Settling In...

This week has been pretty painful. I went back to Road Transport and Safety on Wednesday and was brought almost to tears as I was told I needed not just a certified copy of the seller’s ID, but of her passport. The only way that that could be overruled was if I got into my still unregistered car and drove to another office and met with Mrs Mabule. Fortunately, Mrs Mabule decided not to press the issue and I finally got the ownership transferred and car registered. I followed up on some leads for car insurance where they suggested I needed a letter from my insurer at home on my driving record. This makes sense though I did not have it and did not feel I could get it easily. Instead I will pay the premium rate which looks to be about $200 for the six months. While the agent worked on that she gave me temporary coverage, very efficient I thought. Then I went with Charles to transfer water, electricity and the security system. That all went remarkable smoothly as well, though took time. Yesterday we got Mave a cell phone which made her very happy.

On Tuesday I had had three goals: register the change of ownership on the car, get car insurance, and sign my lease for the flat – and then later in the day to go to the mall and get some new bed sheets and some groceries, finally. Well, I was quite lucky to accomplish two of those. First thing in the morning, though, Moses ordered a taxi to go buy a new battery for the car. Fortunately, he was very successful with that and we were soon, finally, mobile. On Monday we had met a very nice American Fulbright family, the Nitzas, who live a few flats down and had offered for the kids to come by and hang out if need be. I took them up on the offer knowing that the Department of Road Transportation and Safety would be nowhere for kids to hang out. That was a true godsend. Moses and I set out for there quite late (11 ish) only to be informed upon arrival that we needed a certified copy of the seller’s ID – not that that is stated anywhere on the form. So I called Francine at the Embassy and she was quite gracious enough to send her driver who brought the certified copy of the ID and the ID, just in case. But I was number 216 and they were just calling number 67. I somehow thought that if I returned in the afternoon (after the hour closing at lunchtime) I would still accomplish my task, but of course that was not the case. I realized that upon our return and decided to bag Road Transportation and Safety and see if I could at least do some of my business at UB. The kids were good for another couple of hours at the Nitzas’ house. At UB we had a wonderful experience, in strong contrast to the previous, thanks in large part to Leps Malete who, with John Holm via email, has been helping me out immeasurably. I think I was actually supposed to go by and see the Housing Manager before just moving in, but had been told that June 5th was the date and so had just moved in. It was not a problem as that had been the plan all along and I was given the formal letter allocating the flat to me for the grand sum of 2700 pula per month (about $350). This is a terrific price and will allow me to also hire some help a day or two a week which will be greatly appreciated. I also got letters of affiliation and letters for the library and IT office, so I am in great shape. This was a tremendous relief. I have been so impressed with UB in every interaction with them. With the allocation letter I could undertake another series of tasks, namely switching over the utilities.

After picking up the kids at the Nitzas, there was still time to go to Riverwalk although by that time we were all pretty hot and tired, not a good combination for shopping. We went to Mr. Price and got some nice bed sheets and pillows for the kids and a couple of coffee mugs though there is so much more we could get. We also went to Pick ‘n Pay for some groceries; we got quite a lot and that took quite a long time. At that point Mave wanted to go somewhere for dinner and the rest of us just wanted to go home, which we did. I was looking forward to a glass of wine which we had bought at the grocery store. Kuno had earnestly looked to find Yellow Tail for me and instead found something from South Africa called Tall Horse with a giraffe on a label that looked somewhat like the yellow tail labels. He only lamented that he could not find all the different colors. The Shiraz was quite good and I look forward to trying some others!

These first few days have been pretty hard on Kuno and Mave. The weather is very, very hot. We have only just moved into our flat after long travels and two hotels. They have been hearing for such a long time what a wonderful experience this is going to be and I think they are waiting for that wonderful experience. Instead there are just a million errands and so on to take care of with only the occasional fanta, appletiser or movie on the computer to help their moods. Kuno has been very concerned that everyone is staring and laughing at him. I assure him that they are just curious about me. I remind him that President Ian Khama, like Barack Obama and Kuno and Mave, is the child of a white European or American mother and African father. Ian Khama’s picture is everywhere and this can clearly be seen. That seems to help a little. This is something that Kuno will work through as we spend more time here.