It's pretty difficult to celebrate Easter out here in the bush, except by trying to spend some time alone praying and reading my Bible - this is when I really miss home and fellowship with family and friends. Mich and I agree - being away from home for a while definitely makes you appreciate what you have :)
Last Sunday was Sven's birthday braai, and we got to meet a bunch of his cool friends from Maun. When the thunderstorm came and soaked us through, we didn't let it get us down - we sped off down the road (through a river, I might add) back to Dog Camp for coffee and birthday cake! Ah, bliss! That was Steph's last day with us, so we had to say a sad goodbye to her. Monday was the MTC Christmas Party in March - wow, they have the most stunning camp! So beautiful! We walked around in awe for a bit, snapping away with our cameras like mad, while we were treated like absolute stars by all of the lovely and friendly folks there. After lunch, the entertainment began (100m sprints, tug of war, egg races, and all kinds of tomfoolery), and we spent the better part of 2 hours kicking back with as many soft drinks as we could hold, watching the games. Ya ya, we were lazy not joining in - my excuse was the skirt I was wearing, but then I saw a bunch of local ladies racing while wearing the kind of dresses I would attend weddings in.
We've had a pretty difficult week in terms of stuff not going exactly as planned, but we've been working hard - every time we look at the number of sites we've done, we feel so proud of ourselves :)
Tuesday - we got stuck in the stickiest mud in the world. Cake mix, as Mich calls it. I just call it pure evil. It tricks you, you see - you walk on it, and it seems perfectly firm. Apply a bit of extra pressure (1x Land Rover, for example), and the stuff turns into quicksand. Slowly sinking deeper and deeper, we radioed for Sven and Bonnie to rescue us. That pure evil stuff took our rescuers too, and there we were - trying to stay positive and dig and jack and stick branches under the wheels, but in the end, the cake mix won. After 4 1/2 hours, Emily & Roz saved us with winches and tow ropes and Coke Zeros and lots of delicious hot sticky meatballs, fresh from camp. Goodness, I never thought I'd be so happy to see a Coke Zero! Needless to say, I felt pretty spaced out with a teeny bit of heatstroke for a bit :)
Thursday - A trip into Maun in the pouring rain, which yielded lots of amazing goodies like a new monitor for the computer I've been using, radiators and other car bits, burger pies and choc Super Moos from Mich, and shampoo (so I don't have to turn Rasta).
Friday - Spent a day recovering in the office and sorting out soil samples, while Stanley got a bit of TLC from Moses in the workshop. Moses is on leave now, and I don't know what we're going to do without him! He's just the kind of dependable clever guy you need in a place like this. On Friday night we watched the Jane Austen Book Club, so great - I love it!
Last night the heavens opened up right over Michelle's bed. Luckily, it was before she went to sleep - she might have floated away in the night. There was some seriously gushing water pouring down from the ceiling, which is basically thick foil. We have had this problem a lot. You stand in any one spot in your room while it's raining, and within about 30 seconds your skin is covered with a light spray. Well, what was going on in Mich's room was not a light spray. We quickly pulled the bed away from the leaks, so that Mich was left with about 30 squared centimeters to spread out on and fall asleep. It was a long long night.
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