On the Road again

I went up to Luanda for a little work and Thanksgiving dinner last week.  These were my favorite photos from the road between Lubango and Benguela.

Thanksgiving work

Sofrimento

My students waiting in line for their final oral examination (given 3 weeks before the official date and with a week or so notice)    sad face.  They told me I could post these and had to name the series "suffering. "

Breathing space for today.

View of Serra da Leba between Lubango and Namibe provinces

Namibe Pics

I was in Namibe city over night and took advantage of the morning before I left to walk around and take pics of the cute little port city.  I still need to do research, but I think Namibe was  a large slave port, sending slaves to places like Brazil and Sao Tomé.  It really resembles Inhambane in its architecture though Namibe is much larger than tiny Ibane.

Big rock

Olive trees!  This area in the dessert used to be the only producer of olive oil in Angola.  Supoosedly they still produce some.

Goodies that I never eat cause they are not truly sweet or have meat in them

A cute abandoned van near the railroad

The railroad

close up of paint on a building

A house with a railroad fence

if the Portuguese did something right it was the decorations on the houses.  Some are really nice

Boats in Namibe harbor

Mozambique's Eduardo Mondlane Avenue in Namibe

Lazy dog on a Sunday

Namibe

Délcio in the Spotlight in Namibe

There's just me...one is the magic number

I don't know how scientifically accurate his study was, but out outgoing Dean (the new guy was instated last Friday) made a short presentation about ISCED's history since he has been there (9 years).  He also gave some stats on certain aspects of the school and faculty.  This one shows the different nationalities of the faculty members over the years--from the top, Angolan, Armenian, Bulgarian,Brazilian, Cabo Verdean, Congolese, Cuban, then me...the only American ever, according to their records, Portuguese, and Vietnamese.  Pretty neat stuff.  Hope I represent for my American peeps.  :) 

ELT Cultural Night

The Wedding Photographer

I'm just gonna post these pics now, but will write some captions and stories about the experience when I have time this weekend.  For the meantime...enjoy!

Official

That Angola "Filled Renewal" is me.

Crazy Clouds

While taking the bus to Namibe today at 7am, I saw the most beautiful clouds at the bottom of the Serra da Leba road. They looked like snow and covered everything but the mountains that peaked out.

Another Namibe Workshop

EFP Resource Festival

Stayin'

Dear Akisha,

We have received confirmation from the State Dept. that you have been approved to renew your Fellowship projects for a second cycle. This is to let you know that we have you confirmed as renewals. However, we will not be sending official acceptance letters, new Fellowship documents for you to complete, or your new grants until mid-October. In the meantime, please let me know if you have any questions.

Best,
Erin

Akisha is Online!

I submitted an essay to NPR's  (National Public Radio) show "This I believe," where everyday Americans write essays about what they believe on a variety of subjects.  I got this email from them:

Dear Akisha Pearman:

     Thank you for submitting an essay to This I Believe. Your essay has now completed our review process and will shortly be added to the This I Believe online database. However, it may take a couple of hours for your essay to start showing up on our website at thisibelieve.org. 
     Once it's added to the website, your essay will appear at...
http://thisibelieve.org/essay/78824/
     You will notice that only your first name will be seen on the web page with your essay. We do not publish last names or other personal information on our website. The only exceptions to this rule are essayists who have granted permission for use of their last name or essayists from the original 1950s series.
     We are honored by your having shared your most closely held convictions with us. Thank you, sincerely, for participating in our project.
                            -- The staff of This I Believe

I am happy to be recognized and am excited to see what kind of feedback I get on it in cyberland.

Here is the essay I wrote:

This I believe

By Akisha Pearman

As an English language teacher I believe words are the most powerful tool to which I can expose my students.    I have held words close to my heart since I was young, not verbalizing them, but writing my observations in a journal.  My words always meant exactly how I wrote them.  I was the only one who had to interpret them so there was no need for cross-cultural communication.

My family moved around a lot when I was young.   It took a while to make friends but I think all the moving made me into a skilled observer of my surroundings.  I was quiet, but in my silence I was soaking in all the feelings, interactions, and communication styles of others.  I think this prepared me for intercultural experiences later in my life abroad in Spain, Madagascar, Mozambique, Korea, and now Angola.  It made me sensitive to the way people use language and culture to communicate.

When I taught English in Korea I was placed at a girls’ catholic school.  I was also there to do professional development activities for the English teachers as well as give English conversation classes to teachers of other disciplines.  These other teachers and I learned a lot from each other that semester—speaking about challenges in teaching, what we considered about certain life issues, and discussing photographs and artwork in a way they had never done before in a language class.  As high beginners, they surprised me as well as themselves by what they were able to communicate with me and each other with limited words.

One day, after class had finished, I was packing up my materials and noticed that one of the sweet nuns had accidently picked up my favorite pen and was carrying it out of class.  With a warm smile, I sarcastically told her, “I think you stole my pen.” Her eyes opened wide in embarassment, she smiled back, gave me the pen, and we walked to our offices together.  I didn’t give the mistake another thought until she stopped showing up for class.

It took three weeks for that sweet student nun to gather the courage to talk to me about what had happened through a translator.  During the encounter she said that after hearing that word “stole” she looked it up and came upon words like “thief,” “burglar,” “shoplift” and many other words that were “inappropriate” to use with a nun.  She belonged to the church and because of this it was an insult to talk to her this way.

I went through a lot of emotions after talking with her.  I felt like a complete idiot, was angry that she didn’t understand sarcasm, and was hurt that she could fathom I would speak to her disrespectfully.  Language brought us to an understanding that day:  Words can be used to inform people about the world and expand their knowledge of it.  They can make communication (and miscommunication) possible.  They can be used to improve lives and relationships.

TexMex at my place!!!

Senhora do Monte Procession

August is an exciting month in Huíla, full of a religious procession, trade show, farm animal auction, car races, and more. Here is the catholic procession (apparently not only for Catholics nowadays. I was impressed with how organized it was.

My Favorite Pictures until now

Dirty bus window--Namibe, Angola

Cátia, me, and Hernania at Mundo's Restaurant--Maputo, Mozambique 

(I taught these smart ladies their first and second year at the tourism college in Inhambane.  They have now finished their first professional internship and hope to intern at Kruger park in South Africa at the end of the year--they are the bomb!)

Sunset at Opuwo Country Lodge--Opuwo, Namibia

Scissor practice--Otuzemba Kindergarden, Opuwo, Namibia

Cristo--Lubango, Angola

Little Himba Boy---Village outside Opuwo, Namibia

Sunset--Humpata, Angola

Road--Outside Opuwo, Namibia

Surprise--Otuzemba Kindergarden, Opuwo, Namibia

Petrol Tube--Namibe, Angola

One of "the Chinese" fishing on Sunday--Namibe, Angola (there has been a recent influx of Chinese, Cambodian, and Vietnamese to Angola for work)

Yara enjoying Gianni gelato--Maputo, Mozambique (Yara was a great student and friend from when I worked in Inhambane starting almost three years ago)