#16
So power is out again. This time instead of being just out for the school area, it's for the whole place, which includes the cell phone tower. Hello isolation! And the last teacher just left 10 min. ago to go back to Tsumeb (where his non-school home and wife are, also where I shop for things). Nothing says welcome back like a 10 hour rain storm and power outage.
It's Wednesday and I got back home Sunday. I was in Windhoek for two weeks for our "Reconnect" (more training). I did a fair amount of preparation for it but feel I could have done a lot more and have some guilt laying around about it. Hopefully that guit can become motivation and I can whip out a bunch of lesson plans (assuming the power comes back on) before I leave for holiday! Sorry if any of you tried to contacr me while I was in Windhoek, I had some phone issues the last few days but should be good to go now (when the tower is up and running again).
Reconnect was fun. It was great to see everyone again. Though while two weeks was not enough for some, it was plenty for others haha. I was able to learn some of the language I should have learned so that was a huge gain. My vocabulary is still incredibly minimal but I can understand grammar fairly well and recognize parts of speech. Got lots of tips for projects, how to start them, grants, etc. and was abe to mix in some fun like hikes and a toga party.
So Monday I cleaned up the house a bit and got resettled. Tuesday I went into town to do a fair amount of shopping and price-checking for things. I found a bike for N$800 that I'm contemplating getting. It's a little expensive and I am hoping for a road bike but it looks decent enough. I want to try and make the bike ride into town in the future to help get me in shape and probably save money in the long run :) Double play! I also have been trying some yoga (rarely but now that I have a mat hoping to do a lot more) and some exrcises I wrote up before leaving. So far I think I'm averaging once a week haha but things have been a little hectic so that'll be my excuse for now. I read in my new book that you have a great opportunity to get in shape while doing the peace corps so I'm hoping to take advantage of it.
I'm trying to get a packing system down so I can easily and quickly pack my bag for trips in the future. My bulky sleeping pad that offers little comfort(so far...) is the big out of place piece. That and I just don't know what to bring in some circumstances. For example, totally spaced bringing lots of water when we went hiking during reconnect. That made things interesting (was able to work things out in a couple ways, thank God I'm overly prepared many a time). I am very excited though to start seeing other parts of Namibia. This will be my first time out sight seeing with friends. Slightly nervous though as I'm told everyone in Namibia heads to where we'll be for the holidays, things might get a little crazy! Tent and sleeping bag are finally going to get some solid use! Ahhh! I'm so pumped. Plenty to do before hand and want to save some of the battery on this thing just in case so I'll sign off for now. Oh, maybe I'll try and put some pictures up later, I've taken a few since last time I put some up.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Cheeseburger in Paradise.
My cheeseburger made my afternoon. I made one for lunch yesterday and ate it along with my pitiful attempt to make mashed potatoes and carrots. The carrots didn't mash and the potatoes were too runny because I accidently put in too much milk. Oh well, a generous helping of BBQ/Braai sauce fixes that (I really miss A1 steak sauce....). Also didn't have any butter but that was because I made our super-awesome family cookies. They were a big hit and I'm a little sad I blew threw the batch in a week. Julie (another PCV) and I baked peanut butter cookies a weekend or two ago and they too were amazing! Leave it to me to come back from Africa significantly heavier than I left.
I'm very happy I am able to cook what I can. Probably helps with not being that homesick. Many of the volunteers don't have a fridge or stove (even though we're "supposed to/required" to have both). I've offered my place to others as a getaway. It's not exactly en route to...anywhere but it's not too far off the main path. Really I'd just love the company :) But I've been making friends with some of the teachers here so it's okay. And next year, I'll be super busy teaching and doing whatever else I'm involved in so my mind will definitely be occupied.
One of the teachers, Mr. Narubeb, took me to this marriage proposal thing. Very different and at the same time, strangely similar to customs back in the States. In the States, the guy usually buys a ring, does some cool romantic thing (generally involving dinner somewhere nice and more expensive than needed) and drops down on one knee and asks. Ideally he's also cleared all this with the bride-to-be's father/parents before hand and everyone's already considered each other family.
Here, they didn't do it in one/two shots like that, just one drawn out stretch. We went to the bride's house to ask for her hand in marriage in the groom's place. Kind of like sending out a search party. They banter back and forth, asking where she is, they say "she's off at the farm," "ran the 60k to the next town," etc. (all the while she's just hanging out in the house). Then, when they've established she's near (I think), they start asking what the other family has to offer. Like "why should your son/daughter marry my daughter/son?" I hear he's lazy, she can't clean or cook, no he's a hard worker, etc. This went on for a few nights, multiple hours each night. We even had to reset the whole thing because things were getting personal, how this actually happened I have no idea. When we finally started making progress again we got to the point where the groom finally comes in and starts his part or the pleading. They do the same thing then he has to go into the house and find his bride, amongst imposters. This is made a little hard because it's done in the dark. During our "discussions" we had a small light hung up or a candle burning (also the reason I did't take pictures) which also made thigns interesting. Finally he found his bride and asked her. Then he gives her gifts, that's right plural. A watch so she can be on time, earrings to look beautiful for him, same with the ring, and a necklace. Okay, one of those last three has another meaning but I can't remember (Note to my future wife: as it stands now, you can probably just expect the ring...). Then everyone celebrated it being over and partied the night away, I however was exhausted and went home and passed out. Using free internet from 1am-5am tends to leave you with poorly rested nights.
I've been trying to stay busy during the days, as I actually have a lot of stuff I could do....but find myself dragging my feet a little. From what I hear though I've made some good progress. I've completed year plans and other administrative stuff for classes I thought I was going to teach but turns out I won't, and am now in the process of doing the same for the classes I will be teaching next year. As it stands I'll be teaching 7th and 8th grade mathematics and 8th and 9th grade Physical Science (a blend of Physics and Chemistry). Classes don't work here like back in the States, more like how the do in the UK (or so I'm told). Instead of learning a subject for a full year, like Algebra in 8th grade (or whenever you take it) you learn parts of it over all of secondary school. same with the sciences too. Each year they just get progressively more in depth with the topics. Comparing the two methods, both have their advantages and disadvantages. I find myself setting up my schedule mimicing more of how I was taught, grouping topics together instead of just going through the order in the textbooks (though I'm pretty sure every math teacher on the planet does this...or would like to).
I've also been trying to exercise/think of ways I can do so. I've been running on and off but my right knee is starting to hurt so that sucks. I'm trying to get a bike and use it to make the 60k trips to my shopping town. That'll definitely get me some exercise, especially if I'm carrying a huge pack full of groceries. If any of you have some resources for no-equipment/crude equipment exercises please let me know! I also really regret not bringing my yoga mat. I tried using my sleeping pad this morning but just not the same (if you have yoga stuff I would be so incredibly grateful for those as well!!). I'm thinking I can get some of this stuff in the capital when I go back for our training, or at least I really hope I can. Our cookbook actually has a recipe for making weights out of cement. I think I know what I can use for dumbells...but that's assuming I can buy some cement mix and get it back here (the latter being the trickier part). Would be good to so maybe my reaction time might get back up to speed. I've been working on snatching mosquitos out of the air (with large success actually) but lost my encounter with out fence gate. Managed to dodge the rezor-wire portion of it (I was pushing it from behind) but the track bar managed to get the better of me...across the side of my face haha. Oops. A week later, the bump is almost all gone...maybe it'd heal better if it wasn't so hot here. Ah well, it's Africa, shouldn't be surprised. Though it's a little hard to get used to it being 33 degrees (Celsius, which converts to 92 F) in your room as you go to bed, or even wake up in the middle of the night with your windows wide open, and you're sweating like crazy, especially being from CO. Thank you metal roof for turning my house into a large make-shift human oven.
Oh well, count your blessings, not your misfortunes. I'd post new pictures but don't really have any to take, things look the same as when I first visited the place. We'll see, maybe I'll explore some more but for now time for a peanut and jam sandwich! (PB&J).
To add: The wedding was somewhat similar to the states as well. People said some words, sang some songs, preacher spoke, gave each other rings, kissed and danced out of the church. The only difference was the drunk people that came in and danced during the songs....well, I'm sure this happens in the states too in certain places haha. Now waiting for the after party (and secretly hoping for some good food).
Addition number !gam (two): The dinner was a lot shorter than I expected. Just a few songs, then dinner. No toasts, no dancing, place looked really sweet though. Like a Halloween dance actally, everythign was orange and black. So we ate, talked, then went home and crawled into bed.
Here's a picture of the lovely bride and groom (looking baller with his shades on...yep, during the whole wedding.)
This is a picture of the dinner/reception after the wedding. Told you it was Halloween themed :D
And this little guy made my night because he was rocking a hoodie with "Denver" across the chest. Made me get all sentimental and everything...
I'm very happy I am able to cook what I can. Probably helps with not being that homesick. Many of the volunteers don't have a fridge or stove (even though we're "supposed to/required" to have both). I've offered my place to others as a getaway. It's not exactly en route to...anywhere but it's not too far off the main path. Really I'd just love the company :) But I've been making friends with some of the teachers here so it's okay. And next year, I'll be super busy teaching and doing whatever else I'm involved in so my mind will definitely be occupied.
One of the teachers, Mr. Narubeb, took me to this marriage proposal thing. Very different and at the same time, strangely similar to customs back in the States. In the States, the guy usually buys a ring, does some cool romantic thing (generally involving dinner somewhere nice and more expensive than needed) and drops down on one knee and asks. Ideally he's also cleared all this with the bride-to-be's father/parents before hand and everyone's already considered each other family.
Here, they didn't do it in one/two shots like that, just one drawn out stretch. We went to the bride's house to ask for her hand in marriage in the groom's place. Kind of like sending out a search party. They banter back and forth, asking where she is, they say "she's off at the farm," "ran the 60k to the next town," etc. (all the while she's just hanging out in the house). Then, when they've established she's near (I think), they start asking what the other family has to offer. Like "why should your son/daughter marry my daughter/son?" I hear he's lazy, she can't clean or cook, no he's a hard worker, etc. This went on for a few nights, multiple hours each night. We even had to reset the whole thing because things were getting personal, how this actually happened I have no idea. When we finally started making progress again we got to the point where the groom finally comes in and starts his part or the pleading. They do the same thing then he has to go into the house and find his bride, amongst imposters. This is made a little hard because it's done in the dark. During our "discussions" we had a small light hung up or a candle burning (also the reason I did't take pictures) which also made thigns interesting. Finally he found his bride and asked her. Then he gives her gifts, that's right plural. A watch so she can be on time, earrings to look beautiful for him, same with the ring, and a necklace. Okay, one of those last three has another meaning but I can't remember (Note to my future wife: as it stands now, you can probably just expect the ring...). Then everyone celebrated it being over and partied the night away, I however was exhausted and went home and passed out. Using free internet from 1am-5am tends to leave you with poorly rested nights.
I've been trying to stay busy during the days, as I actually have a lot of stuff I could do....but find myself dragging my feet a little. From what I hear though I've made some good progress. I've completed year plans and other administrative stuff for classes I thought I was going to teach but turns out I won't, and am now in the process of doing the same for the classes I will be teaching next year. As it stands I'll be teaching 7th and 8th grade mathematics and 8th and 9th grade Physical Science (a blend of Physics and Chemistry). Classes don't work here like back in the States, more like how the do in the UK (or so I'm told). Instead of learning a subject for a full year, like Algebra in 8th grade (or whenever you take it) you learn parts of it over all of secondary school. same with the sciences too. Each year they just get progressively more in depth with the topics. Comparing the two methods, both have their advantages and disadvantages. I find myself setting up my schedule mimicing more of how I was taught, grouping topics together instead of just going through the order in the textbooks (though I'm pretty sure every math teacher on the planet does this...or would like to).
I've also been trying to exercise/think of ways I can do so. I've been running on and off but my right knee is starting to hurt so that sucks. I'm trying to get a bike and use it to make the 60k trips to my shopping town. That'll definitely get me some exercise, especially if I'm carrying a huge pack full of groceries. If any of you have some resources for no-equipment/crude equipment exercises please let me know! I also really regret not bringing my yoga mat. I tried using my sleeping pad this morning but just not the same (if you have yoga stuff I would be so incredibly grateful for those as well!!). I'm thinking I can get some of this stuff in the capital when I go back for our training, or at least I really hope I can. Our cookbook actually has a recipe for making weights out of cement. I think I know what I can use for dumbells...but that's assuming I can buy some cement mix and get it back here (the latter being the trickier part). Would be good to so maybe my reaction time might get back up to speed. I've been working on snatching mosquitos out of the air (with large success actually) but lost my encounter with out fence gate. Managed to dodge the rezor-wire portion of it (I was pushing it from behind) but the track bar managed to get the better of me...across the side of my face haha. Oops. A week later, the bump is almost all gone...maybe it'd heal better if it wasn't so hot here. Ah well, it's Africa, shouldn't be surprised. Though it's a little hard to get used to it being 33 degrees (Celsius, which converts to 92 F) in your room as you go to bed, or even wake up in the middle of the night with your windows wide open, and you're sweating like crazy, especially being from CO. Thank you metal roof for turning my house into a large make-shift human oven.
Oh well, count your blessings, not your misfortunes. I'd post new pictures but don't really have any to take, things look the same as when I first visited the place. We'll see, maybe I'll explore some more but for now time for a peanut and jam sandwich! (PB&J).
To add: The wedding was somewhat similar to the states as well. People said some words, sang some songs, preacher spoke, gave each other rings, kissed and danced out of the church. The only difference was the drunk people that came in and danced during the songs....well, I'm sure this happens in the states too in certain places haha. Now waiting for the after party (and secretly hoping for some good food).
Addition number !gam (two): The dinner was a lot shorter than I expected. Just a few songs, then dinner. No toasts, no dancing, place looked really sweet though. Like a Halloween dance actally, everythign was orange and black. So we ate, talked, then went home and crawled into bed.
Here's a picture of the lovely bride and groom (looking baller with his shades on...yep, during the whole wedding.)
This is a picture of the dinner/reception after the wedding. Told you it was Halloween themed :D
And this little guy made my night because he was rocking a hoodie with "Denver" across the chest. Made me get all sentimental and everything...
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Luck of the dice.
So apparently there's always a volunteer who gets totally hooked up: sweet homestay family, awesome site, great school, etc. (probabilistically speaking it makes sense that there's one)...which may potentially be me, which is just so Namtastic. I'm not kidding, I keep forgetting I'm doing Peace Corps...though all I really need to do is walk outside of our school compound and it hits me harder than a brick.
But seriously, my family back in Okahandja was so awesome and great (as were a lot of the families). I'm the 4th volunteer (in a decade) at my site and my home is very well furnished like I have mentioned (probably even better than what I would have back in the states...sort of, the water definitely not haha). I'm a little sad I won't get the traditional homestay experience like so many of the other volunteers will but I will definitely be visiting some of the others and hey, if I'm that deperate there's always a 3rd year extension or even a second tour (and I have a lot more weight when it comes to that selection...hello Fiji!). My principal is so awesome and all the teachers and learners seem fantastic as well. Granted I have yet to really get to know them but first impressions count for something right? And I'm just 60k from my shopping town (Tsumeb...you should totally be able to find that on a map) which has SUCH a big selection for almost anything I could want. For example, I have been getting back into Nutella, yep, freaking Nutella. If you don't know what that is I strongly suggest you embark on the experience, it's glorious.
But really, I have so many blessings here and I am so thankful for all of them. I'm sure the full weight of what I aim to accomplishhere will fall upon me sometime soon but we must enjoy our small victories when we can. They (other PCVs, RCPVs, staff, etc.) keep telling us it's an emotional rollar coaster so I'll do my best to enjoy the ups, ride out the downs and always throw my arms up in the air inbetween! They weren't kidding though, I got teary-eyed last night thinking about the snow that must be falling back home in CO (and now again...); it hasn't snowd here in a decade (insert Global Warming comment here) so I won't be seeing any frost outside of my freezer anytime soon (yep, I have a refridgerator haha).
And it's not something I've just started doing here, it is something I've been practicing for a while now. I find life much more enjoyable when we take the time to appreciate the joyful things in life while we have them. And when things turn sour, to just bite down and work your way through it. It's like swimming, I think, maybe running, okay I know there's some athletic simile/metaphor here. If you keep your nose/chin looking down, all you will do is run yourself into the ground, or swim down and drown. That's why you have to keep it up and always pointing ahead...and slightly up if you're running downhill, helps keep your form and lengthen your stride or at least it worked for me (and Miles).
Another metaphor is you save so much energy too! If you spend all your energy being all mopey and negative, you won't have any left when things shape up. I rather be distant and aloof and be told I don't care when everyone's crying about stuff, followed by being super enegetic and told I'm trying to do too much when everyone's out of their funk than going with the flow. It no one disrupts the flow, it never changes and just remains stagnant. And stagnant is always gross and boring, plus mosquitos hang around stagnant water and they suck(bam! pun!).
Ugh, speaking of stagnant, I should get off my bottom and get some more work done. I've taken the past couple days (this is only my third at site!) to relax but also just clean up everything here and get settled in. I actually read for the first time since being in Nam, for fun at least. That's about it though, I did a lot of catching up on things, typing up some loose ends, organizing, cleaning, etc. Just easy, menial things that require not too much mental work, I've had enough of that the past two months. But I need to start teaching myself KKG sometime, and look, I have two hours before a community meeting. Seems like a perfect time to start.
Let's just hope this good luck continues as long as it can.
Two days later, when I am posting the luck ran out. Just f.y.i. There was a spilled baked beans fiasco, and lots of running into furniture, power outage, etc.
Oh well, c'est la vie. Throwing the hands up in the air!
But seriously, my family back in Okahandja was so awesome and great (as were a lot of the families). I'm the 4th volunteer (in a decade) at my site and my home is very well furnished like I have mentioned (probably even better than what I would have back in the states...sort of, the water definitely not haha). I'm a little sad I won't get the traditional homestay experience like so many of the other volunteers will but I will definitely be visiting some of the others and hey, if I'm that deperate there's always a 3rd year extension or even a second tour (and I have a lot more weight when it comes to that selection...hello Fiji!). My principal is so awesome and all the teachers and learners seem fantastic as well. Granted I have yet to really get to know them but first impressions count for something right? And I'm just 60k from my shopping town (Tsumeb...you should totally be able to find that on a map) which has SUCH a big selection for almost anything I could want. For example, I have been getting back into Nutella, yep, freaking Nutella. If you don't know what that is I strongly suggest you embark on the experience, it's glorious.
But really, I have so many blessings here and I am so thankful for all of them. I'm sure the full weight of what I aim to accomplishhere will fall upon me sometime soon but we must enjoy our small victories when we can. They (other PCVs, RCPVs, staff, etc.) keep telling us it's an emotional rollar coaster so I'll do my best to enjoy the ups, ride out the downs and always throw my arms up in the air inbetween! They weren't kidding though, I got teary-eyed last night thinking about the snow that must be falling back home in CO (and now again...); it hasn't snowd here in a decade (insert Global Warming comment here) so I won't be seeing any frost outside of my freezer anytime soon (yep, I have a refridgerator haha).
And it's not something I've just started doing here, it is something I've been practicing for a while now. I find life much more enjoyable when we take the time to appreciate the joyful things in life while we have them. And when things turn sour, to just bite down and work your way through it. It's like swimming, I think, maybe running, okay I know there's some athletic simile/metaphor here. If you keep your nose/chin looking down, all you will do is run yourself into the ground, or swim down and drown. That's why you have to keep it up and always pointing ahead...and slightly up if you're running downhill, helps keep your form and lengthen your stride or at least it worked for me (and Miles).
Another metaphor is you save so much energy too! If you spend all your energy being all mopey and negative, you won't have any left when things shape up. I rather be distant and aloof and be told I don't care when everyone's crying about stuff, followed by being super enegetic and told I'm trying to do too much when everyone's out of their funk than going with the flow. It no one disrupts the flow, it never changes and just remains stagnant. And stagnant is always gross and boring, plus mosquitos hang around stagnant water and they suck(bam! pun!).
Ugh, speaking of stagnant, I should get off my bottom and get some more work done. I've taken the past couple days (this is only my third at site!) to relax but also just clean up everything here and get settled in. I actually read for the first time since being in Nam, for fun at least. That's about it though, I did a lot of catching up on things, typing up some loose ends, organizing, cleaning, etc. Just easy, menial things that require not too much mental work, I've had enough of that the past two months. But I need to start teaching myself KKG sometime, and look, I have two hours before a community meeting. Seems like a perfect time to start.
Let's just hope this good luck continues as long as it can.
Two days later, when I am posting the luck ran out. Just f.y.i. There was a spilled baked beans fiasco, and lots of running into furniture, power outage, etc.
Oh well, c'est la vie. Throwing the hands up in the air!
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