Ramblings and Wanderings and Taxi Drivers

une 17, 2008

Usually, when I go to write something I think is amazingly clever about my experiences in Namibia, I reread the last paragraph of my last post. This may seems stupid because usually the two posts don’t relate at all. But I like to be reminded of the last thing from this lifestyle I tried to communicate to the States. However, this time, it was stupid for another reason. Mostly it was stupid because my “tail” of the donkey didn’t include anything of the donkey’s “tales” – which are important for the simple fact that I must have been mesmerized by their “tales” to have written “tail” so much instead of “tale”. Are you confused yet? Because I am.

Wow. My English skills are… showing signs of diminution… are reducing …are less… are becoming stupider… are dumb… are, uh, doh.

Speaking of dumb, I ran into a pole this weekend. I’ve wondered before what my reaction would be to running into a pole. It turns out, I stop moving. Stay in contact with the pole while assessing the situation. Then I simply state, “I ran into a pole”. It’s not nearly the reaction I would have hoped for but, well, it was a reaction.

Anyway.

I went to Windhoek this weekend. This is in the theme of the Dumbness I discussed earlier. It takes about 4 to 6 hours, sometimes 9 to get to Windhoek. And this weekend? I traveled all that way to see a movie. Dumb, right? But Indiana Jones is so worth it. Even when he’s getting old. Then, the whole weekend kind of downgraded into an eating tour of Windhoek. Which, despite how it sounds, was a lot of fun and probably included more vitamins than my body has had since I made it here. But let’s be honest, it also included a lot of sugar. Yum.

The weekend was also fun because I got to see a lot of the girls from the Bing. I like those girls. And it was also not so good because this person I randomly know… and maybe have no relation to at all… and I may not even know her… got mugged. Like I said, I may not even know her… and I wasn’t even there… But her purse got taken from her shoulder at 9 AM on a busy street corner. Sheesh, Windhoek. After a long talk with some security guards at a nearby shopping mall and a few trips to a large drainage pipe most of her belongings were recovered. On the plus side though, we’re now friends with the entire security team at one of two malls in Windhoek. That’s got to count for something, right? Not that I was even there… or know the person who was mugged…

That said, I think I’m getting to know the city well. I know to never carry a bag. I can get around most of the areas of Windhoek (Though, I don’t really know Katatura that well. It’s kind of like a location of Windhoek. I’ve only officially been there once but I’ve driven through a few times now). I would say my biggest accomplishment in Windhoek familiarization is the habit of looking right then left when crossing a street. It really is a handy skill. Without it, you find yourself standing immobilized on a street corner confused by all of the fast moving vehicles that all magically lack donkeys dragging them along. This skill, though, I’m sure will retard my ability to do anything traffic related in America. But saving the world is worth it, right?

Oh yeah, before I go, the pole. The thing about Windhoek is everyone is out to get you. So when I turned even one second to look at something, this darn malicious pole jumped out in front of me. And then, it ran into me and stubbed my toe. Sheesh, Windhoek.


Joo joo joo joo-oooo-oo-ne 25, 2008

A few quotes that I appreciate:

“Oh Miss, I am having neat. You must give me mom.”
- Katrina, grade 6. I give the kids stickers when they do a math problem on the board. She already has the sticker that says “neat” and wanted the one that says “wow”. The kids seem to think that “wow” goes upside down though. Which is weird because “wow” is a really common expression here.

“You are looking nice today. Like a lady. It is quite the change.”
- A teacher the morning I showed up in a pink skirt.

“Ah, you look smart. It seems you are an American.”
- Another teacher about clothes again. “Smart” is a type of dress. “Clever” is smart. I was wearing a black shirt and jeans – you know, in case you want to look American.

“Say ‘eat’.” – me
“#u re.” – Cleaners at the school determined for me to learn Damara
“Ok, say ‘sit’.” – me
“#u re.” – Cleaners with raised eyebrows
“Eat?” – me
“#u re.” – Cleaners
“Sit?” - me
“#u re.” – Cleaners, raised eyebrows
*Moment of silence where we realize that maybe it is hopeless.

“Miss, are you having donkeys in America?” – Grade six learners
“Yes”
“What noise is making them run?”
“Umm…”
- If you know what noise we make in America to make donkeys run, let me know. Because I don’t.

Last Thursday was mail day. It was a lot of fun because I got a few packages. I also got a card from my mom. It was one of those cards that has a recording that plays when you open it. On the front it says, “This is a test of the emergency smile broadcast system” and on the inside is says, “you can now return to your regularly scheduled day”. Then, while the card is open the recording of the two cartoon characters making the emergency broadcasting noise – “EEEEEEEEEEEEE!” *large breath in and “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! This is a test. This is only a test. If this had been a real emergency it would have been followed with…” *Giggles and woots and general cartoon chaos . I thought it would be really fun to put the card in the library to see how long it would last. Kids tend to grab anything within grabbing distance and ask a barrage of questions about it. So I decided the card could be the current object to grab. But I didn’t have a clue how amazing their reactions would be. Most kids survey the front then open the card. When the noise starts, most of them make a face like evil has just entered the room and throw the card down. Then, gaining bravery, they take up the card again and hold it to their ear. The ones that make it through the whole recording ask me, “what language are they making, Miss?” They don’t believe that it’s English even when I tell them. And the best part, when they have had their fill of the emergency smile broadcast system, they run out of the library and down the hall screaming “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” I wonder how long I can keep this up before the other teachers search me out to destroy the card…

Last week was HIV/AIDS awareness week. So on Friday, we got the day off of school to march all of the learners down to a big rally at the stadium. All 6 of the schools in Khorixas were going to meet there. Each teacher was supposed to walk with their respective grade to make sure they didn’t run away or get run over by a car. Since, in theory, I don’t really have any responsibilities… I don’t get paid!... my supervisor told me I should ride in the car following the kids. It was great, except that a lot of the staff at our school aren’t really fond of walking, so, I got a few bitter stares. We got to the stadium a little late so we got the spot in the sun. It wasn’t so bad (my Rudolf-look the next day would beg to differ though). There were speeches and songs. Each school had prepared a presentation. Our school had two presentations - one for the little ones and one for the big kids. The big kids did great. I loved their presentation and how proud they were of it. The small kids did a song called, “I’m the boss of my body”. It is my new, official favorite song. I can’t really remember all the words, but it’s my favorite. The small kids got called up again to sing an encore. It was cute.

Saturday and Sunday were perfect peace corps days. There wasn’t any water. There wasn’t really anything to do but laundry, by hand, which was ruled out because of the water situation. And I cooked – taco flavored chicken and taco flavored popcorn. Sounds like a perfectly peace corps weekend.

This week has been slow. Slow weeks are good for savoring life. But a lot of life in Africa is about the like-a-band aid approach - just got to do it and get it over with… cold baths, community meetings, crowded markets, speaking in clicks. Just do it. And that’s hard to do when time moves slowly.

The week hasn’t been too bad though. The science fair is next week on Tuesday. There are two kids in grade seven that I’m working with. It’s been interesting. I feel like a mom trying to force my kids to learn and do their homework. They like it when we’re actually working on the experiment. In the mean time though, it just doesn’t seem appealing when they could be playing soccer or writing notes about boys. I thoroughly understand. But it’s science! Doesn’t everyone love science?

Don’t answer that…

Our project is called, “Light from above”. It’s about sunlight and our ability to capture heat with certain colors. We collected all our data yesterday. We set boxes covered in different colored paper out in the sun. Each had a thermometer in it. Then we checked the temperature every few hours. Now we need to work on understanding what it all means. It would be a lot easier to explain colors and light and heat if I could find a prism to show them all the colors in the rainbow. Yesterday, I at least got across to them that sunlight is an important topic here because, well, we live in a desert! I’ll be really excited if they get rainbows and light absorption tomorrow. I’m also nervous about getting this board together in time. I know the kids want it to be beautiful. We’re running out of time though. Cross your fingers… or, Namibians, hold your big thumbs… and wish us luck.


The 27th day of June 2008 – It’s the only one I’ll ever get.

I was burning my trash tonight. It made me think of the first time I tried to burn trash in Khorixas and almost lit the town on fire. I’d like to think I’ve come a long way since then. Everything seems just like its supposed to be. This is great and disappointing at the same time. It’s great because I live in Namibia and I managed to find a balance that feels normal. It’s also not so great because I’m exhausted.

While you all are out enjoying your summer sun, just remember that you’re taking it from us. The sun rises somewhere around 7:00 and sets at about 5:15. This is a shame because I start work at 6:50 and leave between 4 and 5. And, while living in the sunniest place of my lifetime, that kind of schedule doesn’t leave a lot of time for sun-soaking. And it definitely doesn’t leave time for a 20 minute walk to town to get groceries or check the mail.

Also, I’m making friends. But, let’s be honest, the social cues are still alluding me. When someone walks away mid-sentence, did I do something? Do I smell bad? And the language/accent barrier is larger than ever. Though, I have learned that I greatly appreciate the people who say, “what?” until they understand me. Today someone asked me a question in English. I wasn’t sure what he said so I said, “What did you say?”. He said, “Oh, I see. Ooookay.”. I hate Ooookays. They’re the I-have-no-idea-what-you-said-but-I’m-going-to-fake-it-Ooookays. Though I think we all have to admit that we’ve used them from time to time.

I’m getting really good at doing my own laundry. And I’m getting really good at ignoring cockroaches instead of obsessively cleaning. But the school has a water pipe problem. The solution, you ask… turn off the water except for two hours a day. So now, I don’t even have to worry about scheduling a cleaning time. It’s scheduled for me… Only one problem… The two chosen hours are a surprise! Fun, huh?

Another new development – I love shebeen music. The informal bars that are set up in the squatter’s camp and throughout the location play music that is loud enough to share with the whole section of the neighborhood. And, for the stability of the children in the area (because they don’t get a lot of stability), the shebeens play only one chosen song. It’s like a mating call that belongs only to that shebeen. You can hear a song across the location and know which shebeen just got a customer. There are two Namibian singers I know – Gaza and The Dogg. I can’t tell the difference between them yet. I think The Dogg has more sirens and whistles… like gym class… but it’s not a hard and fast rule.

Yes, things are feeling normal now. It’s exciting mostly. I just wish my new normal could be a little easier. Maybe, like, you know, a washing machine, water heater, dishwasher, car and family and friends easier…

I greatly appreciate normal. But what keeps me going most days are the surprises that I can find joy in (the key phrase – “that I can find joy in”. The “someone stole my trash” surprise or the “no water or power for a day or so” surprises just don’t seem to cut it).

For example, today all the grade 7 girls got called out of their last class. This, to them, meant that after their meeting they could run away. So, I had all the 7A boys. They silently copied the notes on electricity from the board. The silence startled me and was a little unnerving – what was wrong with my class? They said, “Miss, you see, when it is just the boys we are sitting nicely.” Maybe they were trying to frame the girls but either way, it was impressive. When I realized the girls were just going to skip the rest of class, I got out the circuit experiment for the boys to work on. I thought it would be mildly entertaining but I was wrong. They loved it! They’ve got all of these ideas about making circuits with switches and using solar power. They even set up a time to work on it more on Monday. It was so fun to watch them try different wires and bulbs to see what would make light. These boys are clever... the American kind of clever that also implies that they like to play tricks. So, sometimes they’re a handful in class. And they all managed to be assigned to the same class. But the day was worth it just to see them all working together and being passionate about something.

Today was also different because I got to be secretary. Well, not really, but she did lend me the computer for a few hours to type up the science fair project. It was nice to sit there because parents and grandparent would come in and try their best English to try to explain what they needed. But my best English couldn’t explain to them that I had no idea how to help them because I wasn’t the secretary. The “Alright. Let’s give this a try” expression on their face before their question mirrored something I feel a lot. It was good to see it on another person for once.

I realized two things while I sat at the secretary’s desk. First, I realized that the quickest way for the school to convince me to help find donations for new computers would have been to make me type something earlier. They asked when I first arrived. Shocked, dazed and utterly useless at first, I couldn’t help them in their search for new computers. Since then, I’ve sent out a few letters and spell checked a few others. Sitting there today though, I’ve got a second wind for this whole computer donations thing. I can’t remember the last time I saw a computer that old. At the very least though, we need a new a key board. The letters are mostly ok. But if you want to press “Shift” you have to press it then use your nails to pull it back up. This makes “Caps Lock” a better option but only because it sticks half the time. “Enter” was like a wild card. Press a little to far to the left on the button and it wouldn’t register at all. In the middle, one line down. Too far to the right and you’re eight pages down before you blink. This keyboard is the sole reason it took me three hours to type up a science fair project. I have a new appreciation for our secretary. This positive appreciation goes well with my new loathing of the Ministry of Education Bureaucracy that requires her to type to so many pointless papers though.

The second thing I realized as I sat there was that I shouldn’t be sitting there. This is not my science fair project. It is the learners. This got me in quite the conundrum. I remember that my mom helped me a great deal on science fair projects, papers, homework, school work, plays… life… But I also recall showing more interest than these kids do. And they’re both 13 years old. So, I pulled them into the office and made them offer me opinions. Which they hated. They have to be responsible for something. Sure, responsibility builds character and will make them better people in the long run. But mostly, they needed to contribute more just in case the project doesn’t get good ratings. I don’t want to be completely at fault. It’s my first Namibian science fair. I could be getting it all wrong. They’re doing well, though. They now understand light absorption and the spectrum of colors. I’m pretty sure they’ve got a good grasp on why they got the results they did. I hope they get to do science fair again in secondary school with all their new science fair skills (One of them did the science fair last year. But, as it was explained to me by the other science teachers, the teacher comes up with the project and writes out the poster. The kids help with minor details, like covering the poster and standing in front of it while the judges ask them questions. So, with them actually having to experiment with something they have new skills. And it would be a shame if they didn’t get to stretch their new wings in another science fair).

Oh! Water’s on! Got to go.

July 5th 2008

Have I mentioned that pumpkin bread is my new favorite recipe? I now have the ability to start with a pumpkin, a bag of flour, some margarine and a little sugar and finish with a beautiful loaf of pumpkin bread. The only thing I wonder now is why I didn’t list “baking” as one of my goals during Peace Corps staging. I know they’re going to bring those goals back out when we finish here and I’d hate for my actual new skills and accomplished goals to count for nothing.

I made a loaf of pumpkin bread yesterday to celebrate my nation’s independence. I also made my classes guess why the day was important to 300 million people and me. One of my grade 6 girls guessed, “because it’s your birthday?” Why, yes. 300 million people celebrate me. Another guess was, “because it’s Friday?” No, more than 300 million people celebrate that. I thought, “because it’s cold” was a silly answer too. Shivering in a cement classroom, in a desert, in winter did not feel like a reason to celebrate but I’m outside of the culture, so who knows… In the end, the all guessed the right holiday though. Then, true to Namibian child fashion, they asked to “borrow me your country’s flag”. Anything new and exciting becomes a “borrow me…” object.

Yes, my learners are cute. They’re cute in a hard-core, I-kill-goats, bring-on-the-discipline sort of way. Which is a cute all in it’s own right.

I got this letter from one of my grade 7 girls last week. It made me feel loved:

“I have say a nice story for you. Once upon the time there was the wite miss called Jessica. She was a best American the beutiful one and she was having Good behave and the was she is takeing in American English so nice and I don’t want her to go back. She mast stay till she die. If she die we well take her back to America. That’s all. From the lovely…”

Another one of my learners wrote a letter to my friend who visited last in May. This one made me feel less loved… but at least it made me laugh.

“Dear: Miss
… we miss you come back to our school… could you please bring us some cake. We are not having a beautiful lady like you at this school only Miss Jessica. Comeback… if your country where nea. I would be there to America. Teacher please give me pens and colours.”

I edited some of the extra out. I think the art of implying something is lost on Grade 6 Namibians. “we are not having a beautiful lady like you… only Miss Jessica.” I guess she doesn’t like my clothes? Just kidding. She’s a cutie.

Last night, I was the photographer at a variety/disco night for my school. At any point during the performance you could buy someone in the crowd to dance on stage. I didn’t know that was going to happen until I was already there taking pictures. I spent most of the night dreading the moment I was going to have to dance onstage. But, as the evening came to a close (4 hours after it started) I wondered why it would have been so bad to see the American dance. It took me a few minutes to realize that I should spend the time being thankful instead. Which I did.

Then tonight, I’m the photographer at a beauty contest. I hear the beauty contests in this country are an experience. I’ll be sure to let you know all about it later.

July 7th 2008
Well, I’m in Windhoek again. It seems I can’t get away. The PC called me a few days ago and told me I had to come down for a vaccination. I got here last night and they’re shipping me home today. And, to tell you the truth, I’m bitter about it. That’s a lot of taxi face time.

But, at least they put me up in a really nice holiday apartment. It had TV, hot water, a toaster and a sound system. One of the other volunteers passing through the city had a few DVDs with them. So we spent the evening watching Event Horizon - Which seemed like a good idea until the other volunteers thought hiding in my closet and trying to scare me was also a good idea. Don’t worry, adrenaline is good for the head.

More later! got to get that shot now.