Oryx and Cake

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Hi all,Well it has been quite a while since I have written and quite a lot has happened. The highlight obviously being that we got to see almost everyone we know in Toronto, and well as many others from around the country and world who gathered in the city for my sister's wedding. So let's start back there first....I have to apologize for the lack of photos from our time in Toronto; there are photos out there, but from other peoples' cameras, so if you are one of those people who have some great shots, please do send them over to us. Visiting Toronto both came upon us fast, as well as passed by quickly. The thirty hours it took to get there from Gaborone wrecks you, no matter how you do it, though taking Air France through Paris was a welcome change from going via the relative dump that is Heathrow...Anj particularly appreciated the brie served on board each flight. We had planned well and given ourselves about a week or so before the wedding festivities really began to spend time with family and friends, and reacquaint ourselves with the massive city that is Toronto. Having not seen a building over 5 stories in 6 months, it was soothing to walk amongst all those skyscrapers again, blocking out the sun and providing shade in the hot summer; being used to cheering when the sun goes behind a cloud, every week or so. We stayed with my folks in their beautiful new home close to the centre of town which they had just moved into after nearly 20 years in northern suburbia. We caught up with my parents, saw my sister and her fiance of only a week to go, Michael, and generally ate everything in sight. Apart from missing friends and family, it was perhaps the food selection that we missed most and took a world culinary tour of the city in our brief stint back. Sushi and middle eastern were frequented the most, with me sneaking a hotdog from street vendors every chance I could. Anj's friends threw a belated 30th birthday house party which went deep into the night, with lots of catching up with close friends. It was definitely one of the highlights of our time back...While Anj went up to Ottawa to visit her folks and brother for a couple of day, I ran around town organizing all the things we needed, or had forgot to do before we left the last time. Eventually, before we knew it, people were arriving for the wedding and we had several amazing dinners in the nights leading up to the special event. The wedding itself was beautiful. Zan and Michael did an amazing job putting it together, and the setting perfectly matched their modern urban lifestyles; at the Boilerhouse in the Distillery District in Toronto. Now it's not every day that your sister, your only sister, gets married (lets hope not!) and it being the reason we came home, both Anj and I were really happy to see both Zan and Michael so content, and the day turn out as special as it did. Michael is a real mensch (good guy) and we look forward to a new family member to make fun of mercillessly. So, as we enjoyed ourselves, we thought against sending the newlyweds a bill for our appearance and said our goodbyes to head back to our new home away from home, Gaborone.Since we were going through Paris anyways, we decided to extend our layover for a day, book ourselves into an airport hotel and explore the city again. It was my first time back in 12 years, and apart from the airport being much snazzier, Paris is the same stunning, smelly and interesting city as before. We spent the afternoon walking along the Seine; up to the Louvre, through the gardens and on to the Opera, where Anj (reads correctly, Anj not Bry) had a McCraving and twisted my arm to venture into a McDonalds. I had the urge to stand around in a loud voice asking every Frenchman where the nearest McDonalds was, just to push the stereotype a bit, but we stumbled upon one...a feat not possible in Botswana, as McD's tried to open some stores, but refused to use local beef (the best and cheap) so the government refused. Anyway, it was like seeing an old friend, one that you don't mind seeing every decade, but wouldn't introduce to your family or call and we regretted it about 15 minutes after the fact. Getting back to Gabs brought an onswell of sentimentality, with both of us professing how glad we were to be back. One could say we would feel the same thing arriving in Mogadishu after 40 hours of travelling, but after four airports and a wedding, we were looking forward to our quiet life here, where social events on our calendar come about every month, so that I have gotten into the habit of marking them with the moon. "meet you the night of the new moon at three donkeys past the hour". Not really, but close enough. We arrived to confusion. Sitting within our gated Kennedy compound, on a little chair beside the front door, was a youngish (early twenties) man, twirling a key on a piece of string. Not knowing exactly what was going on, we asked Lerato, our housekeeper who was looking after the place while we were gone, what was going on. She let us know that this man was from the security company and had been guarding our house day and night for the last five days. Unfortunately, he had been guarding the wrong house. Plot numbers here are easily mixed up, so I sent him home at around 1pm to his delight. I must admit though, it was good to know we had someone there, guarding our cat, two mattresses and knockoff "Parasonic" TV. Since returning, our lives have got back on track. Anj has finished her planning phase of the process and is now helping actually sell some of the chargers around the continent. Later this evening, I am taking her to the airport, where she flies off to Nairobi for the next 5 days on a business trip. To answer questions arising from alarm of her heading off by herself there, she is staying in a good hotel in a good part of town and I have secretly implanted a GPS tracker under her skin so I can keep an eye on her...kidding, but she will be fine, and hopefully the trip will be a success. A couple of weekends ago, we went back up to D'Kar, for my 6th trip, but this was not for business, as we were up there to see the annual San Dance Festival; an amazing event that brings traditional dancers from all over Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Angola to show off their dances to a crowd of surprisingly many locals and tourists. I heard a rumour that there were more anthropologists there than dancers, but I luckily didn't have to find out the truth myself. The Friday night, we enjoyed healing dances around the fire, while Saturday day and night were continued with other cultural dances and games. Most of the photos in this blog are from there. There was a group of about 12 of us up there, and we ate and drank well throughout the weekend. A culinary highlight was trying Oryx, a type of antelope also known as Gemsbok, which was prepared almost like a schnitzel and was delicious. My work has picked up a bit as well. Just today I was contacted by the Khama Rhino Sanctuary to meet with them about developing their marketing strategy. The African Development Fund, to whom I submitted my last plan on behalf of KURU, apparently has recommended me, which to those who know me, works much better than me having to try and search out opportunities. We will see what happens, but it isn't a bad thing to have the ADF on your side, as there are hundreds of orgs around Africa who may need similar use of me. Anyway, this was a long one, but it had been a while. It was wonderful seeing all of you that we did see back in Canada and Toronto is our home and always on our minds. We can't wait to see you again, but must remind you that our door here is always open. We have three close friends of ours visiting in less than two weeks, for two weeks, and we are taking them all around the country, into Zambia for Victoria Falls and around Namibia. So if they are not consumed by hippos, or even the dangerous climbing zebras of the Namib desert, we will have people who can vouch for the place. It will be good to have someone there to distract the hippos. "No problem, of course you should approach them, I will just be over here, running" More blogs to come, so please keep up your comments and emails. Lots of Love,Rra Bryan and Mma Anj (oh, and regarding the title, by cake I meant wedding cake)

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Photos

Chief Dancer
At the dance festival, this dancer was bedecked in local skins and furs.

Kids Dancing
Two of a group of cute kids enjoying the day's dancing

San Women
A group of San women enjoying the show from the audience

Generations of dancers
This group seemed to have dancers from 8 to 88 years. Impressive.

Drumming up support
Our first experience with locals using drums - not an instrument usually found widely

Herero Women
The Herero people originate from Namibia, where their dress reflects the German style of the colonial days.

Spot Anj
Anj soaking up some sunshine and learning some dance moves.

Beaded Dancers
We loved all of the costumes, but these ones in particular seemed to take quite a bit of effort to make and were beautiful amongst all the earthy tones elsewhere.

San Men
Traditional outfits of the gents of the tribe. The things on their legs are shakers made from cocoons with beads inside.

Au Naturel
More villagers enjoying the show from ring side. Side note, kids in Botswana don't cry, ever. That would make a good PHD study for someone...

Slow roasted Bryan
Also enjoying the show, but a tad hot. By tad I mean extremely, and by hot I mean crispy.

Stopover at the Siene
Enjoying our walk along the Seine in our "jour a Paris".

Ominous Louvre
I see clues everywhere. Opus Dei tried to rough us up after taking this shot.

Keep Dreaming
At the Rolex shoppe. Our walking pace was significantly slowed down by all the designer stores.

Comments

[O.Thebe]

This is Botswana @ its best - original
This picture displays Botswana culture undiluted. It is siply the best