Khama Rhino Sanctuary (Take 2!)

Hello to everyone back home!

This weekend was a long one thanks to the mid-term holiday break and the Maru-a-Pula staff have scattered themselves throughout Southern Africa. To do my part, I hired a car with a friend of mine (Julia Shore, another volunteer teacher and my next-room neighbor), borrowed bits of camping gear from everyone I know on staff, and hopped about 350 kms NE to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary. Now, my most avid readers may recall that this was the site of a rather unusual camping experience when my tour group attempted to stay there in December--luckily things went much more smoothly this time around! No swarming Afrikaaners, no movement of tents and belongings, etc.

In fact, even from the planning side this trip was a breeze! Apparently it's not high-season for tourists anymore, because when I called on Tuesday to book a campsite for the weekend I got the choice of any campsite, and only two of the 12 or so sites were occupied while we were there. We had a bit of a scare with the hire car because we left the booking of that quite late, but in the end the cheapest place did have cars available and we got one for a good deal. The only problem we anticipated was the 2WD/4WD problem, but renting a 4x4 was out of the question, so we decided to give it a go in the Corolla and dig ourselves out if we ran into too much sand.

Our drive was smooth, but a bit long without aircon. Luckily we found a variety of interesting local radio stations (interesting in many senses of the word) to keep us entertained, despite the rather noisy rush of air past the open windows at 140 kms/hr. Unfortunately our map was a bit deficient and we had a few tense moments on unmarked back roads (most of the roads in Botswana seem to be unmarked) before arriving at the rather tall and imposing gate of the Sanctuary.

Our first day there was also very exciting in many ways--the campsite we were given turned out to have a rather large and busy wasp nest in the central tree, the roads were completely unimproved sand tracks (our poor rental 2WD!), and the mosquitos were out in force--but we had a great time overall. On our game drive that evening we saw heaps of game and didn't even get stuck in the sand! I was driving (unfortunately?) and we did get a few scratches on the sides of the car... this was cause for nail-biting until the bill came earlier this week :).

One of the other Maru-a-Pula teachers brought her family the following day and we had an interesting time chatting with them and looking around the park with them... they have a lovely daughter who was just a delight to play with. One incident in particular was worth mentioning... we were lounging in deck chairs beside a tiny swimming pool all morning with a rhinocerous in the distance (a bit idyllic, actually) when our friend from MaP says "Guys, did you see the rhinocerous there?"

"Oh that one, he hasn't moved for hours"

"No, I don't think so. Look again!"

And there he was, a rather large black rhinocerous less than 10 meters from us (black rhinos are the aggressive, irritable sort), staring us right in the eye! We had no idea whether to move out of the way, stay very still, or just panic... but eventually some of the wardens came out and asked us to move around to the other side of the swimming pool--apparently all the rhino wanted was a drink of water! I'll post a picture of this soon, it's rather unbelievable unless you see it with your own eyes!

But other than a few nice meals, a rather ridiculous amount of time spent trying to boil water (my fellow camper was somewhat unexperienced with fire-building), and some wildlife in our campsite, nothing much happened. It was amazingly refreshing to get away from the MaP campus, though... even if it did take the majority of the next week to readjust to the school schedule.

Jamaica - 2008

Six Months and Counting...

Dear everyone,

Unfortunately I have been experiencing some wrist pain (probably from too much marimba) but it means that typing is usually a painful process. I know that this means you are all left stranded without updates from me... so I thought I would post my second quarterly report that I sent in to Watson HQ about my experiences at Maru-a-Pula School. I will try to keep posting more often in smaller quantities, but I am becoming unreliable so I apologize if that falls through!

So here goes!

Dear Watson HQ,

First I would like to apologize for the tardiness of this quarterly report! My life has become very busy (in a good way) and there have been other obstacles as well, which you will hear about in the course of this report.

Since my last report I have spent a great deal of time at Maru-a-Pula School (MAP) in Gaborone, Botswana. I chose to visit MAP because the marimba teacher here, Mr. Alport Mhlanga, is an internationally renowned marimba composer and a good friend of my former marimba instructor in Portland, OR. My arrival went very smoothly, but the month that I spent at MAP during November/December was only partially productive in terms of my project. Firstly, this was the end of the MAP school year and many of the students were involved in an extensive examination process, limiting the time they were able to spend on extra-curricular activities such as marimba. Secondly, many of the classes themselves were winding down at this point for the end of the term, making my classroom research less valuable.

The one upside of my time at MAP during this month was my interaction with Mr. Mhlanga. Because of the examinations that were happening, many of his regular classes were not meeting and he was able to spend more time with me in private sessions. He is an amazing composer! Even with the frustrations of last term, I learned that my former marimba education was very limited. It turns out that the style of marimba I had been taught in Portland was very right-hand dominant. I knew that already, especially after playing in the classical percussion ensemble at Grinnell, but I didn’t know that so much of the marimba world played with a more equal-handed style. I know that might not make much sense, but essentially I had to learn to lead movement across the keyboard with my left hand instead of my right hand… which is difficult and unfamiliar in the same way as trying to write with your off-hand. At this point I have gotten much better at it, but I’m afraid that there is still a long way for me to go! It’s just a combination of a lot of small things, like the fact that I am used to doubling notes with my right hand only, and only in a downward direction, and now I’m trying to learn with both hands in both directions… well, it’s changed the way I think about marimba! Suddenly I am combining my classical sticking techniques with my African music and it seems strange. But it does make me very glad for my classical training at Grinnell! I do consider myself to be a proficient marimba player, but I would be much more behind if it weren’t for my classical experience at Grinnell.

Since my return in January I have had less private time with Mr. Mhlanga, but I have gained a lot in terms of student rehearsals and class time. Mr. Mhlanga was absent from Maru-a-Pula for the first two weeks of the term because he was on a contract as a visiting artist at Williams in the US, and during this time I taught his classes as a substitute. This was really an amazing experience for me. Not only was I a “real” full-time teacher for two weeks, but I gained a lot of respect from the other teachers and the students at MAP. Because I am so young-looking (especially to people here in Botswana) I was often mistaken for an exchange student or a teacher-aide last term, but after my stint as a full-time music teacher I felt that the community here understood me much better. It is nice when people recognize that you do more than photocopying and filing J although it really doesn’t matter to me as long as I get respect from the other music staff. During this two weeks I taught classes to middle-school aged students in music theory and in marimba playing. Luckily, my stint at MAP before the Christmas holiday meant that I knew a few of Mr. Mhlanga’s tunes to teach to the classes, and this all went very well. It was actually hard for me to give up my students when Mr. Mhlanga returned… I have gotten very attached to them.

Mr. Mhlanga’s return also coincided with the beginning of after-school activities. Maru-a-Pula believes in a spirit of service and self-involvement, so the school day ends at 1:00 pm and the afternoon in occupied with extra-curriculars. Marimba ensemble is one of those extras and normally there are three or four groups that each meet once per week for about two hours. Because MAP is sending a student ensemble overseas in April (this is the trip that I requested permission to go on) the schedule has gone a bit haywire. There are only two groups that meet now, one of young students who are still in their second year of playing, and the professional-quality group that is being trained for the tour. The tour group rehearses on four afternoons per week for four hours, as well as two to three hours on Saturday mornings. It has been amazing to work with this group—I have learned many new tunes from them and I am helping to teach them as well. Most of the time I play as if I were part of the group, but as we get closer to the tour departure date I will have to stop so that the players can get used to the sound of their performing ensemble. The group is an interesting mix of students. They range from 15-18 in age and also range in ability level. The selection criteria for the tour were musical ability and appropriate temperament, so there are some very sweet kids with more modest talent that require extra practice. There are also some pretty amazing players who were part of the previous performance group from Maru-a-Pula. It is very fun to play with these players, especially on Saturdays when we workshop with only the advanced players. During those sessions we learn parts and songs that will be taught the following week so that we can help teach the others.

Let me go on for a moment about how amazing Mr. Mhlanga is. He might possibly be one of the most naturally talented musicians I have ever come across! Not only that, but he is fully trained as a classical guitarist and knows more music theory than most university professors. I think he enjoys having me around because I am a classical audience in some ways and he can tell me all about the chord progressions with suspended 9ths and minor 7^th chords modulating to bizarre key changes, etc. But I am also enjoying it, even if I’m barely keeping up on the theory side of things, and he has inspired me to start composing. I haven’t gotten very far yet, but since I have never EVER felt the desire to compose at all, I think it’s a big step. He has fundamentally changed the way that I think about marimba music and about the people who play marimba. There are so many different sides to his humor and personality that I am continually perplexed (and amused too… you should hear some of his jokes!). He is also a very proper person who exemplifies respect and loyalty. And aside from that, I really think he’s a musical genius. He just knows how things will sound before he plays them and he has an ear that you’d never believe. He can pick out a wrong note on one instrument in a deafening chorus of 15 marimbas. I have also been very impressed at how well he adapts the music to his players. Each song is molded to suit the ability level and even the personality of each player. On top of that, his rehearsal style is very sneaky. Instead of saying “OK, it starts like this and then you do this and this and this” he just starts rehearsing the form from the beginning. Each part he teaches is played within the form it will eventually be performed in. It’s amazing how quickly he can bring a group along without any of the stress or frustration that normally comes into the rehearsal process. I am learning a lot!

One of the greatest challenges I have run into here has actually been physical. I am having pain in my wrists (especially my left… surprise, surprise) and it is probably caused by so much Marimba playing. I started feeling this pain when I was here in November, and I had thought that a month off would cure it. That didn’t happen, but I am being very careful to ice every evening and wear braces when I can. Unfortunately, my wrist pain is also aggravated by typing, so I have been spending as little time at the computer as possible. That has made correspondence much more difficult, especially because my wrists just can’t handle typing after a full day of marimba. Weekends are really the only time I can type for extended periods of time, and they do hurt while I type so I end up cutting most computer work short even then. That said, they seem to be holding up fairly well this term with the ice and braces. I can’t wear braces while I play marimba because the wrist motion is essential to marimba technique, but with the treatment I have been giving them they aren’t getting worse and sometimes I think they’re building strength and actually getting better. Of course, this is still a concern for me and I am keeping a close eye on the pain. The last thing I want is to come out of this year with tendonitis!

Overall, my marimba experience here has been incredible! I am literally playing or teaching marimba for 8 hours or more every day, and even though I thought I would get bored of it I find that I am still learning new things all the time. The department has asked that I stay until the end of this academic term so that I can finish teaching some of the classes that are still mine and so that I can continue assisting Mr. Mhlanga in his classes and afterschool rehearsals. There is a music festival here in the first week of April that I hoped to return for anyway, so I am planning to stay through the term (ends second week in April). That way I can finish the preparation process with the tour group and see them off to the US. Watching these students pour their hearts and lives into the marimba for the tour has been amazing.

My time at MAP has also been highly education in a cultural sense. I have learned a lot from the students here and made some really good friends. I am living in an annex off of the girls boarding house (approx. a quarter of the students are boarders) and eating in the dining hall. It’s not the greatest living situation but it does put me in close contact with many of the students. I have gotten them to come out and play Frisbee with me, to chat about their families and lives, to talk about their perceptions of race and of the US and all sorts of other things. The MAP students are really special… they are more like US students than they know in many ways, and incredibly different from students in Cape Town. I love talking with them about South Africa and hearing what their perceptions are and what they think about the current political situation. I have made some firm friendships among the staff as well. There are a few staff members especially who I eat lunch with on a regular basis and I am hoping to keep in contact with when I leave here. There is a lovely “Hakuna Matata” mentality here that somehow doesn’t get in the way of competence and actually completing one’s job, but makes for lively personalities. One of the PE teachers has become almost like a brother to me—he is a fun person with integrity and a strong sense of commitment. I love watching him interact with his family (who are just lovely) because he exemplifies what I consider to be the positive aspects of Batswana culture and he’s open enough to chat about even the most culturally sensitive topics.

While I was traveling over the Christmas holiday I had expected to take a break from my Watson-ing for a while, but it turns out that it’s become my lifestyle and I can’t just leave it behind that easily! I traveled to the North of Botswana, South to Lesotho and Durban, back to Cape Town for a week, and to Johannesburg and Kruger National Park. It was, firstly, an amazing trip. Covering such a large geographic area in a short time gave me a shock to see how different the cultures were in such similar areas. We visited a Batswana village near Maun and got to know some of the locals who work as mokoro polers in the Okavango Delta, I visited a Zulu village near Durban, I got to know park rangers from Mmphumalanga near the Kruger Park, and I interacted with plenty of Afrikaaners in between. What an interesting hodge-podge of cultures! Being up North in Botswana made me really interested in visiting Zambia. Apparently it is a very poor country and it might be hard for me to find an appropriate school to visit, but there is a slightly different sort of marimba played in the Eastern part of the country. I am planning to follow up with some of the teachers here at Maru-a-Pula who are Zambian expatriates to see if they have any connections with schools there.

My plan from this point is to spend the rest of the term here at MAP, then to head to Zimbabwe for perhaps a month. I am connecting with a few schools in Bulawayo through teachers that I know here at Maru-a-Pula, but I am waiting to approach Mr. Mhlanga for his advice until the tour arrangements have settled down a bit. That should be very soon, I am hoping. The only problem that I foresee is the school holiday period following this term. I believe that schools in Zimbabwe also follow the same term schedule, so I may take another trip (not as extensive as my last one) into Namibia or possibly Zambia if I find any information/connections leading me there. I have also been suggested to investigate Mozambique, but I am hesitant because the official language is not English. Again, I am planning to do more research.

Thanks for your attention and your help along the way! I will keep you posted as my plans for April take shape.

All the best,

Sarah

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Merry Christmas?

A belated Merry Christmas everyone! And a happy and prosperous New Years to you as well. I am finally back in Gaborone finished with my travel adventures for the summer break and it's been wild!

Leaving Gaborone I yet again got stuck for hours on the side of the road as my Intercape bus broke down mid-way to Johannesburg. Luckily for me, I didn't have to be there precisely on time! Although, I am a bit tired of the Intercape buses. Too bad they're the only real service between Gabs and Jburg!

The morning of Dec 7th we set off on a tour to Victoria Falls and Botswana with Bundu Safaris. What a great trip! The rain threatened the entire time, but somehow it only rained when we weren't doing anything anyway. Now, because it is the rainy season there is less potential for viewing wildlife (they don't have to congregate around the water holes) but we still had a pretty good sampling! Elephant, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, all sorts of antelope, wild dogs, hippopotamus, secretary birds, warthogs and more. It was my first time seeing any of these animals in the wild so I was pretty excited. Some of my friends who had been on Safari before weren't quite as stoked about it, but we all ended up having a good time anyway.

Our first stop on the tour was actually Victoria Falls in Zambia. I wanted to go over and see it from the Zimbabwe side as well, but that would have cost a lot of money and it happened to be raining that afternoon, so we only saw the Zambian side. But don't get the wrong impression, it was still a beautiful sight! Apparently it's one of the seven natural Wonders of the World.... and I have to agree with whoever decide that. It is so beautiful!! Even in the "low-water" season it was spectacular. I would post photos now but I will have to wait for my next internet session, but remember to check back!

The next day we went white water rafting on the Zambezi (Class 5 rapids). I've never been rafting before and this experience was both thrilling and really fun! Apparently this is the best time of year to raft the Zambezi, even though it isn't the best time to view the falls. When the water is too high or low the rapids get pretty dangerous and the rafting companies close down, so I'm glad we went when we did! The water was warm, the rapids were exciting, and there weren't many rocks to hit by accident when you flipped the raft. Five out of six contact lenses survived the trip (both of mine survived... barely), we only flipped once (unfortunately... that was the best part!), and there were free drinks on the ride back. Man... what a great time! The only drawback was the intense hikes in and out of the canyon to get to and from the river. I'm surprised that no-one got injured on some of these spots! but overall, that rafting trip is one of my highlights from the tour. I didn't have any "near-death" moments like some of my raft-mates, but there were certainly a few where I wasn't sure we'd be coming out the other side in one piece. I can't wait to try rafting on other rivers!

That was all for our time in Livingstone and at the falls, but I also found Zambia to be a really interesting place in general. The overall level of development in Zambia is much lower than in either South Africa or Botswana and the landscape is different as well. The border was much more like what you would expect from an African country. The dirtiness and sketchiness of the immigration office was complemented by litter and exhaust fumes, trampled ground, and a huuuuuge queue of trucks waiting to cross the Zambezi on the ferry. Supposedly there is a bridge being planned, but in the meantime the truck drivers simply have to wait three or four days in a line before crossing the river. Seeing Zambia made me fall in love with the landscape and the people there... I am really hoping that I'll be able to travel there on my Watson. There is a significant marimba culture in part of the country, so I'll have to start pursuing my contacts there :).

From Zambia we recrossed the Zambezi River into Botswana and headed towards Chobe National Park. Now, the Chobe is one of the great rivers of Botswana (if such a dry place can have great rivers) and the park is situated on the edge of the Okavango Delta. It is an absolutely beautiful park, and the beauty is only increased by the amazing wildlife roaming the shores of the river. We arrived mid-day and spent an absolutely miserable hour getting camp set up in the pouring rain... which luckily tailed off in time for our cruise on the river. The cruise took us from the campsite into the Chobe park, where we could see Namibian shores as well as Batswana. But the exciting thing wasn't looking at two identical stretches of land that officially spoke different languages, it was, of course, the wildlife viewing from the boat. Now, what is so great about a game cruise rather than a game drive? Well, the best part is that the boat is so quiet. Really, it's amazing. Because the animals aren't looking for predators in the water, they basically completely ignore the boats... especially when the driver turns off the motor and just lets the boat drift. We saw the most amazing elephants bathing in the river, playing with each other, and spraying water everywhere! We also saw some pretty amazing hippopotami (that just seems like the wrong plural...) and crocodiles both in and out of the water. Overall, a pretty amazing cruise. That's not even to mention the birds and antelope, or the other animals that we got glimpses of from the river. But it's not so much what we saw that was so incredible (none of these animals are very amazing sightings), but the things we saw them doing and our proximity to them. The next morning we set off on a game drive through the park, but it wasn't really that much better than the cruise. We did see some warthogs, giraffe, lion tracks, hyena, and wild dogs... and a very cool situation where the hyena was hiding downwind of the dogs, just waiting for them to leave their kill. And LOTS of hornbills (aka Zazu from the Lion King). My only regret is that we couldn't spend more time in the park!

Next our day long drive brought us from Kasane to Maun, home of the famous Maun Carnival and the launching point for the Okavango Delta. If you take a look at a map of Botswana, the Delta is both deceptively small and large at the same time. Looking at the size of the country you'd say it was pretty small. But if you instead think about the size of the Delta relative to, say, any other natural feature in Southern Africa, it looks huge! And I tend to agree more with the huge part after seeing it firsthand. We spent three days actually in the Delta itself, which was an amazing experience. On the first morning we met our "polers" or guides, who poled us into the delta on their mokoros (sort of shallow wooden canoes). The water in the Delta was so amazingly clear that the polers would just lean down and take a drink when they got thirsty. We boiled our water in camp just to be safe, but it turns out that the water probably wouldn't make you sick anyway, it's just that clean. The mokoro trip took the better part of two hours, and halfway through we even saw a lonely elephant grazing on a tiny island not more than 50 meters away (and it was an interesting experience trying to stand up in the mokoro to see over the reeds!). Once we arrived on our more substantial island, we set up camp and made lunch. This was our roughest camping the whole trip. Water came from the Delta, the toilet was a hole in the dirt, and anything in the coolers went warm after the ice melted on the first day. But somehow we had a wonderful time anyway :).

The best part of our Delta experience was, well, everything! We got to swim in the channels of the Delta where the water was never more than a few meters deep (and luckily wasn't home to any crocs or hippos), take bushwalks around the island looking at plants, tracks, and whatever animals we happened to find, learn to make woven bracelets from reeds, play cards with our polers, and just generally have a great time. On the second night we went out on a "sunset cruise" on the mokoros, and about fifteen minutes into the trip the weather turned into a huge storm! We had to stop the boats, brace for the storm, and then speed back to camp in the calm period just before the storm hit. We got soaked, of course, despite the umbrellas and raincoats, and spent the next few hours huddling around the fire sharing umbrellas and trading songs and stories with our hosts. I think it was more fun than what was planned!

After returning to civilization in Maun, four of my fellows and I went on a scenic flight over the Delta in a little 6-seater plane. We had a great time, it was absolutely gorgeous from above! And for once we could really see animals when they couldn't see us. The only fly in the ointment was that my friends seated in the back got really motion-sick, so I don't think they enjoyed it as much as they might have.

The last stop on our itinerary was the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, which we arrived at late in the afternoon after yet another long day of driving. By this point we were all pretty tired of the big yellow truck... but after setting up our tents for what should have been the last time we hopped back into the truck for a "game drive" through the sanctuary to see some Rhinos. Now, if you don't know the history of the Rhinoceros in Southern Africa, the short version is that they were poached to such a large extent that extinction was a real danger for both the Black and White Rhino. The government of Botswana thought that this was unacceptable, so instead of just watching the last of the Rhinoceros fade into children's stories and history books Sir Seretse Khama created the Khama Rhino Sanctuary and had the entire country's remaining animals transported there for safekeeping. The fence around the sanctuary was more to keep out the poachers than to keep in the Rhinos, but it meant that there were enough rhinos protected for the population to start to recover. At this point they have started resettling some of the animals into the wild because the population of White Rhinos has recovered quite well, but it was a near thing!

So on our little trip through the sanctuary we were lucky enough to see a whole family of White Rhinos as well as a lonely old Black Rhino (the names really mean nothing.... 'White' was actually a Dutch misinterpretation of the word "wide" after the shape of its lip and 'Black' refers to the name of the place where the Black Rhino was first seen). That was pretty exciting, but upon return to camp we discovered an army of arrogant South African families running amok in our campsite. Naturally, our response is "what the hell?" and we try to talk to them. Now, apparently the army of South Africans was instructed to use this campsite and didn't bother to go talk to reception when they found it already occupied. Instead, they had taken it upon themselves to simply move our tents out of their way and continue assembling their armada of campervans and other luxury travel devices. SO what are we to do when the arrogant Afrikaaner says he won't move? We go to reception ourselves. And get told that we'll have to find a new place to camp because the other group had a booking and yada, yada, yada. Well, we weren't so psyched to take our tents down in what fading sunlight remained, so instead we yelled at the receptionist enough to get everyone angry, and in the end we opted to not stay at the Sanctuary at all. So off we went, packed up our tents, and traveled down the road another hour to Palapye. The only problem with this scenario is the massive amount of animals on the road after dark. Not interesting animals, but domestic herds of cattle, goats, and donkeys. Yes, donkeys. But that story will have to wait for another time. Aside from all the anger though, we did get to enjoy the amazing DJ services of one of the Australians on the tour... involving an ipod, earphones, and the truck's microphone. You see, the truck didn't have any other way of playing music than holding earphones up to the speaking mic :). And we all felt much better once we finally had some dinner in us!

And so we arrived back in Johannesburg ten days after we left with some really strange stories to tell! And with over 3000 pictures in total. You'll understand, then, if it takes me a few more days to sort all those photos and get a few posted online!

But was there any time to rest? Of course not! Because the following day was just enough for laundry and some necessary shopping (and haircut, thank god) before I took off for Maseru, Lesotho to meet up with two friends from Grinnell: Katie Jares and Megan Straughn. But you'll have to excuse me if I leave that story to tell tomorrow! Tonight it is time for bed.

Upcoming Adventures

This next month will see many changes!

First off, I'm leaving Gaborone on Thursday and meeting up with some friends in Joburg. From there we're all going on a tour of Botswana. First up to Victoria Falls (which isn't actually in Botswana) for some spectacular views, then the Okavango Delta and the Chobe National Game Reserve for some actual wild animal viewing. I'm pretty excited to actually see lions and elephants and everything else! That's a 10 day trip.... bringing us back down to Joburg at the end.

From there, with only one day of recovery time, I'm off to Lesotho to travel with Katie Jares and Megan Straughn. We're hitting up the highlights of Lesotho before heading off to Durban, South Africa for some quality beach time and a visit to a Zulu village. I'm pretty stoked for both of these... and in addition there is a "beer trail" of local breweries that sounds pretty amazing. From there we're off to Pretoria for a day before they continue up North and I split off to Cape Town to meet up with my parents.

We're spending a bit less than a week experiencing the highlights of Cape Town and surrounds, then jumping on a flight back to Joburg where we'll visit the archeological "Cradle of Mankind," see the infamous Apartheid Museum, and watch the off-Broadway "Lion King." After that we join up with a three-day tour to Kruger National Park for some more game viewing... following which my folks jump on a plane back to the US of A and I catch a bus back up to Gaborone for more quality time at Maru-a-Pula.

You may imagine that internet access will most likely be limited during this ridiculous month... but I'll try to post if I can! If not, I'll see you mid-January!

Whew! I hope I survive it!