To touch or not to touch
February 7th, 2007 To touch or not to touch
Now that I’ve settled in at Kahenge I think I can comfortably describe my comfortable schedule. I’d also appreciate it if you, the reader, could send me question. Maybe there’s some aspect of Namibian culture you’re burning to know? Or some other glaring details I’ve yet to describe?
6:00 I wake up, shower, eating a small breakfast
6:45 I report to school. I live 100m from the school.
7:00-1:00 I teach! Sometimes successful, sometimes….
1:00-3:00 Siesta! Why don’t Americans do this yet?? Lunch: either pasta or, increasingly, freedom toast. Then a nap or iPod time.
3:00-4:00 The learners have study hour, I prepare lessons
4:00- 6:00 Mandatory athletics for the learners. They hate it! Imagine high school gym class for 2 hours in the burning heat. I think later this will become Science club and English club time
6:00-9:00 Make dinner, usually pasta and chicken. Vegetables are scarce… In my free time: Playing guitar, reading, writing, visiting colleagues, study Rukwangali
10:00 In bed
It’s a busy schedule, but actually quite stress-less. I don’t miss luxuries (yet) just people.
And now for a cultural note: For me, a striking aspect of the Kwangali culture is the formalized system of etiquette. Everyone has a rank in a hierarchy that determines the priveledges they would receive, such as, being greeted first, being served first, receiving a chair, the value of one’s opinion. Generally, this is ranked by age although occupation, wealth and being a visitor contribute. And of course, by wealth, I mean the number of cattle one owns. The Kwangali treat their elders with far more respect and children with far less than Americans do. Even though I am the youngest staff member at Kahenge I have been conferred with a particularly high status. This means that generally, I can keep the chair I am sitting in
Greetings are an essential aspect of Kwangali etiquette. You must greet someone at the beginning of the day or, in general if you haven’t seen them for an hour. If you enter a room, you must greet everyone and in the order of their status. There’s an elaborate greeting for different parts of the day , for how well you know the person, when you last saw them; sometimes it is exhausting to just say hello. Through conversation I have gotten some of the people I know to admit that the greeting ceremony is a little ridiculous. But people would be insulted, regardless, if I didn’t greet them this way.
All of these greetings involve a handshake, which includes a touch at the elbow if they are of higher status. This one is particularly vexing to me. How do I know who should show respect to whom? If in doubt I over-touch my elbow and also for people I don’t know or are older than me or a figure of authority such as my principal or the police chief.
There is, of course, much, much more. But I don’t want to use all of my material in the first month.
Love,
Ben
Now that I’ve settled in at Kahenge I think I can comfortably describe my comfortable schedule. I’d also appreciate it if you, the reader, could send me question. Maybe there’s some aspect of Namibian culture you’re burning to know? Or some other glaring details I’ve yet to describe?
6:00 I wake up, shower, eating a small breakfast
6:45 I report to school. I live 100m from the school.
7:00-1:00 I teach! Sometimes successful, sometimes….
1:00-3:00 Siesta! Why don’t Americans do this yet?? Lunch: either pasta or, increasingly, freedom toast. Then a nap or iPod time.
3:00-4:00 The learners have study hour, I prepare lessons
4:00- 6:00 Mandatory athletics for the learners. They hate it! Imagine high school gym class for 2 hours in the burning heat. I think later this will become Science club and English club time
6:00-9:00 Make dinner, usually pasta and chicken. Vegetables are scarce… In my free time: Playing guitar, reading, writing, visiting colleagues, study Rukwangali
10:00 In bed
It’s a busy schedule, but actually quite stress-less. I don’t miss luxuries (yet) just people.
And now for a cultural note: For me, a striking aspect of the Kwangali culture is the formalized system of etiquette. Everyone has a rank in a hierarchy that determines the priveledges they would receive, such as, being greeted first, being served first, receiving a chair, the value of one’s opinion. Generally, this is ranked by age although occupation, wealth and being a visitor contribute. And of course, by wealth, I mean the number of cattle one owns. The Kwangali treat their elders with far more respect and children with far less than Americans do. Even though I am the youngest staff member at Kahenge I have been conferred with a particularly high status. This means that generally, I can keep the chair I am sitting in
Greetings are an essential aspect of Kwangali etiquette. You must greet someone at the beginning of the day or, in general if you haven’t seen them for an hour. If you enter a room, you must greet everyone and in the order of their status. There’s an elaborate greeting for different parts of the day , for how well you know the person, when you last saw them; sometimes it is exhausting to just say hello. Through conversation I have gotten some of the people I know to admit that the greeting ceremony is a little ridiculous. But people would be insulted, regardless, if I didn’t greet them this way.
All of these greetings involve a handshake, which includes a touch at the elbow if they are of higher status. This one is particularly vexing to me. How do I know who should show respect to whom? If in doubt I over-touch my elbow and also for people I don’t know or are older than me or a figure of authority such as my principal or the police chief.
There is, of course, much, much more. But I don’t want to use all of my material in the first month.
Love,
Ben
posted by Complacently Neurotic at 2:57 AM
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