Daylight
Savings Time ended last Sunday. Fortunately, I’d purchased a newspaper on
Friday and had seen the reminder. Otherwise it would have been strange to wake
up to one time on my phone clock, which changed automatically, and a different
time on my clock, watch, and Kindle. School was much livelier at 7:30 Monday
morning, as many learners and several teachers were there. The former did not
know that the time had changed and had arrived very early. The rest of the week
there were more learners at school early, and a couple of the teachers also
arrived earlier than they had before. I guess having it light earlier got them
going sooner. Dropping back an hour also means that it’s dark around 6:15 now.
If I’m going to cook, I need to do it before 6:00 when the kitchen is dark.
Helena has been turning off the lights to sleep between 8:00 and 8:30, which is
really early for me. It also means I need to return from town earlier, as it’s
not good to hitch in the dark. I’m adjusting.
At the
staff meeting a couple weeks ago we were told that observations would be last
week. Tuesday we received individual notifications with official school stamps
that they would take place on Wednesday. Mine was during grade 10, which is
always a good class. But these days, most of the classes have been good; so any
class would have been OK. Grade 9, which used to be challenging, has settled
down and is usually pretty good these days. Wilhelmina’s observation didn’t
happen till Thursday; so she was busy writing the lesson plan forms for two
days, which was the first time I’d seen her do that. She even asked if I’d seen
her doing lesson plans before, as she doesn’t usually do them.
Last
week a cute frog was hanging out in my washing room.
It stayed in an
indentation in one of the corners. One day there was a fingernail-sized frog in
place of the bigger one. It has reminded me of the frog that lived on the
corner wall of my first Thai house. On Saturday there were frogs of all sizes
hopping all over my yard, and a few even came into the house. Now they’re gone.
This happened with frogs in the fields after the first big rain, too. I heard
them for only a few nights, and then they were gone. They must have moved on or
have a very short life cycle.
The
hornet and big ants that were in the house when I left have moved on, which is
nice. I didn’t mind the ants, as they just did their thing and moved on out,
and they stayed in the living room and kitchen. The hornet had built a nest in
the bedroom. I didn’t realize what it was for a few days. Then I knocked it
down. One has flown in, circled around, and left a few times, but there are no
new nests, which I think is good.
It’s
weeding time in the fields. Last Saturday I joined Helena, Kamongwa, and
another man and woman for two hours. Weeding is more intense than thinning
because you are constantly hoeing, not stopping to pull out small plants.
Helena and Kamongwa do this for six to eight hours a day every day except
Sunday. After my two hours Saturday, I was done in for most of the rest of the
day. Kamangwa thought more photos were necessary.
Last Sunday
morning I decided to do some hoeing in my yard, as it is now covered with the
weeds. The green weeds don’t blend in with the sand, so they stand out much
more than they do in the grass. This Saturday I decided to spend my hoeing time
in the yard instead of in the field. Hoeing there is easier than hoeing in the
field, as there are no good plants to work around; everything gets hoed up. When
Helena saw my work, she said it was nice and said I have qualifications.
Last
Sunday I noticed that Kamongwa was hoeing in the area next to my yard that was
full of tall weeds. After he took them out, I could see corn plants. This is
the maize garden. He had often referred to his corn, which was confusing me. I finally
figured out that he is calling mahangu “corn” instead of “millet.”
Some of
the millet flowers are starting to emerge from the plants.
The
donkeys are enjoying the grass growing in the lake beside the homestead. They
are often there, and I can hear them braying even at night.
The
resident cat finally sat for a moment when it saw me—long enough to snap a
photo. I seldom see it, and it has always run immediately upon sighting me in
the vicinity.
On our
journey I had Rachel point out the Southern Cross. When I returned home and
went out one night, there it was directly across from my door. Now I enjoy
seeing it when the night sky is clear.
Angel
drove me to town one Friday. When we passed a homestead with its fence, he pointed
to it and asked, “You don’t have those in the U.S., do you?” When I told him
about gated communities, he was surprised. His comment was “So there are
thieves in the U.S., too.” He said he had thought there were only thieves in
Africa. I added that some of them are white and that there are thieves in every
country.
Thursday
evening we had the first good rain for a couple weeks. I was sitting outside
when it started. When I rounded the corner of the house, there was a brilliant,
semi-circle rainbow. I got a photo just before the downpour began. It rained
again Friday night.
On the
way to town Friday, Wilhelmina told me to drive on the gravel road, as she
wasn’t feeling well. Since I hadn’t driven a stick shift for over twenty years
and had been wondering how long it would take me to learn again, this was a
good opportunity. It took no time at all to get the feel of the clutch and
gears, and I didn’t even think about shifting with my left hand. I practiced
staying on the left a bit, although driving in the middle is standard on that
road. When we got to the tar road, she took over, which was fine, as I’m not
ready to drive on the left in traffic yet. But I’m ready to have more practice.
It was exciting to be driving successfully here.
Sunday
I was itching to buy my bus ticket to Windhoek at the start of our term break
in two weeks. So I hiked into town and bought the ticket. While there, I
decided that it would be a good day to buy blankets for the upcoming cold
season since I had time and didn’t have other shopping to do. I also looked at
some clothes. I find it interesting that, while in China and Thailand, I
struggled to find clothes in my size—L or XL—here I struggle to find clothes in
my size—M. There is an abundance of L and XL, and they really are large. People
come in all sizes here, and many of the women are large. As in the U.S., my
size is common, and there isn’t always a big selection.
On the
way back I sat in the back with a family with five children ages 1, 3, 5, 7,
and 10. The three-year-old hardly took his eyes off me. It was nice of them to
squeeze me in, and I enjoyed chatting with the woman. They live in Oshakati and
were going to their village home 60 km down the road to check their mahangu.
That’s a long way on that gravel road.
When I
returned home, Helena came to see me and was pleased to show me her traditional
dress that she had worn to church. Then she went home and returned wearing
another traditional dress. I could tell that these are special clothes because
they are not worn out like most of her clothes. When she left, she said she
told me to take photos. (I’m getting used to her telling me what to do, rather
than asking as we would do. It’s typical Namibian, not just Helena.) She
returned home and put on a necklace and two bracelets, telling me they are
traditional. We went to the field for the photos, and she got into posing,
which was fun.
In my
house, she noticed my plush jacket that I keep on the end of the bed for use in
the cool mornings. I’m sure shhe’s seen me wear it on the way to the toilet. She
told me to give it to her when I leave. The fact that it fits me snugly and her
belly and breasts are much bigger than mine didn’t bother her wen I told her
it’s too small for her. I think she wants it because it came from the U.S.
The
path to the toilet is now through the field. There is a well-worn path across
the rows and then we walk between the rows to the building.
Sunsets continue to awe me.
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