A Vacation in Zambia

Yesterday I got back from my 1 week vacation in Livingstone, Zambia, the home of Victoria Falls. There is a regular bus going from Namibia to Livingstone, but we missed it so we had to hitchhike. The first leg of the trip, from Rundu to the Zambian border was fine. When we got to the border we had to leave our ride and walk across from Namibia to the Zambian customs office-- a 500m gap claimed by neither country. I guess there aren't too many tourists that walk across, most drive with their rented Land Rovers with A/C so Zambians immediately flocked around us, eager to exchange their inflation-prone Kwacha for the more reliable Namibian Dollar. I didn't exchange any money, I had forgotten to look up the exchange rate before I left and was afraid of being ripped off. We left the customs office just in time to catch a Zambian bus to Livingstone, but not until 1) A taxi driver offered to take the 5 of us to Livingstone, a 2 hour drive, for $100 (the bus ride itself cost less than $10) and 2) The ticket agent demanded a bribe.

If you ever go to Livingstone I heartily recommend the hostel we stayed at: Jollyboys Hostel. The clean beds are $6 a night, the swimming pool is chilly but refreshing, and the gates are always open at night. I don't get paid very much in the Peace Corps, about $230 a month, but I also can't spend any money living at Kahenge except to buy food, so I was able to fund the entire trip on Peace Corps savings. In total I got chased by hippos while canoing down the Zambezi, went bungee jumping off the 360 foot bridge spanning the Victoria Falls gorge, had a full-day safari at Chobe National Park in Botswana, and spent a day white-water rafting on class V rapids on the Zambezi (the next class up, class VI is defined as impossible to cross with a raft!)

I've added a few pictures of Chobe and Victoria Falls and the Zambezi. My camera was broken a few months ago by falling into a pile of sand, so I can't take credit for them. They were taken by my good friend Alex Pompe who also went on the trip. Finally, apologies for the poor image quality: the Internet here is unbearably slow. About the pictures from Chobe: most of the pictures were taken from 10 feet away! In the afternoon we took a boat cruise and so were able to get really, really close. Before I went to any game parks in Africa I thought that seeing game would be a relatively rare thing: a few giraffes in a day, maybe a herd of springbok, or an elephant or lion on a lucky day. No. When you enter these game parks you will see animals everywhere. In Chobe at any point you could look around and, literally, could see more than one herd of Elephants. Hippos are constantly snorting and raising their heads above the water. We saw at least 3 crocodiles that were 15 feet long. It was a fantastic vacation, and I would be happy to answer any questions if you are planning one in the future. For now I have one weekend left until returning to school.

Summer in Namibia has begun to rear its vicious head. Since Namibia is in the Southern Hemisphere the seasons are reversed: coldest from May to July, and the hot rainy season from October to February. Each day has begun to feel a little hotter from the previous one and I am beginning to find excuses not to walk outside during the "scorcher" 11am-2pm. With the gathering of summer comes the final term of the school year. So far each term has had a distinct feel. The first term: confusing and chaotic, the second term everyone begins to hit their stride. Unfortunately, the third term is the worst. In the first week of October (one month into the term) the 10th and 12th graders take their national exams to determine if, respectively, they can go onto 11th and 12th grade or graduate high school. The test is obviously very important, but once the 10th and 12th graders take the test the rest of the school effectively shuts down.

This is probably one of the most baffling and frustrating things that I face as a teacher. I want to teach. I am perfectly willing to teach any student as much as they would want, but after a certain point the school is far too chaotic to get anything done. I can understand students not wanting to learn, but I have also seen teachers sitting outside or in the staffroom when they know they have classes. On Fridays, especially after break, it is pretty much impossible to get any serious learning done. Learners will be shouting, running around outside, 80% of the classrooms vacant of teachers. I have had learners hide in the classroom metal cabinet in order to avoid coming to the laboratory. And all of this has been before the 3rd term, when supposedly school is in full session. I cannot imagine what it will be like when there is a semi-legitimate excuse to stop school.









Cheers!
Ben

Wooooooooo! Summer Break!!!

The second term of the school year finished on Friday, meaning that I have two weeks of vacation to enjoy. At the moment I am in Rundu, relaxing, eating hamburgers, and playing frisbee like crazy. On Wednesday I am going to catch a bus with a few friends to Livingstone, Zambia to see Victoria Falls, the largest waterfall in the world. Livingstone is also known as the 'adrenaline capital' of Southern Africa: bungee jumping, white-water rafting, great wildlife parks; It should be a lot of fun.

My birthday was two weeks ago and I got a lot of letters and emails and well-wishes. Thanks to everyone! Turning 24 and being in Africa, it was one of my best yet. On my birthday I went to a braai (barbeque)at my friends (Scott and Lindsey) house in Nkurenkuru. Half of the guests were Namibians that Scott and Lindsey know, the other half were Peace Corps Volunteers, so it was really a mixing of cultures.

An American would probably be confused about what happens at a Namibian braai. First of all, the meat. Same as America, there must be meat at any braai. But the host of the braai must supply everything: meat and other food and all beer. There's no such thing as BYOB. The guests should be able to eat as much as they want and they get to take as many left-overs home as they want or else they become offended! There isn't a butcher in Nkurenkuru, so we decided to buy a goat from a local farmer. A few of Lindsey's students were convinced to help us kill and prepare it. This time, my hands were completely clean! The learners were paid by getting to keep the goat's head and its hooves. The second thing about a braai is that each gender has well-defined roles. All of the women at the braai, even guests, were expected to be in the kitchen, preparing food, cleaning, and serving the men. The men only had to help cook the meat, drink beer, and relax. Not too taxing!

I had never eaten goat meat before coming to Namibia. I was at first a little hesitant, but I have come to see it as a very tasty and affordable option. The most tasty parts of the goat are, in no order: the liver, the stomach lining, intestines and head. The liver is tasty, the stomach is chewy but also good (weird texture!) But I balk at the intestines. While the women were boiling the intestines a mysterious smell began to spread through the house: thick, fetid, and, frankly, revolting. I had to evacuate. I know it is a delicacy, but if it literally smells like shit while cooking, what does it taste like? Maybe next. Finally, I've never seen someone eat the head; is it the jowls? Eye balls and brain? These are questions that I am still investigating.

The other food served at the braai were potato salad, baked beans, rice, and yisima, meaning maize porridge. Not too exotic, I suppose. This was a braai hosted by Americans, of course, but it was done with extensive consulting from Namibians so I think it was fairly authentic. A lot of people have asked what a Namibian birthday is like. I think it is subdued compared to an American birthday. Most Namibians don't have the ability to buy fancy birthday presents and I've never seen a cake of any kind in Namibia. At the end of the night everyone sang Happy Birthday, and then (not at my initiative), they passed around a cup and everyone had to put in a small amount of money.

A cornerstone of the Peace Corps Volunteers duties is to work on secondary projects, usually development or income-generating. Early in my service the school told me that they wanted a computer lab at the school. I was hesitant to bring computers to the school only through donations. Development through 'gifts from the sky' has had an awful track-record in Africa. It does not build African self-sufficiency, the recipients have no sense of having earned what they have been given, and perhaps most insidiously, it creates a system of dependence rather than self-reliance. Instead I have been working to convince the principal, teachers, and school board to purchase the computers themselves. Every year the school collects about $6000 from school fees paid by the learners. The government only pays the teachers' salaries, the school is expected to finance the rest: textbooks, supplies, maintenance, everything! I think you can imagine how far the $6000 must go.

Well. The first stage of the computer project is over! This past week the school decided to spend about $2000 to purchase 6 computers, a printer, and an Internet subscription from a local NGO. I feel really good about this. It is the embodiment of sustainability. It shows a local commitment to the project. Whatever else I do for these two years, however many blunders I make, I can at least point to the modest computer collection and know that I have made a difference.

Of course this brings up another point: How in the hell am I going to teach a class of 35 learners, all of whom have never touched a computer in their lives, with 6 computers!? Two steps forwards, one step back.


Love,

Ben