Thursday, May 1, 2014

Monkeys and our Monday Easter Picnic

Monkeys!!
The day after Easter, the South Botswana area of our mission had an Easter Braai at the Gaborone Game Reserve. We roasted Russians and Viennas, not quite like our American hot dogs but still tasty. Everyone of us brought something to share and the Wilsons brought the meat and buns.
Roasting hot dogs

And the eating

We barely got started when monkeys came to visit. All of us soon substituted eating with feeding. The monkeys loved the bread and water melon. When I fed one broccoli, he wasn't very impressed. One of our elders even gave one poor monkey a cup of cola. Poor monkey got pretty hyper. He was all over the place after that!
Sister Gubler feeding a monkey

Elder Gubler feeding a monkey






And, then the fun began. Sister Wilson and I moved away from the group and started hiding Easter Eggs. Awe, the fun. The monkeys were pretty busy with the missionaries so we thought we were safe. Sadly, no, the monkeys followed us, found the eggs and tried to open them as fast as we hid them. It truly was the best way to have an Easter Picnic EVER!
Hiding Easter Eggs

Finding Easter Eggs

Stalking Sister Wilson

Odie Weavers

Odie is between Phakalane (Paw-caw-lawn-ee) and Mochudi (Moe-chew-dee). The Taylors and Rands took us to see the Oodi Weavers. The women who are the weavers are pretty amazing. First, freshly shorn wool is purchased from South Africa. The wool is then hand-dyed to make the beautiful colors that are then spun into yarn and woven into wall hangings. There is no pattern to follow, the women just make it up as they weave. Last July we bought a small hanging for the entry hall in our home. These are one of the actual "Made in Botswana" souvenirs that can be bought here. The women receive a commission on each weaving they sell. We had a wonderful time watching and learning.
Spinning wool into yarn
Loom
Weaving
Weaving



Elder Gubler and Elder Taylor
This is the weaving we bought. You can't tell this, but it hangs over our circuit breaker panel that is in our entry hall