IOUs still exist!

Today something unusual happened. Around mid-afternoon my spidey senses went off, as a toxic smell filled the air. Utilizing that great Italian nose of mine, I managed to sniff out the hazard. The hose that's connected to my cooking gas cylinder was cracked in several places and leaking big time!

The end of the day was approaching quickly, so I closed the gas valve and skateboarded my way down to my village shopping area. I stopped at the first tiny hardware store I seen, only to be referred to a tinier hardware store a few buckets of sand down the road. The shop seemed as if it was just about ready to close when I popped my head in. I asked the man standing at the register, which I soon learned was the owner, if he had a 1 meter long hose for a cooking gas cylinder. He responded with a big tiredly sounding "Yah." 

I was ecstatic! Now I could cook me up some dinner, and more importantly, heat up a few pots of water for my bath! Btw, it's winter time here in Africa ;) 

So, I dug around in my backpack for my wallet to pay the man. I grabbed it, opened it up, only to find not even one stink'n pula (money) in it! 

This is when it gets good. I explained my situation to the owner, about how I was stinky and needed to take a bath, and needed that hose to do so. Then I proceeded to ask him if he'd allow me to have the hose today, and I'd return tomorrow to pay for it. And to my surprise he said "Okay." What a guy!

As I skated back up to my house I thought to myself "Not sure if that would have happened back home. Ah, maybe on one of the outer islands. Definitely not on Oahu. Botswana can be pretty darn cool sometimes!"

Just another thing to love about Botswana