Sep25 Written by:Kayle
9/25/2009 9:26 AM
My friend, Jo, and I decided that our pantries were getting too bare and that it was time to make a quick day trip to Botswana to do some grocery shopping for the next few months. Problem #1: Can I travel with Molly’s passport? I had to first check with the Embassy if it was ok to travel with “Theresa Molly’s” passport since it is incorrect and must be cancelled. He affirmed it was ok. So I had to remember to fill out all paperwork at the borders as “Theresa Molly.” Problem #2: But how in the world am I going to do a non-stop shopping day with a baby that I have to feed, burp, change and put to sleep?? Jo brought her maid, Lene, along with us for the trip to simply help me with Molly: to hold her so that I could put things in my cart or to push my cart and put things in it while I nursed Molly in the store. Lene was a HUGE help and I couldn’t have done this trip without her. Problem #3: What to do with Calvin while we were gone? There is no way I can do this trip with Calvin! Bonnie, our maid, watched Calvin during the morning and Mat came home over lunchtime to feed Calvin and put him down for a sleep. Then Mat worked from home that afternoon.
So Jo, Lene, Molly and I left at 6am for the border. We arrive to the border only to sadly see the line at the border was REALLY long and not moving at all. I nursed Molly in the car while Lene and Jo waited in line. Finally after an hour of hardly moving in the line, I thought I would try my luck by using the “newborn” card. I went to join the line and said to the soldier who was watching the line, “If I have a newborn baby, can we go to the front of the line?” He smiled as he realized the scheme I was trying to pull and he said, “Follow me.” The guy next to us in line smiled and said, “Hurry…you better follow him to the front of the line!” So sure enough, we got right to the front and were leaving the border post within 10 minutes. Without Molly, I think we would still be in that line! Way to pull your weight, Molly...I mean, "Theresa"!
The rest of the day went smoothly thanks to the help of Lene! We got mostly everything we needed, cash from the ATM and a stockpile of groceries…hopefully this will last us through the next few months!
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