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on John and Dinah with VSO in Namibia (Namibia), 10/Apr/2008 12:34, 34 days ago
THE WEDDING TRIPIt's always hard for something long-awaited to reach expectations never mind exceed them. The wedding really did go beyond.Thanks to Rachel, Alex and their team (my mother and Pauline being chief among these) the organisation was terrific and John and I only had to sail in and enjoy it all.The weather was what lots described as romantic- although some might have said challenging. It was cold (even people who hadn't come from Africa agreed)- but snow swirling round is beautiful though not exactly friendly to hairstyles and long white trains! Rachel had chosen everything in red and white and with the snow it was dramatic and Christmasy. She was so excited and hence warm so she rejected her lovely red pashmina (which I swiped) and both she and Alex looked very happy and reasonably relaxed once everything started. A few nerves were evident before and the hairdresser was wonderful with special massage chairs and Aafke, Rach and myself as the only customers. Attached pic of John enjoying waiting for us while we preened! Photos are actually a sore point and I will put some on the blog once I have them. My batteries failed at the moment critique and I borrowed Jean's camera. Jean kindly got a disc of these to us which was lovingly brought home to find it was cracked! Jean is posting another but don't hold your breath..........Aafke was a wonderful maid of honour, calm and efficient as ever and bravely sang a hilarious song about Rachel when the speeches were made. Tom was a splendid best man and again made a great speech. The prize must go to Alex who spoke beautifully, without notes, and it was a moving , beautifully structured speech. He was a bit worried before making it and I told him to find someone friendly about 2/3 up the room to address it to, rather than 125 people, he replied he was addressing it to Rachel and it came across exactly like that.The college was a wonderful setting, see photo of facade with daffs in the snow, and seemed very natural as of course Rach didn't have a home to marry from. We found our house in wonderful nick which was something of a relief! However, although they made us very welcome, we were visitors there which was a bit odd. It seemed absolutely huge and of course extremely comfortable and it was lovely to have a washing machine! In general though the culture shock we anticipated was not too bad. The worst aspect of home was the roads (big stress getting out of London on Good Friday) and the astronomical price of everything.It was fantastic to see everyone but rather heart-breaking to realise that the little children (Jack and Alex) were a bit shy with us to start with. Of course Alex was only just 1 when we left! They have grown up so much I couldn't stop staring at them. Alex has hair now which naturally makes him look very different! He is so like Simon was. We all met on Good Friday at a terrific pub in Huntingdon and then met again (minus Alex and Rachel who had gone to Sicily on honeymoon)on Easter Monday when my brother and family had us all for lunch. We are sorry to be missing the birth of number 5 grandchild in the summer but have already booked flights for a long visit over Christmas so time for some serious grand-parenting. The childrena dn the parents are the really difficult ones! John's mother was so pleased to see us (although confused now so half-expecting Auntie) and tearful when we said goodbye. It is very hard to leave people but these days home is not far away in time at least.It was actually very nice coming back here as we were made to feel very wanted. Several people expressed surprise that we had returned and it was clear that some expected us to bail out. The warmest welcome (literally) is that we now have HOT WATER!!!! The galling thing is that we could have had it all this time. the engineer simply turned a knob on the geezer (behind a box labelled death and screwed down) and behold! As it has now began to get much cooler already (and I believe it will get really cold at night) this is a huge relief. A cold shower was quite pleasant in Nov. Dec. but believe me I am too soft to have one all the time. Several people asked if we had seen Julie. We have met her once and she lives in Newcastle so this was highly improbable but of course we are intimately connected in people's minds. We were able to pass on that she may be coming in January when an ex-VSO and good friend of hers, is marrying a Namibian.The exams have started this week and I am in fact invigilating while I write this. We have to spend 3 1/2 hours a day on average just sitting with our register classes (unbelievably boring). John has been given the new 10C who have literally just arrived at the school and have to sit the same exams as the rest of grade 10. As they are all 'repeaters' ie. they failed last year this is just about possible but a far from ideal situation. Already one of the new learners attacked a girl. Mr Mendai had him up in front at assembly for some public humiliation. Mr M explained that as the girl was not his sister (or wife) it was really unacceptable to assault her. We still have some way to go before understanding things here.Already it is Friday and we are off to Rundu this afternoon for a weekend with Flor and Lisa. We will visit a game reserve for the first time in ages and camp out so it should be great.I have had several frantic emails this week about a large consignment of shirts that have been collected by my friends Anne and Julie (Mason-Jebb not Bateman). A pilot friend of theirs agreed to get them to Windhoek and I have been trying to arrange to get them up north from there. At present customs at W airport are hanging on to them and the volunteers in W have all set out for the weekend to a VSO conference. I am hoping that they will be through customs and available to a local volunteer when she is making her way back to Rundu on Tues. morning. From Windhoek to here is like London to Isle of Skye over gravel roads for much of the way! We have only been to W when we arrived, at Christmas and for the wedding. This is a lot compared to most volunteers here.It is now the following Thurs and I am touched by the naivity of the above remarks. We have met with unbelievable red-tape and what is beginning to look like obstruction. We (another VSO in Windhoek and myself) have spent hours on the phone and got VSO head office issuing faxes all to no avail. The shirts are in customs still. We are fighting on but I am depressed that it's made so hard to do a simple thing (pass on donated shirts from children in England to Namibian learners).The camping was fantastic. Not camping as we know it but in a proper bed in a wonderful tree house. Just like Swiss Family Robinson. The kids would adore it so any potential visitors take note. We also had a river trip in glass fibre copies of traditional Namibian boats (see Flor and Lisa in theirs). We saw hippos but no photos as they were too far away and mostly all we could see we black blobs with mouths that were very impressive when open. The river was very high and seemed twice as wide as in Sept. when we arrived. This is not good for seeing crocs as they like to bask on sandbanks in the shallows and there weren't any shallows! One has to wonder where they went. We are planning a trip to the Vic Falls in a couple of weeks and it should be in full spate.Tomorrow is the last day of invigilation for me thank goodness! It is unbelievably boring even though you can read and do Suduko etc. as it's not a public exam. I had to stop reading PG Woodhouse as I couldn't keep myself from giggling.Well once again I can't get the photos on!! I do exactly what I did before but all I get is a load of writing! SO VERY SORRY EVERYONE.The views expressed in this blog are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of VSO.