Community Based Training

December 30th

So, CBT (Community Based Training) is over. Here are some reflections/interesting happenings:

My host family: I stayed with a teacher, his wife, and their two kids (Roberto and Larisha). The kids were cute, but sometimes required way too much energy on my part, and so became slightly annoying. I discovered I am a kid person for 3 hours—anything after that and I am counting down the seconds til I can leave the house.
Otjimbingwe: a small town in the middle of nowhere. It was absolutely beautiful with the most amazing sunsets, but the major pastime was consumption of beer to excess amounts and all the problems that result.
Model School: We rocked the model school. I did a project with my 10th grade English kids—they did an awesome job.
The Bing-ers: There were 9 girls (an Otjiherero speaking and a Khoekhoe speaking group) who were all awesome. We spent all day with each other and noone got on each others nerves. On ocassion we hid from the total lack of privacy we receive at host fam.
Wildest host fam: Not mine, thank god, but one host fam did include an obsessive sister, domestic abuse, random family members camping in the yard, a knife fight outside her window, an 11 year old alcoholic, among other things. Insanity.
Bat boy: Every little town has their insane kid. Bat boy was ours. He prefers to live in the bushes even though he has a family and is probably 11 years old and definitely not all there. He came every day to get some free food after model school even though he did not attend model school. He subsistes entirely on handouts and is a lot smarter than people think he is.
How Bat boy got his name: One of the first days he put a petrified dead bat by Julia as a joke. Gross.
Why Bat boy got kicked out once: by putting baby birds in his pocket and then trying to eat them.
Why Bat boy cracks us up: In the middle of the 8th grade presentations, Bat boy sits in the area where the kids were presenting with bat dog, his faithful companion. He pulls the dog onto his lap and pets it while the 8th graders step around him to continue their dramas.
When Bat boy cracked: On the last day of model school he brought a knife to school. That in itself made me nervous. Then Kate told him to put it away and he came after her with knife raised high. Jessica saw and said “not ok” and then he came after Catherine a little later. We sent some 10th grade boys to get him out of the school yard. Later he sicced his dog on Jessica. Nobody got hurt, thank god.
Bat boy’s family: Apparently he has a crazy uncle who was in jail for a while and liked to break into people’s houses and poo in their pots and pans. Also a crazy cousin is currently in jail for killing the pastor’s pig. A sane aunt and sister are also in the picture but the insane half of the family refuses to live with them. As you can see, Bat boy was a major fixture of our entertainment here.
Garderner’s Daughter: And just why arent Luisa Fernanda and Carlos Eduardo together? Come on, Luisa get with it.
My suitor: Some kid came over to “get to know me better.” We watched GD together each night. Awkward. Then he gives me a Christmas present: cookies and shampoo. The next day he writes me a love letter, and I quote:
“I am stucked between two valleys, not knowing what to say or do at this point as I am leaving. . . .[Your host mom] said you were leaving and you know what it hurt like crazy . . . because I am in love with u.” We had one freaking conversation.
“We were both so busy, u with school teaching, me with business customizing, so it’s a real pity we couldn’t make time for ourselves.” I was busy trying to avoid you.
“Only heavens know how I’m gonna cope without seeing you every day. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. This is pure and exquisite and I you feel the same.”
I about died laughing at that one. Lesson learned: don’t be nice to men here. Just say No. Or they will stalk you like there’s no tomorrow, and you’re the last female on earth.

So I’m back in the Handj for a week and a half and SO glad to have some space. But it is sad because training is coming to an end, and I will miss all my friends I made here! I don’t have any group that I can hang with, and most people do have at least one person they can hang with for the next 2 years. But I am near Windhoek—maybe can find some friends there?