Being Guests, Having Guests

Since we will be in the Netherlands only till July 22, our program is quite packed with socializing☺ Maud’s friend since August 1973! Kristien got her B-Day dinner organized by her sons & boyfriend. Batswana pay attention: these people plan to visit next winter.


Another B-Day: to celebrate Maud’s uncle Aernout gathered some family on his botter (a wooden 1902 fishermen’s sailing boat).


This is where 2 fishermen and a gofer or bramzeigertje used to live six days a week.


Guess how the bloodlines flow!


Shopping in downtown Leiden, a 10 minutes walk from our house. It’s totally useless to go by car, so people use their feet, bicycles, mopeds, and boats.


The flower-section of the ‘big’ market on Saturdays; Wednesday has a half-sized ‘small’ market.


A close-up of the fishy section – yummy!!


My, my, people say Maud is the one who needs a re-integration course, but at least she knows how to eat a nieuwe haring. Hold it by the tail high up in the air, and start enjoying, Bram!


“Any woman who thinks the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach is aiming about 10 inches too high” - Adrienne Gusoff


Maud’s mom came over for the weekend, so we invited some neighbours she knows from way back when.


Batswana pay attention again: Maud’s mom plans to visit next autumn, and Bram’s brother & grlfriend & daughter will arrive coming July 30 already!


Got the caps – is there anything else to prepare?


Every guest has to admire the plans for our Botswana house…


… and to watch the video!
Proved and approved, so Bavo & Dineke say they will hop over to help with the finishings, like painting and carpentry.

The Netherlands

We have been in the Netherlands almost a month now, and still no blog-posts… Next to Maud being fascinated with organizing her music-collection, we are mainly busy with (re-) organizing our house & garden, and visiting family and friends. As you can see, it’s spring in the Lowlands (picture: on the road near to Maud’s mom’s plot).


The youngest Dilrosun Linde – she may be the smallest but she knows how to compensate by being both extremely charming and very vocal!


It is asparagus season, and though there are some hiccups with illegal Eastern-European farmhands, they are delicious this year. Especially since Joost & Christina made us a great asparagus lunch with super guests.


The mystery guest still refuses to show him- or herself…


Very sad is that Bram’s friend Paul died in a parasailing accident. His impressive funeral was on May 12 in Broek in Waterland. The coffin travelled by boat from his houseboat to the church.

Holiday!

Finally the last African pictures


Since we wanted to go back home to check our building project, our planned weeklong holiday was reduced to 2 nights in Groot Marico (South Africa), only two hours driving away from our Botswana village Morwa.


Groot Marico’s claim to fame is that the author Herman Charles Bosman was a schoolteacher there. So we do the Bosman-tour, starting in the ‘living museum’, with stories, music, and some history-lessons.


Special for the mostly South African tourists, but not for us: traditional Tswana bread for breakfast in the Bosman museum.


The second half of the tour is a totally different touch of culture: the mampoerboer. Mampoer is distilled fruits – 55 to 90 percent alcohol fluids made of figs, peaches, lemons, and etcetera.


Tasting, tasting, tasting – followed by a big traditional Afrikaner lunch cooked by die oumissie mampoerboer.


One can’t live on mampoer alone, so the farmer also has cattle and game. That’s where the typical water mills come in – though the warthogs, kudu and other antelopes prefer the leftover broth from the mampoer factory. They should be nicely marinated!


We stay in a small cottage in a valley, near to the river. It’s so nice to hear running water and be in between big trees!


After a year of good rains.


It’s hard to resist digging out succulents for our dry garden to be.


Bram’s Pretoria Uni colleagues told him there’s a famous sculptor living a hermit’s life in Groot Marico. With a little bit of asking around we get an introduction and have a nice time with Johann Moolman. Somehow every other South African we meet has been in the Netherlands, more specifically Amsterdam. Johann especially remembers the Kröller-Müller Museum.


Driving back home via Zeerust we get more and more exited about seeing the building progress.


The footing for the bedroom is ready! That’s the trenches filled with reinforced concrete down left in the picture.


During our first night at home Bram gets to be ambulance again: our neighbour Rachel phones she is in labour, and her husband Melvin is far away.


Twelve hours later baby Anele can be picked up from the hospital!


While Bram is teaching in Pretoria, Maud spends two fabulous weeks with Louis in Potchefstroom. The first evening we honour a tradition: have dinner with Steven & Richardt.


Party animals! After this first hard night Bram left for Pretoria, and Maud was far too busy to take more pictures…


July 23 we will be back in Botswana, enjoying both seswaa and world foods.