CANADA

I'M HOME! oh...it feels so nice! I really miss Namibia already (especially a bunch of the people from there!) but it's really nice to be back! Everything is so green and leafy!! NO MORE SAND!!! (although I do miss seeing the dunes...I just really don't miss walking in sand and getting it everywhere!)

Well, Linus and I had a pretty easy trip home with just a few minor problems...well not even problems, just annoyances. In Walvis Bay our flight was delayed for two and a half hours. It sucked because the whole airport is like the size of a gym. But at least it made our layover in Jo-burg shorter. So, we got to sit together on that short(ish) flight from Walvis Bay to Jo-burg. In Jo-burg we get down to our gates and Linus goes to stand in the line at Gate 24, which is currently getting ready to board.
I say "What are you doing? We're at Gate 23."
he says "No... Gate 24"
"No. Gate 23..."
We compare tickets and realize that we aren't on the same flight! I couldn't believe it!! We were both on South African Airlines but he's flight to London left not even on hour before mine! I was just riding on his tail the entire way there! So dumb!
Well, that was a pretty uneventful flight.. Eleven hours long (yuck). The people on the flight were fantastic! I loved the flight attendants! We all had our own TV's on the back of the seat in front of us where we could watch our choice of movies, tv shows, and play games. The only problem was that there was NO leg room! I mean ZERO! ZIP! NADA!
I was sitting in just a normal position and my knees touched the seat in front of me.
Then the stupid guy in front of me kept his seat reclined for the entire flight! Even during the meals!!! I had to keep tapping his shoulder to get him to move it forward so I could eat! meh...I survived it though - maybe with just slighty more stiff legs than I began!

I met up with Linus in the Heathrow airport later on. We were just making ourselves comfortable in the sitting area when the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate. It was pretty funny actually! We were thinking there couldn't possible be anything else that happened during our way home! And nothing else did so that was great!!
We arrived in Edmonton at 2:03pm, made it through customs with no problems, got to my house by 3:30ish, both had a quick shower and made it out to the Kokopelli retreat at Nakamun by 5:30. It was crazy! We were both incredibly jetlagged by it was really nice to be back!

so, I guess this is the end of my blog... This was an unforgettable, life changing experience and I'm glad I was able to share at least a little bit of it with everyone! Thanks for reading!
Now go visit Africa too!! haha


from the last post here's some pictures from the Camel riding and theFarewell Potjiekos

Last day!

wow. I can't believe I'm on my last day! In exactly 24 hours I'll be traveling to Walvis Bay to catch my flight!!
It's been a very busy past few days trying to cram everything in! So busy I haven't been able to get to the internet cafe! (well that's a lie, I made it yesterday but all the lines were down so I couldn't use it anyways! ...oh I can't wait to get fast internet again!!)
So when did I last write..I think it was tuesday morning?
So, after the internet cafe Ellen and I went to Mondesa to meet up with Linus. He wanted to give us a nice African culinary experience - and an experience it sure was!!
He took us to the market area which they kind of call their "food court". It was sort of like what I wrote about in my first week when we had fatkoeks and capana.
We had a few different things this time though! We had good old fatkoeks (which I friggin love! I could gain 500lbs just by eating those!) and we dipped them into this sauce (sort of gravy). He wouldn't tell us what it was though until we ate it. I had NO idea what the meat was...it almost looked like a flexible honeycomb and the lady serving us didn't speak any english so I couldn't ask her!
Finally a guy was standing near us and decided to buy me and Ellen some of the meat (he just wanted to see if we would actually eat it or not)
So he pops a big piece into his mouth and leaves the rest for us to try...
Linus still wouldn't tell us but said he would if we ate it. It kind of looked like fat with short hair on it (like a brown, meaty astroturf)
I have to admit...I almost puked getting it down..I gagged just slighty. Ellen put it in her mouth but spit it out (she is a vegetarian after all!)
so...it turns out... it was a cows stomach lining.
Not something I ever wanna try again!!

We also tried a traditional drink (which I've had before) It's not my favorite but it was neat to get there in the market! Everyone just sort of gets a big jam jar type thing and stands around and chats and shares the drink.

We then went to get "snacks". These ladies just sit on the side of road near the taxi rink and have cartons of dried fruit, nuts, and fish. I have no idea why you would want to snack on tiny little fishes but apparently lots of people do. eeww...
We got dried fruit...

Then we went back to Linus's house where he gave us an "African Melon". That was interesting! He pulled it out of the fridge and asked if we knew what it was... I thought it was a grapefruit...
It touched it though and it's ROCK hard!! He could barely get a knife in to cut it!
Finally he made a hole big enough for us to stick our fingers in to grab at the fruit inside.
I look inside it and decide right then and there that I do not want to try this. It looked like a brain or a bunch of snot or something! So gross. Finally he convinced us though and it was surprisingly good!! I really enjoyed it!

We had a really good time! It was really nice of Linus to take us out and do all this!
After we left his house we meet up with Pam and then headed out of town to the Camel Farm!!!
Riding a camel is hilarious! They are SO friggin tall! I had no idea! We all got to wear turbans and feel just like an arab in the desert! hahaha! I got to ride Freddie, Pam had Bushman and Ellen was on Olga! hahahaha Olga the camel. I love it
It was a really bumpy ride but still fun. I'm glad we only went for 20 minutes because I don't think my butt would've lasted any longer!

That night we had a rehearsal with Mascato (they have a performance coming up on Monday and Tuesday! busy busy busy!)
So I just came along to help out on the piano... Mrs.Venter used to be an amazing piano player but unfortunately she has really bad arthiritis now and can't really play. So she conducted and I played instead!

Yesterday I met up with Lex and Ellen and the Village Cafe. My last time there *tear* it was wonderful and I got a travel mug to remember it! Lex went off to school and Ellen and I headed off to the wood market. I got a few last things (Erin - I got you some really wicked necklaces there! bone, wood and shell! I hope you like them!!)
Vera came over in the afternoon to give me a little present from her and her piano students. She said they were actually asking if I was coming back! So cute! I actually made an impression on them! I guess that's a good thing if I'm coming home to be a piano teacher!

Last night we did one last fondue night at Lex's house. Pam, Ellen, Mervyn, Fonie and Shannon all came as well! We also decided to make a brie bake as well.
Actually...after we did the Village Cafe in the morning we went to Woermann Brock (a grocery store) and got some dough. (just plain bread dough, nothing fancy!)
So..Lex brought it to her house before she went to school.
When we got to her house at 7 that evening we realized that dough should be kept in the fridge!!! She had just kept it on her counter all day and I think it almost grew legs and walked away!! hahaha
It had exploded through the bag and rose up on her counter! so funny! It took a while for us to beat it back down to normal! We then wrapped the brie up inside and baked it! It was INCREDIBLE!! We ate SO much! And instead of eating it with apples or jam or whatever we dipped it in the fondue! hahaha! So good!!
It was a really fun night and was nice to be able to say goodbye to Shannon, Fonie and Mervyn there!

This morning I took Mrs.Venter out to the Lightkeeper's Cottage for brunch. I can't believe I haven't eaten there before! It was SO good! And so cute too...it's right by the ocean and has a bunch of birds all around (like parrots, budgies, ducks and chickens) Really nice to sit outside and enjoy the food and nature all around!

Tonight I'm going to be having a little packing party in my room. Marcelino is staying over for dinner and then Pam, Lex and Ellen are coming later just to hang and say goodbye and stuff!

ok..this is kind of weird.. I'm listening to my iPod in the i-cafe right now.. I think it's trying to say something to me!! The last 3 songs have been about saying goodbye! First "Say Goodbye" Eva Cassidy, then "Beautiful Goodbye" Amanda Marshall and now the Real Group just came on singing "Hard to Say Goodbye".

well... Goodbye Namibia! It is going to be hard to say goodbye tomorrow!! I'm going to miss you and all your beautiful people!
At least I have a lot of good stuff to come home and look forward to!
See you all in 2 days! Have fun tomorrow at Nakamun! Make sure you don't eat all the rice with gravy without me!!
love you all! *mwah*

last bit...

it's nice to have everything back to normal here! Mrs.Venter got back home around 6ish on Sunday night. She's good as ever and probably running around doing more stuff than she did before! Crazy lady!
yesterday was a nice easy day... I packed one of my suitcases (mostly filled with my huge souviniers). I'm actually really amazed with how much I got in there! Fonie brought my kudu hors for me (which he cut and engraved! so cute) They JUST fit inside! I stuffed as much of my clothes around everything as I could to sort of pad it as well! It's SUPER heavy but I think I'll still have plenty of room in my other suitcase then! w00t!!
So...this is basically the last chance then...if anyone wants anything else from here I can bring it back for you. You have to message me pronto though cuz I think tomorrow might be my last day to shop!
So for the rest of yesterday I walked around town a bit and went into a bunch of shops that I've never been in yet. I bought a couple more small souviniers!
It was really nice actually! Really chilled.
I think I also found a really nice flowering plant that I'm going to get for Mrs.Venter before I go.

Today should be interesting! For the past month or so Linus has been telling me and Ellen he wants us to do a mission for him. He wouldn't tell us at all what he was talking about though!
I think I finally got it out of him yesterday though.. he wants to take us to the market in Mondesa and get fatkoeks and capana and stuff like that! yummy!!
After that we're heading out for CAMEL RIDES!!! I'm so excited for that! It's gonna be so weird!

Alrighty..I'm gonna be off! Only 4 days left till Linus and I leave! CRAZY!!

crazy dayz

Wow. A lot has happened here in the past 2 days! Good, bad and everything in between!
Friday continued nicely... I got home from the Internet café to find Theo and his wife, Tanya there. They had brought their brand new baby along... Not a brand new baby but brand new to them! They just adopted an 18 month old boy named Valentino. He is SO cute and smiley and curious. They stayed and had lunch with us and then it was time for me to head to MYO.

I saw two of Pam’s music classes, the grade 4’s and then the grade 5’s. They both learned the Adiemus dance. It was awesome! They were picking it up really quickly...it’s going to look really cute!

Afterwards Pam and I went shopping for the potjiekos we were having the next day. I still had no idea how many people where coming and how much food we should get. Luckily we met an Afrikaner in the grocery store and she helped us out a bit. Haha
We got TONS of veggies and meat!

We headed back to her house then to prepare the salads and cut up all the veggies for the potjiekos so the next day we would be able to do everything really fast. It was just after 6:30 by the time I left her house. I walked home and got there around 6:45. I figured Mrs.Venter had probably eaten by then so I thought I would just have some soup or something for myself. (I usually always make supper for both of us)
But it was a little weird when I got home because she wasn’t there...but I checked in the garage and her car was still there. Anytime she’s gone her car is gone too, so I thought that was a little odd. I decided to eat though thinking she was maybe just talking to a neighbour or something in the complex. I was going to Lex’s after to get my hair done by Tiro and Sandra but I didn’t want to leave without telling Mrs.Venter because I figured I wouldn’t be back until really late.
She still wasn’t back to I phoned her cell phone to see if I could get a hold of her. She answers and says “Oh sorry to make you worry Jen, I’m just in the hospital”.
“WHAT???” I instantly panicked because she had been feeling ill the day before a bit (like a fever or flu or something...we weren’t sure..)
Apparently she had internal bleeding. Her daughter came to drive her to the hospital.
Now, this sounds worse than it is...I got a call from her the next morning. She said the bleeding was caused from an ulcer. (They did a gasto-whatever to her in the morning...where they stick a camera into your stomach)
So, she had to stay in the hospital all yesterday getting blood transfusions. She’s still there today but phoned this morning to say she’s doing much better but just has to stay for observations till 5pm.
That was quite the scare though... of course being Mrs.Venter she didn’t want anyone else to know or worry about her. She didn’t even want me to tell Mascato! But after I heard everything was fine I told them anyways...

Which brings me to rehearsal – I ran it all by myself yesterday. Mrs.Venter felt so bad and kept apologizing for not being at my last rehearsal! She’s crazy! I told her a million times not to worry and I’d be fine! I’d much rather see her get better and take care of herself!
Rehearsal was really fun though!! I told them right at the beginning that it was my last rehearsal and gave them a little speech about my time here. I told them that I wanted to give them all presents or take them back to Canada or something just to show them how much I love them all but I decided on a potjiekos instead. They were SO excited to get over there after rehearsal. So we ran through the stuff that they needed to do for this dinner in the dunes coming up. We were going to finish at 5 and then head over to Pams for the party but it was only 4 and I had basically done everything we needed to do! So people just started requesting songs like Sanctuary and Baba Yetu and Shed A Little Light. It was really fun! We sang a bunch of traditionals and basically got the party started there.
So I finally decided why don’t we just move it over to Pam’s and then we could at least start cooking and stuff.
EVERYONE came!! I couldn’t believe it! I was sure a few people would leave but everyone in choir came! It was SO much fun!!

Those crazy Namibians really know how to party. There was literally dancing going on wall to wall in Pam’s house! Straight through the kitchen to the living room and right outside! Ernet was incredible and basically took over making the potjiekos for us! She said she makes them all the time and gave us tips and stuff for how to do it. I was really worried about having enough food since there were about 40 people there. We decided instead of doing like a buffet line that we would serve everyone instead! It worked out PERFECT! The last person had just as much as the first and then all the bowls were completely empty! We had a green salad, a pasta/tuna salad, baked beans, maize and potjiekos. It was incredible! Everyone loved it and had a great time.
After the dinner they put on a little show for me. Some of them made up song, they also changed the lyrics to Sweet Spirit (“We’re so sad that Jen is leaving” instead of doom vap va) and sang Hard Goodbye. I got a bunch of speeches and a few presents from people. I was presented from Mascato as a whole with a Springbok skin and a springbok pillow. It was so great. They really now how to make someone feel appreciated and missed.
We finished off with a little dance party and some more singing of traditionals.
After things started winding down and almost everyone left we had a nice little chill out time in Pams room. I had bought wine and beer for some of the older people and also people not in choir (Fonie and Shannon)
We headed out to Fagins and Grunie’s after which is probably going to be my last time there too! Crazy! I had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep the night before so I was started to fade pretty fast. I think I lasted till about 1 and then decided I needed to go home to bed!
It was a fantastic evening! I loved it!

This morning I had Pam, Lex and Ellen over for pancakes. REAL pancakes! Not the little crepes that they call pancakes in Namibia! It was so great to have them! Lex brought over her maple spread. Mmmm it was so yummy!

I kind of feel like I’m going to pass out now though from tiredness! I think I’ll go have a nap! My last lazy Sunday! I’ll miss these!!

Sudoku

Interesting how fast this little game can take over your life. Well...maybe I won’t go quite that far but it definitely is occupying a lot of my time!!
If you don’t know what it is go look it up! It’s sort of numbers-puzzle/mind-game thing...
I first tried one of these games at Vera’s house on Tuesday. I had a bit of a break while we were waiting for another student to show up. Vera was teaching one theory so I thought I would entertain myself by reading the magazine that was on the table. Unfortunately it was in Afrikaans so it wasn’t too entertaining. But wait! There at the back! It was a sudoku puzzle!
I tried a bit of it and I think I got a bit of the numbers in but then the student showed up and I had to stop.
That night I printed a couple of puzzles off the internet and did one before bed. I couldn’t believe how fast the time went by when I was struggling with one of those! I did another on Wednesday and decided to but a book of them yesterday morning. Unfortunately the only ones I could find were in German but I guess it doesn’t really matter...not when you’re just looking at numbers. Some of the books had playing tips and stuff in them though, which would be nice to read (since I don’t really know the best way to start these things)
I figured it would be good for the super long plane rides!

I also found some locks for my luggage yesterday. It wasn’t until I got home and tried them on the zippers that I realized my one suitcase already had a lock on it! The keys are still attached too! Hahaha...I guess that’s what happens when you buy a brand new suitcase and don’t really look it over too much before you pack.

I’m almost finished present shopping too. There’s still one more thing I want to get for Mrs.Venter but everyone else I was planning on getting stuff for is done! YAY!

I went back to Vera’s yesterday for the last time to work with her kiddies. They all showed up, some with their moms in tow, to play for each other. Both Vera and I commented on their performances after. I think it’s pretty good experience for them – just to get them playing in front of people before their exams. (I know I used to always be SO nervous!)

Today I don’t have too much on my plate. If I get a hold of Tiro I might start braiding my hair today! Yay!
I’m heading out to MYO this afternoon to watch Pam’s music class. They have a performance in November and she’s opening with Adiemus. (She’s getting the grade 4’s and 5’s to do choreography with scarves!! Sound familiar? Hahaha) Lex, Ellen and I helped out her come up with the movement a bit!

Alrighty..I’m off! One week and counting! CRAZY!

blah

I'm heading out to Walvis Bay today for the last time.
It's really weird to think I'm doing some stuff for the last time! AH so many mixed feelings!
I don't even know what to think anymore... lots of people have been asking how I'm feeling. If I'm excited to go home? Sad? what?
I don't even know how to answer that anymore... I've been away now for about 4 1/2 months.. this is the longest I've ever been away from home. It's weird...I don't really know what to think.
Beau got to go home to the States for 10 days for his cousins wedding. Lex said that she's dripping with jealousy. I think that's almost how I felt too when Kokopelli left...I was jealous everyone got to go home and be with each other and talk about their experiences.
But, at the same time...I also feel like in the past couple months I've grown a lot closer to a lot of people as well! I think before I wasn't quite as close so that's why I wanted to go home with everyone too...

argh...I don't know.
I think it will be hard no matter what.

I think I'm starting to get more excited to come home thought too because of all the comments I keep hearing about choir. It sounds SO incredible! I can't wait to get back!
Linus and I will be arriving at Nakamun on Saturday hopefully around 5ish (maybe a little earlier..hopefully customs doesn't take too long..)

see you soon...

Yummy!

Just finished a nice breakfast at the Village Café with Lex and Ellen. We also found a salon that sells a bunch of different colours of hair so both Lex and I bought a bunch! (Tiro is braiding mine on Saturday night!! I’m so excited)
They even had crazy colours at this place like neon green and pink. Lex got one bag of bright blue! She’s crazy!! I’m just sticking with the regular browns.

Yesterday went really well again! I went back to Vera’s house to work with some of her piano students. There was one girl who’s only been playing for a few years.. she just skipped grade 2 and started grade 3. She was incredible!! I’ve never seen a little kid be so musical!! Vera also told me that she sings like an angel! She is going to be a talent to reckon with one day!!

I actually don’t have to go back today so I’m going on Thursday instead. Vera said she’s getting all of her students (except two from Swakop) to come that day. They all have to play at least one song for me…it’ll be like a little recital kind of – but then I’m also giving each one a few comments and stuff. Should be interesting!!

Um..well..I think that’s about all that’s new right now!
I’m gonna go walk around a bit...maybe head down to the wood market for a while...
Oh..and thanks so much to the people who have been sending updates about choir!! I’m SO excited to come back and hear how it’s going!! Both Oran and Kokopelli sound amazing!!
See you all soon!

no interesting title today!

Camel riding is happening a week from today! I’m so excited! heehee...it just seems like such a random thing to do!

Yesterday Pam came over for a bit to do some computer stuff. I gave her a program so she could watch season 3 of Lost (Everyone is getting so hooked on it here! haha)
We also figured out all the food we’re going to make for Saturday’s party with Mascato! I’m so excited for it!
I borrowed Elizabethtown from her and Ellen came over later to watch it with me. That was a super cute movie! Very chick-flick but I still enjoyed it!

Today I’m heading back out to Walvis Bay to work with some more of Vera’s piano students. I’ll be seeing some of the same ones I saw last week so it’ll be interesting to see if they have worked on anything I said...
I’m also going out there for my last time tomorrow.

Well, not too much else is happening out here. The weather has amazingly turned worse! It’s supposed to be Spring right now and I was hoping to catch a bit of the warmer weather before I left but it really doesn’t seem like that’s going to be happening! This was probably the coldest morning we’ve had since I’ve been here!! I was freezing while I was eating breakfast... should’ve had oats this morning! meh..

I’m off! See you all in 11 days!

Leaving Again/In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning...

That's my new favouritest song! Thanks John!

Anyhoo...yesterday was another nice relaxing Sunday!
Dollar came over for a bit to talk to Mrs.Venter. She had to drive her grandson somewhere so I gave him some company while he waited for her. It was fun because he really wants to learn how to play guitar and also wants to learn some basic theory. I wrote out a theory sheet for him and gave it to him at Mascato on Saturday. So yesterday I kind of went over it with him. It was crazy, remembering all the little tricks that I learned years ago (like All Cows Eat Grass and Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge) I tested him a bit and now he can figure out where all the notes go on both the treble clef and the bass clef. He figured because he wants to learn the guitar he’d only need to learn the treble clef but I told him he should learn both because he sings bass ‘and wouldn’t it be nice to know what you’re singing in Mascato?’
I started arranging a new song for jazz choir but unfortunately Finale “closed unexpectedly” and I lost everything I had done. (I didn’t save! BAH!)
So that just made me frustrated and I went and watched the new Pink Panther movie on TV instead... It wasn’t really that great. Meh. It kept me entertained for an hour and half though...

I figured since I don’t have too much time left I would ask if anyone wants me to bring back anything for them? (Providing it’s small – I don’t have too much room left in my suitcases!) I’ve already gotten a few requests but I’m still open if there’s anything you’d like me to bring back for you!

Alrighty...I’m off – gotta go find out about riding camels! Toodles!

watching fish

Cool…On my way to the internet café I saw the Queen. Well, not really but this old woman totally looked like her. And I swear was even wearing a coat that I’ve seen Queen Elizabeth wear before!! All she needed was a sparkly crown in her perfectly curled grey hair! Hahaha

Anyhoo, yesterday Ellen and I decided we were going to visit the aquarium. Marcelino came along with us as well. It was really cute...
I went to the aquarium in Cape Town and that one was incredible! It was huge!
The Swakop Aquarium was on a MUCH smaller scale but it was still nice to visit. They had one huge tank with sharks, turtle and crazy big fish in. There was kind of a tunnel way that you could walk underneath it. That was fun. Other than that it was pretty tame...


After that we went to rehearsal. It was great! We didn’t have to act today!! Hahaha
At least I’m not the only one who feels that way... Natasha leaned over to me and asked if the ‘Emotions Lady’ was coming! Haha (she got us to act out different ‘emotions’ last week)

So, I only have one more Saturday rehearsal with Mascato left. That is so crazy! I went over to Pam’s last night and we were chatting a bit about that and also about doing a farewell party for Linus and me. She said we were welcome to use her place for a braai/potjiekos and that we could do it after rehearsal next week.
Now, apparently Mrs.Venter told the choir that next week was my last week and that they should all bring some goodies and stuff so we could have a little party. Of course, I didn’t hear any of this because she was talking in Afrikaans and I usually just space out when people do that.
So, I told Mrs.Venter of my plan this morning and she thinks we can maybe combine the events. (Pam lives like a 2 second walk from the school)
I’m so excited!! I’m going to provide all the meat and salads as sort of my gift to Mascato (because I can’t really think of anything else to get them!)
Mrs.Venter is getting drinks and everyone else is bringing goodies! Should be great fun!!

I think I’m going to go to Pam’s MYO music class on Friday because that’s the last Friday I can! She said that and I was like “No, I still have 2 Fridays” but then I thought about it and I actually leave the next Friday! Time is flying by!!
I’m just trying to fit everything in now... I think Ellen, Pam and I (and maybe Lex, I haven’t talked to her yet) are going to go on a camel ride in the desert! I found a place that does it and it’s surprisingly cheap!! Hahaha...that’ll be crazy! Who can say they’ve rode a camel in a desert?? So random!

So, last week I was thinking that I’m totally ready to come home. Now, this week I wish I had more time! I don’t want to leave!!
Well, I guess in actuality I wish I could come home and have EVERYONE come too! I’m going to miss everyone so much!! At least I get to come back in a year!

Well, 12 days and counting! Linus is getting super pumped too!! It’ll be really fun having him in Canada!

interesting...my last 3 posts started with "Y's". I like alliterations!

Today has been a nice chilled day. I visited the Internet café in the morning and then went shopping a bit. My mom asked me to see if I could find come white calamine lotion. All I got were a bunch of weird looks and no lotion. Apparently it only comes in pink.
I also tried to find a lock for my suitcase but haven’t found any yet.

Since I was out I decided to check out some of my favourite clothing stores. I got a new shirt and a pair of capris! Whop whop!

Mrs.Venter got some awesome things for lunch today as well! She picked up some fatkoeks that were stuffed with curry and mince. It was amazing! I didn’t know you could get fatkoeks like that!! I still don’t understand how everyone in Africa is not 500lbs with all this amazing food they have here!

So, I’m just writing out the last couple of pieces for the musical right now when Marcelino walks into my room and asks if I smell anything strange. I take a sniff and say “Well, it kind of smells like Belka”
He says “Come out here”
So we walk into the office and I almost gag. The neighbours next store just spread compost all over their lawn. It reeks in the house now because the front door was open and the lawn is right next to it!!
Marcelino sprayed a bunch of air freshener so now it smells like fresh laundry rolled in garbage.
Pretty disgusting.

I hope the smell dissipates by the time we have to go to bed.

Excuse me while I puke! Blech...

YAY!

AAAHHH I’m having such a good day I can’t contain it!! I’m so excited!
First off, Scott is amazing! He presented my arrangement of “Mary, Did You Know?” at the choral symposium in Ontario and I’ve already gotten someone emailing me asking if they could do it! MY FIRST CHART SOLD!!!
AND I just got a message on facebook from someone else that knows Scott. She wants to do it in Vancouver!! MY SECOND CHART SOLD!!!

I’m so excited!!!

Secondly, I went to Vera’s house this afternoon to help teach her piano students. I’ve never really done anything like this before so it was pretty cool. Her students are all getting ready for exams (which happen in about 6 weeks) so they are just picking their pieces and getting them good to go. It was really neat because Vera said I gave her some new ideas completely but also reiterated some of the stuff that she’s said to them already, but just put it in a different way so they understood it a little better. It was fun!
She wants me to go back on Tuesday to see them again.

After that we went to The Sea Gulls rehearsal. This is a little group of woman who formed a choir. Wilna directs them. She’s the one that gave Mascato a little mini workshop on Saturday. (I can’t remember if I wrote about that before or not...)
It was really cute!
Wilna gave me a ride back to Swakopmund. She’s a music teacher and does tons of work. She was hoping I could come and see her piano students as well but it looks like I might be gone back home before I have time! She also teaches voice and guitar. Crazy busy! She told me to give her a call sometime though and I could come over to her place and either watch how she teaches (I told her I’m starting to teach when I get home!) or take some guitar lessons! Hahaha...that would be fun!

Cool...so now I’m at home just chillin’. South African Idol is on TV. It’s so crazy because they are WAY harsher on people here than on American or Canadian Idol!! It’s ridiculous! They don’t let people through because their head is bigger than their body, even if they sound fantastic! They are all about the image... it’s crazy! And really funny too because people sometimes sing African traditionals that they just put a ‘pop’ spin on!

Alrighty...well I’m gonna go watch some more bad singers!
*mwah*

*yawn*

ug...Mascato had a performance bright and early this morning! We had to meet at the school at 6:45pm. I don't even really know exactly what it was for... I think the power company or something.
We where just supposed to sing the Anthem at the beginning and the end of their ceremony but we ended up doing way more than that. I was kind of excited though because I've barely gotten to sing any traditionals with Mascato since I've been here! And the best part was that I KNEW the songs we were singing and half of the group DIDN'T!! hahaha It was mostly all the new members this morning so I was teaching the sopranos what to sing! I love it!
So, we started performing at about 8, just singing random traditionals. Finally the minister showed up (he was late) and then we sang the anthem. We were provided with a fantastic breakfast and then went back to sing the anthem at the end.
I just finished meeting Lex and Ellen at the Village Cafe for coffee (well, hot chocolate for me..) and now Ellen and I are hitting up the Internet Cafe.
I'm totally ready for a nap!
I think later on this afternoon I'm going to be heading out to Walvis Bay to go to Vera's house. I'm going to be giving her piano students workshops today and tomorrow. Should be fun!!
Well, I'm off! Havea great day!

Yoga

wow!
I'm really stiff today.
Yoga was fun but really hard!
I would totally look into a beginner class at home though. Shannon is freakishly strong! I tried to do one of the more complicated poses at the end that she made look so simple. I could not even get close to doing it!

maybe we could start a Kokopelli yoga class! hahahaha... can anyone teach?
We should start up Kokobelly again..I'm a little worried to step on a scale when I get home. Too much full fat foods here!! (but so very, very good!)

well..that's about all I'm gonna write for today. My fingers are tired...I wrote out my life story for Fahim because he sent me his.

Only 4 hours of typing later.... ug

Congratulations!

The newest Mascato exchange member is LINUS!
We just told him a few hours ago and he is SO excited!!

oh...this has almost killed me not being able to tell anyone! YAY! Linus!!! YAY!

The Gravel Road

We had another fun-filled weekend here in Swakopmund! Well, more just a fun-filled Saturday Night!! Rehearsal went okay... it was a little more frustrating than it has been in the past but I think it just seemed everyone was kind of in a bad mood.
We didn’t really get very much accomplished. I worked on Tre Cantos and Sweet Spirit with them. Then Mrs.Venter took the rest of the rehearsal and I could tell she was getting frustrated with people, which in turn made the choristers frustrated.

That night was super fun though.. we headed to Gruna Kranz (sp?) to watch Fonie’s band – The Gravelroad
Well... actually first we went to Lex’s house to have a little wine and cheese party. It was cute! Pam, Ellen, Shannon, Fonie, Lex and I were all there. We headed over to the bar after that.
I didn’t really know too much about the band but I knew before hand that they don’t play the ‘standard Namibian’ music. They are more rock influenced I would say. They just met a new girl, Robyn, who has been playing with them for the last little while. She was supposed to open with just her on guitar and vocals with Fonie drumming and doing backups. They sounded really great but unfortunately they were having issues with the sound system and you couldn’t hear her that much. She was supposed to do 4 songs (including Mushaboom) and then the entire band was going to go up. The bass player, Peter, was standing by me during their second song when one of the guitar players ran up to him and said “Management wants us up there after this song!”
Lex and I were SO upset she didn’t get to do Mushaboom!! We told her she should do a private concert for us outside so we could hear it! Hahaha... oh well, maybe some other time...
Anyhoo... I have never seen Gruni’s that busy before! It was completely packed by the time the band started playing. Fonie was incredible – he’s only been playing the drum set for about 8 months! He rocked! Their lead singer/guitar was crazy... he completely reminded me of Jack Black!! So funny!! They were so good – I’ve totally missed being a band groupie. I love it!!
It was so fun having a bunch of people out there too! Aside from the people at Lex’s house - Mervyn, Marcelino, Romano, Reggie and two guys from the marimba group were also there! We all danced up a storm for the remainder of the night all the while trying to avoid the creepy, old, drunk, German man. Isn’t it nice to know you have creepy’s all over the world, no matter what city you go to? Just like home! *sigh*

Sunday was pretty tame... I relaxed, worked on some music, and kind of nursed my aching head. (which I totally swear was from the all the loud music and dancing!!) Don’t worry Mom! I don’t drink here! Haha
I just about finished watching the 3rd season of Lost, which John brought along for me. Holy cow that is the best show ever!! I watched like a good seven episodes yesterday! Haha! It was lovely!

So, today I’m going to do some yoga. I don’t really know the first thing about it but Shannon (Fonie’s girlfriend) teaches a class here. So Lex and I are going to go check it out at 2:30. I thought it was supposed to be all relaxing and like meditating and stuff but apparently it’s actually really hard. Pam told me she went to Shannon’s class last week and was stiff for days! Crazy!

Yay for trying something new!

In other news – Mrs.Venter is going to tell the exchange person today! I’ll let you all know as soon as that person knows! I’m so excited!!!!!

It's September already!!! Holy cow!

WOW! The streets are just swarming with people this morning! It’s the end of the month and everyone’s been paid so everyone’s out shopping! It’s crazy!!
In other news, we have a Mascato rehearsal today and we’re actually not going to be working on any stuff for the musical today! It’ll be kind of nice actually to do some other stuff for a while (always after a rehearsal of the musical I get the music stuck in my head for days after!! Karl Jenkins is just too damn catchy!)

Pam and I had a nice day together yesterday. We hit up the Village Café (which I am SO going to miss when I leave here!) We both brought our computers along so we could trade music and pictures and stuff. After her computer died we headed back to her house to charge it and trade some more. She gave me so much great stuff I’ve never heard of – lots of it she said is very popular in Boston.
I introduced to her the Real Group and Rajaton, which was very exciting! It’s always great to make more a cappella fans! It was great hanging out at her place and eating all her no-bake cookies! Hahaha... yum! We want to have a baking party one day before I go! (random I know...but totally worth it!)
I told her she should come up to Canada and come join Oran! Even if she comes just for a tour or something that would be awesome! She’s an incredible singer! So yeah... hint hint nudge nudge Scott! Haha

Lex, Ellen and I hung out last night and watched a bit of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog on Beau’s computer. Lex’s house is pretty lonely right now with Jenica gone and now also Beau and Casey are out of town. Ellen has been staying with her the past couple of nights which I think is probably a nice change for her! No more crazies from the hostel!
Tonight after the rehearsal we’re going out to watch Fonie’s band play! I’m so excited to hear them!!
It was so funny because last week he was asking me if I had any Canadian bands/music he could listen to because he wants knew ideas for his band. I started playing him some stuff on my iPod and Mushaboom by Feist came on. Suddenly he says “Hey! This is Mushaboom! We play this one!”
I almost fell off my chair! I only found out a couple months ago that Feist is Canadian and I love her! So.... Lex and I are even more excited to see them perform tonight!

Well, I’m home 3 weeks from today. I’m getting a little excited to come home but at the same time I feel like there’s still so much I want to do here but don’t know where to start! I think I have pretty much accomplished everything though that I had originally thought of....
It’s weird – lots of mixed feelings I guess... I miss a lot of things from home right now but at the same time I know I’m going to miss tons of stuff from here!! Especially all the people!

Guess I’d better make the best of these 3 weeks!

camping pictures

Camping pictures!"> Enjoy!!

Camping!

Gladwyn’s Dad’s campsite was SO MUCH FUN!! Kokopelli was supposed to go there for a ‘desert adventure day’ and stay overnight but unfortunate circumstances came up and we weren’t able to. We thought it would have been like an African Nakamun!
After hanging out in Narraville and Kuisebmund for a bit we finally headed out. We got there about 7:30ish. You have to drive through a dried river bed in order to get there so not just any car can do it… it’s incredibly soft sand and cars can get stuck very easily!
So all the ladies were there - Lex, Pam, Jenica, Ellen, Michelle, Natasha and myself. The guys were Garth, Gladwyn and Mervyn. They left to buy wood and other random stuff while the ladies claimed their beds and then sat around and chatted. Ellen and I decided to be pro-active and start the fire without the guys... we did very well, only going through one box of matches! Hahaha
It was so nice though – we were completely spoiled rotten by those boys!! They wouldn’t let us help at all!! Mervyn completely took care of the potjiekos (which is kind of like a stew that make in the fire) and Gladwyn worked the braai. I kept going to the kitchen to see if they needed any help so they finally said I could be in charge of the maize pap. THAT was a mistake! I’ve never made it before... so Pam came into the kitchen to help me. Now, it totally seems like it would be a simple thing to make, you just need salted boiling water – and then you slowly pour the dried maize meal in. Simple, huh? Not! As I’m making it Garth walks into the kitchen and says “Why is it lumpy?” like he’s never seen a lump before in his life! I just calmly replied, “IT’S MY FIRST TIME!”
Great fun... Gladwyn and Mervyn helped me out though and made it a little less lump-tastic.
So when we finally sat down to eat out dinner at 11pm we had an incredible spread - A huge vegetarian potjiekos, chicken, beef, pork, baked beans, and pap. It was fantastic!
We stayed up late talking, listening to music, and dancing (that was mostly just the guys though... those African boys just love to dance!)
Michelle and Garth heading home for the night but the rest of us stayed. There were cute little rooms, 3 beds to a room each with our own bathroom including a shower. They were super nice. These rooms were spread all over the campsite with the fire pit, braai, area, kitchen and hall in the center. We were the only ones out there aside from the care-taker.
The next morning we took our time getting up and had a little bit of breakfast. There was a big tree near by that had a bunch of rope swings and stuff from it so we went and played on there for a while. After that we headed out to the dunes to do a bit of sandboarding. Now that was fun! We basically just used almost like pieces of cardboard and just rubbed a candle on the underside to make it slide better on the sand. We all took turns going down and up and down and up these HUGE dunes. Gladwyn by far did the coolest thing ever. Mervyn and him went up to the highest/steepest point and when down face first. Mervyn went first and zoomed by me... I have no idea how fast he was going but Pam said when she was sandboarding before they said you can get up to 80km/h. I honestly wouldn’t doubt that he was going much slower. So, near the bottom of the dune there are a few plants. Mervyn was trying to steer with his feet but still ended up going through one of them. Gladwyn was next .... he’s zooming by me with sand clouds flying behind him when suddenly we all see him hit this plant which had kind of made a little mound of sand. So, he hits this mound and just goes flying!! He must have been in the air for like 5 seconds and flew probably close to 10 feet. It was ridiculous! I’m surprised he’s not dead but he was okay. His right side of his body hurt cuz that’s what he landed on but other than that he said he was fine. What a crazy, crazy boy!
After we finished with the sand boarding we headed back to the camp and jumped into the pool to try and get all the sand off of us. It was so refreshing!

We hung around a bit more and then decided to head back home. It was so much fun out there and we all kind of want to do it again before I leave!! Maybe....

Last night Mrs.Venter and I hosted a farewell dinner for Michelle and Jenica. Lex, Ellen and Pam came as well. It was really nice... it’s so weird to think that a month has passed by already since they came! Garth, Theo and Tanya (Theo’s wife) came by a little later. We all headed to Lex’s house after to help Jenica pack, hang out and say our goodbyes. Oh...and we also got the CD last night from all the recordings Kokopelli and Mascato did in Windhoek. We also have the entire concert recorded! I'm listening to it as a write!! hahaha.. it sounds SO good! He was a great recording person!! I can't wait for you all to hear it!

Anyhoo... Jenica and Michelle left for Windhoek early this morning – I think it was 7am or something like that... So now we just have Lex, Ellen and Me left representing Canada! haha!

So today, I was supposed to get my hair cut at 9:30. I got there and they told me it’s actually on Saturday even though I told the lady Thursday and I’m pretty sure I even saw her write it in there... oh well. I changed it to this afternoon instead at 2:30. I wanted to get it cut before I get braids put in just cuz it’s been about 9 months or so since I last had it cut and it’s pretty damaged at the ends!

Alrighty... I should run! Have a great day!

Tired News

I forgot to mention my lovely news about Avis. I wrote a while ago about when we went to Sossusvlei and busted a tire on the way home. We ended up having to pay for it.
I just checked my Visa bill and it seemed WAY higher than I was expecting. I thought it would be closer to $1300 but it was $1890 (Namibian)
I had been trying to figure this out in every way possible for the past couple of weeks and finally decided I would just go back to Avis and see what was up.
I went in and told them I was having a hard time figuring out why my bill was so much.
They told me that at Avis they aren’t aloud to just repair tires (which costs under $100 namibian) but they have to actually replace them. Luckily we were just driving a tiny little car because the tires for that are a ridiculous $700!! (around $120 Cnd)
They said they just had to replace a tire on one of the big 4x4 trucks the week before and that cost $1700!! Crazy!! Tires are so expensive here!

Moral of the story – get tire insurance if you’re going to drive on the gravel roads here!

In other more happy news, all the Kokopelli ladies including Natasha and Pam are heading out to Gladwyns dad’s campsite tonight! It’s about 30km outside of Walvis Bay. Mervyn and I just went to pick up all the food for it yesterday!! We’re having a veggie potjiekos and a very meaty braai. We’re staying over night and maybe tomorrow we’ll do some sandboarding! I’m so excited! It’s going to be so much fun!! It’ll be a nice little farewell party for Jenica and Michelle as well, as they are leaving us on Thursday morning already! I can’t believe how fast that month went! September is in like 3 days!!
On Wednesday night, Mrs.Venter and I are having everyone over for dinner. It’ll be a whole house full of girls!! (Lex, Ellen, Jenica, Michelle, and Pam)

oh, I finally got pictures uploaded from the Crystal Gallery! Enjoy

and my mom just sent me an email wondering why I said in my last post the musical will be next summer instead of maybe in March. I guess I didn't really say why - I don't even really know why... I think between Mrs.Venter and Aldo Behrens they think that would be the best time. It will also give the choreographer plenty of time to recover. I found out that she actually had breast cancer and had both breasts removed!! Apparently she is doing quite well though!

alrighty...I'm off! Have a great day!

the weekend

holy cow...this page took SO long to come up today! crazy!! I think that's one of the biggest things I'm missing from home right now - fast internet!! Dial up is sucking my will to live!

anyhoo...I was hoping to post some pictures from the Crystal Gallery as well but I don't think it will be fast enough to load my pics today. boo-urns...

We had a fun-filled weekend here in Swakopmund. Friday Ellen, Jenica, Lex and her dad and his girlfriend and I went to the Crystal Gallery. It's very interesting...lots of pretty rocks! (and holy are they ever expensive! So much for souvenirs from there!)
We also went to the wood market where I had a bartering experience from hell. I'm just not mean enough apparently! I don't like making people mad at me but both Jenica and Ellen are like "come on! let's just go!" meh...I got what I wanted in the end...for just slighty more than I had hoped! haha

Saturday we had a Mascato rehearsal. It wasn't too long this week... 1-6. We realized that even if we say we're going to start at 10...most people just don't show up until 1-ish anyways! It was pretty good...we had hoped to do a little more but we just worked on the musical music in sectionals. I worked with the woman and they are coming along really fast! They sound great!!
Aldo Behrens and his wife came along again for the last hour or so of rehearsal to give us some more acting lessons. I'm still not too much a fan of that! I'll never be an actor! haha.. but at the end it's really fun! They split us into 3 groups and then give each a group a little section of text from the play. We then have about 20 minutes to put that text to music however we want - complete with choreography!
It's actually pretty fun! Last week when we did it, two groups (including mine) used the chord progression to Pachebel's Canon in D. So funny! What are the chances of that??

Yesterday Mrs.Venter and I headed back out to Walvis Bay to work with the marimba group. We started off by reviewing what I did with them on Tuesday and unfortunately pretty much everything was forgotten! hahaha...oh well! They started remembering by the second time through... we also learned all the new stuff! So now they know it all and I have one rehearsal left with them on Thursday just to review everything!
I won't see them again for like another year when the musical will actually happen! Crazy!
They're thinking it'll probably happen now next July, August or September!

I was hoping with marimba group would come to do at least one rehearsal with Mascato before I go but it doesn't look like that's going to happen! oh well - I'll just be in for a bigger surprise when I come in a year!

Last night Lex, Ellen, Jenica and I went to see "Transformers". ...it was...entertaining. By no means my favorite movie! I never saw the cartoon when I was a kid though... I just remember I used to have a semi-truck that turned into a robot. The movie is very, very action packed though.

alrighty...I'm gonna go.... I'm almost out of time on the internet. cya

Die Comedian Harmonists

yay! Ellen is now a year older!! Her birthday was super fun! We took her out for dinner where she got some birthday koeksisters! hahaha.. yummy though! We headed back to Jenica's place to watch "My Date With Drew Barrymore" (a movie that EVERYONE should watch! It was SO good!!)
and then we headed out to party! It was great fun!

Yesterday I had a pretty easy day. I'm almost finished all the songs for the musical. Only 1 more to right out for the piano/synth! w00t! Then just the marimbas to do!

Last night though was interesting... Mrs.Venter and I went to Die Comedian Harmonists. I thought it was going to be more like a concert but it was actually more like a play. Mrs.Venter told me a bit about them... apparently they started during World War II in Germany. They were called 'comedian' harmonists not only because they sang funny songs but mostly because of the way they used their voices. They were pretty much the only group like them back then. Unfortunatly they had to stop singing because three of the five members where Jewish.

So yeah...when Mrs.Venter told me this I thought they would be singing more...but they sort of acted out how they got started and what happened to them and stuff. It seemed like it would be very funny and serious at times too but unfortunately I didn't understand a word. Actually that's a lie, I understood und and I know schnelle but they never said that one.
I kinda want to find out more about them though. It seems like a very interesting story.

Well, I'm off the Crystal Gallery today with Jenica, Lex and her dad. I have no idea what it'll be like but I think Nigel went and said it was pretty neat.

cya

reflection

Yay it’s Ellen’s Birthday today!! Jenica and I are taking her out for dinner tonight and we’ll possibly go out too if Ellen’s up for it!

Yesterday was fun! I had to go back out to Walvis Bay to work with the marimba group again, only this time Fonie wasn’t there (he plays in the group but he is usually the teacher as well...) So I was all on my own to work with these kids again – and it was SO exciting!! We just reviewed the four songs that I taught them on Saturday. The first few times through them were pretty rough. Especially this one song that’s in 5/4. They were having a hell of time counting that one. But the coolest thing happened – the very last time we ran it for the day it just “clicked”. It was so groovy.... You could see every single one of them felt it when it happened – something in their faces changed!! It was so awesome! That made me so excited to keep working with them. I go back on Sunday to teach them the rest of the songs...

Last night I went over to Lex’s house. Now that I officially have less than a month left she got me to start really thinking about my time here. She was asking me to reflect on my experience here so far and how I felt about it. We had a nice little chat about it... her exchange time here was COMPLETELY different than mine. I was kind of comparing them and I felt like I haven’t really connected with Mascato as much as she did – probably mostly because she rehearsed with them three times a week and I only get once a week. But really there’s not too many chances to hang out with people either – they all work or go to school, and none of them live right in town. I’ve mostly just hung out with Marcelino and Linus because they both work at Mrs.Venter’s house so I get to see them almost everyday.
But between talking to Lex and John I have definitely tried to open my eyes more and reflect on my time. Even though I may not have necessarily connected with Mascato as much as I wanted to on a personal level I still feel that I have accomplished a lot with them. And really, Lex thinks that I have not only worked on music with Mascato but I have worked on stuff for Namibia’s entire music scene. Between Mascato, the musical, the marimba group, and Vera’s piano students I really have done a lot. It’s just gone by so fast that I feel like I haven’t done much at all.

In terms of myself, Lex was asking if I personally have felt a change in myself. I didn’t really think so but I was talking to John this morning and he feels like I have more confidence. I don’t really see it but I guess I normally wouldn’t want to put myself in a position where I don’t really know what I’m doing (for example – teaching people to play percussion) but I just went ahead and tried it anyways. And, it turns out I even enjoyed doing it in the end so it’s kind of nice to put your neck out on the line sometimes. If it doesn’t work out you just have to suck it up and move on.
It’s definitely making me more excited to start my job at Giovanni Yamaha! I’ve never taught piano before but after being here – and just trial and error – I think I’ll be able to do it!

I'm pretty pumped about the last month that I have left.
It's really funny how fast time flies when you're having fun. But at the same time, when I think about how I came in May - that feels FOREVER ago already! So weird! I totally imagine this month will fly by though... I only have like 4 more rehearsals left with Mascato! crazy!

I'm so pumped about coming back though too. I was talking to Mrs.Venter about the musical yesterday and she said that Aldo Behrens talked with the bank and they are definitely going to fly me back!! I can't believe it! We were trying to figure out when a good time would be for me (we're still waiting for the choreographer to get better as well) We think we might do it in March. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee that's so cool!!

Well, I guess I'll see you guys all in exactly a month from today! (at the Koko retreat no less! hahaha! way to get thrown right back into the swing of things!)
*mwah*

hair story

I forgot to mention I also straightened my hair with the help of Lex on friday night! I haven't had straight hair in SO long (well...since january I guess)
It was much fun! A bunch of people in mascato had wanted to see it straight and they all kind freaked out a little! It was cute! hahaha



And everyone has gotta do the typical hair toss!

Yesterday...

...was an interesting day. I went to Walvis Bay again to watch the marimbas rehearsal. I wasn’t completely sure what Mrs.Venter wanted me to do with them. Last week they basically just showed us what they have do so far....which was only adding djembes into a couple of songs. Mrs.Venter said she just wanted to stand back, watch and just have me do my thing.
Now what kind of thing do I have with percussion?? I did percussion my grade 12 year in band but never in my right mind would I call myself a percussionist that could possibly teach other people.
So, we started with the first song and luckily for 4 out of the 9 songs we’re doing I have a full orchestra score so I could just pick the instruments out of there and show them what rhythms to do.
It was kind of interesting though.... I really have no idea what to do with djembes! I don’t play them so I just let the guys do their thing. But for the other percussion instruments it was actually kind of fun. I had to even teach some of them how to play the instrument! Like a suspended cymbal! I taught them how to do the big crash sound.
And I taught them how to play claves....they were just playing them like sticks so I showed them how to hold it properly to get the correct sound. And same with a cabasa....most of them had never even heard of one!
So I actually had a pretty good time! Maybe dating a drummer for 3 years made me absorb some of this! Hahaha

We’re having another practice tomorrow where I’m supposed to show them the rest of the songs we haven’t learned yet. I’m going to keep going every Sunday as well to make sure they’re getting everything okay.

Last night was fun too... Lex, her dad and Pam all went out to Sussosvlei for the weekend and Casey and Beau went camping. So Jenica had their house all to herself. Ellen came over to and we all hung out listening to music, playing cards, eating pizza and fondue and watching the new Simpsons movie. (Casey’s friend got a ripped copy of it!) It was SO funny!!

But now, I need to seriously start cracking down and getting my ass in gear! From tomorrow I only have one month left!! I can’t believe how fast time has gone!!! One month! I feel like I still have SO much to do on this musical.

Oh, speaking of the musical I completely forgot about Mascato’s rehearsal on Saturday. THIS was interesting! We had another marathon rehearsal (from 10-5) The morning we just spent in sectionals learning music for the musical.
In the afternoon though – oh man – we had “acting” lessons. See, this is why I sing and play the piano, so I don’t HAVE to act. I can just be in the chorus or the band! I don’t think I have an acting bone in my body.
It was crazy to see how all of Mascato just lets go though...there was maybe only like 5 people that didn’t get completely into it! Professor Aldo Behrens (the man who wrote the script) had his wife come to give us these lessons. I guess either Aldo or his wife is going to come every week to help out.
Seeing Mascato do this is so funny! I just keep thinking what it would be like if Kokopelli ever did a musical? That would be hilarious!

So yeah…I still have to write out/make up all the piano/synth parts. Make up a motif for all the scene changes that the marimbas can play. Make up marimba parts for all the songs. And teach Mascato all the music! AH... this is going to be a hectic month!
Vera brought her klavinova over though so I can start picking out sounds for all the music. She told me at the beginning of September she wants me to come over and do workshops with all her piano students. She said she’s already been scaring them telling them that a Canadian girl is coming to watch them to see if they’ll be ready for their exams. Hahaha... I have no idea what I’m going to do! At least it will be good practice for when I get home and start teaching at Giovanni Yamaha!

Alrighty...enough procrastinating! I got work to do!

cya

this little piggy went to the market.....

I got a pedicure!! Isn’t it lovely? I can totally see why people go to get those! It was very relaxing except for the few moments I had to bite the inside of my mouth to keep from laughing or pulling away when she tickled me! I have very ticklish feet!! She told me the nail polish I picked will make people want to eat my feet because they are like berries.....interesting.

I had an interesting experience in the afternoon as well. Lex, Casey, Ellen and Jenica where heading out to Walvis Bay to get return tickets for Lex and Casey. (they actually had to go out to the airport to do this.) They were going to take the MYO combie and asked if I wanted to come along. I said I could meet them at Shoprite, I made a peanut butter and honey sandwich quickly and left. I think this is probably the first time I’ve ever walked anywhere while eating. As I was walking I was about to pass a guy who promptly stuck out his hand and said “Here Frau!”
“Huh?” I was actually completely confused and had no idea what he meant.
“Here!” he said again and stuck out his hand further.
I finally clued in then that he wanted my sandwich. I had eaten like two bites of it and didn’t really want to give it up, as that was all I had brought for lunch. I asked him if that was what he meant and he just nodded. I ripped it in half and gave some to him. He smiled warmly saying danke and continued on his way. I was very shocked that someone would be outgoing enough to just flat out ask – well, not even ask – just demand that you give them the food that you are obviously in the middle of eating! So random!

So, I met up with everyone else and we headed off to Walvis Bay. It’s a two-lane highway (one lane each way) the entire way there.
It was SO incredibly windy yesterday there where times you couldn’t even see the pavement because there was so much sand covering it! It was crazy! But I finally got a picture of one of my favorite sign. I love how they have to remind people of sand when they clearly live in a desert and have sand dunes along the road. So funny!!

So, now after having a little fun day yesterday I need to crack down and get back to some work. I’m almost done copying/arranging all the vocal parts for the musical. Now I just need to work on the piano, synth, and marimba parts! Oh, and Mascato also has to sing a whole bunch of anthems for something coming up soon (and random anthems like Swaziland, Botswana and Zambia) She mostly only has the melody line and piano accompaniment so she wants me to arrange them so they can be 4 part a cappella. It seems like it will be a lot of work but at least it’s good practice for me! It’s not like I have to do anything super fancy…it’s just tough when I don’t actually know how the anthems go. Did you know the Zambia anthem is the same tune as the South Africa anthem? Just very different words!!

I also got a phone call from John last night and another from my parents. That was nice. It’s good to know things are going great at home! I also borrowed Marcelino’s Oprah DVD’s and watched a couple of those last night. Damn Oprah and here ability to make me cry! Hahaha It was a fun night!!

Miss you all!

Not too much to report. It's still Africa, still misty and wintery, still slow moving. I don't have any idea what I'm going to do when I get home and my life suddenly shifts back into high gear! I'm might go into a bit of shock! It's not too hard to get used to the laid-back relaxed life style here.
I have been working a lot on the music for the musical though - arranging and copying for Mascato. On Sunday I went out to Walvis Bay to see the marimba group. they are going to be performing in the musical as well so Mrs.Venter wanted me to see if I can add anything or give them comments.
I'm getting pretty excited about this whole musical thing...it's going to be a pretty huge deal!

As far as I know, we now have all the applications in for the new exchange person and will be picking them in the next week or so! I'm getting SO excited!! I've talked with Mrs.Venter about it and I think I know who it is!! eeeeeeeeee!!!

Tomorrow Ellen, Jenica and I are going to pedicures. I've never had one before so I'm pretty excited/nervous about it. After walking in sandels almost my entire time here my feet are getting pretty nasty!! Should be a grand time!!

well...I only have a minute left on my internet time!
miss you all...

until next time...

more randomness...

I finally got some pictures up from Okaukuejo Primary School (just inside the Etosha National Park gates)
I only had to try uploading this album like 5 million times! argh!
Enjoy the pictures though!! Those kids are SO cute!
Okaukuejo Primary School

I also stuck up some pictures from when we went out for dinner with Lex's parents the other night.. click here

so...we got Lex and her roomates all moved into their new house yesterday. It's GORGEOUS!! it's massive and brand new everything (the whole place is only like 4 years old!) Astroboy (Lex's cat) doesn't seem to impressed with it yet probably because they are on the second floor of an apartment and now he can't run outside whenever he wants!
We had a movie/fondue night there last night which was great fun! Michelle came in from Walvis Bay to hang with us too! She stayed overnight at my place.

Oh...I think I mentioned this a really long time ago... Before Kokopelli came Garth was rehearsal with the bank he works for (Standard Bank) because they were doing a contest with all the standard banks in Africa. it was for who could right the best jingle. All the Standard Banks in Namibia had their part of the contest last night in Windhoek and all had to perform their songs! Garth's bank WON!!! They get to go to Jo-burg now and represent Namibia!! I'm so excited for them!!

well...I'm off! I have my first Mascato rehearsal today since over a month! Crazy!! It'll be nice to see everyone again though!!
*mwah*

mmmm...lasagne

It's been really nice hanging out with Jenica and Ellen the past week or so... It's especially been nice getting to know Ellen better! She's great!
I forgot to mention in my last post that Mrs.Venter and I had Ellen and Jenica over for dinner the other night... I made my very first home-made lasagne! I turned out surprisingly well (even if it did explode over the top a bit....)

Tonight Jenica, Ellen, Marcelino, Lex and I are going out for dinner with Lex's parents! It's so nice having them here...I hope they have enjoyed their time so far!!

I've been working on music for the musical all day... even though it's been postponed they want to have everything completely prepared so the second the choreographer is better we can start the movement!! I should bring some of the music home for Kokopelli! It's really awesome!!

oh...and Mrs.Venter and I have been chatting about the new exchange student coming from Mascato.. there have been some people applying that I haven't expected! I'm getting really excited to see who it's going to be! We should find out by the end of the month!! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

well..I'm off to dinner! *mwah*

thinking of you

I've realized lately that I'm beginning to miss a few things from home...
I'm not homesick or anything but I just wish I could bring some stuff here and enjoy it as well!

for instance.. I miss my car! I miss driving on the other side of the road (so much so that I turned into the wrong lane doing a right hand turn the other day!) that was fun...

I also want a Perogy Pizza from Boston Pizza SO BAD!!! There's a few food things I've been missing (like good cereal and good movie popcorn)

Maybe it's just that I'm jealous or something that everyone got to go home after tour and I didn't. I've never stayed behind on a tour before so it was a little weird to watch everyone go! I'm not complaining though because I do still love it here and I love being with Mascato and Mrs.Venter...I'm just missing a few things from home... maybe it's just one of those days...
I need to stop listening to choir music on my iPod!

anyhoo...here's some more pictures.
Boulder Beach in South Africa (PENGUINS!)
Zambezi River Cruise in Zambia (HIPPOS!)

pics pics pics

On thursday afternoon Scott, Nigel, Bruce, Erin and I headed off to the "Moonscape" area (about a half hour out of Swakopmund or so) It takes about 2 hours to drive through this park which is supposed to look like the moon. It was really neat! There's a bunch of different things to see along the way including these crazy rare plants. One we saw was over 1500 years old! Check out the pictures!!

Here's some pictures from further back in the tour when we where in Zambia at Victoria Falls!

ENJOY!

random stuff...

well...I found out this morning I have to pay for the tire we blew. Lame...I hope it won't be too much!
In other news...I came across the song that Joel and I wrote on the tour about all our wonderful sicknesses! I thought I'd post the lyrics for your enjoyment!

Verse 1
There's a place in northern Namibia
They call it Popa Falls
The food there was oh so yummy
But now nature desperately calls

Chorus
Puke, spew
Harf, barf
Vomit, chuck
Lose your lunch
Hurl, ralf
Toss your cookies
Blow chunks
Throw it up

Verse 2
Then we finally made it to Zambia
And that's where it got really bad
And though Dreamy Fahimy really likes his poop
Diarrhea isn't so rad

Chorus

Bridge
And then came the dawn
With a technicolour yawn
To fertilize the lawn
Now everybody....

Chorus x2


yup...we had a lot of time on those bus rides!

anyhoo....here's some picture from Sossusvlei
and from Spier

~enjoy

Sossusvlei

We just had such a great weekend!! Jenica, Ellen, Michelle, Scott, Nigel, Bruce, Erin and I all headed about 6 hours out of Swakop to Sossusvlei which has the red sand dunes which are some of the tallest in the world! Even bigger than dune 7!
We left early on friday morning and hit the road....or should I say gravel? 400km on gravel roads SUCK! (especially in a little VW hatchback!) oh well...I'm a pro at driving on gravel now!
We arrived at our camp just in time to settle in and relax before dinner. It was a super nice little area where we were - complete with a mini watering hole!
We got up SUPER early the next day in order to make it to the main gates by sunrise. We were about an hour away so we left the camp at 5:30am! OUCH!
But that was the first African sunrise I've seen since I've been here! Very nice!
We finally got into the park at 6:45 and drove for about another hour to the dunes.
The first hike we did was about two hours and SO cool! I'm SO glad we came early in the morning because we finished by 10am and it was already SO hot!! The hike we did was called "hiddenvlei". Basically it's a trip over some dunes and suddenly when you reach the top of one of them you come to this 'hidden' salt pan. It's so neat...completely white and flat with these giant dead trees. Really creepy but very cool to look at! (if you've ever seen The Cell with Jennifer Lopez - that's where her crazy dreams are filmed!)
we finished that lovely hike and decided to head onto Sossusvlei then which was only 5km away. Unfortuantly you need a 4x4 to drive there because it's super soft sand. There where shuttles there to take you in if you didn't have a 4x4 so we told Scott's car to go ahead and we'll meet them in there. We went to a shuttle to ask to get driven in and he says "$90 per person". .....now, we've already paid $80 each at the gate to get into the park...so we figured these shuttles would be free!
We all decide that's highway robbery and screw it instead. Jenica and Ellen went back to the car to read but Michelle and I decided to be adventurous and try to walk instead. We're like "5km...that's not so bad! we can do it!". After about 20 minutes of walking in the heat and super soft sand we realized what a stupid decision we made! We met up with some people who were walking back and they said it's not that bad and we should be able to make it. We chatted with them for a little bit and found out they were Canadian too. Even more crazy is that when we said why we were in Africa they told us they were from just outside Nelson and saw Kokopelli there! What a small world!!
Anyhoo...Michelle and I trekked on a little more when the shuttle we had first tried to get on stopped by us. He said it's too far to walk and we should come with him...for only $50 together. I told him we had no money because we left it in our car when we decided to walk. We gave us a ride anyways after talking a bit more...he said to meet him at 12:15 and get a ride back with him so we can pay him.
We we finally arrived we found Scott's car right away and hooked up with them instead. We hiked around there a little more and all started to feel a little gross after being in the sun and heat for so long! We caught a ride back with them instead so we wouldn't have to wait around and pay this other dude!
We headed back to our lodge after to chill by the pool and read a bit.
Speaking of reading - I just finished Harry Potter. So, I thought it was a pretty good ending but what was up with the whole "19 Years Later" thing??? That was SSSSSSOOOO cheesy!!
lame lame lame

So...we headed back this morning and were making pretty good time! When we were about an hour and a half from Walvis Bay I heard a "BAM" and got a little freaked out. I pulled over hoping we didn't get a flat tire but low and behold...we did.
4 girls...in the middle of the desert with no cars anywhere to be seen. And the tire didn't just go flat - it pretty much got a big ass whole in it! I must have hit one huge sharp rock in order to do that!
We started taking the spare tire out and tried to figure out how to jack it up when a car came towards us. We kind of tried to flag it down but it didn't even slow down at all! But luckily another truck came by no more than 30 seconds later! A super nice guy came out and changed the tire for us! He even offered to drive the rest of the way behind us to make sure it would be okay! I told him we all had cells with coverage there so it would be fine! But it was so nice of him to offer though!

We made it back to Swakop with no further adventures! The weekend was super fun overall though! Scott and his gang went on to Waterberg to do some crazy horse back riding safari. Ellen, Jenica and I are just chilling at the internet cafe. It's very exciting too!

oh...and other random news - the big musical that Mascato was getting ready for (September 15 & 16) ...and the whole reason why my stay was extended...has been postponed! The choreographer who that had lined up found out she has cancer and has to go for emergency surgery! They don't want to do the play without her so they postponed it till whenever she's better!
I was looking really forward to see how it was going to turn out but I'm glad with lady caught it in time in order to do something about it! Mrs.Venter is thinking that they might even be able to fly me back for it (because the Bank of Windhoek is sponsoring the play) That would be so crazy!
Scott and Mrs.Venter were asking if I wanted to go home earlier now because it's not happening anymore but I said I still wanted to stay. The original exchange was supposed to be 3 months and I arrived on the 10th of May. So really I should have been going back on September 10th (the month Kokopelli was here didn't count as part of the exchange) so really I'm only staying like an extra 11 days! I said I definitaly want to stay!

I should run though... I'm almost out of time on the internet! I normally pre-write my posts on my laptop and then bring them to the internet cafe on my memory stick - but I'm just writing as fast as I can now instead! crazy!

Hope everyone in Kokopelli made it home okay with nothing broken!!
mwah

back at 'home'!

well...back into my daily routine... just with a few extra friends along now! That's exciting!
Yesterday Jenica and I met up with Ellen at the internet cafe and then hit our favorite restaurant, The Village Cafe, for lunch. Jenica needed to pick up a few things for her month long stay at Lex's house (like a towel, pillow and air mattress) as well as a new pair of glasses (her's were unfortuantely sat on during the koko tour...at least she has contacts along!)
I also went over to Avis to rent a car for the weekend because we're taking a little drive down to Sussisvlie (spelling?) where the red dunes are!

We came back to Mrs.Venter's house later to find Scott, Nigel, Bruce and Erin had arrived from Windhoek. It's kind of weird actually to be here - getting back into my routine - and have a bunch of people from home around! It'll take some getting used to!

Later in the evening MYO was debuting their brand new MYO DVD. We all went to see what it was all about! It was awesome...expecially seeing Lex in there! Very cool!

We all went out later to the Light House restaurant along with Lex's parents! It's so neat having them here as well!!

Scott, Nigel and Bruce are staying in their fancy truck thing that has tents of top of it in Mrs.Venter's driveway. It's pretty neat actually... but I got a nice surprise this morning...Scott told me at 11am a local radio station was going to do a phone interview with us! CRAZY! I've never done anything like that before! It was a little scary...but not too bad...he just asked questions about the exchange and how I like it in Namibia and stuff like that!

They all just took off to the Village Cafe to grab some lunch but I decided to stay home and bake a cake! It's Mrs.Venter's birthday tomorrow!! the big 7-5!!!
...and she hasn't even mentioned one little thing about it yet! And I seriously don't even think she would!! She never likes making a big fuss about herself! She's feeling a little under the weather right now so I hope she feels a little better tonight! I'm hoping we'll all be able to make a big supper for her! (and have some cake too!)

YAY!!

picture links

I just realized I haven't put these picture links up yet! Enjoy!!

Waterburg Plateau Pictures

Etosha Pictures

The rest of the tour

Well...the tour is officially done and I have sure forgotten to write in my blog for a good ten days or so... Let’s see what I can remember!

On July 20 we headed off to South Africa. We checked into our AMAZING hotel, The Lord Charles, who was one of our sponsors on the tour. It was like walking into the Hotel Macdonald at home! Holy fancy batman!
After checking in we headed off to Somerset College to do meet Siyacula and do a small rehearsal with them. It was so great getting to see them all again, especially Marijka!
That night we were in for a treat….the World Youth Choir were having a performance in Stellenbosch and we were lucky enough to get tickets for it! It was incredible!! It’s so hard to imagine that all those singers are the same age as us in Kokopelli! They sound SO professional! It was such a neat experience! And it was so great getting to some fellow Canadians in the group as well…Dawn Bailey, who I used to sing with in the Alberta College Choirs, was one of their Soprano 1’s! It’s so neat getting to watch someone you know singing in a group like that!

The next morning we had another rehearsal with Siyacula. We learned some of their music, which was fun and very challenging! We came back to the hotel after to get ready for the Gala fundraiser. I guess they put this fundraiser on every year to help different charities – this year Siyacula was one of them!
It was quite the event (I have never seen so much cutlery for one person in my life…what can you possible do with 4 forks and 4 knives???)
Everyone looked really great too mostly thanks to Amanda!! We set up a little beauty parlor in her room before the fundraiser and did lots of the girls makeup!

On the 22nd we headed off to Spier. I don’t even know how to describe this place…it’s kind of like Fort Edmonton Park except cooler. I think you have to pay an entrance fee...and then when you get inside there’s a fancy restaurant, a cheetah sanctuary, an eagle encounters place, gift shops and picnic areas. For lunch we had a choice of going to the restaurant or just having a picnic. I think most people chose the restaurant but I thought it was a little too expensive (and I wasn’t that hungry) so John and I did the picnic instead. We heading down to the little lake area they had and sat with the ducks. It was really nice and then we had extra time as well to do more of the other things.
We first headed over to the cheetah sanctuary where we actually got to go in and pet an adult cheetah! That was pretty crazy! It even purred for us!!
After that we headed over to the eagle encounter. They had TONS of birds in there including hawks, owls, falcons, secretary birds and of course, eagles. We even got to hold one of the eagles. They put on a little show later too with some of the birds. We got to hold a piece of raw meat on our hands high above our heads and an eagle would swoop down and grab it so fast you barely even notice it! It was really fun!
That evening we all were billeted. I was with a group of 17 people who stayed at what used to be a bed and breakfast (but they are currently tearing it down)
It was SO beautiful there! They live on a vineyard and have a pool and sheep and chickens. The mountains are all around them there. Such beautiful buildings too!

The next morning we did an early performance at Somerset College for an assembly. We just did a couple of songs to get them interested for the concert later that evening.
After that we headed to Lwandle (where Thulani is from) and did a couple of performances there. The first school we visited was HUGE! I think they said they had over 1300 kids (and only 35 teachers! Yikes!) It was an outdoor performance and was a little weird... but still fun.
After that we headed over to a little primary school (like kindergarten age) where Katelyn had been volunteering. There were maybe 30 kids there and they were SO cute! They really seemed to enjoy having us there!
Later that night we had our performance back at Somerset College with Siyacula, which went really well! It was tons of fun!

The next day was a free day where people could do whatever they wanted. Most people decided to go into Cape Town to get some shopping done but John and I decided to sleep in and take it easy! (mostly because I had coughed the entire night and we barely got any sleep!)
So, we stayed at our billets house for the morning watching the rain and reading some Harry Potter. We decided that we would try to walk somewhere to find a restaurant for lunch. We got maybe 10 minutes away when Phillipa, our billet mom, drove by us and said she would drive us to an amazing restaurant. It was a winery called Avontuur Estates that apparently has been voted the best place in South Africa to have lunch. After eating there….I would completely agree! At home we probably would have paid over $100 dollars for what we ate and the service we got but it was so reasonable priced (like maybe $50 cnd) and we both had wine, main course and dessert! It took us just over a half hour to walk back after buying a couple bottles of wine in the store there. We just chilled some more at the house and waited for everyone to get back. We did a little mini performance in the house for Phillipa and her kids.

On the 25th we headed to Cape Town. We went to Boulders Beach where we saw tons of penguins. SO CUTE!!
Later on we headed to the Waterfront Market and did a little performance in the amphitheatre. Then we shopped, shopped and shopped! I think everyone was starting to realize how few days we had left so they needed to get all their souvenirs sooner than later!
The next day was also a shopping day. It was a free day to do what we wanted and unfortunately it was SO rainy again! That was the day we were supposed to go shark diving but they phoned and said it was too dangerous to take the boat out because it was too windy and rainy. Sad :(
But was had fun at the markets again. We also went to the new Harry Potter movie later in the afternoon.

The next day we flew back to Windhoek. We spent 4 days there, which included our final concert with Mascato at the National Theatre. It was a really great concert to end the tour! We also did some recordings with Mascato (and they recorded the concert as well). I’m really excited to hear how those turned out!
For Kokopelli, we had one final celebration at Joe’s Beer House. This place is sort of more for tourists…they have things on the menu like the “bushman platter” which is a kebob of meat like kudu, ostrich, crocodile and zebra. I had that last time we were in Africa and my favorite meat on that was the zebra so this time I just got a zebra steak. Holy cow it is SO good!!! We had a great time there!
Our very last night we were privileged enough to get a workshop with the director of the World Youth Choir. We also got a workshop with Marcelinus, who is a great composer and has worked with Mascato before. He taught us two of his songs.

The next day was our last time altogether. Everyone was to head off to the airport at 4:00. Me, Jenica, Michelle, Ellen and the Mascato boys that stayed behind all left at noon so we could catch a combie back to Swakopmund. That was a long ride back…it’s about a 4 hour drive but it was SO hot! They totally over crowd those combie’s to make as much money as they can. The one we were in should sit max. 11 people. We had 15!! Ew...sticky sweaty people...at least it wasn’t smelly!

So…now we’re back in Swakop and everyone else is in London. Scott, Nigel, Bruce and Erin are still in Windhoek though on their way to Swakop sometime today.
It was a really great tour overall…with lots more adventures and challenges than we had our previous time to Africa. But that’ll just make it all the more memorable.
I have now been in Africa for almost 3 months and have another 1 month and 3 weeks to go. That seems like such a short time!! Wow…it’s been going by so fast!

I’ll try to post pictures as soon as I can! I have lots and lots to upload so it could take a while!!

Miss you all at home! Hope you’re still having a wonderful summer!

on the road again...

July 19 – 1:22pm

We’re off to Namibia again!
But I’ll go back first to where I left off a few days ago…

The people who stayed in tents at the Fawlty Towers Lodge had quite a cold night.... we luckily got good news in the morning though. All of us were moved into the rooms for the next night!
In the morning we went on a cruise on the Zambezi river. It was awesome! It was such a huge river (maybe about twice as wide as the North Saskatchewan River) We saw a whole bunch of hippos in and out of the water. I love watching their ears! So cute! They make some pretty funny noises. We only saw one crocodile but that was pretty neat anyways! ….this was actually the first place that we saw monkeys chilling in the trees too!!
After spending just over an hour on the boat we came back and heading to Victoria Falls. There was some discussion going on to whether or not these are one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
After seeing them – I would say yes!! They were INCREDIBLE! It was way different than seeing Niagara Falls. (way taller and way wider!) They had a pathway that went sort of directly in front of the falls. It was gorgeous… it felt like we were in a rain forest. Everyone who went that way got pretty much completely soaked! It was neat because just as we arrived the President of Djibouti was just leaving. He had a huge convoy with tons of security.
After we did the falls there was a little wood market area where some of us bought some goodies! I must say I’m getting way better at bartering! I got a hippo and a rhino made out of mahogany wood. He originally wanted like 400 Rand for one but I was able to get him done to 100 Rant (about $18 Cnd) for both plus two presents! (a bracelet and a giraffe)
I also picked up a neat painting of three musicians!

After the falls we heading back to our lodge where we had the choice of chilling out there or going on helicopter trips/bungee jumping/gorge swing. I decided to just relax since I didn’t get too much sleep in that tent the night before. We just relaxed around the pool which was really nice! The gorge swing sounded like tons of fun though…quite a few people did that! (Basically just fall of a cliff and swing back and forth over the water from Victoria Falls!)
The night we had probably one of the weirdest concerts we had since we’ve arrived! It was at a shooting range and was a beautiful building with amazing scenery. We sang outside on the steps up to the main building. The concert didn’t start until sunset and there was two other groups before us. (so it was pretty much completely dark by the time we were to perform!)
The first people performing were just two guys from Cape Town. They were called the Drum Company and had a REALLY cool instrument called a “hung”. They said they got it in Sweden. (check it out… www.hung.sh)
The next group to perform was the Brethren Church Choir. They were really groovy and fun to watch. They had some great drummers with them as well (almost more ike west African drummer…it was really complex!)
Then we performed...it was the first formal concert we’ve done since we left Swakopmund! It was a little weird cuz I think there where almost more people in the choir than there were in the audience! Lots of people just brought their own lawn chairs along and sat in those instead of the seating they had set up. And there was a BBQ so people kept getting up to get burgers/chicken/steak and drinks. It was a little weird but still a really nice place to perform!

The next day we got up super early to start heading for Botswana. It was a SUPER long drive (about 13 hours or so by the time we got to our hotels)
It was pretty uneventful aside from when we had to make random stops along the way to wash our shoes. They are very aware of bringing foot-mouth disease into that country so they have stops along the way where you have to step on the mat thing with chemicals. The bus had to drive through a big puddle of it too. Really bizarre.
Oh…and the “ferry” ride from Zambia to Botswana was pretty scary too…One of our bus drivers had to bribe them to let us on in front of the line (with a whole $10 US dollars!)
But once we got on the ferry we noticed the wood floor had tons of whole in it…You could see rocks under some of the planks of wood to keep them from falling and they basically just laid metal sheets over most of the whole. A little sketchy but we made it anyways.

We spent the night in Botswana split up between 5 different hotels. Everyone was pretty tired and just hit the pillow as soon as they could. We are currently on the road again now…on our way back to Namibia! YAY!
I wish we could have spent a little more time in Botswana because it seemed like a really nice place. But I wasn’t too sad about leaving Zambia…That was about the only place so far that I felt a little scared. The people there are definitely more forward in trying to sell you stuff/pickpocket you. The hotel even had hired a guard to watch our buses over night so they wouldn’t get broken into!

We spend tonight in Windhoek and then head to the airport bright and early to catch our flight to Cape Town! I’m so excited to get to South Africa!

July 19 – 6:33pm

So…we’re still on the bus but we’ve been having a great time on the last leg of our super long bus rides! It all started at the border from Botswana to Namibia when we all decided we were going to make a run for the border instead of driving it on the bus.
It was so nice to get a little bit of exercise!
Kim met a lovely guy from Halifax named Rob in the border control area who had just been robbed and needed to get to Windhoek. So he is now riding on our big booty bus instead of dangerously hitch hiking after dark!
After spending forever at the passport place in Namibia we all headed back on to our respective buses to make the last 4ish hour drive.
Erin Lange has a wonderful little speaker set that you can stick your iPod into. So we had a little dance party on our bus with everything from Bootylicious to choir stuff to Cadillac Ranch! It was great fun…

We are all getting a little antsy thought being on a bus for about 3 days straight! I can’t even begin to imagine what the bus drivers are feeling like! This would be illegal in Canada!
Oh well…we’re almost at Windhoek! I can’t get to see the Roof of Africa Inn again! And I can’t wait for supper…they always have such amazing food there!!

w00t!!