Happy Africa Day

Today is Africa Day

Lisa wasn't sure what Africa Day was exactly and none of her learners weren't much help explaining it to her - most just viewed it as a Holiday! And the adults weren't much help either - perhaps it was a translation issue. But then how many American kids could really explain our Memorial Day, or Veterans Day etc. Not as many as we'd like to think.

 

Weekend in Keetmanshoop

Was able to talk to Lisa for over an hour today - so be warned this blog will be a bit long!

Lisa is still in Keetmanshoop. She thinks she missed our call yesterday because she was exhausted from shopping and she slept through the rings. Now she wants to be quick to say that while she has turned into a heavy shopper when in the "big city" the things she shops for are mostly exotic foods (based on her home town's options it doesn't take much to be considered exotic -grin-) and things for her little house and for her learners. She still has little interest in shopping for clothes or accessories. Sorry Grandma! GRIN But she says she finally understands the concept of "shopping till you drop" and it only took her 23 years and a trip to Namibia to do it! (GRIN - GRIN - GRIN)

But Keetmanshoop I guess has a large number of shops with exotic goodies - I mean the crackers, cheeses, meats and mustards she described sounded delicious! Too bad she can't make the trip in weekly, but only manages every few months as a rule. Ahh well - she does appreciate all the goodies when she gets them. And the care packages from home fill in the gaps wonderfully!

Anyhow she is really enjoying her long weekend there - her Principal will be taking her back to Aroab tomorrow night. I gather he does travel into Keetmanshoop every few weeks so Lisa is able to catch rides in when she needs to. Which is good since there is very little traffic of any other kind back and forth. And at least once when she needed to get there and he wasn't making the trip he found someone who could take her. Remember folks this is a 90 mile one way trip we're talking about and it isn't done that often by anyone! And their gas costs even more than ours!

She needs to eat more meat

According to one of her learners - Claudia - Lisa wasn't eating enough meat so Claudia got her Mom who prepares breakfasts for some of the teachers (for a fee but Lisa can't figure out how much - it seems to vary) to on occasion fix some extra for Lisa. So every once in a while Lisa is surprised by a breakfast treat of chicken curry, meat rolls, or meat balls. I think they "want to put a little meat on her bones" (GRIN) First term she got 3 breakfasts but this term she's getting a few more.

In a small town everyone knows what you shop for and they actually see Lisa eat a granola bar and call it breakfast -(which just doesn't cut it for Namibian taste buds!) they worry because she just isn't buying enough meat. Chicken and canned tuna don't count by Namibian standards. It's sweet that they want to take care of her!

Final status on her break in

She never did have to go to court over the break-in of her home a few months ago - She met with the learner and a social worker and the boy wrote her a formal letter of apology. She had gotten her possessions back but I guess over $100 Namibian was also taken. That she never got back. She would have had to go to court to try and get that recovered and for the equivalent of less than $15 US she didn't feel it was worth it.

Odds and Ends

It's cold at night - but Lisa layers her blankets and tucks in to keep warm - the early mornings are also cold but then the day warms up nicely. Those days are getting shorter and shorter too, so bedtime gets earlier and earlier. Peace Corps is the opposite of college - everyone goes to bed when the sun goes down and gets up extra early. (GRIN)

Lisa won't mind getting back this week too much - she received 3 mail slips before she left so she'll have 3 packages waiting for her. The Post Office is only open Monday - Thursday (not counting holidays) so when she got the slips Thursday (since she couldn't get to the Post Office before it closed) she had a long weekend of anticipation before finding out who has sent her what. Three will be quite a treasure trove to go through. She plans to spread the opening to one every few days to make them last.

Take Care - and Happy Memorial Day to all who read this!

Susan Rothman

Saturday May 24

Unable to get in touch

We weren't able to get through to Lisa today. We first tried early and were put through to her voice mail immediately where we left a short message that we'd try calling later. When we tried again we couldn't even get to her voice mail so it's a possibility that the system is down for now. We have sort of gotten used to her not having computer access but when the one line of communication left gets snipped off it is disheartening.

We'll try calling again tomorrow. So we're not sure if she's still enjoying time in Keetmanshoop or if she's back in Aroab. When we know more - we'll share more!

Susan Rothman

Long Weekend

Got a quick e-mail from Lisa

This is the school's monthly pay day/shopping day so school got out early and she got a ride into Keetmanshoop with her Principal. She's already managed to get some shopping done - salami, cheeses, fancy mustards etc. Ahh the high life for a PCV (grin). Compared to Aroab Keetmanshoop is the big city! Mainly having a little time away from her town is a good change of pace.

She's having a good term so far - and wants to thank everyone for their cards, letters, and care packages! I hope we get to talk to her tomorrow - if so I'll add more.

Susan Rothman

Responding To John's Comment

In response to your comment to the May 10th post which I just noticed. I was surprised to find a comment! People are actually reading this thing other than Lisa's family and friends! I think that's very cool! (As a poet discovering that people are reading your stuff is amazing! even a blog you're writing for your daughter - grin)

 

John - This is Lisa's Mom - I write this blog for Lisa since she doesn't have computer access - I got the "non-readers become readers, readers become writers and writers go crazy" quote from several Nam 27 blogs (not sure which ones off the top of my head ) and Lisa agreed it was something she had heard in initial training among the volunteers. Mostly to represent I believe the lack of things to do in country compared to most of the volunteers options for recreational activities back home. Also I might guess to encourage the volunteers to borrow books from the Peace Corps Library - but that's just a guess

As a reader/ writer/ Nursery School teacher who had the opportunity to teach Nursery School in Finland 1976-1977 (not through any organized group but simply by taking the place of a former college room mate who was teaching there at the time) the comment rang very true to me.

If the thought doesn't ring true to you I'm very sorry - I didn't intend anything negative in it - I attributed it to PC since I read it in a PC blog and was struck by it immediately. Perhaps it's new to Nam27ers or a sub set of them. Hope this answers your questions!

Susan Rothman

A New Term Has Begun

Sad start to the day

Lisa went to the funeral of Erna's "Aunt" this morning - she isn't exactly sure what the relationship was but "Aunt" was the best translation. It was 4 hours long, and attending made her feel like a real part of the community - albeit for less than happy reasons. Funerals seem to bring people together wherever they live, and for the Peace Corps Volunteer to attend is noted by the whole community.

 

Non - Vital Information Moves Fast! (GRIN)

Lisa caught us up on the last days of re-connect. Last Sunday night David in Keetmanshoop was hosting some Nam 26ers (the group of Volunteers who started their service in 2006) for dinner. They had just finished a 5 day hike through the Fish River Canyon - which was absolutely gorgeous from what I understand! When he introduced them to Lisa they apparently knew all about her. She felt famous!

I gather when it comes to gossip the Peace Corps information lines work quickly and well! They knew all about her teaching more than is typical for a Peace Corps Volunteer and that she was teaching Agriculture, which either no one else has done before, or at least isn't a typical class to teach - she couldn't tell which. Any how her being "overworked" to such an extent is the cause of much comment among the volunteer network. She said it was just funny to have her name recognized by the whole group.

Teachers Leaving

Her Grandmother feels (and to be honest so do I) that Peace Corps should arrange for her to teach less - but the reality is since the shortage of teachers is so great that isn't likely to happen. In fact this term one teacher has left already, and about 3 more are planning to. Lisa knew about their plans before she left for re-connect but "silly her" she thought everything would be arranged before the new term started. It isn't. She isn't sure if the teachers are waiting to leave till new teachers have arrived to take their places or what. She'll know more when it happens (grin). So right now she has all the same classes of learners and she's back in the swing of things.

Also I get the impression that Peace Corps wants their volunteers to negotiate such things on their own (it couldn't be that Peace Corps doesn't want to have to deal with such things - noooo -  they just want the volunteers to develop these important life skills  - what do they say about things being great learning experiences -).

And anybody with a minutes experience in a classroom knows that when it comes to teaching it's hard to say no to a job that needs doing - no matter if it's doing more out of class stuff or taking in more learners to even out everyone else's teaching load. In a way teachers are masochistic gluttons for punishment. I know from whence I speak being a former nursery school teacher and tutor my self. (GRIN).

Class Work

Lisa's discovered that some of her classes have too much work to cover easily over 3 terms and others have so little she's stretching just about every days lessons to make the work last, since the worst thing is to have a class of middle-school aged learners with nothing to do! As to the too little to cover class - Life Science has 6 units for the whole year - 1) Scientific Method; 2) Health Ed (Peace Corps has lots of materials to use for this unit - AIDS Ed being a big part of it; 3) Living organisms; 4) Plants; 5) Human Biology and the digestive system; 6) Ecosystems.

My guess is that as a Bio major such units are super easy for her to understand and present. She also said those classes did among the best grade wise last term. There is something to teaching what you know.

Other school info -

I'm trying to pack everything including the kitchen sink in this week (grin -grin)- Each morning she has to rearrange all the chairs and desks into groups of 4 since A)they all share so much stuff like books and paper it works well that way and B) groups of 4 keep them out of trouble. Then at the end of each day she has to move everything back so the cleaning crew can move through.

Her Grandmother suggested she have the learners help move the furniture at the start and end of the day but I think that would give them the chance to "toss" rather than slide the chairs and desks. It's good exercise for Lisa and reminds me of the Nursery School teaching I did in Church basements where we had to move all the furniture and equipment every day so it wouldn't be in the way for evening Church meetings. Ahh the joy of being a mover (and shaker? grin)

Library News!!!

The town Library has officially opened! The unusual bit is they don't have any books yet - just some magazines. As her best reader put it "how can they have a library without books?" Out of the mouths of babes (grin). Lisa hopes books will follow. There is a chance that there are a few boxes of them stashed somewhere. The school library hasn't opened yet - but hey maybe by say Christmas? She can hope.

Odds and Ends

Other Peace Corps Blogs have discussed the various ways trash is disposed in different parts of the country. Just thought I'd fill you in on how Lisa's system works - she puts her trash in a small trash can by the hostel where it is picked up by a truck on a regular basis. She thinks it's taken to be burned somewhere. Also the kids make it a habit to go through the trash to look for anything useable! Not a good place to dump anything you don't want on display to the world (grin).

Next Weekend

Next weekend is a long weekend - Friday school ends early since it's pay day and the teachers head off to get their pay and shop, and the following Monday is some sort of holiday - Lisa hasn't figured out which one yet - so she's hoping to try and meet up with a fellow Peace Corps teacher - Julie - whose site is in Karasburg about 90 miles south of Aroab where Lisa is (yes there are places even further away from Windhoek etc than Lisa - grin -) I hope it works out - but Lisa has about the hardest time getting from her town to a crossroads where you can get rides places than almost anyone else. It would be nice - but whatever works out works out. We'll try calling her next weekend to find out.

Thank You Thank You Thank You

To EVERONE who has sent a letter, card, package etc. Audio tapes are keeping her sane! Cliff Bars add protein and flavor! Her kids love stickers etc Soup mixes are wonderful about now since it's winter in the southern hemisphere. And absolutely any nuggets of local news and in truth ANYTHING from home is WONDERFUL!!! When she got back from re-connect she had one wonderful package from her Great Aunt in Canada and 4 newsy letters and she felt great! It was a great welcome home to her home away from home.

I'll try to keep this updated -

Keep Lisa in your thoughts! Oh I have to mention - when Lisa told David that I was keeping this blog up to date for her since she still has no computer access he thought it was cool. It was sort of as if I was editing her Peace Corps Life Story. - Gee editors get paid for this I wonder-----  Oh well - as usual I'm doing this out of love and not for money. Does that ever stop in terms of your kids? GRIN

Susan Rothman

Heading Back From Re-Connect

She Had A Great Break

Spoke with Lisa today - all in all she had a great break during Peace Corps Re-connect. All the volunteers got together and swapped stories, slept in cushy beds, took hot showers, and had other people cook for them! Heaven! They had some training classes, and wandered up gorgeous mountains just north of Windhoek where they were staying. After one shower Lisa saw a magnificent double rainbow - Africa at its most beautiful. It was lush, green, and beautiful!

In some ways what helped them all the most was to hear about each other's challenges, successes, and failures. They're realizing that the other volunteers grass isn't always greener (well it is in the north vs. the desert -grin-) but is mostly just different. Everyone found someone who they felt was facing greater challenges just as they came to appreciate the special qualities of their own situations.

Only 4 Volunteers from their group have ETed (early terminated) so far which isn't too bad. Only 20 months to go to manage a full term of service. I guess they lose a few in this beginning slot, then some teachers decide after the first full year that they don't wish to stay for a second - that's another big fall out time. I guess the medical assistant people fall out more gradually. It is hard - and even if they only serve for part of their time they still have done something remarkable just being there. I wish the best for those that have left.

Shopping and Swapping 

Lisa shopped a lot in Windhoek. I gather she felt she needed among other things a mirror, since she didn't have one and when she took one look at herself as she arrived at Peace Corps headquarters she decided she needed one. I chose not to ask how she looked - some things it's best not to know. (grin) She ate in restaurants (seemed like years since she could do that -grin- , and just basked in the big city with fellow Americans. She watched TV - caught up on current events - and even saw a movie - Blood Diamond - that's all that was playing but it reminded her of why she was in Africa trying to help.

She had brought some books she had read and re-read and was able to swap them for others in the Peace Corps center. The classic Peace Corps mantra is that in the Peace Corps non-readers become readers, readers become writers, and writers go crazy. Lisa says she was mostly a reader going in so she has some room to go as a writer before going crazy! (grin) The old fashioned skills and pastimes are very useful in Africa.

The Fly In The Ointment

The only down side to her week was when she got a 24 hour bug right at the end - she was sort of pissed at not feeling well on her last day in Windhoek but considering that except for a scratchy throat and cough - she really has managed to avoid being sick at all since arriving in Africa she sort of was due. Almost everyone else has gone through some real sick moments - but so far they all have survived! It only lasted 24 hours - and after taking the night train down to Keetmanshoop with David, and being able to sleep all night in a sleeper car (they have metal benches to stretch out on) she felt much better.

Looking Ahead

So right now she's in Keetmanshoop. She called her Principal and he told her that someone from Aroab will get her either today or tomorrow - then school starts up again! I hope it's a good term for her and all her fellow volunteers.

Susan Rothman

Things I Forget To List Week by Week

Odds and Ends

 

I had a free minute and since Chuck set up an easy way for me to create and post blogs I thought I'd do a quick update on things I usually forget to put in here.

One thing Lisa has mentioned several times is how much she misses Mozambique - she is having a great time in Namibia but there are several things that were quite different in "Moz"

1) The Peace Corps Volunteers were, as a group, younger in "Moz" - most were right out of college and this provided more common ground as far as Lisa was concerned. It's not that they are so "old" in Namibia it's just that most seem to have done a few things between college and Peace Corps. She misses the "we all just graduated and WOW we're in the Peace Corps" feeling.

2) She misses all the fruits and vegetables - she's not vegetarian - but she wasn't a big meat eater and at least during the early training in  "Moz" fruits and veggies ruled. Pasta is OK but oh how she misses fresh produce! And though canned fruits and veggies are available in Aroab - the selection is quite limited. Wherever she winds up in the USA I think she's going to try to garden a bit after this African adventure!

And canned tuna as a main source of protein is really getting boring - unlike our cat Lightning who could eat tuna 24/7 and never stop purring, Lisa is ready for something else. I think she'll get some different choices in Windhoek this week - that will make her very very happy!

3) While learning Portuguese wasn't easy - and teaching in it would have been hard - it looked like she was really going to teach middle and high school aged science classes. And she thinks she would have been better at that than she is teaching business management etc. Of course I remind her that Peace Corps told her she was going to teach Natural Science and English in Aroab and we've all seen what happened there! (grin)

4) She got the feeling that everyone in "Moz" would be placed more in clumps or at least near one another - and that most would be living with a local family if not other PCVs. At the time she didn't think she really wanted that - after 6 or 7 different roommates in college. But now while she mostly likes to be on her own in Aroab she sort of wishes the nearest PCV was closer than 90 miles away - and she really wishes there was more traffic between Aroab and ANYWHERE!

I thought this was interesting since one blog commented on how one Volunteer really wasn't as happy in the small town she was in - she really wanted to be far away on her own in a small village without electricity or water etc. Who knows if this girl would have actually been happier if she had gotten what she thought she wanted or not.

Wants are strange things - sometimes what brings us the most satisfaction in life turns out to be a real surprise. We learn the most from the most unexpected things.

Hope everyone who reads this blog is enjoying it and learning a bit about Lisa's adventure, Namibia, and the Peace Corps in general. Lisa is happy that (for at least those with Internet) her family and friends can keep up to date on her life. Take Care

 

Susan Rothman

May is Cold Here at Night

It's Cold on the Train

Lisa managed to get a ride to Keetmanshoop Friday so she could catch the train to Windhoek that night - but she didn't know for sure till Thursday night that she had a ride. It would have been a long (90 mile) hike/hitch otherwise but the Universe smiled on her. Once in Keetmanshoop she hung out and spent some time in their library (she misses Library time sooo much! Aroab has plans to create a community library and community computer center which Lisa hopes to help with as one of her "extra Peace Corps Projects"- but this process is to put it mildly - a VERY VERY LONG one).

She and another Peace Corps Volunteer - David ( a nice guy who served in the Peace Corps in the 60's, and has come back for another term of service in his retirement) took the overnight train from Keetmanshoop to Windhoek - $126 Namibian dollars (about $20 US) - I think that's one way. A 12 hour long trek! There wasn't any heat on the train and Lisa was freezing all night long. But in general she enjoyed the trip and she really enjoyed chatting with David. I guess the train left on time and arrived on time too - something that NEVER happens in Namibia - so that worked out nicely.

It reminds me of Maple Sugar season,  with cold nights and warm - well in Namibia HOT - days. I hope she buys a sweater there - sounds like she'll need another one. It's turning to fall/winter there.

 

Windhoek Before Reconnect 

 

When she got to Windhoek she found a place to stay the night - at a hostel for $70 Namibian (about $10 US), and started running into other PCVs, then did some shopping. She got a nice small rug - so that she'll have something other than the bare floor of her home to sit on - she got a nice kitchen knife since the ones for sale in Aroab are very flimsy, and she got a new pillow - her old one was quite flat since she used it as a seat, a backrest, and a pillow (grin).

She also enjoyed a wonderful concoction of ice cream and fruit - and that made her feel that all was well in the Universe! Ahh the power of ice cream which she hasn't had in months! And actually fresh fruit was a real treat too! She already misses Aroab but is enjoying being somewhere different! Fresh Fruits and Veggies on every corner! Heaven! I have the feeling that when she gets home she'll never want to look at another can of food again - she'll eat everything fresh!

 

Wendy Is Leaving

 

Another of the Nam27 group is leaving, Wendy. I gather she had fallen in love shortly before leaving for Africa and didn't want to stop the whole Peace Corps process - since she had gotten through all the hoops and hurdles in order to go - but she had the feeling she wasn't going to make it 27 months away from home.

She holds a special place in Lisa's heart since when at the start they were getting things like cell phones Lisa had heard that a cell with Internet connection was worth it - despite being much more expensive - but she didn't have enough money to buy one and Peace Corps hadn't deposited their pay into their accounts yet - and Wendy loaned her the money. Lisa paid her back as soon as PC got their $ to them - and since she doesn't have any computer access where she is in Aroab it's been wonderful for her having the Internet on her cell. It may cost a lot per byte (yes they actually do it by the byte there) for her to send messages - but reading them costs much less and has in her words "Kept me sane!!!"

So thank you Wendy - and good luck with your future plans!

 

Reconnect 

 

Reconnect is what goes on for the next week - Peace Corps puts them up in a nice place with good food, hot showers, and all their new forever friends! I gather they talk about haw everyone is doing, provide extra support and do some more training. Next week if we get through to her we'll find out more. Lisa's looking forward to her time with the other Volunteers since she's pretty isolated where she is in Aroab.

 

One Term is Over - Another Will Start May 12

 

She got through her first term in one piece - and her learners seem to have survived too. All in all she felt she did well her first term of teaching. Many of the Peace Corps Blogs seem to indicate that the teachers aren't supposed to pass that many learners - but I gather Aroab is an exception - her school actually tried to get as many to pass as possible. Lisa's groups didn't do that great - but then I guess no one else's did that much better.

Her lowest graded learners were in Agriculture/Animal Husbandry - which didn't surprise Lisa in general since Lisa knew the least amount about that subject. She was really hoping that Peace Corps suggestion to her Principal that she not teach so many classes would get them to give her Agriculture classes to someone else. It doesn't look good with several teachers leaving and at least as of when Lisa left Aroab no replacements in sight. Oh well - she'll do the best she can.

She'll return from Peace Corps reconnect the weekend before the next term starts - teachers due back the 12th of May - learners the 13th of May.

 

Cooking

 

I guess after several cooking attempts leading to the creation of "charcoal" and "smoke" she finally had success with a recipe from the Peace Corps cookbook - for Corn Chowder. She was very pleased with her results! You take the small victories in the kitchen when all you have is a 2 burner hot plate to work with! And when the power is out you're out of luck - no restaurants or take out available! She's learning to love oatmeal with lots of sugar and cinnamon  (grin).

 

Politics

 

Even though Lisa was sorry she was going to miss this election cycle - she's decided that being so far from current news is keeping her blood pressure lower and keeping her sane. Her main comment as a Obama supporter is "they need to talk about the issues and what each candidate believes not whose Pastor said what or who can bowl or drink beer better" I agree.

 

Till my next post - Take Care

 

Susan Rothman