Jo'burg

Johannesburg, South Africa was not a destination we were excited, or even planning, to see while in southern Africa.  We've been strongly cautioned by locals of all backgrounds of the city's crime and danger.  Not to mention, it's where we've personally had packages from home tampered with before they've reached us, and passengers' luggage at the JNB airport is known to be no different.  But when we had to go there to drop off Patches for his flight home, we ended up seeing a different side of this city that we'd been avoiding.

I suppose especially after being in the sparsely-populated, less developed Namibia for this long now, the tall buildings, multi-lane highways and freeways, selection of restaurants, and HUGE shopping malls were really something!  (Maybe it's just my fading memory, but I could swear the King of Prussia mall would have some competition!)  The TREES were amazing also!  Anyway, it's certainly not what you picture when you think of Africa.

While there, we took up a couple of (white) South African business guys' offer to show us around Sandton one night, and the upscale area truly impressed us.  Not to say that we weren't careful and aware, but after the scared, looking-over-your-shoulder paranoia wore off a bit, we came to enjoy our visit in the big city.  (I guess I should add that one of those South African guys used to be in the special forces, so that probably helped relax us too!)

Despite feeling more at ease about our immediate safety, we were not about to knowingly make ourselves targets by carrying around a camera, so we therefore have no photos of our own of Johannesburg. At least
there's always Google Images!

Officially African American

Patches made it to the other side!  He's just getting settled and used to his new family and new, well, everything.  God really answered our prayers with making this whole process safe and straightforward (even though my Mom gave us some scares, but that's another story..!).

My brother was sending us a play-by-play of their journey picking up Patches with his iPhone, including photos and videos.  While they were still in the car on their way, he said he could hardly sleep last night because he was so anxious to get Patches, the same feeling you get as a child on Christmas Eve.  (Awww.)

Patches with Uncle Stevie

Steve said Patches gave him a ton of kisses and basically just wanted to cuddle on him the whole car ride home.  Which is exactly what we explained to my family that we knew he would do!

It seems Patches is in-love with his new family already, and they with him.  It will be difficult for us to be away from him for a while, but it makes it a whole lot easier knowing he's safe, happy, and giving and receiving lots of love!

Can't wait for the rest of you to meet our African American pup too!

"Goodby Patches"

One letter written by Monica and Sunete, Grade 6, to bid Patches farewell:

We warned our learners that they would not see Patches when we return to school next term after this holiday because he is going to America!  Many, many boys and girls expressed that they would miss him.  But perhaps a stronger emotion they felt was a bit of jealousy… Patches is living the dream of every Namibian!  If we are bringing our dog to America… why not a learner?!  (Understandable point.)  Kevin’s principal (warmly) said what everyone is thinking: “Patches is one lucky dog.” 

We did the best we could explaining it all to them, and I truly think our learners understand as much as they possibly can.  After all, they already know he is no ordinary dog!  And they see how much we love Patches and how much he loves us, and many have even said they believe Patches would die if we didn’t bring him home.  So… that’s what we’re doing!  “But if it doesn’t work,” many said, “I’ll take him!!!”

Patches will be staying with my parents and brother until we come home, starting on May 1^st when they pick him up from JFK at 6:20 in the morning!  (Thank you, thank you again!!!!)  We appreciate your thoughts and prayers for his safe travels and for our peace of mind and aching hearts (longing to reunite with our boy).

Live Flight Tracker! 

John Dawid

Kevin's pride and joy, John Dawid, is running this weekend in a southern Africa Athletics competition.  Namibia is hosting the event in Windhoek, and athletes from 13 countries will attend!  John is a great kid who has been working hard; he deserves such a great experience so that makes it even sweeter.  We hope he does well, and are proud no matter what place he finishes.

(The metal is from his second place finish at the National competition for the 800m.)

End of another term

..And we're finally getting good at this! At last, we understand what is going on and how things work!

Cake 'n' Shake

I got exactly what I wanted for my birthday this year... even if it was 2 days early.  Thanks Garden Café!  ;-)

Mmmmmm.....

The Garden Café

We just LOVE the Garden Café in Okahandja, Namibia.  But not just for their delicious food and because the place is adorable and there's no place like it in Namibia....

... But we mostly love the Garden Café for its mission and the amazing work that is happening there!

Tony and Catherine are American missionaries (center, in the photo above) from San Diego who have been in Namibia for 4 years now.  (Also pictured is their son and daughter-in-law who were visiting them here.)  They have a wonderful church in Okahandja and they started the Garden Café and its training program as a way to create job opportunities in Okahandja for out-of-school youth and to teach them about good business and customer service practices.

The training program they've developed that has gained quite the reputation so now their waiters and waitresses are even being sought after by other restaurants and shops!  More than 90% of their graduates find employment despite a high national unemployment rate (we think it’s as high as 50%).  The program is comprehensive and challenging and requires a lot of hard work and dedication, so these youth really deserve it.  And we personally can see the great difference in customer service that we receive when visiting the Café, especially compared to the, well, pitiful customer service we are used to receiving from other restaurants, shops, and organizations in Namibia.  But even by American standards, the friendly and sincere service is terrific.

It can be challenging to make a sustainable difference in the world, especially abroad.  As Peace Corps volunteers, we know this well!  But the Garden Café is making a real, noticeable impact in the community and giving second chances to youth who are willing to work for it but had little other opportunity until now.  If you're interested to know more, you can go to www.facebook.com/gardencafenamibia .

On a side/personal note, we've become good friends with Tony and Catherine from the time we first got to know them in 2010 when visiting their church and also adopting Patches!  They are the "parents" of Patches' mother, Bella! 

Cows

Patches and cows will just never get along.

Despite how much more enormous they are, he still insists on trying to make them stay away from his territory (perhaps not realizing that the fence already does a pretty good job of that).

Hula hoop

Patches discovered the joys of a hula hoop, along with my learners during PE.  They love saying the word, always giddily asking me to repeat its pronunciation.

The learners also found watching Patches to be quite amusing!  But it was when Patches retrieved the hula hoop like this that one learner and friend of Patches said, "That is not a dog, Teacher... That is a person."  It was easy to see that Patches had cleverly learned a way to skillfully pick up and carry the hula hoop in a balanced, graceful, and confident way, with the back of the hoop resting on the root of his tail!

Our camera just can't handle Patches' lightning speed, but here are some action shots for fun anyway:

Red fish, blue fish

Kevin: I'm looking for John Dawid. Have you seen him?
Manfred: Hmmm. Is he the white one?
Kevin: He's not white!
Manfred: Well, he's brown.
Kevin: And what color are you?
Manfred: I'm dark brown... And he's light brown.
Kevin: And what color am I?
Manfred: You're white.
Kevin (holds arm against white t-shirt): But this shirt is white.
Manfred: Then you're light light brown.

Kids here are always openly making reference to their skin color!  (Usually, but unfortunately not always, in a neutral to positive way.)  It's funny though because from what we've noticed, it's almost as if everyone refers to themselves as brown, to kids darker than them as black, and to kids lighter than them as white! Always makes us chuckle a bit.

Pet Squirrel

You may remember from a previous post that boys sometimes find and try to domesticate "rabbits" (which were actually more like squirrels).  Last time I was caught off-guard in my classroom without a camera, but this time I was able to take a photo since these two visited us at our house.

National Identity

As we have spent more time here and talked with more people, we realize this second Independence Day more than our first just how weak a sense of national identity exists here. Especially in comparison with America. Maybe by now we shouldn't have been, but we somehow found it surprising to realize that only certain Namibians will celebrate this public holiday and what it means.

Namibians tend to find their identity in their tribe, mother tongue, or even shade of skin color. And America is largely the opposite in that most people have a greater sense of their national identity rather than their ethnic one. As an example, I may not even know if my friends' families come from England, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Poland, etc... unless they are particularly proud! Even then, it seems that the majority of Americans identify as Americans first and foremost.

And if identifying mostly with our greater nationality means highlighting our similarities with most of those with whom we live and work, whereas identifying more specifically with our ethnic background means highlighting our differences (which I would argue is usually the case), then I have to say that the benefits of the former seem to outweigh those of the latter. For one thing, we can certainly attest that racism and tribalism is very high in this country, which seems to be not just a matter of correlation but one of cause and effect. 

So while a part of me still somewhat envies Americans who have a strong connection with the countries where their families came from (and not just because they like the food!) since being of Polish, German, and British descent never made much of a difference to me, our experience here has made me prouder to be an American at least!  (Now don't get me started on "stateism" in America!)

Independence Day

It's our second Namibian Independence Day while here.  And no school!

Another family photo

Since our camera was already visible (as I’ve said in the past, we very much limit how much we are seen with it), it seemed like a good opportunity for us to get another family photo.

You can see how much Patches cooperated initially… if he’s feeling energetic, Patches will interpret any gesture to mean it’s playtime!  (Our camera was set up to delay and then go into burst mode which is why this photo was even taken, haha.)

School Photo Day

Kevin and I had the idea of holding a School Photo Day as a fundraiser where learners could get their photos taken and printed, so last Sunday was our first shot.  It was pretty successful, but we think this first Photo Day may have already generated more interest in another for the learners who didn’t partake this time. 

Anyway, here are some of the photos we took, and you can again observe some cultural norms of Namibian youth “catching” their photos.  (For example, Americans tend to smile, while other cultures may tend to be more serious.)  Most of the larger group photos were soccer or Qwaito (dance) teams, although a couple were “Kung Fu groups!”

A young soccer team, featuring the Dogg's newest hip hop CD:

A young Qwaito group:

Guy friends:

Another young soccer team:

Friends from Grades 5-7, featuring some of my faves!  (I mean, I don't have favorites..!)

 

I like this one because Patches was invited in!

Friends from Grades 6 and 7:

BFFs from high school:

Friends from high school:

Friends from Grades 5-7:

A "Kung Fu" group, learners from Grades 4 or 5 and the girl on the top from Grade 7:

High school friends:

Next 3 are high school girls:

This is one of the register class (homeroom) of a teacher who just left our school since he was only temporarily filling in for a teacher who was on Maternity Leave.  He told the kids to borrow school uniforms from other learners to make the photo really nice… and then, well, look at what he wears!  It’s just another cultural thing, I guess.

More new puppies

One of the puppies from “Mama Dog’s” last litter just had a litter of her own.  She had 4 who look nothing like her, but they’re still cute as anything.  There is also a photo of the dog house built out of corrugated metal and whatnot.  Honestly if you ask me, it’s not much different (except in size, of course… <insert Zoolander quote here*>) from the shacks in the “locations,” where many of Namibia’s poorer people live.

* What is this?  A center for ants?!  How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read... if they can't even fit inside the building?!

Photos from Athletics

Here are some photos taken at and after the Athletics Regional competition, which was last Thursday, on the 8^th.

In some of those you can see how the kids like to really get into the plants when they “catch photos!”  Just a random, cultural-sort of observation.