Day 275, May 12th, Thu, N/A, 93.2°F @ 4:30pm,
I arrived for the art classes this morning to discover that the schedule for all the primary school classes had been changed; however, the new schedule wasn’t being implemented properly and there was a lot of chaos. I ended up waiting around most of the morning, whenever I would go to the room where my class was supposed to be held, I would discover that some other teacher was in the middle of their lessons, it was very annoying, and I ended up only being able to teach two of my four classes.
In the afternoon, after all the classes had finished, I watched the continuation of the St. Dominic football tournament. I am always amazed at how well these kids can play; there is always a lot of fancy footwork at every game I’ve seen.
In the evening I received a very pleasant surprise. Surafle had somehow managed to gets his hands on a copy of “Star Wars: Attack of the Clones” and he let me barrow it!, and with much eagerness, I invited Br. Legesse to watch it with me in the rec-room tonight. To say that he was blown away by the sheer magnitude of the film would be an understatement, he was in awe at the cinematic; the plot was another thing though. Although I tried my best to explain as much of the back-story surrounding this particular episode to make it watchable (you havn’t done nothing until you’ve tried to describe to an Ethiopian what Jedi and the Force are, lol), I think the plot eluded him almost entirely. Overall he really like the film though, and I was very happy to be able to share with him something that I particularly enjoy.
So, now for the Haiku of the week, and I am particularly fond of this one, so much so that I added another verse/stanza/part (not sure what to call it, lol)
Separate paths
The parting of friends,
Rends the heart, pierces the soul,
Such a deep sorrow
But life, it goes on,
The pain of parting will end,
And again we’ll meet.
~ じょしゅわ
Day 276, May 13th, Fri, 85.7°F @ 4:00pm,
The schedule at the primary school was still mucked up this morning, so I decided that I would go a wandering about, throughout the Salesian compound this morning and afternoon and look at all the forms o’ life. Lol, to tell you the truth, I felt a bit like a naturalist as I sat and observed ants building their bunkers, birds chirping away in the trees, and my personal favorite, Praying Mantis’s (hmm, is that the correct form of pluralizing the word?) lying perfectly still, lying in wait for their next meal. I managed to find a right beautiful specimen that was hanging out in the alcove between the dining room and the domiciles, it was bright green, and quite large, about the size of my palm. For some reason Praying mantises seem incredibly intelligent to me, when compared to other insects. I am not sure what exactly gives me that impression, although I think it might be how calm they act, as well as how they frequently preen themselves (A sense of cleanliness usually indicates a level of mental insight I would think, lol). I think it also has to do with how their heads swivel to follow things; all in all, these traits lend the bug, in my opinion, a rather feline-like demeanor.
I also discovered something else today, Surafle really, really, REALLY, hates bugs… of any kind (docent matter if they aren’t dangerous to people). I found this out when I brought my newly acquired insectoid companion to the office. While I worked on my computer I let the little bugger crawl on my arm and shoulder, and at one point he (or she, for that matter) ended up on my head. Surafle was incredibly grossed out by the whole ordeal, lol, so I made several faux attempts of placing the mantis upon his person, which caused him even more grief (lol, I’m so bad). Towards the end of the work period, I think Surafle had somewhat gotten used to the insect, and at one point he even let the little guy/gal/thing crawl across his hand (Bravo!).
Day 277, May 14th, Sat, 89.6°F @ 3:30pm,
Today’s big activity was the inauguration of the new church in the nearby town of Jaweh (pronounced Jah-weh). We left early in the morning, with the car literally packed with travelers; it was very much like riding in one of those little cans of pickled herring or sardines, lol. Among my fellow travelers who were making the journey were Surafle, Elaine (the office secretary), Br. Endalkachew, Omod (Not quite sure exactly what his position title is, but I frequently see him around the office) and Bayu. After driving for about 20+ minutes, we arrived at our destination of Jaweh.
The site where they chose to build the church was well thought out. It was situated just of the main road, in between a forest and a large field. The ground was nice and level, with no garbage (man-made or otherwise), and the layout was nicely planned. The church itself sat in the center of the clearing, it was a somewhat small building (more on that later) but it was sturdily built and looked like it would last a long time. Surrounding the church was a stick-picket fence, in which was a gate (situated on the left side of the church), directly besides which was a bell stand and bell. In front and off to the right side of the church, connecting with the fence, were several poles stuck into the ground, on top of which was attached several tarps that made a long L shaped under hang which provided a dry space for a multitude of benches, some of which spilled out directly in front of the church (more about that later). Besides the church, there were three other structures; the first was what looked like a small general purpose building (not sure as I never went into it), and the second was a stick chapel (the usual kind that act as a temporary chapel until a proper church is set up, like the one in Baro-Mado for instance. They usually simply consist of criss-crossing poles holding up a metal or tarp & grass roof). The last one, which I think was set up specifically for today, was another tarp and pole affair, under which a table upon which lunch was spread out, and enough benches to sit about 30 people.
The description of the grounds being thus completed, I shall thus proceed to the event itself. After we arrived we were ushered to the benches were lined up outside the front and to the side of the church. About a hundred or so people had already arrived, most of which had taken shelter under the tarped section of seats. When everyone arrived (which included Abba Angelo, Abba Thomas, several other members of the Vicariate, and several of the sisters of Charity), which took another 20 minutes or so, the total number of guests had increased at least two or even three-fold, needless to say the church itself was jam-packed (the building itself seating maybe only about fifty, most of which were the staff and choir). By the start of the service, Surafle, Elaine, Bayu, the Sisters and I, were able to find seating out in the tarped pavilion that provided somewhat of a view through the door of the church, while Br. Endalkachew roamed about with a digital camera taking snapshots.
The first part of the service was the procession and blessing of the church, which comprised of the Bishop, priests and choir (and later, a good part of the congregation) walking around the church singing hymns while the bishop blessed the building with Holy water. After the Bishop made the closing prayer of blessing over the church, the proper of the Mass started, which, other than the fact that I was sitting outside beneath a covered pergola the whole time, was not out of the ordinary; thankfully it didn’t rain, although it did start to lightly sprinkle several times.
After the service of the Mass had finished, everyone gathered around the front of the church and were treated to some entertainment by several of the Jaweh residents/parishioners, which consisted of several dances (which included a very fascinating Annuak dance, whose machinations were very tribal and almost bird like in execution), songs, and a drama. I have absolutely know idea what the drama was about, as it was entirely in Annuak and Amharic, other than the fact that it was apparently somewhat funny, as everyone would suddenly laugh during several parts of it, but I really enjoyed watching the dancing.
After the entertainment had run its course, I was invited to the previously mentioned gazebo under which was situated the lunch fixings (along with many of the priests, sisters, and faraway visitors), where I was given a plate, a fork (thankfully, lol), at which point I helped myself to some beans, potatoes, rice, and some interesting looking fried meat stuff (at least, I think it was fried meat…). The meal was actually pretty good, and the fried meat/thing seemed to agree fairly well with my system, so all was copacetic.
After the meal, I caught a ride back to Gambella with the Sisters (as Br. Endalkachew had gone back with Surafle and Elaine before the entertainment because they had tasks to do), where I basically spent the rest of the afternoon writing.
Day 278, May 15th, Sun, 92.2°F @ 3:30pm,
It was a bit of a chaotic day today. For starters, Abba Emanuale arrived from Addis this morning, which meant that before he arrived I was tasked with writing up a kind of welcome poster to put in the dining room. Unfortunately, we no longer have a computer & printer in the rec-room, so I was forced to write it by hand, which, actually, didn’t turn out that bad.
In the afternoon, I was asked, by Abba Larcher, to take photographs of the beginning of the days football game, as well as to print out several welcome posters to tack up around the compound to welcome Abba Emanuale. The photos were the easy part, but the posters were a bit more complicated, first I had to write out the poster on my own computer, then I transferred it to a jump-drive and, after borrowing a bike from Br. Legesse, hightailed it to Surafle’s and obtained the keys to the office. I then proceeded back to the office, where, after gaining access to his office transferred the document to the office computer and printed out a test copy, which I then took and showed to Abba Larcher to make sure it was up to his specifications. After it passed inspection, I printed out several copies, after the completion of which, I locked up the office and located Makona (Whom Abba had told me to give the copies to) and handed off the posters. With that complete, I walked back to surafle’s and relinquished his keys.
After I had finished those projects, I was compelled to walk to Tsion’s and drop off one of my USB’s, which contained my abnormally peculiar music collection (ye have just to ask anyone who has heard my music, and surely they will state that my choice in melodies is most atypical), as I had made a promise to do so during our last get together. It was only a quick stop by though; just long enough to drop of the Mp3’s, and then it was back to the compound. All in all, I was walking/biking around like a maniac, and so by the time evening arrived, I was bushed, done-in, exhausted, and sleep came easily for once (after a quick episode of MacGyver with Legesse, of course, lol).
Day 279, May 16th, Mon, N/A,
For class with the English students this morning, I implemented a reading exercise; I ushered them into the library and assigned them encyclopedias and set them to it. They behaved in a much more subdued manner this time (the librarian didn’t have to shush anyone this time), and we passed the allotted time in peaceful harmony.
In the afternoon-evening, I was able to get caught up with the majority of my blog writing, and after dinner (at which Abba Emanuale and Abba Filipe attended) I was even able to access the internet and send it, as well as read/respond to emails (during the past 1 ½ weeks, the network has been down). I was even (Thanks indeed to the Providence that be) to get into a little chatting with my folks back home! I stayed up a bit later than I should have, but it was worth it to hear from them, and from the sound of it, it seems like everyone is doing really great back home, and I am really looking forward to seeing everyone again (I also found out that I need to take my measurements for a tux for my bro’s wedding, argh, monkey suits! Actually, it shouldn’t be so bad, as I have basically been wearing the same thing for a year, wearing something else for a change will be delightful… even a suffocating and restricting suit and tie, lol)
Day 280, May 17th, Tue, 92.2°F @ 3:50pm,
I woke up a bit late this morning, due to my prolonged discourse with my family, thus missing my class with the kindergarten urchins. However, I was able to work on, and finish, Abba Thomas’s Photoshop project that he asked me to do (to combine several photos onto a postcard setting with the words: St. Josephs, Gambella, Ethiopia). It was a bit confusing at first, but I think I have started to get the feel for the program, so hopefully I will be able to complete them in a more timely manner in the future (it’s mostly trying to resize the photos appropriately).
Br. Legesse had been mentioning lately how he has not been feeling too well, and I have been trying to get him to go to Abobo for a checkup (He is showing some of the precursors of malaria), but he was being very stubborn, so this evening, Abba Thomas and myself accompanied him to the local clinic to get him checked out. It turned out to be Typhoid, as well as some gastric problems (from stress they ascertained), and so he was given some medication (as well as a somewhat painful injection. According to Abba Thomas, they medical staff at this particular clinic aren’t the best trained), and now, hopefully, Legesse will start to feel better in the next couple of days.
Day 281, May 18th, Wed, 96.3°F @ 4:00pm,
We had gotten back from Br. Legesse’s check-up last night somewhat late, and I wasn’t able to show Abba Thomas my finished project (he had wanted to retire to bed straight away, so this morning, before class, I managed to catch him before he left the compound and was able to ask him what he thought of the finished postcard. He thought it was pretty decent, and informed me that he would locate some more pictures to give me in order to make some more.
Also, before I began the class, I said ciao to Abba Emanuale, who was heading back to Addis Ababa this morning. I guess I should take a second and mention the things that he did while he was here. For starters, this was the first time he had been to Gambella, so the Salesians made sure to give him the usual tour of the region, with them taking him on a trip to Abobo on Monday, and to Nyiningyang on Tuesday. I really didn’t see too much of him while he was here, as he was usually off somewhere, but I was able to talk with him a little bit and inquire how all the other volunteers are doing (Everyone is doing quite well).
After Abba headed off to the airport, I started our last English normal English session, which I decided would be the definition exercise, as well as a little brushing up on basic words and paragraphs. Next week, on Monday, I will hold a practice test for the students, and then the following Wednesday, I will have the actual final, I hope they all make an effort and pass it with flying colors.
Before lunch, I solicited Surafle’s assistance and started a little pet project. Back in new York, the Salesian mission office had asked each of us volunteers to take video/photos of as much stuff as possible. One of the first things I had thought of, when I first arrived here, was to capture a kind of video tour through the departments, but I hadn’t really acted upon that until today. So, with surafle’s help, I started on the first department, which was building construction. It went somewhat okay; the camera that I had been provided with takes some really nice pictures and video, if there is plenty of natural light about, which, unfortunately, there isn’t an abundances of in the buildings, also, the sound harnessing capabilities of the camera aren’t exactly top-notch, and it was made worse by the level of noise created by the students caring out their projects: however, it’s the best that I will be able to do, under the circumstance, so it will have to suffice.
This evening, I had class with the seminarians, and managed to just about finish Abba Thomas’s power point. The only thing that is left for me to do, is to find a couple more suitable pictures, and then record someone reading the text and translating it into Amharic, and over lay that with the background music, it’s coming along right proper.
Day 282, May 19th, Thu, 89.6° @ 5:00pm,
It rained today something fierce, like, on a marvelously massive magnitude. There still wasn’t any teaching yet for me because of the mixed up schedule, so I just kinda wandered around in the precipitation with my rubber mucks and my rain slick (after I ran out of batteries due to a lack of power that is). Everyone I bumped into while I was wearing my get-up got a kick out of it (I’m not exactly sure why), and wherever I went, laughter seemed to follow… I guess they have never seen many white people wearing rubber boots? Anyways, the day progressed in a somewhat sluggish manner, but I did have some fun muckin about in the puddles, and to tell the truth, at times I felt as if I was a little child again, lol.
Today’s Haiku is another one that was inspired by the LotR series,
Eastern shores
The sea calls us home,
Beckoning us to board on
One last adventure.
~ じょしゅわ
Day 283, May 20th, Fri, 92°F @ 4:30pm,
*in an announcer guy’s voice* Friday! Friday! Friday! THIS, not quite, WEEKEND, COME SEE THE FOOTBALL MATCH OF THE CENTURY! THE SALESIAN “TEACHERS” WILL TAKE ON THEIR RIVAL SCHOOL!
So, like Mr. Announcer guy so clearly stated, today, our Salesian football team played a game against a fellow school, it was quite the event, and several hundred of the students came to cheer them on (one thing I should mention real quick, the name of the Salesian team wasn’t the “teacher”, they, quite literally, were the teachers of the school who practice together during their free time). At the start of the game, I was actually quite confused as to which team was who, until I realized that the entirety of our school kids were cheering every time one of the teams scored, almost scored, made a dash for the goal, or whenever they had possession of the ball for that matter (Cheering is like a sport in itself here, lol, they worked themselves up into a flurry of madness, chanting encouraging songs to the team {or, on several cases, judging by the response of the opposing fans, slamming the other team}, and storming the field en mass whenever a goal was successfully scored, lol), and upon closer inspection of that team I realized that I recognized many of the players as my fellow instructors (I hadn’t been told before the game that it was between us and another school, I had thought that both teams were Salesian, and as a consequence I ended up spending about half the game rooting for the wrong team, lol).
The game lasted the usual 90 minutes, which was really just the right length, as I was standing in the sun the whole time and was just starting to get crispy, with our team coming out as the victor of the match. I really enjoyed watching the game, and I will be looking forward to watching the remaining matches of the Dominic Savio tournament tomorrow and Sunday (Another little funny fact, some of the school kids kept coming up to me and trying to talk to me in Amharic, to which I would reply that I don’t speak Amharic (in Amharic, mind you), but they kept talking and talking, despite the fact that they knew didn’t understand a single word they were say, as if they thought the more words they spouted, the more likely I would understand it, lol. I eventually garnered the help of an older student to help translate and find out what the heck they wanted from me, and it turned out that they were trying to ask me to do a magic trick, lol. Now that I think about it, it has been a long time since I’ve done a morning magic talk with them, so I going to have to plan at least one more before I leave)
Day 284, May 21st, Sat, N/A,
The weather was quite soggy today, but thankfully it cleared up enough in the afternoon for the semifinals of the Dominic Savio football match. I watched a bit of the beginning, but then absconded to the residence to type up some of my blog when I found out the power had returned. The electricity has been fluctuating a good deal lately, seemingly to correspond with the weather, because when it rains, there’s no power, when it’s cloudy, there’s no power, heck, half the time that it’s sunny, there’s no power. In fact, the momentary resurgence of electricity didn’t last very long, it I ended up watching the ending of the football game as well. The climate only became soggier as the afternoon progressed, and by the time evening arrived, the drizzle had turned into a downpour, which at least meant that it would be fairly cool when it was time to sleep, although the heightened level of humidity can sometimes be just as uncomfortable as heat to me.
Tomorrow is promising to be a very interesting day. Legesse and myself will be heading, hopefully (if Abba Filipe docent forget), to Nyenyinyang, Matar, and Ileah.
Day 285, May 22nd, Sun, 91.2°F @ 12:20pm,
At 6:00am, I was up and packing for the day’s journey. Being as I am a somewhat fastidious cautious person, whenever I go on these trips that require traveling an ample distance, I always pack my backpack with things that could possibly come in handy. This often means that I am somewhat over encumbered with items, and this morning, I made sure, was no exception. I had bottles of water, a large first aid kit, Omni-tool, toilette paper, biscuits, my last three energy bars (which my folks had sent), a book, my IPod, an extra rain slick, and of course my every present swiss army knife and bible, not to mention the mucks, slick and hat I was already wearing. I was even wearing a belt, not really for holding up my pants, though that is also a perfectly viable use now that they are a size or two to small, but also so that, in the case of a bone fracture, I will be able to make a splint… lol (have I mentioned that before, hmm, I feel I have, in a kinda déjà vu way). This particular trip, I ended up using several of the things I had brought (not the bone splint or first aid kit, so have no, fear, lol) so I was thankful that I had brought them.
At around 6:20am, Abba arrived and Legesse and myself piled into the vehicle. After we had gone around the town of Gambella for a bit, stopping now and then to let people into the car, we set off to the out-skirts of town and turned onto the road that led to our destination.
The going was a lot rougher than what I had remembered it to be like on my last excursion this way, which probably had something to do with the fact that it had just started to rain after we left Gambella, and by the time we had gone maybe 10km, it had turned into formidable shower that converted the road to mud. Yet, despite this, I swear it seemed as though Abba was driving as though there was no rain at all. The vehicle whizzed across the road at a sometimes alarming rate of speed, and, in order to ensure the continuation of this little thing I like to call my life, I ended up saying three rosaries before I became comfortable enough to “enjoy” the rest of the drive (when I questioned Legesse as to his feelings regarding the ride, they were nearly indistinguishable from mine, lol). We made it to Nyiningyang in one piece at around 10:00am, and I think I should mention that the countryside that we passed through wasn’t much different from the last time I described the trip, other than the fact that all the shrubbery was green now, and there were no more fires, though the large black scars where they had once raged could still be seen through the freshly budding vegetation.
Once we did arrive, it was a bit of a wait for all the parishioners to gather for mass (the purpose of Abba Filipe’s visits), so Legesse and myself went for a bit of a walk around the town in the rain while we waited, talking about the call to the priesthood, as well as the virtues of enduring hardships (very enlightening). We were privy to an interesting spectacle when we returned to the church from our tour of the town; the air was full of termites, swirling about in large droves. They seemed almost to materialize out of thin air, and it was not until I examined the mud walls of the church that I discovered their origin; they were literally coming out of the walls! Lol. Mass service then went underway, and I was really struck by the humbleness of the situation; here we were, in a mud hut, celebrating mass… it was a very deep moment for me. After the service was over, Abba invited Legesse and myself to talk to the parishioners a bit, via translators. I mentioned to them how thankful I was that I was able to share this experience with them, and that I was amazed at how generous they were with each other (during collections, many of them offered a few birr or a handful of grains/corn, which docent sound like much, but is quite monumental when you think of it proportionally), and I reminded them that they aren’t alone, that they were but one part of the Catholic Family, and to never think that they were alone, all of us are with them, spiritually. After our little spiel, we had a quick lunch of dabo (bread), biscuits, and I shared my last few energy bars with Abba and Br.
After lunch, Abba informed us that we wouldn’t be going to Matar or Ileah, due to how much rain had come down (for fear of not being able to make it back) so after a quick tour to see how the church & residence buildings were progressing, we started back towards Gambella. The return trip was actually a bit different from this morning’s; there were vast flocks of ducks/geese, herons, egrets, cranes, and other fantastic bird species, I made sure to get some good videos of us rushing through several of them.
We arrived back to Gambella just in time to witness the final showdown in the Dominic Savio football tournament. The match was between “Big Show” and “New Village” (interesting names for a football team, no?), and after a close and blistering battle, “Big Show” emerged as the victor, by one point. Naturally, during the course of the game, I had been tasked by Abba Larcher with the duty of taking some pics of the action, and I think that I got some pretty good ones. After the game, the award celebration took place, and the top three teams were given a pick of the prizes, which consisted of Jersey’s, shoes, and shorts. After the winning teams had been rewarded, the entirety of the fans, which was comprised of just over a thousand of our oratory kids, rushed to form a line for biscuits, the chaos and dust never settled until the last child left the compound, lol.
Day 286, May 23rd, Mon, N/A,
For English composition class today, I had put together a kind of pre-final practice test for the students to engage in. It covered the basics, such as: defining what nouns, adverbs, etc. are, listing a few of each, and then writing a sentence (coherent) containing said words. There was a lot of clarifying of terms during the session, and I hope that they have finally absorbed enough to be competent.
After the class, I started working on preparing the Final, which is going to be structured in the same manner as the practice I had, only, a good deal bigger, and I will be expecting more specific answers.
Day 287, May 24th, Tue, 74.6°F @ 7:17pm,
I finished arranging the finals test this afternoon, hopefully it will be adequate to gauging the student’s aptitude in the field. It, like yesterday’s practice, consists of three stages; the first is definitions of common word types, the second is to list 10 words of each word type, and the last is to write a paragraph, using all the word types, altogether, it should just take them the time of the class to complete it (1 ½ Hours).
This evening we invited Abba Angelo and Abba Filipe to the compound for dinner, as today was the feast of “Mary Help of Christians”. The menu was about the same as always, except that today there was the inclusion of a red bean dish, wish was very tasty. In a side note, I had accidently made a reservation with David Bock (Have I already mentioned that he has just gotten back in town?) to go and have dinner tonight, but I had forgotten about the dinner with the Salesians, so we had to reschedule it for tomorrow, and hopefully Okello, Br. Legesse and Tsion will be able to join us.
Day 288, May 25th, Wed, N/A,
Ah hah, the day has arrived when mans metal will be tested in the academic fires of education! In other words, the day of English finals has arrived. After making sure all the students had become situated (and it looked like just about all my learners had decided to join us, even ones who had stopped showing up several weeks ago, lol), I passed out the test, told them to write their name and today’s date on the lines allotted, and then informed them that they would have a time limit of one and a half hours, starting now! Once the test had started, I made sure to help as little as possible, I would clarify the questions if they needed, but more than that I would not do (it was actually kinda boring, I just walked here and there to see how they were doing, not saying much unless they needed clarification, it was rather anti-climatic). They started finishing up about an hour and fifteen minutes into it, with the last one finishing practically right on the “bell”, so at least I had planned the length of the test appropriately.
After everyone had finished and turned in their papers (which required a signature from them on the bottom of the page, after which I would scan through the page to make sure they hadn’t missed any questions, and, if they didn’t missed any, I would sign my name as well, signifying the official completion of the test), I retreated to my office and spent the next couple hours grading them. The average score (out of 100) seemed to be around 77, which wasn’t too bad, considering my teaching skills (a lack thereof). Only one really bombed (his score was a 60, he didn’t get his definitions right, tsk tsk, should have been here yesterday {He was one of the blokes who had been missing for weeks}), but there might be a problem with two of them. The majority of the paragraphs that the students wrote were VERY basic, however, these two seemed to display an incredibly professional writing style… a suspiciously professional writing style when compared with the near gibberish they had been writing a month or so ago (during the last writing assignment). My suspicion was that they had somehow snuck a technical pamphlet into the class and had copied off of it, although I’ll be darned if I can figured how I missed spotting them, as I had thought that I had eagled eyed all the perps quite well. It could be that they had simply memorized the words, and if that turns out to be the case, then there’s nothing wrong, although I doubt that will be the case, as even the spelling was pristine, which never happens… ever, lol. In order to get a professional opinion on the matter, I will have to show the work to Br. Endalkachew, but he is nowhere to be seen at the moment, so it will have to late for latter.
In the afternoon Abba Larcher asked me to take pictures of the start of the girls volleyball tournament, will be lasting about a week and a half. Although the volleyball games aren’t met with quite as much enthusiasm, at least from the male students anyway, the girls really get into it, which is nice to see as most of them tend to aspire to a certain level of inactivity which can be somewhat depressing during normal oratory activities.
In the evening, at around 6:10pm, I started walked to the “Green” hotel, were I had agreed to meet with David and Tsion for dinner. On the way to the meeting place, I stopped by the church, where I had agreed to meet up with Br. Legesse and Okello, and then continued onwards. We arrived at the restaurant at just past 6:30pm, and after a short wait, we were joined by David Bock. It’s been awhile since I had seen him last, hmm, I think it was back in December sometime actually, so just over 6 months (he is looking quite well, I think he looked a bit skinny last time we met, but he just came back from his trip to Canada and the food there must have done him a good turn, which makes me anticipate my return all the more lol). After introductions were made to thus among our small party who had not yet met (excluding Tsion, who had not yet shown up), we settled down into some pleasant dialogue concerning various topics, ranging from what he is currently doing (Previously he had been working with IOM, but now he is Working with PACT), to past experiences & future expectations (We talked at length about his experience in planting trees in the Canadian wilds {Like the work that Weyerhaeuser does after it’s cleared a plot), which seemed incredibly fascinating {and perhaps would be a fun experience to do one summer?}, as well as my desire to get my pilots license).
We went on in this manner for a good forty-five minutes, with still now sign of Tsion, despite our many attempts to hail her on her cell (which all failed to connect, I might add, due to network problems), so we decided to go ahead and order our food. When we managed to flag the waiter down, David asked, much to my surprise, whether or not they had hamburgers on the menu tonight, to which the waiter replied, even more to my astonishment, that they did! After placing an order for four of them, we sat back and resumed our discourse, which rambled on much the same way (covering topics like VSat, Motorcycle licenses, a coming concert taking place in Gambella, and of course, food), until 30-45 minutes later (I kid you not, lol. ‘taint no fast food, that’s fo’ sho’!) our Hamburgers arrived. After a quick grace, we dug in, and I have to say, they weren’t too bad, although the title of Hamburger is a little misleading, as it was much more like, say, a meatloaf sandwich, with paddy (the “paddy” was a composite of egg, onions, bread crumbs/flour, peppers, and an unidentifiable substance that I presume was meat, although what kind I can only guess as possibly either mutton or beef), a egg and mayo, between two “buns” (bread lol). Like I mentioned though, it wasn’t half bad.
After we finished our meal, we decided to call it a night, as it was getting somewhat late (I believe it was somewhere between 9:00pm or 9:30pm), and after paying (to which David somehow sneakily escaped with paying for all of us. I vowed however to cover the next one, so we’ll be even then) we went our separate ways, which left Legesse, Okello and myself until we arrived to were Okello called home. After saying adieu to our Annuak amigo, Legesse and myself continued home/compound-wards, talking about this and that (mostly spiritual things, as well as the coming of the end of my stay) while I myself took a personal interest in the stars, which were incredibly clear tonight. After making it back and reading for a bit, I decided to retire for the night so that I could wake up early for class (I’ve heard that they finally fixed the primary school schedule). Today was a very fulfilling day; especially the dinner out as eating out with friends is definitely something that I really miss not being able to do, so tonight’s venture really brought with it a sense nostalgia, and, hopefully, we’ll be able to do it again.
Day 289, May 26th, Thu, N/A
Finally, Art class again! Although, I was somewhat less than thrilled when I discovered that all my classes have been moved to the afternoon on Thursdays (which have been reduced from four classes to two), and even less thrilled to learn that my classes on Fridays have been reduced from four to three, and are staggered in such a way that there is a good deal of space between each class! Yargh! I much prefer classes’ right next to each other so that either the morning or evening is free for me to help various peoples with project… but what can ya do? Oh well, there is only about a month left of school anyway, which is why I have decided not to mention anything to Br. Endalkachew (who is in charge of the structuring of classes), better just to deal with what is dealt I think.
So, after waiting around for most of the morning (there was no power, so I was somewhat limited in what I could do, so I ended up continuing to read my book, which, if I have not mentioned before {I kinda lost track of the things I was reading for a while there}, I Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”. I don’t believe I have ever actually read the original book from cover to cover, so I am quite enjoying this one), and after the lunch and afternoon break, I finally was able to teach the class. And to help with the class, I managed to solicit Br. Legesse’s assistance in translating, which was a big boon for me (Legesse has been somewhat perplexed as to what to do during the day, as most of his responsibilities have been replaced by other teachers, so I figure I will have him help me with my classes, as well as helping out with the sisters maybe). Unfortunately the inclination for copying has only increased in the students during my absence, and almost a third of them were sent out of grade 3, and about a fifth of them in grade four. In particular, there were three serial copiers in the 4th grade group, so after telling them to wait outside for the rest of the class, I informed them that I would like to speak to them after the class was over as well (which I had always wanted to do before, but had never been able to till now, now that I had the translating power of Legesse. So, after the class had finished, I sat the usurpers down and had a bit of a chat with them. I asked them why they copied, I asked them what they wanted to be when they got older (Teacher, School Coordinator, Doctor) I told them why I didn’t want them to copy (to build hand eye coordination as well as good distance/scale/detail recognition skills, which would be useful in each of the jobs that they wanted to go into), and then asked them for their cooperation in learning (well, it was a bit more in depth than that, but that was what the gist of the whole conversation was about). They seemed to respond well, so I released them into the wild, lol.
After class, I accompanied Legesse to the Oratory (which is the one job that he still has everyday), where, for the first time, I was invited to play some foosball/table-football with some of the students and Legesse. Needless to say, they wiped the floor with my… and then rung me out and hung me up to dry, but I enjoyed the experience, and I was even able to get a couple good shots in myself.
In the evening, I became aware that my throat was a bit itchy, which usually meant the advent of some near-future illness, hopefully that is not the case, but I am pretty sure it is… phooey!
And speaking of illness, in an almost prophesy like fashion, today’s Haiku was written while I was sick, some time ago… crazy.
Mire
My feet are heavy,
Fog seems to cloud all my thoughts,
My breath escapes me.
~ じょしゅわ
Day 290, May 27th, Fri, N/A
For art class today I decided to do something a little different, I had the kids line up (with a great deal of assistance of Legesses’s Amharic) and had the kids march to the designated spot where we were going to do our sketching assignment. The kids really got a kick out of it, although order kept breaking up periodically during the marching due to lagers and malcontents, lol, we’ll have to work on that, but I did find that they seemed more focused on their drawing projects.
The object for the 3rd grade classes sketch assignment was Br. Endalkachew’s car, but he moved it as soon as I was about to escort the 4th grade class, so I inquired to Mark-John whether or not it would be possible to catch one of the goats and tie ‘im to a post for the next assignment. Mark-John granted his assent and after gathering up a few fellows would be capturers, we stalked the group of goats that wander around the school grounds, which required a good deal of hearding and chasing on our part. After baiting one of the animals with some biscuits a few times, Mark-John managed to grab it by the head, after which I located some rope which Mark-John then used to tie-up the struggling beast up with. After the animal was properly restrained via rope about the neck, and lashed to a post so that he would stay put, I gathered the next group and marched them (in a much nicer military-like fashion then the last group) down to where the goat was eating biscuits and informed them that this would be their next sketch project for the day. Once the time limit had expired, I marched them back up to the class room and left for lunch, leaving the goat contentedly chewing where it was till the last group of students could have a go at sketching it at 3:40pm. Unfortunately, after lunch I became rather sleepy, and accidently fell asleep while I was reading, and didn’t wake up till 5:00pm, thus missing my class… I guess goat chasing will do that to a man, lol (Thankfully, someone remembered to untie the goat, as I saw it wandering around later today with the rest of its posse).
In the late afternoon, just after I had arisen from my prolonged siesta, Abba Filipe stopped by with a project for me to do, he needed a group of pictures but together into a postcard like setting with Photoshop (like I did with Abba Thomas’s project). I went right to it and managed to finish it in about 30 minutes (I kind of blundered around for a bit until I had found the right image resize rate to use). After turning it back to him (after dinner) I went with Abba Thomas to his office to try and assist him with some computer trouble he had been having. The cankerous computer in question was the assistant’s computer, which Abba stated had been acting weird lately. He asked me to defrag and clean the hard drive and to make a copy of all the documents on a disk. After doing said tasks and reporting my completion to Abba, I discovered that he had meant to say that he wanted the computer reformatted, to which I replied I would need the OS disk in order to do it, and since he didn’t have one with him, we decided to postpone it till another time. While we were there though, he did ask me to set up the scanner so that it would work, which I did, after which I took a postcard that he had handed me asked to put as the wallpaper, so after I scanned it into the computer, I fixed the coloring and saved it in a workable format (which required a bit of searching until I realized I could do it with the “Paint” program) and assigned it as the wallpaper. Everything was going hunky-dory until the computer, with no warning whatsoever turned black. The monitor was on, and so was the machine, but nothing was happening on the screen except an inky blackness devoid of everything (Argh! I’m so sick of these computers man!). I have absolutely no idea what happened, and though I tried resetting the thing, the same screen would come up, there was no start-up or anything… so we decided to try it again when we can find the system disk.
(*To blog readers* though, if anyone knows what happened, they are more than free to send an email. The problem seemed to happen as soon as I assigned a new wallpaper, I don’t know if that is significant or not)
Day 291, May 28th, Sat, N/A
Yesterday night (before the whole computer fiasco) Abba Thomas had mentioned that he was getting very tired of having to drive over the huge pot-holes that start at the beginning of the dirt road that leads to and past our compound, so, this morning I requested the assistance of some workers (I’m pretty sure that I have mentioned this, but in case I haven’t, every Saturday potential workers gather in the compound and Abba Larcher gives them jobs to do, most of them are usually students) from Br. Legesse, who in turn asked Abba Larcher which ones were free to assist, who in turn talked to the person in charge of the technical student workers, who assigned two fellows to the job, and after locating a shovel and a wheelbarrow (which, here, means two poles, across which is nailed a metal sheet, more of a strait “Barrow”, inefficient, but the only tool available) we headed out to the road and started shoveling gravel into the holes. It started with one of us shoveling into the “Barrow” which the remaining two would then carry to the spot where it was to be dumped. This was repeated several times until a sizable pile developed, at which point I abandoned the “Barrow” and started packing down the gravel into the holes as tightly as possible by stamping and jumping on the stuff (after making sure it was properly spread of course). My antics attracted the attention of some kids who were dawdling in the area, and after I gestured that they were free to join me if they liked, I had five pairs of feet assisting me with the task. After we had finished with the gravel, I convinced the others that we should also put a thin layer of dirt across the top as well (which, according to my logic, would help keep the gravel from moving around when cars went over it, and, when the rain came and washed it into the rocks, would form into an almost cement like product), to which I eagerly became the shovel man while they heaped the dirt with the “Barrow”. It was not without a certain amount of amazement that my fellow road workers observed me shoveling away (I guess they don’t white dudes digging holes very often here? Lol, this was exemplify by how many people were honking as they drove past, although I think many of them were just thanking us for the job we were doing), to which I, explained, that I had endured many a year of indentured servitude to my family (Thanks Pa, lol). Jokes aside, we finished transporting the dirt quickly, after which point it was more stamping and jumping the get as much of the dirt flattened into the gravel. We finished our project just as the rain started coming down in sheets, so, after picking up our tools, we rushed for the relative cover of the compound, and, after seeing that the tools were returned, I headed to the office (After changing my shoes for mucks and adding my slick). I arrived somewhat soaked, despite my precautions, so after shaking off a bit, I proceeded inside and managed to locate Br. Endalkachew and give him the suspicious finals test to get an opinion from him. He stated that he would look into the matter, and then asked for my help in arranging the wording of a document he was preparing. He was concerned that he had used to many repetitions of the same sentences to describe the different workshops, but after a bit of head scratching and rearranging, I managed to set it right for him.
After lunch I received a bunch of photos from Abba Thomas which he wanted to be turned into postcards via Photoshop. After working for a bit on them I started getting sleepy and ended up taking a nap for a couple hours, I awoke feeling much refreshed and continued on the assigned project, which for most of today consisted of searching through my 5389+ pictures to find other ones he might like.
Day 292, May 29th, Sun, N/A
Finished up all but two of the Postcard projects for Abba Thomas after mass this morning/afternoon, the others I will be saving for the (last?) seminarian class this week.
At 3:15pm Abba Thomas invited me to go with him on one of his prayer service trips, this time we would be going to a kind of “housewarming” prayer session for a young lady who had just moved into her new house, and so an extra large number of people would probably be there. After stopping by the Sisters compound (to pick up the sisters) and the church compound (to pick up some parishioners) we drove to the outskirts of the town and parked the car out of the way to the side of the road and continued on foot (which at times was hazardous going due to copious amounts of manure, droppings and various other forms of excreta, whose shades seemed to encompass a plethora of colorful shades *Gurgle*. Anyhoo, we all made it to Yeshies house unscathed, and after a quick look-see to discover if my shoes had escaped similarly, we preceded inside.
Yeshies house was actually one of the nicest ones that I have seen so far. The house consisted of thick mud walls painted white on the top half and blue on the bottom. There were 3 rooms in the house itself, which, although they were small, the floor looked level and comfortable (well, as comfortable as a bare earth ground can look). The house even had a front “patio”, were the roof extended forwards a good bit and held up by bamboo, which was surrounded by a split bamboo fence (the Patio area was where we were all situated for prayers, it was large enough to fit at least twenty-somethin’ of us, although we were rather crammed together at some points). The prayer consisted of the rosary as well as intentions and a few hymns, after which the hosts, Yeshie and her family, served a kind of round flat-bread as well as an orange drink to all those gathered (I partook in the bread, but I obtained from the liquid, I have learned my lesson thank you). After everyone had finished the snack, Abba asked me to take several pictures of various groups, and then it was back to the compound (with our Annuak and Nuer parishioners clapping and singing the whole way back, lol).
Once we had arrived back, I happened to check my cell and noticed that Marie (Lay missioner in Addis) had called me while I was gone, so I decided to see if I could return her call (The connection between Addis and Gambella is often sketchy). I managed to get through and talk for a bit (With no network drops during the first 15 minutes, a new record!), she seems to be doing good still, though I guess it’s gotten somewhat cold in Addis (Dropping down to sixty-something). We exchanged stories and experiences concerning recent times (she had recently visited a nearby town, who’s name, it behooves me to say, have forgotten), as well as make possible plans for the future. Since I will be up in Addis sometime in July (the exact date still eludes me), we were thinking about visiting some of the nearby towns, but that kinda depends on how early I can get to Addis (as she starts summer school with the kids during the second week of July). I would really like to be there in time for the 4th, that way I have another American to celebrate with, but at the latest, I might not get there till the 11th, or so, we’ll have to play it by ear. Towards the end, the network started dropping our calls, so we decided to end our conversation with the promise that I would try and contact her at least once more before I left for Addis.
One other incident that occurred this evening deserves a little note, though it is not much more than an observation. As I was walking back to my domicile from the rec-room, I noticed the silhouette of a very large arachnid hanging on the wall in the hallway between the dining room and dormitories (which I have nicknames the bug hall due to how many different kinds I have seen hangin’ out there). I steeled myself and willingly approached it to discovered, to a kind of abstract sense of horror, that it was a spider that was easily the size of my palm. But it wasn’t like the cool tarantula type spiders, oh no, it was the smooth kind *Shudder*, creepy thing! Rather wisely, I decided not to mess with it, though when I had to pass the hall again to get some water I kept a wary eye in it’s direction.
Day 293, May 30th, Mon, N/A,
Last night I had just started to get an early onset of what felt like the African Flu/Cold illness that I had gotten once before, and by this morning, it had blossomed beautifully into a wet cough and a runny nose. But since I didn’t have any classes today, I figured I would sleep as long as I could and try to get the thing over with.
However, I was startled awake by the sound of my mobile ringing, and with an *oomph* I managed to grab a hold of it and answer before it stopped, and, much to my delight, it was my mother (Hmm, is it just me, or is she always calling when I am either sick, or not particularly disposed to conversation due to some other ailment… cursed fates!)! We talked a bit about how things were going and about my return home (which is beginning to seem so close!). She also mentioned that she had sent both the packages I had asked for (Last week I had sent a quick email asking them to send to me a School text book concerning the installation of electricity in a house {Which will be a present to the technical school} as well as the “Freedom Writers Diary” {As a gift for Carlos in Abobo}. I had also asked them to send some candy (specifying them to pick a very “American” candy that would not melt and is individually wrapped), which I will be dispersing to all my associates before I leave. She also informed me that tomorrow afternoon she would send me a money order, which means I will finally be able to pay people back for things and not feel like such a freeloader, lol. We ended the conversation with her promising to call me back sometime tomorrow to let me know about the money transfer, hopefully everything will go alright.
As for the rest of the day, I mostly just rested (slept) and made an attempt (a pitiful one, lol) at writing up some of da blog, but didn’t really make much process.
Day 294, May 31st, Tue, N/A,
I talked to my mother again this morning (waking me from my sleep again, lol) and I wrote down all the information that I would need to claim it at the bank tomorrow (I figured that I would at least give it a day to make sure it transferred properly), and then promptly fell back asleep. Technically I was supposed to be at the sisters compound this morning, but I was just not feeling it, the cough had worsened and the runny nose was still that (more like a leaky faucet) that was at the same time congealing into a crusty substance (fun!), and my throat was swollen and scratchy. I had taken some medicine late yesterday night to ease the symptoms (and hopefully pass them quicker), but it had the side effect of making me really drowsy, which lasted into this morning (medicines tend to do that to me, lol, shoulda seen me when I took an inhaler when I was younger, I was practically bouncing off the walls). Basically most of today was a repeat of yesterday, lots of sleeping.
Day 295, June 1st, Wed, 76.6°F @ 1:20pm,
I was feeling a bit better this morning, so I went to the office and posted the scores from the finals so that all my student could see how they did (I had to explain to the two who were under suspicion that there’s were not quite done yet, and that I, or Br. Endalkachew, would give it to them later. As I was about to leave, I was intercepted by one of my students who informed me that he had not been able to attend the final, to which I replied that he should have at least sent a note explaining thus, to which he answered that he had been with his mother (who was sick at the time). That was as good an excuse as any I guess, so I went about trying to find the spare finals that I thought I had lying around my office somewhere; however, they weren’t to be found, and since there was no electricity, I informed the student that I would wait around the office until the power came back and print him up a copy, and then asked him to stay in the near vicinity so that I could find him when it was done.
About an hour and a half elapsed (which I passed by reading Frankenstein) before the electricity returned, at which point I was able to print the test. After locating the youth and explaining the final, I gave him the same amount of time that the others had had, and then sat back and continued my reading. When the time limit had elapsed, he was just finishing up the paragraph on the last page, and after checking to make sure that had filled in all the blanks, had him sign it off, after which I did the same. I then deposited the document in the office for later grading (as it was lunchtime) and as I proceeded to the residential building, I stopped by Surafle’s office and asked if it would be possible for him to accompany my when I went to the bank this afternoon, which he agreed to do. So, after the lunch & break (during which a torrential typhoon ravished the area, it was pretty wild and I was able to get some decent video clips of it), we set of for the Ethiopian National Bank (where they had a Western Union station). When we arrived there, we were patted down before we were let in, were we took a number and waited while I filled out the proper forms. I finished up the form just as my number was called, so after handing the forms and my identification (passport), we waited… and waited… and waited. Apparently there was some problem with the network and they were having a heck of a time trying to get the information, but after some more waiting (which we passed by watching a TV that was airing something about African animals {which included some stupid white guy putting his head into a crocodiles jaws, and getting subsequently bitten…stupid}) I finally received 3,368birr and 15cents. It was a good feeling to be in the possession of some money again, and hopefully I will be able to get my folks some good souvenirs with it (as well as one or two things for myself, lol)!
In the evening, I had what would be my last official seminarian class, and so I made sure that the subject was a relevant one. I taught them how to make Abba Thomas’s postcards, using Photoshop, and we made very good progress, though whether or not they will remember how to do in the future is yet to be seen. I am hoping that I will at least be able to have a couple supplementary classes as well, and have them actually take part in it instead of just showing them (there wasn’t time to do both unfortunetly).
Day 296, June 2nd, Thu, N/A,
I finished Frankenstein this morning (which I truly relished), and so while I was waiting for my art classes to start in the afternoon, I perused the library, reading a bit of this, and scanning over a bit of that. I finally settled on three books, the first was “Mattimeo”, a “Redwall” book by Brian Jaques (whose writing has definitely left an indelible print upon my youth). The second was a book entitled “Reach for the sky”, by Paul Brickhal, which was a story about a British chap named Douglas Bader, and Ace, who had lost his legs in an accident. The last book was called: “Warden two”, by B.F. Skinner, and it was about a (proposed) utopian society. All three of the books promised a good time, but I had to wait until after the afternoon classes to really make progress on them (the first one I would start would be “Mattimeo”).
The Art classes went somewhat less than ideal, Legesse had been unable to join me (He was off in the town, getting his shoes repaired) and so I was left on my lonesome, which the students took advantage of. It wasn’t unbearable though, and after marching some of the diminutive usurpers out of the classroom and having them stand outside, most of the order was restored.
Aaaand here’s the haiku of the week:
Dawn song
Morning sun rises,
Bringing hopes of a new day,
Possibilities!
~ じょしゅわ
Day 297, June 3rd, Fri, N/A,
Today’s art classes were a close repeat to yesterdays, with Legesse being absent and the urchins being rampant, in the younger classes anyways. But the 4th and 5th grades seem to be shaping up as there seem to be less and less scalawags (instead of more). After the classes were over, I was able to insert myself into a game of volley ball with some of the students (my cough is getting much better now, and my runny nose had been stopped), though I was off in one of the corners and didn’t see much action. I didn’t mind, as they got a kick out of me just being there.
In the evening, Abba Larcher brought a DVD about Ugandan Martyrs, which I watched with avid fascination accompanied by Abba Larcher and Br. Legesse. Many of the early Catholic and Anglican Christian among the natives were brutally murdered by their fellow villagers (with most of them being slowly burnt alive). Watching the film filled me with a great sense of awe at their courage (as most of them willingly submitted to death) as well as a hope that I would behave in a like manner in a similar situation (Thinking about being put in the same situation, one often thinks that it would be an easy task, and it is not until they are actually faced with the situation that their true colors are shown)
Day 298, June 4th, Sat, N/A,
Most of the day was spent savoring the weather (which was quite pleasant today, not rainy, but not to hot and sunny either) and reading Mattimeo. I actually ended up finishing the book (which, in case none of you readers have ever read a “Redwall” book, is about woodland critters armed to the teeth and fighting in epic battles, as well as partaking in equally epic feasts {which is always my favorite part, and I have often vowed that I would someday have a feast of “Redwallian” proportions!}), and I started on my next one, which was Walden two.
So far (I finished about a third of it today) it has been a rather interesting read. It is set up similarly to a work of Aristotle/Socrates, with the conversation taking place between three main characters (one who raises arguments FOR the idea, one who instigates arguments AGAINST the idea, and one, through who’s eyes the reader sees the story unfolding, is neutral to the argument, until the end, when he is won over to a particular side), as well as a few side characters to keep the pace interesting (as well as adding little relevancy’s to the plot). Actually, that’s one of the things that struck me the most when I started reading it, the pace is excellently set, it hasn’t bogged itself down yet and is promising to stay that way. I think I will have to wait until I have finished it until I mention anything about what I think of the “Utopian” society that the author wishes to us to start, but so far most of the arguments have seemed somewhat sound, I’ll just have to wait and see what the rest is like (as bombshells of any relevant size are usually dropped about 2/3’s of the way through a book, lol)
Oh, also, this evening I was informed by Abba Thomas (actually, it was a few days ago, but I had forgotten when exactly, and today seemed and adequate time to print the information, lol) that we would be having some guests tomorrow after the mass. A party of eye doctors and their assistants (who had been in Ethiopian for the past 3 months performing low cost eye surgery to those who needed it) will be stopping by the parish on their way to the airport, and what’s more, several of them are from the state of Washington!
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