Average Ndjo

Yesterday afternoon was a laundry afternoon, though I'm doing a couple of loads this morning as well. I've always enjoyed doing laundry (as opposed to taking out the garbage, lets say) and, even though my methods are different here, it's the same for doing laundry here. The washing machine requires a little more baby-sitting than I'm used to. Last week, I heard a huge gushing sound and went into the bathroom to find that the drain hose had popped off. Water was shooting out of the tub and onto the floor. We had to do an emergency washer shut-off and water containment with towels and rugs. Rob then fixed the rubber hose back on, tightened the clamp and I dared to wash again. Now, I'm still a little edgy running the washer but check the hose before each load. I'm also used to just tossing the clothes in the dryer and walking away to do other things. Now, I have to hang things on a clothesline. After a slight wet spell, I find that the ants come out in force and swarm under the clothesline. They have a tendency to swarm over my feet and up my calves so I find myself throwing the clothes up on the line as quickly as possible. Over the arm goes the wet clothes, one hand full of as many pegs as it can hold. Reminds me of that baby/bridal shower game, where you have to see how many clothespins you can hold in one hand. Turns out those skills have become useful for me again after all. Today is a perfect laundry day and I'm taking full advantage of it. The sun is beating down but there's a breeze that comes across the drying area every few minutes. Beautiful. Makes the laundry smell so good, that sunny, clean and warm smell.

I've noticed that having a maid is a normal thing here, for anyone who can afford it. I've had random women offer to work for me but I haven't gotten into that yet. For one thing, this isn't our flat so I'd be hesitant to employ a stranger with all the Knights' belongings here. Secondly, we're not sure if we're staying in Francistown for very long so we couldn't really offer someone something long-term. They'd probably start out working for us and end up unemployed when they could have maybe found longer term employment from someone else sooner. Thirdly, we're still tourists here so we're treating our daily tasks as part of the learning process. For the most part, we're traveling on foot or by transport with others, fairly common for your Average Ndjo here. And doing our own laundry, cleaning and food prep is part of that experience. Sure, these things are taking a lot longer than we're used to but it isn't like we're neck-deep in work right now. Once our visa is processed and we're in our own place and headed into something solid, we may think about doing our part for the economy and employing someone; sharing the wealth, as it were.

I finally got to see Men In Black last night, for the first time. It came on BTV. Tonight's movie is Finding Forrester but I don't know if I'll get to see much of it. Marie, a neighbor on the corner of our block, invited me to an Avroy Shlain party. It's seems similar to Avon, from the website, but it's based in South Africa. It's a dinner and product showing, with door prizes. Marja, who lives upstairs, is going and I'll be going with her. It'll be held at Tati River Lodge, just a few kilometers away. Rob was invited but he's not so much into cosmetic products, eh?

Tomorrow is Rob's big recording session at Rev. Mothetho's church. We'll be leaving around 10:30AM and be there for the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon. Rev. Mothetho's daughter, Ndapiwa, will be observing Rob to get an idea of how live choral recording is done, to see if she wants to get into that. I'll be there as photographer.