Gazing West

Leases, Commuting and Furniture, OH MY!

2010-09-13T19:22:00.000-04:00

I have been back “home” in San Francisco for 3 ½ months, yet with how “settled” I guess I am it feels like it could be 3 ½ years. And were it not for still running into friends asking, “hey how was that sailing trip or your Africa thing?” it might feel as if they never happened.

3 weeks after coming home, I received and accepted a job offer from a company acting as a business network for cleantech, renewable energy and sustainable development. My job as Community Manager is to…get this…architect educational and networking conferences within those fields. I write the agendas, find the speakers/panelists and then promote and produce the events. Within a year, I will have personally met everyone who is anyone in the cleantech field in the Bay Area. Score!

About a week after the job came through, I found an apartment in the city, signed a 1-year lease, and moved in a few days later. It is a large 1-bedroom with parking – very central in the city. Then I went a little Craigslist-happy and started buying actual grown-up furniture…I have a matching bedroom set, a couch, and even a dining area for 6.

And yesterday, I finished unpacking the last box and hanging the last picture on the wall.

I wake up every morning around 6 (ok, I end up snoozing until 6:30), shower, eat oatmeal and ride my bike into work. By 16:30, I’m working out in the gym.

I’m dating, sort of, though that doesn’t seem to be going very well yet.

I even managed to make it out to the desert for Burningman, the mother of all excess, to participate in this year’s celebration of cities: Metropolis.

The irony of it all is not lost on me. I’ve gone from a backpack, albeit a heavy one, to an apartment full of stuff that would require a moving truck and beefy boys to deal with. Whereas I spent less than $300 for my solo travels around Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, my latest credit card bill is five times that. On the boat, my “worries” were about as worrisome as which movie to watch, whether or not it was warm enough to stay up on the flybridge for my night watches without a jacket, and if I had to sew the patch on the damn gennaker again. Here, now, well, I worry about a lot more – though why I do is a good question to ponder.

A part of me feels hypocritical. Did I not learn anything from living sparsely on the bare necessities? Why am I bogging myself down with earthly possessions and legally binding documents? Another part of me feels content with putting down roots, for now, knowing that the big wide world is out there to sail off into and explore when the time is right in the future. I mean, hey, we all know I can do it. .

Someone asked me last night what I came home with after my experiences abroad for a year. I am always noticeably aware of how gluttonous my surroundings are, and how excessive I, just by simply living in this world, can be. (Though my only clothing purchases have been at Goodwill and I always shut off the water while brushing my teeth. Ehem, in full disclosure though, I do linger too long in my luxurious hot showers.) It is very easy to blink my eyes and have a camera click shutter sound go off in my head and see my environment drop away and get replaced by my environment in Namibia. I look at the nice pens and pencils on my desk and flash to the 1-inch shred of wood my learners used to painstakingly copy their notes. The list goes on and on, but it boils down to an awareness, which at this point in time I don’t feel will ever fully leave me, that we in the Western world are blessed and so much of the rest of the planet does without. (Yes, yes, there is the question of do material goods equate to a better life….I’m not going to go there.) AND, there’s a quiet satisfaction that comes with knowing that should I choose, I could toss it all and move to Zimbabwe to teach or sail into the sunset. Last but not least, I am cognizant of my need for and value of deep human connection, making me ever more grateful for my loved ones – my mom, my friends – being able to talk to them every day, hug them and laugh together.

For now though, I am here living a “normal” life in San Francisco. I am happy with my decision to come home. I am proud of myself for recognizing my fears and facing them head on rather than running from them. I feel as though I am in alignment with and in the good graces of the Universe.

Thanks for following. Until the next adventure……….Jen Jackson, out.

Home Sweet Home

2010-06-10T20:56:00.002-04:00

Dorothy had it right; there really is no place like home. The world is full of jaw-droppingly beautiful places, amazing cultures to interact with, and damn fun things to do, but for this girl, the rest of the world isn't home. San Francisco Bay is. I am blessed. Every so often my wanderlust kicks in, I dream up some wacky international adventure, and I make it happen. But I always have SF to come back to (regardless of whether or not my name is on a lease there). My friends have welcomed me back with open arms, and in the case of my dear friend Deb, she's opened her home to me as well.

I've hit the ground running by polishing up my resume and applying to several positions, plus talking to a couple of entrepreneurial friends getting their own companies off the ground. (Know of a job? Email/Call me!) I'm also offering my services to anyone interested as a personal assistant - someone who can wait around during those annoying 4 hour furniture delivery or internet service windows, go to the DMV, etc. all of the things you'd normally have to take time off of work for but really don't want to. (Need a hand? Call/Email me!) And thankfully, I have at least a few weeks of get-togethers with friends who want to hear stories of the high seas to keep me busy.

In my last post I said I was afraid of coming home because I didn't know what to do with myself there and of the state of the economy. Now that I'm actually here it doesn't seem that bad. There seem to be more job listings than there were last year. I suspect there are a lot more applicants too, but at least jobs are out there. My spirits and confidence are up. There's a reason "JenJackson" is a verb. JenJacksoning is setting out to do something and getting it done.

I'm still a little regretful about not meeting back up with the Spirit of Nyami Nyami for a bit of actual fun cruising through French Polynesia. I made the right decision though. It's time to be home for a good long while. I'll cross the Pacific again someday; I know it, but next time it'll be on my boat with my person or my people ;-)

As you likely tuned into this blog for adventure tales, and I started it to write them, this will be my last post. It has been an absolute pleasure to share my stories with you all and know that you've enjoyed reading them. Thanks for all the support and well wishes along the way. And remember, next time you dream up an adventure, don't let it pass you by - JenJackson it, you'll be so glad you did.

Love,
Jen

Pictures...FINALLY!

2010-06-10T20:55:00.000-04:00

I've got 3 albums for ya:

LOTS of sunset pictures (can't be helped) - a handful of giggly narrative videos...
Hope you like em.

To the Galapagos

Pacific Passage

French Polynesia

Purpose

2010-05-30T00:13:00.001-04:00

The ticket isn't booked yet, but it's really only because they are ridiculously expensive and my mom and I are trying to find the absolute cheapest we can.

I'm coming home this weekend.

It dawned on me today while scrubbing Bubas clean for the owners arriving tonight...I'm now out here for the wrong reasons. I said I wanted to cross the Pacific, and that I'd keep going if the circumstances were right. But you see, the "keep going" part was really just to avoid going back home. So now that I've completed the passage and I've been struggling to find the right situation to continue, I have to be honest with myself. I'm only still here because I'm afraid of going home. I should well know by now, if you do something or go somewhere for the wrong reasons, it's never going to feel right. I could say that I'm here for the sailing and the travel and the lifestyle, and while there's a part of me that's *definitely* into it (and still wants to do it when the time is right), the part that's just staying out for the sake of staying out far outweighs the former.

Some of you might be asking yourselves what about home scares me. The answer is I don't know what to do with myself back there. The economy is in the poo poo house; very smart and capable people I know have been looking for work for well over a year. And San Francisco isn't exactly a cheap place to wait it out. Course, as I'm finding, neither is the South Pacific. I operate best in a startup/small company environment, and the areas I'm most passionate about are green technology, renewable energy, sustainable development, etc. I've been putting out some feelers (ok, 1 feeler) but in these uncertain times, everything is, well, uncertain. So if any of you out there know of an opportunity, please send me an email. I'm willing to take ANY job for the time being too. I don't need the perfect position, I just need to not be sitting on my hiney day in and day out. Oh, I also need a place to live. I'll be staying with a friend for a bit, but a 6 month (cheap) sublet or something while I sort myself out would be awesome.

So let this be a lesson to you all. When you set out to do something, make sure the reasons for doing so are pure in your heart. If they aren't, while you may find yourself in one of the most beautiful places on earth, you won't be happy.

Fun Solid Beating

2010-05-28T21:34:00.001-04:00

You're scratching your head going "what on earth is she talking about?" This post actually covers these 3 words as separate topics, but I'm in a weird mood this morning and thought I'd jumble it all up.

There are several instances of everyday sayings being derived from nautical terminology, "three sheets to the wind", "posh", "tie one on", etc. But there's at least one time that I believe sailors borrowed from the general public. When you sail upwind or worse, dead on-the-nose (whatever the direction the wind is coming from is the precise direction you need/want to go), sailors call it "beating". I imagine a crew long ago got their hineys kicked in a bar brawl on the night before heading out to sea. They were made to sail into the wind and as the ship bashed about into the waves one of them says, "Man, this feels just like the beating we took last night." Tahiti is southeast of Raiatea. Forecast: 30-35 kts of wind out of the southeast, 2.5-3 meter (7.5-9 feet) seas out of the south. This, friends, made for a proper BEATING. Thank god for two big engines though. We're trying to make Tahiti during business hours on this Friday so that I can track down my shipment of Accutane. I run out today. And, though I'm 4th on the waiting list for a flight to the Marquesas tomorrow, I'm still going to go and sit at the airport and try and get on the flight. But I can't do that unless i get my pills. And if I can't get my pills, I have to get them Monday, but Air Tahiti tells me the next available flight isn't until Wednesday.

I'm heading to the Marquesas to rejoin the Spirit of Nyami Nyami in an effort to try and have some FUN over here. I think I may have mentioned this before. Apologies if so. I am simply not having a good time and haven't since making landfall. We have gone from Rangiroa to Bora Bora to Raiatea, all quite populated busy islands. With the exception of 2 delightful days with some Americans on a nearby boat, I've been in the company of French speaking people who generally do not feel compelled to try and include me in the conversation at all. I've been choking on the prices of each and every little thing, and frustrated with not being able to get a SIM card so I can at least whine to my mom about it all. Bora Bora, while beautiful, is an island full of pretty unhappy people with a lot of negative energy. This is confirmed both by Jean, a former resident of 12 years and his friend Terry, a current resident. It took me a couple of days just to get my mood to a more reasonable level after leaving there. Raiatea was better, especially because we were at a dock and I had the freedom to come and go, and that's where I met my new American friends. But I hear other cruisers talk of going to itty bitty islands and going spearfishing with the locals and trading for pearls and awesome scuba diving.......and I'm getting none of that, just the price tag of French Polynesia. So I'm hoping Nyami will help me experience these islands as they should be experienced, and to have some fun.

Whether it's the lack of fun, or the news of Bob's death, or the fact that I've accomplished my goal of crossing the Pacific, or just cosmic forces at work, I've been experiencing an increasing desire to go home. I was thinking about it for a little while without saying anything. Then I started mentioning it to a few people. Now I've begun kicking around ideas for what going home would look like. My friend Mota helped frame the feelings for me. He said, "Jen, you seem to be ready for something SOLID. Sailing around on other people's boats may be fun, but it is anything but solid." I think "solid" in the cruising lifestyle means you're with a partner or family, or you have your own boat. I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't hoping I'd find said partner out here and we'd sail off together into the sunset (oh comeon I had to say it). But so far there doesn't seem to be any 35-45 single men singlehanding and looking for a lady out here. And doing it on my own? Well folks, I'm kinda lonely. I've had an awful lot of alone time for the past year, in fact, about 11 months worth. I miss my friends and family. I miss my Godson who apparently only cries now when there's something actually wrong (or so his mother tells me). I miss phone calls. I miss hugs.

I got it into my head during one of my watches last night that if I can't get this plane to go back to Don's boat, that I'd just catch one to L.A. instead (then S.F.) I don't know if that's what I'm going to do; that's pretty rash, even for me. And I do believe I really should give fun a chance. But home is calling, and it's getting louder and louder.

Death and Facebook

2010-05-23T21:30:00.003-04:00

The biggest quiet concern about travelling to far away lands is that something will happen to your loved ones when you are away. I say 'quiet' because no one likes to talk about it. Even worse is when you're going to be out of touch for a while. The first time you check your email you can hardly contain yourself with all the excitement of hearing from friends and family, but at the same time you silently dread the worst.

Sadly, when I arrived in French Polynesia after the 30 day passage, I learned that a friend of mine, Bob Seymour, had passed away the previous weekend. International internet connection troubles painfully throttled the pace at which I got the details surrounding his death. For the first several hours all I knew was that he had died tragically. Then I learned he had committed suicide, and much later I was told how and why.

It's a week now since I've known, and still as I sit writing this I'm getting choked up. I met Bob back in 2003 when I joined the camp "Love Project Unlimited" (LPU) for my first trip to Burningman. From our introduction to the last time I saw him Bob was nothing short of delightful. He was always smiling, willing to help and had natural energy in a sea of intoxicants. Even when something was frustrating or difficult, Bob would be there bearing down, working hard, but still positive and the first to shoot me a grin. One of my favorite memories of Bob happened out on Market Street. He rode his bike to work everyday (though I have no idea how, up the hill to Twin Peaks!) and I took the bus, so was often waiting around on the street. You couldn't miss Bob; he always wore bright yellow neon. One day I saw him just a little past me and I called out, "BOB!" He didn't turn around. So I tried again, "BOB, NICE ASS!!" That did it; he screeched to a halt and looked around dazed to find me laughing hysterically :-)

While Bob was certainly someone I could always count on, I can't say that he was a good or a close friend. I just didn't know the guy that well. He pretty much always showed up to all events, and we'd have a short to medium length chat, but they were just chats. I tried to talk-talk with him, learn more about him, but he never seemed open to it. Everyone else had a similar experience with him...no one *really* knew the guy. I only had one talk with him, and ironically, it was about death. Unfortunately, even at my young age (31), I've had to deal with a lot of death. I've lost very close family, good friends and even a lover. It was early 2008 and I had just gone through a very difficult time of losing 3 family members over the course of 3 months. Bob offered his condolences and told me how he'd never really lost anyone he was close to, though he was a fair bit older than I. He knew he'd have to face it eventually; he was scared and asked how I dealt with it. I told him that the one thing I had learned is that you have to give yourself permission to grieve as much and for however long you need to. Everyone is different, so if anyone tells you you *should* be getting over it by now, just tell them where to stick it.

Now I'm sitting in a beautiful island paradise dealing with *his* death, and everytime I *should* be having fun, diving/snorkeling etc., I'm thinking of him. (Which I've given myself every right to do.) Yesterday, the internet connection was relatively stable, so I was cruising Facebook. I'd wondered what happens to one's profile when you die...what if no one has your password to deactivate your account? Does it just stay frozen in time? Should a "Deceased" status be added to the Single, In a Relationship, and Married list? As it turns out, at least for Bob anyway, his Facebook page has turned into a memorial of sorts. Loads of people have posted messages, photos and condolences and notices went up about services and gatherings. The messages were the most poignent. "You made the world a better place." "Thank you for always being there with a smile on your face." "I wish I knew you better; what little I knew was wonderful." ALL these people pouring out ALL this love to Bob in a medium he isn't likely to see (unless Facebook is available in the afterlife, which isn't entirely outside of the realm of possibility, but still...). I couldn't help but think, what if we told each other how much we love and care for one another BEFORE we go, maybe in such a way that we can save it and look at it when we get low. Bob said in his note that he knew he had support from many friends, but he didn't feel he could turn to anyone for help. Maybe if he knew the depth of everyone's love and support, saw it immortalized on his profile, just maybe.................

Is there a "Tell me How Much You Care About Me and Why" or "Living Memorial" Facebook app? There should be.

Bob, I wish we had talk-talked more. I loved your energy, your smile, your selflessness and how you always seemed to be boppin to music. You could have called on me for anything. I'll miss you...and your nice ass.

A Drop in the Bucket

2010-05-21T15:59:00.001-04:00

May 20

Going to sea now for just a couple of days feels like a drop in the bucket. 2 days? Pssshhtt. That doesn't even register after 30 days. However, it is enough to make me all warm and fuzzy happy again. I do love it out here.

While I miss having a buddy (Oly), it's nice to take a more active role with the boat. Jean has a great deal of experience, but there's something about his manner which makes it feel like this is really a co-skipper arrangement. We're sharing the duties well. He has local knowledge of where we should go, but the only detailed chart we have is what's on my computer. And he's new to the workings of the Raymarine chart plotter and auto pilot. So he points to the place we need to go on my computer chart, and I enter it into our route for the autopilot. I'm glad to be pulling my weight. If I weren't here things would be considerably more difficult for him, not only the navigation, but also dealing with arriving and departing (launching/securing the dinghy, anchoring) and the obvious round-the-clock watch-keeping. Elze, though I'm sure she means well, has the unfortunate combination of timidness and poor to no English plus not ever having been on a boat before. So when we ask her to do something plus gesturing and demonstrating, we're met with "Eh?" It's fine - Jean and I are quickly sorting out our little team.

We had no wind for the first full day, but we are finally cruising along now under main and jib at about 6-7 knots. Life is good.

Well, sailing life is good. Food life? Notsomuch. We're down to the bottom of the barrel from the crossing, and since food was so expensive in Rangiroa, we opted for just a few basics. Sadly, no fish have found their way to us either, so dinner tonight consisted of opening up 3 cans and boiling a package of pasta. Yum. BUT, I did get inspired this afternoon and decided I could figure out how to make tortillas sans Google instructions. (I had a failed attempt about a week ago.) But today, SUCCESS! I wanted to do beef tacos, but we have no beef so it was turkey chili + rice + a mild picante I mixed up. It was actually pretty good, though it was chili and you wouldn't think so. (The tortillas were the best part!)

Very early this morning we will arrive in Bora Bora. Jean asked me tonight what Americans think Bora Bora means. I said "honeymoon". He laughed and agreed. He said it's like that for people from all around the world. He doesn't know why it got that reputation, but it is his personal belief that it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. It'll be nice to be there with a (former) resident. He worked for years at the Club Med there before it shut as well. Can anyone give me a "Hands UP"? :-)

UPDATE: Arrived Safe and Sound in Bora Bora, 0800 local time May 21, 2010

Le Plan

2010-05-19T02:58:00.001-04:00

(How'd ya like that French, eh?)

Well, now we are 3. Oly left yesterday to make his way to the states for a EMT course he's taking. It's Jean, Elze and me now. I miss him, and English. I got so excited today when I met a couple from England that I just started blabbing within a second of hearing them speak. But the 3 of us get along fine, albeit without much chatter.

Anyway, our plan is to head to Bora Bora tomorrow morning. It's about a 40 hour sail. Jean has family and friends there that he wants to visit. Then we will go to Raitea (sp?) for a day or two and then on to Tahiti by the 27th. In Tahiti, I'll be able to pick up my medicine and then we'll do a proper scrub down of the boat. The owners are arriving on or around the 30th.

I've been in touch with Don from Spirit of Nyami Nyami and they are happy to re-adopt me. They made it safely to the Marquesas, which gives me a renewed confidence in the crew and vessel. And, I miss the easy camaraderie with them. We are still sorting out if they will be coming to Tahiti around the 30th or if I need to go and meet up with them. I'm hoping the former as flights here are super expensive.

Actually, EVERYthing is super expensive. I'm talking unbelievably so. 1 normal size bottle of local beer and 1 hour of internet is $5.60 US.

I went for a scuba dive today. It was ok, though not spectacular. Saw a couple of medium size silver-tip reef sharks, a huge swarm of jack fish that you see pictures of all spiraled up, a small moray and a small lion fish. But the rest of the day was spent getting diesel. Ay vey. We had to make 2 trips with our 4 5gal jerry jugs to get 40 gallons. Each trip involves dinghying to the beach, heaving it up on shore, treking out to the road, hitchhiking to the other end of the island where the Shell is, hitchhiking back, dinghy back in water, back to boat, emptying each jug one at a time into the tanks. Btw, hitchhiking with 3 people = not easy. It took all afternoon and it was blistering hot.

I'm looking forward to being back on Nyami - it'll be crowded and WAY less comfortable than Bubas, but it'll be nice to have friends again, hang out with other boats and be social. The next 10 days are going to be pretty quiet for me.

Land HO!

2010-05-17T14:51:00.002-04:00

May 15, 2010

We're 153nm from Rangiroa, and we've already started passing a few little islands. We're aiming to arrive early tomorrow morning. Birds have been showing up in greater frequency over the last 5-6 days, and every once in a while I find that my sinuses are a little stuffed up. Now this is pure conjecture, but as we're in vicinity of land, albeit little bits of land (Marquesas are directly North and some little islands of French Polynesia are to the South), I'm guessing that allergens are getting carried in the air.

French Polynesia (FP) covers an area of the South Pacific Ocean about the size of Europe. It is made up of over 100 islands in five archipelagos. Rangiroa is in the Tuamotus Archipelago, once called the Dangerous Archipelago on account of its treacherous currents and lurking reefs. We were not provided with the electronic charts for this area, so our chart plotter which is what steers the boat is useless as we get closer. We have a large scale paper chart for SE Polynesia to help us avoid the little islands, and thankfully, I have very detailed electronic charts on my computer, but we're going to be doing a lot of eyeball navigation.

Oly is a bit stressed. He has a flight from Tahiti to the U.S. on the morning of the 18th. We MUST get in tomorrow (16th) so he can fly from Rangiroa to Tahiti on the 17th, when he'll have to sort out hotel and taxi and all that jazz to make his flight.

We've had rough weather over the last 18 hours or so, going through several squalls. In the worst of it, the autopilot couldn't hold a course (we had to go straight into the wind and waves), so I was hand steering on a joystick down below. (A joystick, seriously? I said to Oly, "I've never used one of these before." His answer: "Playstation Generation" (Remember he's 24 going on 25)). Anyway, we got through it no problems. This morning we've got more rain but no wind or wind on the nose, so we're motoring.

The owners are aiming to arrive in Tahiti around May 30, and they've given Jean permission to take the boat to Bora Bora where his daughter lives. I don't really know what I'm going to do. I've got to get to Tahiti by May 25 to pick up my next batch of Accutane. FP is very very expensive to stay on land, with very few if any sort of hostels. So unless I quickly find another boat to jump on, I may stay with Bubas to Tahiti, Bora Bora, then back to Tahiti. We shall see.

Do We Have To Arrive?

2010-05-17T14:50:00.002-04:00

May 11

Day 17 out of Galapagos, Day 25 out of Panama. We're 700 miles out of Rangiroa and 900 from Tahiti. Depending on the wind, we'll likely arrive at one of the two some time on Sunday, 6 days from now. Aside from wanting a few simple things (to know that my friends and family are all well, fresh fruit and more soy milk), I don't really want to make landfall. I could easily stay out for another week or two, and if we didn't have to be in Tahiti by the 18th for Oly's flight, we'd all vote to slow way down (except for Elze). Sure, it helps that we're all easily getting along, the routine is comfortable, Oly has an inexhaustible supply of movies, I have an inexhaustible supply of books plus more things I *could* be doing if motivated, etc. etc. I don't understand why long passages aren't more appealing to sailors. Get the formula right, and it's kind of heaven.

You don't have to do any 'deciding' out here. My big daily decisions are: lay out or not?, nap or not?, write or do divemaster review or not?, which films today? and if I'm making dinner, what will it be? A few more important ones come up every few days in regards to sailing or the boat, but those are a far cry from "what are you doing with your life? and am I happy?" Know what I mean? I've read stories of sailors, particularly singlehanders (people who sail alone), who get close to land, freak out and turn around and go back out for another few days or a week. "AHHHH, people, conversation, money, noise...NO!"

I realize you can't stay away forever, that in this day and age just about everybody has to come back into the proverbial port. I suppose all I can do is be thankful that I've gotten this chance to cooommmppllleeetteelllyy unplug for so long.

Arrival for me means having to find another boat (sigh), schlepping around my way too heavy backpack and paying exorbitant sums for food and accommodation in Tahiti if I need to stay on land at all. No bueno. The 'find another boat' task brings up an interesting possibility that those of you who have been following from the beginning of the adventure will appreciate...Spirit of Nyami Nyami set out from Cabo San Lucas bound for the Marquesas on April 16, same day we left Panama. It is rumoured to be a 30 day trip from there, so they'd be arriving May 16th ish. To fill you in, while I was in Curacao I was in regular contact with Don from Nyami. When it became clear that things weren't peachy for me, he started trying to woo me back. When Todd offered to fly me to Panama and put me up in a hotel, Don said, hey, just fly straight back to Mexico. When Bubas was still so iffy but it was my last chance sitting in Panama, I truly started considering it. I had fewer reservations about the strength of the boat - Don and Ben had been working daily toward ensuring her safety, but what put me off was by then, they'd picked up a few more crew. Total on board: 6!! I would make 7!! Jeeebbuuuss that's too many people for only a 53' boat. You'd be on top of each other. It'd be like a sleepover for a whole month! Bleh. Anyhow, come landfall, I'll once again have the opportunity to reclaim my Nyamian status. It's a tempting proposition. I'm hoping that one or two folks will want to get off though. Her final destination is New Zealand by November, so it'd be leisurely cruising through the S.Pac island till then. As you know, it was a very sociable boat, and it could end up being a ton of fun. We shall see, dear Readers, we shall see.

My Lucky Stars

2010-05-17T14:49:00.000-04:00

May 14

One of the predominant themes of my last year has most definitely been the sky, that humongous, all-encompassing, awe-inspiring sky that is so easy to ignore or take for granted in most places on earth, but in Africa and on the ocean provides for endless enjoyment and appreciation.

If you forgot about all the sunset shots from Africa, I'll remind you with my sunset set from the Pacific. It's nearly impossible not to photograph the sky some evenings. And, I think the #1 best sunset ever spot has been uprooted by one from this passage. Check it out.

There are absolutely no effects applied to this picture; just point and click. (For the record, Africa still dominates the top 10...I think it's the smoke in the air from all the burning trash that adds the color, lovely :-)

The sun is our favorite and most important star, yes, but I do so love all the rest of them. See, you can't stare at the sun, or even the moon with too much interest for that long. I love a full moon, don't get me wrong, but give me a moonless, cloudless, starry night over a full moon anytime. The starry sky in Africa, particularly where I was in Namibia and the Okavango Delta in Botswana, was nothing short of incredible. The clarity and brightness there, in my opinion, is unparalleled.

Six months later though I find myself under the #2 spot in the best starry sky lineup, the middle of the Pacific ocean. And what makes it even more incredible is that for two whole hours in the middle of the night (Midnight to 2am), I'm awake. Usually I go up on the fly bridge with my ipod (yes, Marion, I'm *still* listening to Disintegration a lot), lay back and just gaze. I've lost track of the number of standard-issue shooting stars I've seen. By standard-issue I mean they're about the size of a pin prick, you see them for just a split second and they seem very far away. Last night though, holy moly, there was a shooting star that was about golf ball size with two super long and clear tails that seemed like it was *right there*! It was visible for so long that I caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye, then turned to see it whizz by for another maybe 2 seconds. And a few nights ago, I saw a full-on meteorite. Again, relatively speaking, it was around the size of a grapefruit. Little fiery bits were flying off it as it plummeted, presumably into the sea. Goodness gracious!

When there aren't these rather exciting astronomical events, there are still gazillions of stars. I guess at the constellations I'm looking at (damn, why don't I bring a star chart?), and seem to see my constellation (the Phoenix that I have tattooed on my back) everywhere I look. The Milky Way is eerie and fascinating, and I like to think that I could roughly navigate at night if I had to :-)

How does the saying go? "Count your lucky stars..."? I sure am; I'm one lucky girl.

About As Far From Anything As We Can Get

2010-05-17T14:41:00.000-04:00

May 6

As of last night, we were around 1800 nautical miles (nm) from the Galapagos and about 1600 nm from Rangiroa, where we are headed. (We're not going to be able to make it all the way to Tahiti in time for Oly's flight on the 18th. Rangiroa is the closest we can get that has an airport). So, we're "in the middle of no where" as they say. It freaked me out a little bit a couple of days ago. I mean, what if someone got really hurt? It dawned on me then how important it is for all of us to be very careful, for everyone's sakes. Anyway, we're now a regular part of a SSB radio net, everyday, in the morning and early evening. We report our position and conditions to several boats in the area. The idea being, if anything *were* to happen, other people nearby know generally where we are, where we're headed, and what's going on on board. Our EPIRB transmits our position to the owner daily as well, but he wouldn't be much of a first responder over in Australia if something were to go wrong.

But nothing is going wrong, I'm happy to report. Well, we are out of fresh produce, so that isn't so nice. But we have lots of Mahi Mahi still plus loads of canned food. But meals are going to start to get pretty depressing from here on out.

We have run into one snafu though, with our sail situation. Bubas has a main, a jib and a gennaker. The main and jib and general rig of the boat are meant for upwind and reach conditions. Downwind, the setup doesn't work so well for a number of reasons that I won't bore you with. Our gennaker is designed for light-ish downwind sailing. Just before we left Panama, it had been repaired - a fairly large rip along the leach. We put it up about 10 days ago for about 10 hours, and it ripped in the same place, plus another spot further up. I worked for ~3 days to put a patch on either side of the top hole (patch came from a pair of shorts on board), and used duct tape and stitching to repair the original tear. Up she went again, this time lasting around 5 hours before opening up in the same spot. (The top patch held well.) We decided the bottom bit really needed a bit patch on both sides, so we used some old flags - Bahamas and Panama. It took another 3 days of sewing, a couple of blisters and bloody finger tips, but I'm finally done (and we're out of sail thread too so there's really no more sewing in my future thankfully). In a couple of hours, we'll run her up again to see how she does. If it tears again, there's nothing more we can do about it, and we'll have to make due with what we have.

On the face front, I'm pretty miserable, but again thankful that only 3 people are here to see it. Still no perceptible side effects, but my chin is an absolute mess. I am going to try to keep repeating outloud, "I will have a healthy face."

Elze continues to be seasick off and on. After so much time out here you'd think she'd have found her sea legs, but I guess some people never do. Poor thing.

We're all continuing on with our mellow rhythm we've established. I tend to nap for a bit after lunch, then Oly and I usually watch a movie. I come up for my 6pm watch and sometimes help with or cook dinner. Then I have some alone time as everyone heads for bed. Between 8 and 10 I usually watch another movie, then sleep for 2 hours before I'm on again at midnight. The last few nights have been absolutely stunning. There's no better place for stargazing; I only wish I had a star chart to learn more constellations. The moon rise last night was one for the mental photo album, and I've stopped counting shooting stars.

I think we've got about 10 days left to go.

PS - the gennaker ripped in a new spot above my patch after about 45 minutes. We're stuck with an unhappy main and and undersized jib, but still making good progress - doing 145-185 nm a day!

Fish Fabulous!

2010-05-17T14:36:00.001-04:00

May 3

Man, we have been catching Mahi Mahi like they're going out of style. We sort of ran out of lures because the damn marlin kept taking them, so Jean made one with the head of an old lure and some frayed rope. Then bing bang boom we caught 3 mahi in 4 days (we were happy to have 1 day off). They've gotten progressively bigger in size, the first (Tom) was maybe 3-4 pounds, the second (Dick) 5-7 and today's (Harry) was 15-20 pounds!

I told Oly several days ago that I wanted to learn to clean them, so when we got Tom, he cleaned and fileted him slowly while instructing. We agreed I'd do the next one. Sure enough Dick came along the following day, and I was up on deck. A few pictures......
Aside from the couple of times that it flopped WELL AFTER being dead and splattering blood all over me which prompted quite the squeals, I jumped right in there and did the whole thing start to finish. YAY ME!

Harry came along today, and he was big, very big (though Oly tells me he wasn't even in the same ballpark as big). I let Oly do the honors as it was decided it should be made into steaks which means cutting through the backbone multiple times.

So we're going to be a little sick of Mahi Mahi after this trip, but seeing as how our protein ran out before Galapagos, none of us are complaining (we'd just prefer a tuna at this point :-)

Macguyvering

2010-05-17T14:29:00.001-04:00

May 1

We're in a fairly closed system out here all alone in the middle of this great big ocean, particularly in the auditory sense. The ocean and the weather have their sounds and the boat has her sounds. Then there's the 4 of us with our voices and our music. But following those, there's nothing else, unlike on land where there's the odd siren or dog barking or stranger calling out to you. So yesterday when I heard a funny "whirring/clicking" that I hadn't heard before, I immediately went out to investigate. It sounded like the fishing reel turning, but more muted. We didn't have a line out though, so it wasn't that. I looked up at the sails. Jib was fine and full, but the main looked....wrong. I waited a second more and heard the whirring/clicking coming from the main - not right.

I popped my head into the hatch and said to Oly, "Something is wrong with the main."

He came up, looked around and agreed there was a problem, but it took him a minute to see it - he tugged on a line coming out the boom and came up with a short, frayed bit of line. "Our first reefing line has snapped. S#$%."

Reefing is a way to make the main smaller so that when you're in heavy weather you don't have to have all of your sail up running on full power. Doing so puts too much strain on the rig, and you're liable to break something. Percentages vary, but 1 reef takes a bit of the sail away, 2 reefs take some more and 3 reefs get you down to a handkerchief. On this passage we'd been putting 1 reef in fairly regularly. On the boats I learned to sail on, a busted reefing line is no big deal. You just run a new line through the proper blocks and off you go. Bubas is different; she has an "easy" reefing system (I'm not sure of the proper term). It's great for single-handing and very safe as you can reef from the safety of the helm. But the price for easy to do is hard to rig. The reefing lines run through the boom, and as our old line had snapped somewhere in the middle of the boom, we had no way to pull a new line through.

I suggested using one of the lines already in the boom to pull through a new one, but each reefing line has its own block inside the boom up at the mast, and there was no way to reach in and re-route a line attached to another. So Oly thought of using a weighted fishing line to send down the boom, but we couldn't make it heavy enough and still small enough to come through the other end. Then we tried attaching the fishing line to an existing line and pulling it through - success! We still had to get it through the right track up at the mast, and sadly, not a wire hanger lives on the boat (an important addition to every toolbox methinks). We fashioned a hook out of some rigid wire, and together with some patient threading and my small fingers we were able to get it routed properly. So now we had a delivery system through the boom - nice! Then it was just a matter of running the new line and rerunning the one we used. It wasn't long before we were back in business and sailing along with our newly run first reef in the main.

The whole process took just under 3 hours. I didn't want to say it at the time as we could've been stuck with a really annoying situation (lacking our 1st reef), but I was having a blast. I love thinking through problems without an obvious answer...digging through everyday items in search of a hidden tool, having mini successes and failures through the various steps A-Z to solve the problem. I call it "Macguyvering". (I watched Macguyver religiously everyday after school, followed by 90210, I was an odd girl.)

So in the end, we have a brand new first reefing line, Oly and I got a healthy dose of Macguyvering and you got a blog post. All is well.

Face Update

2010-05-17T14:27:00.004-04:00

April 28

A couple of days before joining Bubas, I started on the 20mg dose of Accutane. Once again, I was nervous taking it. Up until that point, I still hadn't experienced any noticeable side effects. I braced for cracked lips and peeling skin. But one day rolled into the next, and now I'm 2 weeks into the new dosage.

One of the controversial points about Accutane has been teen suicide, but it's nearly impossible to say conclusively if the two are linked. Teennagers are a depressed lot and some commit suicide. Teennagers (and adults) get depressed when they've got acne covering their faces and they feel as though they look disgusting. Teennagers with acne trouble eventually end up on Accutane (in the U.S., often on much higher dosages - 40mg to 80mg). So does Accutane cause suicide?

Don't worry, now, your author is not going to jump off the boat after tying an anchor to her foot. But I DO GET how feelings of hopelessness can build up about your face. Following the dosage increase, I seemed to get worse. New big blemishes daily, lasting for days on end. To be fair, this is only happening on my chin. The rest of my face seems to be nearly clear and staying that way. I know that there was a chance I'd get worse before I got better. But jeeeezzzz, when do I get better already? It has me wondering if this stuff is even doing anything at all? (Which leads to wondering if I'm doomed with no hope of improvement for life.) So, ya, I understand how depression can creep in and take over, but I personally wouldn't blame the Accutane.

I'm lucky. I'm "stuck" on a boat for 3ish more weeks where only 3 other people have to look at me. Jean and Elze rarely talk to me so I'm guessing they look at me even less. So really it's only Oly that sees what I think of as my awful face. He's a boy though, so when it comes down to it, he's probably looking elsewhere ;-)

I still have high hopes that when I step off the boat in the Marquesas or Tahiti, my face will be healthy.

Day 4 - "Marlin Mania"

2010-05-17T14:26:00.005-04:00

April 27

We've had 3 long days of being becalmed. Last night I asked for wind; today we're cruising along under main and jib at 7 knots :-) (To be fair, this happens to coincide with the last weather report we got in the Galapagos.) It's kind of amazing to me how morale is subtlely affected by our progress, well, it is and it isn't. I could understand it if we weren't motoring and making any progress over those 3 days, if we were just bopping and going nowhere. But we were alternating engines and maintaining 5-6 knots. On that program, we actually have enough fuel to get us HALF way there! (1500 nautical miles!) But everyone was just sort of ho-hum, myself included. I couldn't bring myself to do anything but my watches, reading and watching movies. And now today, with the wind, I'm all excited to sit up and write, after making a big ole bowl of guacamole dip. We did have an injection of adrenaline this morning though. Jean and Elze were on watch and Oly and I were asleep. We woke to the fishing reel going - "FISH ON". Standard procedure is Oly runs for the reel and whoever is on deck slows the boat down (turn into the wind). Sadly, it turned out to be another marlin (we've hooked 4 now I think and they've taken our precious lures - they're just too big to deal with), so I rolled over and tried to get back to sleep. But after a few minutes, the 'click click click, buuurrrrrr' of the line continued. So I popped out of my hatch: "Are you trying to reel in a marlin?" "Yep." "Oh jebus."

For the next 20-30 minutes, Oly reeled and the rest of us sat nervously taking pictures. Any minute this massive and massively pissed off fish would be thrashing around deck. Frankly, I was a bit scared. We'd caught a few glimpses of it, and it was at least 6 feet long, NOT counting bill. Oly decided he couldn't do it alone, he needed the boat to help, so I ran up to the helm. For the next, oh, maybe hour, Oly called out directions for the engines and steering (Port
Engine Forward, Stbd Reverse) and my response would echo his command so he knew I understood. (It was very seamanlike.) We got her closer and closer and she's getting more and more tired. But she got smart and dove under the boat - diagonally, and then back out again. Yes, she wrapped the line around our prop. F@#$@! But we could see her end of the line was still taunt, so she was still hooked. Then I say, "You want me to jump in and see if I can unhook the line from the prop?" "Ya." "OK.(Crap)"

So I run below and throw on my bathing suit and grab my mask. We can't find the sailing knife so I get handed a kitchen knife instead, in case I need to cut the line. "This is safe" I say, "Where is she?" "We don't know." "Great." So plop I go, into the water, convinced that this 200+ pound fish with a massive beak is going to be right there thrashing around in my face, while I'm untangling a propeller in my bikini. Thankfully, she wasn't, and the line was loosely wrapped around the prop so I easily freed it. But, it was still tight around the rudder, so Oly gave me some slack and I dove down deep to free it. YES - off we go again!

Dripping wet, I ran back up to the helm, and we started the whole reel in process over again. Pour Oly is dripping sweat and exhausted by this point, but he puts in another solid 30 minutes. Girl's really getting tired now; she comes near and sort of lolls to the surface, wiggles a bit, then lolls some more. We've got her! Oly tells Jean to gaff her (hook her in the gills). Jean tries once and loses her as she goes around the prop. Crap - line is wrapped again! Oly grabs the hook and has one shot as she's on the side of the boat and before the line breaks. Alas, our 2+ hour ordeal ends, sans fish. Off she goes to fight another day. Between you and me, I'm glad we didn't get her. She was massive, as I've said, and it would have been a struggle handling her on deck, cleaning her and dealing with all the meat. We don't have a working freezer and the fridge isn't huge. Oly was bummed though, after all that work, and Jean was disappointed that he missed gaffing her. But what an adventure!!!

Thankfully the wind stayed with us through all of our mucking about, and after I dove the other prop, we got Bubas cruising along again. Today is the first day I feel like a real sailor.

Deliveries

2010-05-17T14:26:00.004-04:00

April 27

You can't fedex a boat. Well, you *can* ship them but the cost would likely rival that of the boat itself. 9 times outta 10, the boat that you want to buy won't be in your local marina; it may not even be in your country, or your hemisphere. Most sane people, this author obviously excluded, don't want to sail across oceans or go "the hard way" (against wind/current), ever. Sailing is supposed to be fun. But they still want their boat home, so they employ a Delivery crew to get it there.

Bubas' owner employed Oly and Jean as delivery skippers. Jean brought Elze along for company, and I managed to talk my way on as an extra (unpaid) hand for the long Pacific passage.

With very few exceptions, deliveries are not fun, they're not supposed to be fun. There's a deadline, usually, which means little or no island exploring or "cruising". Delivery crews often face the worst weather, as they don't have the luxury of waiting for the right time to go. There's a budget for provisions, which means pretty basic meals. And there's a pretty much constant fear that you're going to be the one to break something on this boat that isn't yours or even a friend of yours. If it's a recently purchased boat, as Bubas is, chances are there won't be much on board in the way of spare parts or tools that tend to accumulate over the years. So, if something goes wrong it's pretty darn tricky if not impossible to fix. If it hasn't been sailed much recently, other sort of "standard-issue" stuff may not be on board either, like red interior lights for nighttime or jack lines for the deck.

If I'd have had my "druthers", I wouldn't be on a delivery, but as a beggar I couldn't be a chooser in Panama, so delivering Bubas is how this gal is getting across the Pacific, to Tahiti anyway.

Pacific CROSSED!

2010-05-17T14:24:00.001-04:00

Arrived safe and sound in Rangiroa, French Polynesia yesterday. I have written blog posts along the way, so I'll go ahead and post them all now in reverse date order.

Google Earth Image

2010-05-03T17:30:00.001-04:00

Google Earth streams the world over wired and wireless networks enabling
users to virtually go anywhere on the planet and see places in photographic
detail. This is not like any map you have ever seen. This is a 3D model of
the real world, based on real satellite images combined with maps, guides to
restaurants, hotels, entertainment, businesses and more. You can zoom from
space to street level instantly and then pan or jump from place to place,
city to city, even country to country.

Get Google Earth. Put the world in perspective.

(http://earth.google.com)

Google Earth Image

2010-04-26T14:46:00.001-04:00

Jennifer's voyage from Panama to Tahiti. The positions shown are
co-ordinates of the vessel at 24 hour intervals sent via the 406 EPIRB

I Heart the Galapagos!

2010-04-23T21:35:00.001-04:00

After a more or less uneventful 6 day passage Bubas pulled into Isla San Cristobal of the Galapagos on the morning of April 22. In the anchorage we saw giant beautiful black birds swooping around, tuna swarming and sea lions and swimmers alike frolicking in crystaline waters. Seriously? We had originally planned to pull in, top up on fuel and food and be underway - in less than 24 hours. It wasn't long after we dropped anchor that a fellow approached in a water taxi, asking if we had an agent (thus continuing the taxing test of Jen's conversational Spanish skills). Once we found out that there wasn't an exorbitant charge (rumoured to be $150/person) for staying longer than a day, we decided to stay 2 :-)

We arranged for a tour of the island following our clearing in procedure, which was quite simple. Our tour consisted of getting taken around the island by a very friendly fellow and getting shown to the key tourist spots - the volcano, a panorama view of the island, the turtle sanctuary and the surf beach with all the iguanas. What we all found amazing was the fact that it was probably close to 100 degrees and super humid down at the boat, but within a few minutes up the volcano, it was probably 75 and quite pleasant. Calling the landscape 'lush' would be an understatement - there's banana, mandarin, guava, etc. trees everywhere. The turtle sanctuary was also quite cool, of course. Some of the turtles are well over 100 years old, and they can weigh 90-110 kilos! We arrived at the surf/iguana beach at sunset. Unfortunately, the iguanas had already gone to bed, so we didn't see any. And even worse, in our quest for them over all the volcanic rocks, Jean stumbled. Opting to protect his camera rather than brace himself for the fall, he crashed head first into a rock. He laid there dazed, bleeding profusely, while Oly and I quickly surmised that he needed stitches, pronto.

Our driver brought us to the hospital, where we were seen immediately. The quite young nurse started mopping up the blood and fished a small rock out of Jean's head. She then numbed him up and put in 5 clean stitches. She ordered an x-ray, wrote out a prescription for 3 types of pills and asked us to come back in 7 days to have the stitches out. I explained we'd be at sea in 7 days, she said 'no problemo.' I asked how much we owed for their services and they chuckled at me. 'No paga nada.' Shocked, I told them that en los Estados Unidos, nosotros pagamos para todos los servicios medicos (we pay for all medical services). She laughed and waved us off.

The little town of San Cristobal is adorable. Most of the streets are cobblestone, the water taxi service drops you off at a little dock that is well lit at night with blue and green neon lights so you can see the sea lions playing, and the buildings are all painted with brilliant colors. The currency is Ecuadorian, but it's tied to the dollar so todo es el mismo (so it's all the same). Provisioning for a passage, however, is extremely expensive...but we knew that and got most of our stuff in Panama.

I am sooooo proud of my Spanish. I've been having legitimate, sometimes long conversations with several people. My grammar is awful I'm sure, but I'm communicating, and often translating for everyone else. Yay me!!

We shove off tomorrow morning. It's 3-4 weeks to the Marquesas, weather dependent of course.

Life on Board

2010-04-23T21:31:00.001-04:00

I'll write a much more detailed account of life on board once we're underway again, but I wanted to give you a little snapshot of how it goes.

I'm on watch 3 times over a 24 hour period.
9am-12noon
6pm-8pm
12am-2am

On watch I simply watch for traffic and make sure we're moving in the correct direction. Bubas has an electronics setup that allows us to specify our destination and then the computer takes into account the wind and current we're experiencing and puts us on the correct course to get us where we want to go. We of course have to make sure the sails are trimmed properly for the wind conditions, but even the winches are electronic, so I'm not ever breaking a sweat through manual labour or brain power. This is *not* how I would like it to be. I'd much prefer having to work a bit more, but beggars can't be choosers, and I am on board a boat crossing the Pacific, so there.

Though we of course wanted more interaction between the 4 of us, the language barrier is significant. So most of the time I'm only chatting with Oly, having only minimal conversations with Elze and Jean.

Off watch I've been reading A LOT (~750 pages so far). My book is FANTASTIC - Shantaram - awesome can't recommend enough. Thankfully I have several on my kindle once I plough through this one. I take little naps throughout the day, and usually watch about half a movie every night before I sleep around 10pm (to later get up again at midnight).

We share cooking and cleaning duties - right now we have no system - we each cook when we feel like it and clean up when we feel it's our turn.

For the longer passage, I really want to write more, and will have to sort out some form of exercise soon.

In the Galapagos!

2010-04-23T14:19:00.000-04:00

Quick post to say - Bubas arrived safe and sound in the Galapagos! Will work on a writeup about this adorable little island to put up later. And you'd think I'd have a blog post all ready to go about the trip so far (since there's not a whole lot to do on board), but I don't! - procrastinator with ZERO excuses, really. K, more to follow.

Signing Off

2010-04-15T11:05:00.001-04:00

<Blows Kiss>
Catch up with y'all on the other side...

Really Diggin Panama City

2010-04-14T18:53:00.000-04:00

Since the passage on Bubas was finally 100%, I decided it was high time I left my hostel and enjoyed a little bit of Panama City. On the recommendation of a Peace Corps Volunteer staying here, I took a taxi to Casco Viejo - the old colonial part of town. I had a most enjoyable afternoon wandering through the old streets marveling over the architecture. Many of the buildings are in ruins, but they still had so much charm!

I found people to be quite friendly, and I was especially pleased to me a girl named Coco, a traveller from France who makes jewelry for a living here. It felt really good to support a fellow gypsy.

I had a fantastic $3 lunch at a little cafe, lit a candle in a cathedral for Brian and got a little teary, and took loads and loads of pictures (probably too many, but at every turn I was struck by beauty in the buildings).

I've decided that I quite like Panama City, and I think Panama as a country would be fabulous to really travel through. Two thumbs up.

Enjoy.

Panama City

(Scarce) Details on the Trip

2010-04-14T18:43:00.000-04:00

We're still set to leave on the 16th, which I just realized is a Friday...which sucks. (Sailor lore.)

We may stop briefly in the Galapagos.

Oly has a flight back to the States booked for May 18, so we have to be in Tahiti by then!

No sailmail aboard, so I won't be able to send email updates from sea. We do have a sat phone though in case we have some sort of emergency.

Bubasian

2010-04-14T11:28:00.000-04:00

Bubas is a Lagoon 440 catamaran. It was purchased in Fort Lauderdale and is making her way home to an area near Brisbane, Australia. The owner and his partner have been aboard up until now, I believe, but they are stepping off for the Pacific passage.

The crew taking her to Tahiti consists of Jean, a very experienced French skipper, Else (along for the ride), his partner, Oly (Oliver), a 25 year old skipper-level sailor from the UK, and me. Jean only speaks a little bit of English and Else doesn't speak any.

I believe we are going straight to Tahiti. I'm waiting on more details about any possible stops before (Marquesas maybe/hopefully) and our estimated passage time. It'll be somewhere in the ballpark of 25 days.

I will be joining the boat on the afternoon of the 15th for a morning departure on the 16th. Not a lot of get-to-know-ya time!!

I'm also waiting on word as to whether or not we'll have sailmail or some other similar application that will allow me to send brief updates at sea.

If we stop in the Marquesas, I may get off there. It's a little less crazy than Tahiti, so I've heard, and one of the highlights of French Polynesia so says a friend of mine. If I'm still in a good mood, I'll find another boat and see if I can keep hopping west.

It's been an agonizing few days, waiting for word on whether or not this passage was going to happen, and I know some of you have suffered right along with me. Your emails and IMs of "any word yet?" have been very cute. In this adventure I've undertaken, "desperate" is not a good place to make decisions from. Then again, when you're there, you don't feel like you have a lot of options. The good news is, this is a new, safe boat that the owner cares very much about it reaching its destination. The 2 professional skippers aboard will do everything in their power to see that that happens.

1.5 days left to kill here in Panama City. At least now that I'm sorted I can venture a little further away from the hostel. (Casa de Carmen is an EXCELLENT hostel, btw, should you ever find yourself here.)

Prescription Medication in Foreign Lands

2010-04-12T15:24:00.000-04:00

Right around the time I arrived in Curacao, yet another pimple proved to be the straw that finally broke this camel's back. I have suffered with acne for as long as I can remember, going back at least 10 years. I'm 31, the teenage stuff should have stopped ages ago. I'm like one of those Proactive commercials - I've tried *everything*, from various drugstore cleansers and remedies, to more expensive "systems" like Proactive and Murad. I've gone on and off birth control pills and I've worked on changes to my diet. I've been to a number of dermatologists who have put me on various antibiotics and prescription creams. Every once in a while something makes it less horrifying, but nothing has completely alleviated the issue. In Africa, my malaria medication doubled as anti-acne, but again, not perfect, and once I got off those meds, the problems resumed with a vengeance. Out on my sailing adventure, I thought that I could shirk it off and not worry about it, and/or that the sun and the salt would take care of things naturally. But after a few weeks of new big, painful zits daily, that often bled and sometimes scar, I realized I simply couldn't take it anymore.

(I should insert a word here to answer all of you who would try to offer comforting comments of "it's hardly noticeable" and "beauty comes from within" and all that jazz. Acne is extremely painful psychologically, and unless you've suffered it or some other deformity, it's really hard for you to understand just how horrifying it can be. I never ever leave the house without makeup (when I'm not in profusely humid environments where I can't). With each new blemish I feel like there are neon lights around it, and my old scars will never fade enough to make me forget they were there. When I see myself in photos I cringe, and I often sit and wonder what my face would be like if it were clear. I know I'm pretty as-is, but gosh what would I look like if...Every single person I meet with flawless or near flawless skin is the subject of my inner jealousy (wrong wrong I KNOW, but can't help it!) And I share a silent sad bond with anyone I meet who also suffers.)

The end-of-the line for acne is a medication called Accutane or Roaccutane overseas. You've probably heard of it, along with its miraculous powers and/or horror stories. Accutane works by reducing the size of your sebaceous glands (oil producing glands), decreasing cell buildup that leads to pimples, killing acne bacteria and reducing inflammation. Once you finish treatment, it's possible that you never have acne again. (Though many patients require a second course some time later).

Sounds fantastic, right? It is until you hear about the side effects: extremely dry skin, very painful cracked lips and extreme sensitivity to the sun. These effects are guaranteed. There's a whole laundry list of others that are possible, including severe liver damage, and in the case of pregnancy, horrifying birth defects. In the US, Accutane is highly controlled. In order to go on it you must submit to monthly pregnancy and liver function tests. And for each monthly refill, you and your doctor and pharmacist have to jump through a litany of hoops and paperwork.

But I'm not IN the states now am I? Back in Curacao I decided to try my luck and getting it, figuring I'd probably at least need to see a doctor. On a little errand run, I kept my eyes open for a clinic, but what I came to first was a pharmacy. Eh, why not, I'll give it a shot. So I walked in and asked the pharmacist if they had it. It took writing out the word before she understood me, but yes, they did in fact have it available. "Have you taken before?" she asked. "Oh yes, I have." "OK. You sometimes have to see a doctor, but for you it's OK." She went to the back and produced a couple of boxes, amounting to 60 10mg pills. The bill was $153 bucks - OUCH. But the prospect of starting treatment right there and then far outweighed the cost.

I took the first pill that night and practically trembled putting it to my mouth. WHAT THE HECK was I thinking taking some medication that severely dehydrates you and increases sun sensitivity when I'm setting out to SAIL in the TROPICS!? But I was going to start out on the lowest possible dosage (per my Doctor's unofficial advise in the states), and treat it with great respect. I'd commit to drinking as much water as I possibly could, use loads of sunblock, but also work on getting a good base down before the medicine really kicked in. And, of course, keep alcohol to a minimum.

After 20 days of 10mg/day, I can safely say I think I'm improving. I knew to expect to get worse before I got better, and really I think I stayed about the same. But the pimples clear up much quicker than before, and my skin tone seems to be evening out. I have not experienced ANY side effects yet, but I literally drink 4-5 liters of water a day. 5 liters is 1.3 gallons. This doesn't count any coffee, juice or soft drinks I may have. I put on 30spf on my face every morning, and duck out of the sun when I think I've had enough (usually not more than 15 minutes if I can help it).

I will do 10mg/day for another 10 days. Then, per doctor recommendation, it'll go to 10mg 2x/day. This will last for another 3-5 months.

Obtaining more in Panama was slightly more involved, but not by much. I went to a pharmacy and found that I did in fact need a prescription. Just having the pills wasn't sufficient as it's a regulated medication. I was directed to a doctor on the next block. For $5 he wrote me a scrip for a month. I told him I should probably get 2 months worth since I'm heading out on a boat. OK, another $5 then. I walked back to the pharmacy and the ladies got upset - I didn't have the prescription in triplicate. One called the doctor and found that he didn't have carbon paper. So, get this, she sort of tucks the special in-triplicate pad of forms into the crook of her wrist, and discreetly beckons me to follow her. (All communication only in Spanish btw, with the doctor as well). We walk over to the doctor's office and he signs where he needs to. Back at the pharmacy, I'm all sorted with 1 month of pills at my new dosage - so 60 10mg pills for $106 (cheaper than curacao, but still expensive). The whole scenario took about 45 minutes.

I suspect that the increased dosage will result in more noticeable dryness, as if I go with less water for a day (when I was on/off planes, buses, taxis), my skin gets scaly. But presumably my face will get even better. And with time, it'll even be pretty, in my eyes.

Transiting the Panama Canal

2010-04-12T13:13:00.000-04:00

As previously mentioned, I arranged to be a line handler for a German couple on a sailboat called Momo. As 4 line handlers + the captain are required to transit, they arranged to have 2 "professional" line handlers join as well. Last, an Adviser from the Canal Authority must be aboard. (For a sailboat used to only having 1 or 2 people, this many people can be very overwhelming!)

I said goodbye to the folks on Shayele and thanked them profusely for my timely rescue, and we set out to the anchorage to wait for our line handlers and adviser. The German couple consist of Uwe (pronounced 'Uve') and Bridgette. They are circumnavigating over about 3.5 years.

The line handlers came first, Beqa and Mauricio, locals from Colon. Our Spanish-English-German conversations were entertaining. As per usual I'm fine with small talk but can't get into a much deeper conversation. Uwe was at about the same level - impressive! About 3 hours later (tarde!) our advisor, Emiliano, was dropped off by a pilot boat (scary maneuver) without incident.

We were off in a jiffy, motoring full steam ahead to the entrance to the Gatun Locks, which raise boats 26m from sea level to Gatun Lake.

Small boats usually (not always) raft up (tie together) to transit. We, luckily, got to tie up with Shayele, and our little paqete (package) was behind a big container ship. Being tied up meant we only had to have 2 line handlers, one at the bow and one at the stern, so Bridgette and I got to be on camera duty!

Inside the locks, the line handlers are thrown "monkey fists", weighted balls that carry lightweight lines. You tie your heavier 150ft lines to these and the guys along the canal pull them up and attach us to the walls of the locks to hold us in position while the water rises/falls. The first lock was very exciting! These gigantic doors closed behind us and slowly we started rising as water was rushing in. Up to the top, we were untied and went forward into the 2nd lock. Excitement waned a bit. By the 3rd lock, we were all sort of over it and the cameras got put away :-) We then motored off to spend the night in Gatun Lake. The moorings were full so we tied up to another boat there. Our adviser left us then, but the 2 boys stayed on for the evening. Bridgette and I got to work on dinner and we all had a few beers to celebrate a successful day.

Around 6am the following morning, a new adviser came via pilot boat and we set off to cross Gatun Lake. "The lake was formed by flooding the existing landscape with a big dam and apparently the drowned buildings and even a train sitting on its tracks are still down there in almost perfect condition. The total canal length is around 80km, most of which consists of the Gatun Lake so it was quite a long time before we crossed the lake and reached the Gaillard Cut, the final 12km stretch forming the narrowest part of the canal that leads to the final locks."

We approached the final locks and found another monohull waiting for us. We tied up with them and off we went into the 1st of another 3 locks on the Pacific side. This time we have to go down, so once the big doors are shut, the water rushes out and down we go. The line handling procedure is the same. So, #1, #2 go by without much excitement. Then #3 is the biggy - the final lock before entering the Pacific. There's a webcam and a big ole tourist building with an announcer giving the play by play to hundreds watching from a balcony. It was somewhat anti-climactic though. The doors opened up and we were through! Welcome to El Pacifico!

We untied from our buddy boat and set to work breaking out the champagne. I, sadly, had nervousness in my stomach anticipating what I'd find (or more to the point wouldn't find) on this side. Per tradition, we poured some champagne and threw some coins into the sea underneath the very pretty "Bridge of the Americas". I naturally wished that I'd quickly find a new boat to call home.

At the dropoff point for the line handlers, super long lines and extra fenders, I disembarked as well. Bridgette, Uwe and I were all sad to have to part ways. They said they wish they could take me, but just didn't have the space. They pushed some cash into my hand, which I adamantly refused, but they wouldn't hear of it. They bid me well and motored away. (Much later I looked at what they gave me and it was $80US! Oh my goodness - sooooo sweet, but sooooo unnecessary! I quickly sent a profuse thank you email.)

Once on shore I realized I was quite a ways from any normal looking marina, so I set out to walk. OH MY GAWD my stupid bag is too heavy. It's gotta be around 45 pounds or so (why did I think I needed camping gear again?!) I was in the heat of the day too, around 1400. So I trudged around 2k before I got to a road and hailed down a taxi. I found a marina, sorta, but not really the cruisers type of marina and left some cards on a window, knowing they'd be utterly useless. The feelings of dejection were quickly overwhelming me.

I HAD to get rid of my bag and get myself sorted for the night before I did anything else, so I hailed another cab and we set off for the recommended hostel, Casa de Carmen. Sadly, it was a 10 minute drive - WAY too far to realistically "commute" between to schlep myself to other boats. But the hostel turned out to be fantastic and had space in the dorm for $15/night. Perfect.

Without even so much as splashing water on my face, I checked my email. As I said in my last post, there was one waiting from the Cat that was a 'maybe' back at Shelter Bay. Was I still available for the passage to Tahiti? YES!!!! They coming through the canal today, so I will hopefully be getting confirmation later this afternoon.

I'm apprehensive. I know nothing about this boat, NOTHING - I don't even know it's name! Don't know what's on it or anything about the owner or captain. Stupid Jen stupid Jen. I need to find out as much as I can as soon as I can. I'm fairly certain it'll be fine - I do know they've made it from Fort Lauderdale to Panama, so that's something right? Still, need at least a cursory run down of the deal before hopping aboard. Really unfortunate to feel so desperate.

Panama Canal Photos & Videos

2010-04-11T20:49:00.001-04:00

Wow - what an experience! I'll be working on a writeup about it tomorrow, but the pictures are already uploaded, so why wait!?

Panama Canal

PS - The catamaran that was a 'maybe' at Shelter Bay has emailed asking me to join to Tahiti. They are in the middle of transiting the canal themselves, so I won't hear from them until late tomorrow at earliest to confirm. I REALLY hope this works out because finding a boat from shore in Panama City (my hostel is *IN* the city) is going to be impossible.

Trying to Stay Positive

2010-04-09T14:34:00.000-04:00

Shelter Bay Marina is not the mecca that I thought it'd be. Apparently it was, about a month ago, when 400 some odd boats were passing through. I can't change the past, and I *try* to cut myself slack about decisions that turned out poorly...I mean, I chose what I thought was best with the information I had at the time. But gosh darnit, why did I waste so much time in Curacao? AGGHHHHHGGHHGHHH!

Alright, rant over.

I've had a bit of good luck here, fortunately. Running into s.v. Shayale, who I met in Curacao, was super lucky as they gave me a place to crash for a couple of nights. This tipped the scales to good luck from bad as the hotel is full through next week! (And NO other accommodation options are available.) They happened to meet a German couple on a boat called Momo who was in need of line handlers for the transit of the canal. I spoke to them a few hours ago and I'm jumping on tomorrow. In itself, this is awesome news - I GET TO TRANSIT THE PANAMA CANAL! I won't be going any further on Momo though. On the Pacific side of the canal I may be able to hook up with boats that have just transited in this last week in the hopes that maybe someone still needs a hand.

Bad luck has reared its ugly head too. Obviously, I'm late to the party here in Panama. But beyond that one of the luggage locks on my pack was cut and I had an emergency stash of $200 cash stolen. (And interestingly enough, my lucky $2 bill that I've carried with me travelling since 2001 - I guess it lost its luck status). However, staying on a boat is defraying that unforeseen cost, so I'm not tooooo upset.

There's a big cat that's just pulled in - a Lagoon 440 - that is en route to Australia. I've met the owner and the captain and they're going to get in touch later on today about a spot. Fingers, toes, legs, boobs if they're big enough, crossed on that one.

There just aren't any other options. There's a boat here headed to Texas that needs crew, but that would be the end of the line. I'm not ready to give up yet. I kinda feel like it a little bit today. If I were a crier, I think I'd be pretty teary right now. But NO DURNIT - MUST KEEP TRYING!!

Bit of good luck, Bit of bad luck, Bit of Oh F$%£.

2010-04-08T19:09:00.000-04:00

2 flights, 1 hotel, 2 shuttles, 1 taxi, 2 buses, and 2 very fortunate hitchhikes later, and I'm in Panama. Sadly, there aren't that many boats here, and the hotel is full. Luckily I found a boat I met previously that's rescuing me. Finding a permanent crew spot, however, looks very daunting.

As the Cruising World Turns, part Trois

2010-04-06T17:23:00.001-04:00

Ah today, Tuesday, the day that we were finally going to be able to lay our hands on the long-awaited auto-pilot part. So I jumped up and was like "ok, let's get goin, what do we have to do, go go go."
Todd didn't seem concerned and set off on a different boat project.
I stayed calm until around noon, but then let my concerns be known.
Our island agent brought the part after 3pm, which again, would have spurned me into action.
Todd, however, decided it was time for a drink and a cigarette. I went downstairs to get out of the smoke.

When the agent left Todd came in and said "you're probably going to be happier if you get to Panama. We aren't going to rush leaving." I said, "yep, you're right."

Within 15 minutes my new flight was booked. I leave tomorrow at 3pm. Unfortunately I have to overnight in Miami. I arrive in Panama on Thursday early afternoon.

The Joys of FindACrew.Net

2010-04-05T17:33:00.000-04:00

Here's my favorite inquiry so far (spelling errors included):

-----------
Dear Jen,

My girlfriend and I are planning to start full-time cruising this summer. She is tall, gorgeous, and very bi. She has two teenaged boys (11 and 13) that will be joing us.

We are looking for an open-minded woman to assist tutot the boys and share our open lifestyle.

If you are interested, pleae frop us a line.
-----------

No comment.

New Pics Online

2010-04-05T10:06:00.002-04:00

I added some pictures of the interior of One World. Link is to the right: http://picasaweb.google.com/heyjenjackson

Subscription

2010-04-04T15:06:00.002-04:00

Alright, sorry for all the confusion with the Google Groups thing, but I finally figured out how to add 'Email Subscription' to this blog.
On the right, there, you'll see a place to enter your email address. Then you just get emailed every time I update the blog.
That's nice and easy right?

As the Cruising World Turns, part deux

2010-04-04T11:12:00.002-04:00

Woke up this morning, and even before I had a chance to pee Todd informed me that he had changed his mind again. He thought he'd always regret it if he turned around now, but that sailing around the world was too big of a bite to chew. So his new destination is Australia, and would I consider staying on at least until Panama.
My gut reaction was 'No way, Jose, I don't want to put up with any more drama. I'll find a new boat in Panama. And if I don't by the time you guys get there, we'll talk.' (Mind you, while I have been looking forward to getting *off* the boat and away from Downer Central, I've also been dreading re-packing my bag, 8 hours of flying/airports, the 2-8 hours it'd take to get from Panama City to Colon, and the schlepping of myself around the docks again. P.S. staying in a hotel would be lovely, however.) Anyway, Melissa then had a very good point....what's the purpose of this whole adventure of mine? TO SAIL! And if we're really getting out of here Wednesday night or Thursday morning, then I'd get to SAIL to Panama. Should I still not be happy after the passage, I can just as easily get off there and find a new boat. It's tough to argue with that.
So it's done - my flight is cancelled (Credit can be used within the next year, but travel MUST originate from Curacao...haha, not likely. I feel bad for Todd that that's $560 thrown away, but then again, it was his doing.)
Oh ya, Happy Easter.

As the Cruising World Turns

2010-04-02T14:58:00.002-04:00

I realize that my blog is now reading like a soap opera, and I have to laugh. Matt, would you say I'm still living a "blogable life"?
Let's see, it was yesterday (wow, feels like ages ago already) that Todd said "we have to talk." He had made up his mind – he wasn't ready to cruise, financially and emotionally. So he's turning the boat around and going home to the BVI to work for a few more years. The back story here which I've learned piecemeal is that he started this voyage thinking he'd have his girlfriend, her kids, and her bank account added to the kitty. A few weeks before I came, she left. He thought he could carry on but as it turns out, he doesn't want to. Now, everyone that knows the guy thinks that if he would just get sailing that he'd snap out of this state he's in. But Todd doesn't wanna. Sooooo, he offered to fly me anywhere I wanted to go, and put me up for a few weeks once I got there as an "I'm sorry I got you into this mess". It was very generous.
I pretty much knew what my plan would be immediately, but I needed to spend an hour or so reeling over the news. Truth be told, I was going to try and find another boat in Panama. But it's infinitely easier to find a boat if you're on a boat. So I had a chat with Ian, who is the co-master of giving pep talks. (I say co-master because folks say I'm the master of pep talks.) He echoed the details of my plan: get flown to Panama and put up in a hotel; find another boat. The experiences of the last month are not wasted – I've learned a lot about what to look/watch out for. The right thing will come along, and if it doesn't, well, cross that bridge when I come to it.
There was a slight chance of hitching a ride on one of a couple of boats here in Curacao that are headed to Panama. But the boat we were closest with, Lison Life, set a policy of no crew which they wanted to stick to. Liberty had a full house. So why monkey around? Get my booty to Panama!
Todd and I booked a flight for Monday morning, and he'll give me cash for the hotel and taxis in Panama. Sooo nice!
What the other crew, Melissa, is going to do I don't yet know. She hasn't been on the boat since Todd broke the news. She's got a friend visiting so she's off with him. Lucky girl.
The atmosphere on One World is, as you can imagine, somber. 2.5 more days.

On Sobriety

2010-03-29T18:28:00.002-04:00

In a couple of days, it'll be 3 full months since I've had a drink (save for the accidental mix-up by my friend Dave between his vodka tonic and my tonic and lime resulting in a gulp and the sip of white wine I had when Cindy claimed it was the best white she'd ever had).

What brought on this decision? Last fall I finally came to the conclusion that sometimes I drink too much, and some of those times I end up doing or saying really stupid things that I have to then sheepishly apologize for. Though the "I was drunk" apology is completely true, I mean, I would never ever have done or said what I did sober, it's still a really lame one, don't you think? I mean, technically I made the decision to drink that much (though by that point my powers of reasoning are obviously altered), therefore I indirectly made the decision to proceed with the words or actions. Soooo, the next logical step was to stop drinking.

Alcohol is deeply ingrained in our society, period. I knew that going into this little experiment. And over these last few months, I realized just how true that statement is. ALCOHOL IS HOPELESSLY AND COMPLETELY INGRAINED IN OUR SOCIETY!!! It seems that if any two people are getting together for any purpose except driving, alcohol is involved. If I had a buck for every time I was offered a drink, sometimes repeatedly by the same person on the same occasion, I could buy a lotta booze right now! Take drinking out of the equation, and I'll be the first to say it, ya get bored!

I went out on one date when I was back in SF for those two months. Dinner was a little painful in that we were having really yummy food and he was having a big ole fat glass of rich red wine that I could smell from a mile away (oh ya, my sense of smell has dramatically increased sans booze), but I made it through unscathed. Afterwards though, sheesh, whatdoya do? Normally, duh, you go to a bar. I assured him I didn't mind going to a bar, so we did. But after *that* we ran into the same question...what do we do? Well, normally by then everyone would be pretty tipsy, so you'd likely go back to somebody's place and hook up. Poor guy, I knew that was what he wanted to do...I think he even said it...but me, nope, I was stone cold sober and there was no way I was hooking up with a guy who was moderately interesting, but I wasn't interested in. So he took me home, and I watched another episode of Lost and went to bed.

Going out with friends was easier - no awkwardness - but I'd get bored after a couple of hours when everyone else was just getting going. Plus, there's only so many diet cokes or tonics with lime that you can drink. Goodness, how is it we can drink so much more alcohol?

Going out with NEW people is awful. I don't get nervous or anything around new people, but I've learned that booze definitely helps lubricate the gears to make talking easier. Without it you tend to sit back and let the buzzed people talk louder and interrupt each other more often. After a while, you are barely cracking a smile when everyone else is laughing hysterically. Progressive belligerence is ...I wouldn't say entertaining to watch, it's actually sort of saddening, but it is interesting to observe. It's usually right around then that I'm trying to leave wherever I'm at. No bueno.

Explaining to people that I'm not drinking for the time being isn't much fun either. The 2 most common reactions are 1, they think you must be in AA or 2, they think that you have taken a high and mighty position and are somehow judging them for their own drinking. #1 is the one I sense most often from people, though no one ever says it explicitly. It's tough to defend yourself at this point ("oh but I'm not an alcoholic"...sure...right), so I never do. #2 is also tough to answer, but I try if I see a window: "oh but it doesn't bother me a bit if you guys are drinking, no worries" - and this is true. I guess the 3rd reaction is folks think you are some sort of a goodie two shoes. I have to laugh at this. And those of you who know me can join in for a chuckle as well. But there's no telling a stranger this, particularly when they're too drunk to be interested in anything I have to say.

Not drinking has been way easier than I thought it would be. I really thought I'd be jonesin, not all the time, but whenever in a social environment, and especially out at bars. But actually, save for getting bored early, I was quite happy to be sober. I was definitely happy to drive home (and offer rides to anyone else - yay!), and my most pleasant piece of this experiment was waking up clear-eyed every single morning. I can't begin to tell you how nice that is. I wasn't hangover city before, but there were the odd times where I paid the price for the night before, like we all do. And more often would have just a dull haziness that tells you you aren't 100%.

Not drinking has also helped my savings account, as that's what I'm living on currently. And theoretically my calorie-intake benefited as well, though I can't say I lost any weight.

Most importantly though, I haven't done or said a single thing that I regret these last 3 months, and I've learned that I don't *need* alcohol.

So what now? Well, after all of my capping on drinking you'd think I'd swear it off for good. But I'll be honest, having a glass of wine or beer now and then to celebrate an occasion or over a nice dinner with friends is something I don't want to give up. I had originally said 6 months for this experiment, but 3 is going to suffice, as I don't feel I will learn any more over the next 3 that I haven't already. So come April 1, I will have a nice chilled glass of white wine. But following that, my drinking will be measured. Incidentally, I'm on some medication now that isn't safe to mix with much alcohol. So for the next few months, I'm limited to the occasional drink anyway. After that, I've decided that no occasion ever deserves more than 3 drinks, and now that I've completed my little experiment, I know I have the strength of will to adhere to this little personal policy.

Book Report

2010-03-29T14:17:00.005-04:00

Ordered from Most Recent:

10. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The movie was better, way better. I think that about sums it up. I may take a lot of flack from this from literary people, but I just couldn't tolerate the nonsense in this story. It'd be difficult to read to a child because there's too much so far outside of the realm of reality to imagine, unless you read very short bits at a time. And as an adult, I kept looking for the religious undertones. I suppose they were there from time to time, but ultimately I didn't care any longer. Thankfully it was short; if it had been longer I may not have finished it.

9. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriot Beecher Stowe
It took me a while to get through this book. It's probably around 600 pages or so (doesn't say on the kindle). It's a challenge to get through the colloquial dialect of the slaves, and the story slows down at times and feels tedious, particularly the Christian preachier parts. After I started, I realized that it might be page after page of horridly cruel atrocities, and I wasn't too keen on that, especially after Haunted. Thankfully, though, it wasn't. Stowe tells multiple stories at once. All are heartbreaking, but some are kind and gentle, and even triumphant in the end. I was drawn into every tale, and cared very much of the fates of its characters.

One thing I appreciated is how she didn't just hammer on the South. She regularly makes the point that Northerners were just as guilty for perpetuating slavery as Southerners, and in some respects, possibly more so. Nonparticipation doesn't equal innocence; apathy in the face of injustice is also a crime. The parallels to today's human rights' movements are obvious.

Uncle Tom's Cabin takes a bit of commitment, but it's a worthy read, showing how we as humans can be so horrible or so wondeful and amazing to and for each other. (Kindle - Free)

8. Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
I picked up Haunted in the hostel in Panama City, only because it was by the same author who wrote Fight Club. If I'd thought about it a little bit more, I would've asked myself if Fight Club would've been a *book* I'd enjoy reading...probably not.

From the back cover: "Haunted is a novel made up of 23 horrifying, hilarious, and stomach-churning stories. They're told by people who have answered an ad for a writers' retreat and unwittingly joined a 'Survivor'-like scenario where the host withholds heat, power, and food...."

The stories and the plotline with the writers are alternating chapters, and all of it is just plain disturbing. There's a lot of social commentary in there, some obvious, and much more not so I'm sure. I mean it took me a few times watching Fight Club before I felt like I got it all, but probably more I'll never see.

I can't say I'd recommend this book, unless you know you like reading weird, f-ed up s#$%. :-) (Unknown Kindle Status, 411 pages)

7. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Shantaram is nearly 1000 pages long, and in Curacao I watched a 17 year old boy read 3/4 of it in the course of a week. I had to have it. Thank you Amazon for the wireless delivery to my Kindle.

Without giving anything away, the story goes like this: In 1978, the author is thrown in prison in Australia for multiple robberies to support a heroin habit. He escapes 2 years later and after some time finds himself in Bombay, India. He takes to the place and the people and starts to get immersed in the culture. He establishes a free medical clinic for slum-dwellers, works as a counterfeiter, smuggler, gunrunner and street soldier for the Bombay mafia. Eventually, he's captured again in Germany and serves out the remainder of his initial sentence there and back in Australia. While he's imprisoned, he begins Shantaram, only to have prison guards take it from him not once, but twice! It took 13 years to complete. (He's now out and writing full-time in Bombay.)

Sounds like a story hey!? It is - a true EPIC, let me tell you. I couldn't put it down. SO much happens with this guy. His writing style is superb to boot, so what you have is a positively engrossing tale told by a masterful storyteller. And, this is the first book about India I've read (there have been several) that has actually made me WANT to go to India. He doesn't shy away from the filth, or even *try* to romanticize it, but you end up embracing it as he does. He makes you see that it is the whole of India (Bombay) that makes her what she is, and without each piece, passionately vibrant and utterly disgusting alike, she wouldn't be the same.

I regularly laughed out loud, I shrieked "NO!" several times, and got choked up a little once or twice. One of the critics quotes says: "Shantaram is, quite simply, the 1001 Arabian Nights of the new century." and another author likened Roberts to Melville. I know it's hard to jump into a 1000 page novel, especially if you're just reading it on your daily commute, but go for it, you won't be disappointed. (Kindle - $10)

6. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

I had high hopes for this book, but in my opinion it fell flat. The Time Machine is a fairly short book centered primarily around one trip into the future by the intrepid Time Traveller. He comes back and tells of his adventures there to his colleagues. The writing was readable, for the most part, but the story was just kind of bleh. I didn’t particularly care about the hero, I just wanted him to get on with it. I tried to surmise some greater meaning from what he finds in the future - how it seemed like strength and creativity had disappeared once all of the problems of the world had been sorted out. But again, I wasn’t inspired to dig deeper into the opportunities for literary criticism.

5. A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
A Dirty Job, set in San Francisco (bonus!), follows the Beta Male Charlie Asher as he inherits and becomes accustomed to his new role as a “Death Merchant” – a person responsible for collecting and redistributing souls. The souls are in the form of soul objects – inanimate objects that people’s souls move into when they die, and out of when a new appropriate body comes along. The Forces of Darkness are stewing, however, and Charlie soon finds himself instrumental in a classic good versus evil showdown. Moore's humour is so quick, sarcastic, biting and witty; all of his characters are clever and hilarious, it’s tempting to think he has a whole team of writers at his side.
It's a very quick read that'll have you chuckling out loud with nearly every page. Highly recommended!

4. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
The Jungle should be on every American’s reading list, and on everyone’s from elsewhere that thinks America was born with a silver spoon in its mouth. (I realize I’ll take some flak for the latter part of that statement; I’ll explain in a bit.)

Set in the early 1900’s, The Jungle tells the story of a Lithuanian immigrant and his family in the United States, primarily in the stockyards of Chicago. If memory serves, this book was one of the main catalysts for the creation of the USDA, as Sinclair’s brutally honest account of the meat packing industry is more than enough to make your stomach churn. I believe it also had some effect on labor regulations, as again, his account of what workers endured is heart wrenching.

Several notions struck me as I was enjoying this book. The first and most prominent is that hundreds of thousands if not millions of people killed themselves toiling at manual labour jobs building up America. I’d like to think that some of those family’s efforts paid off and they are living successfully today (though I realize that it’s usually only those that were on top to stay on top). I couldn’t help but think about my time in Namibia. There you have a new, developing country where, with a few exceptions of course, people just don’t want to work to build anything up. They want to wait around for handouts as if it’s possible to reap all the fruits without all the labour. America is where it is today because it’s people, have been working their tooshies off for centuries. (It’s also where it’s at from capitalist greed, lying, cheating and stealing too – I get that.)

Second, and probably the most disturbing notion, is that things are just as appalling today as they were then, though in craftier ways. The book talks about how filthy and disgusting the meat packing plants were – that dead, diseased carcasses of animals not fit for consumption would get churned up and mixed among meat that was, that chemicals would be used to make inedible products taste like food so they could be sold, that workers injured on the job wouldn’t be tended to medically and left to their own nonexistent devices, etc. Jebus, doesn’t all of this sound familiar!!?? All of this crap is STILL happening, though it’s happening in sneakier ways and under the guise of government approval. Sure we have health agencies and regulations, labour laws, etc., but whenever a corporation can find a loophole that makes them more money at the expense of its employees or its consumers, it does. In a lot of ways I think we are more despicable now than we were then. Sigh, ok, my social commentary is over.

This is a fantastic book. It’s very well written, easy to read and gives you characters you really care about. At the end, the soapbox Sinclair gets on about Socialism is somewhat tedious, but thought-provoking if you choose to entertain the ideas. READ IT!!

3. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
My first “classic” to read on this trip, and the one that inspired me to load up my kindle with several more. I saw someone reading it on MUNI in San Francisco and realized I’d always wanted to read it and never had.

I won’t lie, there are sections that are positively mind-numbing, but the core of the story and the accompanying details are intriguing. To think that we wear not only our age but our transgressions on our face, and that somehow if we could remain innocent we would never grow old. I enjoyed how the story unfolded too, as I didn’t know the ins and outs of the tale.

Within a few months I’ll have a better idea of how this classic stacks up to others, but as of right now I’d recommend it to those who ever had an inkling to read it. (Kindle – free)

2. Gordon by Edith Templeton
I was more than a little surprised when I came across this book in a book exchange at the La Paz Yacht Club. There were lots of books on the shelves there; I don’t know what made me pick it up with its nondescript plain green cover, completely nondescript title, and a back cover that only gave praise for the author’s other works. The description in the jacket got me immediately, though. I’m paraphrasing here…”…she was disturbed that he had taken her within the hour that they had met…her complete submission to him was what she’d always longed for but didn’t realize…”. I think I may have even shut the book a bit and looked over my shoulder to see if anyone was there while I blushed.

I stashed it away and read it cover to cover over the course of my bus ride and 3 flights from La Paz to Curacao. It could have been steamier, for sure. It wasn’t Story of O, but I enjoyed it in the way I imagine men enjoy looking at a beautiful woman partially clothed rather than fully naked. Know whatahymean? (Unknown kindle status – doubt it.)

1. Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux : Overland from Cairo to Capetown
I came across this book on the shelf of a Peace Corps Volunteer friend in Namibia; it’s apparently been very popular on the volunteer and backpacker circuit for a few years. I didn’t have the heart to start it while I was actually in Africa, however, or even when I was home. It was to be my first book to read on my next trip :-)

Paul is my hero – he travels the way I think travelling should be done, and if I had the balls (somewhat literally) I would. AND, I think he’s got the formula for travel writing down…a little history, a little comedy, a little pain and a lot of realism.

I found myself bored in a handful of sections though. I think the book could’ve been 50-100 pages shorter without losing anything. That notwithstanding, it’s a very good recent (~2003ish) look at Africa with all of its strife and charms. If you’ve travelled the continent at all or want to, check it out. (Sadly, at the time of writing it was not available as a Kindle edition. Eh, hem, Paul, you should know how important this is to travellers!)

-----------

The following is my "Book Report" from my time in Africa.

Listed in "Star" Order: ***** = Best, * = Worst (though not ranked amongst
similar stars)

BOOKS COMPLETED (17)

***** Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen --> A delightful story and easy
read, Water is about an old man reflecting back on his youth when he joined
the circus. It has a charming plot and engaging characters. Full
recommendation to all.

***** Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin --> I've
already put up a plug on this book on the blog; it is fantastic. I admit it
goes a bit squirrelly at the end, but the accomplishments detailed are
nothing short of moving and inspirational. If you want to purchase, buy at
www.threecupsoftea.com , 7% of purchases goes toward the schools.

***** Scribbling the Cat - Alexandra Fuller --> This book is many things
despite being relatively short (only 200 pages or so if I remember). It's
travel writing, history and a solo women's challenges in the world. I loved
it. It may not be suuuper engaging to everyone, but if you're a woman who
has been in tricky places overseas, or if you have any interest in southern
African countries, read it.

**** Desperate Passage: The Donner Party's Perilous Journey West - Ethan
Rarick --> Having lived in Northern California for 10 years now and gone to
Tahoe countless times, you'd think I'd know more about the Donner Party. I
didn't, hence the purchase. The title says it all - the book covers their
entire journey, not just the sensationalized cannibalism stuff. I learned a
ton about that period in time, and the story of survival and loss is
incredible. It isn't for the faint of heart, but I definitely recommend it
to anyone who has ever wondered about them as you drive over Donner Pass.

**** The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson --> This book got a lot of
hype a few years back. I can see why, mostly. It's 2 stories in one: all
about the World's Fair in Chicago, and about one of America's first serial
killers who is doing his business around the city at that time. The serial
killer part sort of didn't do much for me. It was fascinating how the guy
went undetected for so long, but other than that it was kind of bleh. The
World's Fair part was super interesting. It contained all sorts of
interesting facts about that time and how it really had a hand in shaping
America. Parts of it were sluggish, but the good stuff made up for it.

**** Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides --> I confess I'm only half way through
this book, but I'm reading it voraciously and by the time some of you read
this post, I'll be finished. Another book that has gotten a lot of critical
acclaim, Middlesex has a very different style to it that I'm enjoying. The
story is of a hermaphrodite, but it's a whole lot more than that. Book 1 is
a little slow, but it's worth getting through.

*** The Dante Club: A Novel - Matthew Pearl --> This book reminded me of
the movie Seven. It's not based on true events, but it sort of reads like
it is. Set in Boston, it's about the great American writers (Holmes,
Longfellow, Lowell, etc.) who are working on a Dante translation and end up
trying to solve murders happening around the city that are modeled after
Dante's descriptions. I actually started and quit the book twice, but after
I finally got into it a bit, it stuck.

*** Stiff, The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach --> Very
interesting book, but a little slow from time to time. Plus her sense of
humour is a bit put-on. However, you sure do learn a lot! If it's up your
alley, you'd like.

*** The Accountant's Story: Inside the Violent World of the Medellin Cartel
- Roberto Escobar --> Man, I could not put this book down!! ...For the
first half. The second half got repetitive and whiney....so I can't give 4
stars. But boy oh boy was it ever FASCINATING!! If you liked the movie
Blow, you'll LOVE this (at least the first half).

*** The Last Season - ? --> I read this book in 24 hours (mostly because I
was on a bus); it was pretty good, though I realize not everyone's cup of
tea. It's the story of a back woods park ranger in California who
disappeared. The story reads like an in-depth newspaper article, which is a
style I particularly enjoy. If you see it on the used book store shelf,
pick it up. If not, probably wouldn't tell you to spend the $15, unless
you're into mountaineering and/or park rangers (who are incredible folks,
btw).

*** Stalking the Wild Dik Dik - ? --> The story of a chick who travels from
Cape Town to Cairo. Read this one in about 8 hours (again, on the road).
It's made the rounds amongst volunteers and we all agree: if we'd read it
before coming to Africa we probably would've liked it more. This means, you
will probably enjoy it. The stories are mostly good; the writing is so-so.
It's a very very easy and quick read.

**1/2 The Surgeons - Charles R. Morris --> Investigative writing on Heart
Surgeons and Surgeries at Columbia-Presbyterian in New York. I realize this
wouldn't be on many peoples' lists, but if you're at all curious, I did like
it. There were parts I sort of glazed over, but I'd say I read and enjoyed
3/4 of it.

* Twilight Series, Books 1-4 - Stephanie Meyer --> The ONLY reason I read
these was because they were all very long (i.e. guaranteed time waster) and
I wanted to not be hypocritical when I bashed them. Let me preface by
saying I LOVE the Harry Potter books. It's criminal that Twilight is
compared to Harry Potter. The story is mildly entertaining, yes, but the
writing is horrible, and the characters are a bunch of pathetic, whiny,
codependent saps. I wouldn't recommend these to anyone, least of all
teenage girls, the intended audience.

* The Persistence of Memory - ? --> Bleh, I don't even feel like writing a
review on this one. Didn't care for the writing style at all
(self-inflated, pedantic) but there was a time or two that I related to the
story. Part of it is set in Namibia. But if you haven't been to Namibia or
think you'll ever go, don't bother. Actually, just don't bother.

------

BOOKS STARTED, NOT COMPLETED (7) (Listed in order of Likely to Finish)

The Seashell on the Mountaintop - Alan Cutler --> I'll probably finish this
one. I stopped because Rachel handed me a physical copy of Middlesex that I
need to finish. It's about the father of modern geology who paved the way
for the field by suggesting (correct) scientific theories as to how, well,
seashells could be found on the tops of mountains. This back in the day
when the church ruled all and strictly believed the earth was only 6000
years old. Where I'm at, he's just published his theory, and I think about
to have a can of whoopass opened up on him.

The World Without Us - Alan Weisman --> I might finish this one too; the
later chapters look more interesting than where I'm at. The premise is we
(humans) all vanish from the face of the earth in an instant, so what
happens to all we leave behind (buildings, houses, roads, etc. -
everything)? I don't have much to say yet on my personal thoughts on the
book.

Guns, Germs, and Steel - Jared Diamond --> I started reading this before I
came and had trouble concentrating. I was pretty distracted then though. I
will definitely pick this up again at some point in the near future.

The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle
of Wine - Benjamin Wallace --> Only luke warm on this one...kind of doubt
that I'll finish. What I've read has been mildly interesting, but not
enough to keep going. If you're a wine aficionado though, you'll probably
love it.

Sailing to the Reefs - Bernard Moitessier --> Moitessier is a bit of an
acquired taste. "The Long Way" was really good, but also kinda challenging
to read. Parts of this book are enjoyable so far, but some parts are
suuuper dry. I'll probably take it along the next time I'm out on the ocean
for a long stretch of time. Sailors will like; non-sailors will hate.

War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy --> I've seen this book in the hands of at
least 2 other volunteers, and I know it's on everyone's, "if I'm stuck on a
boat or in Africa" list. I started it. It wasn't bad; it just wasn't good.
There are lots and lots of characters, and it's hard to keep them straight.
I will read this book someday, dammit.

Wreck of the Medusa: Mutiny, Murder and Survival on the High Seas -
Alexander McKee --> ACK, terrible!! Old English style writing, WAY TOO
HEAVY on the sailing talk (and I'm a sailor!) Nothing good to say about
this one.

Update Update Update

2010-03-29T14:11:00.000-04:00

We're still in Curacao and stuck here until Saturday at the very least. It was finally determined that a new brain (course computer) was needed for the autopilot, and we're now subject to the Fedex God's fancy. ETA: Friday. It's ok though because the weather window doesn't open up again until Friday evening.

Todd has settled down now that things are settled.

Melissa, Alex and I jumped ship a couple of days ago and took the bus into town to catch Alice in Wonderland 3D. WOW!!! The visuals were purely intoxicating! Goodnight I love Tim Burton and Johnny Depp!! After the movie, Alex went back and Melissa and I bopped around shopping for a little while. It just felt really good to be doing something on our own and away from the boat.

We're all looking forward to getting out of here, and quite keen on the idea of dropping in on Columbia to have a look-see :-) Don't worry; it's safe.

I finished my 3rd book since I left the states. Wondering where I should put my running book reviews so their accessible...Will figure it out and post when I can.

Update Update

2010-03-27T12:03:00.000-04:00

A different autopilot problem has presented itself, we're not even heading for Klein Curacao anytime soon.
If any hardcore sailors are reading this, I'm sure you're bitching about our gadget dependence. Fine. But I'm not the captain here.

The earliest we'll be out of here is next Friday - it's the next weather window, and it's a good one. Todd says if the autopilot is not up and running by then we will go anyway and hand-steer.

Mechanical/Electrical issues never put anyone in a good mood, but el capitan is not weathering this particular storm very well in my opinion. If the adage is correct that one's true colors come out under pressure, I'm not very thrilled with the paint job.

New Home: One World | Current Location: Curacao

2010-03-26T14:29:00.004-04:00

My new home, s.v. (sailing vessel) One World, is a 50 some odd feet steel schooner (not counting bowsprit, etc). If you can picture in your mind a pirate ship, you're picturing a schooner. We haven't actually been out sailing yet, so I can't speak to how she handles, but I can say that knowing how to sail and knowing how to sail a schooner are two different things. There is just under a mile of *working* rigging on deck. I can't even count the number of halyards and sheets cleated off on anything stationary. There are 9 working sails. NINE! (I'm used to 2 and sometimes 3). Todd swears it's easy once you get the hang of it. And new-ish crew member Melissa says she's catching on pretty quickly. I suppose the really nice part of this boat is that it was built to run (sail downwind) and that once we hoist all there is to hoist, everything just sits there and off we go, at 8 to 9 knots! Soooo, doing a downwind circumnavigation is the best plan to have.

Down below, she's not like any boat I've ever been on. She was refitted in 100 days, and it shows. Some of the wood is finished, but most is just plywood quickly thrown up. There are haphazard step ups/downs kinda everywhere, and innumerable places to bump your head (which I seem to do at least twice daily). There are 3 proper cabins with doors, 2 of which have double berths (Todd's and Alex's), and 1 which has 2 single beds (mine). There are 2 more bunk areas walled off with curtains, the nicest one is Melissa's and the other is open. There's a small workshop and a nice nav station. There are a couple of really charming things aboard - a ship's clock (8 bells for change of watch), ratlains (ladder) for climbing into the rigging, companionway steps that are made from 100 year old wood. Here's the thing though, while she isn't terribly comfortable, she's obviously very strong and sturdy. I mean, she's steel. Supposedly she handles weather beautifully.

On to the folks....So there's Todd Duff, he's the owner and captain. He's 55 I think, divorced, with 3 boys and a girl. Originally from the states but now calls the BVI (British Virgin Islands) home. He's been a yacht broker and all other things marine for several years.

His son, Alex, is also aboard for the duration of the circumnavigation (at this time anyway). He's 17. I was already out of the house by the time my brother became a teenager, so I've never experienced "teenage boy" before. He's mostly fairly quiet, cooks, makes messes, is learning to play the guitar and sing, gets his heart broken...typical teenage stuff. But in other ways he's had a lifetime of experience already in cruising. I think he's already cruised 20 some odd countries. Last night, I had to chuckle, he was describing his perfect vacation...going to a house on land with big tvs where he could sit and watch tv/movies all day eating ice cream. Yep, I guess that'd be the vacation you'd be after if you'd lived all your life on a sailboat. :-)

Melissa, 28, is from the midwest but most recently lived in North Beach in San Francisco. She was previously on a catamaran that didn't work out, so she joined One World. She's very agreeable, positive, likes to have a good time, and oh did I mention, beautiful?! My self-esteem is gets a good workout when I stand next to her. I don't know too much else about her, but I'm sure we'll get to know each other better as time and watches wear on.

The overall vibe on board is cordial, but I wouldn't say we click. Everyone seems to want to do their own thing. This is much more my style than sing-a-long family-style, so that's good. But between you and me and the rest of the world, I think I'd like a little bit more click. Maybe that will come with time.

I find myself comparing this boat and situation to my 2 other crewing experiences. The most recent of course was on the Spirit of Nyami Nyami. Don and I clicked, boy, like I said, I would adopt him as my other Grandfather if I could. Ben and I got along fine, though we have quite different personalities. The INside of the boat was amazing - soooo comfortable and cozy - more like a little country cottage than a boat. The OUTside, well, that was what troubled me as you all know. And of course the experience level of the 3 of us left a little to be desired. And last, the financial situation was a cost-share, meaning I had to pay a share of the food and fuel. Reasonable, of course, but not ideal, as I have no money coming in. Then there was my passage from Trinidad to Panama on Robb's 45' cat back in 2006 was it? Maybe 07. Anyway, that experience may have ruined me for a while. Super duper comfortable boat, all expenses paid. Robb was a little tyranical at times, but he knows he is. It was also a clothing optional vessel. This is the only configuration that makes sense for long passages - I mean, laundry concerns right? :-) Anyway, I'm coming to the conclusion that there's no "perfect boat" out there if you're crewing. There's always going to be something you don't like - whether it's the people/a person, the living situation, the sailing situation or the money situation. I guess this is why people buy their own boats, but that's a whole nuther conversation.

For now, obviously, I'm going to make this work. I'm gonna get across the Pacific dammit!!

Update

2010-03-26T14:29:00.003-04:00

Sigh, we're still in Curacao - haven't moved the boat an inch since I came aboard. The autopilot issue is FINAlly fixed as of just a couple of hours ago though, so that's good. The bad news is we're in a really tricky part of the world weather-wise. From Trinidad to Panama is one of the roughest passages in the world, believe it or not, due to weather. So there's a teeny tiny weather window opening up tomorrow, but given that we haven't tested the autopilot, it doesn't make sense to go. They hand-steered here because they had to. It wouldn't be wise to choose that scenario.

Sooo, it sounds like we're going to sail up to Klein Curacao - a little island off the mainland and anchor up there for a few days...leaving maybe late tomorrow afternoon or first thing Sunday. Then maybe later next week we'll get lucky with another little window, or just choose to go for it - which has to happen eventually.

In other news, I did 2 dives yesterday. Alex and Melissa are doing their PADI Open Water Certification and I came along for the ride. But, eesh, talk about embarassing, ...I've got a Divemaster certification, so when they were being taught howto set up the tanks the Instructor said "oh she should know what she's doing." But then he said something that didn't make sense to me about the way the valve should go, so I second guessed myself and spun mine around. Course then I'm attaching everything backwards, which felt REALLY wrong, but I kept at it. Anyway, then the instructor was like, "um, that's wrong." UGH, duh. Ya know that's the first time I've done that, ever...after I don't know 80 ish dives? Bleh.

Anyhow, the diving was pretty cool. I have to say doing your open water in the ocean is awesome. The dropoffs here are kinda unbelievable. We went from 10ft. to a sheer wall that dropped to, man, I don't even know, a few hundred feet maybe? In my opinion this is quite dangerous to take students to, particularly if the instructor doesn't pay super close attention, which he didn't, as the students are much more likely to be disoriented and/or not paying attention to their depths. Despite my earlier equipment snafu, I do still know what I'm doing underwater, and I'm very much like a mother hen while diving - keeping an eye on everyone. So I was glad I was there. Alex and Melissa both seemed pretty natural at it though, and with more experience, they'll be great.

Oh, last, I'm learning how to deal with SSB and pactor modems for sailmail, out of necessity, as Todd has never used them before. It's kinda neat! And a great skill to chuck onto my sailing resume. This way I'll be able to send very very small email updates to the blog and those that care even out in the middle of the ocean! If you're reading this and you want to be added to the list to receive those updates, email me.

Adios por ahora.

Pics from Curacao Online

2010-03-25T19:50:00.001-04:00

Link's on the right!
http://picasaweb.google.com/heyjenjackson

Hello One World

2010-03-18T17:59:00.002-04:00

Arrived safe and sound in Curacao today. All 3 flights were uneventful. It was a little bit interesting sorting out how to get to the boat from the airport, it all worked out.

I met the Captain, Todd, his son, Alex, and crewmember Melissa. All first impressions are great.

Have had a shower and am now chilling on the aft deck typing away. Gotta love unsecured wireless networks.

More to follow once I get a lay of the land, err, boat. :-)

More pics

2010-03-16T15:04:00.003-04:00

New pics from Mexico uploading as I type. Link to the right.

Decision Made!

2010-03-12T19:29:00.000-04:00

Curacao here I come!

I was able to Skype with Captain Todd and Crewmember Melissa (www.schooneradventures.com). And between the lengthy emails I had previously exchanged with Todd and just getting to lay eyes on them to know they're real people pretty much sealed the deal.

Then it was a mad dash to get my plane ticket, as there was only 1 seat left at the $567 price point. Naturally I didn't have my credit card and was on an unsecure internet connection anyway, so my darling mother stepped up to the plate and took care of it for me. (I'm paying her back.)

On March 17, I'll take a bus from La Paz to Cabo San Lucas airport, then fly through LA, Miami and arrive in Curacao on March 18th.

Adventure Adventure!!!

Shakedown Cruise

2010-03-12T15:42:00.000-04:00

A few days ago we set out for the Sea of Cortez islands north of La Paz. The first day there was no wind, so we motored up. We anchored in a gorgeous little cove near our friends SV Anon. All of a sudden westerly winds whipped up outta no where and got us all rockin and rollin. I felt my first touch of seasickness which sucked, but I didn't get sick.

In the morning we were up and adam early and got underway, anxious to sail. The batons we made helps the TOTALLY blown out main tremendously, but I'm 100% that we *should not* set out across the Pacific without getting a new main. We sailed along happily for a few hours, though we were beating into the wind. Then, all of a sudden, BANG! What was that? A fishing net that was lashed to the backstay seemed to pop up from the deck. We looked at all the stays and nothing had snapped, but still it seemed loose. Then, we saw it, the chainplate failed - and came up a bit of the way through the deck!! Yikes. This can be the making of a lost mast in the wrong circumstances. We quickly doused the sails and headed back to an anchorage. (Unfortunately I was lounging in the cockpit when this happened and I think I jumped up a bit too quickly as I had to toss a few cookies into the drink. My shipmates were impressed that I got sick, wiped my mouth and immediately started tailing a line. I can only assume that my somewhat embarrassing seasickness is from being away from the ocean for so long. In any case, I'm a get sick - get going kinda person, versus the get sick and stay sick kind.) Anyway, we motored back to an anchorage and had a quiet night.

In the morning we had a lovely breakfast (my Namibian special) and paddled to the island for a little hike. Gorgeous desert island with cacti and red rock everywhere. And on the other side, blue blue water. We swam and snorkeled some, and had a great time. We motored on back to La Paz. I read the last rigging survey that was done on the boat and it is troubling indeed.

Back in La Paz, Ben set to work on repairing the chainplate. We've consulted a few different folks in the area for opinions, but he'll be doing the work himself. I trust that it'll be done well, but what concerns me more are all the other things the survey raised flags on. Truth be told, you don't ever really get to leave port knowing nothing will go wrong on board, I get that. But it still worries me.

Our mainsail is blown out as well. We desperately need a new one, and they've known that for a while. But they thought they could just roll into Puerto Vallarta and pick one up. I have contacted a sailmaker there and found out a new main is going to take 4-6 weeks (which is what I'd expect, actually). When I reported that to the boys, they were put off. Ben said, eh, why wait. Just ship to the Marquesas instead (i.e. cross the Pacific with what we have). It's a downwind run and the main isn't that important. While this is true, I wouldn't do it, and I don't like the idea one bit. I've become very very fond of the owner, Don. He's surrogate favorite grandpa material for sure. But eesh, the boat....

Sooooo, where do things stand now? I went onto findacrew.net and registered as available crew. I was contacted by Todd, the captain/owner of SV One World (www.schooneradventures.com). They are sailing around the world over the course of about 3 years. They've just begun essentially, and are in Venezuela now. I could meet them in Curacao (near Aruba) next week. I have to pay my own way there (~$600), but after that all expenses are covered.

There are no other options for me here in La Paz. I could wait around for about a week with the boys and sail to Puerto Vallarta and try to find a boat there. Right now I'm leaning heavily toward One World. I'm hoping to Skype with the captain sometime today. I put it up on Facebook for a vote and so far it's a landslide: go to Curacao. The plan would be fly to Curacao, then do the leg with them to Panama - it's a short 4 day passage. As it happens, they are shorthanded for the trip and could use the help. It'd be a great try-out for me and them. If things didn't work out, I could much more easily find a boat in Panama (which was the original location suggested to me by Robb.....). Now if only Todd would sign on!!

More to come.

Pictures!

2010-03-06T17:31:00.000-04:00

Pictures being uploaded as I type...
Link is on the left, or: http://picasaweb.google.com/heyjenjackson

All is Well

2010-03-06T17:18:00.002-04:00

I’ve begun to feel right at home on the (Spirit of) Nyami Nyami. I’m a Nyami Nyamian now! The speed and ease at which this has all taken place is really unbelievable…
Monday: Arrive in Cabo San Lucas, met by a long-time friend Santiago who graciously drives me to La Paz and gets us settled.
Tuesday: With a friend of Santiago’s, visit the 3 marinas in town getting the lay of the land and leaving my cards on notice boards.
Wednesday: Go on the morning VHF “net” where all the cruisers in the area chit chat about the goings on here. I announce myself and what I’m looking for. Meet Don and Ben on SoNN and spend the afternoon together. Dinner with the boys and their friends from the anchorage.
Thursday: Move aboard.
Friday: Projects on board during the day (organize the library, assist with making batons for our sail), host party aboard for 10 people Friday night. Party goes to the wee hours of the morning – great conversations and warm fuzzies all around.

It’s still too soon to say everything is going to be just perfect. We haven’t sailed together yet. But I have to say it all feels very right. We’re quickly turning into a happy little family, and I’m loving the instant camaraderie they (and now we) seem to have with the other boats. I feel like I fit, that I play a needed role, which is so important to me. I’m going to learn a lot about sailing and systems on board. Man I’m excited to go sailing.

The current plan is to head out to the islands nearby for a day or two, as a shakedown trip to check out our newly repaired autopilot, mainsail and fridge. Then we’ll head to Puerto Vallarta, which is about a 4 day trip. (La Cruz, specifically). How long we’ll be there is dependent on how quickly we get done what we need to on board. I think the main items on the agenda are to get a new main and sort out the particulars of the Puddle Jump which we are a registrant of.

I say this with a grain of salt, as again, I have no idea how this “leg” of my path is going to turn out, but if it continues it helps me to believe with even more certainty that we truly can realize our dreams and create our own realities.

Boat Found!

2010-03-04T12:07:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post to say that I've found a boat! The Spirit of Nyami Nyami is owned by an older Zimbabwean fellow called Don. He has a captain on board from the states called Ben. We'll be heading to Puerto Vallarta sometime in the next couple of days.
From there, should I still be in their good graces and they in mine, we will point into the South Pacific. Their ultimate destination is New Zealand.

If we aren't thrilled with each other, there will be many many more boats in PV that are taking off to cross the pond. I've learned that La Paz is more of a stopping point on the way to points south in Mexico, which are more common jumping off points.

I'm very excited, naturally, but also a little bit in disbelief at how quick and easy this has gone so far. I've gotten good recommendations about Don, Ben and the boat from other sailors. Plus, it feels really good to have a short sail ahead to check everything out.

More to come prior to launch.

Arrived Safely

2010-03-01T22:54:00.001-04:00

Arrived in Cabo San Lucas safely and was met at the airport by my friend Santiago. He drove me to La Paz and tomorrow we will head to the marina. More later.

T-Minus 5 Sleeps

2010-02-24T17:16:00.001-04:00

5 more sleeps and then I'm off to La Paz, Mexico to embark on the first leg of my quest: find a sailboat that's crossing the Pacific. Man I wanna cross that ocean. It's been a dream/goal since the end of 2004 when I first started seriously learning to sail. Back then the idea was to learn to sail, buy a boat and cross the Pacific single-handed. That plan has been altered a bit due to a few years of getting older and wiser + a global recession, but the crux of it remains: CROSS THAT OCEAN! One of the things that came up for me in my endless hours of alone time in Africa was that long distance sailing (cruising) as a lifestyle is still very important to me. And before I do anything that's going to get me more "settled", I want to try it out.

So now the plan is this: Head down to La Paz where lots of boats are congregated, many of them bound for the Pacific. See if any have room on board for one more and who want the extra hand on deck. If I strike out in La Paz, I can head on to Puerto Vallarta, where there are many more boats preparing to go. If i strike out there, I admit my confidence may be shaken somewhat, but I'll consider moving on to Panama. I don't think it'll come to that though. I'm hard-working, able-bodied, an experienced blue water sailor, without an itinerary... and being a cute blonde single girl can't hurt.

Am I scared? Um, ya. This little plan of mine is by far the least amount of structure I've ever had when setting out on an adventure (of which there have been several). My mom is asking me questions like, "Where should I start if you don't end up where you say you're going to end up after X days?" Gotta love her though, she's behind me 1000%.

I'm mostly excited and ready to go for it though. It's gonna be fantastic. Tom Petty's "Into the Great Wide Open" fits.......

Epilogue

2010-01-29T15:05:00.002-04:00

A full month has passed since I came home from Africa. Reverse culture shock went pretty well I'd say. I still get a little uncomfortable and anxious when I'm in a large group though. I attribute it to my brain tuning into so many conversations that I can understand versus before when 99% of talk was in various other languages. But other than that, I feel fairly OK.

The whole experience has taken on a very surreal quality though. I feel like I had some sort of a time warp on another planet. Not a single thing in my surroundings now is anything like it was there. And, nothing has really changed back in my usual world. I look at the pictures I took (quite often) and ask myself, "did that really happen?"

I think of my kids often...wondering how many of them are still in school, and hoping that they found a good math teacher. I should be getting the grade reports from the principal soon I hope.

I'm regularly getting the "what next?" question. For sake of completeness, you should know that Matt and I parted ways as friends at the end of the year. So now I'm without a job, place to live, or relationship. I'm about 95% sure that I want to spend some time sailing before I make any career commitments. In about a month I plan to fly down to either La Paz or Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. From there I will "walk the docks" and see about finding a boat headed across the Pacific in need of crew.

I will continue to maintain this blog if that adventure materializes........stay tuned...............

Private Game Reserve - Animal Roster!

2010-01-29T15:00:00.002-04:00

In a whopping 3 short game drives, we spotted:

White Rhinos (12!)
Black Rhino (1)
Giraffes
Zebras
Warthogs
Tortoises
Kudu
Sables
Bushbucks
Nyalas
Impalas
Eland
Vulture
Roan Antelope
Hippos
Elephants

Mucho pictures online - link's on the left!

Driving in Mozambique

2010-01-29T14:17:00.001-04:00

(Written on the road in Mozambique, ~Dec. 23, 2009)

Ehem, the aforementioned by-the-sea vacation still hasn't started yet, though I've been in Mozambique for 5 days. For starters, Moz is not a very friendly place if you don't have a vehicle. We arrived Saturday late afternoon and weren't picking up the truck until Tuesday. So, we were stuck footing it around Maputo. Maputo, while it does have some charm, is kind of a wreck of a city. It felt very Havana to me. Second, Moz is completely inundated right now with South Africans and backpackers on Christmas vacation. I mean absolutely crawling with them! Matt and I got scared off of stopping in Tofo as the whale sharks apparently don't hang out there these days (my 1 reason for going), and the campsites are literally full to the brim - tent to 4x4 to tent to 4x4. So we decided to drive straight from Maputo to Vilankulo. But due to a snafu with the truck we got a late start and had to camp for a night in Xai-Xai. Sure enough, the campsite was chock full of white, red-faced, pot-bellied Afrikaaners, complete with their air conditioned trailers. More on these thoughts later.

Today we will make it to Vilankulo, though the roads have only cooperated about 50% of the way so far. The bad stretches are unimaginably bad, with potholes so deep they should be called "canyonoles", plus long bits covered in sand. The last stretch we've been on is nice tar, so I'm actually writing this in the car!

Another little dash of salt that's making things more challenging in Moz is communication. The official language here is Portuguese, and very few people speak or even understand a word of English. Thankfully my limited Spanish is helping some, but we are often finding ourselves mostly in the dark.

I'll be honest, I'm kind of in a bad mood. And one of the reasons just dawned on me. In Namibia, I was a local, sort of. I was living there and working for the good of the community. In Zimbabwe, most of the second time I was there I had a connection to wherever I was at. Even without a connection it was still a little unusual that a white woman was there alone, so people were curious. But here in Moz, with Matt in our rented 4x4 truck with tent on top, I look *exactly* like the thousands of S. Africans that swoop into the beaches of this country for 2 weeks a year. And even at the risk of sounding like one myself, so many of them are asses! They are rude, obnoxious, presumptuous and racist. And Mozambicans look at me and assume I'm one of them and it's driving me nuts.

I kinda wish I had the time to wait somewhere else and come back around January 15. I think this would be a *lovely* country to explore, given the right time.

On "Travelling"

2010-01-29T00:43:00.003-04:00

(I wrote this in transit from Swaziland to Maputo, Mozambique. ~December 19, 2009)

Now that I'm back on the backpackers trail, I can see quite a bit more clearly how artificial it can be. Nothing has really changed since my first big trip in 2001 for 9 months in the South Pacific. Big pack on back, small pack and valuables on front, food in a plastic bag. You waddle the shortest distances you can manage and dread climbing into crammed buses where everyone on board hates you. The Lonely Planet drops words like "charming" so you choose that hostel over "dated". Of course, everyone else does too. Your hostel will gladly book any activity you desire, while you peruse the wall of posters advertising white water rafting, safari camping, "authentic" village tours and of course, more hostels. Inevitably one bus company caters to the backpackers, offering door to door service (hostel to hostel) at exorbitant prices, but for those fresh off the boat (or plane in this case), it's convenient and safe.

Higher end tourists basically do the same thing; they go from hotel to hotel and venture out on hotel-prescribed activities.

Now please don't get the wrong idea. I'm not knocking this in the slightest. SOME travel is better than NO travel. But if you want to scratch the surface on anything "real", you really have to make an effort, because it's just too easy to fall into the groove of the beaten path.

Volunteering for a couple of weeks is a fantastic way to start to see a place and its people. I know it's gaining in popularity, "voluntourism" I think it's called.

Taking public transportation is also a good idea, though it is usually really uncomfortable and annoying. And, if you're feeling brave, take public transport out of the city and just get off somewhere random. Maybe strike up a conversation with someone on the bus and see where they are going. Bring a bag of sugar or some other cheap but useful commodity as a gift and see what happens.

Matt asked how "authentic" his experience will be. With our limited time and both of us being in need of a vacation, we're not getting too far off the proverbial beaten path. I'm really glad I talked him out of flying roundtrip to Vic Falls. While it's beautiful and will always be a definite highlight of my time outside of Namibia, it is a manufactured bubble. In Swaziland we got a good mix of upscale (safari lodge), activity (quad-biking) and real (combis!) In Mozambique though, I'm getting my long-time-coming by-the-sea vacation!

Home

2010-01-01T13:05:00.002-04:00

A whirlwind of activity over the last couple of weeks, and poof, I'm home. I intend to write several more posts detailing the holiday as well as the dreaded "reverse culture shock".

Swazi-ed, in Mozambique now.

2009-12-21T03:50:00.000-04:00

Quick post to say all is well. We left Swaziland on Saturday and are in Maputo, Mozambique waiting to pick up the truck, tomorrow. Then itºs off to Vilankulo ASAP!!
Much more detailed and interesting posts are being written (on paper!) to be entered into the blog soon.

It might be called South Africa, but it isn't Africa

2009-12-12T06:45:00.002-04:00

I'm safe and sound in Pretoria now, but where I was overwhelmed in Bulawayo, I'm floored in Pretoria. I feel like I'm in LA. I don't like it. But I do like being able to leave my stuff at the hostel and feel relatively confident that it'll be there and untampered with when i get back.

Matt arrives tomorrow evening. We're going to take it easy for 2 days here while he deals with jetlag. Then we are planning to head to Swaziland.

My SA number is +27 79 056 7329

Back in Zimbabwe...
I finally ventured out on my own and took a bus from Bulawayo to Masvingo (pronounced Mashingo), where the ruins of Great Zimbabwe are. I camped for the last time in my little dinky tent. Gonna miss ya old fella. The ruins are pretty incredible. They were just as awe inspiring as the pyramids in Guatemala, I think the "experts" think these were erected waaaaayyyyy earlier than any anywhere else. I'll have to google that one, but I'm intrigued for sure.

The locals continued to be fantastically friendly, though English very quickly dropped out of the surrounding conversations. Everyone I talked to though was still fluent. I randomly met a handful of folks that wanted me to come stay with them.

My bus to South Africa situation was a less charming story, however. It was 6 HOURS late in leaving! Was supposed to go at 5pm, and we left after 11pm. The delay? Rain. Sigh. I had to sit at a petrol station and most of the time there was a torrential downpour outside. I felt like I was in the movie 'Romancing the Stone' watching the local buses pass through, people pouring off, scarfing down food, and pouring back on. Best, though, was the loading of these buses. I'm used to overcrowding and overpacking, but this exceeded even the worst I'd seen. At one point a man was standing on top of the bus (an old school bus) and the parcels were stacked on top a full half-body-length above his head! (And he was probably around 6ft.) They'd lumber off into the rainy night. I'm amazed there aren't more accidents.

When my bus finally came I got bumped from a window to an aisle, no reclining seats, no foot rest. But at least I got my own seat and luggage was safe below. At 3am we hit the Beit Bridge border. This commenced the absolute worst border experience I've ever had. We waited outside, in the pouring rain, for over 3 hours. Yep, we weren't through until around 6:15am. @#$#@ @#$^%$#% @#$@@@#%%^^!!!!!!!!

After that the driver had had enough of all the delays and we slammed straight through to Pretoria/Joburg without stopping. I got in around 2pm I think.

Now I'm twiddling my thumbs in relative comfort...waiting for the boy. Everyone still loves my braids and I'm getting stopped on the street asking where I had them done (and how much I paid.)

Bulawayo, Zim Number Restored, No time for Malawi

2009-12-07T09:06:00.002-04:00

Finally left Vic Falls last Saturday morning for Bulawayo; I caught a lift (thanks again Cesare) with a friendly fellow called Dinx (we bonded over the rhyming of our names - Dinx/Mynx).

In Byo, I was meeting up with Irvy, the Zimbabwean girl I met last time I was in vic falls who is a teacher in Botswana. She came all the way from Gabarone for one day/night just to see me. She's a special gal, and I'm honored to call her my friend.

I know this is starting to sound broken-recordish, but Zimbabweans are SO LOVELY!! Irvy was staying with a friend from high school and his aunt. They took me in like their own. She took off the next day (Sunday) and I had planned on sorting out a backpackers, but nope, I was informed that would be insulting. So they had me stay another night, and likely for as long as I would've wanted.

Cesare got to town today and now I'm staying with him and his mom. Tomorrow we will go to Matopas National Park. Then Wednesday I'm off on my own to Great Zimbabwe. I think Friday I will head for South Africa, spending Saturday night in Pretoria. Matt arrives Sunday.

I can't say enough at how bright, welcoming and engaging Zimbabweans are. They go on and on about the importance of an education, working hard for yourself, being kind and welcoming to all, etc. I truly love this place.

However, i have DEFINITELY turned into a village girl. Being in Bulawayo has me overwhelmed for sure. I nearly got hit by cars twice today. Therefore I'm not going on to Harare, and I'm kinda peein in my pants about being in South Africa. :-)

I got another phone today out of sheer necessity. My Zim number is restored: +263 91 400 8581

Sorry to be so scatter brained in my posts these days. It's a little different writing when the internet cafe clock is ticking down.

Vic Falls, local style

2009-12-03T08:42:00.002-04:00

Camping on an island at the falls, literally ON the falls...as in walk to the edge and mind the water rushing past as it goes over.
...
A couple of swimming holes, you guessed it, RIGHT there on the edge.
...
Full moon.
...
No one else on the island (except for the thieving fisherman of course).
...
Professional photographer who thoroughly enjoyed shooting his first female subject in front of his favorite natural wonder.
...
Climbed about 1/8 of the way down the face of the falls - it's actually pretty easy. We could have gone all the way down but it was getting dark.
...
Tom reckons you can count on 1 or 2 hands how many people have been out to these places, ever.

Obviously I'm not my usual pedantic self. I'm kinda tired (and still bumming a little about my stuff). But it truly was a once in a lifetime experience. And besides, I know a few gentlemen that will gladly reimburse me for what was lost when they see my newly taken photos. ;-)

TIA - No more Zim cell phone

2009-12-03T08:38:00.002-04:00

Last night I went out to the island at the falls with that photographer and some of his buddies, as I mentioned. When we got there, he wanted to show us around and said all of our stuff would be fine in the boat (including his oodles of camera equipment) as no one ever goes out there.
Apparently, people do.
We got back and all of our stuff had been rifled through. Tom and I both lost our cell phones, cash and leathermans. Thankfully none of the camera equipment was taken, and my little camera was miraculously still there.

I'm not going to get another cell phone.

Ehem, Still in Vic Falls, surprise surprise

2009-12-02T07:28:00.005-04:00

Yep, I can see why people get ‘stuck’ here. There’s so much to do, the people are lovely, the scenery is beautiful and the climate is manageable. Even Zimbabweans come here and end up staying.

Yesterday was all about the animals. I’ve been lucky enough to see lions and elephants in the wild, but I kinda wanted a closer look.

In the morning, I went for a “lion encounter”. I know, I know, cheese factor right? I wanted to see for myself. Here’s the program: get picked up and taken out to a reserve, learn some basic safety stuff, then head out with a few guides who bring out 2-4 lion “cubs” (mine were 16 months…pretty big freakin lions if you ask me) – they aren’t leashed or muzzled. You go for a little stroll with them through the bush, and those willing can come up and pet their rears while walking. After a while, we stop and the lions lay down on some rocks. One by one the guests come up behind them and give em a scratch and of course get photos taken. We walk back, have some breakfast, watch the video and head. Sounds manufactured and touristy yes? Well, frankly, it kind of is, however, there’s a cause, and a pretty serious one. Before this I had no idea that lions were becoming endangered. They’ve seen a huge drop in the population in recent years (70-80%!!) and on the whole, no one is really doing anything about it. So these guys are a part of www.LionAlert.org and there is a pretty plausible plan in place to help boost the wild population. I’m paraphrasing here, but from what I recall: Stage 1 is captive lions who are used to humans hang out and do these ‘encounter’ thingys, but they are also getting more used to being in the bush. Stage 2 sees them released into an enclosure with game they can hunt and human contact is limited. In Stage 3, competitive species are introduced (i.e. they have to start fending for themselves), and if there were only females, males are added to the mix (dating). There is zero human interaction at this point. In Stage 4, any cubs that are born are fully released into the wild after weening and all that. The thinking is, captive lions just can’t be turned loose; it doesn’t work except in the movie Born Free. But cubs born seemingly in the wild should do fine. Why do Stage 1 at all? It’s to raise awareness and funds to support the later stages. Acquiring the land and building the enclosures is super expensive. The whole program is just getting started, and they’ve had the idea to contact companies and organizations with lions in their logos (MGM, Detroit Lions, etc.) for support in a campaign called “Where is your pride?”. Clever, no? Anyway, worthy cause, alarming situation. Two thumbs up. Check out the website – www.lionalert.org

In the afternoon I did an elephant back safari. There’s less of a cause to talk about here so I won’t bore you with the details. I’ll just put up some pictures when I get home. I did get to scratch my elephants tongue…nobody else did…my elephant, Emily, just opened up her mouth and stuck out her tongue, I saw one of the guides doing it so I gave it a go. Weird!!

Today I'm heading out to an island at the falls with a photographer from the BBC. It's a full moon - he's been hired to get all kinds of footage of the falls! This is a private deal, no tourists. Once again I have Cesare to thank! (Ladies, he's free...)

Friday I’m going white water rafting on the Zambezi! Then Saturday morning I’m off to Bulawayo.

New Zimbabwe Number

2009-11-30T05:13:00.000-04:00

+263 91 400 8581

I Zimbabwe...have I said that before?

2009-11-30T05:05:00.000-04:00

LOVE it here! I know I haven't really explored the country yet, but Vic Falls and the people here are soooo wonderful.
I went back to the Pizza/Chicken/Creamy Inn and found Julius still there. He was positively thrilled that I came back as I said I would. "You are very honest, Jen", he said.
My friend Hilton hooked me up via Facebook with a childhood friend of his, Cesare, who lives here. Cesare is an Italian tour guide and he's a fantastic host! Thank you Hilton!! Cesare welcomed me into his gorgeous home, and his home away from home, Shoestrings Backpackers. Though the place is most definitely a backpackers (DJ booth, nightly parties, very active bar, etc.) they are super friendly. They've got an African Drumming Troupe that performs there along with some fire spinners. They asked me to light up and I obliged. 2 days later, folks are still going on about the show. It's SOO fun to perform in a more or less closed system, i.e. they only see the same people spin over and over. You get to show off a different style that no one has ever seen. Anyway...
Yesterday I was on my way into town with no particular destination in mind. I greeted two ladies across the street, and they said, "Come with us to church." I thought about it for a second and said, OK! So as I'm now starting to get used to, we walked for ages through the township, alternating between roads and dirt paths. We rattled on about the usual girl stuff (they were older ladies, in their late 40's or perhaps early 50's) but men and babies are usually where the conversation goes to. As we passed people, the ladies were asked what they were doing with the white person (I recognized the word that sounded like 'mukuwa'. They said I was going with them to church ("church" is said in English for whatever reason). That was met with great joy and some clapping usually. We FINALLY made it to our destination: a big tree in the bush. People were already gathered; most of the women wore white head coverings, and some had full length white robes. The few men that were there were the pastors, who also wore long white robes. There was a cloth banner strung up on a bush. They are Apostele or something like that, and I was later told that they are the equivalent of the Amish. There were maybe 15-20 people there. The service was all in the local languages, Shona, Dibele. There was a lot of 'hallelujah'ing and we got up to sing and clap about every 8-10 minutes. At first a lot of people were staring, but most smiled back when I did. After maybe 2 hours, one pastor started to welcome me to the congregation (in Shona) and everyone clapped. He then translated into English and also read a passage from the Bible. He said everyone and everything is about love. By then the little ones had grown quite fond of me (at first they were a little afraid) and were kinda crawling all over me. The whole thing was fabulous. I finally had to go, however, as I hadn't eaten anything and the heat was really getting to me. I started footing the long way home, but it wasn't long before a friendly fellow picked me up and gave me a lift back into town.
Today I'm going to get a SIM card, book my FREE lion walk (courtesy of Cesare), and probably do another fire dancing show at Shoestrings. The boys there want me to teach them a few things too.
So yes, I'm basking in Zimbabwe heaven.

In Zimbabwe Now...Feels like Home

2009-11-28T11:11:00.003-04:00

Made it to Zimbabwe safe and sound after some pretty darn TEARY goodbyes this week. The letters started pouring in from learners, along with pretty pictures and what.
Then the morning I left, eesh!

But being back in Zim feels great. I was too late to purchase a Zim SIM card though, so i'll be out of touch until Monday.

Gosh, so much to say but am now on the good ole internet cafe ticking clock. Though i can tell you that a heard of elephants (with babies!) crossed our path on the road today - along with some steenboks (cute!) some other sort of antlered animals, plus i think some form of buffalo, but not the big one...not sure. Anyway...I'm safe, all is well.

Math Exam Results So Far

2009-11-28T11:06:00.001-04:00

These are the marks from Paper 2, out of 85. Paper 1 will be written December 4th, 45 marks.

9A:
Average - 24%
High - 51%
Low - 6%

9B:
Average - 22%
High - 46%
Low - 12%

Science Results

2009-11-28T11:05:00.001-04:00

The kids did great!! (remember, 30% is considered passing)

8A
Exam:
Average - 38%
High - 60%
Low - 15%
Grades for the year:
1 C
6 D's
14 E's
(the rest F's, G's, U's)

8B:
Exam:
Average - 36%
High - 73%!!!!
Low - 12%
Grades for the year:
1 C
7 D's
8 E's

8C:
Exam:
Average - 31%
High - 60%
Low - 12%
Grades for the year:
1 C
6 D's
6 E's

FAVORITE answer from the test:
Q: Explain why hydrochloric acid is used in swimming pools.
A: To make pure water so white people must swim.

Tears

2009-11-28T11:04:00.002-04:00

The English teacher had the grade 9's write a short essay about their favorite teacher. Today he gave me a few of them; they're bringing tears to my eyes.
(Note, they have trouble with he/she him/her, and 'use to' means 'usually' or 'does'.)

(word for word)
5 November 2009
My favourite teacher is Ms Jackson

I like him because she is a good teacher She don't treat us in bad way and she always when we pass her quiz or test she use to award us something so that we must be serious with her subject. She alway present in her period and she use to teach us until we understand and she gave us many thing like book, pencil eraser bubber and sharpener. When we are writing her subject during test or exam she use to provide us with calculator and pencil. And she use to follow time and when we don't understand she use to give us correction so that we must understand her well. And I would like to say that I thank her too for everything she brought here at our school and we steel want him to be with us next year.
-Andreas Kavamba Grade 9A
(different Andreas if you're a regular on the blog)
----

06-11-2009
The Article

The last few years she was arrived at the school compined in Divundu town. All of the learner they have come to luve and respect Miss Jenifa Jackson, our math teacher.

It was very great dejected that we have learned about one of our favourite teachers leaving the school at the end of this year.

Miss Jennifa is a real special somehow and we used to feel glad when she give us some encourages to always a pleasure to be in her class. She is great fun.

Her period we used to enjoy when she is in the class room Even she was very proud/jovial at all. I would be sad to see her going back to U-S-A, because she used to give us something wich make us to feel jovial and active so that we must interested in her subject.

Ms. Jackson her way going back to America I will never ever to see her again in my lify until at the end of the world.
-Sirumbu Moses Grade 9A
----

My favourite teacher is leaving the school at the end of the year.

I would like say is our master for mathematic and science teacher since when he came here at our school, he respect every people and he come adorable with them. I can say she is boffin also he deplore if you miss his homework of class activities or task.

Sometime what she used to do - he come in the class give us pencil and sharpen he used to encourage learner to study hard. When you pass a test- you will gets something that makes you to study hard. She is very good person miss he alot for what has done for us. Every well not get teacher like him because is ve intellegent and know alot the particular subject. I thank he to live with god and help he to reach were he came from.
- Mulyata Kalunga Titus Grade 9A

Length of Service

2009-11-28T11:04:00.001-04:00

I can see why Peace Corps and VSO have 2 year placements, and the normal WorldTeach assignment is for 1 year. Plain and simple, you need TIME to get a community to warm up to you. I don't know whether it's because I'm leaving in a few days, or if this is right around the time that there's a crack in the shell, but I'm feeling a lot more welcome here. The kids are talking to me more, and the secretary told me tonight that she wishes she had invited me over. I had to run over to her homestead to drop something off and she invited me into her house. I said it was the first time I'd been inside a mud house; she said she felt very bad about that. Sigh.

So if anyone out there is considering volunteering overseas, my recommendation is not to consider anything less than a year.

You know you're really bored when you...

2009-11-28T11:01:00.000-04:00

* Start plucking your leg hair with tweezers.
* Play multiple games of solitaire with cards, without cheating, the 3 draw version. (Still haven't won a single game!)
* Sew two patches on your pack, then rip them out because they are a little crooked.
* Go to sleep at 7:30pm because you simply have nothing else to do.
* Start over on knitting a scarf that's already 6 inches long because you think it's a little bit too wide.
* Write a blog post about how bored you are.

Moving on moving out

2009-11-22T16:11:00.003-04:00

Hello dear readers. Matt Sammons here, your guest blogger for the day. Jen would be writing this post, but unfortunately her phone was stolen on the trip from Rundu to Divundu today, which has left her without internet access for the time being.

Pause... no need to panic. She was able to borrow a learner's phone, and is reachable if anything goes wonky. We just chatted for a while, and she's doing fine, all things considered. If you need her temp number or have any other questions, email me. She'll be up and running with a new phone by the end of the week.

School is wrapping up, and Jen is finishing prep for the trip through Zimbabwe and Malawi. She'll be leaving Divundu on Nov 27, and crossing the Zimbabwean border on the 28th. From there, she'll be hitting Victoria Falls, Bulawayo and Harare, each for a few days. She expects to be moving on to Malawi by Dec 6 at the latest, where she'll be heading to Cape Maclear on Lake Nyasa. Then, on Dec 12 she hops a bus to South Africa, to meet yours truly at the Johannesburg airport on the 13th.

She'll fill you in on details starting around the 27th from various internet cafes along the route. I know I'm excited for her, and can't wait to get out there myself. Keep on sending your love and positive travel juju!

New Pics Uploaded

2009-11-18T19:55:00.001-04:00

Link's on the left.

Delightful Evening

2009-11-18T19:53:00.002-04:00

Last night I had my two Grade 9 Learners of the Year, Fredrick Kasoma and
Victorinu Chiviya, over for dinner. I was able to borrow a hotplate with
two working burners (that magically seems to have lasted more than 5 months
in a different household, ahem) and made a delicious meal of chackalacka
with lots of veggies and meat added plus perfectly cooked rice. (This is
officially my favorite dish for myself.)

The boys were adorable; both clearly dressed up for the affair. They are
some of my most talkative learners, so conversation was thankfully not
lacking. When we sat down, Victorinu said that this was the first time he'd
ever eaten at the same table with a white person. "Ever??" I asked. "Yes."
(I bet it'll be a while before a white person serves him too.) As usual,
many questions were asked about the differences between Namibia and America.
(How are the learners different, how are the teachers different...) They
also asked if I always have dinner like this with my housemate, Mr. T. I
laughed and said Mr. T. is always "out" when I'm having dinner. I told them
that it's been pretty lonely for me here because no one really talks to me.
They both said they would've wanted to come and talk more often but they
thought they would be bothering me :-( POO!

Probably the most interesting question of the evening was from Fredrick:
"Why are white people smart and black people stupid?" My answer was that I
don't believe that to be true. HOWEVER, in many cases white children are
nurtured from infancy with education and curiosity whereas black children
are neglected. I said the brain is like a muscle; it needs to get exercise
to be strong. And if someone has been exercising since birth, they are
going to be stronger than someone who exercises just a little when they are
older.

Both boys gobbled up every last grain of rice, the package of cookies for
desert and several cups of crystal lite (thanks again mom!) We took a
picture and hugged, and then I lent them torches for their walk home in the
dark.

Victorinu and Fredrick are both examples of really bright kids who could go
either way depending on the amount of motivation and guidance they get. I
encouraged them to keep their heads down and try their "level best" to get
to another school. If they can just make it out of here, I think they could
go quite a ways further.

Overflowing with Gratitude

2009-11-18T19:53:00.001-04:00

There are a ton of folks I'd like to thank from the bottom of my heart for
contributing in so many different ways toward making all that I've done here
possible.

Pre-Departure Fundraising
- EVERYONE who contributed - too many to name of course and I don't have my
list over here, but a few:
* Early Adopter Deb
* Great White North Contributors (Freeze, Hoops, etc.)
* Family & Distant Family
* Big Finish Dave
- Fundraising Party - IMPOSSIBLE without:
* Jay
* Jeff H.
* ALL the folks who helped at the event - door, bar, DJing, hustling, and
just showing up!

In Country Support for the Learners (school supplies)
- Dave
- Candace
- Jenni
- Mom
- Matt
- Sarah Todd
- William Adams Middle School

In Country Support for Me (food, entertainment)
- Jan
- Jenni
- Matt
- Mom

I'm pretty sure I broke some kind of record with care packages!!

A Special Category all to herself
- CINDY for giving me this laptop which has enabled all things technical,
but really, I couldn't have made it here without this thing. It was my
lifeline.

Lastly, two people have been tireless in their support, between phone calls,
regular boxes sent, religious blog following and favors left and right.
Mom, Matt, I can't thank you guys enough. On two separate occasions someone
here said to me, "He must love you very much" and "Your mom loves you a
lot." They couldn't have been more right.

Friends and Namibian Life

2009-11-16T15:23:00.002-04:00

This weekend I went into town to run a few errands and hang out with my
language tutor, Angie, who came up from Windhoek. In the whole time I've
been here, she's been my only real Namibian friend.

I got to meet her gorgeous and rambunctious little 4-year old girl, Sasha.
Angie and Sasha were staying with Angie's long time friend, Selma, and she
graciously let me stay as well.

Selma is a single mother with a daughter who is around 6. She has a job at
a loan company. She's waiting for a house to be built, so she's temporarily
renting a place in Rundu that you and I would call a shack. Staying there
for a night gave me a real glimpse of what life can be like here. The walls
were bare cinder block sloppily cemented together. The ceiling was just a
piece of corrugated tin held on with heavy rocks. The walls do not meet the
ceiling. There was no running water, so no sink, toilet or shower. A
toilet and shower was available in the occupied space next door that she is
allowed to use.

I've got to hand it to Selma though; she has decorated the place so that
it's as nice as a cinder block space can be. She keeps it very clean,
regularly filling various containers to wash dishes or mop. AND, on top of
all this she took in not only her friend and friend's kid, she took me in as
well. Despite limited cooking facilities, she even made us all dinner.

Angie, Sasha and I slept on Selma's bed, and Selma and her daughter slept on
a foam mattress on the floor. Did I mention how HOT it's been lately?
Saturday it was 40 degrees C in Rundu (104 Fahrenheit). Guess how hot a
cinder block house with tin roof gets? And sleeping under a mosquito net
with 2 other bodies in bed? Ya, toasty. Nighttime peeing happens in a
basin on the floor. And sleep is dependent on when the guys next door stop
watching TV since the walls don't meet the ceiling.

In the morning we had some coffee and snacks and then said our goodbyes. It
was a teary one with Angie; I'm going to miss that girl. She's a bright one
though, and going places. She may very well end up in California with her
newly minted business venture someday...here's hopin. (p.s. she's done with
Namibian guys, by the way, so American men, you've got a good one up for
grabs!)

Dear Housemate Mr. T.

2009-11-16T15:23:00.001-04:00

There are a couple of things I'd like you to know.

1. Inexpensive hotplates are not designed to be used for hours on end,
which is what you have countless female learners do when they are constantly
boiling goat for you. This is why 2 out of 3 burners are now broken. This
is also why our electricity bill is staggering.

2. My olfactory system is similarly not designed to smell goat boiling for
hours on end. While I sometimes wish IT would break, I am stuck with it,
and it's showing no sign of acclimating to that horrid stench.

3. I am very upset about point number 1, particularly as I have to prepare
dinner for my two grade 9 Learners of the Year tomorrow. Doing so on just
one burner is going to be very difficult. And should the last burner fail,
'pissed' will be an understatement.

4. It is completely unacceptable to send a female learner (or any learner
for that matter) to the house to cook for you *during class*. I reported
this to the Principal, in case there is any question.

Ohhhh lots of really mean things are boiling up outta my chest right now. I
think I'll cut this letter short.

Sincerely,
Your thank-god!-soon-to-be-former housemate

Constrassen, part 2

2009-11-16T15:23:00.000-04:00

I ran out of time in my classes to go line by line on the Namibian National
Anthem. Instead, I printed out a bazillion copies and distributed them
amongst all the learners AND the teachers today. Where I had time I went
through the pronunciation and meaning of some of the words. Again, the
gratitude was overwhelming.

A teacher asked for the master so he could make more copies to hand out in
other schools and in his village. And, just now as I was typing a learner
came in asking for one for his friend.

So if I've accomplished nothing else in my 6 months here, I've hopefully
helped a few Namibians with the Namibian National Anthem.

Black and White

2009-11-13T00:37:00.001-04:00

So as my time here draws to a close, I find myself waxing a bit
philosophical. I've had tangible observations within myself around the
notion of black and white, so I thought I'd share.

If candid discussion of race makes you uncomfortable, stop reading.

Over my years, I can't say I've really been around that many black people.
From first grade through high school, I lived in a town in South Texas that
was oh, 95% or so Hispanic. There, sometimes, I felt like the minority, but
most of the time it didn't seem to matter so much.

In college I did calculus with Alvin, my first black friend. Alvin was
brilliant, and damn fine. (I really wish I could find you, Alvin.) At my
first dot-com job I had a black colleague who I worked closely with and
deeply respected. Presently, I've got one close black friend (hi Jay!), but
that's it. It just seems like the circles don't mix very much, ya know?
Not on purpose; it's just the way it is.

Anyway, leading up to coming here, I didn't give much thought to
black/white. It just sort of slipped my mind. But then I got here, and the
first night hanging out in the hostel during orientation, I thought to
myself, embarrassingly, "oh my gosh, there are so many black people here."
(and there were only a few!) When I got up to Kavango and to my school,
that thought was more pronounced. It wasn't an icky feeling...it's hard to
explain...it was just at the forefront of my thinking.

After, oh, I don't know, maybe 3 or so months, one day it hit me - I didn't
see "black people" anymore, I just saw people. And, interestingly, I'd be
more surprised when I saw more than two white people together.

Now here's where it gets interesting. Over the years I came to understand
that it was ok for black people to refer to themselves as black or other
terms of their choosing implying race. But it was decidedly NOT ok for
white people to refer to black people as such. I didn't get that at all.
But wouldn't ya know, I feel the EXACT SAME WAY now. I reference my race to
other people from time to time here (i.e. "all the white people are going to
rundu for a party"), but boy it irks me when I hear people refer to me as
Mukuwa ("white person" in Thimbukushu). ESPECIALLY people who know my name
and who do it right in front of me. OH MY GOD. Last term a staff member
came into the office asking for something, and another teacher said in
Thimbukushu, ask the mukuwa. At the parents' meeting the other day, I was
asked to loan out all my pencils for voting. And the principal said
something along the lines of 'please return the mukuwa's pencils'. Why does
this get my blood rushing, but I can make jokes about how my white nose
turns bright red in the sun? I kinda get the parents' meeting, but I still
find it intolerable amongst my "colleagues."

I recently read an article about race, and how people identify with race
even before gender. We don't say "a man who is black", we say "black man".
But, in Spanish the adjective comes after the noun, "hombre negro", so I
wonder, is it based on language? I kinda doubt it, but it does bring up an
interesting question. Anyway, race is obviously important descriptor. But
again, why should it bother me (or anyone?) I don't have the answer. All I
know is that it does.

I wonder what it's going to be like going home... My guess is that I'll be
much the same as I was, but should I ever find myself in a room with more
than a few "black people", I probably won't notice as much as I would've
before.

Sweat

2009-11-13T00:36:00.001-04:00

I have never seen so much sweat in my life...both my sweat and everyone
else's. If I sit for more than about a half hour, sweat soaks through my
skirt. Everyone else seems to have beads of sweat dripping off their faces
and a sheen covering all visible parts of their bodies (thankfully I only
get to that point when it's stupidly stupid hot). My sweat does
occasionally splash on the floor from my legs though, doh! Worse, my
learners are getting nose bleeds in class. I think it must be the heat as
well. My, er, nose detritus is also bloody, but not gushing out of me thank
goodness.

It's hard to estimate temperature here. I'm guessing 105 in the shade and
110 in the sun. My mom reminded me about heat index too...no idea what it
would be factoring that in. I'm really tempted to try and fry and egg
outside.

The last two days I've been getting muscle aches and occasionally feel like
throwing up randomly. At first I was worried I was coming down with
something, or god forbid, malaria again. But the good ole lonely planet
health guide says those are common symptoms of over-heating. I'm losing
more salt than I can take in, so my muscles cramp. (It didn't explain the
nausea, just said you get it.) I'm drinking a TON of water, and thanks to
mom, some is flavored with crystal lite. But I rarely have to pee. I know
I know, "piss clear" - I'M TRYING!!!

I also try to take a cold shower everyday, but the water isn't cold anymore.
It's luke warm.

I've travelled to stupidly hot places before, near the equator hot, but
what's different there is you at least always have the sea breeze. Here,
boy oh boy, it's a whole different enchilada (likely cooked outside!!)

Book Report

2009-11-11T10:58:00.001-04:00

A whole lotta reading has been going on over here. I figured I'd wax
'critic' for y'all if anyone is looking for their next book. (If I don't
have the author's name it's because it was a physical book, not on my
kindle, and I don't have it anymore.)

A note on the Kindle - Holy Moly this thing has been a lifesaver!! If you
are EVER doing any sort of extended stint abroad, GET ONE!! I'm still a
little bummed I don't have the smaller thinner one (I have v1.0), but oh
well. For those of you that think you'll miss the feel of regular books, I
can most assuredly tell you you won't miss carrying said books. Not being
able to trade with friends kinda sucks, but since you can put a gazillion
books on there you don't necessarily *need* to share (but it still sucks).
Don't worry about theft..in 2nd and 3rd world countries no one has a clue
what it is. Battery life is great; wish it charged via USB. Mine doesn't.
Love that I can read outside; don't like having to shine my flashlight on it
to read at night.

----Book Report----

Listed in "Star" Order: ***** = Best, * = Worst (though not ranked amongst
similar stars)

BOOKS COMPLETED (17)

***** Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen --> A delightful story and easy
read, Water is about an old man reflecting back on his youth when he joined
the circus. It has a charming plot and engaging characters. Full
recommendation to all.

***** Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin --> I've
already put up a plug on this book on the blog; it is fantastic. I admit it
goes a bit squirrelly at the end, but the accomplishments detailed are
nothing short of moving and inspirational. If you want to purchase, buy at
www.threecupsoftea.com , 7% of purchases goes toward the schools.

***** Scribbling the Cat - Alexandra Fuller --> This book is many things
despite being relatively short (only 200 pages or so if I remember). It's
travel writing, history and a solo women's challenges in the world. I loved
it. It may not be suuuper engaging to everyone, but if you're a woman who
has been in tricky places overseas, or if you have any interest in southern
African countries, read it.

**** Desperate Passage: The Donner Party's Perilous Journey West - Ethan
Rarick --> Having lived in Northern California for 10 years now and gone to
Tahoe countless times, you'd think I'd know more about the Donner Party. I
didn't, hence the purchase. The title says it all - the book covers their
entire journey, not just the sensationalized cannibalism stuff. I learned a
ton about that period in time, and the story of survival and loss is
incredible. It isn't for the faint of heart, but I definitely recommend it
to anyone who has ever wondered about them as you drive over Donner Pass.

**** The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson --> This book got a lot of
hype a few years back. I can see why, mostly. It's 2 stories in one: all
about the World's Fair in Chicago, and about one of America's first serial
killers who is doing his business around the city at that time. The serial
killer part sort of didn't do much for me. It was fascinating how the guy
went undetected for so long, but other than that it was kind of bleh. The
World's Fair part was super interesting. It contained all sorts of
interesting facts about that time and how it really had a hand in shaping
America. Parts of it were sluggish, but the good stuff made up for it.

**** Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides --> I confess I'm only half way through
this book, but I'm reading it voraciously and by the time some of you read
this post, I'll be finished. Another book that has gotten a lot of critical
acclaim, Middlesex has a very different style to it that I'm enjoying. The
story is of a hermaphrodite, but it's a whole lot more than that. Book 1 is
a little slow, but it's worth getting through.

*** The Dante Club: A Novel - Matthew Pearl --> This book reminded me of
the movie Seven. It's not based on true events, but it sort of reads like
it is. Set in Boston, it's about the great American writers (Holmes,
Longfellow, Lowell, etc.) who are working on a Dante translation and end up
trying to solve murders happening around the city that are modeled after
Dante's descriptions. I actually started and quit the book twice, but after
I finally got into it a bit, it stuck.

*** Stiff, The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach --> Very
interesting book, but a little slow from time to time. Plus her sense of
humour is a bit put-on. However, you sure do learn a lot! If it's up your
alley, you'd like.

*** The Accountant's Story: Inside the Violent World of the Medellin Cartel
- Roberto Escobar --> Man, I could not put this book down!! ...For the
first half. The second half got repetitive and whiney....so I can't give 4
stars. But boy oh boy was it ever FASCINATING!! If you liked the movie
Blow, you'll LOVE this (at least the first half).

*** The Last Season - ? --> I read this book in 24 hours (mostly because I
was on a bus); it was pretty good, though I realize not everyone's cup of
tea. It's the story of a back woods park ranger in California who
disappeared. The story reads like an in-depth newspaper article, which is a
style I particularly enjoy. If you see it on the used book store shelf,
pick it up. If not, probably wouldn't tell you to spend the $15, unless
you're into mountaineering and/or park rangers (who are incredible folks,
btw).

*** Stalking the Wild Dik Dik - ? --> The story of a chick who travels from
Cape Town to Cairo. Read this one in about 8 hours (again, on the road).
It's made the rounds amongst volunteers and we all agree: if we'd read it
before coming to Africa we probably would've liked it more. This means, you
will probably enjoy it. The stories are mostly good; the writing is so-so.
It's a very very easy and quick read.

**1/2 The Surgeons - Charles R. Morris --> Investigative writing on Heart
Surgeons and Surgeries at Columbia-Presbyterian in New York. I realize this
wouldn't be on many peoples' lists, but if you're at all curious, I did like
it. There were parts I sort of glazed over, but I'd say I read and enjoyed
3/4 of it.

* Twilight Series, Books 1-4 - Stephanie Meyer --> The ONLY reason I read
these was because they were all very long (i.e. guaranteed time waster) and
I wanted to not be hypocritical when I bashed them. Let me preface by
saying I LOVE the Harry Potter books. It's criminal that Twilight is
compared to Harry Potter. The story is mildly entertaining, yes, but the
writing is horrible, and the characters are a bunch of pathetic, whiny,
codependent saps. I wouldn't recommend these to anyone, least of all
teenage girls, the intended audience.

* The Persistence of Memory - ? --> Bleh, I don't even feel like writing a
review on this one. Didn't care for the writing style at all
(self-inflated, pedantic) but there was a time or two that I related to the
story. Part of it is set in Namibia. But if you haven't been to Namibia or
think you'll ever go, don't bother. Actually, just don't bother.

------

BOOKS STARTED, NOT COMPLETED (7) (Listed in order of Likely to Finish)

The Seashell on the Mountaintop - Alan Cutler --> I'll probably finish this
one. I stopped because Rachel handed me a physical copy of Middlesex that I
need to finish. It's about the father of modern geology who paved the way
for the field by suggesting (correct) scientific theories as to how, well,
seashells could be found on the tops of mountains. This back in the day
when the church ruled all and strictly believed the earth was only 6000
years old. Where I'm at, he's just published his theory, and I think about
to have a can of whoopass opened up on him.

The World Without Us - Alan Weisman --> I might finish this one too; the
later chapters look more interesting than where I'm at. The premise is we
(humans) all vanish from the face of the earth in an instant, so what
happens to all we leave behind (buildings, houses, roads, etc. -
everything)? I don't have much to say yet on my personal thoughts on the
book.

Guns, Germs, and Steel - Jared Diamond --> I started reading this before I
came and had trouble concentrating. I was pretty distracted then though. I
will definitely pick this up again at some point in the near future.

The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle
of Wine - Benjamin Wallace --> Only luke warm on this one...kind of doubt
that I'll finish. What I've read has been mildly interesting, but not
enough to keep going. If you're a wine aficionado though, you'll probably
love it.

Sailing to the Reefs - Bernard Moitessier --> Moitessier is a bit of an
acquired taste. "The Long Way" was really good, but also kinda challenging
to read. Parts of this book are enjoyable so far, but some parts are
suuuper dry. I'll probably take it along the next time I'm out on the ocean
for a long stretch of time. Sailors will like; non-sailors will hate.

War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy --> I've seen this book in the hands of at
least 2 other volunteers, and I know it's on everyone's, "if I'm stuck on a
boat or in Africa" list. I started it. It wasn't bad; it just wasn't good.
There are lots and lots of characters, and it's hard to keep them straight.
I will read this book someday, dammit.

Wreck of the Medusa: Mutiny, Murder and Survival on the High Seas -
Alexander McKee --> ACK, terrible!! Old English style writing, WAY TOO
HEAVY on the sailing talk (and I'm a sailor!) Nothing good to say about
this one.

-----------

Wow, I can't believe I've read this much. I've been here for 5.5 months,
that's 22 weeks. With 17 books finished and headway into a few others, I'm
averaging about a book a week still. My goodness.

If you're still with me this far in the post, I am going to buy a few more
books for my kindle before I take off travelling. Got any suggestions?
Email me. Criteria: Long-Very Long! Hard to put down!

Thank you William Adams!!

2009-11-10T10:41:00.001-04:00

The 2 packages have arrived and my "goodies" box has overflowed to become a
whole goodies area!

The pencils are just in time to give to every one of my learners so that
they can write their final exams.

The goofy troll topped pens are a hoot! I can't wait to see the expression
on their faces when I show them.

The pencil sharpeners are f a b u l o u s!

The book bags are going to replace an awful lot of plastic grocery bags :-)

I could go on and on. Thank you, "learners" of William Adams for your
generosity, to the teachers and principal who facilitated the shipment, and
of course to my beloved mother for everything.

P.S. - I'm talking to another teacher here about continuing my rewards
program with these very supplies. Your efforts will continue well into next
year!

Namibian "Sense"

2009-11-10T00:42:00.001-04:00

So the final exam schedule came out today. Remember how I said it was
completely unexpected that Math was moved to the very end of the schedule?
Here's what happened: Not considering elections, mathematics was supposed
to fall on November 27. Because that's the first day of National Elections,
rather than just shifting it forward to the following Monday, they plucked
it up and moved it to the end. Makes sense... :-(

Alas, there has been a change.

Mathematics Paper 2 has been scheduled for Tuesday, November 17, a week from
tomorrow. Mathematics Paper 1 has been scheduled for Friday, December 4th.
Makes even more sense, right? :-(

However, I'm a pretty happy camper. Paper 2 is the longer of the two, with
85 marks. I'll get to grade it and will have a general sense of how my kids
did. Paper 2 is only 45 marks, which is easier to have other teachers
grade.

So I'm officially outta here November 27, maybe the 26th.

General Updates

2009-11-08T07:37:00.003-04:00

Alex got a part-time job at the market as a stock boy! Congratulations
Alex!!!

This is my last full week of teaching. Exams start next Thursday, so next
week is likely going to be a wash. I was anxious to be done for the last
several weeks. Now I'm starting to get sad. I'm already envisioning
walking out to the road for the last time and turning left.

Went down to Ngepi Camp again this weekend, this time with Rachel. It was
heavenly - I felt like I was on vacation. The water was much warmer than
last time, so we spent a fair amount of time swimming in the hippo/crocodile
cage. Yay.

Someone else donated some money to me via WorldTeach recently that worked
out to about USD$77 (Sorry, they didn't tell me who it was and I don't have
access to the records...whoever it was, THANK YOU!) I thought long and hard
about what to do with the money. We're set calculator-wise, so I decided to
try to help out the science effort around here. With the generous help of
my assistant field director, Kelly Jo, we were able to order a proper
electricity teaching kit. It should be here in 4-6 weeks. Unfortunately it
was around USD$113, but I just paid the difference. Hopefully next year the
kids will get much more tangible lessons on electricity.

Not feeling super expressive today...must be the heat (reason for
everything!)

Constrassen

2009-11-08T07:37:00.001-04:00

I have decided that I'm not leaving this school without teaching my classes
the ACTUAL words to the Namibian national anthem. The song is really pretty
simple, but it wasn't until I looked it up that I actually figured out what
many of the words were.

Here's the song:

Namibia land of the brave
Freedom fight we have won
Glory to their bravery
Whose blood waters our freedom

We give our love and loyalty
Together in unity
Contrasting beautiful Namibia
Namibia our country

Beloved land of savannahs
Hold high the banner of liberty
Namibia our country
Namibia motherland we love thee!

---

Here's pieces of what I would here:

..."Whose blood <muffle> our freedom"...

..."Constrassen beautiful"... (i.e. contrasting)

"Be love land sav<muffle>
<muffle muffle> of liberty"...

Friday was another wash of a day teaching actual lessons wise, so I decided
to start the Anthem Quest. I started with "Contrasting Beautiful". I wrote
it on the board, pronounced it, got them pronouncing it correctly, and
explained what it meant. Man, ALL EYES were fully engaged. They were SO
THANKFUL that someone was finally telling them the actual words!

By the time I get done with them, grades 8 and 9 will be leading the school,
including the teachers, who also don't have a clue what most of the words
are.

Interestingly, both classes I did this with asked about the American
national anthem. I said that it was much longer, with quite a few more
words. I sang the first verse for them; they humoured me and seemed
impressed :-)

Next week we will tackle the "savannahs" and the "blood waters"...

Letter of Recommendation for my favorite learner

2009-11-02T09:12:00.001-04:00

I'm printing out a copy for him and leaving one copy in his file at the
school. This kid's the real deal, and I hope he goes far.

He wasn't the smartest learner that I had, but undoubtedly the best.

Figured the letter to be blog-worthy....

November 2, 2009

RE: Letter of Recommendation for Afonso Ngoma Alexander

Dear Sir or Madam:

My name is Ms. Jennifer Jackson and I am from the United States of America.
From June to December of 2009 I was a volunteer math and science teacher at
Divundu Combined School through the organization WorldTeach. Afonso Ngoma
Alexander (Alex) was in my Grade 10B class, where I was both the Register
and Mathematics teacher. I wish this letter to serve as an official
recommendation for Mr. Afonso in whatever pursuit he is seeking, whether it
is professional, academic or personal.

Alex is an extremely hard-working and motivated young man. He is diligent
and takes his responsibilities seriously and without complaint. He
regularly came to me seeking extra tutoring and was always an active
participant in class. Alex is a natural leader, demonstrating clear
leadership abilities both in and out of the classroom. His peers look up to
him, listen to him and respect him greatly. I witnessed this time and time
again in my class, in the hostel and on the soccer field where he was a team
captain and goal keeper.

I also watched Alex given extra tasks by other teachers (including myself),
and again, I never saw so much of a flicker of complaint on his face. He
would graciously accept the duty, and complete it to the best of his
ability.

Perhaps my favourite story that speaks to Alex' character was the day that
we entered the classroom to find it in disarray from an assembly the
previous day. While other learners lazily shuffled about talking, Alex,
without prompting, quietly went to work arranging the desks and chairs. He
might not have even seen me yet, and certainly did not know that I was
watching. I saw him give all of the best chairs to every other learner, and
he took the worst one for himself.

I believe Alex has the ability and drive to achieve any goal that he sets
for himself. I whole-heartedly recommend him for any position to which he
is applying. In Mr. Afonso Ngoma Alexander, you not only have a candidate
with strong skills, but also with tremendous character.

Sincerely,

Ms. Jennifer A. Jackson

Science Class Jeopardy Update

2009-11-02T06:40:00.001-04:00

Round 1 was as complete of a success as one can hope in a classroom with
extremely poor English skills and recall.

We played for about a week. The first day I let them use their notes, but
the remaining days it was all from memory. Some of the teams really worked
together, but a few had outlying members who couldn't have cared less.

It took them a while to figure out that if you don't know the answer to the
$50 question, you really shouldn't 'buzz in'. So the game quickly became
"who has the least negative score". The final tallies ranged from -195 or
so to -34. I think in one class one team had a positive score.

I decided to go for Round 2. I think this is really helping them review,
and they of course like it way more than endlessly writing notes. The
questions are coming straight from old exams, so maybe a few of the answers
will stick in their heads.

This round though, the dollar amounts will be $1,2,3,4,5. Hopefully the
scores will be a little more manageable for the kids.

End of Service Conference

2009-10-27T10:03:00.001-04:00

This weekend was the WorldTeach End of Service Conference in Otjiwarango.
Both the Semester and Year-Long volunteers came, so I got to meet all of the
year-longs in different regions of the country.

As usual, it was fabulous to get to speak at full-speed, and as you can
imagine there was a fair amount of venting that went on.

I was amazed at what some of the volunteers have been able to accomplish
since last December. It was most helpful though to hear that *everyone* has
had a very challenging time here, testing the limits of their patience and
character. Plus, most of us can't really say "it's been an amazing
experience...as in fun." We all say, "Yes, it's been an amazing experience,
but it's been fricken hard!" Honestly I would've thought I was doing
something wrong if the majority of the volunteers had said otherwise.

Awards were doled out at our celebratory dinner. I got something like
"Divundu's MacGuyver". As I aspire to be MacGuyver, I was thrilled.

I came home on Sunday to find that we were without water, electricity and
cell service, until about 8:30 that night. Then I discovered another burner
has been ruined on the hotplate. We're down to 2. It wasn't the best of
homecomings, particularly after 8 hours on the road with no AC. TIA.

And then they were gone

2009-10-27T10:03:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the Grade 10's last examination, and one by one, as they
finished the test, they walked out and that was that. Some of them looked
at me and smiled and said goodbye. Others didn't even glance my way. A few
lingered to have a little bit longer of an exchange, but all in all, it was
just the end.

When I was in school I felt a connection with most of my teachers, and
always made sure to say goodbye at the end of the year. But I suppose there
were a whole bunch of students who just left. I feel bad for all teachers
everywhere that have to feel this way every year.

I'm requesting that their results be mailed to me in December. My guess is
that around 15 out of 57 will get promoted to Grade 11. Man I hope it's at
least that.

Resolution

2009-10-21T11:01:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all who gently chimed in on my dilemma over here. It was very
good to hear that I'm not a total jerk for wanting to leave to travel. And,
I remembered some old advice I used to give myself (and others). When I
look back on this in a few years, which am I going to regret more: not
staying or not going? And the answer is, not going. Fact of the matter is
I'm not likely to be back in this area ever again. (I mean sure, I *might*
be back, but probably not and certainly not in this general phase of my
life.) If I don't take some time for myself, I'm going to feel a little
cheated and possibly a bit of resentment.

Though I'd like to think my presence is critical around here, that simply
isn't true. Being here for the exam and marking it might make a very
marginal difference, but I think I (and they) can live without it.

All this being said, I'm still holding out a shred of hope that the
scheduling was a mistake, as Rachel's principal seems to think. I doubt it,
but one can dream.

Heartfelt Thanks

2009-10-18T09:04:00.002-04:00

On behalf of Divundu Combined School, I'm putting out a huge and heartfelt
thanks to the students and staff of William Adams Middle School for their
proactive kindness and generosity.

Several weeks ago I put up the pictures of the conditions here at Divundu
Combined, what it's like for the learners here. Many classes at William
Adams were shown the pictures. All on their own I'm told, the students
wanted to do something to help their fellow, albeit distant, learners. For
a couple of weeks they along with some teachers brought in school supplies
to donate. They filled two boxes totaling 23 lbs., and the principal Mrs.
Munoz (my former 2nd grade teacher!) authorized the payment of the shipping
cost from the school.

It's really easy to get discouraged over here, day-to-day, but events like
this serve to remind you that compassion and generosity is alive and well.
You guys rock!

Inner Turmoil

2009-10-18T09:04:00.001-04:00

I got some unfortunate news on Friday. The end of the year exam schedule
was announced.

Normally Math and Physical Science happen quite early in the timetable. So,
I was planning on being finished with the school around Nov 26 or 27. I'd
started mapping out a travel itinerary to go straight through Zambia to
Malawi for a week or so, then south and west through Zimbabwe to meet Matt
in Bulawayo on Dec. 14. We'd proceed from there to Vic Falls, then back
across Zim to Mozambique for some tropical vacationing. My Malawi plan is
VERY aggressive in that it covers some serious distance (look at the map).
By my calculations it'd take 4 days and 3 nights to get there from Divundu.
But I really really want to go to Malawi for a whole bunch of reasons.

Anyway, the exam schedule puts Science on Nov. 19 and Math on Dec. 3! This,
my friends, is bad for 2 reasons. 1. It'll only take me 2 days to mark the
science exams, which means from Nov. 22 to Dec. 3 I have nothing, repeat,
absolutely NOTHING to do. That is 11 days. During that time I would help
invigilate the other exams, but that's just sitting in a room. 2. After
finishing marking the math exam, around Dec. 5, I would not have enough time
to get to Malawi and back in time for Matt's arrival. This means spinning
my wheels in the part of Zimbabwe that Matt and I will likely cover when he
comes.

Reason #1 is by far the more troubling issue, but #2 is certainly
bothersome.

I talked to my principal in hopes that the schedule could be changed, but
it's a regional thing so that's not possible. He however, seemed to think
it was no big deal. He said so long as my paperwork was in order, I could
go whenever and he and the other lower level math teacher would mark my
grade 9s.

Herein lays my turmoil. I *could* leave around Nov. 27, avoid the 11 days
of staring at a wall, and realistically follow through with my travel plans.
But: 1. I won't be here for the kids when they take the exam. 2. I won't
be able to oversee calculator distribution. 3. I won't mark their tests,
someone else will who doesn't know what or how I've taught them so the
grades will likely be lower. 4. I won't get to know how they ultimately
did. (Though I could have copies of their scores and who got promoted
mailed to me.)

No one that I've talked to thus far thinks I should or have to stay, and
that includes a Namibian teacher, my principal, another volunteer, my new
friends at a nearby lodge and the WorldTeach assistant field director. But
I feel like a selfish jerk. I mean on one hand I'm here, I've done
everything I know how to do, have endured all kinds of crazy to help and
it's my sanity and desire to have a bit of fun and travel on the line. On
the other hand, I feel like I should see it through to the bitter end and
just deal with the boredom and travel restrictions for the sake of the kids.
But how much is it really going to matter in the end?

I don't have the answer right now. Every time I sit down and think about
it, I ultimately end up thinking I should go with my original plan. But I
can't help the bowling ball that sits in my chest as I arrive at that
conclusion.

Feel free to chime in, but please be gentle with me.

Wow, I've adapted

2009-10-15T14:19:00.001-04:00

As I type a goat is being skinned outside my window in my backyard. It was
killed just a little bit ago when I was eating, actually, but I didn't
notice. I only noticed the lack of naying. I can hear the sawing sounds
though - they're using a very dull, serrated knife.

A teacher was wasted at school today too. Not that this is the norm, but I
have seen it happen a couple of other times - same guy. This time I
reported it to the Principal and he was given a warning. I wish he could be
fired. This guy is terrible.

But let's move onto some good news shall we? Monday night I hosted my 3
learners of the year from my grade 10s for dinner. Shades of the evening
felt like I a scene from back home (except I was only ever a guest at dinner
parties, not the host!) Italian was on the menu :-) Simple pasta, but I
beefed up the sauce with, well, beef, tons of veggies, whole tomatoes,
spices, onion and garlic. Unfortunately my pot is quite small and I've only
ever made pasta for myself here, so I didn't take into account the
stick-together-factor of a lot of pasta cooking, but what can you do... I
got a little dressed up in my new shirt and hair sticks from Matt and my one
pair of dressy earrings. I had the ipod going playing peppy music while
cooking, then Café Del Mar for dinner.

I asked that the kids bring chairs and forks, as I didn't have enough of
either. So around 6:45, Alex, Edmund and Oberia came over. I had one
request for the evening - English only. We ate and talked some, though the
conversation was lighter than I'd hoped. I tried to find out more from them
about their lives in the past, now and in the future. Edmund wants to be a
scientist and was interested in finding out what kind of science he should
look into. (I recommend food/agriculture or energy). Alex wants to be a
psychologist because he likes figuring out what is going on with people.
Oberia was pretty quiet all evening (possibly because I said her boyfriend
couldn't tag along), but she said she wanted to be a teacher.

We finished up with German Christmas Chocolate for dessert that some very
lovely German tourists gave me a few weeks ago, and a huge monkey fruit. I
presented them with their suuuppper fancy certificates and their framed
pictures of us together. On the back of each picture, I wrote a personal
note. I still want to write a letter of recommendation for each of them. I
want so badly for them to realize their potential.

In other news, did I tell you all what I figured out to do with my grade 8's
the rest of the time? I put together a big crossword puzzle on electricity
to help them review that topic. They're in teams of 2 because by themselves
I don't think they could complete it. I'm only allowing them to work on it
in class and I made up 5 different ones so there would be no cheating. This
is going to take around 3 days. Then, starting sometime next week, we're
going to start playing jeopardy reviewing all the topics from the year. I
think I have to have 6 teams in each class. It'll probably take a full day
just to get them understanding what's going on, and then likely a week to
finish. But that's fun right? Better than just writing out a study guide?
Then they'll have one more test from me and wallah, it'll be exam time.

Night all.

Prayers and Exams

2009-10-12T09:49:00.000-04:00

This morning I was up for giving the morning devotion. We have an assembly
every Monday and Friday and a staff member is meant to give some sort of a
prayer/scripture reading. I'm not religious, you see. I believe there's
something more than just silly ole us, but I'm pretty much anti-religion,
and hesitate to make references to Jesus, Heavenly Father, etc. etc.
Buuuttt, I had to say something....
So my "prayer" was along the lines of:
None of us knows the paths our lives will take, where we will be 5, 10 years
from now. But we do have today, and in this day it is important to make
good decisions - know right from wrong, strive to become better people,
learn all that we can, be respectful, etc. So today let us all have the
strength to do be the best we can be.
Unfortunately I was a tad more eloquent in typing it just now. I sort of
fumbled around the not necessarily bowing our heads thing, plus, everyone
was soooo attentive that it kind of spooked me a little. But that was that.

Today was also a culmination of sorts, as it was the Mathematics exam for my
Grade 10's. I ran around like a nut distributing calculators and pencils
and writing "YOU CAN DO IT" on the board in 3 classrooms. Part 1 lasts only
an hour. I whipped through it in about 10 minutes. Unfortunately so did a
few learners. Their answer sheet consisted of miscellaneous numbers
scrawled across the page. James, if you're reading this, I'm referring to
Kativa from 10B, surprise! A few questions were kinda cruel. Surface Area?
Really? How many of you could calculate the surface area of a matchbox?
Volume OK, but Surface Area? And a probability problem where the
probability is given, so find the number of red balls in the bag. Why
couldn't they have just written a straightforward find the probability
question?

It was well-written, I have to say, and a very well-rounded test for
well-educated, English-speaking students. But my kids...sigh.

It was the same for Part 2, which technically lasts 2 hours. Some were done
after an hour, most after 1.5 hrs. But of those that finished early, I knew
they had written nonsense. I did it in 20, but there were 2 questions
actually that gave me pause, and 1 I couldn't do at all because I didn't
know what the value of a hectre was. How freakin random!? The rest, again,
was a pretty good test of overall math comprehension and ability...if you
could read English very well. Example: Box A contains x cookies. Box B
has 5 cookies less than Box A. Box C has twice as many cookies as Box A.
a. Write down, in terms of x, the number of cookies in Box B and C. b. The
total number of cookies is 55. Write an equation and solve for x to find
the number of cookies in Box A.

Now, for those playing at home, imagine this was written in Spanish...a
language you've all had about 2 solid years of instruction in.

I glanced at the answer books for some of the kids, and I'm guessing that
maybe only a handful will pass the exam with a 30% or higher. I think on
the whole everyone will get more points than they did in August, but it
won't be enough.

I am proud to say that just about everyone (save the
finish-in-10-minutes-ers) seems to have gotten the Trig problems right!
That, I am proud to say was my doing! :-)

Ok, off to see about a cold shower to cool off and strip off a few layers of
sweat...then to make dinner for my 3 learners of the year.

Chuckle

2009-10-09T08:43:00.001-04:00

I'm in the middle of my first delivery truck hitch hike, going to rundu. It's one step down from an 18wheeler. There is old fashion country music on. I recognize Dolly Parton sometimes. Some is very christian (makes me think of my nashville friends and my dad and grandpa). The namibian driver is singing along. The relief driver is crashed out in the back. It is 95 degrees out, definitely more in the sun. We are crawling at 90km. Im trading texts with rachel planning where to eat for both dinner tonight and breakfast tmrw. And making this blogpost on my cellphone. It is just one of those chuckle moments ya know?

sent using the MTCMobile e-mail service

Book Recommendation: Three Cups of Tea

2009-10-03T02:21:00.001-04:00

Just finished a fantastic book and I can't recommend it enough: Three Cups
of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It's about a retired
mountain climber who decides to start building schools in the most remote
regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, primarily for girls. An incredible,
yet very recent tale (starting in 1993), I can't count the number of times I
teared up with inspiration.

If you want to buy it online, go to www.threecupsoftea.com as 7% goes toward
schools and school supplies.

One of the many things about this book that struck me was how desperate the
children were to learn. They would sit outside in the cold, huddled
together for warmth, without a teacher, pouring over an addition problem
scratched in the dirt.

Today I had to repeatedly wake up a handful of learners in my class - even
when it was a fairly interesting class (sigh, grade 8). I find myself
wondering several things...At Greg Mortenson's schools, a few years after
they've been built, do all the kids still relish the opportunity of an
education? Or is it just the way of *some* kids everywhere to just flat out
not care, so long as they themselves didn't have to fight for their
schooling? Why is it that in some areas, even when parents are not
educated, they are still able to instill the value of education in their
children? What's going on here in Namibia? If I had to guess, I'd say 25%
or maybe 20% of the learners here give a damn. As I type, I realize that
this is probably true in most countries. And Mark M. will be quick to point
out that I excelled in the system of education so it's hard for me to see
many other paths. But education aside, A's, B's, bah...aren't people
naturally curious about things? Don't folks get bored staring off into
space for hours on end or just sleeping days away? Bleh, but I guess if
they only understand every 10th word out of my mouth that changes the game
quite a bit. The 20-25% are who I'm here for, and the odd random that I can
get through to. I know that. Alright, I'm rambling.

.......Regardless, read the book. You'll love it.

Health, Teams, Calculators, and Kinda Down...

2009-10-01T13:54:00.001-04:00

I'm happy to report that I'm back to 100% health-wise. I'm still not
entirely convinced it was malaria. It seems like I got off too easy. But
eh, whatevs. I'm better now and that's what matters.

The team competition has ended for the Grade 10's. In fact, everything has
ended for them. Their exams start Tuesday morning, Oct. 6 and go through
Oct. 26, though they have some breaks in between. The poor dears are just
wiped. Anyway, I didn't have the heart to only reward the 1st place teams,
so I also awarded 2nd and 3rd place, plus pencils + erasers for the rest of
the learners who didn't place. I agonized over the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place
prizes though, as that amounts to 15-17 learners per class, or 30-34. I
settled on the picture idea. Many have asked me about printing photos, so I
decided 1st place would each get a picture of me and the team, plus any
other picture of their choosing. And 2nd and 3rd place would just get team
shots. (Not framed though, that's reserved for Learner of the Year). Plus
everyone got pens/mechanical pencils for the upcoming exams. Anyway, I was
worried sick that they wouldn't think it was a good enough prize. But, the
cheers were overwhelming. Whew!

The grade 9 team thing is where things are really sailing along smoothly. I
only wish I'd started it when I got here. All in all I'd say the scores are
a shade higher. There's one kid in particular I'm just thrilled with. I'd
all but written him off last term. He was all attitude, dodged class most
of the time, etc. But now he's totally trying, paying attention, etc. Yay!
I don't think the captains quite get the concept that when someone is
absent, they have to catch them up, or the absent one realizing he should
rely on his team, but baby steps I guess.

The 45 calculators arrived and I was able to purchase 180 triple A batteries
last weekend. 43 are working, which brings our school total to 58. Whoo
hoo! My ideas about giving to the top majority of the class, however, may
not play out so well. Turns out that in grades 11 and 12 they can choose
their subjects, and many aren't likely to focus on math or science. (This
is coming from my principal). I told him my concerns about having a
calculator pool at the school - i.e., someone would have to ensure both
their care AND their use (not sitting in a box). I think I'm still going to
give some to the top-top learners. But the pool idea is growing on me,
especially because the math department head is very responsible.

And my mood hasn't been the best lately. I found out today that I won't be
marking the grade 10 exams. Not that this is a bad thing, work-wise, but
I'm not going to get to see how they did. They get sent off to Windhoek for
grading. And worse, their results, along with who gets promoted or not,
don't come back till December! And I'll be long gone by then. I'm going to
talk to the principal about texting the names of those promoted to someone
who is staying in Namibia who can email me. I've just got to know.

I'm about a week away from being finished with material for my grade 8
science classes. I'm trying my HARDEST to make electricity interesting for
them. I cart my one circuit around from table to table showing them. I
have the learners stand up and pretend to be lightbulbs or batteries and I
tie them together with string. But I imagine I just sound like that Charlie
Brown teacher to them. I was sitting in a meeting today that was all in
Thimbukushu, and I imagined that I was feeling exactly like they do. My
eyes started to glaze, my mind wandering...
Anyway, once I finish up with electricity, I've got nothing left. I could
backtrack, but I purposefully took forever and a day correcting the August
exam which was reviewing the old material. AaGGHHAAAHH! What now!? I have
a whole month left!!!??

So starting Tuesday I've got 22 classes a week, down from 32. I'm sure for
a week the lull will be nice, but after that, eesh. I did start reading war
and peace before a few more interesting books crossed my path. It wasn't
that bad. Maybe I'll get through it. Jenni is sending knitting projects.
Sigh.

A teacher just came and asked me for "prizes" for his quiz competition he's
having this weekend. So that's awesome.

I'm inviting my 3 Learner of the Years from Grade 10 over for dinner next
week. They don't know it yet. Two of them are sitting in my office as I
type. I can't wait. (I couldn't decide between 2 in one of the classes, so
I'm going with both.)

So there are little specks of sunshine I suppose, but the grade 8 thing is
really gnawing at me.

And then the rains came

2009-09-30T11:50:00.001-04:00

Holy Moly did it ever rain, for a good 12 hours, varying from torrential
downpour to steady. Raise your hand if you've ever been in a house with a
tin roof when it rains. It's LOUD! Add in cracking ripping thunder and
lightening and you've got one heck of a show.

Course all things grind to a halt here when it rains. It kinda does in the
city (SF) too the first time it pours, but we don't lose electricity, and
people more or less still make it to work. I think there were 2 teachers
here this morning. A few more trickled in around 2nd and 3 periods. None
of the learners who stay in the area came, only the ones that stay at the
hostel.

And then there's mud, lots and lots of mud. My shoe sunk in so deep it came
off. Plus I nearly slipped and fell quite a few times.

And, the very best part about it all is...in a few hours the mosquitoes will
come. Heaven help us.