Arandis, Namibia: Time continues to fly by

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Time continues to fly by

28 Jan 2007

Greetings all.

Yes, I am still here! It's been a great last couple of days as I wind things down here. I still need to complete Brenda's presentation but I think I will be able to do that tonight and tomorrow. Friday's teaching stint went well. School begins at 7:30 AM and ends at 12:30 PM. The first few sessions include both the 1st and 2nd grade and involve prayer and singing time. Pearl handled that portion of the day. My job was to simply go over a review of the previous day and then hand out new papers for the children to work on. I did have to explain the paper and go over things with them first. The challenge was trying to make sure my "accent" or words I chose were understandable to them. The sections I had to cover for the day included Math and Language Arts, so it really wasn't too bad.

Saturday, we did have the first ever HPOM movie fest. We were able to squeeze in a couple of shorter DVD movies and two sing-along’s. There were only about 10 children there but it was still fun. Brenda and I ended up doing the Hokey Pokey with them at the end of one of the tapes. I picked up some cheese puffs and marshmallows so the children seemed to enjoy some of the things they do not get often at home. As I was watching one of the sing-along’s with them, two things struck me. I wondered what each of the children may have been thinking about when the "spaghetti and meatball" song came on and each child in the video was getting a heaping plate full of spaghetti and about 8-10 meatballs on their plate. The second thing that struck me was the egg race game; the one when you carry an egg on your spoon and try not to break it in order to win the race. Perhaps the children never caught on but I’m sure a parent would have. Here in Arandis, no one would even dare waste an egg for a children's game. And, on that note and regarding my and our country's own wastefulness, they reuse Styrofoam cups here.

Last night I went on a short desert walk with Pearl and 6-8 of the children. It was nice to be able to talk with Pearl and to also give the children "attention" at the same time. Pearl and I talked about the things I had thought about earlier in the day and I think she was amazed at all of the "disposable" items we have as Americans. I ended the night at Chandre's home and we played "Take a Fish", or our "Go Fish" with some of the children and Richard (her dad). I showed them the only card trick I knew and amazed one and all! It was funny to see the children try to do the same thing.

Today's church service was once again a keeper. Pearl and four of the girls had been preparing all week to dance at the service. I've got the dances on video, as well as more of the singing, and I really hope to be able to at least provide something on this blog at some point. If not from Africa, once I get home. Brenda had informed me earlier this week that the outdoor pool in town had been fixed up and cleaned. I took that cue and invited all of families, children and parents, to a few hours of swimming. Chriszelda was especially thankful. She is the pre-school teacher I talked about in an earlier post, who was born and grew up in Arandis. This afternoon was the first time she had ever been in that pool. Fearing the African sun and not wanting to ride 15-16 hours in an airplane with a sunburn, I stayed out of the pool, took pictures and videos and was just happy to watch the families enjoy themselves on a hot Namibian day. It also gave me a chance to talk with Kassie, one of the "mommies", who also chose not to venture into the pool. Oh, by the way, I never did make it to a Mass at St. Johannes. But I did promise Kassie that upon my return, I would attend a service with her and her son Bradley.

Oh well, it is about 6 PM here. Boniface will be cooking dinner tonight after their Leadership meeting. Last night I made quesadillas for him. Tomorrow night, it will be shrimp scampi. Boniface is particularly excited because he loves fish, but has never tried shrimp. I will probably head on down to the homes shortly to say goodnight to the children and check with Tresford to see if we might be on for our 1:30 AM (Namibian time) rendezvous with the informational meeting being held tonight at Christ's Church for the possible 2007 trip to Namibia. So for you at CCA who are still wondering if we are planning to be on yet, I'm not quite sure! I'm in Africa and everyone who knows anything about Africa knows that planning is useless.

(Oh, I've been trying to include a picture with the last couple of posts and haven't been able to. Google has taken over Blogger and since the switch over... I can't include a photo....sorry!)

posted by Don @ 11:12 AM

3 Comments:

At 1:34 PM, amanda said…

hey teammate,

everything sounds like it is going amazing. so glad to hear that you are having a good time and getting your work done, and continuing to build relationships with people who I know will never forget what you are doing! it's so nice to hear so many names I remember and hear about what they did today. Enjoy the rest of your time! praying for you,
<3, amanda
At 10:15 PM, germaine said…

It is pretty wild how we are so wasteful and it takes a few long plane rides to realize it... never thought of the egg race... MAN!!!

So wonderful to speak to you & everyone else tonight!! Be sure to let them all know that we are grateful that everyone was so willing to give up sleep!! It was a blessing!!!

Yea, I am converting Darin's blog now... grrrrr!!!

Still praying for you!!

Love ~G
At 11:41 PM, Jackie said…

Thanks to all for staying up and chatting with us. It was great to hear your voices! There are a few of us who are already on board....bet you can name the shoe-ins on one hand! So, if I am calculating this right.....it's ONLY 20 weeks until blast off! Can't wait to be back in Arandis, loving everyone there! Man that dust gets in your blood so quickly!!!!!
Guess I should get over to the travel clinic for that shot now, Don! I was just waiting for the invitation! Haha! Praying for you all the more this last week. Enjoy every minute!