There are a famous set of fictional books by Alexander McCall Smith, which is set in Gaborone. The title of the series is "The Ladies #1 Detective Agency". Brenda has enjoyed reading most of the series, and whilst we we living in Sweden, our good friends, John and Louise, shared one of the BBC movies derived from the books. A while back I wrote a blog post about the spot where the series protagonist used to drink tea.
One of the ubiquitous businesses here in Gabs are driving schools. There is one on the only dirt road near UB, and we walk through that way a few times each week. But almost any vacant ground with enough space to place a few cones and do a 3-point turn is likely to become a driving school.
From conversations, it appears that getting your first driver license here is a daunting task. One of our friends studied and studied and passed the written part, but he has to wait about a month to get an appointment to take the road test. The popularity of the driving schools suggests the challenge of the test. It seems that most of the students are women, and it seems that backing an auto into a narrow space is a major part of the test.
The vehicles that are used in training, and you see these on the road too, have a large L attached to the trunk (or boot). I guess that is telling us to stay clear. Likewise for us ex-pats accustomed to driving on the right side who now drive on the left (most of the time), maybe there should be a big D, not for driver, but for "Dummy here, stay clear."
In the Christian walk, we ought to all be wearing a big L for "learner". We ought to give ourselves and each other a bit of slack. Don't get too close, and don't be surprised when we do something stupid.
Hmm, not a bad idea.
One of the ubiquitous businesses here in Gabs are driving schools. There is one on the only dirt road near UB, and we walk through that way a few times each week. But almost any vacant ground with enough space to place a few cones and do a 3-point turn is likely to become a driving school.
From conversations, it appears that getting your first driver license here is a daunting task. One of our friends studied and studied and passed the written part, but he has to wait about a month to get an appointment to take the road test. The popularity of the driving schools suggests the challenge of the test. It seems that most of the students are women, and it seems that backing an auto into a narrow space is a major part of the test.
The vehicles that are used in training, and you see these on the road too, have a large L attached to the trunk (or boot). I guess that is telling us to stay clear. Likewise for us ex-pats accustomed to driving on the right side who now drive on the left (most of the time), maybe there should be a big D, not for driver, but for "Dummy here, stay clear."
In the Christian walk, we ought to all be wearing a big L for "learner". We ought to give ourselves and each other a bit of slack. Don't get too close, and don't be surprised when we do something stupid.
Hmm, not a bad idea.
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