Wedding Week

Noise

During any given day, the village is eerily quiet.  Very little in the way of any noise and you can count on one hand the number of cars that pass by.

Come darkness this situation reverses itself dramatically.  You hear voices talking, music playing, singing and the odd loud speaker mounted on a vehicle promoting one political party or another. (There is a national election in October.)

Then come the early hours of the day, before day break you have guard dogs all over the village barking their lungs out at someone or something passing by their compound in the night.  One dog starts and then they all start. From all directions the loud barking of dogs.  Great for sleeping!

Finally when the dogs start to simmer down the local rooster or two decides it is time to announce the new day!  However, this is also before day break and when the sky is still dark and some damn rooster is doing its thing.  Why can’t they wait to sunrise?

Stray Dogs

Two nights ago, in the pitch darkness, I awoke to an almighty row outside the walls of the house.  At first I thought someone was coming to steal the 2 goats and lamb that were tied up to provide the wedding meal.

Needless to say I was not going to venture forth and get involved.  It was not my issue.

Come daybreak the story was updated.  It was a group of stray dogs who came to attack the animals.  They were chased off but not before one of the goats broke loose and ran off.  The other goat and lamb had been put in the storage house for safe keeping for the rest of the night.

It turned out that later in the morning, a cousin of Binnie’s who had obtained the goats, came by to say he thought he had seen a goat by the police station that looked like one of the goats he had brought to the house.  (How someone can tell one goat from another is beyond me!)  Anyway it was confirmed that a goat was missing and he went and returned it.   Thus, all animals accounted for and everything back to normal.

Septic System

Earlier on Wednesday morning one of the boys helping to get ready for the wedding, noticed a damp area near the septic tank.  Upon further investigation it was determined that the septic tank was full. Why they don’t make use of the sandy soil and drain off the grey water is bit of a mystery to me.  It would really cut down on what the tank has to hold.

Thus a couple of days to go until countless people will be at the house and the tank needed to be pumped out.

As a result Binnie and I drove over to the Water Commission who also look after septic systems.  The person behind the counter was less than helpful and got an earful from Binnie.  She had to pay 120 pula ($15) and was added to the list.  The estimate that was provided was that they would be here in 3 months.  Customer service!!

This left Binnie and her sisters looking for a private contractor to come and do the job.

At least there is a pit latrine that can be used.

Book Store

It is unfortunate to say that as far as I can determine there is only 1 bookstore in all of Botswana.  There is several other stationary stores that carry a couple of dozen books and that seems it.

The bookstore in question is Exclusive Books which is a South African chain comparable to Chapters or Barnes and Nobles.   It has a fairly good African section both fiction and non-fiction and I found 3 of the books I was looking for.  Strange that there is not one or two more book stores.

Wedding Preparations

Well we are in the run-up to the wedding celebration on Friday and Mma Binnie’s compound is awash in people.  I would say in excess of 100 people.  In the back right corner there are 4 large cooking pots and a group of people cooking meat (goat or lamb) and porridge. 

Beside the cooking house there are 4 women cutting onions and potatoes.   Throughout the yard are countless women all dressed alike in blue skirts, white blouses and blue and white checkered blankets over their shoulders.  On the front porch a group of about a dozen or so elderly gentlemen sit in a circle on chairs talking.

In the kraal (cattle pen) in front of the house are now 8 cattle, provided to Mma Binnie’s family from the groom’s family.

Countless younger kids are running around in and out of the groups of people and another group of women seem to be in charge of providing endless cups of tea to everyone and cleaning up the dishes afterward.

According to Binnie she bought four 12.5 kg bags of sugar for the wedding and it has already gone.  That is 50 kgs of sugar or over 110 pounds!!  As of 2 p.m. Thursday she has been dispatched to buy 2 more 12.5 kg bags.

From what I can gather in my limited understanding, male representatives from the groom’s village and family came very early this morning to ask questions about the bride and essentially seal the deal to have the bride join their family/village. 

Thus after these discussions everyone needed tea and bread.

Subsequently, the women folk will have their “procession” this afternoon.  Apparently Binnie has been drafted to drive a car load of the women to the groom’s village and repeat a similar sort of ceremony.  (Binnie cannot take part in the procession because she has not been married in a traditional ceremony.  It has been suggested to her several times that she should but she has steadfastly refused.)

Lastly, I have to note that as much as I want to fade into the woodwork and be out of sight it is impossible.  Binnie is off with her siblings and being the oldest is expected to be making all the decisions.  Gordon is surrounded by numerous cousins, several his own age, and having been in the sun for the last 2½ weeks he is getting deeply tanned.  Thus he carries on with the cousins who speak English well and they are hanging out together.  That just leaves myself who has no one to really hang out with.  I can chat to some of Binnie’s brothers or sisters but they are all busy doing things.

Needless to say when I walk around to see what is happening or try to take a few pictures, it is rather hard to be invisible.