We headed back to campus after that and I then took on the challenge of taking the combi (a combi, pictured) route home for the first time…which meant going to the station…a place where certain combis can be taken and also for passengers to board larger buses for longer trips. So, I got on the correct combi from campus and headed there. Once we pulled in, it was not at all what I expected…wow…there were so many people there. It was a little overwhelming! There is so much commotion with vendors everywhere selling anything from fruit and CDs to nike shoes and haircuts. It was loud and hot and very, very busy. So, I knew that I had to cross a bridge to get to the other side of the station in order to get on my next and final combie…but I had no idea what this bridge looked like or where it was located. Once I got off the first combie, I just followed a herd of people and could eventually see this bridge…it was like a 100-yard long pedestrian bridge that was probably 100 yard high as well! And it was just crammed with people…which is why I wore my backpack on the front…unfortunately, theft is common there. Once I got over the bridge, there was just as much commotion on the other side…and once again, I had no clue where to go. I made a couple wrong turns, tried to ask for help for someone who spoke no English, which is pretty uncommon, and eventually found the correct combie…Khale View Route 3. There are like different lanes for each route, so there were around 5 combies marked Khale View Route 3. There was one in the front that had some people in it, so I got in that one. Once it got full of people…let me remind you this is 15 people…we left the station and headed for Game City Mall, from where I take a 5-minute walk home. It took probably 20-25 minutes for the combie to fill up…and it was HOT!!! Anyway, it all worked out, I got to the mall and then walked home. However, the whole process of getting home took over an hour…that’s a long time, but it’s something I’ll have to get used to!I took a wonderful and much-needed hour nap before Monkie drove me to Moghul Indian restaurant for our next meal. We ordered a bunch of different dishes and shared it all. My favorite was a spinach dish…not quite sure what it was called, but it was really finely-ground spinach with small potato pieces mixed in. The garlic naan was delicious as well. It was a really nice dinner…we’re all becoming better friends now so the conversation was all really good. It was also fun getting to meet Khumo’s, one of our UB student helpers, little sisters, Paco (grade 3) and Wesi (grade 4)…they were just adorable. Wesi made us all little paper ornaments that had our names on them. Their English is so great, and it is so cute because it sounds like a British accent. (I have noticed that many of the younger Motswana’s accents sound that way…must have something to do with how they’re taught in school.)
To get home, I called a cab and two of the other homestayers shared it with me. The driver let me off t my house first, and then took the other two right to their homes. It was 30 pula for each of us…so less than $5…not too bad! And it was nice to finally get home at a decent hour tonight…10pm! I need to work on getting enough sleep…haven’t been doing that the last few nights and really felt the consequences today (before my afternoon nap!).
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