Bees and Boxing

I started going to the boxing club here at Lempu junior secondary school. My 3rd practice was moved because of cleaning day at the school so I started talking to Mma Kelapile. (Ms. I’m tired…literal translation) who said she had bees in her sealing. She’d been stung 4 times from them falling down onto her bed. An agriculture class was getting the bees out right then so she invited me to check it out. When we got to here place there were people in full bee suits with smoke pouring out of the roof. People were through the attic hole collecting the hive. Soon the collectors came out with a huge Tupperware full of honey comb and bees. I didn’t know what they were saying but they started flicking off the bees and eating the honey. I heard talk talk talk Kabo talk talk talk and I was soon holding some comb. It had some dark yellow chunks in it but I just ate it any way. It was so sweet and yummy. I heard my name again and got a better piece but after a few bites I flicked out a developing larva, well 3 actually and finished eating it. Fresh honey is so good, but better with out larva.
From there I found the boxing practice and watched from the side as pairs boxed or spared each other. Some sparing some hitting the bag and others just watching. I gave some pointers, but I think they know more than me. The guy who I think is the caption asked if I wanted to hit the bag, finely did something. He must have liked what he saw because he asked again if I wanted to box another kid. All I could understand was ‘box’ and ‘soft’. The kid was little and I just wanted to do something so we spared and it was great. We drew a crowd because I was the "white guy" boxing, but I still had a blast. The coach finally showed up and watched us as we cooled down. I think I’ve got a lot to learn about boxing, Botswana and the heat that’s coming!
If you get the chance, read ‘The Power of One’. It’s one of my favorite books. It’s a great heart warming and inspiring book about southern Africa youth boxing. Check it out!