires tending. Right now, the office has 2 broken window panes (came with it, were going to be fixed "ASAP"), a leaky toilet and (possibly) a rodent infestation. Yes, we've got droppings. I'm not sure if they are rodent or lizard but they don't have that telltale white dot on the end of any of the droppings so I'm leaning more towards rodent, unfortunately. I have no idea how they could be getting in, the only entry point is under the front door. Which I can't even imagine, the crack is so small. But I have heard tales of rodents getting into the tiniest of crevices, often dying where they crawl in, if they can't get out. So, now, I am having to fuss with some additional basic logistics that are surprisingly time consuming.

Also, I still have to outfit the office, finding and purchasing furniture and other fittings. Which I am holding off on, frankly, until I figure out the source of the droppings.

Ant weirdness

2011-06-29T00:15:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying that having ants in the home here in Maun is not considered to be a problem. It's just the way things are. The place we're in now is pretty good; we rarely see them, just a small string of them here and there if some food falls on the floor or gets left on the counter. Ziploc baggies are my friend, let me tell you. I baggie everything.

But we have a weird thing going on right now; piles of dead ants. Like, I came out to the living room this morning and was greeted with a small pile of dead ants. It's hard to tell from this picture but the dark brown bits are dead ants and the lighter bits look like pulverized concrete. The thing is, I didn't spray this area so I'm not responsible for the dead ants. Rob says that the landlord does have his guys sprinkle ant killer around the foundations so maybe that's what's killing them. They're just crawling inside and dying once they arrive. At any rate, I guess I'm just glad that they're dead when they arrive, rather than infesting the kitchen. I just have to sweep up the piles. There are worse things.

Looking forward to singing a new song

2011-06-23T13:39:00.001-07:00

I went to the office today, for my usual shift. There was supposed to be someone coming to fix two windows but that didn't happen during the time that I said I'd be around for them to do so. I didn't wait any longer than I had promised; that's a recipe for frustration, let me tell you. And we had had enough of that for the day already. Rob spent hours today trying to get our local bank account set up for internet banking so we have a way to pay rent without standing in long lines at the bank to do so every month. Long story short is that we still don't have online banking set up; he hit a wall. I'm thinking there will have to be some phone calls made tomorrow, see what we can work out over the phone. At any rate, I'm recommending that he call the bank and make an appointment with whoever it is that know anything about the online banking set up process, rather than taking his chances with whoever he gets passed off to on a walk-in basis - in today's case, several whoevers. I say make an appointment. If that's even possible, mind you. Gotta try it; bank queues are nuts.

Tomorrow morning, will be laying down a vocal track for a couple of local budding rap artists from our church. They're doing some pretty fun stuff, good solid talent. Hopefully we'll have something to link to from here that you can preview soon.

New fun drink that I came up with last night:

1/2 cup ginger ale (I like the local brand, Stoney)
1/2 cup pineapple juice
fresh-squeezed juice of 1/2 of a tiny lime

Delish! What should I call it?

Back again

2011-06-22T11:50:00.001-07:00

I know that it's been a long time since I blogged. And I must confess that I've had internet since Monday but I've been too excited looking up all the information that I couldn't look up for so long that I didn't even think of blogging until just now. Hopefully, this will change.

I've been out of the office - the physical one, the one we just rented - for the last couple of days. Tuesday was because I had a sinus thing going on and didn't want to trek there and hang out in the cold when I had a perfectly good home office space to work from right here, where I could recuperate a little. Today, Rob had some guys coming over to record so I stayed as support staff. Also, they want me to help out with a track on the album so they taught me the part. And I made them coffee and lunch, you know, wifey stuff.

Tomorrow, I'll be going in though. It's just me there for now, while we figure out who the staff will be, so it isn't like I have anyone waiting for me when I get there. But I'm going in to get into the habit of doing so, really. Plus, I've already moved all my linguistics books and project files over there. Tomorrow, someone is coming to fix a couple of windows that were already cracked when I moved in so I need to be there for that.

Home at last

2011-04-15T01:27:00.000-07:00

Well, we aren't. But we do have prospects; we hope to be meeting with our new landlord some time today. Thanks be to God! It's the place we wanted to be living in all along. Right now, I'm emailing at the university library at the edge of town. Then, we get groceries and back out into the bush.

Roughing it

2011-04-05T10:25:00.000-07:00

We arrived yesterday to our housesitting gig, at a wooden house on the river, in the bush, near an ostrich farm. Yes, housesitting; the thing we had been determined not to do this time around. But we are rapidly discovering that it is impossible to find a house to rent in Maun if you are not already living in Maun. We came up here last week to follow up on some of the houses that we'd been notified of the week before, only to find that they had been rented already, presumably by some of the many people who are literally camped out here looking for a place to live. There are a bunch staying at Audi Camp, where someone had their tent robbed while they were out. I know, people shouldn't leave valuables in their tents at a busy camping area. It's a bit of a challenge, however, when you're living there as a primary residence while looking for real housing.

So, this housesitting thing is a real blessing for us. We have to be available to hop in our car at a moment's notice and go look at whatever comes up; saying "We'll be there next week to check it out," just won't cut it. And now, we are available. It's a bit of a trek over a sand track to get back to this house that we're staying in but it's a lot closer than Kang was, a 15 minute drive instead of a 5+ hour one.

Staying here is surreal. All you can hear at night are the bell-frogs and the wind. During the day, the wind remains but the frogs are replaced by bleating goats, bird calls and the occasional cow bell. The neighbors dogs bark occasionally but there aren't enough people passing these remote houses to get them going most of the time. With the coming of fall, the breezes are refreshing and no longer resembling the usual Maun summer sensation of being in a convection oven. The doors and windows are open most of the day so that these breezes can keep the temperature down inside. It's quite tranquil, feels a bit like being in a summer cottage. We are truly surrounded by the bush. We've determined that we will make the most of this time in terms of rest, maintaining a summer-camp attitude as we go about doing what needs to be done - driving to town for email, making the rounds of the real estate offices, doing paperwork, working on Setswana, getting ready for the upcoming Wayeyi festival in a couple of weeks.

I'm also planning to take a little time to read some of the books here on the homeowner's shelf. Today, I began with "Nobody ever said AIDS: stories & poems from southern Africa", edited by Nobantu Rasebotsa, Meg Samuelson and Kylie Thomas.

As I write, I'm becoming aware that a storm is about to hit us. The wind is getting stronger and colder through the patio door as the sky darkens. Trees scrape on the tin roof and there's a growing number of dry leaves whirling across the main room floor. The smell of Maun, dry and sandy with the green citrusy overtones of bush sage, is being cut and carried by the ozone gusts of a storm on the rise. I say a prayer that there are no secret leaks in this roof.

Time in D'kar

2011-03-08T04:24:00.001-08:00

I've been in D'kar since yesterday, visiting with the Naro Language Project. They are finalizing their Bible translation this year, Lord willing, and were sharing with the Shekgalagari Bible Translation Committee the joys and challenges of the work. Hessel even gave us a demo of Paratext 7, which is being used in the checking process.

We will be leaving D'kar sometime this afternoon and returning to Kang, hopefully getting back by nightfall. I have been able to do emailing this morning, for the first time in a long time from my own computer. Ah, the little things.

Next week, we go back to Maun for househunting and the BOMU Awards concert, where Rob will be playing guitar and I'll be singing backing vocals for William Sechele (a.k.a. Kenny Williams). We'll be performing either "On My Own" or "I Believe".

Now playing: Kenny Williams

Facts of life

2011-02-21T00:43:00.000-08:00

If you track this blog, you'll notice that a bunch of posts appeared this morning, albeit predating today. That's because I'm trying to keep making blog entries, even if it's difficult for me to get online. Rich and Maya Rudowske are graciously allowing us to use their laptop and internet connection when we ask to take care of business, which we are trying to do a couple of times a week.

Our internet problem is that the USB internet dongle that most people use when they can't get DSL in their home doesn't work with a Mac; the dongles are Windows only. Sigh. There is a solution that will work for us but in order to sign up for the service on the device that does work with a Mac, we need to provide the Mascom office with certified copies of our lease... which, not having a new lease yet, we can't do. Double sigh. So, this blog will be sporadic until we sign the lease on our new place, which can only happen once we find a new place. Our hope and prayer is that we'll be able to move in somewhere at the end of March. And no sooner will the ink have dried on the lease than we will have obtained certified copies thereof and applied for the Mascom Mi-Fi system. Regular net again! 'Twill be nice.

Fresh fatcakes galore

2011-02-17T00:42:00.000-08:00

We had our first fresh fatcakes since our return. What a treat! The Rudowskes told us that the Kang Kitchen next to the Meat Market in town made great fatcakes and that they were fresh at 9AM each day so we made the pilgrimage on foot this morning, taking advantage of the cloud cover to be able to walk with an umbrella for shade.

Now, we had had something similar to fatcakes a couple of weeks ago, when Kathy made donuts to share with us; lovely cakey things with sweetness and a bit of spice, reminiscent of the sourdough donuts that Mom used to make in the wok for us when I was a kid. But real, local fatcakes are another thing again. It's hard to quantify what makes them special. They aren't too sweet, for one thing; the sweetness level is not that far above regular home-made white bread. But they don't have that inconsequential sense that most donuts have, where you can feel the non-foodness of them with every glucosey bite. A hot, fresh fatcake (which this morning's fatcakes were) gives way a little between your teeth until the outer brownness kind of pops open, like a grilled sausage skin, releasing the cream-colored innards to spring back into a orange-sized ball shape - they aren't like Timbits either, all you Canadians out there. Most of the sweetness in a fatcake comes from the hot oil that has permeated it somehow. Every bite coats the lips in slightly sweet oiliness. With coffee? Fuggedaboutit! Ambrosia.

I ate all three of mine straightway. Rob ate one and is still saving two for later, even though he has already had a second cuppa joe this morning that he could have enjoyed them with. I cannot but admire his restraint.

Black widows galore

2011-02-16T00:41:00.000-08:00

Rob called me out to the kitchen this morning to look at a spider in the sink. He had been about to put something in the sink, about to put his hand right through the middle of the web in the process, but had noticed the spider just in time, stopping himself from doing so. He asked if it was a black widow; it sure looked like it but I've never seen one in person before. I went and got the camera, took a few macro shots so I could get a closer look without having to be, um, closer. After getting a good shot, Maya Rudowske showed up at our door, on her way out of town and checking on something with our neighbor. I asked her if it was a black widow; she said that it was and killed it with her sandal. I had no idea that there were black widows here! Wild! She said that they were all over the place. Given that, I'm surprised that I just saw my first one today, rather than sooner.

Just a couple of hours later, I went to put on some sandals that I hadn't worn in a weekÉ and there was another one, on a web from one of my sandals! Two in one day! I'll definitely be checking my shoes more closely from now on.

Thrill of the hunt

2011-02-15T00:40:00.000-08:00

We just got back from our first return househunting effort, an experience that has been markedly different from our first term's efforts. First term, we spent a lot of tie just trying to find out where to go to find someone who could tell us where to look for houses. It wasn't until our last 2 weeks of searching (of the more than 3 months total that we were in the market) that we even knew who all the real estate agents in Maun were. This time, we were able to go to Maun on Thursday, visit all the agents on Friday and know exactly what was and was not available by end-of-day Monday. We actually looked at 5 houses altogether on Friday, through 4 different agents.

Now, this is not to say that we've signed any leases. Friday's efforts were an odd combination of encouraging and discouraging. Encouraging because we knew all the agents and spent the whole day driving around to look at things. Given that I'm normally pleased to accomplish 2 things per day on an average day here, to actually visit 4 agents and go to see 5 houses was a pretty big deal. On the other hand it was discouraging in the sense that we really didn't find what we were looking for. We did refine our criteria somewhat but, then, we didn't come to Maun to make a better list Ð we came to find a house.

The first house had significant water damage evident both from the stains on the walls and the sagging roof. A further complication was that there was a smaller house on the plot that contained a tenant, whom we would either have to evict and assume the cost of rent or keep on the property. The general state of the yard and the bottles strewn about outside their door gave me the sense that eviction would be our wisest option but who wants to be reason that someone is evicted? Hardly the way to win friends and influence people in the community. The first house was not going to work, on a number of levels.

The second house was somewhat better, having obvious water damage only in one room of the house. It was, however, infested with wasps' nests. Also, the kitchen contained only a sink, no other fixtures. While we still have some household setup funds remaining, I wasn't sure how far it would stretch for a complete kitchen redo. Also, I wondered about security. Our next door neighbor had a tall concrete wall edged with barbed wire and a metal sliding gate; the place we were considering had no burglar bars on the doors, minimal barring on the windows and a short chain link fence. That combined with the distance from the main road might make us targets. The ward is actually the one where many of the expatriates live and one where robberies do get reported in the local paper as happening. All of the reputation of being a prime hit-spot for thieves and none of the protection to fend them off? Not a good idea. We set aside the idea of house number two.

The third house was the middle house of a tri-plex, with the outer two houses being occupied by doctors and rented by the government. It wasn't too bad but it had no air-con in any of the rooms and the installed ceiling fans didn't actually work. More importantly, there were no taps in the whole house that we could attach a washing machine to. The kitchen was so small that, even if there had been a suitable tap, we couldn't have put both a refrigerator and a washing machine in there. The clothesline would also be shared, an additional life-complication. Also, one of the neighbors was keeping chickens and the chickens were nesting on our porch. Perhaps a request to move the chickens might have done something but they weren't cooped, they were free ranging around the property. We decided to keep this place in mind but neither of us were excited about the challenges that would be inherent in getting the place set up at the onset.

The fourth house had something that appealed to us greatly; it was on the property of a local politician and the grounds were very secure and well-kept. We would be renting what had likely been the servant's quarters at one point. Rob noticed, however, that the foundation was significantly shifted and that none of the metal-framed windows or doors closed all the way; one of the doors I had noticed myself as being not closeable. The rooms were very small as well and we weren't sure that our bed would even fit in the "master bedroom". Also the master bedroom had a bathroom but it was actually IN the bedroom, no door between it and the bedroom. Given the regularity of water outages in Maun, we could just imagine the stinky issues we would eventually have to contend with. The final issue was that there was nothing in the "kitchen" but a sink and, as at the previous place we viewed, nowhere to attach a washing machine. Cross off another housing option.

The fifth and final house of the day was a newer construction, built in 2009. It was pretty good on the inside, though still a bit smallish in the bedrooms for our bed. It had 2 issues. One, there was no security or privacy afforded by the fence at all, a short chain-link with a flimsy gate, making Rob uncomfortable with the idea of leaving me there unattended for any length of time. Two, there was no place for a washing machine hookup (again!). We could have jury-rigged something maybe in the one washroom, kind of like we had to do at our last place, but it would have meant wearing out the connectors in a short time by disconnecting and reconnecting them constantly. Still, this was the best of the 5 places we looked at and we kept it in mind.

Saturday, we attended the multicultural festival at the local high school and I enjoyed reconnecting with my local work-partners who were in attendance, as well as a friend from music camp and one from church. We got a lead on another possible house from our church mate. The shop-owner at one of the shops we stopped in at welcomed us back and gave us another lead. Still, I was feeling a little down at the prospects that Friday had left us with and wondered at our chances of actually finding something nice in the 2 months that we're allowing ourself to do so.

Sunday, we went to church, where some of our friends there promised to help us find something; one said that he would "wear out his shoes" doing so until we could come back.

Monday, we got the number from a co-worker in Shakawe for the lead from the shop-owner on Saturday and called it. The property manager/owner said we could come look at the complex, that there wasn't anything available right now but that something would be coming open at the end of February and we could go on the waiting list for it. We went to look; we were thrilled and our hearts went up with hope. It's a secure property right on the main road and not too far from down-town, making us a lot easier to visit than we were last time. There's a full-time security person at the gate, which means we could even go on furlough without needing to worry about our stuff. The fellow renters on the property are mostly companies, some of them only using their homes a few times year, so they're equipped for having people leave their places empty for long stretches. Walking around the little unit was a joy; it was structurally sound! Windows, cupboards, closets and doors all closed! Not a sign of infestation to be seen anywhere! There was even a dedicated washing machine hookup right there in the kitchen. And it's walking distance to where our mailbox is, also a small shop for convenience groceries and the like.

Yes, this is definitely the place that we want. We are third on the waiting list but the owner said that many people will go on the list and then find something else without reporting back to him that they have done so. Oh, I hope that that's the case this time as well! We are praying and hoping that we get good news on this front in the next couple of weeks. This place is so perfect for us that it's becoming hard to imagine living anywhere else, now that we've seen it. Please, God, please make it possible!

Another encouraging aspect of this process has been the interconnectedness that we feel as a result of people's offers to help. On this first househunting trip since our return, we actually saw about 2/3 of the people that we know in Maun during the 4 days that we were there. Of those people, many of them had housing leads for us. And while most of those have not yet panned out, we still have a couple leads in reserve from those conversations that we will look into if the last place that we looked at doesn't become immediately available. One is a potential house belonging to a Shiyeyi language resource person who has been assisting a local language researcher and who I met myself once while working on the Mark check last term. Another is a house that was rented by a friend-of-a-friend of ours that fell through during a misunderstanding with the landlady. Apparently it is a very nice one-bedroom house but with an owner who may not be used to dealing properly with tenants; a situation all too reminiscent of our last term for us to want to leap into it again with both feet. The point is that we now have connections; we are not doing this without local support. It's a good feeling.

Joys of greeting

2011-02-03T00:39:00.000-08:00

How nice it is to take the walk to work in the early morning, greeting everyone that I meet! The first Setswana "lesson" that Richard and I did was a review of the greetings so I am taking every opportunity to practice. While the basic beginning greeting is the same ("dumela" to one person or "dumelang" to more than one), there is a variety of things that can be said after that. The challenge is to recognize quickly which potential response has been used and react appropriately. It's easier if I greet first because, by starting the chain reaction, I get to choose what comes after the basic "dumela". The challenge with starting is that I need to know what comes after the "dumela". I can't just say "dumela"; I have to indicate who the person is that I'm greeting. If I know their name (which I don't for the people that I meet on the path in Kang), I can say it. If not, I have to say "mma" to a woman, "rra" to a man, "bomma" to multiple women, "borra" to multiple men, "mma le rra" to a woman with a man, "borra le mma" to a woman walking with two men, etc. You get the idea. I can usually pick out gender from a distance because women are mostly wearing skirts. The only challenge that I regularly have on my route are the trash collectors; they are occasionally mixed gender and wearing coveralls with neutral hats.

At any rate, it seems that I am one of few foreigners who greet around here because, while a smile usually accompanies the "dumela" response, surprise often does as well. The people en route to the Rudowskes' place are beginning to expect me these days as my schedule is regular. This is not so much true in the center of the village. The looks there are often ones of confusion, as if they can't reconcile my use of Setswana with my face. Still, the vast majority smile in a friendly fashion and we are both enriched. I arrive at the Rudowskes for my Setswana lesson light-hearted and raring to go.

There is a saying here, "Madume ga a jewe." - Greetings are not eaten. True, but they can be food for the soul.

Ready to fly

2011-01-23T12:13:00.001-08:00

We fly at 10 pm this evening. We arrive in Gaborone early Tuesday afternoon. Now, we just need the airline to accept our overweight luggage...

Insect repellent

2011-01-22T20:40:00.000-08:00

This is what I'm bringing with me to stave off the mosquitos, since we live in a malaria-area:

[click the picture to buy on amazon]

Here's some info on the study that brought black pepper essential oil as a mosquito repellent to our attention:

More on the study conducted by Katritzky et al can be read here.

iPad case

2011-01-22T20:36:00.000-08:00

Here's the case that we bought for our Christmas iPad:

[click the picture to see the case on amazon]

Last few things

2011-01-05T10:18:00.001-08:00

Just got contact lenses ordered for a fitting later this week. Now, off to pick up our luggage at Sears in Bellevue.

Waiting for glasses

2011-01-02T12:37:00.001-08:00

So, here we are in Bellingham, waiting for my eyeglasses to come in. I ordered 2 pairs because, last term, the pair that I had fell in half after just over a year. They were plastic frames and the optometrist said that this happens sometimes because the plastic dries out. However, the drying and cracking normally happens after about 7 years. I guess the dryness of the air in Botswana just speeded up the process. At any rate, I will be going with a spare pair this time. Hopefully, these will last longer.

If the glasses are in tomorrow, we pick them up before heading south to pack for our return to Botswana sometime this month.

Using the Monarch app to blog

2011-01-01T15:50:00.001-08:00

Here's hoping that this is a year of renewed communication and reporting! I know that's certainly what my father-in-law is hoping for. I've been focusing a lot on the facebook method of communication but I guess I needn't self-limit, now that technology is catching up with my communication needs. Posting to my blog and facebook with a single click? Magical!

Christmas Greeting 2010

2010-11-13T14:32:00.000-08:00

Medical checkup

2010-09-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

Just finished our furlough medical checkup. Well, almost; have to go back next Tuesday for our tuberculosis test. Rob got a prescription for the nasty sinus thing he's had going on for the last few weeks. Ironically, I got a scrip for the same antibiotic when I went to urgent care for my spider bite yesterday… so we're getting the same treatment for 2 different things. We were in with the doctor for almost 3 hours! She said that she's never ordered so much bloodwork before. She was very thorough. We get the results next week.

Rob is at his mbira lesson now, in downtown Seattle. I'm catching up on paperwork.

Speaking

2010-09-15T09:53:00.001-07:00

We had a great weekend in Potlatch, ID: sermon, dinner, classes at a local elementary school, youth group… 9 events attended in all! Now, we're getting ready for our upcoming weekend in Renton, as well as catching up on emails and preparing for our health checkup at the doctor's this afternoon. This is our official furlough medical, where we get a sense of where we stand physically after this last term.

Music of Botswana to preview

2010-08-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

One of the artists that Rob produced this past term in Botswana is available to preview online; click the play button (boxed triangle) below to hear William Sechele (a.k.a. Kenny Williams) performing one of his pieces "On My Own". That's me singing backup, BTW. He has successfully replaced me for the live performances he's doing now.

Zimfest 2010

2010-08-23T12:33:00.000-07:00

Zimfest was this last weekend, in Corvallis, OR. What a great time! I learned a few new songs on marimba as well as some children's songs and games from Zimbabwe. Rob took mbira classes. We both did a new instrument, chipendani. It's a kind of split bow that is played with plucking and resonating in the mouth. Yes, just as tricky as it sounds.

In related big news: I bought a marimba, from MarimbaWorks! Just a little soprano one, without legs. But it fits nicely in the car and I can practice on it, for when I go back to Botswana. So excited!

We're also having a great time staying with our friend Johanna, from college. Next weekend, we're off to Redding for a speaking thing at Trinity Lutheran Church and to visit with Johanna's folks there as well.

I'm feeling much better these days; still have some head congestion but my lungs are clear and I'm not as fatigued as I was. Yay!

In recovery

2010-08-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

I'm still not feeling too well but I saw the doctor this morning and my lungs are clear: yay! I'm keeping it low key here at Kate and Dave's place. They're gone camping this week so we're housesitting and taking care of the pets. Rob is currently at a speaking thing at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Bellevue. I'm not with him because the doctor said to not be around kids if I could help it. Boy, I hope I'm well in time for our next speaking thing on Tuesday. It's a singing thing, actually, so I really need my voice and breathing back.

Sick days

2010-08-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

Today and yesterday are official sick days. Yesteday, I couldn't get out of bed, period, too weak to do so. Today, I can sit up, propped, but I'm still taking it easy (in bed) because I get dizzy sometimes when I stand. Breathing stuff. Oy. But I can still use my computer today so I'm working on a printable schedule of our speaking this fall.

East side

2010-07-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

We're getting ready today for our trip to Halifax tomorrow. We'll be there until Sunday, when we drive back here to Fredericton. Mom and Dad will be flying in that day as well so we'll get to be in the same house for a week during their vacation. We've arranged for a special evening presentation at St. Matthew's here in town for while they're here, open to the public. Rob's been working on a flyer for the event today.

Far Trekkin' - July 2010

2010-07-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

Oh Canada

2010-07-07T16:56:00.001-07:00

We're on our way to the east coast now, flying out of Abbotsford tomorrow morning. Had a wonderful few days in WA; fun with Kate and Heidi in Redmond, visit to Cross of Christ in Bellevue on Sunday, dinner with the Swigarts in Bellingham. First speaking thing in New Denmark on Saturday night.

Last day of class

2010-06-04T07:56:00.001-07:00

Just finished my last class and am getting ready for our last chapel. Rob should be here with his guitar any moment now. Shopping and celebration with Mom, Hope and Rob this afternoon and commencement tomorrow. It's going to be an action-packed few days.

Comp success

2010-06-01T14:26:00.001-07:00

Oh; I forgot to mention that I passed comps. So, when courses are done, I graduate on Saturday. Yay! Mom and Hope are coming down from Canada for commencement.

Projects on the go

2010-06-01T14:24:00.001-07:00

Just finished one of my two remaining major papers before my coursework for the MA Applied Linguistics is done. I hope to finish the second paper today. Then, I'll just have one presentation (which I've already prepped) and a tiny paper (which I haven't) before all is complete. I'm hoping to have all finished by the time of my birthday dinner tomorrow night.

Grades acomin'

2010-05-20T10:29:00.001-07:00

We get our comps grades tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Comp complete

2010-05-16T05:26:00.001-07:00

It's done! What a relief! Now, I can return to focusing on coursework. Have to prepare testing question for the comic book translation Rob and I are doing for my translation methods class. Catching up on my Shiyeyi grammar file for my field methods class. Two big papers, a handful of little papers, a bunch of readings and one final exam to go. Three weeks left before graduation.

One more day to go

2010-05-14T05:32:00.001-07:00

Just 24 hours from now, I'll be getting ready to go for the comps. I'll be drinking a cup of tea, possibly making a second cup in a travel cup to take with me. I'll be packing up my "quiet foods" for snacking during the exam; a banana and a Bolthouse protein drink (hazelnut latte flavor).

It's wild how I vacillate between feeling ready and not feeling ready.

Chapel this morning; Rob and I are on the Friday chapel worship team.

Just 24 hours.

Monotastic

2010-05-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

Rob feels a little left out with my studying. When he asks how my day went, it's hard to answer without using large technical terms; "Today I learned how to identify synecdoche from among other forms of metonymy!" His response? Make up his own technical terms. Yesterday's term was 'monotastic'. That's when something is largely mundane but also a little but fantastic. I like it. I hope he has a monotastic day today, while my nose remains on the academic grindstone.

Exam week

2010-05-12T05:07:00.001-07:00

My focus this week is on getting my head and body in good shape for Saturday's exam. Eating regular meals plus snacks, taking all my vitamins, drinking plenty if water. Sleeping at least 8 hours a night in the days leading up to it. Completing the homework for my regular classes rapidly, then going back to study but not studying to the point of head-spinning. Having energizing interactions with friends in the hallway as they arise. My current policy is to not cut conversations short because of having to study; if I live my life as if I'm under great pressure, I will truly be under great pressure. So, I'm just trying to be balanced about things, not frenetic.

Blogging from my iPod?

2010-05-11T14:46:00.001-07:00

I think I just figured out a way. May increase my regularity; I am a self-confessed sucker for novelty.

At any rate, if you can see this, you may be seeing more here soon.

Comprehensive exam coming up

2010-05-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday; 6 hours of testing madness. This school session has been crazy. Gotta keep head above water. Pray for me.

Hebrew Helps

2010-03-03T12:40:00.000-08:00

Well, they've helped me, anyhow. I think intentionally composing songs with the paradigms helped me think about them enough that they stuck. However, if you want to get the most out of these, here are some composition tips to keep in mind:

- Pitch relates to stress. So, stressed syllables (including one where the meteg serves to keep qamets stressed on a first syllable) have higher pitch than others.
- Pitch can also signify shewa; the pitch is a bit lower for shewa syllables because I think of them as being extra-unstressed.
- Paqad: word order is all single forms, 3-2-1 person, in the first verse, all plural forms in the second
- Who Hem Hemaw: each person gets a verse, starting with 3-2-1, though both 3M and 3F get a verse (M at a lower general pitch than F)

You can reach the folder where I will post any helps I come up with by clicking here or by following this link:

http://cid-ee19c22943b900ed.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Public/Hebrew%20Helps?uc=1

For pride's sake, I should add that I threw these together with Garageband, using only loops on hand, so these are demo quality. Maybe when I get free time again (i.e. post-grad school) I'll release a final master. :)

The folder today contains the 2 songs and a little video I did for Ross Ch 11 vocab, using material from the following free podcast of all of Ross vocab spoken:

http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/biblical-hebrew-vocab-pronunciations/id214899491

Also, any iFlash (Mac software only, sorry) users out there? Because I'm building as I go an iFlash flashcard set of Ross vocab, the current iteration of which (up to Ross Ch 12) is also in this folder.

Far Trekkin' - March 2010

2010-03-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

Time marches on

2010-02-25T07:53:00.001-08:00

I think that my top takeaway from grad school will be that things just take longer than you think they will. I think, "Oh, I'll just whip through that reading," when, in reality, it takes me a full minute to read each page. Therefore, a 60 page reading takes a full hour. And that doesn't count annotation time. Sigh. Please God, help me make it all fit, clockwise.

Short and sweet

2010-02-10T20:43:00.001-08:00

Arrived in Dallas; bags arrived a day later. Settled into our new place, got a lift to San Antonio to get the new-to-us car. Got a mild case of shingles. Recovered. Started classes today. Hoping to get back in the blogging swing of things soon, once things mellow out a bit here.

Packing like there's no tomorrow

2010-01-08T02:34:00.001-08:00

Well, for me, for packing, there isn't. Co-worker Michael is picking me up at lunch-time and taking me to a week-long workshop in Shakawe. Therefore, I have to have packed all that I'm planning on taking with me to Dallas before I go. The movers are coming to take whatever's left on January 16, which is also the day that I'm due to return from my workshop. From there, we move into a local chalet for 3 nights while we do the final house cleaning and get an inspection done. Then, we start the drive cross-country to where we're flying out. Spending a night in Kang on the way, with Rich & Maya Rudowske and family. The Rudowskes are car-sitting for us while we're away.

The last few things to pack are always the hardest, especially when you're trying to decide what stays and what goes. One of my suitcases is fully packed, not to be added to (it's the perfect flight-weight). The other I hope to finish in the next few hours, just after lunch. Then, once it's weighed, I'll remove some things to put in yet another small suitcase for next week's workshop. Hopefully, I'll return from the workshop fast enough to retransfer things to the real suitcase and give the movers the small one to pack with everything else. Ah, the mayhem.

Images for emailing

2010-01-01T11:29:00.000-08:00

Sharing the shopping task

2009-12-24T00:49:00.001-08:00

Music camp ends

2009-12-13T01:34:00.001-08:00

Just a short while to post here. The first music workshop, where we were teaching, went well. The second, where we were students, just ended last night. Hanging around in Gaborone until Rob's recording session with Ntirelang Thursday night. Staying with the Rudowskes tonight, having lunch with them in about 2 minutes. More to come soon?

Packing prep

2009-11-25T01:17:00.001-08:00

Been doing some packing this morning. It really is tricky, trying to figure out what should come back to the U.S with us and what should stay here. Like, as far as clothing goes, we've agreed (Rob & I) that we'll each bring enough clothes for a week, plus a few church-worthy items. The rest will remain here as our plan is to buy some new stuff to replace the things that are wearing out. Most of Rob's shoes are wearing through the soles. And my everpresent red shoes have seen far better days - I need new casual shoes that can multi-task as professional.

One weirdness that I discovered this morning - a fair number of my underwear items have gone missing. I know this because I counted what was one hand this morning and certain notable items are not among the items available. I can't say for sure where they might have gone. My current theory is that they walked out of my suitcase during one of our hotel stays in Gaborone. That's all I can figure since our clothesline isn't accessible by those outside the gate. Just weird.

Spoke too soon

2009-11-19T01:28:00.001-08:00

Well. Now, I feel really bad for my last post. We had a swarm of winged bug things attack the house last night - heard a sound like rain but found when we looked outside that it was only hundreds of bugs hitting the window. We hurried around the house, shutting windows because it seemed like they were even getting in through cracks around the edge of the screens. I got the one in the living room, without turning on the light because that was what was attracting them to the windows in the first place. Bad idea.

When Rob went to open the living room window in the morning (there's a lovely cool breeze at this time - thanks be to God), he found a squished adult lizard in it. I just didn't see it when I was pulling the window in. Ghastly.

Rob cleaned up the mess, didn't even make me see it. Thanks, Rob. I feel bad enough about it as it is.

Ironically, I killed about 20 palm-sized flying bugs last night as well, all the ones who got in through the window-cracks. I had to get them before they crawled on the clean dishes in the drying rack and stuck to them, rendering Rob's efforts useless. Yet, for a massive swath of bug-killing, I feel no qualms. Funny, that.

New bug in town

2009-11-13T03:01:00.001-08:00

The hot bug right now is anything that looks like a cockroach, regardless of color, texture or size. It's odd how bug seasons are here, changing all the time. And, to accompany the new bug trend, we have a tiny gecko skittering about. You know those dreams you have about having a tiny pet that is so small that you accidentally end up squishing them, either by sitting or stepping on them? Well, that's my waking life right now. It hasn't happened and I pray that it doesn't. Just gotta turn the lights on before I enter a room and look down before I step.

Weather update

2009-11-12T01:41:00.001-08:00

Just saw the weather report and it looks like they've changed the forecast for the weekend - overcast on Sunday, no more rainstorm anticipated. Sigh. Praying for rain?

Moving ahead

2009-11-12T01:25:00.000-08:00

I wrote my GRE exam on Monday and it went very well. I like that they give you the results for the verbal and quantitative section immediately, so you don't have to go away wondering how you did, for the most part. Now, almost all the arrangements have been made for the first leg of our home leave in 2010. All that remains to to finalize a car plan for Texas, schedule speaking things for the the last half of the year and get a car arranged for the speaking tour. We're talking to an organization in Indiana that specializes in providing transportation for missionaries and full-time church workers; looks promising.

Rob had a recording session on Saturday that went well, despite some equipment snafus. His main choral mic has been acting up, these last 2 recording sessions, making a sort of popping noise. Time for a technical checkup - he'll have to send his mics for tune-up, make sure everything is in tiptop condition before we return. It's a good thing we're going back now, now that his gear is needing attention.

Just made a schedule for our last 10 weeks here - hard to believe it's only 10 weeks before we fly! Have to get everything packed to move out. And almost 4 of those weeks are completely booked, with us having to physically be somewhere other than staying in our own home, making multi-tasking impossible. But we've packed in shorter times before so we should be alright.

Did I mention recently that it is hot here? The weirdest thing: we woke up this morning to the smell of rain and a cool breeze blowing through the living room window. Yet, when we looked outside, not a raincloud in sight. Now, the smell is gone with nothing to show for it. What was that all about?!? The weather forecast is for rain this weekend but I would gladly have taken it a day or 2 earlier. Sticky, me.

A tour of my Maun

2009-10-08T06:59:00.000-07:00

Check out my neighborhood on the map below:

View Eshinee's World in a larger map

Far Trekkin' - October 2009

2009-10-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

Maun ELCB church

2009-09-24T00:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo of our church in Maun, from the ELCA website:

Why I'm learning Setswana

2009-09-23T05:14:00.000-07:00

There are a number of reasons but here is a big one. Take this quote from a recent Mmegi article: "Days when Batswana would be queueing up for service when an officer was busy eating fat cakes are over. In the past it was common that on Friday at 12 noon go theogela dibaki motho ene a tsamaya ko Dibete a laisitse koloi moroko wa dikgomo aya morakeng, when people were looking at his jacket in the office thinking he is around. Those days are over." - Dr Batlang Comma Serema, BDP Executive Secretary

Now, you can probably get the drift of it without knowing what that string of Setswana in the middle is actually saying. However, the practice of saying the key point in Setswana, even if everything else is in English, is prevalent. I just want to be able to fully communicate in the national language. And, if I'm not fully hearing, full communication isn't happening. Just my thinking on that.

So far, I can tell that the saying has something to do with starting work, coats, a person, going to somewhere, a car and cows.

The Maun Blog

2009-09-22T01:42:00.000-07:00

Someone else is blogging from Maun. I thought this would be a fun link to share here, especially since the blog has a video taken at the bridge behind our house:

Another perspective on some of the things that I've blogged about over the past 6 months since moving here.

Couch surfing

2009-09-18T03:08:00.000-07:00

We're looking into low-cost travel options for when we're speaking in churches back in the US and Canada. Gotta keep the overhead low, eh? One of the accommodation options that I'm looking into is couchsurfing.

It looks like a great way to stay in all kinds of new places (i.e. where we don't have a friend or family place to crash for the night) and meet cool new people, all at once. I mean, more new people than we'll also be meeting while speaking at a church in a place where we don't know anyone already.

search like a Sni

2009-09-17T06:13:00.001-07:00

If you search here, you'll search only the sites that I've designated as regularly searched sites by moi. Therefore, you'll find whatever I would find. Cut out the middleman - search like a Sni!

Air quality

2009-09-10T05:50:00.000-07:00

The view to the east

The view to the south

The view to the west

Notice a pattern? Maun is layered with a creamy coating of various air pollutants right now. Happened last year at about this time too. And my sinuses are talking about it. Had to whip out the old sinus irrigator. Then, I did a little online digging to see if pollution is a known issue in Botswana. Known issue? Well, let's just say that a single mine in Selebi-Phikwe is responsible for 90% of the sulfur dioxide emissions in Botswana. Plus, this is the time of year when people start burning the brush, preparing for planting, if I understand correctly. And the trash fires are year round, though not as much of an issue in the rainy season. I'm not a rainy day fan but, this time of year, my heart makes an exception. Rains, come quickly!

Herero festival in Toteng

2009-09-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

We only went for a short while as I was attending an Aglow: Generations Project event in the afternoon. It was cool to see the variety of dresses and headwear of the Herero women. Also, there was marching.

Rev. Unazo Uhona and Rob

Marching

Summer arrives

2009-09-01T06:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's officially summer again. I put clothes on the line and it dried in just a couple of hours. Our computers start to choke up after a few hours of running them. We're having to monitor the internal temp of our laptops constantly, so we don't burn out the hard drive. I put a bunch of old (tops removed) soda cans in the freezer with a little water in them, for making cold drinks out of room temperature water - a luxury on most days, a necessity on others. Made a pasta salad at lunch time so we don't have to eat hot food at dinner time, when the house is at its hottest. Am wearing the lightest article of clothing I own, a little cotton sundress that I picked up at an open market in Gaborone. I regress to this garment most days in the summer, after a morning of being able to wear anything else. Ah, summer.

BaoRob

2009-08-12T05:21:00.001-07:00

Occasionally, life here makes us feel like we're chickens running around headless. You make plans, they fall through. The only person who can help you with something you absolutely need done is a 9 hour drive away. Basic amenities go on the fritz the day before a major journey/meeting/event. Person A has a problem that keeps Person B from being able to help Person C make their appointment with Person D, who then has to cancel their meeting with you. Such is life.

Today, we are waiting to see how our travel plans for the next 5 days work out. We have reservations in Gaborone for meetings that are scheduled there that may have to be postponed until we find out whether or not one of our meetees will actually end up being here in Maun during the appointed time instead. We'll know this evening. Until then, we can only pack our bags (again) in anticipation of leaving and… wait.

Why "BaoRob"? The cool picture from our trip back to Maun this week, that's all. We sure do see some nifty things at potty stops on our travels.

recording the Wayeyi choir

2009-08-12T05:11:00.000-07:00

Rob was recording the Wayeyi choir from Ikoga for the last couple of days, singing both traditional songs an translated hymns in Shiyeyi.

Rob at work

the choir at work

…and then the photos began

Eventually, we were dragged into the fun.

Kalanga New Testament & Psalms launch

2009-08-09T05:06:00.000-07:00

Rob & I went to our first New Testament launch yesterday, in the Kalanga language. What a day!

Rev. Mothetho loads the NT&P into the bakkie to bring to the dedication grounds

a Kalanga poet makes a dramatic presentation during the dedication

distribution of the first copies

Batsara Batsapi

2009-08-04T02:09:00.000-07:00

The festival at Sangwali was a success. I met some people who I think we will be of great assistance to each other in the future stages of the Shiyeyi language project. The dancing was wonderful, especially one little cutie who couldn't have been more than 4 years old but, boy, could she work that reed skirt!

meeting with Namibian Shiyeyi-speakers to discuss Bible translation possibilities

waiting for Shikati to come

Wayeyi dancers

Shikati Ozoo speaks

zebras and impala on the side of the road, driving back from the festival

with my new prized possession - a recently published Shiyeyi grammar by Frank Seidel

We arrived home yesterday around 7:30PM, after an eventful trip that included a 3-car accident (wich we weren't involved with, just came upon 30 minutes after it happened), subsequent emergency trip to the clinic, transport of the Wayeyi chief to his destination (he was in one of the cars) and near misses of our own with various cows that couldn't be seen on the road at night. But we are safe and praying for those who were injured, including a number of those Wayeyi who attended the festival with us in Sangwali. Still waiting for news on some who we brought to the clinic.

Tomorrow, we drive to Francistown for meetings. Today, we do laundry.

Chicken Soup from My Soul

2009-08-04T02:03:00.000-07:00

Chicken soup is one of those things that I can't make without thinking of certain people:

Mom: She taught me how to make chicken/turkey soup from a carcass after a roast chicken/turkey meal. It's not really a recipe thing, more of a technique and learning the taste/feel of the process.

Magda: It was at a dinner at her house, during my last year of high school in Nova Scotia, that I had dill as an herb in soup for the first time. I was entranced. From that point in time, Mom said I was overdoing the whole dill thing. I can't help it. I like dill. My permanent thanks to Magda for the dinner invite and the many soups-with-dill that ensued.

June: This was the first dish that I made to impress Rob's mother, at our first Christmas together at his folks then-place in Ohio. It worked.

Kim: We had grand alternative health adventures together when Rob went through vernacular media training at JAARS in North Carolina. Sharing prayer, recipes, herb tips, laughter and soup… good times. It was with Kim that I first began playing with lemons in the soup, as the mineral-releasing agent with the bones instead of vinegar. Rob hates even the smell of vinegar; it takes away his appetite.

Amy: At LTSS in South Carolina, I made The Soup, health-restoring properties now finely tuned, for my friend Amy. She liked it, felt better, praised it highly. I also think of Amy when I make the soup. It's not that she modified it; she just appreciated it really well, in that highly encouraging manner that she has.

So, is there a recipe? Not really. There are only current permutations, depending on how I'm eating these days. Here is the current permutation, as I am cooking it today:

Eshinee's Current (not Currant) Chicken Soup

4 batches of leftover chicken bones-and-bits from 4 quarter-chicken meals at Nando's
water to fully cover in crockpot
6 teaspoons of sea salt crystals
1/4 cup lime juice
2 bay leaves (sent by Barbara for ant-repellent purposes)
1 Tbsp dill
1 Tbsp garlic
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 carrots, sliced
2 potatoes, cubed

I put the chicken leftovers in a crockpot, covered with water and added 4 tsp of salt plus the lime juice, last night around 9PM. I turned it on high and forgot that I had done so. I woke up at 4AM, remembered that the soup was still on high, went out and turned it down to low. At 10AM, I took out all the bones and chicken bits, put them in an old ice cream container to cool down enough to pick the meat off by hand; I'll probably get to that in an hour or so. I'll then return the meat to the pot. I added 2 more tsp of sea salt, picked out the bay leaf, put in the herbs and veggies. I turned it on auto-shift, which is sort of like a high setting that keep it hotter than low but adjusting so that it doesn't overheat. If I check later this afternoon and the veggies are full cooked, I'll probably turn it down to low. We plan to eat at 6PM, roughly. I may get all crazy and add dumplings, if I can find a good crockpot dumpling recipe online.

I'm not kidding about the amount of sea salt, folks. Salt to taste later but do add it with the bones as well, to help leach out the minerals. That's what this soup is all about, getting the most nutrients out of that chicken.

Getting ready to publish

2009-07-29T02:01:00.000-07:00

So, I'm finishing my last edits to my handbook today, before I hand it off to Rob for layout. He's currently mastering Unazo's recording, so he can link the recorded lessons to the text in a pdf. Exciting stuff!

I'm experimenting with papaya seeds from my back yard as well, as an anti-inflammatory. They have some solid science behind them and a clean safety record. I'll let you know how that goes. So far, I've found that I can't chew more than a teaspoonful at a time (in a few hours period) or I get queasy. Good to know.

And it's back again

2009-07-28T04:31:00.001-07:00

The water returned last night. Another late night wash. Today, the water pressure appears to be holding but all I have left to wash is a set of sheets. I'll do that tomorrow morning.

We have our booking for a place to stay on our upcoming trip to the Caprivi strip in Namibia. In fact, at this point, we have all our bookings for our August trips. That's a relief. We're doing an insane amount of travel in the weeks to come. We'll be traveling so much that we'll cross the 12k km point in our car during one of our trips and have to schedule the maintenance on location during another, so we don't go over the leeway allowed for maintenance book stamping.

The Caprivi trip is for the annual Wayeyi festival in Sangwali. This will be my first visit to the one held on the Namibia side.

Photos by Rob and Josh

2009-07-27T02:05:00.001-07:00

Rob and I at Tsodilo Hills, photos by Josh

sitting around the fire with Reuben, photo by Josh

Josh and I on the Okavango, photo by Rob

Josh's visit in images

2009-07-27T01:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some more fun photos from my brother Josh's visit:

Josh, taking some of his first pictures in the country, at a rest stop

Rob and Josh as we climbed down one of the Tsodilo Hills

sunrise on the Okavango, photo taken from the boat

a crocodile at Kasane, Botswana

the three of us at Victoria Falls

the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe at Victoria Falls

sunset on the Chobe River

Rob holding a python

The next big filk thing

2009-07-27T01:22:00.000-07:00

Well, perhaps that is a bit of an exaggeration. But someone did buy our first filk album yesterday. That's our first filk sale ever. That's pretty exciting.

Songs from Dark Waters

Mission accomplished

2009-07-27T01:11:00.000-07:00

I just finished printing out my companion manual for learning Setswana to a Peace Corps manual that I found online. Rev. Unazo is coming over this afternoon to record the sentences for my abridged versions of cycles 101-163 in this P.C. manual. Yay! Hopefully, this will be of help to people who are coming to Botswana from LBT in the future, who want to get a head start on their language learning before actually setting foot in the country.

Also, we got a load of laundry out this morning. Last night, I was on the phone with Johanna when the water came back on. So, 11:30 at night, I'm starting a load. Rob hung it out when we got up this morning. Making clean while the water flows, if you will. Yes, we are still occasionally running out of water. It had been mostly gone for several days up until last night. And I'm glad I did laundry when I could: it's gone again this morning.

safari with Roger Dugmore

2009-07-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned, we just came off a vacation time, coinciding with my brother Josh visiting us here in Botswana at the beginning of July. Part of Josh's focus was on getting great shots of large animals. So, we decided to go with Roger Dugmore of Eco-Africa Botswana. Smartest thing we ever could have done.

The accommodation was more than comfortable: it was ideal. The “campingness” of camping (we slept in tents) but with the added pleasure of all the things you usually wish you had with you once you find yourself actually too far from civilization to go back and get something. Hot water bottles in a comfy, many-quilted bed on a cold winter's night? Brilliant idea. Hot water bucket showers, private water closets, laundry service, little folding sinks with a ready supply of hot water. The food was delicious and cooked on the spot. Dorcas whips up a mean lunch, let me tell you. A cooler with drinks available during every drive, with breaks next to the hippo pools for tea in the morning. And everything was taken care of for us; all we had to do was show up to meals and get in the safari 4X4 whenever Roger said it was time to go for a drive.

Notice that I haven't talked about the animals yet? I'm still not sure what to say about what we saw. Yes, we had nearly a hundred people praying for a specific list of animals for us to see (oh, He cares about the little things). This was compounded by the fact that Roger has a gift for getting into what the animals are doing. One of the moments that highlighted this was when I saw an elephant in the far distance, made a little noise but then stopped because it was so far away. Roger asked what I saw, I told him. He said, “No, let's wait. It'll come to us.” He positioned the car back a bit, out of his predicted path. Sure enough, within about 20 minutes, the elephant crossed our path, right where Roger said it would. Brilliant. We saw many, many animals, despite the fact that the flooding had created plenty of small drinking spot, removing the necessity for the animals to come all the way to the river, where we were camping (on the Khwai River). Here are some of my favorite shots:

Which brings me to the photographic aspect of the safari - the shot was the thing. Roger, being an avid photographer himself, has a keen eye for the framing and lighting, something you don't get on every tour. He regularly would not only find the animal but would say, “Just a moment while I get a better shot,” as he drove to a better position for our cameras.

Knowing that we were there to practice photography (none of us are pros, we just like it), he would also watch what we did with our cameras and suggest alternate ways of holding it to get more unusual shots. He would remind us to turn the camera on its side from time to time, for a different perspective.

After the safari, while taking photos in Kasane and at Vic Falls, I found myself going for “the Roger shot” and being pleased with the result. For comparison, we did a river-boat cruise in Kasane where we also saw some spectacular wildlife. However, the boat driver was primarily concerned with proximity to the animals, not so much with the lighting. As a result, he'd often stop at a place where the animals were backlit by the sun, making shots problematic. Many of my pictures were taken after the boat got moving again, while floating away. Roger, by contrast, would stay and adjust until we were happy with the shots we got. As he said at one point, “Sure, that's fine if you want to end up with a picture of something that just shows that you saw it. But if you want to get The Shot…” Roger, knowing that we were about The Shot, was about The Shot.

And safety? I can be a bit jumpy on occasion. It's had to reconcile my fight-and-flight instincts with the desire to see the big game up close. Roger and Reuben made it so we didn't have to choose. The lion “hunt” was a prime example of that. Once the tracks were found outside the camp, the track and search began in earnest. Now, on our last night, we began to hear the growling next to the campsite. It was dark, after dinner. Reuben suggested that we go sit by the fire, the roaring seeming closer all the time. When the roaring moved to the other side of the camp, over by my tent, Roger said, “Everyone, get in the truck.” I got up, heart in mouth, headed for the truck, thinking we were going there for safety. One of the boys asked where we were going. Roger said, “Well, you want to see a lion, don't you?” I was in the truck before I fully realized what he had said. Too late now. Reuben got in the back seat next me. I sat a little closer to him than he was probably comfortable with but when he saw how jittery I was, he laughed a little. That reminded me that we were in capable, experienced hands. That gave me enough presence of mind to clap my hand over my mouth: I was afraid that I would not be able to control a scream if it came. We drove; we saw nothing. The roaring continued. We went to bed. Next morning, I was awakened by the roaring, happening on different sides of the tent. I lay awake, listening, for about an hour until the roaring got far away. Someone came to wake us for breakfast. During breakfast, the roaring picked up again. Roger and Reuben again urged us to head for the truck and off we went. This time? Lion, smack on the side of the trail.

The point being that, had I been camping alone or with guides that I didn't instinctively trust, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy these close-up animal experiences. No lion. No elephant so close that I could have touched it. No puff adder. No hippo pool. If I came upon an elephant on the road, what should I do?

Roger knew. I would have backed up, driven away. Roger waited, got us some good shots, he and Reuben keeping an eye on the elephant for any aggressive behavior.

Instead of having a jittery game experience, when the first elephant snorted at us, Roger assured me that I wasn't in danger. I believed him. I felt better, took great photos. And isn't that the whole point of being on safari with a guide? I don't know what bush-safe is. As a lot of people don't: check out these self-drive tourists that we saw on one of our game drives:

Yup, these are folks that should probably have a guide required by law, eh?

So, yes, the experience of a lifetime. Thanks, Roger, Reuben, Maleko, Dorcas, et al. You made our vacation.

Internet at home

2009-07-16T01:33:00.001-07:00

For the first time since seminary in South Carolina (summer of 1996), we have internet access in our own home! Not as fast as the US but what a blessing to be able to get and send email from here, without having to drive to the library or into town. Sigh.

Hopefully, this will affect my blog-posting in a positive way. My postings have been few and far between of late.

Also, for those who may not know, we just got back from vacationing with my brother, Josh. He came on June 30, left on July 11. We're trying to get back into the swing of things now.

Hoping to write a vacation blog-post in the near future, with some very cool photos, once I get those photos uploaded to Facebook.

Water, water everywhere

2009-07-15T23:50:00.000-07:00

Last night, we had a recurring issue come to an end… we hope. We've been without water for the better part of the last 2 months. By "without", I don't just mean none at all; I also include the water pressure being so low that we turn on the tap in the tub, put a bucket under it, wait all day long for it to fill. Then, we filter that for drinking and hopefully wash some dishes and ourselves too. Washing laundry? Right out - not enough pressure to run the machine. Let's just say logistics have been an issue for a bit. It was nice to take a vacation and sleep places other than home just so we could bathe properly. You get the idea.

We've been back and forth with water affairs and the landlady, trying to figure out the problem. As we talked to others in the neighborhood, it became evident that this was a region-wide issue: half of Maun was having the same water issues. Early on this week, we talked to someone who knew the issue: the floods. Oh, the irony. Yes, someone forgot to raise the pumps in the delta so, when the floods came, they were submerged and the diesel engine cut out. That's why we've been having water issues. It's taken this long to get them fixed.

Ah well. I'm doing laundry like a madwoman today, on the off chance that the fix is temporary. It's just hard to predict these days. After that, I think I'll wash my hair. Thank God for a country where a married woman is expected to wear a scarf fully covering her hair. These last 2 months would have had more awkward days in public for me without that detail.

images from the Maun Festival 2009

2009-05-29T05:09:00.000-07:00

Rob happily watches the marimba band, Bana ba Metsi

Subiya dancers

therapy: Eshinee handles a live mole snake… constrictor, not venomous

Eshinee and Bonty at the Shiyeyi Language Project booth

The Chinese Maun community does the dragon thing in the parade

Life in all its permutations

2009-05-29T05:06:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been a bit tumultuous. We've diversified our initial course of Setswana study, basically developing our own course (with the help of a few Setswana speaking friends and an old Peace Corps manual from the sixties). When we're finished, we'll have something that could be used by fellow LBTers coming, if they find they have need of it. In the midst of all this, there was a death in the church family, the niece of some friends of ours, and the resulting funeral preparations and ceremony was the better part of a week. I still haven't written a report on the Wayeyi festival for the blog but I'm not sure how soon that'll even be feasible; our Setswana official learning period will be ending in July and we really want to have a solid basis before I move on to Shiyeyi.

So, it's my birthday next week. In its honor, we're making a personal trip to Gaborone, a 3 day vacation-like thing. True, it's also to get a much needed oil change done on the company car, meet with Maria at ELCB, pick up an immigration document for the Rudowskes, maybe meet with Lydia (if she's available), pick up our mail in Francistown on the way back. But, for me, it's about my birthday. I mean, I haven't gone to a movie in months. We haven't even got a TV yet. I'm a little visual entertainment deprived. Also, I'm getting my hair hennaed again. I do have some henna on hand but it sure is nice to have someone else do it for me. With the dry heat up here, anything I can do to keep my hair manageable and reasonably attractive is a help.

In other news, we're performing at Poetavango on Saturday (tomorrow). Poetavango is a spoken word poetry event that happens every month here in Maun. Most performers are local but we went a few months ago with Bonty and we're asked to do something, so we did. Rob sang “The Dog”, I recited an old poem I write back in high school. The next month the we went, we sang “In the Resurrection” (these are songs Rob has written, by the way). We were well received and they asked us to keep coming. So, we are. This month, it's all Eshinee songs: “Time to Kill”, “Little Birds” and “Revenge is Sweet”. These are 3 short songs; Rob's are usually much longer than typical songs, that's why he only does one. Since it is actually a poetry venue, not an open mike, we've decided to keep our contributions to stuff we've actually written ourselves, the stuff that would be solid poetry if we took away the music.

God being God

2009-04-06T06:17:00.000-07:00

So, despite the fact that it was Palm Sunday the next day, Rob and decided on Saturday to visit a new church, the Village Church, just down the road from our house. We'd been meaning to visit for a while but just hadn't picked a day.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Maun, a lady named Marion was missing her flight back to Jamaica. This meant that she would unexpectedly be in Maun for another couple of days. She would also be visiting the Village Church that Sunday.

Go back in time to 1995: I'm at a discipleship training school at the YWAM base in Haiti. Marion comes to the base that winter to help a mutual friend of ours, Jason, return to Jamaica after recurring bouts of malaria. I knew her briefly, haven't seen her since.

Flash forward to now: You guessed it… we're talking about the same Marion. How rocking cool is that! After an ecstatic reunion, where we marveled at the odds, I found myself driving home saying, “I can't believe I just ran into Marion from my YWAM Haiti days, here in Maun!” I had to stop myself because, you know what? I can believe it. Such is the sense of fun of God.

Change of plans

2009-04-03T04:53:00.000-07:00

Flooding may change our travel plans for 2 weeks from now. The lodge we booked in Sepopa is flooded out, inaccessible. Sigh.

For more local news, click HERE. Though we did also make international news HERE.

picture from Voice of America news

This isn't a picture of Botswana but it is representative of what is happening just north of us in the Delta. We haven't driven up to check it out, for obvious reasons. But those same floods are headed our way within the next month or so. We live on the southern edge of the floodplain but not on the river itself. We weren't ritzy enough to afford the nice, riverfront property. Now, thankful to be living up on a dry, dusty termite mound, us.

Backing him up

2009-03-19T06:15:00.000-07:00

This morning, we recorded the last of the backing vocals for Rev. Sechele's worship music album. Finally, my vocal quality, lack of bird/bug-noise, not too awful heat without the fan and our schedule coincided to finish this phase of the project. William will be coming in a couple of weeks to hear the result, pick out which parts of my backing vocals he wants to keep and get ready for the final master. This will be the second cd that Rob has worked on in Botswana that will be available commercially, to date. Others may be coming (like the recent ELCB projects) but the Naro choir and William got there first.

We had another Setswana lesson last night. Usually, we're doing Sunday afternoons but Beauty is away this weekend so we squeezed one in yesterday. She is also offering us a freebie Setswana culture lesson, to be fit in sometime next week. Her topic? Spiritual realities, in a specific to Maun context. I'm much looking forward to it. She's a deliverance minister at her church, the Village Church here in Maun, so this is an area in which she has more expertise than your average Setswana teacher… or your average pastor or missionary for that matter, I would imagine.

Talking bugs

2009-03-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

From the first day that we moved in to our new home in Maun, there was a locust on the gate. It always sat in roughly the same spot, right above the lock, only switching the side on which it was sitting. Oddly, it was usually sitting right where my hands needed to go to open or close the lock. This often earned it a gentle swat, just to keep a clear path for my hands to move. After a few days of swatting, I began to wonder why my swats weren't driving it away altogether. Rather, it still sat, looking up at me with it's off-center, googly eyes.

I didn't give it too much thought; I had bigger bugs to fry. You see, we found this house at the very last minute, just one week before we ran out of other people's homes to housesit for, after bouncing from one housesitting gig to the next here in Botswana since September 2007. We really felt like this was God, acting on our behalf, in the nick of time. But now, living in our first place in more than 2 years which was only ours, we found that we were paying all the rent but sharing the space… with termites. My heart kind of took a nosedive. After all this time without a house, after sensing that God was behind the new house, why were we getting stuck with wood-eating bugs? It was starting to seem like we could never receive anything that would be complete, that every gift would come with a little bit of rot, something to take the edge off the joy such a gift should bring. Beautiful office space to do translation work with Sarah? Cobra! Exciting new liturgy recording in Gaborone? Bakkie breakdown! Finally, a place to live? Termites! I could see the pattern; what I couldn't see was the purpose behind it.

Anyway, after a few weeks, the regularity of the locust punched through the funk. The sense that there was more to this locust that met the eye was suddenly heightened on the day that I came home and, lo and behold, there was an armored cricket on the gate now, along with the locust. Suddenly, I remembered the Pereq Shira.

The Pereq Shira is a Jewish devotional device, using animals and other parts of creation as mnemonics for segments of Scripture. I found out about it during the rat problem we had in Gabane while doing research on natural ways of getting rid of rats. I came across a woman's story of how she had a rat she couldn't get rid of until her rabbi asked her, “And what does the Rat say?” The general idea is that, if you encounter the same animal over and over again, that's God trying to draw your attention to the verse attributed to that animal. The Rat, incidentally, says Psalm 150:6.

So, what does the Locust say?
O Lord, you are my God!
I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame.
For you have done extraordinary things,
and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed. – Isaiah 25:1 (NET Bible)

Executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed. Hmmm. According to the NET Bible notes, the Hebrew phrasing is plans from long ago [in] faithfulness, trustworthiness. The Hebrew word for faithfulness is a feminine form, trustworthiness a masculine form. The 2 gender repetition is a Hebrew way of emphasizing that this faithfulness to the plan is absolute, to the letter.

So what does the Eshinee say? That I may see the pattern but I may not see the plan or purpose just yet. That doesn't mean that there is no plan. In fact, I can count on there being a plan. Maybe if I spent more time pointing out the great gifts that God has given me than focusing on the dangly bits that look like plans-gone-wrong, I could relax and enjoy this amazing life I've been given a little bit better.

And the locust? Well, I copied the verse onto a card and put it on the fridge as a daily reminder, to help me internalize this current lesson. And when we got back this week from a cross-country trip, the locust was gone. I haven't seen him since.

Daily grind

2009-03-17T06:08:00.000-07:00

I have to get used to things taking longer. For one thing, the heat has been much more hot up here in Maun. I was slightly startled the other day when I took out a thermometer to see if I had a fever and, when I turned it on, it started registering a temperature right away. I've never lived anywhere hot enough to register on a digital thermometer before; usually mine says “Lo” when I first turn it on. Anyhow, just checked the temperature in the living room; it's a blistering 92 indoors. But I haven't been able to just stay inside today since we got back from a week of travel and I had to catch up on laundry. Since we've been working the last 7 days straight, we had to take today as our household duties day. Rob is still working on his Setswana for this (coming) Sunday, as I also will, once I finish this blog entry.

Back to my point (I'm rambling in this heat); things take longer. I can't just go clip the sticky weeds cropping up around the clothesline because I'd quickly be roasting. I have to do it in spurts. And I'm not just tossing today's 5 loads of laundry in the dryer. I'm putting it on the line, again in short bursts to brave the heat. I'd think I was crazy doing laundry in this heat but a quick glance around the neighborhood shows a lot of people thinking the same thing. Clothes are hanging everywhere, despite the misery of hanging and taking it in. It's rainy season, that's the thing. We have to make clean clothes while the sun shines.

Also, I'm trying to continue unpacking. 1.5 years without a filing cabinet has meant bags and boxes of unfiled papers that I am, frankly, dreading to have to go through. Still, I made a dent in it today. We haven't bought a bookcase yet but there is some built-in shelving in the room that we're using as an office that I managed to spread my books out on, so as to actually make use of them in the coming months.

Residence

2009-03-16T06:10:00.000-07:00

Funny thing; we drove to Gaborone to pick up our residence permit last week. They told us that our application had been forwarded to Francistown. So, we drove to Francistown and, Monday morning, went to pick up our residence permit there. They said that they had mailed it to us already, about 10 days, before to the shared Francistown mailing address. We checked with Carl but he had received no envelope from immigration for us. So, we got in the car and drove back to Maun.

Arriving back at Maun, we get a call from Carl saying that he had checked the mail after we left and guess what just arrived in the mail?

Timing is a wonderful thing.

ELCB Sunday School cd presentation

2009-03-15T06:18:00.000-07:00

The presentation this morning of the cds from the ELCB Scripture songwriting workshop in Francistown (done this past Novemeber) went well. Everyone seemed excited to be getting their cds, cassettes and accompanying songbooks.

Some of the workshop participants performed one of the songs from the cd. It's from this Scripture, composed in both Setswana and Kalanga:

1 John 1:9 - But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. (NET Bible)

Snapshots of home

2009-03-03T00:07:00.000-08:00

The view from the front of the house

The view from the kitchen window

Rob adds toilet seats in the bathrooms

Chicken vs. Elephant

2009-03-02T23:28:00.000-08:00

A video clip from a recent trip to Francistown, via the Makgadikgadi Pans.

Long time, no post

2009-03-02T11:27:00.000-08:00

It's been a wild month and I won't even go into it. We moved into our new place and immediately had to begin work on it, something I never would have expected from a rental property. It's been a bit of an adjustment. From a termite infestation to plumbing that can't handle a washing machine, we've been picking up handyman skills on the fly. I was pretty pleased with myself when I resealed the tub in the bathroom with silicone when it separated from the wall. Rob seems to be getting a charge out of hacksawing fly screens to fit the windows.

It's an odd phase we're in right now. After being here for over a year, we're starting to settle in. That means having to take time to do things that don't really feel work-related and having to think of them as work so we don't get frustrated at having to spend a seemingly inordinate amount of time doing them each day. Like, getting a washing machine working. We have to wash our clothes, right? If we have nowhere to wash our clothes, we'll be too dirty to go out in public. Therefore, before we can get back to business as usual, we have to get a washing machine working. It took 5 hours one day to actual buy it and get it home (don't ask). The next day, we spent a couple of hours trying to jury-rig fittings to make it work with our plumbing. The next day, we had to go back for more fittings. Those leaked so I siliconed them, waited a day for that to dry. Still leaked so, when we get back to Maun next week, have to go at the plumbing fittings thing again. Feels like a lot of fussing about but I keep telling myself that, hey, if we'd been doing this when we first got to Botswana, I would have been accepting this as just part of the settling in process. It's the lateness of it all that makes it seems like an interruption, rather than a natural course of things.

In other news, Rob had a recording session tonight, at a Spiritual Healing church, Kalanga and Setswana songs. And we should be picking up our Jeep tomorrow. Yay! We have our new license plate number already.

Also, I have a power cord for my computer again. I had been without one for a few weeks. It cut into my online time significantly since I had to share Rob's when we went into to town to get email. Hence, way low on the blog posting.