Thursday, November 26, 2009

things i'm thankful for - top 10

It's thanksgiving again. happy thanksgiving! well it was yesterday, but better late than never. this year has gone by sooo fast. it seems like not very long ago that i was thanking God for God, mangoes, muffins, friends, family, etc. for sure, i'm still thankful for these things; much hasn't changed. but i decided to do another top 10 list of things i'm thankful for; many of them same as last year. so the list, in no particular order.

10. Botswana. there's a lot of things that i dislike about this country (so many bugs, so many traffic circles, so hottt...), but all in all i've been absolutely blessed to get to know yet another country in africa and meet some good people along the way. i wish i couldve explored the country a bit more, but theres always next year!

9. mangos. yes i still like them a lot. but they are on this list for a different reason this time. i haven't had one mango this summer yet (still tryin to get used to calling december summer...). i've been watching out for them at stores, but they havent started appearing. maybe i should go back to my favourite adam's family dealer.

8. mugg and bean muffins. i can say enough about these gigantic muffins. if i ever double in size by the time some of my US friends see me again, it'll probably be because of these things. i can't go a saturday without one now.

7. finally getting to sleep in. my wknds are so short these days. i spend the week in botswana, get back on fri night, catch up on friends and other activities on sat, church on sun, and then fly back on sun afternoon. that hasnt left me much time to just enjoy a good sleep. so tonight, ive decided i'm getting good sleep. ill probably still be woken up by the sun and the stupid cat meow-ing, but doesnt mean i have to get up, right?

6. joburg. i like this place. i really really like this place. and i think i like it even more because i've spent most of the year away from it. i find myself missing little things like the theatre, restaurants, people, air when ive stayed away for too long. i definitely do not miss the traffic tho.

5. mini road trips. i used to say i loved road trips, but i never got a chance to take too many of them in the states. i think probably cuz i was tryin to organise the perfect, long, meaningful road trip. this year tho, ive taken several road trips where we decide within a week or less to go somewhere, head there, find some food, lodging, and fun and head back in a couple days. there are so many beautiful sights to see within driving distance from joburg that i think i should take a road trip every couple weeks.

4. attending my first lobola (traditional wedding) celebration. you can see the pics below. what an experience.

the next 3 haven't changed much from last year. but theyre even more important than they were.

3. family. my definition of family is widening, but for now i'll stick to my immediate family. constant support, encouragement, and prayers is just inspiring.

2. friends (and mentors). good friends in the US making sure i never forget them and that they dont forget me! good friends in SA teaching me a whole new level of friendship. the relationships ive built here in just the last 2 years are part of the reason i can't even imagine leaving anytime soon. i dunno if ive taught my friends much or ive influenced them much, but theyve taught me a lot and influenced me and theyre just fun to be around.

1. God. sure i had this pipe dream of traveling to afriker and getting the afrikan experience and putting it in my log book as a been there done that moment and then continuing on with my life. but actually making this happen (this being coming here and enjoying myself) is really a god-send. all of 2-10 would not have been possible, i believe, without a higher power looking after me and making things happen even when i dont deserve it or don't fully believe or trust. i continue to be amazed. "indescribable. uncontainable. untameable. incomparable. unchangeable. amazing. you see the depths of my heart and u love me the same." simply amazing.

0 (a bonus...buy-10-get-1-free-type). world cup. once upon a time, i thought it would be cool to go to a world cup game. once upon a time i thought it would be cool to get to watch a world cup match played for the first time on african soil. this is actually happening: the world cup is coming to sa and im going to a couple of the matches! i remember just being in europe (tho on the east side) during the 06 world cup and how electric/fun the atmosphere was. now i get to see the action up close and personal. just coming back from the airport tonight there were so many signs and billboards advertising the event ("11 languages, 10 stadiums, 4,394, 705 vuveselas" read one). man, i cant wait!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Top 10 - reasons not to stay at a resort slash lodge slash motel

I've haven't done lists in some time, so i figured its about time to bring them back. so for the next few weeks, this blog will feature several lists, along with a bit of commentary. if that makes anybody unhappy, i do not apologise. tough. tho i think it will be fun.

this week's list consist of reasons why i will never again stay at a shady lodge/motel. ok, maybe not never, but not for a long time and hopefully not for work. this week in botswana, there was apparently some big conference and since my colleague and i booked accomodations late, we were stuck with one option - the yarona country lodge. to say that this "lodge" is indeed in the "country" or is in fact a "lodge" would just be "overwhelmingly" "incorrect" (as incorrect as these ""s). was it in a small city even? no. small town? nope. this lodge sat in some small village outside (i think) gaborone city. so on to the top 10:

10. customer service what?? no such thing. in fact the opposite. angry workers wondering why you're disturbing their life by staying at their establishment.

9. dirt. its everywhere. you mean you actually have to clean for guests?

8. staying on the subject of cleanliness, shower shoes and towels. never go to a shady place and forget these 2 essentials. that bathroom was nastily dirty. and the towels, i just don't wanna think about the towels... i chose to air dry, in full view of anyone passing by, cuz of course, the windows don't close.

7. speaking of bathrooms, just to let u know how classy of an establishment it was, they had a full box of condoms - "silky smooth and secure" - by the sink, just in case.

6. emergency button. located just above the bed. again just in case u're having a bit too much fun and you need some assistance. i was tempted to try out the button to see what happens (a loud siren? bull dog comes running? guard barges in with his batton cuz hes not allowed to carry a gun?...), but i chose not to do it.

5. curtains that look like the bed sheets and bed sheets that look and feel like the curtains. hmm... i was too afraid to open up the sheets and see what surprises lay ahead of me (or beneath me) so i slept on top.

4. curfew for internet. yep. kinda like when u were in school and they kicked u out of the lab, right??...there were 2 places to use the internet at this resort slash lodge slash motel. one was in the "restaurant" and that closed at 10pm. I was doing work one night and reached a point where i had to get some info from a couple websites and then email the work. it was close to 10, so i decided to go to the other place, the conference room, to get online and work in peace and quiet. was working for only about 40 minutes when one of the lovely ladies came to me and told me they were closing up at 11pm. so i said fine, just tell me where i will be able to go online and i'll move. turns out theres no other place in this establishment, and apparently 11pm is the curfew for internet use. so i kindly inform her that i will be staying exactly where i am until i finish the work and email. I think she thought this was an argument, because she (and then a few other lovely ladies) kept pointing out the problems in my plan. in my head, it was a pretty simple plan: if this is indeed the only place to use the internet, then i would remain here until i finished my work. see, no argument. and thats exactly what happened. i think i was fair.

3. Dogs. Loud dogs. traffic to and from this place gets really bad, so we decided to leave for work around 6AM. this meant i typically got up at 5 in the morning. by this time the dogs were in full swing, barking at god-knows-what. but barking nonetheless and continuously.

2. The dogs were not the only sound. no no, the dogs actually came last. before the dogs started, the chicken/foul/roosters were in full swing. cock-crowing at the crack of dawn just to make sure that if #1 hasn't woken u up yet, you would now be awake.

and the grand-daddy of them all...

#1: frogs. bull frogs. the damn bull f-ing frogs. loudest bullfrogs you've ever heard. they got started looong before the chicken and looooong before the dogs. they started around 1130PM took a break between 1-245AM, then kept going from then till at least the time we left, at 6AM. i know this cuz i could only sleep between 1-3AM. these stupid creatures must've thought they were making melodic tones that would soothe u into a lovely slumber, barry-white-style. when one frog on one side would take a breather, another would fill in for it, in a slightly different tune (typically a lower bass or sometimes baritone). the result: frog harmonic synphony lilkke you've never heard before. and because they were so good, they ensured that there was no way in hell you could fall asleep during their extended performance. and later on, when the chicken and dogs chimes in...animal farm meets bach like u've never experienced.

so all in all, truly a once (err, maybe its been a couple times now) in a lifetime sort of experience. actually thats more of a wish and a prayer than anything. God, let this be a once in a lifetime deal. I've learned my lesson. be warned.