Words of Wisdom

Here is an updated list of cool words people use here:

"braai" is barbecue
"yebo" is yes, or yeah
"kokie pens" are sharpies
"petrol" is gasoline
"stokie lakker" is a lolly pop
"sweets" are candy
"robots" are traffic lights
"fat cakes" are balls of fried dough that the kids love to eat
"cheesy bread" is any roll with cheese baked on top. --When MB asks a child how they got so cute, Wendy always says, "It's the cheesy bread, Mary. It's from all the cheesy bread they eat."--
"bakkie" is a pick-up truck, common in Namibia.
"combi" is a minivan
"rubbish bin" is a garbage can
"rubber" is an eraser
"tocks" are soccer cleats
"mealymeal" is basically like grits
"Ouma rope" is a Chinese jump rope
to "nick" something is to steal something
"shebeen" is a bar
the phrase "I am coming now" means I will be right back
the phrase "it's you" means "it's your turn", when you are playing a game
Shoots and Ladders is Snakes and Ladders here
"plakies" are flip flops and
"g-string plakies" are sandals that have a strap around the ankle.


"pad" is way (in Afrikaans)
"speel" is play (in Afrikaans)
"bolla" is a hair tie (in Afrikaans)
"donke" (pronounced donkey) is thank you (in Afrikaans)
"asublif" (pronounced aus-oo-bleef) is please (in Afrikaans)

"proetchen" are bread rolls (in German)

"swimming costume" is a bathing suit (British English)
"trousers" are pants (British English)
color is spelled "colour" and favorite is spelled "favourite" (British English)
"biscuits" are cookies (British English)


I'm sure some of you reading this are familiar, or at least know about, the clicks that are used in the Native languages here. Many of the kids speak Damara, which includes these clicks. The click is a sound in their alphabet, just like a letter in the English alphabet. It's written as and exclamation mark (!), which is so cool! I've got videos of the kids speaking, and maybe I can upload one.


Aside from all of this, things are going as they usually do. Kiersten and I left for the center this morning at 11am, but didn't arrive until 11:35. Our taxi driver just kept picking up more people, letting them out, picking up others. It was ridiculous! Normally the drive into Katutura is maybe ten minutes.

Rodney didn't show up for morning studies. He starts school on Monday. When he showed up at the center later on, we continued reading Pup and Pop, but he seemed really exhausted and out of it. I let him just go play, because there was no point in trying to have him read while he was falling asleep at the table.

MB arrived late to the after school program. Kiersten, Kenny, and I were the only volunteers there for the morning and beginning of the afternoon. Kenny was playing dominoes with some of the kids, and Kiersten served soup. So I was in charge of the library, big room, and activity tables outside. I was running all over the place! It was really overwhelming! When MB arrived, she told me she got in the mood to clean, and so scrubbed down the kitchen for four hours (MERVE INTO ACTION!).

I took some boggle dice today and worked with some kids on a game MB had talked to me about a week or two ago. You take the dice, with six letters on it (one on each side) and roll it. Whatever letter it lands on, each player must come up with as many words as they can that begin with that letter. Once ten minutes passes, everyone takes a turn reading their list, crossing off repeats. At the end, the person with the most words no one else had is the winner. The kids loved it, surprisingly!

There is a deaf girl at the center named Daphne. It was great working with her today. We flipped through an alphabet book, signing the letters, and then signing the animals and colors pictured. Amazingly, more and more kids started gathering around us wanting to learn the signs too! It was great! At least ten kids were involved! I think Daphne was very happy to be able to play with the other kids and communicate with us a bit.

I watched some of the choir practice again today. The kids sound great. Sha whipped Meroldi on the face with a towel, again because Meroldi didn't want to share the drum. Sha has been quite violent recently. MB says that all the kids in that family get beat up on by their parents.

But Sha can also be really sweet. She made me a bracelet for my birthday and gave it to me this morning. It's spiral knots of red string with a pink bead and a brown bead.

The mosquitoes are driving me nuts. I clapped one dead in the air today, and, no joke, blood splattered on me and the desk. GROSS.

Ilga and Kiersten and I made cheese burgers and fries for dinner. It was really tasty. But Ilga and Kiersten think I have a really unhealthy diet. I beg to differ. Then I tried to convince them that anything with seeds is a fruit, but they wouldn't believe me. I think that sometimes, people don't take me seriously. I am HILARIOUS sometimes, but then when its time to be serious and philosophical or scientifically knowledgeable, people don't trust what I say. It is really very frustrating to me.

Anyway, then I sat outside for an hour or two (I have absolutely no sense of time here) writing and listening to my ipod. I saw a wild ferrit run across the front yard! It was hilarious! And of course adorable!

I then came inside and helped Kiersten with her Resume (which everyone else in this house calls a 'CV', after some Latin phrase I can't remember) and letter or intent. I was surprised that I knew way more than she did about what to include! I also had a copy of my resume to show her (and frankly, mine was much much nicer). I think she is just looking for a short internship at Goethe Institute. Ajay and I gave her some tips, as did Ilga. Then I let Ilga watch Monsters, Inc. on my ipod. She thought it was a really cute movie.

Apparently John Jay High School had an emergency evacuation today for a bomb scare? Boy oh boy, good thing I don't take classes there any more. I'm sorry that some of you do. I really am sorry. Too bad we can't all go to Namibia at the age of 16.

Speaking of 16, I'm only 16 for two more days. For my birthday I may go see a movie at the cinemas with some of my house mates, or maybe to Spur, this restaurant with a jumping castle and painting and video games! You know how much I love jumping castles...!!!!!!!!

I am so tired! This is a long week, and every day I am at the center for six to seven hours a day! No lunch included! And besides being tired and having a bazillion mosquito bites, things are perfect.

Oh, last minute side note, the man who was shot by a Shoprite security guard and hit by a car was brought to Katutura Hospital. The doctors there cut off his leg, and he died the next day from excessive blood loss. It was Wendy's uncle, so that's how I know these details. MB said that many times the doctors at the hospital will use criminal patients and "nobodies" to do experimental things on. How terrible is that? Anyway, Wendy is going to the funeral on Saturday.

:(