Settling in Botswana

There are many stories to tell from our first month and a half in Botswana. An overall brief update follows:

After a summer in England waiting on the government of Botswana to let us know if it was OK to stay in the UK they let us know that they were not going to grant the approval near the end of August. Thankfully, KG had planned for that contingency, and we quickly moved forward with plans to ship all of our belongings (including our car which we bought early in the summer) with a group of others.

We arrived in Gaborone at the end of September hoping to ease our way into the hot summer, but had no such luck. The first few days were 35 degrees C (95 degrees F), which was a pretty rough shock to our systems (especially without AC).

Since then, we have been working hard to get settled. Finally, last week, we were able to move into the house we are renting (which is air conditioned!!) nearer to Gaborone and received our shipment. Today, KG started work.

I'll start sharing some of the stories from the last several weeks and new ones that come up as I have internet access. We still have a way to go for our house to be totally settled, and one of my top priorities is a great internet connection, but that will happen in Botswana time - meaning most likely not be fast.

Hurdles

I always thought running hurdles would be more fun, interesting, and exciting than just running straight through a race. Similarly, I think I'd enjoy a warrior dash much more than a straight-forward long run. One of the things I struggle with the most while running is the mental battle to stay interested and engaged when my objective is just to keep going, one step after another.

I guess that is true for much of how I live my life. I like having shorter-term objectives to keep me focused and interested while working toward the prize. I like hurdles.

That's probably one of the reasons I like living internationally. There are lots of interesting things that happen, lots of surprises and diversions. Life is very rarely boring. It can be both challenging and rewarding.

Some days, it feels like you are flying through life, leaping over barriers as they come. Other days, you're reminded that there are far more opportunities to fall on your face or break your leg.

Either way, it's an adventure.

Jesse

Today is my baby brother, +Jesse Fritz's twenty-second birthday. I guess he isn't a baby any more.

But I remember when he was. I have vivid memories of the day he was born, in fact. I was almost six at the time and remember how my friends loved him. It drove me crazy how when they came over they figured it was their turn to "hold the baby" since I could hold him anytime. It didn't seem fair to me... he was my baby, not theirs:-).

I remember when Jesse was three and we had a Pumba and Timone birthday party for him. My mom made a cool Lion King cake. He remained three in my mind for a long time. He was so funny, playing outside in the snow in shorts and galoshes. He was the topic of conversation for my dad at work every day -- I guess he was funny from the start. Boy was he cute!

Halloween

Christmas Morning

I have a few specific memories of him in elementary school, going through hard things. I remember trying to take care of him. I remember being protective of him as he grew up. It seemed to me that being a boy was more dangerous than being a girl. Especially when you are a boy like Jesse who knows no fear.

When I came home from college one time, Jesse took me to ride bikes in the greenbelt near our house. I thought I could do anything and was a pretty brave person. Let's just say I was terrified the whole time as he went through the dirt path with ramps and jumps everywhere. At that point, I was more scared for me than I was for him. He seemed to really know what he was doing. And how did he get so cool? I wouldn't have been eligible to talk to guys that cool in high school!

I remember when I was living and working in Maryland and +Jennifer Fritz was staying with me for the summer. We woke up early one day and drove down to Dullis Airport to see Jesse and his friend as they were traveling home from six months in West Africa. They told us stories and we drank coffee. Jesse was 18 and I was so proud of him. Truth is, I've always been proud of him.

I was able to go with my parents to Jesse's graduation from Army boot camp the following spring. He earned an extremely prestigious award and was clearly loved by the other soldiers and the drill sergeants alike (although they tried hard not to show it!). It was so special to hang out with him for a few days and see how life had been for him. I wished I could shield him from how hard life in the army can be, but there was no way. Jesse doesn't take the easy road, and the reality is he doesn't need his big sister's protection.

Saying bye.

Pops, Jesse, and me.

There are lots of other memories, like the times Jesse took me on dates when I was lonely, when he was the life of the party at my wedding, came to my rescue during my recent visa troubles, or when he was my primary partner to inspire the family to clean out our parents' basement. Or when Jesse and I were "sniper running" through a crowd right after the New Year was rung in when our paths quite literally collided and we almost took a few other people down as we fell.

New Years

So here's to the best brother I could have ever asked for on his birthday!

Goofing around at my wedding.

I love you!

Argo

Tonight, Pops and I watched Argo. I have been wanting to see it for a while, but didn't know much about the story prior to watching it. Here is the trailer in case you don't know the premise:

I can see why Argo won so many awards this year. It was so well done, with both humor and hardship which effectively made me feel like I was there, experiencing the trauma of being stuck in a country where you are considered the enemy.

It was real enough that I am actually still a little stressed!

I have had a few traumatic experiences at borders and it brought them to the front of my mind. I remember how every time I went out of Israel I was considered a security risk because I lived in Bethlehem. I was strip-searched a few times and regularly had my bags meticulously searched.

More recently, I was questioned and held in Glasgow for five hours before my request for a tourist visa was ultimately rejected. They were kind and courteous to me, but it was one of the most stressful situations I have ever been in. Leaving the country the airline staff considered me a "deportee," although that was not the case.  I couldn't decide if it was funny or embarrassing. I guess it was both.

In the two trips into the UK after that, I needed to wait while all of my documents were examined and am now all too aware that a sovereign state can accept or reject visitors at will. Thankfully those trips didn't involve too much questioning.

I know more about borders than I would like to. They are stressful for everyone, and even as a civilian sometimes you feel like you are supposed to be sneaky to get through. I have realized that honesty is the best policy and I no longer try to out-smart anyone. It's important to remember that there is not much need to get stressed when you're not hiding anything. Transparency is already a life policy of mine but it is helpful to remember its benefits of it when traveling. Thankfully I haven't had an Argo experience. Hopefully it'll stay that way!

I am so thankful that I have my visa sorted out before traveling this time.

Just six days until I leave for England:-). I took this pic in London about a year ago.

Yipeeeee!

Today I was totally and marvelously surprised!

I told friends this past weekend that I was fairly confident that it would be three weeks minimum before I go back to England. I finally have been resigning myself to the circumstances I'm in, beginning to make some plans in the States.

While I was waking up I glanced through my email on my iPhone. I saw an email from the visa agency and opened it before even thinking about its potential significance. Maybe my visa was finally assigned to an officer, which would be great.

When I read the words, "Your visa has been issued," I was completely flabbergasted. I wish I could replay my facial expressions. Actually, I probably looked something like this girl... except in my case the confusion turned into delight instead of horror:

Much of today was spent looking at airline tickets and buying some for next week. I'll make sure that they are still the best deal tomorrow -- plane ticket prices change on a day by day (or sometimes hour by hour) basis.

I am thrilled that I get to go back to be with my husband. I'm also thrilled that I'll have a visa which will give official status in the UK -- I will be able to leave and return without concern about borders, can get a supplemental job, and etc.

I am thankful that God has sustained us these crazy six months. And I am really happy that from here on out, Kagi and I should be able to be physically together even as we make decisions on where to live and apply for visas together. God willing...

Thank you all for your prayers and for the myriad of ways you have helped and encouraged us through a difficult time. I honestly didn't know when it would end, and today seems to be that day. Praise God.

So excited to get back to this man!

International Cooking Disaster

Today I made chili for dinner. It is one of my favorites both to make and to eat, and Jesse and I enjoyed it.

Our dinner tonight.

When I make chili these days, however, I can't help but remember the biggest cooking catastrophe I have ever been responsible for. Actually, it was the biggest I have ever witnessed.

It was back in 2011 when I was visiting England from Palestine/Israel. Kagi and I were dating and I was staying with the Greens. I decided that it would be fun to make dinner for them and Kagi one night. The previous fall I had found cornmeal in England after a lot of searching, so chili and cornbread was my plan. I scoured allrecipies.com for the best chili recipe and found and American one that looked great.

I decided to make a lot of chili, and spent a whole day walking to various shops to gather the necessary ingredients. I went to both English and Asian (Indian or Pakistani) shops to make sure I had all of the meat, beans, veggies, and spices. I remember carrying heavy bags for a mile or so, ready to make the meal.

Back at the house, I set to work. Onion, meat, garlic, tomatoes, beans, and spices in a very big pot. It looked and smelled great.

With everything in, I tasted it to make sure the flavors were right. Immediately my eyes and nose started running. My mouth was on fire, and I realized what had happened. Chili powder in the States is a mild spice mix for making chili and things like it. Chili powder in the UK is made from chilies. The recipe called for 1/4 cup of chili powder, and I had followed it exactly.

At that point, I knew I probably should scrap the whole thing. I am known for my love of spicy food and even I couldn't eat that.

But after all of the work to get the ingredients I couldn't bear to throw it away. Maybe I could fix it...

So I started by straining the whole thing. I may have even rinsed it. It was still really spicy. Next, I added quite a few more cans of tomatoes. I added a lot of sugar. I added beans. I added everything I could think of.

Finally, it got to a point that I could kind of eat. By this time, the family was home. Kagi was there, and I didn't know what to do.

So I served the chili and cornbread.

It was so hot. Honestly, I could barely eat it, and I know I have a very high spice tolerance. The worst part of the whole thing is that I served it to the best sports I know. I don't know how, but they managed to eat it. I still can't believe I did that to them.

To me, the funniest part of this situation was Kagi, who had a really awful cold the day this happened. He loved the chili and ate a lot of it. He says he doesn't remember it being spicy at all! :-)

Bald Eagle

Yesterday when my dad got home from his run he told me he wanted to show me something. So we jumped in the truck and drove to a nearby street. Thankfully, the bald eagle he had come upon while running was still there. It was beautiful and so much fun to watch it and take some pictures. They aren't very good, but I thought I'd share anyway!

And here is the video which shows it beautifully and gracefully flying away!

Thanks to my amazing father who knew I really wanted to see a bald eagle and took me to see it. Seriously, it was really cool and a fun outing together.

Six Months

Today marks six months since the most significant and best day of my life, when Kagi and I got married. It was a wonderful, wonderful, meaningful day of celebration with many of our best friends, full of excitement and anticipation. I married my best friend who I love and trust and enjoy. Not much gets better than that.

Photo credit: amybirdsong.com.

This half-year has been something... certainly not been what we expected. It has contained some of the best and some of the hardest days in my memory.

On that day of our marriage, I so looked forward to being together, but I expected that, knowing myself, it would tough for me to make the transition from being single to married. In actuality, though, it was great fun. Kagi is my best friend and it is so fun to do life together. I love that in the times of both bliss and conflict we were building our life together. Work in marriage is purposeful and should pay dividends for decades to come. I really like that.

On the other hand, our circumstances have been very hard. Due to (mostly) unexpected visa issues we've physically been together for only about two of the six months. After being on the road for several years and being long-distance for much of our dating and engagement time, I was thrilled to live together and have our own home -- something I've really missed over the last few years. I couldn't have been more ready to really live somewhere -- to get my stuff in one place, to decorate, and take a break from living on the road. Sadly, the unpredictable nature of life on the road has only increased for me since being married.

With all of the turmoil, I have occasionally struggled deeply with disappointment, disillusionment, and even self-doubt. On that day of our marriage, I so looked forward to being together. I looked forward to getting some balance and steadiness back in life. I love Kagi and so want to live our life together, and even now I am here, on the other side of the world, having too much to do but feeling unable to do anything productive (probably a topic for another blog). At times, I fear that this time apart will damage our relationship. I fear that I am going to completely lose it.

In thinking about it today, however, I am thankful that even though I couldn't have imagined this kind of a start to marriage, God has graciously sustained us. I am so, so glad I married Kagi, and even knowing what has happened so far I would do it again even more confidently than I did six months ago. And I remember some key things I have been learning:

•  I don't know how many days we will have together, so I will be thankful for every one we are given. If I can learn that lesson well and live it out for years to come, it also should pay dividends. That helps. 
• Although we don't have much right now, we seem to have enough for today. That is a blessing and something I want to be truly thankful for. 
• We are so blessed with friends and family on whom we really have needed to rely on to get through this. I don't take one of them (you) for granted and when I think about you I remember that no matter how difficult things become I am (we are) lavishly and extraordinarily blessed. 
• The Lord who supplies all my needs is present and is good. When I am frustrated with people and institutions as I have regularly been of late, I am challenged to remember this: Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. In my mind it sounds a little more like: Some trust in governments and some trust in money, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Oh Lord, let it be that I respond in trust and rest in you no matter the circumstances. And please make a way for us to be back together soon.

"Gray Nomads"

Last week I went to a conference in the Yorkshire Dales (a place I love) for a conference hosted by Rob and Jane Garratt of 5000 Plus. I was blessed to be the youngest (by quite a bit), spending several days with some very amazing servants of Christ.

5000 Plus was started by Rob and Jane as they listed to God about what He would have them do about poverty in the world. While on a visit to Nepal several years ago, Rob was feeling very helpless about the poverty he saw everywhere. One day, while worshipping with a local pastor and good friend, God spoke to Rob and told him that they needed to start with what the people have, not what they don't have. Their ministry philosophy is derived from the story where Jesus feeds the five thousand in Mark 6. They note that Jesus tells the disciples, "You give them something to eat," and that ultimately they use what they have (loaves and fish). Jesus then multiplied it, and gave it back to the disciples to feed the crowd. It's exciting to hear how Jesus has done just this in the communities 5000 Plus works in.

Rob and Jane are looking for other "Gray Nomads" to work with them in taking the message and teaching of 5000 Plus to more impoverished communities. These people with life experience, financial and time flexibility are in a unique position to make a huge difference for the sake of the poor. Do you know anyone you think might be interested? The only requirement is that they are open for adventure!

Here are some pictures from my hike one afternoon in the Dales. They really are beautiful!

Making Dinner for my Botswana Family

I have really enjoyed getting to know Kagi's family. They are really sweet and great -- I'm sure in the future there will be lots more to share.

Last week, on my 5th day in Bots, Kagi thought it would be a good opportunity for us to make dinner for the family. His favorite is Honey Baked Chicken and figured they'd love it too. We determined that there would be 12 people there, and set to work in the early afternoon. I prepped 6 cups (dry) of rice, which I expected would be sufficient for the group (each person would have a full cup to eat), and made 13 pieces of chicken in the luxurious buttery, honey, curry sauce. We also made a large pot of butternut squash and some cookies.

Kagi asked everyone to be available at 5:30. A little later he told them 5. We were going to have it at Grandma's house because of the table there, but then when it neared 5 we decided to change it to his mom's house when we realized that there would be numerous unexpected guests at Grandma's house (particularly because she kept inviting people:-)) and we hadn't prepared enough food for them. He suspected we might actually eat around 6:30 or 7.

At 6:30 when we went to pick up the table from Grandma's house, a discussion ensued resulting in the decision to have the dinner at Grandma's after all. We went back to his mom's to finish and bring the food. By this time, I was panicking because I wasn't sure that there was enough rice. I forgot that, although Americans use rice as more of a side dish, most of the world fills their plates with rice and puts other things on the side. This is certainly true in Botswana. OOPS! I was praying that God would miraculously expand the amount of rice, and that there would be enough chicken to go around.

At 8 we had all 12 family members around the table with the food (amazingly) still hot. Although no one said much during the meal the rice did miraculously seem sufficient and I have heard since that they really liked the food. I was SO relieved and thankful.

After the meal, in order to thank me, all the ladies sang me a beautiful song English and then a few more songs in Setswana. I'd love to upload a video of it, but am having trouble doing it right now. It was a really nice evening-- full of cultural lessons I'm glad I was prepared for!

Off to Africa

I am headed to Sub-Saharan Africa for the first time today! I am scheduled to fly to Johannesburg where I'll meet up with Kagi and then travel by bus to Gabarone, Botswana.

Kagi and another friend Patricia have told me that I MUST bring warm clothing because it is winter and cold. Apparently people tend to not bring clothing for cold weather since it's Africa and everything.

Because of their advice, I am bringing some warm clothing. But this morning when I searched the weather for Gaborone I found this:

In case you can't see, the weather is expected to be in the 80s (degrees F) all week and very sunny.

Needless to say, I understand why people don't bring winter clothing. Even so, I'm going to trust my Botswana friends, and will have to let you know how it goes.

I'm Getting Married!!

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the delay in writing! It has been a CRAZY month of getting engaged, two trips to Wales, a trip back to the States, a week in Seattle, and now, finally, being back in Spokane with my parents.

Today I'm trying to get caught up with a variety of things, and realized that I haven't even written here in way too long. Instead of telling you about my engagement here I'd like to direct you to kagiandlaura.wordpress.com, which has lots of pictures and as much information as we have so far.

Our wedding is going to be August 18th in Niagara Falls, ON, Canada. There's more about that on the blog.

London

I had a great two-day trip to London for a conference on "Entrepreneurship and Economic Development in Africa" on Saturday. I wend down via coach (bus) early Friday morning and then walked the 4.5 miles to my hostel. On the way I found a massive discount store called Primark, which was a great place to explore and buy a few things. I got to the hostel in the late afternoon and chilled/caught up on email and had an early evening.

Saturday morning I had breakfast at the Hostel and then jumped on the London Underground for the trip to my conference, which was at the University of London. It was a fantastic conference, not large but attended by journalists, dignitaries like government ministers of several African countries, and many business and development people. I am so glad that I made the trip.

I walked back to the Victoria Coach Station after the conference ended, enjoying the three hour window to see more of London and eat dinner near the station.

I love the buildings in London. This conference provided the opportunity to see parts of the city I haven't seen on more touristy trips, and here are some pictures I took along the way.

I thought this building was so pretty.

Just a typical street in (a nice area of) London.

I was so impressed by these women. They are high level leaders in the governments of Ethopia, Rwanda, and Kenya. The fourth lady was the moderator. It is so exciting to hear about what governments like Rwanda are doing with their "Vision 2020."

:-)!! This was so beautiful in the flesh.

A sight very unlike an American street.

Culture Shock

I think culture shock happens not necessarily when you're in a new culture but rather when you have expectations that things will be a certain way, and then you find what you expect to be familiar... different. I have experienced culture shock just a few times in my life and often forget what it's like. You see, if you decide to expect the unexpected, international life is usually fun and manageable.

A situation the other day caught me completely off guard and I'm still a little shocked at how it affected me. I was in a usually comfortable situation and suddenly nothing was familiar. I ended up breaking down and needing to disappear for a while -- suddenly feeling overwhelmed with grief for the familiar life I left behind.

Packing Light

I just read this blog post after seeing it on Pinterest. I think it is a great description of how to pack lightly -- even when travelling for months at a time.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/well-designed-travel-packing-lightly-164798

I'd add that I LOVE my packing cubes which can be found here. They have allowed me to keep things neat and easily accessible when living out of a backpacking backpack for several months. Really, they're wonderful. Here's a picture:

Packing Cubes

I also should admit that I did not pack light for this trip... and although it's somewhat nice to have more things here, it might be nicer to live lean especially when you're not really in your own space.

Massive Clean Out

For the last several years, I've had many of my things stored in the house I formerly lived in (due to the graciousness of my former housemate!). One of the things I really wanted to do in Maryland was to go through it. I planned to give much of it away and catalog what I kept so I no longer wonder what I have and will be aware before buying duplicates. 

I think having stuff I use is fine, but especially stuff just being stored can be a burden. I wanted to cut my belongings down as much as I could. It ended up being a big project, but I'm really happy with the results. I got rid of about 2/3 of my stored clothes, toiletries, and etc and organized the rest, taking videos and pictures of the layers in the box for future reference:

I hope I'm not a gypsy for much longer. Regardless, living lean and simply is incredibly freeing. I still have much more than I need but this a step in the right direction!

Black Friday FAIL

Allison and Adjua, maybe a little too excited?

Last night I stayed up until MIDNIGHT, so tired from my busy Thanksgiving. My sister Allison and I took Adjua, our Ghanaian sister, and several of her friends for their first Black Friday experience. We decided to go to Target when it opened at 12.

We prepped the girls with strategies for how to handle a stampede and instructed them about how to look for good sales. Since we were in it for the experience we didn't have a very good plan of what to buy.

We walked around the store in the midst of a crazy crowd. We selected a few small gifts and were in contact with the others via phone. At around 1, we began looking for the line so we could check out.

It took us about 10 minutes to find the end of the line, 2/3 of the way to the back of the store, weaving through each aisle and with a forecast of an hour to wait to check out.

We all decided it was time to go to bed. So we put everything back and went home.

= Black Friday FAIL

Homemaking

I just spent my Saturday morning in Bethlehem relaxing and catching up on reading blogs.

It occurred to me that the blogs I follow are about as different from mine as they can be. They are almost all blogs of superb mothers, homemakers, and hostesses. They write about crafting and decorating and babies and photography. Many are written by friends of mine, several are from women who are writers whose blogs I have happened upon over time.

I have always loved domestics, and my desire to be a homemaker is as strong as (sometimes stronger) than my desire to be a traveler or an adventurer. I know that homemaking and adventuring certainly aren't mutually exclusive. But the way I am at it now, in Palestine in a great house but without an oven or other essentials for parties, and staying just long enough to make domestic effort seem to not be worth it, they are.

Travel blogger spends her Saturday mornings reading domestic American blogs from the conflict-ridden heart of the Middle East. I admit it:-).

Iron

I have been really tired since coming to The Land, and about a week ago started putting pieces together and realizing that I am showing many signs of anemia (not that hard to figure out because my blood tests always have shown low iron, and I haven't been taking iron pills as I was supposed to). I was excited to realize this, because I can easily fix it. With gusto I started taking my iron supplements a few days ago.

On Saturday night, after a frisbee game, I had some popcorn before bed. I was surprised to find a screw in the bottom of my bowl of popcorn. I think the lid I was using might have fallen apart and deposited the screw in my food... at least I hope so. I threw it away.

Last night, just three days later, my roommate and I got a tomato sauce based dish at a local restaurant and brought it home for dinner.

I found a screw buried in the sauce. For your viewing pleasure, I took a photo of it this morning:

Is this God confirming that I need more iron? Or maybe telling me that He'll supply what I need?

Here's to hoping that I continue finding them before biting them and breaking my teeth...

A Happy Birthday

I had a wonderful birthday yesterday!

I woke up to the sound of what I thought was a child yelling, and looked out my front window to see all of these sheep!

In the morning, I went to my friend Tamara's church where a great storyteller recounted the story of Easter brilliantly. We went to her grandmother's for lunch, and got to see pictures from her youth. She is such a beautiful lady!

In the afternoon I came home and had a great Skype conversation with my parents (before church for them).

In the evening, my amazing friends took me out for a nice dinner and then to "Little Italy" for some fantastic ice cream. They gave me some really sweet gifts which I will enjoy for a long time. So fun, and what a blessing to have good friends!

Here are some pictures from our evening:

These are the amazing women I spend most of my time with. We have a great time, as you can see!

Everyone has their mouth full, but check out the amazing spread on the table! I LOVE the food here!

Tamara and me enjoying our ice cream.

A very good friend:-).