At the school the other week Ma Mmereki, one of the teachers, held a quiz for all the boys. There were 5 categories, English reading, English spelling, Setswana reading, Setswana spelling and maths. As one of the boys won both the english reading and spelling we were left with 4 winners. It was discussed that we should try and go to one of the exclusive lodges in Shakawe and get the boys to camp there with one of the teachers. So they can experience how the other half live. On the thursday after the quiz, Ma Mmereki and I traveled to Drotsky's Lodge in Shakawe to talk to them and see if they will let us stay there for a reduced price. Once we arrived there we got talking to the manager and she told us that we could bring all the boys for a buffet dinner and full English breakfast at the lodge, then take them to one of their campsites. All for no cost! We travelled back home with smiles on our faces in anticipation of telling the boys about this fantastic prize that they have won. It was also decided that I should drive them there because i helped write the maths questions and helped sweet talk the manager at the lodge.
The next day we packed up the Land Cruiser and Ma Mereki, George, Reuben, Tumediso, Ketsepione and myself traveled down to this luxury lodge. We stopped at Choppies, the only supermarket, on the way down to get some meat and drinks for the post dinner bbq. Once we got there we immediately jumped in the crystal clear water, a change from the murkey green water that we have at the school pool. It was great fun, the boys couldn't stop oogling at this white girl in a bikini. So i tried to distract them by inventing a game that was sort of a cross between vwater volleyball and wrestling. After we had exhasted the boys in the pool, we took them to the campsite. This was a short drive down a track down the river. It was a spacious campsite right next to the river, with a braii grill in the middle. They had even provided firewood for us. After we had set up camp we were went down to the jetty on the river, we would be taxied by boat to dinner. One lovely boat ride later and all 6 of us were sitting down to a buffet dinner. I hadn't even thought that it would be these boys first ever buffet style dinner in their lives. But i soon realised when they all ha no idea what to do. I mean, its not exactly a complicated task, you go up and get food, you eat food, you go back for more food, you eat that food, continue cycle. The waiter brought us a bowl of bread and some sticks of butter. One of the boys just picked up a stick of butter and popped it in his mouth. I then had to explain how you were suppose to spread the butter on the bread and then eat it. I then did as i always do before a buffet, prepare myself mentally and physically for the grueling eating marathon that i was about to endure. The boys didn't quite know what to do so they asked me to go first and i showed them that they could take as much of whatever they wanted. We all joined the que and then i watched the boys aim in straight for the meat. At the school they get one measly piece of meat three times a week, so when they saw a big bowl of chicken, their eyes lit up. Their mountains on their plates made my food look like Cherry Hill compared to their Mount Everest. They really had taken 'You can have however much you want' literally. When we got back to the table the boys immediately grabbed their desert spoons and tucked in to their pasta, then they started ripping apart their chicken. Once they had finished their chicken and pasta, one of the boys wanted more chicken, so he asked if he could have the bones from everybody elses plates. I explained that he could just go up to the buffet counter and get more if he wanted, but he was too scared to go up and ask for more. So i took his plate up for him and got him 2 more pieces of chicken. I however, opted to eat insane amounts of broccoli because of the unvaried school diet of pure carbohydrate. This brocolli was insanely nice, and to this day it was the only time i have ever seen brocolli in Botswana. By the time dessert came round i had to stop the boys from going off to the toilet and washing their spoons. They were worried that they couldn't eat dessert because they had dirty spoons. George then discovered that there was complementary tea and coffee and so decided to take full advantage of that by having a super strong coffee with 6 sugars. By the time we had finished our apple crumble it had gotten dark and so the prospect of a boat ride back was exciting. Unfortunately all the boys were too scared to take the boat back in the dark so they opted for a minibus, so i went with Tumedisu on a night boat trip. Once we had gotten back to the campsite we braiied some meat and danced the night away.
Friday, 22 November 2013
Drotsky's
At the school the other week Ma Mmereki, one of the teachers, held a quiz for all the boys. There were 5 categories, English reading, English spelling, Setswana reading, Setswana spelling and maths. As one of the boys won both the english reading and spelling we were left with 4 winners. It was discussed that we should try and go to one of the exclusive lodges in Shakawe and get the boys to camp there with one of the teachers. So they can experience how the other half live. On the thursday after the quiz, Ma Mmereki and I traveled to Drotsky's Lodge in Shakawe to talk to them and see if they will let us stay there for a reduced price. Once we arrived there we got talking to the manager and she told us that we could bring all the boys for a buffet dinner and full English breakfast at the lodge, then take them to one of their campsites. All for no cost! We travelled back home with smiles on our faces in anticipation of telling the boys about this fantastic prize that they have won. It was also decided that I should drive them there because i helped write the maths questions and helped sweet talk the manager at the lodge.
The next day we packed up the Land Cruiser and Ma Mereki, George, Reuben, Tumediso, Ketsepione and myself traveled down to this luxury lodge. We stopped at Choppies, the only supermarket, on the way down to get some meat and drinks for the post dinner bbq. Once we got there we immediately jumped in the crystal clear water, a change from the murkey green water that we have at the school pool. It was great fun, the boys couldn't stop oogling at this white girl in a bikini. So i tried to distract them by inventing a game that was sort of a cross between vwater volleyball and wrestling. After we had exhasted the boys in the pool, we took them to the campsite. This was a short drive down a track down the river. It was a spacious campsite right next to the river, with a braii grill in the middle. They had even provided firewood for us. After we had set up camp we were went down to the jetty on the river, we would be taxied by boat to dinner. One lovely boat ride later and all 6 of us were sitting down to a buffet dinner. I hadn't even thought that it would be these boys first ever buffet style dinner in their lives. But i soon realised when they all ha no idea what to do. I mean, its not exactly a complicated task, you go up and get food, you eat food, you go back for more food, you eat that food, continue cycle. The waiter brought us a bowl of bread and some sticks of butter. One of the boys just picked up a stick of butter and popped it in his mouth. I then had to explain how you were suppose to spread the butter on the bread and then eat it. I then did as i always do before a buffet, prepare myself mentally and physically for the grueling eating marathon that i was about to endure. The boys didn't quite know what to do so they asked me to go first and i showed them that they could take as much of whatever they wanted. We all joined the que and then i watched the boys aim in straight for the meat. At the school they get one measly piece of meat three times a week, so when they saw a big bowl of chicken, their eyes lit up. Their mountains on their plates made my food look like Cherry Hill compared to their Mount Everest. They really had taken 'You can have however much you want' literally. When we got back to the table the boys immediately grabbed their desert spoons and tucked in to their pasta, then they started ripping apart their chicken. Once they had finished their chicken and pasta, one of the boys wanted more chicken, so he asked if he could have the bones from everybody elses plates. I explained that he could just go up to the buffet counter and get more if he wanted, but he was too scared to go up and ask for more. So i took his plate up for him and got him 2 more pieces of chicken. I however, opted to eat insane amounts of broccoli because of the unvaried school diet of pure carbohydrate. This brocolli was insanely nice, and to this day it was the only time i have ever seen brocolli in Botswana. By the time dessert came round i had to stop the boys from going off to the toilet and washing their spoons. They were worried that they couldn't eat dessert because they had dirty spoons. George then discovered that there was complementary tea and coffee and so decided to take full advantage of that by having a super strong coffee with 6 sugars. By the time we had finished our apple crumble it had gotten dark and so the prospect of a boat ride back was exciting. Unfortunately all the boys were too scared to take the boat back in the dark so they opted for a minibus, so i went with Tumedisu on a night boat trip. Once we had gotten back to the campsite we braiied some meat and danced the night away.
The next day we packed up the Land Cruiser and Ma Mereki, George, Reuben, Tumediso, Ketsepione and myself traveled down to this luxury lodge. We stopped at Choppies, the only supermarket, on the way down to get some meat and drinks for the post dinner bbq. Once we got there we immediately jumped in the crystal clear water, a change from the murkey green water that we have at the school pool. It was great fun, the boys couldn't stop oogling at this white girl in a bikini. So i tried to distract them by inventing a game that was sort of a cross between vwater volleyball and wrestling. After we had exhasted the boys in the pool, we took them to the campsite. This was a short drive down a track down the river. It was a spacious campsite right next to the river, with a braii grill in the middle. They had even provided firewood for us. After we had set up camp we were went down to the jetty on the river, we would be taxied by boat to dinner. One lovely boat ride later and all 6 of us were sitting down to a buffet dinner. I hadn't even thought that it would be these boys first ever buffet style dinner in their lives. But i soon realised when they all ha no idea what to do. I mean, its not exactly a complicated task, you go up and get food, you eat food, you go back for more food, you eat that food, continue cycle. The waiter brought us a bowl of bread and some sticks of butter. One of the boys just picked up a stick of butter and popped it in his mouth. I then had to explain how you were suppose to spread the butter on the bread and then eat it. I then did as i always do before a buffet, prepare myself mentally and physically for the grueling eating marathon that i was about to endure. The boys didn't quite know what to do so they asked me to go first and i showed them that they could take as much of whatever they wanted. We all joined the que and then i watched the boys aim in straight for the meat. At the school they get one measly piece of meat three times a week, so when they saw a big bowl of chicken, their eyes lit up. Their mountains on their plates made my food look like Cherry Hill compared to their Mount Everest. They really had taken 'You can have however much you want' literally. When we got back to the table the boys immediately grabbed their desert spoons and tucked in to their pasta, then they started ripping apart their chicken. Once they had finished their chicken and pasta, one of the boys wanted more chicken, so he asked if he could have the bones from everybody elses plates. I explained that he could just go up to the buffet counter and get more if he wanted, but he was too scared to go up and ask for more. So i took his plate up for him and got him 2 more pieces of chicken. I however, opted to eat insane amounts of broccoli because of the unvaried school diet of pure carbohydrate. This brocolli was insanely nice, and to this day it was the only time i have ever seen brocolli in Botswana. By the time dessert came round i had to stop the boys from going off to the toilet and washing their spoons. They were worried that they couldn't eat dessert because they had dirty spoons. George then discovered that there was complementary tea and coffee and so decided to take full advantage of that by having a super strong coffee with 6 sugars. By the time we had finished our apple crumble it had gotten dark and so the prospect of a boat ride back was exciting. Unfortunately all the boys were too scared to take the boat back in the dark so they opted for a minibus, so i went with Tumedisu on a night boat trip. Once we had gotten back to the campsite we braiied some meat and danced the night away.
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