Otuzemba Kinder

My friend, Diane, does teacher training at this Kindergarden, trying to get more student centered teaching and trying to integrate play into learning.  The kids were cute.  I thank them for letting me come visit with my camera.

Animal Lesson

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

Animal Lesson Quiz

I love Jesus, he's my friend

Kumbaya my Lord

There's no other way...only Jesus

Otuzemba Kinder Slideshow Extravaganza!

I didn't have time to edit them so it might be long, but it's cute. 

My friend, Diane, has been doing some teacher training at the Otuzemba Kindergarden, started by her Missionary friends near her house in Opuwo, Namibia.  The director allowed me into their school, class, & playground with my big camera and allowed me to capture their learning for a bit.  It was funny to see how quickly the camera became more interesting than the lesson.  I had to keep hiding it or pretending that it wasn't on to get the most natural images I could.  The kids seemed to like the visit, though.

Visit to Ondjiva, Southern Angola--very close to Namibia

Squawky Bird?

Ondjiva, Angola I was trying to capture the peacock with my camera and hear this noise. It didn't end up being of the bird species at all. Some drunk guys were just trying to make a funny. They sounded like monkeys or something else.

Renting a Car in Angola: An Oddity

Here is a photo of the car itself.  It was a Kia Sportage, I think.  Diesel engine.  Great Gas Milage.  Automatic.  No cd player.  Only radio.  Drove nicely.

I hadn't planned on renting a car or driving in Angola but the circumstances of this weekend persuaded me to go ahead and take the chance.  Délcio, my co-worker at ISCED (pictured above on the left), couldn't take the bus and leave with me the day before my workshop because he had classes.  Instead, I decided to rent a car for the day.  We would leave early morning to arrive there by 830.  The workshop began at 9.  We would workshop till 12, have lunch, drive back, and be home before dark.  Namibe, the workshop location, is about 2.5 hours from Lubango.

So, I go to a travel agent near my house to ask about a rental car but, as this is Angola, you can't assume a travel agent will actually help you with all your travel arrangements.  The bald guy wearing a black turtle neck, looking way too sharp to be helpful, sitting behind the substantial, distinguished, desk, informs me that they only sell air tickets but he knows a "company" that rents cars.  He calls a friend, named Miranda, who confirms that the Serra da Chela Hotel rents cars for 150 dollars a day.  They are the same cars that function as taxis in town:  White Kias.  He asks me if this price is ok and since I was going for work I don't mind the price so I tell him the price is fine.  I must add that during this exchange he keeps unprofessionally turning around to watch the World Cup game being shown on the large plasma behind him.  Very unprofessional.  Clue number one that since this is Angola you can't assume anything will be as you think it will be.

I call Miranda and he says that I can get the car at 5pm on Friday no problem.  He says I just call him a bit before and he will pick me up at my place and we can make all the arrangements.  I assume that this means there will be paperwork and signatures.  Assuming makes an A....

Friday 5pm comes and I call Miranda.  He comes at 520.  When I walk downstairs and approach the car, I see an old guy sitting in the front passenger seat with dark sunglasses, and some random man in the back.  No need to panic.  This is Angola.  I open the driver side door, get in, and look at him, expecting the car rental guy to tell me what I need to do to rent the car.  He says he is Miranda and the only other thing he says is "drive that way," and points towards downtown.  Unprofessional clue #2.  I drive maybe 3 blocks from my place and he tells me to stop at the corner.  At this point, random guy says "thanks for the ride," and gets out.  Aw man. WTF?  Then Miranda tells me to get out the car to have a look.  He shows me that the car has no damage and reveals the spare tire in the back.  Might I add that he is just saying all of this.  There is no paperwork.  I tell him I need a receipt and he says that it will be possible.  (I don't know why it wouldn't be possible unless....)  Then we get back into the car and he writes down my American drivers license number (pretty much useless here) and has me sign.  The paper I am signing is a simple table printed in b&w on paper.  There are other names and info, but it doesn't look very official.  At this point I am uncomfortable in the sense that I just don't know what to say to this guy and I can't believe that he is being so unscrupulous.  There is a weird pause, and I finally say, "so...do I pay you now?"  He says yes, 250 dollars.  I say I don't have dollars, just kwanza, so he says 25,000 kwanza.  I take it out, hand it over.  He says thanks, and opens the door to leave.  WTF x 2?  I think it is only right to ask him how I return the car and where I return it.  He says just call when you come back and he will let me know where to go.

And...scene.

So fast forward 24 hours to 530 pm on Saturday.  After returning from the workshop in Namibe,  I call Miranda and he says I should meet him at the Serra da Chela Hotel.  I drive there and he is there at the bar with another professionally dressed old guy.  I listen to them and it seems like the guy is also renting a car.  I see that paper with the b&w table I signed on the coffee table in front of them.  Miranda has to give me a ride home so I just sit there near them for 10 minutes until they finish their business.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that they both were finishing off large glasses of beer.  They finish, stand up, and I am told to give the guy the key to my rental car.  I give it, but then remember that I left bags in the back so I get it back.  As I am taking my stuff out of the car, the old guy is putting his in.  I guess he was waiting for me to arrive in order for the transfer of the vehicle to happen.  

Then I get into Miranda's truck and we head down the mountain to my house.  After a minute a realize I still have no receipt.  I guess in all the paperwork and renting of the car to the old guy, Miranda forgot about it.  I tell him I need it today, but instead of turning around to get the receipt from where I thought the "office" was, he continues to drive and calls somebody and says, "yeah, so can you make me one of those receipts we did last time?  If she accepts it, ok.  If not, we have to do something else."  The Sketchy Fest continues in full force.  To make a long story short we drive around Lubango, stopping sometimes to call people, looking for a "receipt".  Finally we end up at the Millennium Shopping Center parking lot where he asks a taxi cab to give him a sheet from his receipt book.  He commences to make up the registration number, millage, and whatever else was on the paper, and hands it to me.  I look at him like he is crazy and ask for the stamp.  The stamp is always put on official receipts and includes the word PAGO, meaning the person paid.  He rather stupidly, says "oh, yea?  You need a stamp?  Can I get it to you tomorrow?"  In true Akisha style I tell him no, I told you yesterday I needed a receipt and you gotta give it to me.  He then calls another friend and asks him to use his PAGO stamp.  Oh yes, and I forgot to say that during our driving Miranda is listening to Kuduro music.  If you don't know, it is booty shaking stuff.  He was also shaking his booty the best he could while driving, singing along, and gyrating to the beat.  Maybe he was trying to impress me, maybe it was just the beer he had before getting behind the wheel.  At this point I am not angry or scared.  Just tired and laughing on the inside at how ridiculous the situation is and amazed at how normal it seems to Miranda.  I am very proud of him because he asks me if it is ok if we drive to San Antonio (a neighborhood near the train station 20 minutes away) to get the stamp.  I agree because, although I am exhausted, I want this thing over with so I don't have to deal with him again tomorrow. 

When we get to San Antonio we pull up to a house party.  Guys drinking outside the house.  Little kids arriving with their moms.  Music blasting.  Miranda uses his phone, in pimp style, to summon the guy with the stamp.  A big, effeminate, guy with a pregnant belly who was in the house, comes out with a PAGO stamp, says hello--his name is Mario, stamps my "receipt" and then Miranda and I head back to my house.  Two hours of driving around for a "recipt" from a car rental "company" is pretty easy, huh?

On the ride back Miranda asks if he can call me sometime.  Oh maan.  I just can't get away from it.  Again, maybe it was the beer, or maybe he was just an a#$.

So, will I rent a car again?  Maybe...apparently 250 a day for a car is quite cheap in Angola.  Now that I know that the "system" isn't really a system and the "company" is probably just the taxi company's cars being pimped out by Miranda to folks who know him, I know how to deal with all of it.  You see, you learn so much when you come to Africa.  I laughed to myself while waiting for the power and water to come back on after I arrived home (2 hours after I actually returned from my trip).  I laughed because I would have freaked the *@%# out years ago if this had happened to me.  What actually scares me is that I wasn't that scared at all.  Deep thoughts...

2nd Namibe Workshop

Click on the image to zoom in

2nd EFP Workshop

Click on the image to zoom in

ISCED Game Afternoon!!!!!

My 4th year student Nhenze working it playing 30 seconds. She was really good. I think she got people to guess 7 words one time.

OMG Student gem of the week

"What is your optimal sexy position?"--this was a question asked during our daily 5 minute "hotseat" Q&A in my third year class. One student stands in front and must answer all questions that are not deemed too personal. After this doosy was asked, it was dead silent, everyone thinking, "I know this chick did not just ask THAT." Someone asked for further clarification and she said the meaning of the question was correct. Then we all erupted in hysterical laughter. My eyes are dry I cried so much.

Sunday Afternoon

My students Albertina, Valentina, and Albertina's sister took me on a Sunday drive to see some cool stuff.

Here are some of the scenes:

 

We arrived at the falls (30 min from Lubango), and it seemed like everyone was already there. People were BBQing, kids were dancing to the music, and folks were just enjoying the nice day. I love the little girls on the right of the screen as the vid begins. I don't know what the heck they were doing.

Namibe Workshop #1

Me in the desert with the Welwitschia Mirabilis

This Namibe desert is very impressive. So much flat. So many brown tones. It was hot but not burning up...maybe because of its vicinity to the Ocean. Apparently this plant, the Welcitchia Mirabilis is only found in this part of Namibe. It was weird, just a few hundred meters away it didn't exist, just big cactus. I think it isn't the most beautiful plant, it kinda looks like an dead alien that has been burned, but it is cool nonetheless.

Video Tour of Namibe with teachers

Throwback

I recently gave an oral test to my third years in the English Resource Room. After sitting down I saw this:

Enough said.

Coming to America at ISCED

Do you remember Coming to America? It was a film in the 90s, I think, staring Eddie Murphy as a Prince from Africa who decides to sow his wild oats in Queens, New York, in order to find his true love. It is a comedy with lots of talented performances by Murphy as well as Arsenio Hall. What you might not know, is how good the movie is to illustrate the concept of cultural stereotypes of the US as well as Africa. I showed the film last Saturday and we had a nice discussion afterwards. Those in attendance included ISCED (University) 3rd and 4th year students, and EFP (Secondary School), and faculty from both institutions. The auditorium hold 100 so we ordered 100 bags to popcorn, but my colleagues forgot to tell me there was a football match on, so we only got 20 participants. I was happy that people did come and that we got to experince some different opinions together.

I told mommas to come with their children if necessary

Great, passionate discussion leading in progress

The week before, I asked for volunteers to lead small discussion groups after the film. Two were third year students at ISCED and two were teachers at the EFP. What was interesting was that in true form, one of the EFP teachers photocopied parts of the questions and handed them out (without notifying me or the other leaders). This lead to mass silence in the room, everyone staring at the paper trying to see what was on it. In the end I had to step in and tell each leader to ditch the papers and just ask the questions themselves. Afterwards, I asked the teacher that made the copies what he thought about what happened. Again, in true form, he said he thought it went well, but when I pushed he finally admitted that it was probably better just to ask the questions. It is encouraging to know that some practical teaching experience can come out of events like this (i.e. how to lead discussion groups). I have included the questions below in case you want to have a discussion of your own after revisiting the film sometime soon. :)

I'm missing me some Fat Bastard!!!!!!!!

My breathing space today includes a great wine that I haven't had in a long, long time. I think when it finally touches my lips in December, my body is going to go into a convulsion.

Click here to get the dish on who makes it and how it got its name: http://www.fatbastard.com/our-story.php

Long way from home...

First Workshop with EFP Teacher Trainers

I did the first of several workshops for teacher trainers at the Escola de Formação dos Professores (Secondary school for future teachers of grades 7-9). It was the first meeting so there weren't as many participants as we wanted, but it went really well and hopefully the word will spread and we will have more the next time. I reminded all participants that teachers must be like magicians, with a large bag of tricks by their side. The more activities and methods they have access to, the better equipped they are to serve their students.

Participants at the workshop

Workshop Description: EFP Teacher Trainers Workshops 2010 Facilitated by Akisha Pearman, English Language Fellow, US State Department Using Videos as Resources in Language Classes We will look at a wealth of video clip podcasts from National Geographic and the UK’s Teachers’ TV and run through activities you can use with them in class to teach reading, writing, listening, and speaking. One super, committed teacher informs the other about the tradition of eating raw octopus in Korea after watching the video clip. The other teacher was out of the room, waiting for instructions at the time. Teacher trainers discuss whether they would "vine dive" if they were men in Vanuatu (inspired by a memorable National Geographic video clip)

Sitting in the dark...again

So, Luanda, the capital of Angola, is known for a lot of power cuts, Lubango is no different. The power in my apartment flickers on and off during the day, which isn't that big of a deal, but it stops completely for a few hours nearly everyday--I would say on average, 5 times a night for 2-5 hours. Even more annoying than that is that I can hear loud generators outside. I used to use candles, but now I just sit in the dark and wallow until my computer battery goes dead.

The journey of a wedding present

I sent my friend, Steve and his soon to be bride, Nara, a wedding present from Lubango. Without getting into too many details...what an ordeal! I taped up the smal box and brought it to DHL, but was then asked to open it up again to show what was inside. It wasn't much, just a basket and some cards, and a bunch of newspaper for packing, but they made me take it all out and pack it again. Then the box took its journey up the continent, across the Ocean, and across the country to Ohio. Look at where that dang box has been!