As I am writing this, there is no power at the homestead…
The following is a rundown of what I experienced this week:
Sunday, June 15
Getting to Ondangwa
This morning I took my first bucket bath in the basin that I bought in Oshikango. It’s not the same as a hot shower, or a warm shower, or even a cold shower… But, it is much more comfortable than standing in a cold concrete structure, wasting water while attempting to stick each body part under the spray long enough to wash. I may have to try showering in the afternoon this week.
I left the homestead at 9a to walk through the village and to the hike point to Oshikango. Frans came with me. By 9:40a I reached the hike point and waited for a car or bakki to pass by. By 10:30a, I was still waiting. Frans decided to go across the street to the housing for the primary school to see if anyone there was heading out. A couple of minutes later he came back with two guys in tow, Johnson and Theodore. As it turns out, Theodore was headed to Ondobe and was willing to give me a ride to Ondobe. He said that he would help me get a taxi from Ondobe to Onhuno and that in Onhuno I would be able to get a taxi to Ondangwa. That sounded great to me. Theodore said that he just wanted to wash his car before heading out. I was prepared to wait at the hike point until he was ready to leave – I figured that if a ride to Oshikango came by in the meantime, I would take that. But, nope, Frans insisted that we go to their house. Theodore washed his truck and Johnson did laundry. I also met another teacher from the primary school, Julia, and saw a learner from my school, Lahja – who Frans claims is his girlfriend. Finally, at 11:45 or so, we were ready to go. Welcome to Africa!
Once we were on the road, my trip went well. There are plenty of taxis in Ondobe passing by to Onhno. And in Onhuno there were plenty of taxis to Ondangwa. It was N$10 to Onhuno and N$20 to Ondangwa (although I found out that it should have only been N$15). I arrived at Heroes School, a private school where Jennifer teaches and lives, at around 1:30ish or so. Ondangwa is about 60km from Oshikango and I think that I am about 20km from Oshikango. So a 40 mile ride only costs about $5 US.
When I arrived there were a lot of summer vols, some year-longs and a couple of Namibian friends of year-longs. And tons of food. The girls had made chicken, lentils, beans, salad, hummus, fat cakes and brownies. There were chips, soda, beer and probably some stuff that I am forgetting about. It was good to be around fluent English speakers and be able to trade stories. Unfortunately, I found out that one of the summer vols was really unhappy and was leaving in a few days to go home.
It seems that quite a few are going through varying levels of culture shock and homesickness. I feel very lucky to have the placement that I have. I have a good balance of a “real African experience” with some of the comforts of home, I live with a family as well as my colleagues in an environment where everyone is respectful of privacy and where the teachers have taken an interest in making me feel at home. Cat’s school is not letting her teach because she won’t be here through the entire term (we leave a week before the end) and her school does not have an operational computer lab or internet. She lives with one other teacher who is not very warm to her. One volunteer’s Meme would not let her come to the braai because she did not want her to hike to get there. Nothing seems horrible about other people’s situations, but I definitely feel lucky. Part of it could be that I am in a much different place in my life than the majority of the summer volunteers. I do not think that I could have done this when I was 20, or even 25.
After everyone ate, we decided to play Mafia, which is a card game that I really can’t get into explaining in a blog, and then went outside to play Frisbee. In the late afternoon, most people started to head back to their villages and four of the summer vols (me, Cat, Randi, Ashley) and 3 of the year-longs crashed at Jennifer’s. Cama, Tiela, Katie and Jennifer were the year-longs. Both Cama and Tiela are relatively close to my village (about 30km away or so).
Monday, June 16
Sticking Out Like a Volunteer
This morning me, Randi, Cat and Ashley walked from Jennifer’s to the internet café and then to buy groceries before heading back home. Cat, Randi and Ashley were headed back to Jennifer’s, but I was planning to leave right after I shopped, so I took all of my things with me.
I took my backpack (rather than my daypack) to Ondangwa because I figured that I would fill the pack with groceries and be able to get everything home a little easier. I wanted to buy a towel to put under my basin while I take bucket baths, so we went into Pep. In each store that you go into, you have to check your bags. So on the way out, I got my large backpack back and when we stepped outside of Pep, I moved aside and bent down to put the towel into the pack. I heard someone behind me trying to get my attention and was startled to see that it was several uniformed Namibian police.
I was really taken aback and started to worry about why they would possibly want to speak with me. I am still a little puzzled as to what made them want to pull me aside, but they did. All they wanted was to warn me about the thieves in town and that I should be careful. I guess because I had a large backpack with me I stood out more than the average white person. Since Cat and Randi had already done their shopping the prior morning, they stayed outside with my pack while I shopped in Shop Rite with Ashley.
From the Shop Rite I took a taxi to the Oshikango hike point, then another taxi to Oshikango, then another from Omatala (in Oshikango) to Edundja. Unfortunately, the taxi would not take me all the way to my homestead. He dropped me off in the village and I had to walk about 2 miles to get home. Wow, that backpack was heavy. Probably not going to use that strategy again! Shop Rite sells several sizes of these large re-usable shopping bags, so I’ll probably invest in one of those my next shopping trip. Also, without the backpack I won’t stand out any more than the typical white volunteer in Africa…
Tuesday, June 17 and Wednesday, June 18
Chicks, Power and Money
This week has been pretty uneventful, but a couple of notes about Tuesday and Wednesday… On Tuesday I took an afternoon shower and on my way back to my room I noticed that there was a baby chick drowning in one of the wash basins that was left full of water by the ground spigot. I ran into the kitchen and got Elias (he’s in the 8th grade) to pull him out. Unfortunately, it was too late and the chick died. I was sad.
I also found out that the way the hot water works is similar to buying and using cell minutes. Electricity is purchased by credits and it takes a lot of power to heat the water. One of the year-long volunteers suggested that if I want hot water I should offer to pay for electricity. I think that I am going to hold off and try to make due with cold showers in the afternoon, bucket baths and hair washing under the ground spigot. Cama and Tiela regularly are without water for days at a time – so I can certainly deal without a hot shower.
I have also noticed both at school and the homestead that there are regularly periods were there is no power. Similar to a brownout, I guess. In Africa, it’s okay and I am not really impacted or frustrated, just accepting. I think that my reaction would be a bit different at home.
On Wednesday morning I wrote the test that I am supposed to give tomorrow during the afternoon school study session to my learners. The secretary typed it for me and sent a couple of learners to the computer lab to have me proof read it before she made the copies. When they brought it to me, they informed me that the woman was here selling fat cakes, but I was not sure if they were asking me to get one for them, if they could get one for me or if they were asking me for money to get one for themselves. I thanked them and said something about potentially wanting a fat cake. At that point they asked for a dollar. I told them that my money was not with me and they looked disappointed.
After talking to some of the year-longs, I found out that at some schools, the person selling the food charges the learners a different price than the teachers and that the teachers give the learners enough to buy 2 fat cakes – one for themselves and one for the teacher. At first the volunteer thought that the teachers were just being cheap, but then found out that the money that the teacher was giving for the second fat cake was so that the learner could have one too.
Thursday, June 19
EFA (Education for All) and HIV/AIDS Awareness
So today there were no classes. There was no formal announcement that there was no class. Everyone just knew. Except for me.
I was supposed to give a Business Management test to Grade 9 today. I didn’t pick today to give test. It’s posted on a huge 4’x5’ calendar on the bulletin board to the school’s administrative office. Earlier in the week I confirmed with Joolokeni that I was to write and give the test as scheduled.
So, this morning Else, Maria and I were running a few minutes late. Else said not to worry, that no learners would be at school for classes today. We got to school a little before 8am and she was right. No one was there. The EFA and HIV/AIDS Awareness activities were scheduled to start at 10am and since our school is the cluster center (our cluster is 4 schools, our school and three surrounding schools) students would start arriving no earlier than 9a. The programme consisted of opening comments by Mr. Kavungo, a blessing by Patricia, a speech by a reverend about the importance of education, a drama (skit) about EFA, a performance by our school choir, a speech about HIV/AIDS by a representative from the Ministry of Health, a drama about HIV/AIDS and several traditional dance performances. Else was the master of ceremonies and wanted to use some words in English that people would not be familiar with and impressed by. I said that she could call the programme an agenda or itinerary. She liked the word itinerary and asked me how to spell it so that she could use it. I guess she got nervous, because she didn’t end up using it… She actually tried to get her co-MC to use it. He wrote it down, but didn’t use it either.
The EFA drama by our school was well done and the narrator of the skit, Lucia, spoke great English. Unfortunately, the choir was not as good as they sounded in rehearsals. The HIV/AIDS drama went on for too long. My favorite parts of the day were the 2 groups from the primary schools that performed cultural dances. I took lots of pictures and some videos.
Friday, June 20
Any Excuse to Skip Class
Since I was unable to give the learners the test yesterday as scheduled, I decided to give the test today. However, once again the best laid plans…
This morning when Maria, Else and I arrived at school, hardly any of the learners were there for assembly – which I should have taken as a sign that my day would not go as planned. I also noticed that quite a few of the chairs and desks were still outside under the big tree, left from yesterday’s EFA and HIV/AIDS Awareness celebration. Mr. Kavungo ended the morning assembly by instructing all the learners to collect the desks and chairs and return them to the classrooms before going to class.
On Fridays I only meet with three of the four grade 9 sections (A, B, D), but the section that I don’t meet with (C) has religious studies in the same classroom that I am in. I don’t believe that Joolokeni conducts class during that period anyway, so I planned to give 9C the test during their religious period.
When I arrived at my classroom, there were enough desks and an excess of chairs, but I didn’t want to cut into the test time, so I administered the test to 9A and decided to worry about the state of my classroom in the few minutes between classes. However, when it was time for the second class to start, Joolokeni had still not arrived at school. So, I had the 10A section take out the excess chairs, get brooms to sweep the classroom and sent the remaining learners out to the yard to clean up the trash and papers that were under the big tree. Once the sweeping began in the classroom it became a huge cloud of dirt and dust. I am not sure when the last time the room was swept was, but sweeping is going to become a routine in my classroom!
9C was not surprised to be receiving a Business Management test during their religious studies class, so I don’t know if they just expected it are are too timid to say anything. Joolokeni arrived during the middle of the class and saw that I was giving a test, so she went back to the staff lounge. I then had an off period and went to the computer lab, unfortunately the power was down, so I went back to the staff lounge to start grading some of the tests. I was pleased to see that of the 10 or so that I graded, 2 learners scored over 75%. Some however were closer to the 50% mark. I am interested to see how each section does and how they relate to each other overall.
During the break each section leader was given several loaves of bread and orange juice to give to the learners. It was supposed to be part of the EFA and HIV/AIDS Awareness celebration, but since we started late and ran over time, everyone had headed home. By the time the teachers got their allocation of bread and juice, headed to the classrooms and started doling it out, the break was almost over. And of course the section/teacher pairings didn’t match up with the class that the learners have after break, so it was mayhem and I knew I would not be able to give 9B their test.
There was something a little depressing about the fact that we were giving the learners 3-4 pieces of bread and juice as a treat. But then I wonder if I am taking my cultural norms and imposing them on what I’m observing. Namibia is such a confusing mix of modern Western influence and traditional African lifestyles… My family has a “modern” kitchen, but they choose to cook mahangu over a fire and keep an empty frig… They have running water and a toilet, but many people at the homestead choose to pee in the bushes…
I headed to the computer lab and got the impression that no one was teaching 5th period. I don’t have classes during 6th and 7th periods, so I went to the computer lab. Frans found me and wanted me to help him get an email address. Checking my email and walking Frans through how to set-up an email address and get started took the majority of the hour and half that I had.
As I was talking Frans through setting up email, I realized that he does not know anyone with an email address, other than me and one of the other teachers. I also showed him minesweeper, so that he can practice using a mouse and getting a feel for precision in his clicking. Of course, explaining minesweeper is a bit complicated to someone that does not have a strong command of English. Try it sometime…
When I arrived at my last class, 9D – who has a reputation with the other teachers as being trouble, only half of the learners were there. There were 12 girls and 2 boys. I asked them where their classmates were and if they wanted to take the test then or wait until Monday. The majority asked to go ahead and take it, so I gave out the test. Although only half of the learners were there, I had to keep an eye on them. They were all trying to look at each other’s papers and some were even whispering. I kept making eye contact with those that were suspicious and told everyone to keep their eyes on their own papers. I was tempted to move some people around and create more space between learners, but I am sure that even if they copied it would not improve their scores. I’ll find out when I grade the tests. I think that I am going to give the same test and penalize the rest of the 9D class by making it a possible of 50 points with a max of 40 (instead of a 40 out of 40 possibility). They will also have to take it after school on Monday during their study period. 9B will also get the same test on Monday, but no point penalty. I’m planning to buy candy to reward those that do well and for those in 9D that showed up.
I think that I am the only teacher that had afternoon classes on Friday – so it makes me wonder, who is to blame for the learner’s study habits and discipline?
After school I was walking back to the homestead with Patricia and she told me that when I leave for the US that I have to leave my ring. She is referring to my LISA ring that I never take off. I told her that it says my name, not Patricia and that I’ve had it forever.
I’ve moved to taking afternoon showers this week. It’s too cold in the morning to get under the water. In the mornings I heat water for my basin and use it for washing my face. So today, after my shower, I was listening to itunes and transferring photos to my computer from the camera when I had a knock at my door. It was Joolokeni. She stopped by to say hi and asked to listen to some of my music. She requested soft music – so I introduced her to Bob Schneider, Barenaked Ladies (her American name is Jane – so I played “Jane” for her) and Billy Joel. I also showed her some of my pictures from home. Around 5ish, she started to head home, but came back to ask if I had ever pounded mahangu – as Anna and Rosaria were pounding. I joined them and gave them my camera to take a couple of pictures.
Maria and Else both went away for the weekend again. Else gave me her keys, which came in handy for making dinner and access to the TV to watch The Gardener’s Daughter with the kids. I made ramen noodles with frozen vegetables and tuna for dinner. I left some to give to the kids and I’m not sure if they had ever had canned tuna before, but Shangala used her finger to get the bits of tuna left in the can – so I guess that she liked it… Or maybe it is a change from eating mahangu every day… Or maybe she just has not had enough to eat…
Saturday, June 21
It’s All About the Food
This morning I got up to head to Ondangwa to meet some of the WT volunteers and go to Oshikati. I didn’t set an alarm, but still woke up at 5:50a. I stayed in bed until 6:15a before deciding to get my day started and get to Jennifer’s in Ondangwa. I left my homestead at 7:30am and as I started to walk down the path to Edundja village, I thought that I heard an engine. I decided to wait for a minute to see if the car or truck was coming my way. Perfect timing! A bakki came into sight and they stopped to offer me a seat in the cab. It turns out that the driver (Silas) and his fiancé (Tina) are both teachers in the area. I had not met Silas before, but I recognized Tina from the EFA and HIV/AIDS Awareness day at my school. Tina is a teacher at one of the primary schools and was sitting only one seat away from me. She and Stefanus, who I was sitting next to, work together. Fortunately, they were headed to Ondangwa and dropped me off at Heroes School (Jennifer’s place).
I arrived at Jennifer’s at around 9:30am, which was perfect. Some of the summer volunteers were headed out to the Internet café and some of the year longs were waiting for me to arrive so that we could head to Oshikati and the Fruit and Veg store that I have heard so much about. Before we could get a taxi to Oshikati, Tiela and Cama needed to deposit their checks, so we went to the bank. This guy Mike also went with us. Mike is doing a year-long study abroad program in Cape Town and is traveling for about 6 weeks during his break. He lives in a house with twelve people and Tiela’s friend lives with Mike. Tiela met Mike while traveling during her break between trimesters when she went to visit her friend in Cape Town.
Namibians get paid twice a month and on payday the lines at the banks are crazy. We’ve been warned to be particularly careful in the larger towns on payday weekends, as thieves take advantage of the throngs of people flush with money after payday. While Cama and Tiela were depositing their pay, Mike and I went to get fat cakes and something to drink. It’s funny, I am not really a fan of donuts and only like cake donuts – but fat cakes are delicious!
Once Cama and Tiela were done at the bank, we got a taxi to Oshikati. On the way to Fruit and Veg, we passed Steve, one of the year-long volunteers. Actually, he is the guy that has a car and that I emailed, as Maggie had provided his contact information and said that his site was not too far from mine. The main draw at Fruit and Veg is the fact that they have a fruit bar with fresh cut fruit with either yogurt or soft serve ice cream. We each got our fruit and ice cream and headed outside to sit and plan the rest of our day in Oshikati. Then Irene (another year-long volunteer with a car) and her boyfriend (who just graduated from West Point and is visiting for six weeks) walked past. It turns out that they were meeting Steve at the SOS Club (which is really the Sauce Club – a pizza place) later for lunch. She invited us to go and we planned to meet back up at Fruit and Veg for a ride over.
As an aside, by this point in the day it’s maybe 10:30am and I have already eaten more (a fat cake, bottle of water, fruit and ice cream) than I usually from the time that I get up until I get home from school at 4pm. And, most of our conversation for the morning has been about grocery stores, which foods are available where, whether to eat KFC or SOS Club, etc.
Cama and I headed over to Pick N Pay and Tiela headed over the Game, which is like the Namibian version of Target. On the way across the street to Pick N Pay, I bumped into Else’s friend that I met the previous Friday in Oshikango. Then, inside the Pick N Pay, I saw Johnson, one of the teachers at Edundja Primary that I met the previous Sunday while waiting for Theodore to wash his car. Once I was finished at Pick N Pay, Cama headed over to KFC to get some chicken and chips and I headed over to Game to meet Tiela and get an electric kettle to use to heat water for coffee and bucket baths, rather than always have to borrow one from someone else. When I rounded the corner to look at them, I bumped into Else, one of the teachers that I live with. Namibia is a very small world…
When Tiela and I got back to Fruit and Veg, no one else was there, so I went to look for Cama at KFC. She was sitting and eating her KFC and reading the paper (The Namibian) that I had bought. I joined her and a couple of minutes later I saw Eloise and Judy (two summer vols) and invited them to join us. KFC is the only American fast food place that I have seen in Namibia. The only other fast food place that I have seen is a place called Wimpy, that looks similar to a Burger King. I think that the appeal of KFC to the volunteers is that you don’t have to cook yourself. I opted to eat SOS Club and save KFC for another day.
At Pick N Pay I found cheddar cheese and the ground beef looked decent, so I think that I am going to make hamburgers for dinner when it is my turn to cook this week. Very American and easy to make…
When Cama was done eating, we headed over to meet Irene, her B/F, Tiela and Mike and then we went to SOS Club. Steve was there when we got there and shortly thereafter Dan and Kathryn (a married couple, also year-long vols) showed up. So we had quite the party. By this time, it was only a little bit after 1pm. Mike had passed on the fruit at Fruit and Veg and was starving. We ordered drinks and were told that they would not be serving food until after 2p because they were waiting on the ingredients. It’s a pizza place. With no ingredients to make pizza until after 2p? Strange. We placed our orders and socialized until it was pizza time.
Much of our discussion during lunch revolved around food – Steve had been at Spar and found mozzarella cheese. Apparently it’s not a common find. Kathryn seemed to really want some, so Steve offered to sell his to her and Dan and pick up some more on his way home. After we ate, Steve gave me, Cama, Tiela and Mike a ride to Jennifer’s and we dropped Dan and Kathryn off at their hike point on the way. Since Steve was going to Spar to get more cheese, we all went and picked up some more grocery items before heading to Jennifer’s.
Something I would normally never do: buy yogurt, meat and cheese and leave it in the trunk for several hours before getting it refrigerated. Welcome to Africa.
Once back at Jennifer’s we sat around and chatted and watched DVD’s on people’s computers. In Jennifer’s room we watched a couple of episodes of Lost (it was me and the year longs, Jennifer, Cama and Katie). The summer vols watched Elizabethtown and The Office. Tiela and Mike caught a ride with Steve back to Tiela’s village.
Today I found out that Randi (one of the summer vols) is going home. I was sad to hear that. Randi lives in Brooklyn, is from Alabama and has been having a hard time with the Larium that she’s taking for her anti-malarial and she has been missing her husband. She had mentioned that she was switching to doxy, which has fewer and milder side effects (if any). I was hoping that she would wait and see if being off of Larium made a difference in her state of mind, but she’s decided that it’s best to go home. And she is really the only one that can decide what is right for her, but it is disappointing for her to be leaving. We’ve talked about getting together once I am back in NYC.
I forgot to mention, I ate almost my whole pizza and didn’t have an appetite for dinner. And even though I did not eat dinner, I think that I still had more to eat today and any day since arriving in Edundja… And, most of our activities and conversations revolved around food - in just over a day I went to four different grocery stores and sat down to eat at three different places - it really is all about the food.
Sunday, June 22
A Lazy Sunday and Danger Pants Sighting
This morning I woke up (and could not go back to sleep) at around 6:15am. There were 6 of us sleeping in the living room (summer vols) and three (year longs) in the bedroom. I just laid there until everyone else started to wake up. By 9:30, four of the summer vols headed to the store to do grocery shopping. Randi, the one who is leaving, and I had breakfast – left over vegetarian chili from the night before. This is something else that I would normally NEVER do. In fact, the idea of chili for breakfast would normally make me sick to my stomach, but not here… Katie (a year long) left for her village. Jennifer, Cama and I headed to ShopRite to pick up a couple of things and then Cama and I headed to the Oshikango hike point to head home. At ShopRite I saw another teacher that I know from Edundja… I am quite the local now!
It’s also funny to notice other random white people in town and wonder what they are doing there. Obviously, some of them are Peace Corp volunteers, but some are German looking. And most white Namibians live in the south (and many are racist, from what I hear)… So it’s funny. I am sure that they wonder about me, but then I think that I am so obviously a volunteer…
One of the people that ended up in our taxi started chatting with me and Cama. As it turns out, he is one of the Namibian police officers that stopped me last Monday to warn me about pickpockets and thieves. I am not exactly sure of everything that he was saying, but he claimed that he remembered me from something at the US Embassy in 2005 and then was asking me why don’t I get Namibian citizenship. It was funny – especially because he was dressed like he could have stepped out of the movie Caddy Shack. He was wearing a horizontally striped polo-style shirt and plaid pants in a similar color palette to his shirt with white shoes. He was definitely sporting some Danger Pants!
After arriving in Oshikango at the Omatala market to catch a hike to Edundja, I was approached by a couple of small boys (see Fri, June 13 for definition of Small Boy). As it turns out, they had a bakki (truck) and offered to give me a ride home. There were two kids and a Meme that were also going in the bakki. The small boys offered me a seat in the cab of the bakki, but I let the Meme have it. While in the back of the truck, one of the small boys (Nicky) wanted my phone number. I went ahead and gave it to him, knowing that I won’t have to ever talk to him. He sent me an SMS so that I could have his number and it said:
.+””+.
I’ll keep you.
I’m not sure what the little drawing is above the text…
Once I got home, I put my groceries in the refrigerator. Anna and Rosaria came into the kitchen to see what I was doing. So I gave them each a couple of pieces of candy. They did the little Namibian bow thing and said “Thank you.” On the way back to my room, I saw Shangala and gave her a couple of pieces as well. I did my laundry, had a peanut butter sandwich and some Simba masala flavored chips and now I am catching up on blogging about my week…
Maria stopped by my room when she got home this evening and asked if I had anything for a headache. I gave her some Advil and asked if she had eaten dinner yet. She had not, so I asked her if she had ever had a grilled cheese sandwich. She said that she had not and asked what it was. I explained what it was and offered to make one for her. When I went to get ingredients out of the refrigerator, she asked why my food was not in Else’s refrigerator. I said that I did not have her key anymore, as I returned it to her when I bumped into her in Game and Maria said that I should just put my food in her refrigerator.
I had to make the sandwiches by grilling them in the bottom of a pot, as she does not have a pan here (she said that she has one at her family’s home). It was a little difficult to flip the sandwich in the bottom of a pot and without a spatula, but it worked out. When Maria saw that I was done cooking with just the sandwich, she got out another pot and some sausage. In Namibia, food is not a meal without some form of meat.
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