Did I Mention that Payback's a B*TCH?

Well, usually, Tiela has hot water… Unfortunately, there was no running water at Tiela’s this morning. Tiela headed off to school and I stuck around for bit hoping the water would return. Finally, I gave up and headed back to Edundja around 9am. Luckily, once I got a taxi, the driver didn’t wait for it to fill with passengers and he proactively drove to several corners in town to pick people up. Soon we were on the way back to Oshikango. At Omatala, while waiting for a ride to Edundja, there were a couple of combis with chatty drivers that wanted to know where I teach, etc. However, this time, instead of asking where I am from (in the past I have gotten Denmark), he asked if I was from Pakistan. I said no, America. It is funny, because I normally get asked if I am Arab or Muslim when I wear my headscarf that I bought for dusty rides in the back of a bakki. But, I wasn’t wearing it and didn’t even have it with me. Around 11:30ish I got back to the village and walked to the school to find that the water was still out. I’m sure part of it was psychological, but I felt really dirty and was beginning to feel very thirsy.

Today there were not examinations, so only some of the learners came to school. I think a couple of teachers held classes, but most were either marking papers or killing time. Since there was no running water, Ashiyana and a couple of learners had taken Mrs. Shaningi’s bakki to the well to draw water and fill people’s jugs and buckets. Although the well water is brownish, it is safe for drinking. Esther was sick and had stayed home (at the teacher housing) for the day. Around 12:30p, Kavari, Maria and I walked over to see how she was doing. She was preparing to go to the doctor in Oshikango, so we waited and ten walked with her to the gravel road. On the way back home, Kavari, Maria and I stopped to have a cool drink at one of the bottle stores.

As we were finishing our cool drink, a group of children from the primary school, including Shangala passed by. I called her over and we gave her the last of our cool drink. A second group of children, all boys, including Joe, with chalk dust powdered all over their faces ran by. As we started our walk home, I bought a fat cake for both me and Shangala. Finally, we reached the homestead and I felt disgustingly filthy. This week is the warmest we’ve had since I arrived in Namibia and I haven’t showered since Sunday (except for Monday morning’s bucket bath) and I had done a lot of walking – to school, to the village, through Eenhana, back through Eenhana, to the village back to school, back to the village and now back to the homestead. My feet and ankles were so dusty that even Joe pointed out that I was dirty!

At home, I called all the kids together and we looked at the pictures that I printed out and handed out the photos. We also took a lot more. Each time I take a photo, everyone crowds around wanting to take a look. Eventually, since the water was still not back, the kids headed to the well to draw water so that we could begin cooking dinner. When Shangala brought me a jug of water, she knocked on my door and told me in English. I was so proud of her. She also counts to 10 in English for me – which is a far cry from her just looking at me, hiding her face and giggling.

I was really thirsty and decided to boil some of the well water to drink – it was just too brown for my liking – and to wash my dirty feet. After Joe pointed out how dirty my feet were, I used some of my stash of sani-wipes to clean from my knees down to my feet, but I still felt filthy. While I was waiting for the boiled water to cool down, the running water returned. Thankfully! Since it was my night to cook dinner, I got started while Maria went to shower and Kavari marked papers.

Mpinge made oshifima and a traditional dish made of mashed white beans and oil for dipping. We then watched one of Kavari’s horrible Nigerian DVD’s – this one was called Expensive Game, about a group of conniving women going after wealthy men for money and fame. It was terrible and I fell asleep during it. I went to bed dreaming of the refreshingly cold shower that I would gladly take in the morning.