Baby Ethan who lives at the back of the house, and Brutus, the huge dog! MB thought it would be a good idea to let Ethan ride Brutus. No so much.
Benjamin(in the orange) and his friend dragging a little kid.
Me and my boyfriend Rodney at the pool.
Boys at Emanuel Shafiti High school grade 12 class
Classroom chairs and desks
Friday is free SMS day. Yes, the teacher is SMSing, as are the students.
Emanuel Shafiti between classes.
Girls in class.
Me and some of grade 12 the girls.
The classroom, during "class.
I wrote the notes down. No one else did. I'm not even in that class.
Nice.
Mate. Adorable!
ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Ajay got twins in his hard boiled egg.
Meroldi posting on my blog!
Meroldi, before the dentist.
At the dentist, a bit nervous!
COOL!
Ow.
Meroldi, After the dentist!!!
She's so cute, I'm taking her home with me!!!
SO.
The pictures above refer to everything I am about to say. Wednesday night Brutus, the dog MB is dog sitting for, came over to our house for a playdate. We introduced baby Ethan to Brutus. Brutus had a lovely time licking Ethan's feet, and then MB forced Ethan to sit on Brutus, except then Brutus was nipping towards Ethan and it was about to be a baby massacre.
Thursday morning MB brought Meroldi over to the house and then left to pick up Paul, the new volunteer from the UK. He is maybe in his mid 40s. He loves WWI and he thinks that maned space flights are a great idea, and that I should get a one way ticket to mars before they build the mars station. He also thinks that cricket should be introduced into the Unites States, and that it would civilize us, and that American Football should be banned, or even better euthanized And he also thinks that I don't want another bowl of ice cream because I don't want to be called lard bucket. And the says right this second that he can "see your blog book just flying off the shelves". Unfortunately he doesn't know how cool I actually am.
[21:33] redhead at 53: todays blog is (again) incredible
[21:36] redhead at 53: paul is boring ... give me the link to HIS BLOG
Anyway. So Meroldi and I had breakfast together and I let her post on my blog. That was really cute, but it took her forever to type up. Then we left for the dentists office, which is right across from Pick and Pay. We went inside and waited a few minutes for the dental hygienist to take us inside the room. Meroldi seemed a little nervous. She sat down on the chair, and we waited for the dentist to come in. Then he did. He looked at her teeth and then injected her inner lip and gums with novicane. I held her hands and she squeezed them. She was really brave. Then the hygienist took the suction tube and put it in her mouth, and she jumped, and it took a few seconds for her to let them suck up her spit. They put it on her hand so she could feel the suction.
The whole process took about thirty minutes, and afterwards, Meroldi's teeth looked beautiful. Her lips were still swollen, and she kept asking when they would go down. We walked back to the house, and I made her a peanut butter sandwich. About ten minutes after we got home, MB returned with Paul. We sat in the living room and talked for a while. I went into my room and got my huge North Face duffel into the living room. Meroldi got inside, and I told her that she could come with me back to the US in my luggage. Then MB suggested that I have one bag for girls, and another for the boys. She wants to take her finance, Ruru, and I want to take my boyfriend Rodney.
MB and Mark and Paul then took off for the center, and Jessie and Meroldi and I walked to the CLASH (a organization for the deaf children of Namibia) office so that I could buy a shirt. After that we went to the mall and I bought a book, and then we went back to the house. We left for the center with Ilga, Bianca, and Kirsten for the center. Everyone was really excited to see Meroldi's teeth! She really does look gorgeous, not that she wasn't adorable before.
Thursday night Taura was holding a Men's Forum across the street at NICE restaurant. She invited a bunch of guys and a few women to sit and discuss the treatment of women in Namibia and around the world. On Wednesday she had asked me to come, and told me that she thought I am an assertive girl with strong opinions, and that she thought I would have good things to share. So Ajay and I walked over to NICE together. It was a bit to long for my taste, but it was good to be there supporting Taura.
Friday morning Jessie and I left with MB for Goreangab high school to sit in on grade 12 classes for a few hours, but when we got to the school all the kids were missing, because apparently every teacher is out at workshops, so they closed the school for the week. It was no big deal because there is another high school, Emanuel Shafiti, just down the road.
We got to the school and asked permission to sit in on the grade 12 classes. They were happy to let us observe the classes, and even paired us with the Head Girl. We first sat in on an English class. There were probably 15 kids in the class, maybe less. The teacher was really nice. When we got in the classroom, he let us introduce ourselves and then let the kids ask us questions. I told them about school in NY and what the classes are like. Then they continued on with their schoolwork. They are currently reading Animal Farm by George Orwell. I was actually really surprised with their reading; it was pretty good.
The second class was Geography. Jessie was talking to some boys when the teacher was trying to start class, and the boys knew the teacher was waiting for Jessie to be quiet. The whole class thought it was so funny, but Jessie was really embarrassed. The class talked about water conservation and management, discussing ways to save water. After telling the students to cop the questions down off the board and answer them in their notebooks, the teacher disapeared out of the classroom and never came back. So we just sat around talking about the United States and school in Namibia.
After geography was a 30 minutes break. The kids who have money go to the school kiosk to buy hot dogs and other snacks, and the "poor" kids go to the gate where vendors sell gum and candy for $.50. After the girls I was with bought their sweets, we went into a classroom and sat around talking. They explained that Saturday morning they were going to a meeting about an aupair program. After graduating grade 12, they can be accepted to be an aupair in the United States. I think a lot of them want to do it because it's a much easier way of getting to the US than trying to do it alone. We also talked about boys, and they wanted to know how boys int he US were. I basically had nothing good to say. I asked them about boys in Namibia, and we agreed that boys are boys, and should be avoided at all costs.
After break we had development. The teacher came in late, and then instructed the kids to copy down probably four of five pages worth of notes, or "summaries", written on the chalk board. Of course they didn't do it. The kids got on their cell phones, as did the teacher. Apparently Friday is free SMS day in Namibia and so that's all anyone ever does all day, including the teachers. After a few minutes, the teacher got up and just left, not coming back.
Then we had English again. There are eight periods a day, and six classes. There are always two classes repeated a day, but not blocked periods. The English teacher didn't show up. After English was History. The teacher sat in the back of the classroom and read a magazine and then after a few minutes got up and left.. Halfway through the period, the office called Jessie and I. MB came to pick us up. We told her all about how school was while we sat in the Pajero for a few minutes eating garlic bread and cheesy bread. Then we went to the center.
I sort of had the day off at the center because it was my last day, because it was my last day. Basically this just meant that I did' have to facilitate any games or manage the computer room or big room, so I got to just sit with some of the kids. Then I sat in on Taura's choir for the last time. I really do love listening to the kids sing.
At the end of the day I said a last goodbye to the kids who I knew I wouldn't see over the weekend. Friday night MB, Ajay, Mark, and Paul went bowling. I stayed home so that I could work on packing and getting ready to leave. But Kirsten, Ilga, Bianca, Jessie, and I, ended up watching a really bad Bollywood movie and making jewelry with beads and bottle caps, and eating a 5 liter container of vanilla ice cream.
This morning Jessie and I left to buy souvenirs near the Wernhill mall. We left the house around half past eight. I got so much stuff! It was crazzzzzy. We spent 3 1/2 our shopping, and then came home for lunch. She didn't feel so well, so she stayed home with Kirsten and Bianca instead of going to the center with Ilga and I. I wanted to go to say goodbye to the kids. I gave them stokies and bracelets that I made for them, as well as some pictures I drew for some of them. It was a nice good bye. I almost cried.
The only thing that kept me from crying was knowing that MB is driving Sha, Wendy, and Salome over here tomorrow morning so that they can plait my hair. I am going to take them into town after they finish, and maybe get them ice cream or something.
Then tomorrow night MB and Ajay are hosting a goodbye party for me, Ilga, and MB's friend. They are going to make us an Indian dinner. Taura and some of her freinds are invited, and it should be a lot of fun. Plus MB went out and bought tons of wine and beer today. In Namibia, you cant buy any alcohol past 2pm on Saturdays, and none on Sundays.
Monday I leave Namibia on a 3pm flight. I'm preparing for the tears to fly out of my eyes nonstop. Ughhhhh. I don't want to leave!
:(
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