Yossarian in Africa

Aug 18

We have arrived in Rundu after a tedious day at the office yesterday. 8 am - 8 pm. Just saying hello as I post this earlier post. Now I'm going to go enjoy a hot shower and a nice restaraunt. Leaving Wednesday for Zambia, but SHOULD have "good" internet access until then if you were thinking of writing. Enjoy the heat wave. FYI: we are enjoying perfect weather right now.

Aug 14

I've said several times that Nkurenkuru is becoming a town. Part of that transition is street lights. They've been placing poles and running wires for about a month now (no lights yet). Today as I was approaching a corner I saw three men pushing on a pole while the other one was about 50 feet back waving to his right with his hand. As I got closer I could see that he was holding a weight on a fishing line. Now that I type this I see it's not funny or even amusing really.

I haven't written in a while, so I've got a lot to say. I'll start with the least interesting. Last weekend we had our goat braai, I think I mentioned this before. It was a lot colder once the sun went down, we all circled around the grill for warmth. It was quite stressful because at 3 o'clock the learners showed up to kill the goat, but we still had not been able to find a goat. Apparently people don't like to sell their goats in the winter time unless they really need money because food is so hard to come by. It seemed preposterous that goats were yelling, pooping, and eating the plants in our yard on a daily basis, but we couldn't find anyone to sell one. We ended up paying reasonably more than we did last time for only an averaged sized goat, but still is only about $35 – and that made about three rounds on the grill. So we slaughtered it no problem. I got some great pictures but they are not appropriate or appetizing. After we had cleaned and seasoned the goat, and people had started arriving, but we still did not have a grill. The combination of frantically waiting on the goat and grill and the other volunteers refusal to socialize (something about being too tired) made the evening quite stressful.

What does goat taste like? The meat around the bone (presumably legs and ribs) is the most plentiful. It tastes more like beef than anything else, maybe sheep (but I haven't had enough to really know). It's seasoned with garlic and BBQ spice (go figure, the spice for rice is called "Spice for Rice"), at the bar they serve it with very spicy chili sauce. I fried some leftover meat and put it on an egg sandwich and the end result was a lot like steak fajita meat – nawa unene. The innards were the most popular part at our braai. This consists of the inner organs minus the heart, liver (grilled with "real" meat), and intestines (I'm not sure what that leaves). This was served with a tomato and onion relish that complimented the indescribable flavor. The stomach is spongy on one side and smooth on the other. It also has quite a rank smell to it. Typically the stomach is cut into small pieces and wrapped around several times by the intestines. The intestines weren't "good" so we didn't have the combo, just the plain stomach. Christine thought the learners were lying about the intestines. I don't know why they would need to; they took the hooves, head, and heart. I've heard that you just boil the head and then pick parts off of it. I've also heard that it's the best part. I'm still waiting to confirm both accounts.

You may have read Lindsey's account of the culture competition that took place at her school. We have video we'll be sharing with you when we return, but until then you'll have to wait. I can't convey it in words. That's not why I'm mentioning it. The festival, along with an email from Jarrod (and of course living in a new country), has caused Lindsey and I to do a lot of thinking about culture. Lindsey has been asked several times, "What is your culture?" A better question, though less relevant, is "What is culture?" I thought about this for several hours. At first I consulted Lindsey's dictionary – nothing, and it's Webster's. I consulted the dictionary Lindsey uses in class – kwato! The Microsoft Word thesaurus lists these synonyms: civilization, society, mores, background, tradition, ethnicity, customs, way of life. That's a start, but none of those words could be substituted for culture in the question "What is your culture?" and keep the original meaning.

You see, "culture" to Lindsey's learners doesn't mean society, tradition, or way of life. Culture to them (as best I understand it) is the outfits, songs, dancing and drumming, but also has an aspect of heritage. Thus, "Culture Competition" is completely descriptive of the event that took place at her school. There are those people who dress up on historic farms. And the guy who impersonates Abe Lincoln. That's not an answer to the learners' question though. So (defining culture the way they do), do we not have culture? No, Americans don't have outfits, songs, dancing or drumming that is also tied to our heritage.

To me, culture is more about day to day living and the interaction with society. So (defining culture in the way I do), do we have culture? Of course. What is our culture? That is still difficult, but I would say that personal freedom and privacy are paramount individually and generally respected by others (given no harm is done to society). These virtues, or cultural values, shape how we view possession, religion, sharing, family, money, etc etc etc. It is my opinion that personal freedom and privacy are less important in the Namibian culture (and as far as I can see, African culture). Culture, that is, defined how I define it. This is not really the direction I'd like to go with my blog, but I'd be happy to continue this discussion via email (if you're patient).

Our second trimester is now winding down. Ame yapu! I finished grading my last exams this morning and all that is left is entering my grades into the computer and the final staff meeting to "discuss the exam results." Sounds thrilling. Then we have two weeks off. Our doctor and dentist appointments were cancelled, so we are no longer going to see the city. But we are happy we will get to rendezvous with our friend Adam (from St. Louis) Saturday in Rundu. The Dogg (no, not Snoop) is performing at the open market Friday evening. You are probably not aware, but he is kind of a big deal here. I still prefer Gazza, but it will be an interesting cultural experience.

I will close with summarizing the changes of our town that occurred during the second term. The bank has arrived (technically this happened between the first and second term). It is still not open because there is no accommodation for workers. My mom would be saying, "prior planning prevents poor performance." It would really be helpful to us if it opened; the only way we get money now is the mini-BOB (a.k.a. POSATM), which seldom works. A teacher at my school opened a butchery. The "Mini-Mart" moved to a bigger building, became "Check In", and the former was leveled. The salon in the town center painted a picture on the outside wall. The morgue is functioning. The post office now has a barrier so I can't jump the counter and rob the place. A second, better, delicious restaurant opened (fish and chips for $2 US). The river went down so we have a "beach" and can clearly see crocodile island. Most importantly, I found the hippos!!!!! (Please excuse the excessive exclamation points, it's not my style, but it's so damn exciting!!) The rumors are true! They are about a 45 minute walk upstream. I've been to see them twice now. They don't really do anything but come up for air and occasionally let out a large groan. Some people say throwing rocks will make them come closer, but I haven't seen it yet.

Changes I'd like to see in term 3: better cell phone coverage, bank opened, fixed bread slicer at the grocery store, and a pizza parlor.