Etosha National Park (7-22)

Thursday my friend Kate, who was in Peace Corps Thailand with me, arrived for a brief visit. Wilhelmina drove me to the airport to meet her at noon. Then we went to a rather fancy restaurant at a guest lodge for lunch. 

Next we stopped at the open market so Kate could see the traditional foods and clothes as well as other items sold there. Wilhelmina chatted with a Herero woman who was selling traditional medicine. One was elephant dung. You burn the dung, cover your head with a towel, and breathe in the smoke to cure a headache. When Kate mentioned this to our guide, he said he does this. Sometimes he collects elephant dung when he finds it along the road in the park. The woman let me take a photo for N$5/ $0.33, which is standard for Herero women.

Then it was time to return to Ompundja. Kate was greeted very warmly by Kowmongwa and Helena. He wanted photos of her with them and of me with them while we were taking photos. Kate was not fond of the long drop toilet. We had a brief visit to the school and then walked around the block, stopping at the local shops on the way back. It was fun to share my home with her and to see her reactions to it. We had a good catching up chat since we hadn’t communicated for six years.

Friday morning we went to school where she was greeted warmly by the teachers and curiously by the learners. She was the lesson of the day for my classes and was a big hit. She had brought photos of her life in Montana. After talking about them briefly with the learners gathered around so they could see the photos, we had them form groups so they could inspect the photos closely and ask questions. Each group was given a small number of photos, and Kate exchanged them periodically. They really got into examining the photos and many asked questions and talked to her as well as to me. It was a great lesson all morning.

At noon, we embarked on our safari to Etosha National Park. We had hired Morne, a local tourism agent, to drive and guide us. He was great—very knowledgeable and friendly. Sometimes a bit too chatty for me, as I like quiet sometimes, but it was good to have him taking care of us and he was enjoyable and enthusiastic.

On the way into the park, we saw blue wildebeests 

and Burchell’s zebras that had somehow escaped from the park’s boundaries. These zebras have curved lines rather than straight ones that the mountain zebras have. Their faces have an intricate striped diamond.

The plan for the afternoon was to drive to our lodge, stopping at all the waterholes on the way. I had read that, since this is the dry season, there was a good chance of seeing many animals at waterholes. At the first waterhole close to the park entrance, there was an elephant drinking water. Some zebras were nearby waiting for their turn, but they wouldn’t go to the waterhole while the elephant was there. Except one brave one that was drinking at the far end; the elephant ignored it when it passed when leaving the waterhole.

Later we watched another elephant at a waterhole 

while a group of kudu and some elands and gemsboks/oryx waited for their turn. 

They would approach the waterhole and then back off. Finally one eland had a drink, and the elephant ignored it. When the elephant left, the other animals retreated to the trees without drinking. Maybe they returned later.

The road was long, flat, mostly straight and dusty. As we drove, we saw a good variety of other animals: 

ostriches, 

warthogs, 

springboks, 

gemsboks/oryx, 

elands,

giraffes. It was quite an exciting start to our three days in Etosha.

Other highlights of the day:

A line of elephants walking to a waterhole

An elephant walking along a path towards us and then crossing the road in front of us

Our lodging Friday night was at Namutoni Rest Camp, which was originally a German fort. We arrived just before 5:30 when the gate is closed for the night. 

As at all three guesthouses in the park, there is a waterhole that is lit at night so people can see the animals that come. However, none were there when we sat for a while before dinner. From our room it was a three-minute walk to the waterhole; so I returned after dinner and before going to sleep. And I woke up twice during the night and walked to the waterhole to check, but nothing was there at any of these times, which was disappointing but OK.

In the morning, there were a bunch of guinea fowl that looked like small rocks on the far side of the waterhole.

Winding down the term (7-20)

Last Wednesday we hosted the final sports competition. Mr. Kapolo came into the first hour class to announce it, as he had just received that information. Then Aina came to tell the netball-playing girls to wash their shirts immediately. Again, the competition was to start at noon, but the other teams didn’t arrive until later; so it started after 2:00. Our soccer players were not playing, but the netball girls played. I went out for a short time and saw them score their only basket; so they weren’t swamped. Watching the winning team, I could see how the girls’ description that netball is like dancing is apt. Those girls were good—and smooth. I learned that throwing a basket with one hand and standing on one leg is not a requirement, as the winning team’s girls used two hands and usually didn’t stand on one leg, as my girls had told me it’s done. So watching the really good team was a pleasure for a short time. Then I returned to marking final essays for the term.

Thursday at 9:45 when I was in the office a man from the Ministry of Agriculture came to tell Angel that he would talk to the learners for about twenty minutes. That started at 10:15 and finished at about 11:00. Then the health people arrived to give everyone their MMR immunization/vaccination. So that took care of classes that day. Even though they could vaccinate only one class at a time, all classes were dismissed so learners could wait for their turn. The process finished at about 1:45 and everyone went home—no point in having study time that day. For the last hour and a half, I had several boys in my room studying because it was quiet there. Everywhere else the learners were running around or were noisy. I’m happy to provide a quiet space when they want it, and I had plenty of essays to read; so we were all busy.

Since classes for the term end on the 26^th, everyone is madly finishing their mandatory Continuous Assessment tasks. I’m doing the long essays, which means long hours of marking them. Wilhelmina has been doing her written tasks and tests, which means she has had stacks of papers and notebooks that she has been marking madly.

We got the exam timetable last week. They start on July 28.  Mine are on Friday of the first and second weeks. This is good because there are three separate exams: reading, writing, listening. The reading has about 14 pages, 7 different tasks. Writing has a long essay and a shorter writing task, such as a letter. Listening will be easy to mark since it’s only four short-answer tasks. I’m not looking forward to reading all that writing for four classes, but I can do a global mark instead of marking errors and making suggestions for improving the essay. It’s a lot of marking, but we have until Aug.18 to get everything done and turned in, which won’t be a problem because I’ll have no classes during those weeks.

We also learned that we have to prepare exams for grades 8 and 9—and the lower grades that I don’t teach. We had been told that they would be regional exams, but they aren’t. Those will be in December. Our exams have to be imitations of the national/regional exams in December. So mostly people copy past exams. I had only one for grade 8 reading and two for writing but no listening. And I’d used two of the reading tasks; so I had to create new ones. I had no past exams for grade 9, but when I was looking at a task on the grade 10 exam that I could use and asked Wilhelmina a question, she looked for more exams on her shelf and found a reading exam. I thought she’d given me all that she had, but she’d given me only ones she’d found quickly. Angel found a listening exam in his files. Those helped a lot. In addition to saving me work, they are “official” and thus preferred.

A few teachers have been having extra classes on Saturday for grade 10 to prepare them for the exam. Even though this is a regional exam, it does indicate how prepared they will be for their national exam in October. Since the exams cover all the content on the syllabus, they have to make sure they have covered it. I realized that I am lucky in that sense because the English syllabus is more general and is skills based. So I don’t need to worry about covering the required content.

Since four of the teachers were there to teach the extra classes, I joined them in the office for a work day. When they weren’t teaching, they were busy marking. I got my exams prepared, which took several hours. But they were ready to print Monday morning, and that felt good. It was fun to be there with the group.

They have finally started serving porridge to the learners during the first break. We had been told that it would start at the beginning of the term, but they couldn’t find a woman to cook. Now they have. The learners pay N$3/ $0.20 per month to pay her to cook. The porridge is provided by the government. They eat it with their fingers, which is traditional. They are supposed to get their porridge and eat it in the fifteen-minute break, but, of course, that doesn’t happen. So the class after the break is often ten minutes short. But it’s good that they are getting food with some nutritional value instead of only the junk food that is sold. Some learners wash the dishes during the next class. 

The excitement in my life recently has been a return to Helena’s stealing. One morning when I returned from the toilet, she was coming in a line from my door and went to wash her hands at the water jugs. I knew she’d been in the house and stolen food. Sure enough, the newly opened bag of candy had only 4 pieces left, and I’d eaten only 2 or 3. I purchased a new bag on Friday to see how many are in a bag—12; so about 5 were missing. The fact that she did that while I was home—abeit at the toilet—really disturbed me. She, of course, denied that she’d been in the house. After buying another bag to confirm the number of sweets in the bag, I wrote a note and told her verbally that she has to stop stealing and why I knew she’d taken candy that day. She was indignant that I suggested that she was stealing and denied it, of course. I didn’t expect her to admit it; I just wanted her to know that I knew for sure that she’d done it again and that it’s hard to be friendly when I can’t trust her.

Thursday evening Kowmongwa came with her to talk to me Thursday. Neither of them knew anything about the problem. When I asked who else can come into my house, he said there are some young men nearby who are thieves and they probably did it. They came in through the window. Both windows have screw-type locks, but I can’t close the windows because the electricity cord is in one and the gas pipe for the stove is in the other. So they are opened about three inches at the outside and that tapers in to where the screw is. Thus, the thief reached in to turn the screw to open the window, a move I don’t think is possible. Then he came in, took a small amount of food or the one pan, and then locked the screw again when he left. They made a big show of checking the kitchen window. Outside the window there is a three-foot-high can with the gas for the stove. Inside is the stove. So the thief opened the window and climbed in and out without disturbing either of these. And he did this to take a handful of food and, when I was in SA, one pot out of the five pots and pans I have. I told them I accept their story and will make sure the windows are locked. But the air is cleared, face was saved, and we are friendly, which is good. And I have something to chuckle about when I think about it.

People are snacking on palm fruit these days. 

The thin shell is removed, which is challenging. Under that is a thin layer of the fruit, which is dry. It is nibbled, and the core is given to the animals or used in the cooking fire. I didn’t think it was worth the bother to chew the fruit off the core, as it’s difficult and I didn’t like it that much. Learners are also eating a lot of tiny limes.

When I’m working in my classroom, a goat will occasionally come to the door and quickly snap up paper from the box to eat.

A Namibian Wedding (7-10)

Last week went as scheduled until Friday. Thursday morning Mrs. Reinhold came to class to hand out notes for learners to give their parents about Parents’ Day from 10-12 on Friday. This meant I would have only the first three of my four classes. Parents were invited to come to school to check their children’s notebooks. Not many came and, as is often typical, most parents who did come were those of the younger learners.

Friday morning my second class didn’t come, and I could see that no learners were going to class. When I asked about this, I learned that the sports competition venue had been changed to our school. (I had heard the announcement that the venue was changed and that something was happening at noon, but I hadn’t understood that the new venue was our school.) So learners had to draw the lines for the fields in the sand. Since Parents’ Day started at 10:00, they had to be in their homerooms by then, which meant that the fields had to be prepared earlier. So only one class on Friday.

During the second class time, a group of girls came to the room to hang out. After a while, they spontaneously burst into singing and dancing. The dancing is essentially a line dance in which they danced around the room in a line. Others came to join them. They liked that I was taking photos. It was fun. After about five minutes most of them left, but several stayed to look at photos on my camera. We looked at ones I’d taken of them dancing, and then they looked at all 800 photos from China, the U.S., South Africa, and Namibia. I was a little surprised that they were interested in seeing all of them. While they were huddled around me and the camera, a few took the opportunity to fondle my hair and skin.

The competition was to start at 12:00, but only one other school had arrived by then. It finally started at 1:00. The netball competition was here even though our girls had been eliminated. Watching the game, I learned a little more about the sport. Players wear vests with letters on them that announce their position. Each position has a given task and a designated place on the court, and the person can only do that task and cannot leave her designated place. No moving is allowed when you have the ball. Thus, when catching the ball, the girls usually have to turn in the air prior to landing so they can move forward, and they must land solidly. This is also the reason for lifting a leg when trying to make a basket. If both feet are on the ground, moving one, even to shift weight, is “stepping,” which is not allowed. So the danger of stepping is removed by lifting one foot. When trying for a basket, the ball is thrown with one hand.

We left school at 2:30 to go to town, which exceeded my interest in watching sports. Fortunately, I could read. In town, I did my shopping while Wilhelmina did things she needed to do to prepare for a wedding on Saturday. On the way back to Ompundja, we picked up her sister, who was also going to the wedding, and her five-month-old daughter. As with most foreign babies, she was fascinated with my different appearance when we were standing together later.

On Friday Wilhelmina invited me to go to a wedding with her. It was the wedding of her best friend’s son, who is also a relative of Kowmongwa’s; so he and Helena were also going. Wilhelmina went to the house Friday night to help with food preparation. Helena went Saturday morning. They seemed to have assigned shifts, as Bertha was helping Saturday afternoon. The church service was at 10:00; however, Wilhelmina called me to join her at school because it had been changed to around 12. On the way out of the homestead, I saw the biggest of Kowmongwa’s goats being loaded into a truck because the wedding hosts had purchased it. He told me it was very expensive, which is good for him.

Wilhelmina took me to the local market that happens when pensioners collect their money. She pointed out the place where that happens, which is away from the market. This is the market I went to with Kowmongwa last month, but not as many vendors were there. When I asked if it is always on the second Saturday, since that has happened for two months, she said it changes every month.

At 1:30 we went to the house of the wedding family. On the way we passed the church and saw that people were just arriving. I had planned to go to the church service to see how that is done here, but when I learned that it was almost two hours long, it was OK that I missed it. 

But I am still curious about the services since I saw what I think were bridesmaids dressed in bright green dresses.

The family’s homestead is huge. The first thing I noticed was a two-storey house, which I’d not seen in this area before. This belongs to the bride and groom although they live in Windhoek where they work. The traditional part of the homestead we were in has many buildings and is the largest I’ve seen. Most of the buildings are painted bright yellow. People were preparing food in several shelters and around the area. Wilhelmina told me that eighteen cows had been slaughtered for the occasion. Small groups of people were sitting in some shelters. We sat in a small courtyard for over an hour. After a while, a plate of beef was brought over.

Then we returned to school to pick up Teopaulina, who was joining us because she was riding with Wilhelmina. We changed into our dresses for the reception. Wilhelmina wore a traditional Owambo dress that she only wears to weddings, as it is customary to wear traditional dresses to weddings.

At 3:30 we stopped at the church where the service had just finished so I could see what was happening and take photos. 

Most people had left the church, and a photographer was taking photos. The bride wore a Western style white gown. 

Most women wore traditional dresses, but some had modern dresses. 

A cultural troupe danced and sang outside the door. A couple women waved horse tail wands, which Wilhelmina explained they do while ululating or to show their happiness silently. They were doing the latter. 

When the bride and groom came out, they held white umbrellas over their heads. 

The dancers lead a procession to their car, which was not decorated.

We then returned to the house and sat in the car for an hour waiting for the arrival of the bride and groom. They parked outside the homestead and walked in with a crowd of people leading and following, including many women waving their horsetail wands. Again they held the white umbrellas over their heads. 

They sat at a table in front of a banner about their wedding to receive gifts, mostly baskets but some had other things in them. 

People formed a line, and many women carried their baskets on their heads. 

I enjoyed seeing some of the women wearing the fancier traditional dresses with beads around their waists that I had seen only in displays.

Finally, at about 6:00 we went to a tent to eat. There were a number of tents set up for this purpose. The tent we entered was full—about 64 people at eight tables. We saw Mrs. Reinhold at a table that two people were leaving; so we joined her. Wilhelmina took the empty plates and washed them for us. Food was served buffet style. By this time, most of the trays were almost empty, but we managed to get a small spoonful of several foods—rice, macaroni, potato salad, carrots, squash, coleslaw, green salad. There was also a big pot of boiled beef. At the entrance there was a huge freezer with ice and bottles of drinks, mostly beer.

Mrs. Reinhold asked if weddings in the U.S. were like this. When I described how reception meals work, she said that here anyone can come to a wedding. That must make planning food challenging.

A stage was set up for a musical group. Since everything started so late, we missed that, which was OK. It was a good cultural experience to see how weddings are done in Namibia. And it was good to hang out with Wilhelmina—and Teopaulina and Bertha—casually.

We have three groups of chicks as well as a few more new goats. Wilhelmina said she has many chicks and has about 30 baby goats.