Last night I felt like an old lady. I was ready for bed at 6:30, but I forced myself to wait until the room service lady came to turn down my bed, give me my "goodnight" chocolate, and of bottle of water. What's the point of forgoing free service like that, right? I wonder if I can convince my sister that this is a new found need of mine when I return, and she'll rightly comply?
By 8:30 I was finally in bed, reading and writing in my journal, but not simultaneously of course. When I finally closed my eyes in hopes of falling right to sleep, other events decided to occur. While the little girl laughing and screaming as she ran up and down the hallway wasn't helping me and my sound sleep, there were bigger things to worry about. Normally I don't hear people out in the back of the hotel late at night, but last night was an exception. I walked to the window to see what was going on and saw nothing...at least not right away. As I looked to the people out on the tennis courts, I quickly noticed what looked like smoke coming out of the building. For a second I thought maybe it was just steam, but the loud bang, followed by a flame of fire, confirmed that the even bigger cloud of smoke that was now flowing out of the building was indeed smoke. I wasn't sure if I should be worried or not. It didn't seem to phase the guys playing tennis...in fact, I don't even think they even flinched at the sound, followed by the protruding smoke. So, I decided it must be no big deal, and I went back to bed. I contemplated what was going on outside, and me and my ignorant self thought, maybe African's go out back and burn their trash...even at the hotel?
It was now 10 p.m., I was still wide awake in bed, and annoyed at myself for having been there for the past hour and a half without falling asleep. My mind kept going back to the cloud of smoke outside my window, and how could I not think about it when my entire room was quickly filling up with the smell of smoke? I literally felt like I was sitting around a camp fire, the smell was that strong. I tried putting my nose inside my shirt so I could breathe...didn't work. I tried turning away from the window...didn't work. I tried pulling the covers over my head...didn't work either. But, miraculously I somehow fell asleep, and woke up bright and early only to discover this note under my door.
"Dear Guest,
Kindly note that we had a minor fire in the sauna last night,
which was quickly contained and extinguished.
Rest assured that all of our fire policies and procedures were in place
and functioned as intended.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused
and trust you will enjoy the remainder of your stay with us.
Yours sincerely,
Regional Chief-Operating Officer
Botswana and Africa"
By 8:30 I was finally in bed, reading and writing in my journal, but not simultaneously of course. When I finally closed my eyes in hopes of falling right to sleep, other events decided to occur. While the little girl laughing and screaming as she ran up and down the hallway wasn't helping me and my sound sleep, there were bigger things to worry about. Normally I don't hear people out in the back of the hotel late at night, but last night was an exception. I walked to the window to see what was going on and saw nothing...at least not right away. As I looked to the people out on the tennis courts, I quickly noticed what looked like smoke coming out of the building. For a second I thought maybe it was just steam, but the loud bang, followed by a flame of fire, confirmed that the even bigger cloud of smoke that was now flowing out of the building was indeed smoke. I wasn't sure if I should be worried or not. It didn't seem to phase the guys playing tennis...in fact, I don't even think they even flinched at the sound, followed by the protruding smoke. So, I decided it must be no big deal, and I went back to bed. I contemplated what was going on outside, and me and my ignorant self thought, maybe African's go out back and burn their trash...even at the hotel?
It was now 10 p.m., I was still wide awake in bed, and annoyed at myself for having been there for the past hour and a half without falling asleep. My mind kept going back to the cloud of smoke outside my window, and how could I not think about it when my entire room was quickly filling up with the smell of smoke? I literally felt like I was sitting around a camp fire, the smell was that strong. I tried putting my nose inside my shirt so I could breathe...didn't work. I tried turning away from the window...didn't work. I tried pulling the covers over my head...didn't work either. But, miraculously I somehow fell asleep, and woke up bright and early only to discover this note under my door.
"Dear Guest,
Kindly note that we had a minor fire in the sauna last night,
which was quickly contained and extinguished.
Rest assured that all of our fire policies and procedures were in place
and functioned as intended.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused
and trust you will enjoy the remainder of your stay with us.
Yours sincerely,
Regional Chief-Operating Officer
Botswana and Africa"
Although the sauna is connected to part of the gym, I was really hoping I would still be able to work out, well knowing that this most likely wouldn't be the case. I got ready for the gym anyway, walked into the hall way, and was overwhelmed by the powerful smell of smoke that was emanating. I walked down the stairs and sure enough, was informed that the gym is out of commission until Tuesday. Hopefully by the time I return from South Africa on Sunday the smoke will have evaporated...at least a little bit.
Awesome, I just took a shower and the water ran out...or stopped...or who knows what happened.
Oh Africa, you're always full of surprises!
5 comments:
Sorry about the smoke -- that stinks! Haha -- pun intended. Ok, I'm a nerd . . .
You probably WON'T be able to convince your sister to turn down your bed every night. (I have limits) BUT, I do promise not to start any fires.
Oh my, what a night! I would have called the front desk to find out if I should have run out of the building.
I think every older sister should put chocolate on her younger sister's pillow, nightly if the younger sister reciprocates this kind deed. SERVE OTHERS
oh my girl! I love hearing all your adventures, what a story to tell! It is cool for us (the audience) to hear, you are brave! It is SO FUN to keep reading the update down (or up) there.. which ever direction : )
Man, you will be able to handle anything now! You rock! love you lots!!
It sounds like your gaining a lot of interesting life experiences while in Africa!
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