The past, the recent past, and a little bit of the future

Things have been going well lately.  Zimbabwe Week was earlier this month and went really well.  Since then most of my work duties have involved writing reports of various sizes, which has been good.  Last Friday Michelle Obama was in Gaborone as part of her tour of southern Africa.  She actually visited the office right next door, the Botswana-Baylor Centre of Excellence, which is a big partnership between the US Government and Botswana that deals with pediatric HIV/AIDS.  Of course, any visit from someone in that position means that the Secret Service is everywhere.  They shut down the road early in the morning and had it blocked off by the Botswana Defense Forces.  Secret Service agents spent several hours making sure the road was clear and putting people in the proper position so Michelle could stop in for her twenty minute visit. 

Mrs. Obama arriving.

While she was in town she also hosted a luncheon with a number of prominent women and youth leaders that my boss attended, which is pretty cool.  In other news, this Friday is Sir Seretse Khama Day (founding father, first president, etc.) so I am taking off north to Kasane and Chobe, home of 55,000 elephants and where Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton got married (for the second time).  Next week will be my last at my internship.  After that I am going to spend ten days and head to Harare and than on to Mozambique to sit on a beach for a few days.  I'll be back in Botswana briefly and fly out on July 21.