An Average Day in Ghanzi

The sand!!! No matter how many times I sweep my house (that's my house and my floor), the sand never goes away. It is everywhere and makes it almost impossible to keep dress clothes clean. I am amazed everyday how women wear fancy heels to work when I'm still learning how to get it out of my sandals.

The animals. Everyday, there are various animals on the street. They are usually eating at the very minimal amount of grass in the area. I was walking home from work yesterday and saw these goats running down the road. The smallest one was the cutest goat I have ever seen and really wanted to take him home as a pet.

The other creatures. As I already explained in a previous post, I had a small spider freak out the other day (this was the spider that was the cause of all the screaming..it was about the size of my palm!). Well, it turns out there are plenty of spiders in my house, along with other bugs (a lot of them I have no idea what they are). We also discovered that we have lizards. We saw this one last night while we were having a few drinks in the yard. One of the people we were with wanted to kill it, but (as creepy as I think they are) Sarah and I convinced them to leave it alone and he eventually ran away.

The food. This is a typical Botswana meal. We went to a small restaurant beside San Arts and Crafts (the sister organization to Gantsi Craft) and asked for a food plate. They pile it full of the food of the day. This was coleslaw, chicken, beef stew, rice, spinach, carrots and pap (powdered maize). They always give HUGE portions here but it was delicious. I am excited to learn how to cook the traditional foods for myself.

Until then...Sarah and I cook meals like this. Nothing too exciting about pasta, I know. But a coworker has promised to teach us how to cook once she gets settled into her new home.

The people. These women are so beautiful. They are women from the Herero tribe and everyday they are dressed in their traditional clothing. The long dresses are always in bright colours (blue, orange, green, yellow) with matching hats. Not all the people dress traditionally however. Many people wear the exact same things as in North America (they even have casual Friday's at work).

The entertainment. I live just down the street (about 100m) from the prison in Ghanzi, so I see it everyday on my walk to work. On Saturday and Sunday morning, the prisoners play soccer in the field behind my house (I discovered this on Sunday morning when I was trying to sleep in.) Every other night, there are a bunch of guys practicing and playing soccer in the field before dark. They are actually really good and I enjoy watching them after work.

And of course, the beautiful sunsets. The sunset in Ghanzi is different every night and I don't think I will ever get sick of watching it. I would love to take a picture of the stars here too (they are amazing) but pictures don't do them justice.