Saturday 3th June
Up and out by 8.00. Did my shopping list at ‘Game’ a big hardware/household supermarket. Met some guys at the golf section – turns out that I’m playing with one of them tomorrow! Went to get a bed and they could deliver just then, so I jumped in the van and the bed was in the house 15 minutes after I bought it. How’s that for service! Wish it was like that elsewhere; trying to open a bank account is a nightmare. They don’t have sophisticated customer service arrangements. On 2 occasions I’ve waited for an hour then gave up. I may not bother; I can get 4000.00Pula from my visa card at a hole-in-the-wall. They need all sorts of documents even when I have a so-called exemption certificate, which is only issued if I have presented all the necessary documents to immigration. Apparently, even when I go to get the electricity connected, I have a to have a copy of the house title deeds! What’s that all about?
Klavs came with his car to Game and took all of my ‘shopping’ to the house. I got a table and chairs, bedding, kettle, brush, dinner set, mugs and other odds’n’bits. I’ll also need a cooker and fridge, but I may leave them and see if I can get thm second hand. At the notice boards in the supermarkets there are often notices from ‘ex-pats’ leaving and clearing their house.
It’s really quite pleasant during the day. I keep getting told by most people I meet (when they get to know I’ve just arrived) how hot it will be in the summer – that’s about October through to February. August and September will see things hotting up, but apparently its also dry and windy with lots of dust/sand storms. Not looking forward to that, or the heat! Its really pleasant just now, the nights are cool, easy to sleep, and the days are warm and sunny. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a cloud since I got here. So, for anyone planning a visit, May/June/July might be the months to do it. We shall see.
Took some photos of the house, but no chance to upload them. Trying any kind of attachment just grinds everything to a halt.
Sunday 4th June
Big day at the golf; the sponsored event. Tee-off at 6.57. But! I’ve jinxed the weather! Woke up to overcast skies and a distinct dampness in the air. So much for not having seen a cloud. Still warm enough to play in a tee-shirt, but it got colder and I had a jumper on by the second 9. Played with 3 South Africans, Nico, Gary and Johan. They all work at the mines. Played OK, same as last week, better 2nd 9 than 1st. A free lunch followed, cooked by local Asian Indians, members of the club; delicious. A free bar for an hour followed, so a bit wobbly getting home.
Monday 5th June
Went to change some £ to Pula to-day. First bank, the systems were down, so no joy there. Initially queued at the foreign exchange desk, then told to go to the ordinary tellers, who told me I should have been told that there were no transactions taking place. Next bank, again queued at the foreign exchange teller, but quickly told that I should just be in the ordinary queue. 30 minutes later, at the teller, he was not happy that I had £800 to change - too much. After some toing-and-froing, eventually got to change £300.
Moved into the house to-day. Got some curtains for the living room at game – well I thought it was curtains. It turned out to be just one curtain, they don’t sell them as pairs! Will go back and get the other one tomorrow.
I would like to get some local craft stuff to decorate the house with, but so far I’ve not seen much at all.
Tuesday 6th June
Tried again to open a bank account again. Gave up after an hour.
Thursday 8th June
Landlord in touch, he wants to paint the house so arranged for them to come tomorrow (I need to be there to open the gate).
Special deal on TVs at Game, so again, Klavs came with me and took it home in the car. 20” RINEX, I think made in SA - cost £80. I’ve decided to get a satellite dish and the local version of SKY TV – MultiChoice, a SA company. Most of the local electrical shops seem to be owned by Indians. I’ve had good service from them, they know how to deal with customers. They will come tomorrow morning to install it.
Chatting again with June this evening. She is in Barcelona with Vicky for a week. The chat is much better than email once you get connected. It took me 17 minutes to get logged on to my gmail account to get the chat started!
I’m going to see if I can get a landline at the house. It won’t be fast, but at least I can be doing other things while waiting!
Friday 9th June
Painters arrived this morning at 7.30 and proceeded to get about the job. Peter was the foreman, a big guy. He didn’t seem to do much, just made sure the other 3 got on with the job. Satellite man arrived and got about his job also.
Went to the MultiChoice offices to register my satellite decoder smart card. Systems were down so had to go back later. Home at 5.00PM.to a newly painted house and satellite TV working. Will get to see the World Cup games ! Had some spiced pasta and veggie samosas for tea.
At work, submitted a proposal to visit Gaborone for a week, at the end of the month. Need to meet with a variety of people from a number of institutions and thought it best to try to do it all at the same time. If it is OK’d, then I’d travel down with Jan on a Saturday and stay until a week Monday (a public holiday). A good chance to be a tourist for a few days in the capital.
Saturday 10th June
Out to get my shopping about 9.00AM. Visited the ‘Auto-Lot Sales’ – Klavs got his car from here. Looked at a Honda CRV, 4WD, a Japanese import. 1996, 64K, looks in good condition. Arranged for a test drive on Monday. Took some stuff home and then walked back again into town. Need curtains for the bedroom, and some other household stuff.
Since I’ve no cooking facilities yet, I’m eating a lot of fruit and the ready-made food you get in the supermarkets. Its OK - beef stews, oxtail stews, chicken with rice or chips or the maize porridge. I also tried dumpling – heavy but OK. I’ve not eaten out since I moved into the house. Its dark by 6.00PM and the street lighting isn’t bright, so prefer to be home by then.
It’s just a 10 minute walk to the golf club, so I thought I’d go there to watch the England match. Most members are SA, so the Scotland V Springboks match was on. Prefer the football, so went home again – I could flick between channels. Stopped watching the rugby though, when the Springbok score began to mount up…
Bought my first bottle of SA wine. A red Shiraz (2003)from Tulbagh Winery. Cost £3.35, but very good (I’ve only had one glass!). I’ve decided that I need to have a hobby; so becoming a SA wine connoisseur might be an option!
Felt a bit tired this evening, probably a combination of all the walking I did to-day and the glass of wine. So to bed at 7.00PM.
Up and out by 8.00. Did my shopping list at ‘Game’ a big hardware/household supermarket. Met some guys at the golf section – turns out that I’m playing with one of them tomorrow! Went to get a bed and they could deliver just then, so I jumped in the van and the bed was in the house 15 minutes after I bought it. How’s that for service! Wish it was like that elsewhere; trying to open a bank account is a nightmare. They don’t have sophisticated customer service arrangements. On 2 occasions I’ve waited for an hour then gave up. I may not bother; I can get 4000.00Pula from my visa card at a hole-in-the-wall. They need all sorts of documents even when I have a so-called exemption certificate, which is only issued if I have presented all the necessary documents to immigration. Apparently, even when I go to get the electricity connected, I have a to have a copy of the house title deeds! What’s that all about?
Klavs came with his car to Game and took all of my ‘shopping’ to the house. I got a table and chairs, bedding, kettle, brush, dinner set, mugs and other odds’n’bits. I’ll also need a cooker and fridge, but I may leave them and see if I can get thm second hand. At the notice boards in the supermarkets there are often notices from ‘ex-pats’ leaving and clearing their house.
It’s really quite pleasant during the day. I keep getting told by most people I meet (when they get to know I’ve just arrived) how hot it will be in the summer – that’s about October through to February. August and September will see things hotting up, but apparently its also dry and windy with lots of dust/sand storms. Not looking forward to that, or the heat! Its really pleasant just now, the nights are cool, easy to sleep, and the days are warm and sunny. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a cloud since I got here. So, for anyone planning a visit, May/June/July might be the months to do it. We shall see.
Took some photos of the house, but no chance to upload them. Trying any kind of attachment just grinds everything to a halt.
Sunday 4th June
Big day at the golf; the sponsored event. Tee-off at 6.57. But! I’ve jinxed the weather! Woke up to overcast skies and a distinct dampness in the air. So much for not having seen a cloud. Still warm enough to play in a tee-shirt, but it got colder and I had a jumper on by the second 9. Played with 3 South Africans, Nico, Gary and Johan. They all work at the mines. Played OK, same as last week, better 2nd 9 than 1st. A free lunch followed, cooked by local Asian Indians, members of the club; delicious. A free bar for an hour followed, so a bit wobbly getting home.
Monday 5th June
Went to change some £ to Pula to-day. First bank, the systems were down, so no joy there. Initially queued at the foreign exchange desk, then told to go to the ordinary tellers, who told me I should have been told that there were no transactions taking place. Next bank, again queued at the foreign exchange teller, but quickly told that I should just be in the ordinary queue. 30 minutes later, at the teller, he was not happy that I had £800 to change - too much. After some toing-and-froing, eventually got to change £300.
Moved into the house to-day. Got some curtains for the living room at game – well I thought it was curtains. It turned out to be just one curtain, they don’t sell them as pairs! Will go back and get the other one tomorrow.
I would like to get some local craft stuff to decorate the house with, but so far I’ve not seen much at all.
Tuesday 6th June
Tried again to open a bank account again. Gave up after an hour.
Thursday 8th June
Landlord in touch, he wants to paint the house so arranged for them to come tomorrow (I need to be there to open the gate).
Special deal on TVs at Game, so again, Klavs came with me and took it home in the car. 20” RINEX, I think made in SA - cost £80. I’ve decided to get a satellite dish and the local version of SKY TV – MultiChoice, a SA company. Most of the local electrical shops seem to be owned by Indians. I’ve had good service from them, they know how to deal with customers. They will come tomorrow morning to install it.
Chatting again with June this evening. She is in Barcelona with Vicky for a week. The chat is much better than email once you get connected. It took me 17 minutes to get logged on to my gmail account to get the chat started!
I’m going to see if I can get a landline at the house. It won’t be fast, but at least I can be doing other things while waiting!
Friday 9th June
Painters arrived this morning at 7.30 and proceeded to get about the job. Peter was the foreman, a big guy. He didn’t seem to do much, just made sure the other 3 got on with the job. Satellite man arrived and got about his job also.
Went to the MultiChoice offices to register my satellite decoder smart card. Systems were down so had to go back later. Home at 5.00PM.to a newly painted house and satellite TV working. Will get to see the World Cup games ! Had some spiced pasta and veggie samosas for tea.
At work, submitted a proposal to visit Gaborone for a week, at the end of the month. Need to meet with a variety of people from a number of institutions and thought it best to try to do it all at the same time. If it is OK’d, then I’d travel down with Jan on a Saturday and stay until a week Monday (a public holiday). A good chance to be a tourist for a few days in the capital.
Saturday 10th June
Out to get my shopping about 9.00AM. Visited the ‘Auto-Lot Sales’ – Klavs got his car from here. Looked at a Honda CRV, 4WD, a Japanese import. 1996, 64K, looks in good condition. Arranged for a test drive on Monday. Took some stuff home and then walked back again into town. Need curtains for the bedroom, and some other household stuff.
Since I’ve no cooking facilities yet, I’m eating a lot of fruit and the ready-made food you get in the supermarkets. Its OK - beef stews, oxtail stews, chicken with rice or chips or the maize porridge. I also tried dumpling – heavy but OK. I’ve not eaten out since I moved into the house. Its dark by 6.00PM and the street lighting isn’t bright, so prefer to be home by then.
It’s just a 10 minute walk to the golf club, so I thought I’d go there to watch the England match. Most members are SA, so the Scotland V Springboks match was on. Prefer the football, so went home again – I could flick between channels. Stopped watching the rugby though, when the Springbok score began to mount up…
Bought my first bottle of SA wine. A red Shiraz (2003)from Tulbagh Winery. Cost £3.35, but very good (I’ve only had one glass!). I’ve decided that I need to have a hobby; so becoming a SA wine connoisseur might be an option!
Felt a bit tired this evening, probably a combination of all the walking I did to-day and the glass of wine. So to bed at 7.00PM.
posted by George Herd at 12:34 PM
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