Half-way through placement
on Marika VSO-ing in Namibia (Namibia), 29/Jun/2010 17:28, 34 days ago
Last week, 3 of the local schools in town competed in a choir competition on an Anti-tobacco/drugs day. Interestingly accompanied by some acting‘with a message’, it’s great listening to and watching them, what a way to lift the spirits. And even more impressive is the way these choirs are led by the learners themselves. I hope to update my YouTube page for more videos. The blog link seems to only show a few of the selection you will find if you go to my account (marika.wedlock).I hosted my first couch surfers (www.couchsurfing.org) this week, Dave (US) and Anna (Belgium), a truly lovely and incredibly interesting couple who are cycling the world. They held such good conversation during their stay; I wish I could have kept them here longer. For more about them, their fascinating journey and the concept of‘permaculture’ (permanent agriculture) underlining their trip, I really recommend taking some time to look at their website (www.permacyclists.com). They’ve definitely set the standard high for couch surfers to come. I’m confident this will be the new way for me to travel one day.I made a flying visit with two free hitches, where the first I was accompanied by Jessica on the back of an open bakkie, to Kifi to see James off as he ends his placement and grudgingly heads back to Canada. A fun evening with fire, a classic meat and pap braai, lots of kind words from his fellow colleagues and a great evening as I joined the staff as we braved two‘shebeens’ for a night of idle chat, greeting (as the Namibians love spending the night doing just this), a bit of pool and dancing. It had been a while. I’ve decided that the Namibians, if not all Africans are born with rhythm. The dancing is so impressive, even just to watch, especially thearticulate hip movements that seem to be the style here. Of course, we entertain the crowds as the ‘makuwas’ try to imitate.We managed some quality time with good conversation this week with volunteers and good old girly time. Other random things: I’ve now had two toe-nails fall off (yuk) and the unchanging black toenail (yuk again) (any tips for how to get rid of this anyone so I don’t have to resort to black toenail varnish for the rest for my life?) as the aftermath of Fish River while Matt continues to try to persuade me to do an 8-dayhike in the Naukluft mountain range during our next break (I’m voting for a 4-day one as there’s no river following this route and only if my feet fully recover their old, normal appearance). Also, random texts informing me of someone getting his hair twisted.