seen around grootfontein -- february 17 2006

mr will the boss

i am "the boss" now. not sure how the name arose, but it looks like it's sticking. i think it was tuesday that i walked in and saw some graffiti scrawled across the board mR. wILL tHe BoSs [there was some kind of flower drawn as well]. i wasn't sure if it was a hastily written ransom note from "the boss"

it is actually my student-given appellation. it is now written on exercise books -- name, date, subject, teacher, "the boss." should I be worried? i don't think so. it could be worse. here are some worse fates that i've avoided:

"the yelper."
"the stupid." <---actually happened during model school.
"the pill."
"the cantankerous."
"the poorly-ironed." <----this would not be untrue

oh so sweet invigilations

this week in english we are reading about "chocolate" -- i gave a test on friday: here were my questions, see how well you can do:

Circle one

1) Who were the first people to grow cacao beans?

The Maya Indians
The Spanish
The Germans

2) The Spanish people mixed what with their drink?

Water, spices and pepper
Honey
Milk

3) Who was Hernando Cortes?

A Spanish explorer
A type of chocolate
A farmer

4) In what countries does the cacao tree grow?

South Africa and Namibia
England
Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Nigeria

5) How high does the cacao tree grow?

10 meters
2 meters
7,5 meters

6) How many seeds are there in a pod?

Around 100
20-40
1

7) What happens at the factory?

Eating chocolate
making snacks
beans are cleaned and roasted

8) What are the machines called at the factory?

Penguins
super machines
conches

9) What is added to milk chocolate?

Milk and sugar
salt and pepper
bags

10) Why do we eat chocolate?

Because it tastes good
Because it is good for us
Because it is expensive

answers:
maya, water/spices/etc/spaniard/west africa/7,5/20-40/conches/milk+sugar/any

bbc world service

i am really up to date on the worlds' news. why, you ask. because of my shortwave radio -- it is incredibly sweet. the sangean ATS909 is a very capable receiver. especially now that i've got the shortwave antennae strung up across the ceiling, it even blends with the suede paint i put in. yes, feng shua does affect reception. speaking of which -- game has a very large selection of wind & water-based accessories for your desk.

learners

these are my learners -- they are in grade 6 at otjituuo junior secondary school -- many have never left otjituuo and have thus never seen much of the world besides the village. they are happy, rambunctious and sometimes difficult but very bright kids. their names are(clockwise from bottom left): kaovisire, nicolaus, jenifer, and windeline.

little tyke

cute little kid walking to the athletics on friday morning

mr will's grade 6 learners

the grade 6 class

crazy bug shot

bug outside my place

We’re famous (sort of)

Excerpt from The Namibian, Tuesday January 17, 2006

“The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education Vitalis Ankama invited United States Peace Corps volunteers to feel at home in Namibia during their swearing-in ceremony in Windhoek last Friday.
These 58 volunteers will be the 25th group of Americans to offer their services in Namibia since Independence 15 years ago. They will work in the country for two years.
He warned, however, that working in mostly the remote areas of Namibia would not be a bed of roses because of the many shortcomings faced by the schools there.
Said Ankama: “Apart from the long distances you have to travel, you will also find that most of the people will be very friendly but, like it is in any society, you will find some characters who are not too friendly.
“You will also find it very difficult to communicate because the majority of the folks in the rural areas are not too articulate in the English language. These are just some of the challenges you will face.”
He pointed out that they would also notice that the majority of the schools they work at, would have just a few or no educational materials at all.
“It is thus up to you to apply your skills and become innovative in order to bridge some of these hiccups. You will have to improvise and use your skills to help those kids overcome some of these shortcomings.
“One of your biggest challenges in our country will be to work together with under-qualified and unqualified teaching personnel. I urge you to first do what is expected from you on this mission and not just become advisers or counselors to these people,” he added.
He alerted the volunteers that most of the learners in the rural areas live in poverty but still have the courage and determination to go to school hungry everyday because of their commitment to have an education.
Ankama noted that it was also expected from the volunteers to help maintain discipline at the institutions that they were allocated and to inform the learners about the dangers of HIV-AIDS, alcohol and drugs.

schoolnet wants ALOT of money

the principal summoned me into his office this morning. "will" he said. "i want you to look at this." i'm like "omg" he hands me this small brown envelope -- no postage needed -- with three giant bills from schoolnet, to the tune of N$300 each. "ugg" i said. not sure how this is going to be resolved, they haven't exactly turned off the modem service yet...

my f^**k#$# computer

ok -- let me bring you up to date: so my laptop got smashed in a combie ride (squished in with 13 others and at least two live fowl. i was aggrieved. jan 5 -- sent it to south africa. it gets held up by customs -- they demand 700 rand -- i decline, it waits, it gets through. apple south africa: "mr. garneau this is going to COST you." mr garneau: "ok, just kidding, send it back." and here we are. the computer is still in south africa, in some ritzy neighborhood called sandton* i am waiting for the LCD to be sent from the states so i can put it in myself. i did, however, dispatch a very nasty note to apple in which i dissected their supposed image and their treatment of joe peace corps. i don't know if it was smart to send it before i got the computer back though :(

*where nelson mandela lives.

uandara and goat

moving into otjituuo

map of volunteers in namibia

old army base in okahandja

otjituuo ps

my room

tk at the swearing-in ceremony

silas in the volunteers lounge

safari hotel in windhoek

at game in windhoek

at the peace corps office in windhoek

the GROOT!

on friday we didn't have class just atheletics. wasn't sure the weather'd hold out but it did. started to sprinkle a little bit towards the end of the girls 1500m. that was about when uandara got way into it -- arguing with tjiarange about the legitimacy of letting the 14-year-olds compete, demanding birth certificates, etc. i stayed out of it. later on the principal and made the trip to the groot.
Despite there not being anyone to "visit" (beth and metha are in windhoek, and on the dime of johns hopkins!) i convinced their landlady to give me the keys to their place to crash. on account of the official occupants not being around water and electricity had been turned off in the house, so i should say i bivouacked at their place. later on the landlady bought some electricity although i was advised to be parsimonious in its consumption.
my visit was uneventful -- except that i was terrified when i walked over to the meteor restaurant to pick up a pizza at sunset. grootfontein is somewhat "rough" around the edges after dark. it's very picturesque during the day -- the formerly white township is set on a hill overlooking the main drag, homes are well maintained, reminding one of bungalows built by Afrikaaners after the southern-Californian fashion. However, if you get too close you'll notice these are fortresses. And you'd best pasop vir die hond! the dogs in grootfontein are actually racist. seriously.
So I watched "When You Are Mine" by myself, ate a whole pizza by myself, then slept on the Beth's floor. Around midnight I woke up when a strange man began speaking Afrikaans very loudly and demanding entrance. I was wary. Yes, I was. But given I wasn't "supposed" to be there, who was I to deny admittance. He turned out to be Metha's uncle, worked for the Namibian Football Association. He was not happy to find out that we didn't have water. I felt oddly responsible for this failure and left the next morning.

with richard (center) and silas at swearing-in