Greetings! We are expecting to head to Nyamlell today and so I'm taking the opportunity to prepare an update on events here in Marial Bai. Making the last entry about Camboni Day was quite an ordeal. For the first time, I called VSF ahead of time to see if it would be possible for me to use their internet network the next day. I got the go-ahead and so we proceeded to Nyamlell the next morning. When I arrived at the VSF compound, the place was deserted except for the watchman who was also on his way out... go figure! I remembered another NGO that let Valentino use their internet in April and the driver managed to find it- Adeso. I discovered that Nyamlell is a much bigger town than I thought as we turned this way and that looking for directions. The people at Adeso told me that their network was down but gave me directions to another nearby NGO- Health Net. The person at Health Net accepted for me to use the internet but explained that they only keep their generator on until 12 noon. With all of our driving around, it was already 11:30 am and so he graciously offered to keep it on until 12:30 pm. There was some work I needed to do for the school and this occupied the hour. We could have come back at 3 pm when they turned their generator on again, but I thought it would be better to try our luck with VSF the next day (which is what we did). Oh! And our LandCruiser- to get it going, the vehicle needs to be pushed in order for the driver to start it. Leaving Health Net there were only three of us around. Thankfully this part of South Sudan is just as flat as Manitoba!
Speaking of Manitoba... I met a South Sudanese man a couple of weeks ago who had been a refugee with his family to Winnipeg in 2001. He lived there for 6 months- from March until August, perfectly avoiding the cold season- and only had good things to say about the friendly people and generous services available for struggling Newcomers like himself. From Winnipeg he moved to Ottawa where he lived for several years and although he also enjoyed Ottawa and appreciated the education he received while living there, he said it did not even come close to comparing with Winnipeg!
The rains have officially ended and we are apparently approaching the cold season. I have been asking the students to describe the cold season for me and they say it still gets hot in the afternoon, but not hot enough to make you
sweat. They also said (partially in jest) that the nights get cool enough that some people refuse to shower for days because the water is so cold. They said that when people wake up in the morning, they rush to the sun and soak it in to try to warm up (for the rest of the year, life is lived in the shade as much as possible). So to me, it sounds like it will be similar to our hot season in Winnipeg. Great!
The tomatoes that were transplanted behind my tukle have been a delight. I was eating 4 or 5 per day up until today... I water them every morning and this morning I discovered that someone cleaned the plants completely- not a
single one left. A few weeks ago, I was excited to be able to share the first-fruits with the Dinka family I frequently visit on the weekends. They always generously share whatever they have with me. They cut up the tomatoes and
mixed them with fresh sesame paste and salt. Delicious! Definitely my favourite food here in South Sudan. While we were eating, one of the women got the hiccups. I asked them how to say “hiccups” in Dinka and they said “tiktik.” So,
using my knowledge of nouns and verbs, I proudly made a sentence, “Yin a tiktik.” To my surprise, they burst into laughter. I asked one of my Dinka colleagues about it in the evening and he also started laughing. He explained
that I said, “you are foul smelling.” To say “you have hiccups,” you have to say “Yin a nek tiktik.” “Nek” means “suffering.” It's the same word you use to say that you're hungry or thirsty; “An a nek cok/rou” = “I am suffering from
hunger/thirst.” I have finished going through the first 36 pages of my Dinka book and have acquired a more extensive vocabulary, but I still find understanding the spoken language and making sentences difficult. Slowly, slowly...
We also had the students harvest the rest of the maize and the groundnuts. The community all plants at the same time and so they all harvested all at once as well. For the cattle herders, this meant that their cows were free to graze again anywhere that they wished. We planted late and so the cows had a feast on our maize in the evenings when no one was there to watch the field. They were also trammpelling the peanuts and so we couldn't wait any longer. We had to harvest whatever was ready. They call peanuts "groundnuts" which makes sense since they grow in the ground... sort of like radishes. You'll have to look at the pictures. Once they're pulled from the ground, they have to be dried in the sun. Once they're dried, each peanut has to be pulled from the stem. Then they can be roasted. Whew! Lots of work!
We had mid-term tests in all subjects immediately after the holiday. One afternoon, all 85 grade 9 students were gathered in the dining hall to write their physics test. I was in the science lab when I heard some shouting. Looking towards the dining hall, students were making a mad dash out the windows and doors. I figured there must have been a snake in the room. Ten chairs were broken, students were injured and had to go the clinic... it wasn't a snake, it was a caterpillar! Apparently one was stuck on one of the girl's socks. She tried to shake it off, but it wouldn't come off and so she stood up and screamed! This is what sent everyone else running. The caterpillars have been a new distraction in class. Once again, the people fear them. Apparently the hairy ones make you itchy when they land on you. I just pick them up and throw them out the window while I'm teaching. I've also discovered why the people are afraid of frogs. When I caught one the other day, a student explained to me that his grandparents told him not to touch them because they will bite you and leave a scar that will never heal. It must be some sort of superstition, or perhaps they were connected to witchcraft in the past.
I did sustain a bit of an injury a couple of weeks ago. When I was walking to the market, I got a blister on my heal. Nothing unusual, but within a couple of days it got terribly infected. My ankle was swollen and it was painful to walk. Thankfully, after a week, with some extra TLC, the infection has disappeared and my ankle is back to normal. I am always a spectacle in the market and so I don't like to pull out my camera very often, but after buying some sour milk, I asked the woman who was selling it whether or not I could take a picture of them. She agreed and I got a few nice pictures of some of the produce currently available in the market along with the women selling it. On the way home from the market, a boy on a motorcycle stopped and offered me a ride. He was 18 years old and in primary 8. I learned that his uncle is a friend of Valentino's and I met the uncle when I was in Marial Bai in 2009. Getting a ride home on the motorcycle was a nice treat (It's about a 30 min walk in the hot sun each way).
I am preparing some demonstrations and an experiment for my grade 10 chemistry students. At the beginning of the school year, I asked any grade 10 student who was interested to apply to be a laboratory prefect. I received 5 applications and so I selected the two who did the best on their mid-term exam to help me clean the apparatus and prepare the chemicals. When these grade 10 students get to grade 12, a part of their National Exams will include a
practical component. For now students are exempt from this and only have to sit for the written exams. Although the school has much of the needed apparatus and many of the chemicals, we do not have the proper storage or waste facilities. In 2010 we organized many of the chemicals in an empty room in the building that is now the girls' dormitory. One day when I was walking past the dorm, I noticed a strong sour smell. Sure enough, something (perhaps a lizard) knocked down the bottles of nitric acid. We cleaned the area up and tried to make the bottles more secure.
I finished 4 computer classes with the grade 12 students and decided to offer the same classes to the prefects (the student council) who have been the most active in the school since the beginning of the school year. I ended up with a group of 12 students and we have 2 more lessons to go. Like the grade 12 students, they are excited to learn the technology and very appreciative of the opportunity.
These last few weeks are going to be busy. It's November and exams are set to begin on Thursday, November 22nd. They will finish on Wednesday, November 28th on which day we're planning a farewell party for our grade 12 students. The grade 12 students have the orientation for their exams on Friday, November 30th, and then will be writing exams from Monday, December 3rd until Monday, December 17th. Since these areNational Exams, they don't really involve us as teachers and so I'm not sure when the other foreign teachers will plan on returning home. I plan on spending a couple of weeks in Kenya before heading to Egypt for my vacation and then home to Winnipeg on January 17th- the coldest of the cold season. The students and teachers keep asking me if I will be here next year and if not, when I will be coming back. I certainly will not be able to stay away forever.