This weekend saw quite a bit of excitement. Megan and Rachael (WorldTeach)
had planned to come to Divundu for a change (rather than me going to Rundu).
The plan was to come for a visit, then head a few kms away to Chris' place
on the Kavango River. Chris is a Peace Corps volunteer who's been here 1.5
years. Well, naturally, the girls got delayed in Rundu do to a
never-leaving hike. So they didn't arrive until dark. This meant we had to
start walking straight away to get to Chris'. We walked and walked, and
were finally picked up to be taken the rest of the 5 or 6 kms. We arrived
in a veritable paradise. First of all, the house is freshly painted in
lively colors, and all the windows are in tact. The entrance faces the
river, and the front porch has a lovely hammock to gaze out from. Inside,
there's an actual living room with a futon! And a proper table and chair
set to eat. The kitchen is spotless! And has an oven, drawers, counters,
cabinets, you name it! Both bedrooms have real beds and actual closets!
OH, there's a shower AND a tub! .And hot water!! Oh the luxury. I'm not
exaggerating. We were all running around like we'd never seen any of this
stuff before. (And to think it's only been a month.)
Chris and Justin (another Peace Corps) were wonderfully gracious hosts. We
had dinner and chatted the night away. We finally decided "movie night"
should commence and got down to choosing from a library of well over a
hundred movies. THEN, the girls had brought chocolate chip cookie mix
("American style"..whatever that means..it's what the box said.) And Justin
decided to make cinnamon rolls, from scratch! Oh my goodness, all the
calories I didn't have over the course of the week were had Saturday night.
(I managed to still be hungry on Sunday though.)
We woke up on Sunday to find that the power was off (turns out it was out
for the entire region). Never fear, breakfast would still be had. We dug a
pit in the sand, gathered wood, lit a fire and cooked up fried eggs and then
water for coffee. Mmmmmmm. Thanks again Chris and Justin!!
We hiked back to Divundu proper (in the back of a police truck.with bars and
everything) and the girls headed for home. I returned to my place to find
that yes, the power was still off. So people were cooking outside. The
kids, however, had not been fed all day (and wouldn't get fed until very
late that evening.) So, I passed the time with lesson planning and kindle
reading.
Around lunchtime, I returned to the house to find a goat being led into the
yard by a boy. I asked Mr. T. what was going on and he said, "I bought a
goat." I knew he'd been wanting to get one as he asked to store some of the
meat in my fridge. But I was confused.did we have to keep the goat for a
while before someone would come and get it to be killed? Then I saw the boy
brandish a small kitchen knife (5"). I immediately ran for my camera. A
couple of other boys then tied the goat to our back fence, and swept its
legs out from under it so it was on the ground. The knife boy then just
sawed through its neck. Blood was spurting everywhere. It took quite a
while, unfortunately. I thought that sort of thing was more or less
instant. But it's not. I'd say it took a good 2 minutes. The thing was
kicking and gurgling, while the blood was spilling on the ground. I've of
course seen large dead animals before (worked up close and personal on
them). But I guess I'd never seen anything that big be killed. It was
pretty horrific actually. I didn't get queezy or anything, but it was still
pretty shocking.
They then strung the thing up by its legs from a tree, and proceeded to
artfully skin it. By this time it was well past my lunchtime, so I went
inside (subsequently missing the gutting process).
Now, you'd think Mr. T. would have waited till the power was back on to have
the goat killed, given that it should be refrigerated immediately. But
alas, no. The meat sat in plastic bags for another several hours, flies
buzzing around of course. And in case you're wondering, no, I will not be
partaking of any of Mr. T.'s goat. Oh, I asked, the goat cost him $200NAM
($25US). Now, SOUTH of the red line, where there are veterinary control
procedures in place, the same goat would have cost $600NAM ($75US).
The stray dogs swarmed around the yard for the next several hours, and
likely through the night. I just put it as far from my mind as I could.
Amazing how the smell of blood must travel.
The power came back on around 7pm, to many cheers. I was particularly happy
as Matt was due to call at 8pm, and no power meant no cell service. So I
still got to have a good long chat and tell him all about my very exciting
weekend.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Learner of the Week
In WorldTeach orientation, a program was suggested called "Learner of the
Week" where we choose 1 learner from each class to recognize as, you guessed
it, the learner of the week. When I arrived at Divundu, James had not been
using the program, so I was anxious to introduce a new, exciting motivation
for the learners.
When I started teaching, I told them about Learner of the Week. I would be
watching who did their homework, participated in class, etc. through the
week and that they'd be getting a certificate and a surprise if chosen.
They didn't seem to take much notice. But come Thursday of last week, when
I said that I would be announcing the LoW on Friday, they definitely perked
up. So along came Friday, and class by class I announced my LoWs. I made
goofy powerpoint slide certificates and stuck a few star stickers on them.
I had the learner come up to the front, shake his/her hand, presented the
certificate, and asked for a round of applause. Then I dug into my goody
bag of "surprises". I have a huge assortment of school supplies, plus some
novelty items I brought from home (SF Giants cups and jewelry (thanks
Cindy/Elida!!). I allowed them to choose their surprise. Naturally all the
kids strained to see what made up my goodies (and many chimed in on what the
LoW should choose).and when the LoW sat down much interest was paid to the
certificate. Soo.I think my program is going to go over big!
I'm thinking I'll have a "Learner of the Year" in each class as well. One
other volunteer I talked to took her LoY's out to dinner. Unfortunately,
Divundu doesn't have any sort of eating establishment that I have heard of.
So I'm thinking that I'll have a picture taken with me and each LoY, then
have it printed and framed and give it to the learner. What do you guys
think?
Week" where we choose 1 learner from each class to recognize as, you guessed
it, the learner of the week. When I arrived at Divundu, James had not been
using the program, so I was anxious to introduce a new, exciting motivation
for the learners.
When I started teaching, I told them about Learner of the Week. I would be
watching who did their homework, participated in class, etc. through the
week and that they'd be getting a certificate and a surprise if chosen.
They didn't seem to take much notice. But come Thursday of last week, when
I said that I would be announcing the LoW on Friday, they definitely perked
up. So along came Friday, and class by class I announced my LoWs. I made
goofy powerpoint slide certificates and stuck a few star stickers on them.
I had the learner come up to the front, shake his/her hand, presented the
certificate, and asked for a round of applause. Then I dug into my goody
bag of "surprises". I have a huge assortment of school supplies, plus some
novelty items I brought from home (SF Giants cups and jewelry (thanks
Cindy/Elida!!). I allowed them to choose their surprise. Naturally all the
kids strained to see what made up my goodies (and many chimed in on what the
LoW should choose).and when the LoW sat down much interest was paid to the
certificate. Soo.I think my program is going to go over big!
I'm thinking I'll have a "Learner of the Year" in each class as well. One
other volunteer I talked to took her LoY's out to dinner. Unfortunately,
Divundu doesn't have any sort of eating establishment that I have heard of.
So I'm thinking that I'll have a picture taken with me and each LoY, then
have it printed and framed and give it to the learner. What do you guys
think?
Cut Off at the Knees
I gave all of my classes tests today. And sigh, for the most part, James
was right. I feel like I've been cut off at the knees. The marks were
dismal. I suspect that most simply don't know the material, and maybe for a
few they freeze up on tests. Either way, I'm extremely nervous for my grade
10's on their national exams. EXTREMELY nervous. I am glad that I have a
hold of the grade 9's right now so I can work on some of their math
fundamentals. But jeez louise, what to do with my grade 10's? I feel like
the guy from Stand and Deliver, except I have 1 month until their test, not
3 or 4 years. I'm going to start giving extra classes for them. Hopefully
there I can drill some fundamentals into their heads.
What is so disturbing is how they just make up numbers out of the blue. If
the problem is written as 4x + 6 = 24, someone's next step might be 4 + 2 =
22. Then their answer is 6 = 22. Huh? What? What part of "find x" is
unclear? And these are grade 10's!
Anyway, I give back the tests tomorrow, and I'm worried they're going to be
really upset with their grades (because many really do care). But there's
not much arguing a 0/22. And that's me desperately trying to give partial
credit wherever they did ANYTHING right. I got many of those.The class
stats, for grade 10A (which is supposed to be the most advanced):
Out of 22 possible points, the average was 4.3. The high was 11.5, the low
was of course, 0.
Sigh.
was right. I feel like I've been cut off at the knees. The marks were
dismal. I suspect that most simply don't know the material, and maybe for a
few they freeze up on tests. Either way, I'm extremely nervous for my grade
10's on their national exams. EXTREMELY nervous. I am glad that I have a
hold of the grade 9's right now so I can work on some of their math
fundamentals. But jeez louise, what to do with my grade 10's? I feel like
the guy from Stand and Deliver, except I have 1 month until their test, not
3 or 4 years. I'm going to start giving extra classes for them. Hopefully
there I can drill some fundamentals into their heads.
What is so disturbing is how they just make up numbers out of the blue. If
the problem is written as 4x + 6 = 24, someone's next step might be 4 + 2 =
22. Then their answer is 6 = 22. Huh? What? What part of "find x" is
unclear? And these are grade 10's!
Anyway, I give back the tests tomorrow, and I'm worried they're going to be
really upset with their grades (because many really do care). But there's
not much arguing a 0/22. And that's me desperately trying to give partial
credit wherever they did ANYTHING right. I got many of those.The class
stats, for grade 10A (which is supposed to be the most advanced):
Out of 22 possible points, the average was 4.3. The high was 11.5, the low
was of course, 0.
Sigh.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Some Questions Answered
My mom recently asked me some questions and I thought I'd answer them for
everyone.
"What are the bathroom facilities like in your "house"?
What kinds of food can you cook for yourself on a hotplate?
Are you going to feel lonely while there?
And how is it going with the malaria pills?"
So, bathroom facilities...First of all vocab-wise, there is no "bathroom".
It's only "toilet" and "shower". It's a little San Francisco like in that
we have one room for the toilet and one for the shower. The toilet does
work (when the water is on) and also has a sink that works (when the water
is on). I use that sink to wash my dishes as the kitchen sink is a basin
resting on an old student desk that drains into a bucket. However this
evening my toilet sink got clogged and I had to dismantle it and fish out
who knows how many years of gunk. Joy. I'm lucky I'm a MacGuyver type.
The shower is in another small room. It's cold water only (and naturally
the cold water handle is the one that is missing. The hot water one is
still there, it just doesn't do anything.I may fix that this weekend too.)
The floor is rotted out. I bought a bath mat so I wouldn't slip and break
my neck like I nearly did my first weekend.
Back to the toilet.there's no toilet paper holder, and even if there was
there are so many people in and out of my house that my TP would be gone in
a heartbeat. So every time I go I cart in my government-issued role. (I'm
allocated 2 rolls a week I think?)
Food.ya, food is going to be a problem. A pair of pants that fit me when I
left is hanging off of me now. The learners noticed me pulling them up and
I said that at home my boyfriend cooks for me. So here I'm losing weight.
Of course, the other teachers think I have HIV. Because that's the only
plausible reason a person would be losing weight. But, I digress..
So far I'm making a lot of egg sandwiches and pasta for dinner (no meat
though). I add tuna to the pasta for protein. For lunch I have PB&J. They
have miscellaneous cans of vegetables and sometimes meat mixes that I heat
up. But all in all, I'm at a loss. The kitchen is pretty disgusting to
realistically use. I kinda don't know what to do. I'm losing weight and
have a sort of nagging hunger feeling all the time. Granted I'm doing a lot
of running around and I'm sure burning a ton of calories. Next time I'll
buy the full fat butter instead of light. Figure I could use the calories.
Mom is sending protein bars. I'll also happily take teriyaki beef jerky if
anyone wants to send it. Ohhh, I know what I want, TJ oriental rice cracker
snack things.those wasabi peas and the green/red/brown twisty snacks? Love
me some of those. I bet no one is even reading this far.
Am I going to feel lonely.YES! The conversations I have here are very
limited. At least in Windhoek the level of English was good enough to
actually connect with people, like with my Thimbukushu tutor Angie. But
here, it's limited. There's a lot of nodding and smiling.
I'm reading a truckload. I just started my 4th book in as many weeks. I'm
going to blow through War & Peace.I just know it.
Malaria pills are going great! I told some of you, but the meds I'm on for
malaria double as anti-acne in the states. So my face is looking marvelous!
Plus I think the climate agrees with me. I haven't noticed any side effects
either.
Awight, that's it for that post. I'm going to attempt the free internet at
3 am here, so it's off to bed I go.
Please email me. Please call me, seriously, anytime.
everyone.
"What are the bathroom facilities like in your "house"?
What kinds of food can you cook for yourself on a hotplate?
Are you going to feel lonely while there?
And how is it going with the malaria pills?"
So, bathroom facilities...First of all vocab-wise, there is no "bathroom".
It's only "toilet" and "shower". It's a little San Francisco like in that
we have one room for the toilet and one for the shower. The toilet does
work (when the water is on) and also has a sink that works (when the water
is on). I use that sink to wash my dishes as the kitchen sink is a basin
resting on an old student desk that drains into a bucket. However this
evening my toilet sink got clogged and I had to dismantle it and fish out
who knows how many years of gunk. Joy. I'm lucky I'm a MacGuyver type.
The shower is in another small room. It's cold water only (and naturally
the cold water handle is the one that is missing. The hot water one is
still there, it just doesn't do anything.I may fix that this weekend too.)
The floor is rotted out. I bought a bath mat so I wouldn't slip and break
my neck like I nearly did my first weekend.
Back to the toilet.there's no toilet paper holder, and even if there was
there are so many people in and out of my house that my TP would be gone in
a heartbeat. So every time I go I cart in my government-issued role. (I'm
allocated 2 rolls a week I think?)
Food.ya, food is going to be a problem. A pair of pants that fit me when I
left is hanging off of me now. The learners noticed me pulling them up and
I said that at home my boyfriend cooks for me. So here I'm losing weight.
Of course, the other teachers think I have HIV. Because that's the only
plausible reason a person would be losing weight. But, I digress..
So far I'm making a lot of egg sandwiches and pasta for dinner (no meat
though). I add tuna to the pasta for protein. For lunch I have PB&J. They
have miscellaneous cans of vegetables and sometimes meat mixes that I heat
up. But all in all, I'm at a loss. The kitchen is pretty disgusting to
realistically use. I kinda don't know what to do. I'm losing weight and
have a sort of nagging hunger feeling all the time. Granted I'm doing a lot
of running around and I'm sure burning a ton of calories. Next time I'll
buy the full fat butter instead of light. Figure I could use the calories.
Mom is sending protein bars. I'll also happily take teriyaki beef jerky if
anyone wants to send it. Ohhh, I know what I want, TJ oriental rice cracker
snack things.those wasabi peas and the green/red/brown twisty snacks? Love
me some of those. I bet no one is even reading this far.
Am I going to feel lonely.YES! The conversations I have here are very
limited. At least in Windhoek the level of English was good enough to
actually connect with people, like with my Thimbukushu tutor Angie. But
here, it's limited. There's a lot of nodding and smiling.
I'm reading a truckload. I just started my 4th book in as many weeks. I'm
going to blow through War & Peace.I just know it.
Malaria pills are going great! I told some of you, but the meds I'm on for
malaria double as anti-acne in the states. So my face is looking marvelous!
Plus I think the climate agrees with me. I haven't noticed any side effects
either.
Awight, that's it for that post. I'm going to attempt the free internet at
3 am here, so it's off to bed I go.
Please email me. Please call me, seriously, anytime.
Great Day
Man today was great. Even though I'm exhausted from teaching 7 out of 8
classes, plus oh about 100 notebooks to mark, I'm just beaming. I did my
first "practical investigation" today in grade 9 math. I put the kids in 6
groups and passed out 6 boxes of various sizes (mostly from empty food
boxes). The assignment was to determine the surface area of your box (given
the formula). Some kids weren't sure how to use a ruler (doh!) so I had to
go around and demonstrate. But pretty much instantly they were all working
together, sometimes squabbling over the correct measurement or order of
operations, really! They were quiet and orderly, and man, did they care!!
I'm glad no one was paying much attention to me because at one point I got a
little choked up. I had one of the mean teachers walk in during one of
those classes, I think to dole out some sort of punishment to some of the
kids, but he walked in and I gave him the "shhh" sign. I went over to see
what he wanted and he said, "mmmm, they look very busy." I said, "yes, they
are doing an investigation, and they are doing a VERY GOOD job!" He said,
"ok, I will get them later." Whew! Tonight during evening study, a few
learners came by to make sure they got the correct measurements, take
measurements for the first time because they missed class, or just to check
their work. PROUD MAMA BEAR!
In my science classes, I think the kids finally get the whole molecular
diagram thing, at least on a very primitive level.
And in my grade 10 math, there was a girl who wasn't doing anything at all.
"Madam, I don't understand." So I sat down with her and we worked through 2
problems together. She got them and got a big ole grin on her face. And
the rest of them are just thrilled to have me review their work. We laugh
together. They teach me some Thimbukushu; I teach them some Spanish.
These kids really are amazing, especially compared to some of the classes
I've seen in the states. But the way they are dealt with here is soooo
disheartening. I don't want this to come across as me slamming the Namibian
teachers. I'm not. I realize that the way they think and act is a product
of how they were raised and taught, and it'll take a long time before the
cycle is broken. But knowing this doesn't make it any easier to see what I
see. It's all about punishment. "They must be punished." Today I walked
into a class to drop off some notebooks and all of the chairs were piled in
the corner. The kids were KNEALING on the concrete floor! I was appalled.
The teacher says to me, "Madam, they must stay this way today because they
were making too much noise with their chairs." (OK, yes, the chairs
scraping on concrete is annoying, but I simply hold up my hand when they do
it and they stop.) Then this afternoon I saw some kids standing outside of
a classroom in the middle of class. I asked what they were doing and they
said they were late to class (and hence prohibited from coming in.) Ok,
hello, if the kid is late then they have missed the material that was
presented and they have to catch up. Why make them miss the entire class?
At least they came right? So I'm totally playing good cop, and it's working
for me so far. I suspect it will continue. When the kids get a little too
talkative in class (when they should be listening or taking notes), I simply
stop talking or writing. It's not 20 seconds before the talkers are shushed
by the rest. I think in any one class I've only had to do that twice in a
row.
Anyway, I'm really loving my darlings. (That's what I call them.) I
suppose it shows.
:-)
I'm giving all my classes tests on Monday though. James warned me that on
test day I'd, how'd he put it? Feel like my legs were cut off at the knees?
We'll see. The tests are pretty straightforward.
Nighty night.
classes, plus oh about 100 notebooks to mark, I'm just beaming. I did my
first "practical investigation" today in grade 9 math. I put the kids in 6
groups and passed out 6 boxes of various sizes (mostly from empty food
boxes). The assignment was to determine the surface area of your box (given
the formula). Some kids weren't sure how to use a ruler (doh!) so I had to
go around and demonstrate. But pretty much instantly they were all working
together, sometimes squabbling over the correct measurement or order of
operations, really! They were quiet and orderly, and man, did they care!!
I'm glad no one was paying much attention to me because at one point I got a
little choked up. I had one of the mean teachers walk in during one of
those classes, I think to dole out some sort of punishment to some of the
kids, but he walked in and I gave him the "shhh" sign. I went over to see
what he wanted and he said, "mmmm, they look very busy." I said, "yes, they
are doing an investigation, and they are doing a VERY GOOD job!" He said,
"ok, I will get them later." Whew! Tonight during evening study, a few
learners came by to make sure they got the correct measurements, take
measurements for the first time because they missed class, or just to check
their work. PROUD MAMA BEAR!
In my science classes, I think the kids finally get the whole molecular
diagram thing, at least on a very primitive level.
And in my grade 10 math, there was a girl who wasn't doing anything at all.
"Madam, I don't understand." So I sat down with her and we worked through 2
problems together. She got them and got a big ole grin on her face. And
the rest of them are just thrilled to have me review their work. We laugh
together. They teach me some Thimbukushu; I teach them some Spanish.
These kids really are amazing, especially compared to some of the classes
I've seen in the states. But the way they are dealt with here is soooo
disheartening. I don't want this to come across as me slamming the Namibian
teachers. I'm not. I realize that the way they think and act is a product
of how they were raised and taught, and it'll take a long time before the
cycle is broken. But knowing this doesn't make it any easier to see what I
see. It's all about punishment. "They must be punished." Today I walked
into a class to drop off some notebooks and all of the chairs were piled in
the corner. The kids were KNEALING on the concrete floor! I was appalled.
The teacher says to me, "Madam, they must stay this way today because they
were making too much noise with their chairs." (OK, yes, the chairs
scraping on concrete is annoying, but I simply hold up my hand when they do
it and they stop.) Then this afternoon I saw some kids standing outside of
a classroom in the middle of class. I asked what they were doing and they
said they were late to class (and hence prohibited from coming in.) Ok,
hello, if the kid is late then they have missed the material that was
presented and they have to catch up. Why make them miss the entire class?
At least they came right? So I'm totally playing good cop, and it's working
for me so far. I suspect it will continue. When the kids get a little too
talkative in class (when they should be listening or taking notes), I simply
stop talking or writing. It's not 20 seconds before the talkers are shushed
by the rest. I think in any one class I've only had to do that twice in a
row.
Anyway, I'm really loving my darlings. (That's what I call them.) I
suppose it shows.
:-)
I'm giving all my classes tests on Monday though. James warned me that on
test day I'd, how'd he put it? Feel like my legs were cut off at the knees?
We'll see. The tests are pretty straightforward.
Nighty night.
A Tale of Two Houses
There once were two houses that each paid for their own electricity. Then,
something broke with one of the houses and they were no longer wired to the
grid. Rather than fixing the connection, they simply ran a wire from their
house to the house that was still connected. Now, one house shares
electricity for two houses (and subsequently tries to share the bills).
The way electricity works here is a hoot, really. You have a meter
installed in your house. When it runs down, you walk to the store with your
meter number and pay cash for more electricity. You then return to your
house with a code to enter into the meter to get the amount you just bought.
You can buy a buck's worth if you want to, it doesn't matter, but when it
runs down to zero, electricity goes off. You might see where this is going.
My house has 3 adults and varying numbers of transients. Mr. T has a stereo
and a small fridge. I have a large fridge. We all use the hot plate
(electric) to cook. The other house has 1 adult and 2 older teenagers, plus
varying numbers of transients. They have a fridge, cook with a hotplate,
and, drumroll, a TV that is on all the time. So how to figure out who owes
what?
I called a meeting today of the paying adults. WorldTeach told me I should
be paying about $50NAM/month ($6.25US). I announced that that's what I had
expected to pay. We settled on $70NAM ($8.75US). I said that I believed
the other house should pay $100, Mr. T in my house, $100, and Mrs. K in my
house $50. I offered to keep track of what everyone pays. We'll see how
well this goes.
something broke with one of the houses and they were no longer wired to the
grid. Rather than fixing the connection, they simply ran a wire from their
house to the house that was still connected. Now, one house shares
electricity for two houses (and subsequently tries to share the bills).
The way electricity works here is a hoot, really. You have a meter
installed in your house. When it runs down, you walk to the store with your
meter number and pay cash for more electricity. You then return to your
house with a code to enter into the meter to get the amount you just bought.
You can buy a buck's worth if you want to, it doesn't matter, but when it
runs down to zero, electricity goes off. You might see where this is going.
My house has 3 adults and varying numbers of transients. Mr. T has a stereo
and a small fridge. I have a large fridge. We all use the hot plate
(electric) to cook. The other house has 1 adult and 2 older teenagers, plus
varying numbers of transients. They have a fridge, cook with a hotplate,
and, drumroll, a TV that is on all the time. So how to figure out who owes
what?
I called a meeting today of the paying adults. WorldTeach told me I should
be paying about $50NAM/month ($6.25US). I announced that that's what I had
expected to pay. We settled on $70NAM ($8.75US). I said that I believed
the other house should pay $100, Mr. T in my house, $100, and Mrs. K in my
house $50. I offered to keep track of what everyone pays. We'll see how
well this goes.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Teaching is in full swing
Im well underway with my classes now. Teaching is hard! Teaching with
practically zero resources is hard! Teaching in English to kids who dont
understand English is really hard!
Question: What is an example of a physical change?
Answer: Water
Im appalled at how few fundamentals these kids know. Many of them have to
use their calculators for 4 times 5. If you throw a fraction in there, all
bets are surely off. times 6? Cant do it. Well, at first I was
appalled. But now after being here just a week Im not all that surprised.
There is no such thing as substitute teachers. If a teacher is sick, the
class just sits there without a teacher. If the teacher goes on maternity
leave for however many months? The class just sits for the whole time. One
of the other WorldTeach volunteers said to me the other day, Jen, if youre
doubting yourself as a teacher, just think, youre better than no teacher at
all.
And there are just WAY too many kids to make sure that all or at least most
of them are getting it. Plus, absenteeism is ridiculous, and its not
always the kids fault. Other teachers dole out punishments for whatever
during the day, often pulling kids out of classes. A punishment for being
late to afternoon study? Stay home from school for X days. Grrreeeattt.
When James was handing over the reigns to me, he was so resigned to poor
performance. Many of you know how incredibly type A & perfectionist I am.
At first I thought, oh my gosh how am I ever going to deal with all this?
But truth is, after just a week I see that I have to try to present my
lessons as best I can, make myself available to all that want extra help,
and hope that the ones that can succeed at least dont fail.
There are a couple of bright spots though. The learners (at least in grades
9 and 10) seem pretty engaged in my classes. Theyre getting used to me
calling them up to the board to do problems, and answer aloud when I ask
questions to the class. AND, last week, after just 1 day, I had 2 learners
drop by for extra help at night! Man that just melted my heart. Today, 2
more dropped by. Im hoping word gets out that if you come to me, Im nice
and will totally help as much as I can. Maybe I can nudge the understanding
of a few up just a teency bit.
So my living situation is now as it will be for the rest of the year. I
share a 3 bedroom house with 2 other teachers. Mr. T and Mrs. K. Mr. T has
a daughter and a niece that are over quite a bit (and sometimes they bring
their friends). Mrs. K has a baby and a babysitter who stay with her in her
room. While I have my own dishes and cookware, the others plates and
whatnot do not get washed very regularly. This of course brings bugs.
Sigh.
Theres a bright spot in the home situation though. After a fairly long and
ridiculous process, MY BEDROOM DOOR NOW LOCKS! It was pretty nerve-racking
not being able to lock my room, despite repeated assurances that no one
would ever go in there. The process that I went through to get said locking
door.oh my, I get tired now just thinking about it. Nah, I dont want to
waste your time telling you. Its done now; thats all that matters.
Oh I have a good one. So Mr. T today gets out a bottle of red wine. Then
he gets out a can of coke (coca cola). He then proceeds to pour himself a
glass of half red wine and half coke. What are you doing? I ask. He
says, This is how everyone drinks it. The coke helps cut the wine so its
not so heavy. So, I decided to give it a go, just to see. My Californian
brain was SCREAMING NO! It tasted sort of wine-cooler-y. There was some
fizz, some wine taste, and some sweetness. I suppose if thats what youre
looking for it isnt such a bad thing. But I wont be ordering up a red
wine/coke next time Im dining :-)
I finally washed all of my clothes on Sunday, by hand. Thankfully I have
some experience doing this from my South Pacific adventures, but its still
a B@#$h. My strategy is soaking the clothes until the water runs clear. I
think I soaked 3 or maybe 4 times and still had super gray water :-( I
finally just settled. The dust here just seems to permeate your clothesI
guess theres no such thing as clean anymore.
Pictures I tried to start organizing my photos, only to find out that
Picasa 3 destroys my picture files when I use it. No worry, I had a backup.
But its going to take me some time to figure out whats going on.
Homesickness It kinda hit a little bit this weekend. I miss you guys.
practically zero resources is hard! Teaching in English to kids who dont
understand English is really hard!
Question: What is an example of a physical change?
Answer: Water
Im appalled at how few fundamentals these kids know. Many of them have to
use their calculators for 4 times 5. If you throw a fraction in there, all
bets are surely off. times 6? Cant do it. Well, at first I was
appalled. But now after being here just a week Im not all that surprised.
There is no such thing as substitute teachers. If a teacher is sick, the
class just sits there without a teacher. If the teacher goes on maternity
leave for however many months? The class just sits for the whole time. One
of the other WorldTeach volunteers said to me the other day, Jen, if youre
doubting yourself as a teacher, just think, youre better than no teacher at
all.
And there are just WAY too many kids to make sure that all or at least most
of them are getting it. Plus, absenteeism is ridiculous, and its not
always the kids fault. Other teachers dole out punishments for whatever
during the day, often pulling kids out of classes. A punishment for being
late to afternoon study? Stay home from school for X days. Grrreeeattt.
When James was handing over the reigns to me, he was so resigned to poor
performance. Many of you know how incredibly type A & perfectionist I am.
At first I thought, oh my gosh how am I ever going to deal with all this?
But truth is, after just a week I see that I have to try to present my
lessons as best I can, make myself available to all that want extra help,
and hope that the ones that can succeed at least dont fail.
There are a couple of bright spots though. The learners (at least in grades
9 and 10) seem pretty engaged in my classes. Theyre getting used to me
calling them up to the board to do problems, and answer aloud when I ask
questions to the class. AND, last week, after just 1 day, I had 2 learners
drop by for extra help at night! Man that just melted my heart. Today, 2
more dropped by. Im hoping word gets out that if you come to me, Im nice
and will totally help as much as I can. Maybe I can nudge the understanding
of a few up just a teency bit.
So my living situation is now as it will be for the rest of the year. I
share a 3 bedroom house with 2 other teachers. Mr. T and Mrs. K. Mr. T has
a daughter and a niece that are over quite a bit (and sometimes they bring
their friends). Mrs. K has a baby and a babysitter who stay with her in her
room. While I have my own dishes and cookware, the others plates and
whatnot do not get washed very regularly. This of course brings bugs.
Sigh.
Theres a bright spot in the home situation though. After a fairly long and
ridiculous process, MY BEDROOM DOOR NOW LOCKS! It was pretty nerve-racking
not being able to lock my room, despite repeated assurances that no one
would ever go in there. The process that I went through to get said locking
door.oh my, I get tired now just thinking about it. Nah, I dont want to
waste your time telling you. Its done now; thats all that matters.
Oh I have a good one. So Mr. T today gets out a bottle of red wine. Then
he gets out a can of coke (coca cola). He then proceeds to pour himself a
glass of half red wine and half coke. What are you doing? I ask. He
says, This is how everyone drinks it. The coke helps cut the wine so its
not so heavy. So, I decided to give it a go, just to see. My Californian
brain was SCREAMING NO! It tasted sort of wine-cooler-y. There was some
fizz, some wine taste, and some sweetness. I suppose if thats what youre
looking for it isnt such a bad thing. But I wont be ordering up a red
wine/coke next time Im dining :-)
I finally washed all of my clothes on Sunday, by hand. Thankfully I have
some experience doing this from my South Pacific adventures, but its still
a B@#$h. My strategy is soaking the clothes until the water runs clear. I
think I soaked 3 or maybe 4 times and still had super gray water :-( I
finally just settled. The dust here just seems to permeate your clothesI
guess theres no such thing as clean anymore.
Pictures I tried to start organizing my photos, only to find out that
Picasa 3 destroys my picture files when I use it. No worry, I had a backup.
But its going to take me some time to figure out whats going on.
Homesickness It kinda hit a little bit this weekend. I miss you guys.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
First Day of School!
Ready for another lesson in Thimbukushu?
* Water – meyu
* Toilet – kandhugho
* I'm a teacher. – Ame mitili (sounds like mitiri)
* Good Morning - Moro
* I'm sick. Ame tjutju (sounds like choo-choo)...which I am :-(
Ok, where I left you all was on my first night actually in Divundu. My time there was short-lived, though, as I was set to return to Rundu the following day (last Saturday). Before leaving though I went to the cultural competition that my learners were so diligently rehearsing for the night before. It was Africa's version of a county fair! (Ok, without the animals...that'd probably be dangerous.) People were streaming in (on foot) from miles around. There were food and craft stalls (ok, food and crafts for sale were laid out on blankets on the ground). There were even popsicles (actually, it was watered down juice frozen into a tied sandwich baggy). Kids from several area schools were buzzing around getting their costumes on and I'm sure getting nervous...especially after seeing the very serious faces of the judges underneath the judging tent. Once the performances started, I couldn't see a thing; I'd gotten there late and all the prime real estate was taken. But one of my learners recognized me from the night before, gave me an enthusiastic greeting, and insisted to someone else with authority I be given a good viewing spot. Before I knew it I was in the front row...a little behind the stage (ok, sand pit), but still pretty darn good. The performances were all very similar to the one I described on my last post. Entry dance/song, lots of shoulder shaking, dramatic interpretation, another dance/song, and finally a lot more shoulder shaking.
I watched several performances and then had to get going. My kids got 3rd place! (Though I'm not sure which area their medal was in, it might have been the drama part.)
Then it was back to Rundu, on my first official "hike" (this is Namibian for "hitch-hike"). Before you freak out, this is the way *everyone* gets around here. There are simply not enough cars. So you stand usually at a gas station and watch for cars pulling in in the direction you want to go. You approach, ask where they are going and if they have room for you. Hikes cost money, usually pretty standard rates. A hike from Divundu to Rundu (200km) is N$60-$70 (USD $7.50-$8.75). Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a while to find a driver. This time it took an hour and 20 minutes. Then the drive took 2 hours. By the time we arrived, I was beat!
I won't go into every detail of the weekend as it was mostly errand based, but here are some highlights:
* Sunset drinks and dinner with Megan at the Kavango River Lodge – overlooks the Kavango River, Namibia on one side, Angola on the other.
* Morning "hike" to a gorgeous mission, also on the river, about an hour away to visit a couple of year long WorldTeach volunteers. Saw first "canoe-er" that goes back and forth from Namibia and Angola. (A boy, about 11, in a hollowed out log that constantly took on water.)
* Going through the very bureaucratic but necessary steps to get my paycheck (I budgeted a full day, it took about 3 hours.)
Unfortunately I started getting sick on Monday. At first it felt like just a sore throat, but it quickly progressed to a fever. "GREAT", I thought, "I got malaria...and in record time". (I had gotten a few mosquito bites at dinner on Saturday night).
Tuesday I had to trudge home alone with about a thousand pounds of groceries and feeling like poo. The hike was MISERABLE! I swear I got the slowest moving car on the road. His speedometer was broken, but by watching the torturous signs tick off the kilometers, I estimated 45-50mph. And he sure packed in the passengers, before long my bags were in my lap. Did I mention I still had a fever? When I got to Divundu I had to carry my groceries about 500-600 yards. I made it maybe ¼ of the way, stopping every 10 steps to rest. Thankfully a few kids appeared and helped me the rest of the way. They seemed puzzled when I hugged them :-) You'll be pleased to hear that after some vitamin C and rest my fever abated. I still have a cold, a really sniffly one, but it's not malaria.
Wednesday (today) was my first day of school! My god I was nervous. I barely slept last night (though that might have been the cold medicine). Thank goodness I really only had 2 classes on my hands, as James needed to wrap up a few things with 3 other periods. In my 2 classes I introduced myself and pulled out a world map to show where San Francisco is. This is the first country that I've travelled where people don't know "California" right off the bat. I told them it took me two days to get here...they didn't seem impressed. Now that I think about it, that was pretty dumb. It takes two days to get to Southern Namibia. I had them make little paper nameplates for themselves so I have a fighting chance of learning their names. Then I opened the floor for questions..."what do you guys want to know about Ms. Jackson. You have one day only to ask away." The highlights:
* Do you know 2Pac? (did I spell that right? The rap artist..)
* Do you live by ___? (insert some other rap artist name here)
* How old are you? (they do NOT believe I'm 30)
* Where are your children? (everyone has children in Namibia)
Tomorrow I have several more of these intro sessions. But I actually have 2 real class lessons too. Man I'm nervous again. I came home from school and dove into writing my 2 lesson plans. In math I'll be introducing polygons and interior/exterior angles. In science we're going over physical and chemical changes. Then Friday, no more fluff, all periods will be full on lessons. AHH.
A little info on my classes...
Class size ranges from 20 something to 40 something. Boy/Girl ratio is about 3/1 it seems. The classrooms have no teacher desk/chair. There are enough desks/chairs for the learners, but they are falling apart – seriously. The rooms are dirty and there are no garbage cans – instead trash is swept/thrown in the corner. There are a few tattered posters on the wall, and of course, broken windows. There are chalkboards in all rooms though, thank goodness! The learners carry their MANY composition books (2-3 per class) in plastic bags for the most part. A few have cloth bags. The learners stay in the same room and the teachers rotate. The bell is rung manually, so sometimes it's on time, sometimes not, and sometimes it's not rung at all. In the timetable (schedule), there's no time allocated for changeovers, so if period 1 ends at 7:50, period 2 starts at 7:50. Nice, huh? Teleporters are on order.
I have 32 periods over the week, 40 minutes each. I'm teaching 2 classes of grade 10 math, 2 of grade 9 math, and 3 of grade 8 physical science. They meet 4-5 times a week. The day starts at 6:55am and ends at 12:50. There's an afternoon study session for the learners that stay from 2-4, and an evening session from 6-8. I'm responsible for supervising the afternoon session one week a month. On Mondays and Fridays there is a staff meeting at 6am. But this morning, it started around 6:45.
I of course am flooded with impressions, thoughts, observations, etc. on school and the learners here, but think I'll let them all percolate for another few days before diving in.
Some logistics:
* I know you're dying for pictures. Internet is free here from 1am-5am, so I'm going to get up one of these nights and upload some. I may also try to freeload from a new friend who teaches at the computer lab in Rundu, but remember, that's a 4 hour round trip.
* Please forgive the lack of sending personal emails up until next week sometime. I'm finally to a point where I can settle into a schedule, so hopefully I'll have time for more than just blog blasts. The blog is my attempt to reach as many folks as possible in a single spot.
* Care packages... I've gotten some requests for items. I need to figure out some nice-to-haves and I'll get back to you. Unfortunately, shipping rates are not cheap, so want to make sure it's stuff that can only come from home. OH WAIT, I've got one thing right now...PRINTED PHOTOS of YOU! My room has concrete walls, so I can't hang anything, but I can stick photos everywhere. And envelopes are CHEAP to mail!! So print out some good ones and send them my way!! (If I'm in them too, I can give them to my learners when I leave, but not required! They can also be PG-13+ and I'll just keep them to myself.) The mailing address is on the blog on the left here...
Till next time...
* Water – meyu
* Toilet – kandhugho
* I'm a teacher. – Ame mitili (sounds like mitiri)
* Good Morning - Moro
* I'm sick. Ame tjutju (sounds like choo-choo)...which I am :-(
Ok, where I left you all was on my first night actually in Divundu. My time there was short-lived, though, as I was set to return to Rundu the following day (last Saturday). Before leaving though I went to the cultural competition that my learners were so diligently rehearsing for the night before. It was Africa's version of a county fair! (Ok, without the animals...that'd probably be dangerous.) People were streaming in (on foot) from miles around. There were food and craft stalls (ok, food and crafts for sale were laid out on blankets on the ground). There were even popsicles (actually, it was watered down juice frozen into a tied sandwich baggy). Kids from several area schools were buzzing around getting their costumes on and I'm sure getting nervous...especially after seeing the very serious faces of the judges underneath the judging tent. Once the performances started, I couldn't see a thing; I'd gotten there late and all the prime real estate was taken. But one of my learners recognized me from the night before, gave me an enthusiastic greeting, and insisted to someone else with authority I be given a good viewing spot. Before I knew it I was in the front row...a little behind the stage (ok, sand pit), but still pretty darn good. The performances were all very similar to the one I described on my last post. Entry dance/song, lots of shoulder shaking, dramatic interpretation, another dance/song, and finally a lot more shoulder shaking.
I watched several performances and then had to get going. My kids got 3rd place! (Though I'm not sure which area their medal was in, it might have been the drama part.)
Then it was back to Rundu, on my first official "hike" (this is Namibian for "hitch-hike"). Before you freak out, this is the way *everyone* gets around here. There are simply not enough cars. So you stand usually at a gas station and watch for cars pulling in in the direction you want to go. You approach, ask where they are going and if they have room for you. Hikes cost money, usually pretty standard rates. A hike from Divundu to Rundu (200km) is N$60-$70 (USD $7.50-$8.75). Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a while to find a driver. This time it took an hour and 20 minutes. Then the drive took 2 hours. By the time we arrived, I was beat!
I won't go into every detail of the weekend as it was mostly errand based, but here are some highlights:
* Sunset drinks and dinner with Megan at the Kavango River Lodge – overlooks the Kavango River, Namibia on one side, Angola on the other.
* Morning "hike" to a gorgeous mission, also on the river, about an hour away to visit a couple of year long WorldTeach volunteers. Saw first "canoe-er" that goes back and forth from Namibia and Angola. (A boy, about 11, in a hollowed out log that constantly took on water.)
* Going through the very bureaucratic but necessary steps to get my paycheck (I budgeted a full day, it took about 3 hours.)
Unfortunately I started getting sick on Monday. At first it felt like just a sore throat, but it quickly progressed to a fever. "GREAT", I thought, "I got malaria...and in record time". (I had gotten a few mosquito bites at dinner on Saturday night).
Tuesday I had to trudge home alone with about a thousand pounds of groceries and feeling like poo. The hike was MISERABLE! I swear I got the slowest moving car on the road. His speedometer was broken, but by watching the torturous signs tick off the kilometers, I estimated 45-50mph. And he sure packed in the passengers, before long my bags were in my lap. Did I mention I still had a fever? When I got to Divundu I had to carry my groceries about 500-600 yards. I made it maybe ¼ of the way, stopping every 10 steps to rest. Thankfully a few kids appeared and helped me the rest of the way. They seemed puzzled when I hugged them :-) You'll be pleased to hear that after some vitamin C and rest my fever abated. I still have a cold, a really sniffly one, but it's not malaria.
Wednesday (today) was my first day of school! My god I was nervous. I barely slept last night (though that might have been the cold medicine). Thank goodness I really only had 2 classes on my hands, as James needed to wrap up a few things with 3 other periods. In my 2 classes I introduced myself and pulled out a world map to show where San Francisco is. This is the first country that I've travelled where people don't know "California" right off the bat. I told them it took me two days to get here...they didn't seem impressed. Now that I think about it, that was pretty dumb. It takes two days to get to Southern Namibia. I had them make little paper nameplates for themselves so I have a fighting chance of learning their names. Then I opened the floor for questions..."what do you guys want to know about Ms. Jackson. You have one day only to ask away." The highlights:
* Do you know 2Pac? (did I spell that right? The rap artist..)
* Do you live by ___? (insert some other rap artist name here)
* How old are you? (they do NOT believe I'm 30)
* Where are your children? (everyone has children in Namibia)
Tomorrow I have several more of these intro sessions. But I actually have 2 real class lessons too. Man I'm nervous again. I came home from school and dove into writing my 2 lesson plans. In math I'll be introducing polygons and interior/exterior angles. In science we're going over physical and chemical changes. Then Friday, no more fluff, all periods will be full on lessons. AHH.
A little info on my classes...
Class size ranges from 20 something to 40 something. Boy/Girl ratio is about 3/1 it seems. The classrooms have no teacher desk/chair. There are enough desks/chairs for the learners, but they are falling apart – seriously. The rooms are dirty and there are no garbage cans – instead trash is swept/thrown in the corner. There are a few tattered posters on the wall, and of course, broken windows. There are chalkboards in all rooms though, thank goodness! The learners carry their MANY composition books (2-3 per class) in plastic bags for the most part. A few have cloth bags. The learners stay in the same room and the teachers rotate. The bell is rung manually, so sometimes it's on time, sometimes not, and sometimes it's not rung at all. In the timetable (schedule), there's no time allocated for changeovers, so if period 1 ends at 7:50, period 2 starts at 7:50. Nice, huh? Teleporters are on order.
I have 32 periods over the week, 40 minutes each. I'm teaching 2 classes of grade 10 math, 2 of grade 9 math, and 3 of grade 8 physical science. They meet 4-5 times a week. The day starts at 6:55am and ends at 12:50. There's an afternoon study session for the learners that stay from 2-4, and an evening session from 6-8. I'm responsible for supervising the afternoon session one week a month. On Mondays and Fridays there is a staff meeting at 6am. But this morning, it started around 6:45.
I of course am flooded with impressions, thoughts, observations, etc. on school and the learners here, but think I'll let them all percolate for another few days before diving in.
Some logistics:
* I know you're dying for pictures. Internet is free here from 1am-5am, so I'm going to get up one of these nights and upload some. I may also try to freeload from a new friend who teaches at the computer lab in Rundu, but remember, that's a 4 hour round trip.
* Please forgive the lack of sending personal emails up until next week sometime. I'm finally to a point where I can settle into a schedule, so hopefully I'll have time for more than just blog blasts. The blog is my attempt to reach as many folks as possible in a single spot.
* Care packages... I've gotten some requests for items. I need to figure out some nice-to-haves and I'll get back to you. Unfortunately, shipping rates are not cheap, so want to make sure it's stuff that can only come from home. OH WAIT, I've got one thing right now...PRINTED PHOTOS of YOU! My room has concrete walls, so I can't hang anything, but I can stick photos everywhere. And envelopes are CHEAP to mail!! So print out some good ones and send them my way!! (If I'm in them too, I can give them to my learners when I leave, but not required! They can also be PG-13+ and I'll just keep them to myself.) The mailing address is on the blog on the left here...
Till next time...
Saturday, June 13, 2009
TIA
TIA. To those of you who don’t know, TIA stands for “This is Africa”. It’s generally used as an explanation for when things aren’t running on time, when stuff breaks, or just general silliness that Westerners have trouble comprehending. However, over the last day and a half, TIA has been running through my head for a much more straightforward reason. I keep looking around thinking, “THIS IS AFRICA!”
We left Windhoek yesterday around 10am. We being me, Megan, Rachael and Mita. It’s an 8 hour drive from Windhoek to Rundu, and as best we can tell, this includes stopovers for animal viewing and potty breaks and time made up by a gross disregard for the posted speed limit. Our driver was either very kind or took personal satisfaction in our girlie squeals each time a new animal was spotted, because he patiently pulled over for each and every one. We saw (in order of appearance more or less): warthogs, baboons, springbaks, kudu, a much larger version of a white springbak that we named “biggun”, ostrich, a zebra, a camel (these 2 were in some bizarre side-of-the-road enclosure), and finally, after we crossed into the Kavango Region, GIRAFFES!! Seriously! Just chillin on the side of the road, a whole family of them! It was clear we had entered “real Africa” as they say…traditional huts lined the road, women walked with things piled high atop their heads, and cattle roamed free. TIA? Oh yessiree.
We arrived in Rundu as the sun was setting, and naturally the notion of a schedule went out the window. The driver that was to take Rachael and Mita to the West had already left. And the guy that was supposed to take me to the East had never planned on it to begin with. Megan’s destination was Rundu, though, so we took her to her new “home”. Oh my. I won’t go too far down this road without first telling you there’s a happy ending…she’s now in a new place. But last night’s place was not good. I took one look around and decided she was not going to be staying there alone, despite the fact that a whole house was being offered to Rachael, Mita and I. She would’ve been safe, but very lonely in an extremely run down apartment with pretty inhospitable hosts. So Rachael and Mita left, and Megan and I spent the evening trying to keep each other calm, periodically giggling over the craziness of the situation and otherwise having quite the bonding session.
In the morning I was READY to GET HOME!! …Very little would’ve stopped me from reaching Divundu today. Thankfully I didn’t have to exert too much of my will, and within about an hour and change, I was in a new car headed east. 2 full hours passed…there is NOTHING between Rundu and Divundu. I don’t even think there’s a petrol station. The landscape changed dramatically though. It went from very obvious desert to fairly green and sometimes lush brush. We pulled off the side of the road and then started driving through the brush toward what looked to be a couple of abandoned buildings. However, we had arrived at my new home and workplace, Divundu Combined School. There were cattle and goats wandering around, many of them being quite loud actually. James (the volunteer I’m replacing) soon appeared and directed us to my house.
I’d been warned about the state of the house, so I don’t want any of you to think I didn’t know what I was getting into. I want to be honest though, to share my ‘authentic experience’. The house used to belong to the school’s principal, but it was abandoned some time ago and left to the termites. A handful of years ago, a few teachers took up residence. In the “living room”, there is a bare table, two school chairs, 1 medium refrigerator (now mine) and 1 small one. There are two broken panes in the front window. The “kitchen” has a rotted out table with a very old and crusty hot plate (only 1 burner works). (James is going to buy a new one for me this weekend we hope.) There are rotted out mostly empty shelves, and a student desk that holds a basin that appears to be a sink. However, there is no drainage, so water simply collects in a bucket that is overflowing at the moment; there is water on the floor. James says he just doesn’t use it. There’s a small room with a toilet, a working sink, and rotting tiles. Another small, dark room has a cold water shower, again with rotting tiles. My room is actually quite nice. There’s a proper full size bed (meaning there’s a box spring and mattress, not just a piece of foam on a metal frame like most of what I’ve seen). I have a wide metal school locker for a “closet” and a dilapidated student desk for a table. My window has a broken pane, but it’s been taped up, more or less. The walls are concrete and very dirty…you could spend a week cleaning them and probably not get very far. Probably the most annoying thing is there is no working door handle or lock for my door. I’ll be rectifying that this weekend if humanly possible.
I share the house with two other teachers, Mrs. Kangura and Mr. Thivghau. They each have their own room. Mrs. Kangura has a son, Pablo, and a babysitter that are both there during the week. And I’m told many other teachers come in to hang out on breaks.
I was immediately the center of attention, as expected. James took me around to introduce me to those who were left (it’s the start of a long weekend so many had already gone home) as well as show me around the school grounds. DCS is also a hostel school, so there are living facilities for the learners. The whole place feels very Little House on the Prairie…there are even tumbleweeds. Everyone here is very warm and welcoming so far. I even got a big hug from Mrs. Kangura.
At the time, the best part of my day was when I finally got to unpack. Two weeks of living out of a horribly disorganized duffle bag is not fun. But I’m fully moved in now and it feels great. I was then informed of the farewell party for Mr. James (Mr. Saunderson) and the welcome party for me – whoo hoo!
This is getting a bit long again so I’ll make it snappy. The partygoers were all school staff, about 15 people (there are a few more but they’d gone home for the weekend). However, there was a Master of Ceremonies as well as a numbered, very detailed (and typed) program that had been distributed to everyone earlier. The general flow was speech, song, repeat – about 5 times through. The first or second song was “In the Jungle”, seriously, and I nearly lost it. Later on though “Happy Birthday” was sung so I guess it’s all par for the course. The speeches were thanking Mr. Saunderson, begging him never to forget Divundu, and welcoming me. They had James say a few words as well, and asked me to do the same. Though corny, it was all very touching.
I, however, was exhausted (still am), and decided to make my way back. It was pitch black though, and I couldn’t see the dirt path to follow. Eventually I used my little cell phone light so I stopped tripping on mounds of sand. Jocie’s precautionary words of “don’t be out alone at night”, “don’t walk through brush without proper foot protection” kept running through my head. Oh well, I guess those are both out the (broken) window.
When I finally made it back to the school I heard drumming and singing. The learners have some sort of cultural contest and they were having a dress rehearsal! I tried to quietly watch from a distance, but that lasted for about 2 seconds. Soon I was up in front getting my own translation of the story being acted out (something involving a family, a precocious girl, and a lion). The kids were wearing traditional dress, stomping their feet, and singing while a few boys played the drums. WOW! I tried to imitate their very vigorous shoulder/chest movements, and got loads of laughter in response. “Not like that, Madam, like THIS!” I thanked them all in Thimbukushu (which they loved) and said goodnight.
To those of you wondering, yes, I’m having regular thoughts of “can I really do this??” but I’m uplifted every time I get a smile, wave or giggle. Signing off…
We left Windhoek yesterday around 10am. We being me, Megan, Rachael and Mita. It’s an 8 hour drive from Windhoek to Rundu, and as best we can tell, this includes stopovers for animal viewing and potty breaks and time made up by a gross disregard for the posted speed limit. Our driver was either very kind or took personal satisfaction in our girlie squeals each time a new animal was spotted, because he patiently pulled over for each and every one. We saw (in order of appearance more or less): warthogs, baboons, springbaks, kudu, a much larger version of a white springbak that we named “biggun”, ostrich, a zebra, a camel (these 2 were in some bizarre side-of-the-road enclosure), and finally, after we crossed into the Kavango Region, GIRAFFES!! Seriously! Just chillin on the side of the road, a whole family of them! It was clear we had entered “real Africa” as they say…traditional huts lined the road, women walked with things piled high atop their heads, and cattle roamed free. TIA? Oh yessiree.
We arrived in Rundu as the sun was setting, and naturally the notion of a schedule went out the window. The driver that was to take Rachael and Mita to the West had already left. And the guy that was supposed to take me to the East had never planned on it to begin with. Megan’s destination was Rundu, though, so we took her to her new “home”. Oh my. I won’t go too far down this road without first telling you there’s a happy ending…she’s now in a new place. But last night’s place was not good. I took one look around and decided she was not going to be staying there alone, despite the fact that a whole house was being offered to Rachael, Mita and I. She would’ve been safe, but very lonely in an extremely run down apartment with pretty inhospitable hosts. So Rachael and Mita left, and Megan and I spent the evening trying to keep each other calm, periodically giggling over the craziness of the situation and otherwise having quite the bonding session.
In the morning I was READY to GET HOME!! …Very little would’ve stopped me from reaching Divundu today. Thankfully I didn’t have to exert too much of my will, and within about an hour and change, I was in a new car headed east. 2 full hours passed…there is NOTHING between Rundu and Divundu. I don’t even think there’s a petrol station. The landscape changed dramatically though. It went from very obvious desert to fairly green and sometimes lush brush. We pulled off the side of the road and then started driving through the brush toward what looked to be a couple of abandoned buildings. However, we had arrived at my new home and workplace, Divundu Combined School. There were cattle and goats wandering around, many of them being quite loud actually. James (the volunteer I’m replacing) soon appeared and directed us to my house.
I’d been warned about the state of the house, so I don’t want any of you to think I didn’t know what I was getting into. I want to be honest though, to share my ‘authentic experience’. The house used to belong to the school’s principal, but it was abandoned some time ago and left to the termites. A handful of years ago, a few teachers took up residence. In the “living room”, there is a bare table, two school chairs, 1 medium refrigerator (now mine) and 1 small one. There are two broken panes in the front window. The “kitchen” has a rotted out table with a very old and crusty hot plate (only 1 burner works). (James is going to buy a new one for me this weekend we hope.) There are rotted out mostly empty shelves, and a student desk that holds a basin that appears to be a sink. However, there is no drainage, so water simply collects in a bucket that is overflowing at the moment; there is water on the floor. James says he just doesn’t use it. There’s a small room with a toilet, a working sink, and rotting tiles. Another small, dark room has a cold water shower, again with rotting tiles. My room is actually quite nice. There’s a proper full size bed (meaning there’s a box spring and mattress, not just a piece of foam on a metal frame like most of what I’ve seen). I have a wide metal school locker for a “closet” and a dilapidated student desk for a table. My window has a broken pane, but it’s been taped up, more or less. The walls are concrete and very dirty…you could spend a week cleaning them and probably not get very far. Probably the most annoying thing is there is no working door handle or lock for my door. I’ll be rectifying that this weekend if humanly possible.
I share the house with two other teachers, Mrs. Kangura and Mr. Thivghau. They each have their own room. Mrs. Kangura has a son, Pablo, and a babysitter that are both there during the week. And I’m told many other teachers come in to hang out on breaks.
I was immediately the center of attention, as expected. James took me around to introduce me to those who were left (it’s the start of a long weekend so many had already gone home) as well as show me around the school grounds. DCS is also a hostel school, so there are living facilities for the learners. The whole place feels very Little House on the Prairie…there are even tumbleweeds. Everyone here is very warm and welcoming so far. I even got a big hug from Mrs. Kangura.
At the time, the best part of my day was when I finally got to unpack. Two weeks of living out of a horribly disorganized duffle bag is not fun. But I’m fully moved in now and it feels great. I was then informed of the farewell party for Mr. James (Mr. Saunderson) and the welcome party for me – whoo hoo!
This is getting a bit long again so I’ll make it snappy. The partygoers were all school staff, about 15 people (there are a few more but they’d gone home for the weekend). However, there was a Master of Ceremonies as well as a numbered, very detailed (and typed) program that had been distributed to everyone earlier. The general flow was speech, song, repeat – about 5 times through. The first or second song was “In the Jungle”, seriously, and I nearly lost it. Later on though “Happy Birthday” was sung so I guess it’s all par for the course. The speeches were thanking Mr. Saunderson, begging him never to forget Divundu, and welcoming me. They had James say a few words as well, and asked me to do the same. Though corny, it was all very touching.
I, however, was exhausted (still am), and decided to make my way back. It was pitch black though, and I couldn’t see the dirt path to follow. Eventually I used my little cell phone light so I stopped tripping on mounds of sand. Jocie’s precautionary words of “don’t be out alone at night”, “don’t walk through brush without proper foot protection” kept running through my head. Oh well, I guess those are both out the (broken) window.
When I finally made it back to the school I heard drumming and singing. The learners have some sort of cultural contest and they were having a dress rehearsal! I tried to quietly watch from a distance, but that lasted for about 2 seconds. Soon I was up in front getting my own translation of the story being acted out (something involving a family, a precocious girl, and a lion). The kids were wearing traditional dress, stomping their feet, and singing while a few boys played the drums. WOW! I tried to imitate their very vigorous shoulder/chest movements, and got loads of laughter in response. “Not like that, Madam, like THIS!” I thanked them all in Thimbukushu (which they loved) and said goodnight.
To those of you wondering, yes, I’m having regular thoughts of “can I really do this??” but I’m uplifted every time I get a smile, wave or giggle. Signing off…
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Jen Broadcast System
This is a test of the Jen Broadcast System (JBS). My brilliant
boyfriend has found a way for me to send a simple email to update my blog,
rather than logging into Blogger which sucks up data charges. Does it work?
Bueller?
If it does, a very quick update: I'm travelling to my site in the north on
Thursday (11th), not Friday like I may have originally said. Although I'm
told the chances of me actually making it all the way to Divundu is probably
pretty low. We shall see. I'm definitely anxious to get there.
Haven't eaten anything funny since last post ;-)
boyfriend has found a way for me to send a simple email to update my blog,
rather than logging into Blogger which sucks up data charges. Does it work?
Bueller?
If it does, a very quick update: I'm travelling to my site in the north on
Thursday (11th), not Friday like I may have originally said. Although I'm
told the chances of me actually making it all the way to Divundu is probably
pretty low. We shall see. I'm definitely anxious to get there.
Haven't eaten anything funny since last post ;-)
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Language Lessons & Adventurous Cuisines
Wow, so much has happened and it’s only been a few days. I last left off on Wednesday, June 3. We began language lessons that evening. The majority of the group (~ 19 summer volunteers) are heading to the South, so they are learning Afrikaans; they had one teacher. 4 others are up in the North with me who need to learn a tribal language called Rukwangali; they had one tutor. I’m the only one that will be living with the Hambukushu people, so I’m learning Thimbukushu with my very own tutor! Angie is 26 and a lawyer by trade. She grew up around Rundu (the “big town” that I’m 2 hours away from). We dove into Thimbukushu and I love it! Quick lesson for you (just sound out the letters, it’s written as it sounds):
“Hi. / How are you?” – Ngepi
“Fine / Good” – Thiwana
“Thank you” – Ndangi
“Forgive me” – Nithiyererepo
“Beer” - Bira
(And very important for me….)
“I get sick when I drink milk.” – Ame tjutju nge kunwa mahwe.
There are also a few “click” sounds in the language! I’m going to have a tough time describing them, but one easy one is a simple ‘cluck’ where your tongue goes to the back of your mouth from top to bottom. This is a way to express displeasure. J I’ve learned a few other click words that include a sassy way to say No, “to kiss” (which Matt will appreciate), and more.
On Thursday the interesting activity of the day was visiting the New Start Voluntary HIV Testing Centre. It’s estimated that between 20% and 25% of the Namibian population is living with HIV. Namibia uses some of the most advanced and accurate testing technology in the world. It requires a single pinprick of blood and delivers accurate results in 15 minutes. A person can walk into the clinic, give an anonymous name, receive pre-test counseling, the test, and results counseling in under an hour. If they test positive, they are referred to a local hospital where they are started on ARVs for a nominal fee of $4NAM (about 50 cents). In the city and other well populated areas, it seems as if attitudes and beliefs about HIV are changing for the better. However, in the more rural areas there are still many misconceptions about the disease; transmission is frighteningly high. Married women are the fastest growing population testing positive, primarily due to their husbands having extramarital unprotected sex. The whole topic is difficult to swallow, and I’ve only just gotten a theoretical account, but it’s very good to see action being taken and progress being made, albeit slowly.
Thursday evening we went for dinner at a traditional Herero restaurant, which wasn’t so much a restaurant but rather a woman’s backyard. The Herero people are known for ranching, and women who dress traditionally where fabric head coverings shaped like horns. Meat was on the menu, like every menu so far. But most interesting were the “smileys” or goat heads. After the drinks started flowing, a handful of us, under the direction of our Namibian friends, started trying the delicacies. My first taste was of the tongue, which was really very good. It was kind of tough and chewy, but had a great flavour. I also had a bite of intestine (naturally that wasn’t from the head). That was just kind of fatty. Last, but definitely not least came the eyes. I wasn’t first to go, in fact I think I got the last bite (3rd westerner to try). One of my roommates, Cara, had half of one (they were quite large) and I had the other half. It was chewy, slimy, and one part seemed a little gritty to me. About half way through chewing my stomach turned slightly and I had to focus on getting it down. A little later on I could’ve sworn I was burping goat eye ball. But hey, when in Namibia…
Friday was also quite exciting because at long last I got a cell phone! My number is 264-81-445-9652. I can receive text messages and phone calls for FREE!! So get your skype accounts set up! Remember I’m +8 hours from the west coast (+6 from central). My phone also acts as a modem so I am able to get online whenever I want. However, I pay by data-down so please please please do not send me email with big attachments!
Friday evening we were entertained with a private Setswana (pronounced Setsvana) group dance performance. The Setswana people are primarily from Botswana (before the borders were drawn). WOW WOW WOW. These people were absolutely amazing. They kept the beat by clapping and stomping their feet. They had maraca sounding anklets on to add some spice. They sang a capella. We had no idea what they were saying, but they acted out the songs, and as best I can tell they were mostly about men trying to impress the women and the women playing hard to get. I kept tearing up, and for a while I didn’t know why, but it dawned on me that it was hitting me that I was truly in Africa and beginning all that I’d been dreaming about for ages.
My first phone call from home was also on Friday. Matt found a $5 for 1 hour phone deal. YAY! He’s supposed to be sending me the info so I can pass it on to those that want to call.
This is getting a bit long so I’m going to try and wrap it up……Last night we had a “braii” or barbeque. We were celebrating the end of the summer volunteers’ orientation. We had some local musical talent come in to perform as the field director’s boyfriend is “Black Door”, and up and coming artist in Namibia. I’d describe the music as African hip-hop and pop. Presumably the best beat boxer in Namibia also made an appearance. Wow. I was able to contribute to the party with a fire spinning show. That went over quite well as you can imagine, with Black Door asking my friend, “do all Americans do that?” :-)
The summer kids leave tomorrow; 5 of us stay behind for more training specific to our subject teaching classes and our posts in the North. We’re here until Thursday.
All in all I’m having a brilliant time….but I think you probably already figured that out.
“Hi. / How are you?” – Ngepi
“Fine / Good” – Thiwana
“Thank you” – Ndangi
“Forgive me” – Nithiyererepo
“Beer” - Bira
(And very important for me….)
“I get sick when I drink milk.” – Ame tjutju nge kunwa mahwe.
There are also a few “click” sounds in the language! I’m going to have a tough time describing them, but one easy one is a simple ‘cluck’ where your tongue goes to the back of your mouth from top to bottom. This is a way to express displeasure. J I’ve learned a few other click words that include a sassy way to say No, “to kiss” (which Matt will appreciate), and more.
On Thursday the interesting activity of the day was visiting the New Start Voluntary HIV Testing Centre. It’s estimated that between 20% and 25% of the Namibian population is living with HIV. Namibia uses some of the most advanced and accurate testing technology in the world. It requires a single pinprick of blood and delivers accurate results in 15 minutes. A person can walk into the clinic, give an anonymous name, receive pre-test counseling, the test, and results counseling in under an hour. If they test positive, they are referred to a local hospital where they are started on ARVs for a nominal fee of $4NAM (about 50 cents). In the city and other well populated areas, it seems as if attitudes and beliefs about HIV are changing for the better. However, in the more rural areas there are still many misconceptions about the disease; transmission is frighteningly high. Married women are the fastest growing population testing positive, primarily due to their husbands having extramarital unprotected sex. The whole topic is difficult to swallow, and I’ve only just gotten a theoretical account, but it’s very good to see action being taken and progress being made, albeit slowly.
Thursday evening we went for dinner at a traditional Herero restaurant, which wasn’t so much a restaurant but rather a woman’s backyard. The Herero people are known for ranching, and women who dress traditionally where fabric head coverings shaped like horns. Meat was on the menu, like every menu so far. But most interesting were the “smileys” or goat heads. After the drinks started flowing, a handful of us, under the direction of our Namibian friends, started trying the delicacies. My first taste was of the tongue, which was really very good. It was kind of tough and chewy, but had a great flavour. I also had a bite of intestine (naturally that wasn’t from the head). That was just kind of fatty. Last, but definitely not least came the eyes. I wasn’t first to go, in fact I think I got the last bite (3rd westerner to try). One of my roommates, Cara, had half of one (they were quite large) and I had the other half. It was chewy, slimy, and one part seemed a little gritty to me. About half way through chewing my stomach turned slightly and I had to focus on getting it down. A little later on I could’ve sworn I was burping goat eye ball. But hey, when in Namibia…
Friday was also quite exciting because at long last I got a cell phone! My number is 264-81-445-9652. I can receive text messages and phone calls for FREE!! So get your skype accounts set up! Remember I’m +8 hours from the west coast (+6 from central). My phone also acts as a modem so I am able to get online whenever I want. However, I pay by data-down so please please please do not send me email with big attachments!
Friday evening we were entertained with a private Setswana (pronounced Setsvana) group dance performance. The Setswana people are primarily from Botswana (before the borders were drawn). WOW WOW WOW. These people were absolutely amazing. They kept the beat by clapping and stomping their feet. They had maraca sounding anklets on to add some spice. They sang a capella. We had no idea what they were saying, but they acted out the songs, and as best I can tell they were mostly about men trying to impress the women and the women playing hard to get. I kept tearing up, and for a while I didn’t know why, but it dawned on me that it was hitting me that I was truly in Africa and beginning all that I’d been dreaming about for ages.
My first phone call from home was also on Friday. Matt found a $5 for 1 hour phone deal. YAY! He’s supposed to be sending me the info so I can pass it on to those that want to call.
This is getting a bit long so I’m going to try and wrap it up……Last night we had a “braii” or barbeque. We were celebrating the end of the summer volunteers’ orientation. We had some local musical talent come in to perform as the field director’s boyfriend is “Black Door”, and up and coming artist in Namibia. I’d describe the music as African hip-hop and pop. Presumably the best beat boxer in Namibia also made an appearance. Wow. I was able to contribute to the party with a fire spinning show. That went over quite well as you can imagine, with Black Door asking my friend, “do all Americans do that?” :-)
The summer kids leave tomorrow; 5 of us stay behind for more training specific to our subject teaching classes and our posts in the North. We’re here until Thursday.
All in all I’m having a brilliant time….but I think you probably already figured that out.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Jen actually IS in Africa!
It was 48 actual hours from my first takeoff to my last landing. I might have my kids calculate distance traveled as an exercise. They can use some trig to figure out how many kms shorter it would have been if I’d flown direct from New York to Johannesburg rather than through Dubai. But, I digress.
All made it safe and sound. The group was 21 people ages 18-30 – pretty good odds if you ask me. There was only one case of lost luggage and that was back in the states. Also, no luggage appeared to be rifled through, except for good ole Homeland Security in a few instances.
I watched 4.5 movies and fitfully slept the rest of the time. For the first time in a very long time I was stuck in a middle seat on both the 12 hour and 8 hour flights. Emirates is pretty plush, though, I have to say. The Dubai airport was interesting, particularly the Irish pub that played country music and charged $12-$15 USD for pints. But 7 hours in one artificially lit place is just too much, especially from 8pm to 4:40am.
At long last we arrived in the proper hemisphere, landing in Johannesburg. We had much less time to explore and essentially went straight through (not without receiving nifty SA stamps in our passports though). We then boarded a much smaller (by Emirates standards) plane and took off for Namibia, and it wasn’t long before we were flying over obvious desert. I knew Namibia was an empty place, but flying over the southern half definitely confirmed that. I felt like crying and hollering “whoo hoo!” when we landed, both in celebration of a long journey finally ending. My luggage came out of the carousel first so I was stamped and breathing African air in no time.
It was a 40 minute bus ride from the airport to our accommodations, a hostel in the capital city, Windhoek (pronounced Vind-hook). I was surprised at how large it is, but I’m told you can easily drive across it in 10 minutes. We were all knackered, to say the least, but had an hour meeting, then dinner, before passing out (in my case, for 12 hours).
Our first full day consisted mostly of training at the hostel, but we were taken for a walking tour through town. Unfortunately the cell phone that I needed to get that is also going to work as a modem for my laptop required a taxi ride to another store, so I had to put it off until later in the week, and there was no time left for internet café-ing.
Today (June 3) I've made it to the Internet, obviously. I'm feeling a little bit more at home in town now that I've gotten to make two trips. Things in the capital feel a lot like any modern-ish city. There are shops, cafes, traffic (left side driving and walking!). It's quite cool in the mornings and rather warm (hot actually) during the afternoon. The sun sets pretty early (5:45).
Some translations/references so far:
1 beer (Windhoek Lager) = $10NAM (80 cents USD)
30 min internet = $10 NAM
Now = "Now Now Now" (if you just say "now" that means probably never. "now now" means soon. "now" actually means now, or very soon.)
I'm hopefully going to have a phone and internet on my computer on Friday. I will post my number when I get it, plus instructions for calling/texting.
Until next time...
All made it safe and sound. The group was 21 people ages 18-30 – pretty good odds if you ask me. There was only one case of lost luggage and that was back in the states. Also, no luggage appeared to be rifled through, except for good ole Homeland Security in a few instances.
I watched 4.5 movies and fitfully slept the rest of the time. For the first time in a very long time I was stuck in a middle seat on both the 12 hour and 8 hour flights. Emirates is pretty plush, though, I have to say. The Dubai airport was interesting, particularly the Irish pub that played country music and charged $12-$15 USD for pints. But 7 hours in one artificially lit place is just too much, especially from 8pm to 4:40am.
At long last we arrived in the proper hemisphere, landing in Johannesburg. We had much less time to explore and essentially went straight through (not without receiving nifty SA stamps in our passports though). We then boarded a much smaller (by Emirates standards) plane and took off for Namibia, and it wasn’t long before we were flying over obvious desert. I knew Namibia was an empty place, but flying over the southern half definitely confirmed that. I felt like crying and hollering “whoo hoo!” when we landed, both in celebration of a long journey finally ending. My luggage came out of the carousel first so I was stamped and breathing African air in no time.
It was a 40 minute bus ride from the airport to our accommodations, a hostel in the capital city, Windhoek (pronounced Vind-hook). I was surprised at how large it is, but I’m told you can easily drive across it in 10 minutes. We were all knackered, to say the least, but had an hour meeting, then dinner, before passing out (in my case, for 12 hours).
Our first full day consisted mostly of training at the hostel, but we were taken for a walking tour through town. Unfortunately the cell phone that I needed to get that is also going to work as a modem for my laptop required a taxi ride to another store, so I had to put it off until later in the week, and there was no time left for internet café-ing.
Today (June 3) I've made it to the Internet, obviously. I'm feeling a little bit more at home in town now that I've gotten to make two trips. Things in the capital feel a lot like any modern-ish city. There are shops, cafes, traffic (left side driving and walking!). It's quite cool in the mornings and rather warm (hot actually) during the afternoon. The sun sets pretty early (5:45).
Some translations/references so far:
1 beer (Windhoek Lager) = $10NAM (80 cents USD)
30 min internet = $10 NAM
Now = "Now Now Now" (if you just say "now" that means probably never. "now now" means soon. "now" actually means now, or very soon.)
I'm hopefully going to have a phone and internet on my computer on Friday. I will post my number when I get it, plus instructions for calling/texting.
Until next time...
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