A Namibian Birthday

A Namibian Birthday
So I’ve been having a series of weeks where I’m tired, been traveling too much, and just want to spend time with American friends. I’ve skipped school twice (once unsuccessfully—yes, they came to my house looking for me), and I’ve been disillusioned with my secondary projects. As I suspected, they flourished in the beginning only to disspate within, oh 2 weeks. Sigh. Guess salsa club is a no go. However, they still like the Spanish and English classes.
Just when you think noone really cares you’re here, including yourself, you have a birthday. I’m 25 today and here’s what’s happened so far.
7:00 Went to school late teachers sang happy birthday to me as I came in.
7:40 Kids sang happy brithday to me.
9:00 Ate cake (Mr. K made for me), cookies (yes, chocolate chip—I made them myself), cookies somebody bought for me. It was nice.
9:30 performance by community AIDS group that I am not a part of, nor did I know existed
Also received several homemade cards from the kids.
2:00 Played cards with about 20 kids. Damn they are SO good at memory, they kicked my ass. A few girls combed my hair into the ‘fro it gets when it's combed, while another child kept plucking out some of my arm hairs and putting them on his arm. Oh, Namibia.
4:00 Sent the kids away for some solitude. Am online now.
7:00 Dance—haven’t gone yet tho. It's only 5pm here, but I fully intend to teach them the electric slide. Woo.

Overall, not depressing at all. Except that my 20s are half over! (And this whole year of my life, I'll be in Namibia! That's the only thought that makes me want to leave . . .)

Tomorrow is Sport day, and then on Sunday I have to hike in to Windhoek again for medical check-ups.

Hard Days

June was not an easy month.
--Only other white people were assaulted and robbed.
--Kindergardener was killed (possibly by own mother) and thrown in sewage tank.
--I was robbed at knifepoint (again) in Windhoek. I’m on cellphone #3.
--My mirror broke. I bought a new one and someone sat on it, so it broke before I could even get it home. Not a good sign.
--My toilet is not functioning properly.
--Still haven’t got any reimbursements for electricity.
--Suitor # 3 is in love with me even though I said, “Don’t waste your time, I don’t like you” to the kid’s face.

I came to Africa for several reasons:
1. Learn another language
2. Challenge myself
3. Experience something new
4. Figure out what Africa is about, like with AIDS etc.
5. Find out if I like all of the 3rd world or just Latin America
6. Eliminate any subconscious racism

Here’s the Verdict:
1. Nope. Not going to happen. I’m done.
2. Yes. In many more ways than I ever thought. Like how to deal with constantly being a victim of crime. Or how to live in a dangerous city. Or how to deal with Namibian crap all the time.
3. Yes. In many more ways than I ever thought.
4. Yes. I get it now.
5. Yes. I love Latin America. Namibia is just too hard to really love. But that’s not to say that there won’t be some things I will truly miss.
6. No. If anything I am becoming more racist. When I see black men I just want to avoid them because chances are they are going to rob me or hit on me.

On another note:
Secondary projects are coming along ok. English class is so far a success. AIDS club, not so much, mainly because I don’t know what I’m doing. Dance club is tomorrow. Woo.