Roughin’ it, toughin’ it, and poetisizing in my poetree tee


March 8, 2008
Last weekend, I headed to Keetmanshoop courtesty of the village council secretary, Michael. We picked up three random people on the way there to complete our full car. If you are ever riding around in a car with an open seat here, bets are that seat will be filled with some hiker by the end of yo’ trip. It’s kinda fun. I like to think of random characters we might pick up. This time, it was a man, his daughter, and someone who could have possibly been a grandfather. They all spoke Nama, and I politely nodded, and said like, the five Nama words I know. If you are not a Native Nama speaker though, like, every time you utter a word in Nama, everyone gets REALLY excited, and starts laughing hysterically, which makes you not want to speak it. Ick.
Went to Keetmans for a break from Bethanie, and got, well, kind of a break. A bunch of Peace Corps volunteers were there, maybe 8 (guess everybody wanted a break), and then the four Norwegian students came to hang out too. Pretty full house, and a pretty nice weekend. Hung out with the Norwegians who are leaving for brief tour 'round Namibia/Southern Africa before headin’ back to the land of fjords, snow, and of snoos. Heheh. Snoos is Norwegian “sucking tobacco” that you suck on behind your front teeth. The Norwegian SCORE volunteer in Keetmans gave some to my friend Jacob, who, after putting it in his mouth was told by Jan, “Yeah, the first time I tried that, I threw up everywhere.” Awesome. By the way, Snoos is banned in the states. Hot.
ACK. It was really nice having the Norwegian students here for nearly 3 weeks! I didn’t realize how important it is just to have someone that can relate to you, and not from the community to also be like, “Yes, that is weird that sometimes you don’t have math for athletics, etc. “ And just fun to hang out with them in general. Ok, done gushing, if that was gushing.
Pretty rough week at school. It has been hard enough for me to learn a good teaching style for the 5 classes I teach, but I’ve also been put in charge of Window of Hope (AIDS club), helping coach basketball, literacy class, girls’ club, and extra tutoring if any kids in my class need it, and they DO. I kind of got overwhelmed this week, and had a total shutdown, and became “Teacher zombie version 2.0.” Not even 3.0. TWO POINT ZERO. Like, 3.0 wouldn’t have canceled literacy class. But 2.0 did. I just needed some time to decide which of these activities is most important, and then ditch one. I can’t do them all. But it’s like, do I help kids with math, or help kids that can’t read? And not like, can’t read well, it’s like CAN’T READ. Ack. I am seriously debating whether I’ll leave the house today.
Anything else… hmmm. Drunk man tried to hug me the other day in Keets, and my friend Paddy literally picked him up and physically moved him out of my way. It was amazing. And funny. Been eating like a single college kid. Oatmeal for breakfast and maybe lunch, maybe tuna for dinner, some milk, whatever is around. I cooked for a while, but then it’s just me eating it, so then I have to eat lasagna like, ten times a week. And by lasagna, I mean “thing that looks kinda like lasagna” b/c lasagna noodles haven’t quite met Namibia yet.
My sister sent me the coolest shirt ever. Like, if there a contest, and many shirts competed, this shirt would judo chop all the other shirts until they wrinkled up and begged for mercy, which my shirt would not give. For it is a merciless shirt. However, it’s coolness will only be appreciated by me. It’s a shirt with two green trees on it, and the trees are made out of two poems (pretty good poems, upon inspection) so they are “poet-trees.” Eh? Eh? Badum-ch! Do you know how many Namibians will get this joke? The same amount that don’t eat meat.
I just looked over this entry, and I think it sounds kind of negative. I think it sounds negative because I am still quite homesick. I made a list of things I like to talk about the other day, which included politics, books, poetry, religion, punny stuff, sarcasm, and “Curb your Enthusiasn/Office type humor.” But the few and the proud get my humor here. It’s so weird when I say something I know would be SUPER FUNNY at home, and you could hear a pin drop in the room. Booooo. Hoo. But I really haven’t been talking about these things here. I am in a very conservative community, and I guess I need to find a balance of what I can say that is acceptable, and what is not. However, I’ve, as we say “toed the line” a couple of times here, and it usually ends with the other person being like, “You’re NOT religious?!” or “You don’t like MEAT? WHY?” Although I totally ate springbok a week ago. I just wanted to know what it tasted like. Oh, the guilt the guilt.
Ok, I’m going to make a list of all the NICE things that have happened recently. Auntie Anna and Jackie gave me a lift back from Keetmans, and they helped me with my Afrikaans. Hung out with Iris and Frans. Karina, in my reading class, read her FIRST WORD. That is very very exciting. Denis in grade 6 gave me a pack of chips, which totally is the Namibian equivalent of giving an apple to the teacher. Rock. Four boys came to after school math tutoring, and I think it helped. Yay. Got a package from my sister. Petro gives me free coffee and counseling whenever I stop by. Dawid Rooi is not really a bad kid, and he is, very slowly, showing this to me. Many kids have volunteered to help clean the library, and they WILL clean it. I think the secretary, Aletta, and I are going to be friends. I have a very slow, but very real, internet connection in my house. I will go on Easter break in two weeks. (takes deep breath…exhales) Good good things. Ok. Happy thoughts. Only then can I fly. Someone should send fairy dust to make this complete.
Well, that’s all. I’m going to rock out to some Arctic Monkeys, consider which activities to cut from my week, make the Starbucks coffee Mel sent me (thankya thankya). If anyone wants to email me a poem, or you know, an email, I will relish every word. Here’s part of a poem I was sent recently:

Once I knew a man who gave his wife
Two skunks for a valentine.
He couldn’t understand why she way crying.
“I thought they had such beautiful eyes.”

And he was serious. He was a serious man.
Who lived in a serious way. Nothing was ugly
Just because the world said so. He really
Liked those skunks. So, he re-invented them
As valentines and they became beautiful.
At least, to him. And the poems had been
Hiding
In the eyes of skunks for centuries
Crawled out and curled up at his feet.

Maybe if we re-invent whatever our lives give us,
We find poems. Check your garage, the odd sock
In your drawer, the person you almost like, but
Not quite.

And let me know.

-Naomi Shihab Nye