The Kids Go Out

Saturday July 30^th 2011

Kids go out

         

The thirtieth was Friday...Saturday, in the wise words of Iain. Iain, the mighty supervisor, actually did work. Astonishing I know, we were all surprised but it was about time he actually did something. He did everyone’s laundry. Then Gordon, Iain, Tshenolo and I visited Thabang and Carter.

 

When we reached Thabang’s she was doing, of all things, laundry. So we all took over a role and got it done within an hour. Thabang and Tshenolo washed, Iain and I rinsed and Gordon hung clothes up. Thabang had to hang them up again because hanging clothes up on a fence is different from hanging clothes up on a line. Apparently. Anyways, after that Thabang wanted to have a bath, so we walked to where her mom was cooking a slaughtered cow, (down the street). All that was left was a dozen ladies and a cow’s head. It was cool as you could see the teeth and tongue and how they attach to the rest of the cow. We briefly said hello to Thabang’s grandma and then we all went for a walk.

 

We walked to the riverbed, where Gordon tried to climb a tree, but when everyone was posing for a picture, he fell off. He was alright. We ventured through the riverbed, throwing stones in the remaining puddles of water and jumping off of rocks. My graceful jump had a sweet picture, but not a sweet landing. I got covered in dirt. Then we ran into to some donkeys. They were attached to a cart that was taking sand from the riverbed to another place in the village to build a wall. Gordon tried to help load the sand onto the cart, but quickly gave up. 

 

On the way back to eat lunch, Carter was very tired and didn’t want to walk anymore, so Iain carried her on his shoulders. It was adorable and he didn’t drop her. We made rice, chicken and soup for lunch. We would have also had a carrot salad but Thabang dropped the whole bowl on the floor. It was really good and really filling. After we ate, we waited for Thabang’s mom to come home to give Thabang permission to sleep over and to take Carter to a party. Thabang was allowed to come over. We walked to the taxi pick up station (stand). On the way, we stopped at Thabang’s and Tshenolo’s church to briefly see Holly. The church is a big, blue and white striped tent, like a circus tent. 

 

We caught a taxi, but because taxis only have seating for four and we numbered five, Gordon sat on Iain’s lap. This way, Gordon didn’t have to pay his fare, because he counts as a child if he is on a lap.

 

We reached Mma Binnie’s in one piece. Thabang, Iain and Tshenolo went for a walk to the graveyard to try and find the grave of Rra Binnie. They couldn’t find it. 

 

Then they went to a party in the village. The party was the same as kids’ parties back home. Iain is a very lucky boy; he was kissed on the hand by an old man.

 

Once back at Mma Binnie’s Dad and I made supper. Aunt Binnie was attending a party for a colleague’s daughter who was leaving to study medicine in Granada. We weren’t sure how many people would be eating, we just knew there would be a numerous amount. So we added pasta to the bean and pepper salad, to make pasta salad and more vegetables and things to the soup. In the end, everyone ate to their content and we had leftovers. Iain actually helped Thabang with the dishes while I put them away. After everything had been put away, we played cards and listened to Iain’s iPod. We even had popcorn. Thabang, Iain and Tshenolo stayed up a little too late and talked.  It was a very nice evening in Botswana.