Packages, Falls, Party!

A quick update....

I have received two packages from home. So great; books, a new cds (country, which I have found I cannot listen to over here cause it makes me miss home), koolaid mix, Gatorade mix, skittles, gobbstoppers, some of that old school popcorn you cook over the stove or fire (gonna be over the fire), an AT calender, magazines, gold fish, Pringles (which exploded all over, but were good). It was like Christmas. Thanks for thinking of me...it is amazing how such little things like knowing the amount of calories are in items, instead of joules, can remind you of home.

The schedule coming up is pretty exciting. We have this full week of school, which is now pretty much over, then a four day week next week. We have Good Friday off as well as the Monday following Easter. That Tuesday, end of term exams start. I feel I have been going much slower than many of the teachers, so I was happy to hear that for this exam I get to make my own test. For the end of term exams for term 2 and 3, they are set by the circuit office....which I am not looking forward to. We have school/marking till the 20th, then from there I head down to Windhoek for RECONNECT, which you may realize I am kinda excited for. It will be amazing to be able to talk to other volunteers and confirm some of the crazy thoughts that go through your head as a volunteer. Overall, I think a huge part of talking with volunteers is just boosting your confidence and realizing that this is a tough job and you are not alone. In addition, though I have been seeing people a fair amount, maybe once every two weeks, there are many that I haven't seen since January when we swore in. It will be great to see everybody.

I realize that many of you may not know the details of Ruacana Falls. Here they are:

-Its about 25k from me, and maybe a 10 dollar hike (hitch-hike) for me to get there.
-Its beautiful. You can hike to the very bottom of the falls and enjoy the mist (which is like rain at the bottom) and swim looking directly up at the huge waterfall in front of you. It is amazing.
-the Hippo Pools camp site is down stream from the falls. It is within walking distance (a relative term) to the falls. There are many sites right on the river. Apparently you can see hippos from the camp sites. In addition, swimming is at your own risk because of crocodiles.......
-the waterfalls are dam controlled so it soon will stop falling. The hydroelectric plant there is the biggest producer of electricity in Namibia, hence I have electricity.
-about 50k on a bad dirt road and you get to Kunene River Lodge, and Epupa Falls, both supposed to be even more amazing than Ruacana. That is next on the list hopefully.


Spoke with the goodwoman yesterday for the first time since she has been in country. She sounds good. I practiced my Spanish....kinda (yo necesito hablar Leah) and it worked. A N$20 phone card bought me about 3 minutes from here to the DR. Amazing though that I can call that far and talk without a delay. She is having one of her lessons observed by the training director on Thursday so that is the big event going on for her now, in addition to..oh yeah, living in the DR.....

We have a farewell party this weekend for two of the teachers here. They are accepting promotions in other school districts. It is kind of discouraging because teaching here is viewed as a transitional career, people basically put in their time and move on. It is not too common to find teachers teaching because they enjoy teaching....however, we do have 2 of those kind of teachers at my school....so maybe it is common...I dunno. Anyway, two teachers are leaving. The staff is also taking this chance to officially welcome me. So it will be a big party. Goat, beer, cool drinks (soft drinks/pop/soda/cola), potato salad; all the ingredients for a good time. I may even be the one to slaughter the goat, who knows. Bout all for now, its hot, and I hear the 'rainy' season is just bout over....what rainy season??? All you over there making the globe a hotter place, just think of the Africans who are hot enough already....enjoy the week....

Oshili nawa

Ruacana Falls

This is my backyard.

Independence Day Weekend

Happy Independence Day! Wednesday is the big day. Our school lets out early tomorrow so that everyone can travel safely and be home by Wednesday. For this particular holiday, most everybody heads back to their family; homestead, town, where ever they are. I will be staying in Oshifo/Ruacana with plans to visit Ruacana Falls. Travelling is prohibited by the Peace Corps and with travelling during this holiday being quite dangerous, I chose to stick around town. School is going well, I am very much ready for this break in teaching. It is such an exhausting job and I will appreciate some rest and break from the routine. I have been giving a bit more group work as of late and have been really happy at the results. Asking questions is a huge problem here, so with group work the learners feel free to ask and investigate. Physically it is a bit easier as well, rather than lecturing for 4 or 5 periods a day. Had some interesting discussions about corporal punishment with my colleagues over the last couple of days. They all pretty much agree with the idea that if it was done to me and I am fine, then what is the problem with it. Also, it is very difficult to argue (which I am horrible at anyway) when most are against you. The conclusion I came to was that even just suggesting other means of punishment/management goes along way, and, as Peace Corps told us, we may not see results until we are long gone, if ever. Planting the seed is the important thing I suppose. Life is good otherwise, my garden is coming along nicely. I am a little worried about the fence. It seems I possibly made it tall enough to keep out animals, but not quite tall enough to keep out small boys. Small boys, by the way, is a term for basically anybody (usually boys) smaller than you, ha. Small boys are everything from couriers of messages and parcel to scapegoats. Example, when I want to buy some fat cakes (like funnel cake in ball form) from the local memes who sell them though the fence during out break to the kids, I send a small boy. And I know it sounds bad, but it really is the culture. I tried to get my own cakes a couple of times at the beginning of the year and basically got laughed at. I do give the small boy I choose for this errand some of my cakes, however. Currently, the 'upper management' of the school, basically the principal, secretary, head of department(vice principal) and half of the teachers are currently interviewing canidates for two teaching vaccancies. We have had an absent Agriculture teacher since the beginning of the year and also have another teacher leaving in April. It has been interesting to watch the hiriing process. Basically the school put in an ad in the paper, we have had the applicaitons rolling in ever since. It will be nice for the learners to finally have all their teachers present so they dont have to just sit around during their free periods.

If you cannot tell, my verbal and overall language skills are becoming extremely poor, so I appologize for this scattered and typo-filled update. I hope everybody is well. This will hopefully be accompanied with pictures...who knows.....

keif

Marula Festival

Yesterday was spent at the annual Marula Festival. This is a huge festival aimed to honor and support the culture of the Ovambo; Kadafi, my roommate, told me 5000 people would be there and my neighbor said at least 40 cattle were slaughtered so yeah, a big event. Arrived at about 10:30, just in time to hear some opening remarks and sing the national anthem, everything of any importance begins with a prayer and the national anthem, even school. Welcoming remarks continued for a while, this is when I received my latest sunburn on my face, the worst by far since I have been in Africa; 'my face is paining' as I would say here. Once the speeches were over, it was time to eat. I again got the VIP treatment and headed into the headman's homestead to enjoy the best goat I have had so far and some fresh liver. After mingling a bit, we decided to head out. As we were leaving, there were many people waiting at the exit of the homestead for something so we decided to join. After about 30 minutes, the former president, Sam Nujoma, walked right out with his posse, joined in some singing and dancing a Tate kulu (grandfather) was doing to honor him, and hopped in his Land Rover and headed out. It was great. I was roughly 10 feet from the first president of Namibia. The current president was supposed to be at the event as well, but some recent flooding in the Caprivi Strip caused his absence. Shortly after Mr. Nujoma left, the King of Oshindonga, one of the seven tribes that make up the Oshiwambo tribe, walked out and hopped in his Land Rover. Pretty cool. Ill try to get some pictures up soon. I realize that I don't give many details...I guess things are starting to become normal to me and thus not worth reporting. Ill try to work on that...haha. Taking down the flipbook, didn't like it. Peace

Camp GLOW

Meant to do this a long time ago. I had a request from a fellow volunteer to post this. I highly recommend doing this. From what I hear the camp is really a great week and enjoyed immensely by all those involved. thanks
rb/gt/kdk

What is Camp GLOW?

All over the country of Namibia there are bright potential leaders waiting for the opportunity to grow to their full capabilities. The Gender Awareness in Namibia (GAIN) committee of Peace Corps Volunteers is ready to give them that opportunity with “Girls and Guys Leading Our World (GLOW).” Camp GLOW is a week-long leadership development camp offered to eighty students, ages 13 to 16, from around Namibia. These learners will come together in the capital city in May 2006 to learn about gender awareness, promote self-confidence, explore future career choices, fight the AIDS epidemic, and develop leadership skills. Most of the campers will never have another chance to work with Namibians from the other cultures within their own country, visit the capital city and historic landmarks of their nation, or interact with successful Namibian professionals on a one-on-one basis.

This is the opportunity of a lifetime for them!

What can you do to help?

The cost of the camp for each student is US$ 50.00. We are asking for your help in sponsoring these children to attend Camp GLOW. For US$ 50, a child will gain a lifetime of experience and growth. If you do decide to sponsor one or more students, each child will send you a picture and letter from camp, telling you about his/her experiences during the week.

How do I donate?

Please send your money (cash or check) to Peace Corps Volunteer, Beth Phillips, through her family at:

Beth Phillips

6302 15^th Avenue NE

Seattle WA 98115

The money will be deposited into the Camp GLOW account upon receipt. With the money, please send your name and address so that we can send you a picture and letter in the mail. If you would like a receipt for your donation, please let us know and we will send that with the letter. (Remember, the camp does not take place until May of next year, 2007, so you will not receive your letters until after that time.)

Thank you for your generous support and contributions! We look forward to hearing from you!

If you have any questions, please contact Beth Phillips at bethinnamibia@yahoo.com

Lastly, one of my favorite things about Camp Glow is that us Peace Corps volunteers serve only as organizers and the sessions are actually facilitated by other Namibians who are out of work and in their 20s.

And obviously if you have any other questions and dont want to email Beth feel free to shoot me an email.

Just call me Johnny Friggen Appleseed

I have broken ground on a garden! After my recent goat slaughtering experience, observing the life science classes plant their gardens, and the strong urge to have fresh food, I have begun my own garden. I say my own, but I have had much help from the local kids and my learners. Yesterday I dug a trench and placed my chicken wire in it, along with 7 posts. Filled in the trench gradually as we pulled the wire taught. That was enough work for yesterday, considering we did it twice because the first time is wasnn't quite tight enough. I had the learners bring in manour from their homes today and that provided me enough to fertilize my soil. I spent today turning the ground over, mixing in the manour in all of my five beds. I have sowed maize, lettuce and sunflower (which I hope will do really well here....considering). In my other two beds I plan to plant tomatoes (risky with the cold season sometimes getting to the freezing point over night, but I am giving it a go) and carrots, both of which I planted in small seed beds I made out of an empty jar of applesauce and tomato paste, ironically enough. There is an ongoing battle with myself that the fence is not high enough; many are telling me that the goats can jump over and the cows will lean over and eat my crops. I am gonna let is ride for now. I figure there are enough kids running around the keep the animals out....who knows.

RedBeardtheGreenThumb

Goat Slaughter, Read at own Risk (Not too many details)

Great weekend! Among other things, witnessed (and heavily documented [email/comment with your email, if you would like pics/video (YouTube???)]) my first goat slaughter. It was very interesting to watch. They slit the goats’ throat so it’s not most the cleanliness thing to watch. It was very interesting to see how exactly they did it. The guys who did it were very skilled, I asked one how many he thought he had done in his life, “Oh not too many, maybe 50.” Based on his skills with a fairly dull knife and a machete, I am guessing 50 was a very rough and underestimated figure. Another volunteer took the fur, pelt?, and is hoping to dry and tan it for a rug, ha. This is the same volunteer, Jeremy, who wanted a sand floor for his corrugated tin kitchen, who took it upon himself to experiment with cooking frogs during the seasonal harvest and who I plan to spend many hikes with. Africans let nothing go to waste, nothing. I am not totally sure that the intestines were cooked, but I have a strong feeling they were. I also saw small pieces of raw stomach being eaten. Wild. I did not partake; I have tried it, cooked, and it’s a bit too tough and chewy, though it is considered very nice among Namibians. Fired it on the braii and feasted. Goat is an acquired taste and I can say that after a few interesting experiences with it, my taste for goat is coming. It’s not the regular, but many PCVs have purchased a goat, N$300-500, had it slaughtered, and had meat on hand for the next month. I am not quite at that stage but who knows, it’s early in my service. Hope this kicks off your Monday nicely!

Some new pics on the Flipbook

Flipbook

Flipbook added recently, new posts will alert you to new pictures...ok, enjoy the weekend!

Taste the Rainbow

(Yes, I think I would kill for some Skittles)

Hello all, nothing too new to report, life is pretty good. A few highlights are as follows:

---Visit from my APCD (associate peace corps director) and other PC people. They were doing their first site visits. They met me at school, right after my computer class had let out. We spoke of how things are going, if I feel comfortable and safe here, and what type of work/projects I am currently working on or have in the pipeline. Then we made a visit to my house for them to see that everything was OK. It is, though my APCD jokingly said she was going to tell our health director that I didn't have my mosquito net up. Malaria here I come (I do have a screen on my window, don't worry mom).

---I attended a wedding last Saturday and a birthday party this past Tuesday. Both were very interesting and fun. The wedding, as with most, was an all day process. Church for 1.5 hours, then the brides' homestead for 4 hours then the grooms for roughly 2. A long day. I got the VIP treatment; eating and toasting with the bridal party. Pretty traditional party food; potato salad, goat, beef, cool drinks. The birthday party was one of the most formal I have ever been, complete with a program, master of ceremonies, opening remarks and prayer, hymns, and a speech. The party was for a former colleague at Ombuumbuu so all the staff went. We stayed out late, 10:30 on a school night, but it was a good time. The ride home was easily the highlight. Riding with 11 Africans in the back of a backie (see the Namlish Guide recently added in the Links Section) under partly cloudy skies with the moon reflecting off of the trees; it was beautiful. I usually have a few of those moments a week/day/hour that remind me of exactly how unique and amazing this experience is.

---Rain....got some

---Learners coming around on the idea of negative numbers and the operations associated with them.

---hearing from the Goodwoman. She is great, loving life in the hot and humid DR. She even went to the beach! Needless to say, quite a different life than I currently lead.

There are others, I am sure. Hope all is well, enjoy the rest of the week and weekend!

Keith