Week 52: Singing and Combis

 Every Monday and Friday Morning the kids have morning Assembly, which begins and ends with the children singing. The most common being a Christian themed song, “We are marching over to Jerusalem…” Clapping and foot stamping usually accompany the singing and inevitably I am singing it to myself all day long. However it is much more culturally acceptable to be walking around singing to one’s self here and thus I fit in.

The Moshana combis in and out of Kanye (the nearest shopping village) can always be seen full of bags of maize meal, sorghum, and other personal items while the owners of said items are in the midst of finishing their shopping else where. Since I do not buy maize meal in bulk and have had a hard time shaking my American distrust, I usually carry my shopping bags, however, having just stocked up on flour (and living in Botswana for a year) I decided it was time to trust a little and leave my bag on the combi. I then went to go buy airtime (minutes for my cell phone) only to return to see the combi pulling out of the bus rank. My American kicked in, and I was angry with myself for letting my groceries out of sight and mostly just sad that the snack I bought was now traveling further from me and closer to the place I wanted to be. I knew that my groceries were not gone forever, it would just be more of a hassle tracking down the combi driver later and maybe the butter I bought would be a little melty. Resignedly I walked to the new combi that is waiting at the rank and what do I find inside? My bag! The combi driver saw that I was not back yet and relocated my bag to the next waiting combi. Although I had to wait another hour for the combi to leave I sat happily munching my snack and grateful for small acts of kindness.