Summer has started and the bugs are back in town. My old friends
from last year such as large cockroaches, a variety of eight-legged creatures,
and everyone’s favorite, the persistent fly, which is not stymied by a swat of
the hand. However with this old cast of characters come beautiful sunrise runs
and shamelessly lazy afternoons.
This week at school we had the end of term prize giving
event, where the best students in each class and subject were awarded (you
guessed it…) a prize. Last year at this event I was new to site and eager to
please which ended in my cutting cabbage (rather poorly) for three hours. This
year I began the morning with gift-wrapping the prizes and as one of the
teachers remarked, “At least this time you are doing something you are good
at.” Not only was she complementing on my masterful wrapping but also the first
of many to acknowledge the cabbage incident of last year. This time when I
entered the kitchen it was only to get away from lengthy speeches in Setswana
or to banter with the friendly kitchen staff and remind everyone about the
cabbage and how I make much better company than help. Later receiving a lesson
on the proper way to eat chicken from a bone I was called away to the kitchen.
Worried, that I did not rattle everyone’s memory enough about last years events
I wondered what task they would trust to me. Upon arrival in the kitchen I
found out the task was taste tester, winning! Taste testing turned into a heaping
plate and thus when the event ended late I was not cranky but pleasantly full
not only of samp (a maiz product) but also of my co-workers kindness.
