Two black cats ran in front of us on the the walk to the kombi station.
Allie and I joked about our bad luck with public transportation in Africa so far, but otherwise ignored the bad omen. After having missed our stop a few times, we learned from our mistakes and were convinced that we finally knew what we were doing and where we were going.
But our bad luck continued.
For some reason, still unbeknownst to us, the kombi took a completely different route than it had the last time. Before we knew it, we had passed the clinic. We quickly shouted "emma mo stopo," signaling the driver to pull over at the next stop, but still ended up having to walk quite a ways to get to work.
Frustrated with the kombi system (there is no map...the routes are "common knowledge" to everyone except foreigners) we decided to take a detour (an intentional one this time) to indulge in fat cakes, balls of fried dough typically eaten for breakfast.
In the morning, we observed a number of spays and neuters. However, we quickly got distracted by a patient out in the waiting room. From a distance, it appeared to be a kitten. However, upon closer inspection, we realized that it was a monkey. A very tiny marmoset ironically named King Kong. The client (who owned 42 other pets!) noticed how interested Allie and I were in the little creature with strikingly human features and allowed us to hold and photograph King Kong.
Around lunch time, Allie set out for her two-week trip to Thailand. I was sad to see her go and it felt strange being at work for the rest of the day without her, but I know that she will have an amazing experience not only performing surgeries, but also sightseeing.
In the afternoon, I was told we would be making a home visit to vaccinate the minister's dogs. For some reason I had assumed that the veterinarians meant religious minister. I was surprised to learn that we would actually be going to the home of Botswana's Minister of Education and a Presidential candidate in next year's election, Hon. Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi.
We drove to the "posh" part of Gaborone and waited outside of a large house surrounded by a high wall and electric wires until a security guard allowed us entry into the driveway. The Minister had four very beautiful but slightly skittish Great Danes. Administering rabies vaccines took some time as it involved chasing them around the large backyard.
As we were packing up our supplies and getting ready to leave, one of the housekeepers brought out a large tray of food. She had cooked a traditional lunch for us, consisting of goat, rice, butternut squash and cabbage. I was extremely surprised and touched by the gesture and found it hard to imagine such hospitality being shown to a vet back in the States.
With any luck, maybe next year I will be able to say I vaccinated the dogs of the President of Botswana.
Allie and I joked about our bad luck with public transportation in Africa so far, but otherwise ignored the bad omen. After having missed our stop a few times, we learned from our mistakes and were convinced that we finally knew what we were doing and where we were going.
But our bad luck continued.
For some reason, still unbeknownst to us, the kombi took a completely different route than it had the last time. Before we knew it, we had passed the clinic. We quickly shouted "emma mo stopo," signaling the driver to pull over at the next stop, but still ended up having to walk quite a ways to get to work.
Frustrated with the kombi system (there is no map...the routes are "common knowledge" to everyone except foreigners) we decided to take a detour (an intentional one this time) to indulge in fat cakes, balls of fried dough typically eaten for breakfast.
In the morning, we observed a number of spays and neuters. However, we quickly got distracted by a patient out in the waiting room. From a distance, it appeared to be a kitten. However, upon closer inspection, we realized that it was a monkey. A very tiny marmoset ironically named King Kong. The client (who owned 42 other pets!) noticed how interested Allie and I were in the little creature with strikingly human features and allowed us to hold and photograph King Kong.
Around lunch time, Allie set out for her two-week trip to Thailand. I was sad to see her go and it felt strange being at work for the rest of the day without her, but I know that she will have an amazing experience not only performing surgeries, but also sightseeing.
In the afternoon, I was told we would be making a home visit to vaccinate the minister's dogs. For some reason I had assumed that the veterinarians meant religious minister. I was surprised to learn that we would actually be going to the home of Botswana's Minister of Education and a Presidential candidate in next year's election, Hon. Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi.
We drove to the "posh" part of Gaborone and waited outside of a large house surrounded by a high wall and electric wires until a security guard allowed us entry into the driveway. The Minister had four very beautiful but slightly skittish Great Danes. Administering rabies vaccines took some time as it involved chasing them around the large backyard.
As we were packing up our supplies and getting ready to leave, one of the housekeepers brought out a large tray of food. She had cooked a traditional lunch for us, consisting of goat, rice, butternut squash and cabbage. I was extremely surprised and touched by the gesture and found it hard to imagine such hospitality being shown to a vet back in the States.
With any luck, maybe next year I will be able to say I vaccinated the dogs of the President of Botswana.
 |
| Fat cakes |
No comments:
Post a Comment