It Was A Good Week All In All
Lisa sounded much better this week - she just has a slight cold left. When we called today she filled us in on her flu shot saga.
Lisa called the Hospital in Keetmanshoop and explained how Peace Corps wanted her to get the flu shot but that she had a cold etc. She arranged for her Principal to pick up the vaccine on Tuesday. She gained an ice pack in the process since the vaccine had to be kept cold! She stored it in her fridge till today (Friday) and took it to the Aroab clinic since someone is there I'm not sure if it's every Friday or every other Friday to see people.
She went to the clinic to have someone administer the shot, which at first they wouldn't do since they're not supposed to administer vaccines of "unknown" origin, ie stuff brought in by anyone other than an authorized person. Since it was properly cold and in Keetmanshoop medical packaging they eventually decided it was OK.
All in all it went fine and Lisa figured it would have been much more complicated in the States - what with having someone just picking up the stuff. And I agree - if someone just showed up at the average hospital and said "I'm here to pick up some flu vaccine" - there would be quite a bit of paperwork to deal with! I gather Lisa was well enough to teach which is why her Principal went off to pick the vaccine up himself rather than giving her the day off since she wouldn't be getting the shot till today.
There really are no subs other than the Principal - let's see - the Principal could let her classes go unsupervised all day, teach them himself, or drive into Keetmanshoop and be cooperative as far as Peace Corps is concerned. He made the logical choice! (GRIN)
Right now anything Peace Corps requests gets her school's full attention and cooperation. Boy they really want another Volunteer next year! GRIN - too bad Lisa can't finagle a raise out of this desire of their's to be seen as good guys - but her school doesn't pay her - Peace Corps does.
Since she's never had a bad reaction to a shot of any kind (knock on wood!) Lisa figured that getting the flu shot even with her very slight cold wouldn't be a problem.
World Teach Teacher - Sara
Sara - the World Teach teacher has arrived. She's from Canada, is 26, and married (hubby is home in Canada). She taught in China for 6 months, is an ESL teacher, and is working on teaching computer skills to the school's teachers. She'll be there for around 3 months.
Lisa says her accent is interesting and she's still getting used to it. Lisa notes that every English Colony "took English and played with it" each country ending up with different accents, different word usage, and different terms for things. It's almost hard to believe that they all are called "English". As Mark Twain or Henry Higgins would attest to! SMILE
So Sara is living with a family in town and Lisa hopes to run into her now and then. Sara I gather is very upbeat and eager - sure she can do a lot to teach computer skills in Aroab etc. Lisa after nearly 2 years wonders how long that enthusiasm will last - SMILE- Amazing how Lisa considers herself such an old hand at living in Namibia! My thought is if Sara managed 6 months in China she'll probably do quite well! I wish her well!
Other School Stuff
There was supposed to be a debating competition tonight but since the powers that be only got around to telling the schools this past Monday - everyone complained there wasn't enough time to prepare so it was postponed! I'm not sure till when - I don't think they've been told.
This is a 4 day weekend - I lost track of what Namibian holidays were included in it - but Lisa will be at the school Tuesday anyhow. Her Science Club members need to work on some projects and they really want Lisa's help. So good teacher that she is - Lisa will go in and help them. GRIN But she'll still get some rest in - and since she has tons of grading to do she assures us she will keep quite busy.
Reading War and Peace
Lisa is working her way through War and Peace - which since we're being honest here - her Dad and I have never actually read ourselves. Sending it to her just seemed the right thing to do since it's known to be rather long and since she has a lot of time to read right now! GRIN
So she keeps trying to talk to us about the novel and we're doing our best - but it's like trying to cope in class discussions after a brief skim of Cliff Notes (I honestly never used them myself - I was one of those students who read the books as soon as they were assigned - and I started my papers as soon as they were assigned too - Chuck on the other hand was more normal I believe -grin-)- Chuck is using his knowledge of Russian history and literature (with lots of Google support) to answer her questions - and I listen (DOUBLE GRIN)
While really enjoying it she has some editorial suggestions - since large chunks are written in French she thinks these passages should be translated in footnotes. And she finds it very funny to read things written so long ago that terminology and language have changed the meanings - ie performing one's toilet -while she understands what it meant then she still finds seeing the term as used in the book amusing.
War and Peace does seem to be living up to it's name as a "LONG" book. She says it feels like several books squished together. But at least there is a lot of restating "X who is son/daughter/whatever of Y" etc. So it's easier to keep everybody straight!
Odds And Ends
She didn't receive any mail this week, and we ended our call (before getting cut off -sigh-) with a chat about the Iranian elections and politics in general. Oh - she lost power for a while this week which as it grows colder is less and less convenient - but she managed OK. She's down to about 7 months before heading home - I can hardly wait!
Have a good week - and Happy Flag Day!
Susan Rothman
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