Every morning I wake up to a rooster crowing (classic) and take a second to gather my thoughts. Much like the Saturday morning of many college students, I wake up confused and in a strangers bed. "Where am I?!" But this isn't the morning after a night at the bars, I've joined the Peace Corps and I'm in Namibia living in an 11 person household. The amount of time it takes me to realize this diminishes every morning.
I quietly make my way to the bathroom trying not to wake up my 7 year old niece or the 4 year old twin boys because if I do, I will never get anything done. They love to play with, or rather, on me, though we don't speak each others' languages.
We are lucky to have clean water flowing through the pipes in this house, but it only comes out cold. I kneel in the basin and wash myself with the shower hose. There is no drain so the water collects at my feet. Later on, my Ma will come and scoop the water out with a bucket. She won't let me do this myself, and I am perplexed because I don't know what she does with the water. After sharing my confusion with my friends, they teased, "did you have soup last night?" Gross.
Between my 3 days of language classes and my Ma's tv-learned English, I am able to communicate that I would like instant coffee this morning instead of tea with my eggs. Ma is always demanding, "Eat! Eat!" She told me she wants to send me back to the states fat because in Namibia, fat means healthy. Being heavy is also a status indicator, so Ma would be very proud to show off her plumped-up American daughter after a few weeks. Anyway, I'm always negotiating with her. She wants me to have 3 cheese and butter sandwiches, I only want one, so we settle on two before I'm off to the bus stop. Our PC driver, Shokwambe, picks all the PCT's up each morning and brings us to training. Just like in elementary school, we tend to get rowdy during the drive.
Class begins at 8, but most of us come in early to sing traditional Namibian songs with the trainers. Each morning begins with language classes. I'm in a four person Afrikaans class which is very difficult. Language class here is different than in the states --much less structured and much more throw-you-too-the-wolves. It's also difficult because our trainer has a thick accent and our language books are written with the expectation that we speak British English. This becomes difficult when it comes phonetics and the book describes the sound as "like the a in law" but what it's really looking for is the sound of the o in "low." Not to mention, the spelling totally throws me. The word "good" is spelled g-o-e-d and is pronounced "hoot"!
The rest of the day we do group sessions on everything from our own personal health to how to teach a condom demonstration. Sadly, no one got pictures of that event!
When I come home, I try to ask Ma if I can help make dinner with her, but she thinks I'm asking for food right now and moments later I am eating again -defeated. The next few hours I spend watching cartoons with the kids until "All about Camilla" the Mexican soap opera captivates the family via satellite (that's right, no working plumbing, but satellite tv. priorities.)
Before I turn out the lights, I check my bed and the walls for mosquitoes and other bugs. Before I know it, it's morning again and I can guarantee it won't be anything like yesterday.
i bought a ton of soup today at the store...gross.
ReplyDeleteand the english major in me really appreciated and laughed out loud about learning the language with 'british english.'
you're my herO.
(pronounced like 'a' in law)
Awww......So glad to hear how its going. Your Ma sounds adorable and sweet. Its so exciting to hear more about how the experience is going. Hope you're remaining disease free. Miss your face.
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