Presidents Day (Our day off)

We have the day off today for Presidents Day. I am proud to say that I have Barak Obama making decisions in office and that he is doing his best to provide equality and more healthcares for everyone in our nation. After breakfast Mandy and I decided to go to River Walk mall with a few others to go shopping. I bought a shirt for the Rascal Flatts concert next month and another t-shirt. When we got back we finished our movie 7 pounds with Will Smith, it was a very touching movie with a good message. We then decided as a group to go to Gaborone Game Reserve to see some animals since the anticipation for the Game Drive at the end of our trip was becoming too much. On the drive we saw deer, antelope, ostrich, warthogs and monkeys. It was very relaxing and got us all excited to go up north and see the bigger and exciting animals. We stopped to go to the restroom before leaving the park and we found an area where there were about fifteen to twenty monkeys jumping around playing with each other and climbing trees. There was even one who jumped onto a movie jeep and stood on the side mirror as the driver sat and waited for the monkey to leap off the car.

When we left the Game Reserve we headed to Khali Park near game city to go for a hike up a mountain to watch the sunset. The path was very rocky and unsteady luckily everyone made it up safely. When we reached the top we were all left speechless at the beautiful surrounding below us. We took many pictures and climbed the highest rocks possible to get the best pictures. The pictures I am posting will explain our view better than me putting it in words.

Katie, Meg and I chilling at the top of the mountain.

Amazing view, you can see for miles.

Beautiful sunset!!!

I call this picture "Mandy and Zach tackle the globe"

We were all starving by the time we reached the bottom of the mountain so we decided to go to Hagan’s Irish Pub for dinner. The five girls and I at my table decided to order a flaming Lamborghini which was three different shots mixed into one but you had to drink it with a straw while it was lit on fire and then the shots were added. I was the genie pig of the group and went first while Dr. Pillay took pictures. It was quite thrilling but I got scared when I became to feel heat coming up the straw and quit a tad bit too early. Everyone at our table followed after me and loved every minute of it, the shot only came out to be about $5 or $6 a piece.

Dr. Pillay also sat at our table which gave me the opportunity to talk a little bit about the program and compare it to past study abroad experiences. To my surprise we seem to be a lot more laid back than most groups. I think that might have to do with having a larger number of people and this allow us to have more outlets. I think another part which might contribute to this is that a lot of us already know each other and that the meetings before hand got us familiar with one another.

Our service at Hagan’s made the overall experience below satisfactory. Our food took two hours from the time we got there and they didn’t have two separate things that people in our group had ordered but failed to mention until the time we were expecting our food. Our drivers became frustrated and eventually came in from the parking lot and “accidentally” put their drinks on our tab. When Mandy confronted them they said they asked the waiter if that would be easier. First of all who wants to pay for their bus drivers alcohol drinks right before he drives you home, second the guy Mandy asked has been shady in the past with money so it was good we asked. While we waited in the parking lot I was made aware that Meg Mealy has an official stocker. A few weeks ago Meg was talking to a gentleman at the bar and the guy’s sister wanted the two to date. Meg never called him after leaving that night and just so happens she ran into Meg at Hagan’s that night. Well she followed us out of the club that night and was looking under cars trying to find Meg so that should could go meet up with her brother. The people of Botswana are persistent and come on very strong if you cannot tell already. We had very adventurous day and I thinkg everyone on the trip had a great experience.