Botswana - Taking It All In.

This is Part 2 of our trip to Botswana in December 2011. Part 1 is in the post before this.


It was fun to take it all in, truly fascinating and interesting....

A mud hut - apparently this type of roof is now expensive to make. Inside it is cool (cool, as in temperature. Well, cool as in awesome, too!) In the winter, around May - July, it is warm.


Wild flowers bloom nonchalantly here and there making a pretty picture in the midst of savannah scrub, Botswana's natural vegetation (geez, I'm beginning to sound like something on National Geographic).





Wha_?? Yes, THE Livingstone Memorial. Can you believe this? (However, I am not sure if this is the only memorial set up for Dr David Livingstone.)
"Britain wanted the body to give it a proper ceremony, but the tribe would not give his body to them. Finally they relented, but cut the heart out and put a note on the body that said, "You can have his body, but his heart belongs in Africa!" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Livingstone#Death
We only passed by this spot but had we lingered here, I would have shed tears just at the thought of one person's sacrifice for a nation. And yes, we should take our hat off, Paul!



It seems like African guys usually have their hair cropped very short, while the ladies, even young girls, seem to place a lot of emphasis on their hair. In the town, you could find make-shift hairdressing spots with just chairs and tools set up under trees. There, several hairdressers will be busily braiding away!

Here's a family friend's young daughter who had hers done at home...this is art, I'm tellin' ya!

















































BFFs - my husband Paul, and Boago's father, Mr Matshuba - don't they look like brothers separated when young, discovering each other, and finally being reconciled across the continents! (I know, I have quite an imagination.) They are togged up like this for Christmas service in church. (Africans seem to dress up much more formally than we Malaysians do when attending church, and all the more at Christmas. So we followed suit. Geddit, geddit, followed suit? Sometimes I'm so funny I actually make myself laugh!)



We Malaysians are such a multi-racial bunch, our costumes are now such a (con-)fusion of everything. My daughter goes Chinese while I go Indian because we are both and neither at the same time.



The Matshubas. Esther (orange)is in a traditional African costume. I'm blinded by those flashin' teeth!

The stage backdrop of the church we attended (took about an hour to arrive in the town church) on Christmas day. These are pieces of cloth pulled taut and tied down.



Pizza joint in town for Christmas lunch!



Here are some other photos that I thought might interest you....







What did we eat in Botswana?

Look out for the next post!

If you have enjoyed this account of our trip, do write comments at the bottom of this blog post. I'd love to know what you think, and I do try to answer every one of them! (It takes me forever to upload photos/videos by the way.) Several of you have mentioned having problems getting your comments through, in which case, you can send me your comment through facebook or email and I will copy it here.

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How we ended up in Botswana, Africa!

It all started with this guy......(love this photo of you, Boago! so handsome)


Boago is a student from Botswana. My husband and I first met him in church here in Malaysia, shortly after he arrived. This was about three years ago. We had offered to give him a ride home and we hit it off right away. He decided he'd 'adopt' us as his Malaysian parents.

My husband Paul, and me, in Botswana


These are his real parents in Botswana (in clothing brought over from Malaysia - how cute are they, holding hands and all?)....




As such, he was often invited to join us on the trips we planned in Malaysia, whether to the movies, hotsprings, Royal Selangor (pewter) showroom, Bird Park, a hot-air balloon ride, firefly sanctuary. We grew close with him. And we love him dearly.

Can you tell?



I even took him to the kindergarten where I once worked, for him to talk about his native country, teach an African song, and spend time with the kids. They loved him, too!

My friends became his friends...(oh! nice top, Huda)
He became my 'partner-in-crime'...


This is me with his sparring partner, my friend and 'personal nurse' who nags me to death to drink more water, Esther. Boago and Esther have this brother-sister love-hate relationship...
(Esther gave me leopard-print ear-rings for my birthday to wear to Botswana! heehee!)

But seriously, Boago is a fun-loving, gentle, friendly, teachable, talented, musically-inclined and most important of all, God-fearing young man.

Boago, you da man!


As my husband works with Malaysian Airlines (MAS), we get a 'free' ticket annually to any part of the world that MAS flies to. Only the youngest of our three kids is eligible for this free ticket too, since the other two are already working adults. We decided we'd go visit Boago's family for this year's trip, just recently in December 2011, and spend Christmas with them. Boago was also back there on semester break. It is an 11-hour flight to Johannesburg (the city that MAS flies to), and a 6-hour drive to Botswana.

Here are some quick photos on our trip.

This is the little village where Boago hails from, Mochudi. It is about a one-hour drive from the capital, Gaborone.


This large compound belongs to their family! The building on the right is the house, while the mud hut on the left (formerly their home) is now their kitchen. The foundation for a bigger house is being built in the foreground.



I wish I'd had the experience of staying in the mud hut when it was still their home.
From left: Esther (Boago's cousin), his mum, my husband Paul and our youngest daughter, Tammy.



Meals were in different spots each time, usually under the shadiest tree, and I loved that idea (tree-shades, geddit geddit?), and inside the house only when it rained.

As there wasn't enough room at their place for us to stay at, we were put up in this building, about an 8-minute walk away:
It's a hairdressing salon, not being used at the moment. All around were pictures of ladies in different hairstyles staring down at us - with the words "Dark and Lovely" appearing here and there, an advertisement for dark hair I presumed. This, I found quite amusing, as we in Malaysia have a brand name "Fair and Lovely" which is a facial cream that is supposed to make you fairer.

And so began our holiday. Tune in for Part 2 as soon as I look for some more photos....

The More the Merrier Christmas Cookies

Yah, so I've said it many times that I do not like cooking or baking....except when it's something creative and fun to do.

You will recall my ordeal in trying to follow a recipe - click this.
You can see what we did last year round about Christmas time...click here
And you can see what my Spaghetti Aglio..no, Olio....whatever...looks like.


This year I wanted to make gingerbread cookies again but the real fun part for me, is icing them.
Making the cookies is tiring for me. I decided to ask (on facebook) if anybody might want to make them with me. I had two people who were game. RJ and G arrived yesterday evening.

What fun we had coming up with these...






Look at how each person can have a different idea....so fascinating.




And then, for one of the batches in the oven I must've accidentally pushed the wrong button, and the poor cookies got...ummm...a tan?
I think I must've had Botswana on my mind....(where my hubby, youngest daughter and I are heading soon - SO excited!).


Ah well, make the most of it. We decided since they were black anyway, we'd pipe icing on some of them to look like penguins.......and then got carried away. Here's the back of a black plastic container with an aeroplane cookie flying above icing snow and an icing snowman, with the penguin cookies....


And the next day, I had leftover dough and icing so I got some little girls to come over to have fun. Someone asked how did you find SIX little girls in such a short time? Trust me, parents are more than willing to send them off with me especially since it's the school holidays now. They were already talking about next year's Christmas plans.....


See how even a child can do it? easy!





Thanks RJ, G and young ladies.....!


And Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

Christmas and a Malay Tradition

As Christmas approaches....

................................................Christmas wreath, our front door


... I am thinking of a wonderful tradition that the Malays have. My Malay friend informs me that Google says it is practised by the Malays particularly in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei.

*For my foreign readers, when we say 'Malays' here in Malaysia, we mean one of the races of people found in this multi-racial country. The nationality of all citizens of Malaysia on the other hand, which is made up of Chinese, Indians, Eurasians and other races is Malaysian. The reason I am mentioning this is, some foreigners mistakenly call us, the people of Malaysia, Malays, instead of Malaysians.

Now that I've cleared that up...


............Winter scene on top of shoe cupboard, porch entrance - winter in Malaysia, HAH!


This is the tradition: On one of the Malays' special festive days, Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, which is once a year, the family gathers and the children line up, eldest to youngest, to seek for forgiveness from their parents. (In some families, the parents are seated and the child kneels before each parent.) Then each child clasps their hands over their parents' hands, and says words like, "Maaf zahir dan batin" which means, "Forgive me for my wrong words and/or deeds" or a simple, "Minta ampun dan maaf" which means, "Please forgive me, I am sorry".

.................Cushions given as gifts, 2 with green, and 2 with red backgrounds - love them!

For some, this is done among the members of the immediate family and, on visiting the grandparents' home, the children and grandchildren of the elderly folks repeat this gesture before them. It is basically rooted in the tradition of the younger ones showing respect for the elder ones, so siblings also seek forgiveness from their older ones.


...............Deco on "Lady Victoria", a rescued cupboard blogged about earlier on

There is variation on how this is done, with some families doing it privately.

Wives also practise this tradition with their husbands, and vice versa. This is repeated when the in-laws are visited, the couple to their parents-in-law.

...............................................Christmas ladder!

This tradition has been observed by Malays for many, many years. Of course, the gesture is supposed to be carried out with sincerity, although, how sincere the person is should not be questioned.

...............Dining area corner - frames are windows thrown out by furniture shop


.......................Dining area lamp prettified - twigs picked up from around neighbourhood


Now, how.awesome.is.that!

Imagine, all the mischief, disobedience, disrespect, rebellion done over the past year by the younger one is brought before the older one who does not hold account of them anymore. It's like casting off your wrongdoings, deleting them. It's like having your slate wiped clean from the past year's offenses. It's like starting over, with new-year resolutions.

..................................Garlanded stairs (not lit up in this pic)

I know it is an American tradition to show appreciation to family members (although that was not how the tradition was started) by sometimes sharing kind words of thankfulness and then sharing a toast to one other at the Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving Day is the day they remember to be grateful for people and things around them.

........................Christmas tree against faux brick wall (painted)

But I don't know of any one day where Christians actually observe the practice of seeking forgiveness from loved ones. Of course, we can argue that we should be doing that throughout the year, as soon as we wrong someone even. But my point is, sometimes when a special day is observed to practise an honorable gesture like this, it allows for time to take stock. Giving and receiving forgiveness will not be taken for granted and brushed off, or put off to another time, but would be purposefully thought of. Just like we should appreciate our loved ones throughout the year, yet Valentine's Day, regardless of its origin, is the day many have adopted to be the day to remember and appreciate loved ones.

As I was putting up the Christmas decorations around our house this year (hence all the photos above, because I like my posts to have some eye-candy!), this was what I was pondering about. Traditions that are so worth-mentioning and maybe even adopting.

...........................Awesome tissue box with harlequin design

.................................Baubles make me happy

What do you think?

. As you consider the year as it closes, are there wrongs you need to make right with the simple (but may not be easy) act of asking for forgiveness?
Wooden rocking horse thrown out by a playschool. Original colour - a loud purple with yellow flowers and green rocking legs - painted white and brown, and distressed. "Reins" are twine with 2 silver bells hung from them.

.................................The cutest toadstools ever!


. Are there people who have wronged you but you have consciously or unconsciously with-held forgiveness from? your parents, bosses, partners, colleagues, friends, siblings?

. Something to think about - if we with-hold forgiveness from any one person, who is the one who loses out?

. Sometimes, do you think, it is not even about who wronged who, but it is more about nurturing and restoring a relationship?

. My bet is, being unforgiving, holding grudges, being bitter, contributes to a lot of illnesses, not to mention sleepless nights


...................................Reindeer bandanna



May we have a Blessed and Forgiving Christmas.



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