The end is near

The end of the month has been upon us for about a week and is about to dramatically culminate tomorrow. This is a phenomenon quite unlike anything in the States. The last Friday of the month is the universal pay day, and it is not uncommon for people to take off the whole day to stand in queue at the bank or to start their shopping early. As it is, every Friday most businesses (except retailers) close between 1:30 and 3:00 (the school quits at 12:15). There are big discounts at the supermarket, the bottle store, and many more street vendors hawking everything from phone cards to candy to roasted meat. Huge staples for sale - a kilo of cornflakes for $4, a case of good bottled beer for $15, ten kilos of rice for $8, and lots of meat specials, to name a few. I finished any errands for the week yesterday because it really turns into chaos (and the sales were good all week anyway). While this is my first end-of-the-month here in Botswana, it is a vivid memory from Namibia. It's a festive time but also a little stressful if you have to be out and about.

On the subject of beer, there are actually quite a few to choose from. The two most popular options are St Louis, which is the local beer and tastes much like Budweiser (there is a more substantial "export" version) and Windhoek which is a solidly good German style lager from Namibia. But the South African favorites Carling, Lion, and Castle are also here along with Heineken and Amstel. And let's face it, wherever you are in the world, there is nothing like a cold cold beer on a hot day (which pretty much means most days here)

Pula is the name of the country's currency and is a rallying cry, but it also means rain. It is so incredibly valuable in this dusty desert and we were blessed with a good downpour last night. It was also the loudest thunderstorm we had ever experienced. It's the first real shower of the season although we have had dusty sprinkles before. The smell of rain is really earthly and lingers about for awhile. Green plants/weeds are springing up from the unlikeliest places; their resiliency to the near-constant lack of water is something amazing to watch. Everything craves water, especially the ants who enter our house not looking for food (but will still descend on any crumbs left behind) but any amount of water. So they will be around the toilet, the shower, the sinks. They are small and not too bothersome, unless there are hundreds of them, which gets a bit gross.