Happy Birthday Lisa

Called Lisa At 10:30 Last Night

Which was 5:30 this morning for her. Since she leaves for work about 6am that was the only way to slip in a call on a weekday- GRIN -

She opened the small packages we sent her earlier. We sent her a card indicating a gift made in honor of her Birthday to Heifer International - of "A Basket Of Hope" - and two small packages of edible treats. We have more gifts at home for her to unwrap when she gets back in December! Then we chatted till she had to leave for school.

 

Peace Corps Medical Update

I gather PC called and told her that her blood work came up positive for schistosomiasis but since she never swam in fresh water while in Africa they think it may be a false positive. They'll do more blood work in December before she leaves and if she indeed has it she'll be given a prescription for meds for it. I gather it's very common in southern Africa. Ahh well - just another issue to deal with.

 

School

As I said in my last blog - the 10th grade learners are gone but all the other's are in the midst of finals - they spread them out over several weeks. Which makes things easier I guess.

Her Entrepreneur Class got an unexpected break. She had gotten through all the chapters with her class already so while she was at Peace Corps for her medical stuff she assigned them the practice exam in the back of the text book as review.

As it turns out - the exam sent to the school looks a lot like the practice exam. Lisa figures they never expected the classes to get that far - grin - but since the practice exam was right there for any learner to go over she doesn't feel bad about assigning it. Of course she realizes that being exposed to most of the test won't make a big difference - the learners that study will do well those that don't study won't. Sigh - no easy way to reach all the kids all the time.

Speaking of exams - I guess when the state exams come in the teachers have to go over them and check the answer keys to make sure everything is correct. The joys of paperwork!

 

Irena

The new Peace Corps Volunteer is settling in with her host family - and even though she isn't supposed to - she's teaching already, monitoring exams etc. According to Peace Corps she's just supposed to be observing things. Yeah right - when a school gets a teacher it's impossible to keep them from putting her to work! GRIN

Lisa is surprised how similar they are - Lisa was a bio major, Irena a chem major. They both seem OK being on their own away from other English speakers or other Peace Corps Volunteers (very necessary when you're placed in Aroab!). They're both from the northeast - Lisa from Schenectady, Irena from Long Island. They both have Jewish Fathers and Catholic Mothers . They both like to read in a heavy duty way. And of course they both chose to be Peace Corps Volunteers in Africa. Small world.

I think she'll be very happy to inherit Lisa's stuff when she moves into Lisa's house in January - Peace Corps wants her with her host family till then. But she visits Lisa a bit since she can use her electricity, phone charging, water etc. and it's on the Hostel's nickel - whenever she uses water or electricity in her host home (one of the local Minister's and his family) she's aware of how much is being used since the Minister must go into town and buy more. Something I hadn't thought about before since Lisa didn't pay for electricity or water directly - it was just part of living on Hostel grounds.

 

Odds and Ends

Lisa finished reading her 120th book of the year.

 

Will update again this weekend - Take Care one and all - and

Happy Veteran's Day

 

Susan Rothman

Almost 25 Years Old

Lisa Will Hit The Quarter Century Mark Wednesday!

It's hard to believe she'll be turning 25 so far away from home! The good news is that she'll be done with her Peace Corps Service in about 4 weeks! Then she'll head to Windhoek and start her journey home. Exact dates are not available - so don't ask! (GRIN) I will post them here when I get them though! She is sooo ready to come home!

The Ministry of Education is arranging to ship up her largest suitcase to Windhoek in a week or so if she can get it to Keetmanshoop. That will help a lot - she'll still have a suitcase and her backpack to get to Keetmanshoop and manage on the train to Windhoek when she leaves Aroab in December. She'd send more via the Education Ministry but she'll need clothes etc for her last month.

 

School

Well the 10th graders for better or for worse are done. They have finished the state exams, finished their classroom work, and have left the hostel etc for their homes. Lisa's sort of glad they're done - but is a little sad too. She hopes she'll be able to at least find out who passed and who failed - which will take time till the state graders have finished processing the exams. She's really pulling for her learners!

All the other grades start their final exams this coming week - and they run through November 29th. Since that's a Sunday I'm not sure exactly what that means GRIN. The learners then have to stay in school till December 4th - and Lisa isn't sure what they'll do with them between their last exams and their winter break - Ahh well -. The teachers are supposed to be around for another week beyond that- but since Peace Corps wants them to head to Windhoek by December 6th - she'll be leaving early.

It will be a very bittersweet time for her - there's not much we can do to prep her for all those mixed emotions -  it's sort of like any ending/beginning, she'll miss the people and places, but she'll be glad to be returning to America.

 

Other Thoughts

Since she'll be hitting the big quarter century mark she's been philosophizing about what positive changes have occurred over the past 25 years. She wants all of you to be thinking about the good that has occurred in the world over this time period!

The camera she brought to Africa is irrevocably broken - but she managed to get the memory card out so she has the pictures she took! The camera she bought in Windhoek for her vacation trip to Victoria Falls is fine so she can still take a few pictures before leaving. Speaking of cameras - Lisa was invited to a little kids birthday party today - they said they'd like to use her camera and that she could come too! That gave her a good laugh! The camera was top priority - she was second! GRIN

 

Other Conversational Bits and Pieces

I find it interesting that as Lisa's time in Aroab comes to a close she's talking more about what she's missed from back home and less about politics and national issues - oh she made mention of the progress on the Health Care Reform front - but compared to previous weeks we spent very little time discussing it. There was a lot more talking about her passion for fresh fruit and fresh veggies, and her missing having an oven. And lots of other little things. And of course she's missed us! GRIN

I guess as the calendar ticks down she's starting to realize that she will be home soon and everything she's gotten used to for 2 plus years will change. Sure it's a change back to her home turf - but it's still a major change nonetheless.

It will be a change for us too! A pleasant one - considering how much we've missed her - but still  a change. So in less than 2 months we'll be starting a new year with new adventures for all of us. It will be interesting to see what happens!

 

Enjoy your week! And take Care!

 

Susan Rothman

Happy Halloween

Lisa Got Back To Aroab Yesterday

She spent the week in Windhoek for her close of service medical review. All went well except for a ganglion cyst on her wrist which is about 5.5cm by 2.5 cm. When she goes back to Windhoek in December, before she leaves for America, she'll be given a form and a list of Peace Corps doctors so she can have it looked at here. The form is good for about 6 months so she'll have time to find someone to check it out. With luck there will be a Peace Corps doctor fairly close to us.

Lisa took full advantage of her time in Windhoek - eating out ALL the time (she loved it!), seeing some movies, watching TV in her hotel room  (she caught some True Blood episodes and discovered they are based on a series of books she had enjoyed a while ago) - and in general enjoying time with other Peace Corps Volunteers who were there for the same close of service medical evaluation.

She wanted to buy a few DVDs in order to use up her Namibian money - but they didn't have the right format (-sigh-). Since getting money out of the country involves a Peace Corps bank transfer to a US bank - and a rather large fee - most volunteers just try and spend it all before leaving. They really do get used to living on very little if they end up with extra money at the end of their service!

The rules for exchanging money and leaving the country are complex I gather. So since she couldn't buy DVDs she spent her money on a nice hotel room and lots of food! GRIN

The challenge for her is since she has to bring all her stuff from 2 years home in December she really doesn't have a lot of room to pack potential gifts for people - and while she's had great luck receiving mail (all but that last package from Aunt Anne Marie in Canada -sigh-) the track record for packages mailed from Namibia (by other Peace Corps Volunteers - she herself hasn't mailed anything)+ isn't as good - she really isn't sure she wants to take a chance on it.

So friends and family you may hear from her when she gets back! GRIN

 

Listening To Her Dad

We spent a good chunk of the conversation with her Dad relating his adventures in London and Paris. Lisa was envious. We had to remind her that 2 plus years in Namibia and visits to Victoria Falls last winter sort of counted as travel adventures too GRIN.

Lisa noted that it was interesting how most of what she knows about other countries comes from literature, and a bit from movies and TV. Interesting. Also she mentioned that she had finished book number 114 and had picked up a few more books in Windhoek. She is going to single handedly fill her local libraries in Aroab! They will always remember her for her legacy of book giving!

 

Don't Bother Asking

Don't bother asking either Lisa or us about exactly when she'll be returning home - her end of service date is December 10th - which means she'll get to Windhoek around then and after her final Peace Corps meetings she'll be given her airlines tickets. Until that moment she won't know when she'll be heading home. I gather she's tired of saying "I'm not exactly sure" to the "when will you be coming home " question. I don't ask anymore  -  Double Grin  -

But trust me - when she contacts us to let us know when she expects to be arriving - I'll zip it onto this Blog right away! So if we plan on seeing any of you throughout December be forewarned we might back out at the last minute if we have to pick her up!

 

Life

Lisa's good friend Heba had a beautiful baby boy - Cameron Bullock -  Man he is adorable. I remember Heba from 4th grade when Lisa met her. It is amazing how these kids are all grown up now.

It will be a long weekend for Lisa finishing the class grades for her 10th graders - they were due yesterday but since she didn't make it back to Aroab till after school had closed she gets to Monday to finish the paperwork. Then there is review work for the other grades and before you know it the last of the finals then home and bang it will be Christmas. Lisa's been away for 2 Christmases so it will be very nice to have her home for this one!

 

It Is Most Likely TOO LATE To  Mail Her Anything  so I suggest if you want to write her - send your cards and notes to her Schenectady address - I promise to keep anything she receives in a basket for her!

 

Till next week - Enjoy November's crisp beginning - and Vote on Tuesday!!!

 

Susan Rothman

Away To Windhoek For A Week

Got to Talk With Lisa Today

Tomorrow is the country's monthly pay day. School is thus dismissed after just 4 classes at 9am. (They start well before 7 each morning!) Then Lisa has arranged to get a ride to Keetmanshoop and later on she'll catch the overnight train to Windhoek.

She called ahead to made a hotel reservation, the call was $10 Namibian for she swore what was just a 2 minute call- (which explains why she doesn't call anyone even in Namibia! She only texts - since that's free at certain times). She had to use her credit card to reserve the hotel so I'm ready in case they call and question why charges are being made both in London/Paris (where her Dad is right now!) and Namibia!

Since she heard there was to be a State Funeral this weekend she thought it was a good idea to get a room for Saturday night early - so she managed to get one in a hotel near the Peace Corps Office! Better than having to find one out in the boonies - which in Namibia can be taken quite literally! GRIN

She'll be in Windhoek for about a week taking the overnight train back to Keetmanshoop Thursday Oct 29th. She won't be able to get to Aroab in time for school, which isn't breaking her heart right now. As the school year winds down teachers are as happy about the upcoming vacation as much as the learners are. Double Grin

 

School

The 10th graders seem to be doing OK on their exams but since they aren't corrected in school (unlike the regular school exams which are teacher created and teacher graded)- but rather are sent to a central location to be graded, only time will tell how they actually did.

Lisa is concerned that a lot will depend on how they are graded - since according to the guidelines for example if the directions are to "list 4" of something and the learners put all 4 items in a single line they only get 1 point - vs if they put each on a separate line they'll get all 4 points. Lisa feels if they know all 4 of whatever they should get credit for that knowledge! The guidelines seem to give more weight to how the answers are presented than what information is given. -SIGH-

Lisa said the Natural Science exam in particular looked quite fair vs other years - the illustrations were clear, and what actually showed up on the exams was more or less what she actually taught! Yeah!!

The hardest part of exam time to deal with is the time the learners aren't taking exams but have to be there anyway. After tons of review already they really don't want to "just hang out in the classroom" and they get even noisier and more disruptive and troublesome than usual. Something teachers everywhere can commiserate with!

Since the 10th grade class grades (minus the final exam grades which won't be back yet) are due Oct 30th but Lisa will be away - she gets to turn them in Monday November 2nd. So Lisa will have Halloween weekend to finish all that paperwork! Halloween is more religious than fun in her neck of the woods anyway! So she won't be missing much by working all weekend.

For some reason she didn't think much of my suggestion that she bring some of that paperwork to Windhoek with her! Actually she has a point since there will be plenty of Peace Corps paperwork for her to work on.

 

Odds And Ends

She chatted about Health Care for a while. I felt like humming to "Someday My Prince will come"  -  "Someday healthcare will pass"  - Lisa couldn't hear me over the line which was just as well (SMILE)

She didn't get any packages this week. Since she'll be leaving in early December she doesn't recommend people send her anything to Namibia after Halloween - but you can always contact her at home at her Schenectady address. Anything that arrives after Lisa leaves Aroab will be given to the new Peace Corps Volunteer Irena. So be forewarned! GRIN

All in all she sounded very upbeat and ready for her trip to Windhoek - which by the way is for her end of service medical exams and tests - nice that they want to check the volunteers out to make sure they haven't picked up anything funky in their home away from home these past 2 years! GRIN

Will update next weekend! Have a great week one and all!

 

Susan Rothman

Wish The Phone Gods Were Nicer

We Called Lisa This Morning

It took a dozen tries till the call went through - then we were cut off after just a few minutes - sigh -  But since we were trying to get through before her Dad headed off on his trip to London/Paris we managed. At least we got to chat for a bit.

It was a long hard week for her. Her learners seem to be divided into the normal groups - those that seemed to work hard all year and who seem to be trying to study for these exams, and those who haven't done either. Guess who seems to be doing better on their tests? Yep - the ones who worked hard and studied will probably pass - the other's not so much. Never would have guessed -GRIN-

One poor learner had Chicken Pox so Lisa got to go to his home and monitor him taking his exams - more peaceful than watching whole classrooms - at least for one day! GRIN Since Lisa had chicken pox as a little kid the only problem she might have being near him for so long is getting shingles - which with luck won't happen.

 

Reading and Odds and Ends

Lisa's been reading a book her paternal Great-Aunt Joan wrote about family history including Lisa's paternal Great-Grandfather's friendship with Einstein the summer Einstein spent on Long Island and Lisa's paternal Grandfather's friendship with Benjamin Britten. I gather it's a very nice book and Lisa is really enjoying catching up on the bits of family history she didn't know already.

Speaking of reading - Lisa's up to her 111th book. Not much to do this week other than watch learners take exams and correct them - so reading kept her sane (more or less -GRIN -)

Not much else to add since it was such a short call this week - other than Lisa was pleased to hear that at least a little progress has been made in the health care reform process! Sort of like the little reform package that could - hinting at "I think I'll pass, I think I'll pass, I think I'll pass" Double Grin !

 

Will write more next weekend - I hope! Have a good week one and all!

 

Susan Rothman

Happy Columbus Day

Spoke With Lisa Saturday Before Heading To Our Convention

Sorry I haven't been able to Blog till now! Lisa was very excited that Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize - but she said initially she was surprised that he had been awarded it so soon.

She then said that after thinking about it for a while she decided that it was a Peace Prize for everyone in the whole world who had volunteered, who had tried to work with others, who had listened to others - really listened to them. "We all won it. Everyone can take a share of it. It's like in the movies when they take a crown and break it into 3 pieces - we all get a share."

Other quotes from her "He doesn't have a big head - he can handle the honor" "The effort counts, the effort is the accomplishment" "Turning toward a better path, a better approach, counts" As the conversation went on I saw how considered and thoughtful her opinions were - and how they were very close to my own. GRIN

I gather that when she first read about Obama's win she kept looking for a punch line like "only in our dreams did he win" and so and so was awarded it instead, or some such thing. We discussed it all for over 3/4 of our conversation! Then we got to other topics.

 

School

It was a LONG 4 day week for her. The 10th graders seem to feel they're doing OK on their exams - but only time will tell if they actually passed and can move up to High School. The proof will be in the actual grades - not in how they "think they did". There's another week or so of exams so I hope the learners still feel confident by the time they've taken all their tests! They still need everyone's best wishes and prayers!

Friday night they held another Beauty Pageant - they are REALLY into them in Aroab and while Lisa was never fond of the concept in America she's at the point where if she never sees another one in her life it will be way too soon! GRIN

 

Odds and Ends

Lisa got a package from her Grandmother - or to be precise she received the mail slip that a package was waiting for her at the post office but she didn't get out of school early enough to pick it up and the post office wouldn't be open again till this week. But it's nice to be able to look forward to picking up a package!

She's getting over her cold - at least she feels she's getting ahead of it now. And I don't think she lost power this week so that helps!

She finished reading her 104th book.

And she's down to a little over 2 months till she comes home again! We can hardly wait! We get to see her again (yippee!), and I get to quit writing this blog - once she's home Lisa can either continue it or start a new one leaving this for future prospective Peace Corps Volunteers to read (like we read older blogs while Lisa was waiting to be accepted into Peace Corps Service!)

 

Hope everyone has a good week - it's getting warm where Lisa is but it's getting cold here - we even had to turn the heat on - and we try to wait till Halloween most years. Oh well - at least oil is expected to cost us less this winter! Take Care -

 

Susan Rothman

October Brings A Cold - A Gift Lisa Could Do Without!

A Long Exhausting Week

Lisa came down with a bad cold this past week. And she wasn't happy about it. She had been sick for 4 days as of Saturday, and it was raining hard, and she was without power - which wasn't helping her mood. It's bad enough to have a cold without having to do without anything hot to eat or drink. Hope she gets the power back on soon!

 

Busy Busy Busy

One reason Lisa thinks she got sick was her very busy schedule this week. Monday was the 10th grade Awards Ceremony - what they call "The 10th Grade Prestige". If I understood her correctly - as part of the evening 9th graders who were selected to become Student Leaders were sworn in - and they had to swear to do "Nothing Illegal", "Nothing Immoral", and "Nothing Of Public Indecency". Lisa thought those would be good criteria for many positions in this world.

I think the world of my daughter, and her strength of character. I also think that while she's a great kid and not prone to such indulgences - her success rate may be more due to  a lower level of temptation exposure than total saintliness. Just saying - upholding such "vows" over a lifetime may be more complicated than she expects.

Anyhow - on with her week -

Tuesday was a school talent show and on the spur of the moment she was asked to sing something. So she sang Amazing Grace - she says she likes that song because she can remember at least 2 or 3 verses off the top of her head and then she can repeat the first verse and it's a long enough piece so everyone's happy. And I think many of the kids know the tune from Church. Never really thought Lisa was such a heavy weight singer but "they love her in Aroab!"

Thursday was a Teacher's talent show and Lisa sang the "Disney does Peace Corps" song she created for the Peace Corps talent show during their training  session-  I think I went over it way back around January 2008 in her blog if you want to search way back and read about it! It was a hit! Again with the singing - She always enjoyed singing and maybe she sings like an Namibian!

She skipped whatever was going on Friday night to sleep and try and recover. It's a 3 day weekend for her since Monday is International Teacher's Day or something - never heard of it - but it's great timing so Lisa can rest up. I have my fingers crossed she gets power so she can sip hot tea and soup while she recovers.

 

Speaking of Lisa's Learners

Lisa is requesting everyone send good thoughts, prayers, meditations, or whatever life force you are in tune with to her 10th graders. They need all the help they can get to pass all the exams they need to in order to advance to High School. Last year 11 out of 33 made it (not many make it as far as 10th grade without dropping out to begin with) and her school dearly wants at least as many as that to pass this year.

Dreams of a higher percentage of passing learners exist among the teachers but they really don't have a lot of hope that they'll come true.

Lisa cares so much - she wishes she could do more to prepare them, but it's getting down to prayer time. It sounds like she really has gone above and beyond trying to help them so far!

 

Speaking of the Teachers

I guess several of the teachers are pregnant - and the school is wondering how that will effect the next term in January. At least they'll have the new Peace Corps Volunteer to help! Lisa was thinking about it since a dear High School friend of her (a West Point grad) Heba is expecting her first - a boy - in a little over a month. All the best Heba!

I've seen the ultrasounds and man - you can see his cute little face and everything! My one poor little ultrasound of Lisa looks like a blur - a sort of misty tornado. But she came out great! GRIN They simply have come a long long way in ultrasound technology over the past 25 years.

 

Odds And Ends

We discussed Health Care for a while and some of the more outrageous of the anti-health care - anti-Obama - folks. Lisa decided what we need is brain health insurance - and that what all the Senators and Congressmen need are "full time brains". And they need to "stop leaving their brains in the cloak room, they need to bring them to the floor of the house or senate ALL the time." An interesting thought Double Grin! Sometimes I really love how she thinks!

She finished her 103rd book. And since she may not do much other than sleep and read this weekend - she may get another one or two read!

And she wishes to apologize to her Great-Aunt Anne Marie in Canada - but she still hasn't received the package that she mailed at the begging of July. She promises she'll let me know if it comes but she's afraid it may be the first postal casualty of her time in the Peace Corps. It's the longest time that's gone by from sending to receiving mail so far. I've got my fingers crossed that it arrives eventually!

 

Next Week is our local Science Fiction Convention Albacon - which will tie up our whole weekend - we'll be able to fit in a call to Lisa but I may not be able to Blog till early the following week - just warning you all! As if your weekends are "made" by reading this blog - GRIN

 

Have A Great Week!

 

Susan Rothman