I forgot to mention in my last post, last night the power had gone out and I was rearranging some files on my laptop, when from out of nowhere a praying mantis flew in and alighted upon my knee, and with a little coaxing I was able to get it to crawl on to my hand, where it promptly “snuggled” up and rested while I continued to update my computer. Lol, I guess if I was a comic superhero I would be “Mantis Man” capable of controlling an army of the bugs. (Actually that would be pretty cool!) Today I tried to come up with a schedule (admittedly somewhat half-heartedly) for the Technical institutes Christmas party but I have had little luck thus far. In the first place, I have never been one for parties, (unless to involves food….I really like that part, lol) and to make things more difficult, I have to keep in mind that this party will be for a people whose mentality I do not fully comprehend. (Thankfully the “party” is more of an event, lasting only 2 hours, still, its two hours that I have to fill with something, and I’m completely stumped.)
Day 122, Dec 11, Sat,
Today I alternated working on the ordination play & reading “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. I wish there was something more exciting that happened today. I keep telling myself that “Next” Saturday I will climb Mt. Jejebe, but it seems that every time Saturday comes around I have some sort of assignment to do in the morning. One of these Saturday mornings I am definetly going to climb it, so I thus solemnly swear. (Maybe I can get to sleep super early Friday night and then wake up super early, climb the mountain and watch the sunrise? Should make for a killer photo opportunity) Br. Legesse has been feeling under the weather these past couple days with abdominal “difficulties”, of the same kind I occasionally experience, which means it probably has something to do with what goes on in the kitchen…not something I like to dwell on.
Day 123, Dec 12, Sun,
After mass this morning I turned in the first part of the ordination play to Sister Maris and she gave me the second part, which I wasted no time in starting on after lunch. At 3:20 I was joined by Okello, (the student who had translated the Christmas play into Annuak for) and I gave him my typed up version of his translation and asked him to go over it and fix any errors I might have mistyped as I was copying it. (which apparently was a good bit of it, because he spent about 1 ½ hours working on it, lol) Unfortunately as he was closing the word processor he was using, he forgot to save, so he lost all the work he had just done. I really felt sympathetic for him, as that has happened several times to me. As a result of this I have developed a habit of saving frequently, which has saved (Hehe, literally) my work countless times. I imparted this kernel of knowledge to Okello, so hopefully that won’t happen to him again.
This evening, my thoughts drifted to an interesting topic. I don’t know how or why I started thinking about it, but I started dwelling on why zombies have become so popular (Lol, I told you it was a strange topic) I had heard many years ago that American Sci-Fi horror movies tend to reflect the current fears of the times. Now, I am pretty sure that Americans don’t particularly find zombies themselves frightning, but rather, what they stand for. For instance, during the late 40’s and trough to the 60’s, aliens served as the main antagonists, which I have heard represents the fear that society had of being invaded. (Especially during the cold war) I think the rise of zombie popularity is because our current society has replaced the fear of being invaded with the fear of diseases, especially with the recent and frequent media coverage of things like the bird flu, swine flu, HIV, Malaria, yellow fever, SARS, etc, etc. You can notice the same thing happening with disaster movies as our knowledge and subsequent fear of global ecological catastrophes increases…Lol, just a thought.
And for the prayer today, I have the Our Father in Nuer.
-Guàndan a nhial,
a ciötdu buœy,
a ròlu bëë ræyda,
a göru latkæ piny
cetkæ min te nhial.
-Miethda cäñnì diaal
mockœ walæ,
päl ñuälkœ
cetkæ min la pàlkœ
næy tin tee ñuälkæ kœ.
/Cuu kœ bòth kæ ræy cuåm,
la luäkœ mì jiääk.
Amin.
Day 124, Dec 13, Mon,
This morning I walked to the Sister’s compound to drop off the 2nd finished portion of the ordination play as well as to pick up the next one. The 3rd part was not yet ready though, so I’ll be picking up that one sometime tomorrow after mass. While I was at the convent was given a short tour of a couple of the facilities here. There was the Mothers center, where they assist women in raising and caring for their children by teaching proper mothering techniques as well as handing out various aid materials like formula and children’s clothes. I also saw their “kindergarten” school, which was more like a prep-school that prepared the children to enter the Salesian primary school. Similar problems exist here as they do in the primary school. Some of the teachers that the Sisters had hired are not very qualified, (as are some in the primary & technical school) and as a result many of the children are getting by, not by learning, but by imitation and copying. Sister Maris asked me if it was possible for me to help them in the school sometime, to which I consented to, so sometime in the future I will be helping them with that as well.
With the visit to the Sister, the morning passed quite enjoyably, the same cannot be said of the afternoon though. The power went out no fewer than six times, for duration between half of an hour to nearly an hour and a half. I found it incredibly vexing because it became next to impossible to do anything on the computer, so most of the time I read mah book. Mass this evening helped me relive my vexation, I had expressed my reservations about taking by hand the Eucharist (as I am neither a priest, deacon nor lay brother.) to Abba Thomas, who understood my concerns and gladly adapted to relieve my anxiety, so these past Mondays have turned into a real source of joy and relaxation.
Day 125, Dec 14, Tue,
It was rather soggy outside this morning and there was a light drizzle of rain as I walked to mass. With the abundance of green foliage, overcast skies and the light rain, I couldn’t help but think of Washington in late summer/early fall. After mass I obtained the final piece of the ordination script from Sister Maris. It was a bit shorter than the previous pieces and with my newly repaired Ipod (About four weeks ago my Ipod computer/Charging cord had been damaged somehow and I was unable to charge the Ipod battery, but then, miraculously, last week the cord started working again) I was able to finish the script in no time. (I think I’ve started to get used to how Sister Maris writes her letters, allowing me to recognize them faster.) After I finished I spent of the morning catching up on my journal writings. (I had neglected to write in it the last few days and I wanted to make sure I was completely caught up) After lunch & a rosary I went ah-searching for Legesse. When I found him I explained that I had been tasked with the planning and execution of the Christmas party at the Technical Institute and inquired what kinds of things Ethiopians like to do at parties. I was informed that they like to watch dramas and play games…Which I found only slightly helpful. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent planning for the English composition and seminarian computer classes, as well as reading, “computering” (lol, new word says I) and an interesting and informative piece on TV.
It was about the IG Nobel prize, which is held annually to reward those scientists that discover, invent or test things that have to do with appeasing curiosity, even if it is not necessarily a useful discovery. (For instance, one IG Nobel winner suspended a live frog in midair using nothing but a powerful magnetic field, lol. There was another scientist who had built a harm-proof suit which allowed people to be hit by sledgehammers & moving vehicles and to be mauled by angry bears without suffering any injury) My favorite IG Nobel winner was a Japanese scientist who proved that slime mold (which many scientist considered to be one of the least intelligent organisms) to be quite clever. He subjected the slime mold to various puzzle, maze, and efficiency tests, and in each case the mold learned to travel through the most efficient route. In one of the tests he had the slime mold navigate a map containing nutrients placed on each of the major prefectures, and the slime mold created a route that ended up being uncanny in its resemblance to the Japanese rail system!
In the evening I had to go to the primary school to obtain some printer paper to print out the completed ordination Script, and I noticed that one of the nearby hills was on fire. Now, having never seen a wild fire before, I was immediately struck by how frightening and apocalyptic it appeared, and how terrifying it would be if that scene had been repeated throughout the surrounding countryside. I was then informed by Legesse that it was a “semi” controlled fire that they were using to burn the weeds and long grass; still, it was a bit unsettling to see a hill on fire.
Day 126, Dec 15, Wed,
At breakfast Abba Thomas asked me if I could come with him in the afternoon to take some pictures of our parishioners for I.D. cards, so at 3:00pm I will go with him to Baro-mado. At the composition class I tried a couple of the techniques I had come up with. I separated the students so that each student sat at their own desk, (Before, two students sat at each desk) and I made sure that each person had just a much help as the next. (This is also helping to stop the cheating) The downside of this is that I am constantly running from one side of the classroom to the other explaining the same thing over & over again, lol, however It’s allowing each person to go at their own pace though, so I think it’s worth the inconvenience.
After class I started working on a schedule listing the usual things I do each week to help me plan efficiently when special tasks come along, and it’s coming along quite well. At 3:00 Abba picked me up from the compound, and after picking up two of the Sisters at their compound, we headed off to Baro-mado, a district in Gambella, kinda like Manhattan I guess, lol. After taking all the pictures that Abba needed, I stayed around and observed him teach a catechism class, (which is his main purpose for coming here) they covered topics like naming the Ten Commandments and the seven sacraments, and explaining each, and I was amazed at how into it the locals got. There was this one somewhat elderly lady, who was very boisterous in her replies to Abba’s questions, to which most of the rest of the locals laughed. I learned later that she apparently speaks in a peculiar dialect that few people use any more, and that most of her answers were false, but were said with great enthusiasm, it was very funny to watch. After Catechism Abba invited me to say something to them, so I demonstrated how to sing “Oh come, Oh Come Emmanuel” (Poorly, lol) and then explained what the song meant and its relationship to the Christmas season. I was then asked about my family, how many we were how often we went to church and prayed together, things like that. After that we all said a rosary together and then we headed back. I really enjoyed connecting with them and think I shall be joining Abba on his trips more often.
Day 127, Dec 16, Thu,
It has just occurred to me that I had forgotten to mention how yesterday evening’s seminarian class had progressed. We have finally achieved the “Meat and potatoes” segment, the Microsoft Office programs, beginning with the Microsoft Word Processer. That night I covered how to perform simple font changes, such as color, size, style, etc.
So, on to the present, occasionally I’ll have one of those surreal mornings where I forget where I am, today featured one of those mornings. I had slowly been roused from unconsciousness by my alarm clock and by and by I eventually collected enough conscious thought and momentum to deactivate the buzzing chronometer, however, enough groggy cataleptic thought remained for me to imagine that I was back at my apartment in Washington. I lay there in my bed, lost in the simple revere of the midmorning twilight, until I was finally jolted to active consciousness of the Veritas of my current situation by the howl of the jungle primates, (as is their customary morning habit) and with stark realization I dwelt on the thought that “Holy smokes, I’m in freaking Africa!” Sporadically these periods are followed by a moment of disbelieving incredulousness as to what the bloody heck a guy from the Pacific Northwest is doing smack dab near the middle of the African continent, which thankfully did not accompany my moment of confusion this morning as I find that materialization of melancholy revelation to be rather disconcerting.
Anyhoo, let’s see now, what else has been happening lately…Well, the usual salubrious atmosphere of Gambella has been sullied of late by the proliferation of bonfires. The majority of the articles being reduced to ashes by said flames are grass cuttings, however, oftentimes the locals add refuse and litter to the mix, resulting in an acrid smoke that can be very unpleasant on these ol’ lungs o’ mine, and sometimes there is so much ash being produced that it flies up yonder into the sky and then descends like so many snowflakes.
While I’m fresh on the topic of winter, (by my allusion to snowflakes) One of the things I miss most about the Christmas season that I don’t get here in Gambella are the Christmas lights. I really pine for the soft glow of those twinkling rhizomes as they illuminate the snowy (well…some winters, lol) winter landscape, although I will admit that I don’t terribly miss enduring the freezing and damp conditions that must be hazarded in order to assemble said decorations, lol.
There is another event of interest that happen which I consider to be incredibly auspicious, the peanut crop that Br. Endalkachew had planted earlier this year has finally been harvested and roasted, which has made for a most palatable addition to the dinner table. (and even the breakfast and lunch table as a matter of fact)
A rainy day in the month of june (actually november) as I was eating with my fork and spoon...
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