Hello all. I am writing this entry from the Roof of Africa in Windhoek. We are currently “en route” to South Africa. I have put “en route” in quotation marks because we actually can’t leave until tomorrow. More on that later.
I’m going to write this blog in two parts. First, I will update you on my trip to Etosha, and the past week, and then I’ll update you on the past two days. You’ll see why in a minute.
Last Saturday Scott left to meet up with Katy and Bruce at the World Choir Symposium in Copenhagen, Denmark. To check out how that went, go look at Katy’s note and pictures on facebook. Looks like good (but expensive) times were had all around.
Anyway, with Scott gone, it was just Nigel and I at the house. We thought this would be a good opportunity to go to Etosha for a camping trip. So on Monday we packed up the truck and headed to the Etosha Safari Camp which is located just outside the south gate of the park (Kokopelli stayed there in 2004). We looked into camping prices inside the park, but they were way, way, way more expensive. Besides the camps outside were pretty much as good. The one real advantage of staying inside the park is that you get to see the watering holes at night. The way our booking worked out, we were able to get the Monday night at the Etosha Safari Camp and the Tuesday night at another camp just outside the eastern gate.
So on Tuesday we basically made our way slowly across the park stopping at the Okakueyo, Hilali, and Namutoni camps, and various other watering holes along the way. Tuesday was great – we saw everything that we went to see: springbok, zebra, oryx, kudu, hartebeest, wildebeest, dik-diks, steenbok, ostrich, giraffes, elephants, and even a hyena. Tuesday evening we checked into the new camp. A very nice lady name Solomi was dealing with our reservation. The first question she asked us was a very common one – “are you Americans?” “No, Canadians,” we replied. Then a question we were not expecting – “do you know the Kokopelli Choir?” We couldn’t believe it! It turns out that she used to sing in Mascato and was there for our 2004 tour! Anyway, we had another good night – at least as good as we could have had sleeping in the back of the truck. We didn’t have a tent so we made a makeshift bed by folding the back seats down and throwing a mattress in there. Unfortunately, the seats didn’t lie flat so we were sleeping at an incline. It was OK for two nights but any longer would have been a bit much.
Wednesday was the icing on the cake. We had seen everything we came to see on Tuesday, so anything extra would just be a nice bonus. And we got a couple bonuses. First, before we even into the park I saw (Nigel just missed it) some sort of wildcat running across the street. There are a couple small cats found in Etosha, but I didn’t get a good enough look to tell for sure what it was. It was definitely bigger than a domestic cat – more of a lynx-sized animal. Next once in the park, we pulled up next to another group of people who were looking very intently at something that we couldn’t see. They told us it was a Cheetah! Eventually we saw it, just lounging in the shade under at tree about 80m away. Unfortunately we couldn’t get a great picture of it at that distance, but we had some binoculars that gave us a pretty good look. Very cool to see an animal like this in the wild! Each time I’ve been to Etosha I’ve seen a different big cat – first time we saw a leopard, then a couple lions, and now a Cheetah!
Then the climax . . .
On our way back, we decided to take a bit of a back road with hopes of seeing something new. We hadn’t seen any eland yet, so we thought Eland Drive might be a good bet. Well, it wasn’t. For about an hour we drove without seeing a single animal. But, Eland Drive connected onto Rhino Drive. And what did we see there? No, not rhinos, but as we turned a corner Nigel spotted at the end of the road about 400-500m away an elephant. Now, we’d already seen several elephants, so at this point it wasn’t particular special. Yet. We continued to drive down the road a ways until we saw that he was walking towards us. At this point we figured it would probably be a good idea to stop and let him come to us. So we stopped and waited while this huge bull elephant slowly made its way down the road. Closer and closer it came. We were starting to get a little antsy as he was starting to get a little uncomfortably closer. Finally, at a distance of about 15-20m in front of the truck, the elephant stopped. He turned his head to the side so that with one eye he was looking directly at us. I guess he didn’t like what he saw, because a split second later he was charging at us! Luckily we’d had the forethought to leave the car running and we reversed as fast as we could. Once we were a little further back, the elephant seemed to calm down and resume a walking pace. But the problem was, he was still walking down the road toward us. So we just kept backing up. Eventually after backing up for around a kilometer, the elephant finally went into the bush. I’ll attach some of my pictures to the end of this blog so you can check him out. Nigel also put together a video that should be up on facebook soon. Unfortunately neither of us were filming when the elephant started charging (since we were more worried about living), so you’ll have to use your imagination for that part. It was definitely a bit of a life-flashing-before-eyes moment though.
That pretty much sums up our Etosha adventure. The one thing I would say though is that it was really nice to be in a smaller vehicle as opposed to the giant tour busses that we had to use for practical purposes on the two Kokopelli tours. There are some smaller animals like birds, and snakes and things that we got glimpses of this time, which really went unnoticed before. So if any choir folk are thinking of making a return trip to Namibia, I would definitely recommend revisiting Etosha.
Other than that trip, I’ve been keeping busy with copying string parts for the musical (which I am finally finished). We had a very encouraging rehearsal the other day, where we added guitar to a couple songs. Also, Michelle got a few pictures of some of the costumes for the musical, so check them out on facebook.
P.S. Sorry, I didn't have enough internet time to post pictures. Next time.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Part II: The Flat
So as I stated in my first entry, this will be an account of the past two days.
I’ll start by catching you up with our plans. Monday morning, Scott was set to arrive back from his trip to Copenhagen. So, Nigel, Michelle, and I were going to drive down Windhoek on Sunday, stay overnight at the Roof of Africa, pick Scott up from the airport and head straight to South Africa to visit Siyacula for a week or so. I should also mention in passing that Sunday was Michelle’s birthday . . . Yay! Sunday was going swimmingly. Saturday evening we had gone out for dinner with Garth to celebrate Michelle’s birthday. Then we played some Dutch Blitz, and Garth and Michelle stayed the night just to make it easier the next day. So, we’re all packed up and leaving, making sure we have everything we need - clothes, toiletries, passports. Passports! Michelle forgot hers at Garth’s in Walvis Bay! Well, driving to Walvis Bay and back would add another hour to the journey, and it was already starting to get a little late. No bother though, there is another road to Windhoek that goes straight from Walvis Bay. It’s a gravel road and goes through the mountains, but it’s shorter, and we have and SUV so it was fine. Plus Garth got a ride home instead of having to take a taxi! Everything was fine.
So we get the passport and we’re on our way. And what a beautiful drive it is. There’s hardly any traffic and some of the views are just spectacular. Plus, there are TONS of animals! Mountain zebra (slightly different from the common zebras running around Etosha, and very cool because Namibia is the only place in the world they are found), oryx, kudu, ostrich, and very panicky bunnies which couldn’t seem to figure out that the car would stop chasing them is they simply go off the road! The sun is still setting pretty early here so much of the tricky mountain passes were in the dark. But it was ok. Everything was fine.
Then, disaster. About 140km out of Windhoek we got a flat. Did I mention that this road was really nice because there were no other cars? Oh yeah, I did. And did I mention that it was Michelle’s birthday? Perfect. Well, not to worry though because Nigel knows his way around a jack, and we had a spare tire. So Nigel got to work taking the old tire off, and I was even able to make myself useful by getting the spare tire off the back and ready to put on. Everything was fine. That is, until we noticed that there was one lug nut that needed a special key in order to remove it. We searched the car up and down to no avail. But, luckily Nigel had the presence of mind to remember that he and Scott had stayed at a ranch fairly nearby a couple weeks ago when Nigel first arrived. So Michelle called Garth back in Walvis and had him find the number. We called, and although they said they were too far away to come out, they gave us the number of a German couple who were fairly close to us who could come and help. So we gave them a call and they were on their way. Everything was fine.
45 minutes passed and there was no sign of them. We called back and it turned out the gentleman had already gone out and seen nothing and gone back. So we assured them that we were actually there and we really needed help quite desperately because it was around 9pm and it was getting very cold out. So he came back out and found us this time. Everything was fine.
Unfortunately, what he brought with him were the exact tools that we had told them that we already had and which wouldn’t work. So he came, did nothing, asked for a ridiculous amount of money to cover his gas, and left. Did I mention it was Michelle’s birthday?
Luckily, as a back-up plan, Michelle had been in contact with a garage in Windhoek who would be able to come and rescue us. Unfortunately it would be very expensive and it would take two hours to get there. On top of that, they wouldn’t be able to fix the problem there; they would just load the truck onto a bigger flatbed truck and get it fixed in the morning. That was our last resort though so we went for it. In retrospect we should have just called them in the first place. But in retrospect, we should have just taken the main road, and Michelle shouldn’t have forgotten her passport, and so on and so on. Since it was her birthday and all though, I’ll forgive her :P
So for two hours we waited in the freezing cold. Did I mention that the heater in Scott’s truck doesn’t work? No, I forgot that part. We tried to sleep a little but it was seriously sooooo cold. But eventually, a kindly gentleman by the name of Philip rescued us, and at midnight we were on our way. We got to the Roof of Africa at around 2:30am and had to be up early to pick up Scott from the airport. And there was the other problem – how were we going to pick Scott up without a car? Luckily the manager at the garage was a really great guy name Jan, and he offered to give us a ride to the airport in the morning (and only charged N$100 for the gas, which probably didn’t come close to actually covering it).
Oh, did I say give “us” a ride to the airport? Well I meant give Nigel and Michelle a ride. I figured it would be pretty cramped in there with five people, so I opted to stay in bed. It’s OK though, they’re all napping right now.
So Scott got in all right and Jan took them back to the garage to get the truck with the newly installed spare tire. Unfortunately though, a new tire would have to be bought, and just to add insult to injury the rims on both the wheel that got the flat and on the spare were dented and needed to be repaired. After the three of them returned to the hotel and grabbed some breakfast, Scott and I headed out to the tire place to get all the tire and rim business sorted out. At first they were telling us that it would take about a week to fix the rims, but after they heard that we were supposed to be leaving for South Africa today, they said they’d be able to get it ready for tomorrow morning. So I won’t mention how much the towing, new tire, rim repair, extra night at hotel, etc. all costs, but I will tell you that it’s a lot.
Hopefully though we’ve used up all are bad luck over the past 24 hours and the rest of the trip will go smoothly. At least we’ll get to go to Joe’s Beerhouse for dinner tonight though!
I’ll start by catching you up with our plans. Monday morning, Scott was set to arrive back from his trip to Copenhagen. So, Nigel, Michelle, and I were going to drive down Windhoek on Sunday, stay overnight at the Roof of Africa, pick Scott up from the airport and head straight to South Africa to visit Siyacula for a week or so. I should also mention in passing that Sunday was Michelle’s birthday . . . Yay! Sunday was going swimmingly. Saturday evening we had gone out for dinner with Garth to celebrate Michelle’s birthday. Then we played some Dutch Blitz, and Garth and Michelle stayed the night just to make it easier the next day. So, we’re all packed up and leaving, making sure we have everything we need - clothes, toiletries, passports. Passports! Michelle forgot hers at Garth’s in Walvis Bay! Well, driving to Walvis Bay and back would add another hour to the journey, and it was already starting to get a little late. No bother though, there is another road to Windhoek that goes straight from Walvis Bay. It’s a gravel road and goes through the mountains, but it’s shorter, and we have and SUV so it was fine. Plus Garth got a ride home instead of having to take a taxi! Everything was fine.
So we get the passport and we’re on our way. And what a beautiful drive it is. There’s hardly any traffic and some of the views are just spectacular. Plus, there are TONS of animals! Mountain zebra (slightly different from the common zebras running around Etosha, and very cool because Namibia is the only place in the world they are found), oryx, kudu, ostrich, and very panicky bunnies which couldn’t seem to figure out that the car would stop chasing them is they simply go off the road! The sun is still setting pretty early here so much of the tricky mountain passes were in the dark. But it was ok. Everything was fine.
Then, disaster. About 140km out of Windhoek we got a flat. Did I mention that this road was really nice because there were no other cars? Oh yeah, I did. And did I mention that it was Michelle’s birthday? Perfect. Well, not to worry though because Nigel knows his way around a jack, and we had a spare tire. So Nigel got to work taking the old tire off, and I was even able to make myself useful by getting the spare tire off the back and ready to put on. Everything was fine. That is, until we noticed that there was one lug nut that needed a special key in order to remove it. We searched the car up and down to no avail. But, luckily Nigel had the presence of mind to remember that he and Scott had stayed at a ranch fairly nearby a couple weeks ago when Nigel first arrived. So Michelle called Garth back in Walvis and had him find the number. We called, and although they said they were too far away to come out, they gave us the number of a German couple who were fairly close to us who could come and help. So we gave them a call and they were on their way. Everything was fine.
45 minutes passed and there was no sign of them. We called back and it turned out the gentleman had already gone out and seen nothing and gone back. So we assured them that we were actually there and we really needed help quite desperately because it was around 9pm and it was getting very cold out. So he came back out and found us this time. Everything was fine.
Unfortunately, what he brought with him were the exact tools that we had told them that we already had and which wouldn’t work. So he came, did nothing, asked for a ridiculous amount of money to cover his gas, and left. Did I mention it was Michelle’s birthday?
Luckily, as a back-up plan, Michelle had been in contact with a garage in Windhoek who would be able to come and rescue us. Unfortunately it would be very expensive and it would take two hours to get there. On top of that, they wouldn’t be able to fix the problem there; they would just load the truck onto a bigger flatbed truck and get it fixed in the morning. That was our last resort though so we went for it. In retrospect we should have just called them in the first place. But in retrospect, we should have just taken the main road, and Michelle shouldn’t have forgotten her passport, and so on and so on. Since it was her birthday and all though, I’ll forgive her :P
So for two hours we waited in the freezing cold. Did I mention that the heater in Scott’s truck doesn’t work? No, I forgot that part. We tried to sleep a little but it was seriously sooooo cold. But eventually, a kindly gentleman by the name of Philip rescued us, and at midnight we were on our way. We got to the Roof of Africa at around 2:30am and had to be up early to pick up Scott from the airport. And there was the other problem – how were we going to pick Scott up without a car? Luckily the manager at the garage was a really great guy name Jan, and he offered to give us a ride to the airport in the morning (and only charged N$100 for the gas, which probably didn’t come close to actually covering it).
Oh, did I say give “us” a ride to the airport? Well I meant give Nigel and Michelle a ride. I figured it would be pretty cramped in there with five people, so I opted to stay in bed. It’s OK though, they’re all napping right now.
So Scott got in all right and Jan took them back to the garage to get the truck with the newly installed spare tire. Unfortunately though, a new tire would have to be bought, and just to add insult to injury the rims on both the wheel that got the flat and on the spare were dented and needed to be repaired. After the three of them returned to the hotel and grabbed some breakfast, Scott and I headed out to the tire place to get all the tire and rim business sorted out. At first they were telling us that it would take about a week to fix the rims, but after they heard that we were supposed to be leaving for South Africa today, they said they’d be able to get it ready for tomorrow morning. So I won’t mention how much the towing, new tire, rim repair, extra night at hotel, etc. all costs, but I will tell you that it’s a lot.
Hopefully though we’ve used up all are bad luck over the past 24 hours and the rest of the trip will go smoothly. At least we’ll get to go to Joe’s Beerhouse for dinner tonight though!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Spitzkoppe, Kapana, and Line-Dancing
These weeks are going by so fast! And that’s kind of scary because I only have about 8 left. As of next week half my time here will officially be gone. ☹
So here’s a run-down of the past week.
Last Friday was a hoot. Scott, Nigel, Michelle, and I went for a daytrip out to Spitzkoppe. Last summer Kokopelli was supposed to go there, but it was the infamous day of the east wind. That would have made it pretty miserable out there, combined with the fact that it wasn’t safe to drive with all the blowing sand. So what Spitzkoppe is essentially is a series of really cool mountainous rock formations. Thousands of years ago, I’m guessing there would have been some serious seismic activity going on creating these huge mounds. But what makes the place so interesting is that the rocks have been worn down over the centuries by wind and rain to the point that once jagged mountains (like our relatively new Rocky Mountains) have become smooth and rounded. There are a bunch of different hikes and trails to do which one could never do in a single day, so we started out by going to a place called Bushman’s Paradise. You start with a very steep incline taking you to this very cool plateau. Luckily there is a chain to hold on to (which was really helpful on the way down. At the top we got a great view of our surroundings, and checked out some of the interesting rock formations around and about. There was even a little cave-like under hang with some ancient wall paintings. After we’d checked out that area, Scott had another hike in mind. This one took us down the other side of Bushman’s Paradise, through a valley, and up what was basically a mountain. I don’t think any of us other than Scott really knew what we were in for. Apart from the grueling climb with no trail to speak of, the real annoyance was all the flies buzzing around our heads. We figured out though that they don’t bother you so much if you’re in the shade. Anyway, we eventually made it to the top that made the hike completely worth it. At this point time was getting on and we were all getting pretty hungry, so we headed back to the car (which was faster on the way back, but which probably still took close to an hour). By the time we got back my legs felt like jelly and I had five blisters on my feet, but I was still very glad that I had done it. For lunch we headed to what Scott described as the “Natural Bridge”, which was a huge rock with a big hole in it, creating a bridge. So we just chilled there for a while eating our sandwiches and watching the geckos run around. It was already past 3 o’clock when we finished our lunch, and we couldn’t believe how quickly the day had passed. After lunch we headed home.
On Friday evening there was a big fundraising concert involving a bunch of choirs from local high schools. The event was planned by Ritchie from Mascato and was held at Atlantic Junior Secondary School (which is the school that Ritchie recently started a choir at). Now the thing that would make this evening interested is that Ritchie had come to me the day before to inform me that I would be the MC for the event. Foolishly I accepted, but brilliantly I convinced Michelle to be my co-MC. When we got there Ritchie gave us the run-down of how the program was going to work and as always there was mass confusion over some last minute changes. In the end though it all worked out fine. Michelle and I started with a conversation about how hot it was here and what a beautiful “summer” they were having and why did everyone have a coat on. It was pretty funny as we eventually “realized” that it was actually winter there and that we were “confused” because we’re from Canada. Something really cool about the event was that either current or past Mascato members directed every single choir. Linus, Hillya (Sister Bettina), Ritchie, Theophilia, and Sylvanis (former Mascato member) all had groups performing, and all did very well. Linus, Bobby, Sammy, Michael, and Ritchie’s boy band “Vocal Galore” also performed. At the end Scott presented awards of participation to all the groups. All in all it was a fun evening and a successfully planned event by Ritchie.
On Saturday we had jazz choir rehearsal and Mascato rehearsal. Both went very well. The jazz choir is really coming along. We started the really hard version of “Kiss by a Rose” that Kokopelli tried and failed a couple years ago and they’re holding their own. And despite the fact that we’re all on Jenkins overload, things are really started to sound great.
Tuesday was my first chance to try “Kapana”. Here’s a description stolen from the internet: “The cultural equivalent of the American hot dog, grilled beef – Kapana – is the street food of this cow-revering nation's rich and poor.” So there’s this place next to MYO called “Firebar” which is basically a grill and a table. You go and you pick out the piece of meat you want and you stick it on the grill to warm up. Then you grab a plate and a knife and fork and you grab some chili sauce and a faetkoek (deep-fried bread) and finally your now sizzling piece of meat. All of this costs $21 Namibian, which is less than $3 Canadian (and the pieces of meat are NOT small). After lunch we stopped by Mrs. Venter’s house to visit. Mrs. Venter’s 13-year-old blind German Sheppard, Belka, recently passed away. For anyone who has lost a pet you know how hard it can be, so we just want to show her some love and make sure she’s doing ok. After that Michelle and I headed back to MYO to teach Engelhardt’s dance class the Cadillac Ranch. A couple of them recognized it from when “Miss Alexis” taught it to them a couple years ago. But even the ones who did know it didn’t really remember the whole thing, so our time wasn’t wasted. The class actually went really well. For me as a future teacher it was a great experience to have some time in front of a class and it was also really helpful to have someone with a bit more experience like Michelle there.
For the past couple days I’ve been doing some work for the musical. Mrs. Venter has full scores (strings and percussion) of some of the music but no individual parts. So I’ve been writing out the string parts in Finale and extracting them to give to the string players. It’s a pretty big job to copy out all that music, but I’m finished 2 of the 5 pieces that she has the score for. The other pieces are going to have to be arranged/transcribed, which is going to be an even bigger job (*cough* Jen *cough*).
Anyway, Scott and I are just headed over to the Art Café for some lunch. They serve a different buffet every day, so when they’ve got something good we go there. It’s really cheap too, which is nice.
-Joel.
So here’s a run-down of the past week.
Last Friday was a hoot. Scott, Nigel, Michelle, and I went for a daytrip out to Spitzkoppe. Last summer Kokopelli was supposed to go there, but it was the infamous day of the east wind. That would have made it pretty miserable out there, combined with the fact that it wasn’t safe to drive with all the blowing sand. So what Spitzkoppe is essentially is a series of really cool mountainous rock formations. Thousands of years ago, I’m guessing there would have been some serious seismic activity going on creating these huge mounds. But what makes the place so interesting is that the rocks have been worn down over the centuries by wind and rain to the point that once jagged mountains (like our relatively new Rocky Mountains) have become smooth and rounded. There are a bunch of different hikes and trails to do which one could never do in a single day, so we started out by going to a place called Bushman’s Paradise. You start with a very steep incline taking you to this very cool plateau. Luckily there is a chain to hold on to (which was really helpful on the way down. At the top we got a great view of our surroundings, and checked out some of the interesting rock formations around and about. There was even a little cave-like under hang with some ancient wall paintings. After we’d checked out that area, Scott had another hike in mind. This one took us down the other side of Bushman’s Paradise, through a valley, and up what was basically a mountain. I don’t think any of us other than Scott really knew what we were in for. Apart from the grueling climb with no trail to speak of, the real annoyance was all the flies buzzing around our heads. We figured out though that they don’t bother you so much if you’re in the shade. Anyway, we eventually made it to the top that made the hike completely worth it. At this point time was getting on and we were all getting pretty hungry, so we headed back to the car (which was faster on the way back, but which probably still took close to an hour). By the time we got back my legs felt like jelly and I had five blisters on my feet, but I was still very glad that I had done it. For lunch we headed to what Scott described as the “Natural Bridge”, which was a huge rock with a big hole in it, creating a bridge. So we just chilled there for a while eating our sandwiches and watching the geckos run around. It was already past 3 o’clock when we finished our lunch, and we couldn’t believe how quickly the day had passed. After lunch we headed home.
On Friday evening there was a big fundraising concert involving a bunch of choirs from local high schools. The event was planned by Ritchie from Mascato and was held at Atlantic Junior Secondary School (which is the school that Ritchie recently started a choir at). Now the thing that would make this evening interested is that Ritchie had come to me the day before to inform me that I would be the MC for the event. Foolishly I accepted, but brilliantly I convinced Michelle to be my co-MC. When we got there Ritchie gave us the run-down of how the program was going to work and as always there was mass confusion over some last minute changes. In the end though it all worked out fine. Michelle and I started with a conversation about how hot it was here and what a beautiful “summer” they were having and why did everyone have a coat on. It was pretty funny as we eventually “realized” that it was actually winter there and that we were “confused” because we’re from Canada. Something really cool about the event was that either current or past Mascato members directed every single choir. Linus, Hillya (Sister Bettina), Ritchie, Theophilia, and Sylvanis (former Mascato member) all had groups performing, and all did very well. Linus, Bobby, Sammy, Michael, and Ritchie’s boy band “Vocal Galore” also performed. At the end Scott presented awards of participation to all the groups. All in all it was a fun evening and a successfully planned event by Ritchie.
On Saturday we had jazz choir rehearsal and Mascato rehearsal. Both went very well. The jazz choir is really coming along. We started the really hard version of “Kiss by a Rose” that Kokopelli tried and failed a couple years ago and they’re holding their own. And despite the fact that we’re all on Jenkins overload, things are really started to sound great.
Tuesday was my first chance to try “Kapana”. Here’s a description stolen from the internet: “The cultural equivalent of the American hot dog, grilled beef – Kapana – is the street food of this cow-revering nation's rich and poor.” So there’s this place next to MYO called “Firebar” which is basically a grill and a table. You go and you pick out the piece of meat you want and you stick it on the grill to warm up. Then you grab a plate and a knife and fork and you grab some chili sauce and a faetkoek (deep-fried bread) and finally your now sizzling piece of meat. All of this costs $21 Namibian, which is less than $3 Canadian (and the pieces of meat are NOT small). After lunch we stopped by Mrs. Venter’s house to visit. Mrs. Venter’s 13-year-old blind German Sheppard, Belka, recently passed away. For anyone who has lost a pet you know how hard it can be, so we just want to show her some love and make sure she’s doing ok. After that Michelle and I headed back to MYO to teach Engelhardt’s dance class the Cadillac Ranch. A couple of them recognized it from when “Miss Alexis” taught it to them a couple years ago. But even the ones who did know it didn’t really remember the whole thing, so our time wasn’t wasted. The class actually went really well. For me as a future teacher it was a great experience to have some time in front of a class and it was also really helpful to have someone with a bit more experience like Michelle there.
For the past couple days I’ve been doing some work for the musical. Mrs. Venter has full scores (strings and percussion) of some of the music but no individual parts. So I’ve been writing out the string parts in Finale and extracting them to give to the string players. It’s a pretty big job to copy out all that music, but I’m finished 2 of the 5 pieces that she has the score for. The other pieces are going to have to be arranged/transcribed, which is going to be an even bigger job (*cough* Jen *cough*).
Anyway, Scott and I are just headed over to the Art Café for some lunch. They serve a different buffet every day, so when they’ve got something good we go there. It’s really cheap too, which is nice.
-Joel.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
A Vicious Cycle
I don’t blog because there’s too much to blog about, and there’s too much to blog about because I don’t blog – it’s a vicious cycle.
But now I’m really going to do it.
When I last left you I had just sung in a concert with the University of Pretoria Youth Choir. That was less than two weeks ago, but it seriously feels like a month. I won’t try to give a day by day update, because there’s no way I can remember, so I’ll just give highlights that I do remember.
Highlight #1: Afroshine Concert!
So the show went really well. The guys did great with lots of energy, and they really got the crowd into it (and I managed not to screw up, for my part). The problem though, was that there wasn’t really much of a crowd there. There was basically no promotion done for the show whatsoever – most people who came to the show didn’t even know that Afroshine was performing! However, the venue has since asked the boys back, promising that it will be different this time and there will be promotion done and their costs will be covered (which didn’t happen by a LOT this time) and whatnot. There’s also been some talk that we could get a couple small gigs around town with just the boys singing and me playing guitar – could be fun.
Highlight #2: Walvis Bay Performance and Megan’s Departure ☹
Monday morning was a bit of a gong show. After the Afroshine concert we had to drive back to Swakop. Even though you’re not supposed to drive on the highways at night, Garth had to get to work and Mascato had a performance early in the morning in Walvis Bay, so we had to choice. So after about three hours of sleep we were up again to go to this performance (I should mention that Scott was really sick and was unable to drive us, meaning that I was driving! Still better than Scott, poor fella). Speaking of poor fellas, keep in mind that Megan had to have all her things packed because her flight left right after the performance! So, we got there, sang the national anthem and the AU anthem and we were done. Well, at least Megan and I were done – the choir sang a few more songs later in the morning, but we had to go into town. Megan’s camera screen had broken the day before and we were going to see if we could get it fixed on replaced and we needed to leave plenty of time to catch the plane. Unfortunately. Megan ended up having to buy a new camera for the second time this trip! (Her first camera stopped working after it got sand in it). After a quick bite to eat, we headed off to the Airport. FYI, Megan is spending the rest of the summer as a nanny in Spain (in case you’re wondering why she’s nowhere to be found in Edmonton).
Highlight #3: Jazz Choir!
Monday before last we started a jazz choir! We’ve been singing “If It Could Be”, “Lady Madonna”, and “Even the Pain”. Apart from Linus, Sandra, Marcelino, and I no one has sung in a jazz choir before, but it’s sounding really great so far. Scott and I have both been very impressed with their progress. Also, the group will be performing at a festival at the end of September (unfortunately I’ll be gone by then. boo!). This weekend we’ll probably start some new tunes – “Time After Time” and “Kiss by a Rose” (just imagine Romano singing the solo on that one!).
Highlight #4: Geocaching Excursion #1
Tuesday before last was Canada Day! With nothing to do, Scott and I decided to do some geocaching! There was one cache in Walvis Bay that Scott **gasp** HADN’T FOUND YET!!!! It was hidden out by the Walvis Bay lighthouse out on a sandy peninsula next to a seal colony. Since we were headed to out to Walvis, we stopped by Garth’s place in Narraville to pick up Michelle. Before we headed out on our adventure we stopped for lunch at this cool looking restaurant on stilts over the water. The food wasn’t great, but it was a cool spot – we saw tons of jellyfish out the window, and even some dolphins! After lunch our adventure began. And it really was an adventure. “Road” would be a huge overstatement for what we were driving on. It’s a good thing Scott’s truck has 4-wheel drive. It should also mention that it was extremely foggy which just added to the ambience. Although we almost got stuck in the sand a couple times, we made it out to the lighthouse and found the cache! On the way back we were able to drive right along the ocean and see seals flopping around in the water.
Highlight #5: Nigel’s Arrival
Nigel arrived in Swakop last Friday. Since he’s been here we’ve had some really great game nights. We found a toy store the other day – Scott bought a game called Puerto Rico and Nigel bought Lego. Puerto Rico is a really fun game – the best I’ve done so far is second place with 43 points, but it’s actually fun even when you lose. It’s a pretty complicated game though, so it takes a while to get into it. We’ve also played some Dutch Blitz, and I’m proud to say that the last time we played I beat Scott, Nigel, and Linus twice in a row! Nigel claims he’s out of practice, which I’m guessing is true because he has a reputation as a Dutch Blitz master.
Highlight #6: Quadding Round #2
If you’ve read my previous entries you know that our first quadding experience was a little disappointing because we were having to constantly stop and wait for one very slow woman. Ever since then we’d been feeling a need for speed and were itching to go quadding again. Unfortunately Michelle couldn’t make it this time, and Megan’s in Spain so we took Nigel and Marcelino instead. Also we took the fancy semi-automatic bikes this time so that we could go super fast (oh, and no slow people holding us up!). It was really fun – we pretty much were going full speed for two hours. It was definitely worth doing for a second time.
Highlight #7: Geocaching Excursion #2
On Monday there was a power outage all over Swakopmund for about an hour. When the light came back on though, our internet was out (and it stayed that way until we had someone in to fix it on Wednesday). So, lazy Tuesday + no internet + Linus talking like a gangster = Geocaching! Ok, so this one Scott had already found twice before, but it was still a cool spot. It was out north of Swakop in what looking like a huge pile of rocks. It was fun to see a bit of what’s outside of town. Swakopmund is a very isolated place and it’s easy to get into the mindset that if you take this one highway for 30 minutes you’ll get to Walvis Bay and if you take this other highway for 4 hours you’ll get to Windhoek, and that’s it. But actually there’s a whole bunch of other cool stuff in the area if you take to time to look. Case in point, tomorrow we're taking a day trip out to Spitzkoppe, which I won’t try to describe before I see it. Apparently it’s very beautiful though – I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures.
Speaking of pictures . . .
Marcy needed an XL helmet so that his dreads would fit
Quadding!
Linus showing the Oil some love
Heading back to the truck after finding the cache
But now I’m really going to do it.
When I last left you I had just sung in a concert with the University of Pretoria Youth Choir. That was less than two weeks ago, but it seriously feels like a month. I won’t try to give a day by day update, because there’s no way I can remember, so I’ll just give highlights that I do remember.
Highlight #1: Afroshine Concert!
So the show went really well. The guys did great with lots of energy, and they really got the crowd into it (and I managed not to screw up, for my part). The problem though, was that there wasn’t really much of a crowd there. There was basically no promotion done for the show whatsoever – most people who came to the show didn’t even know that Afroshine was performing! However, the venue has since asked the boys back, promising that it will be different this time and there will be promotion done and their costs will be covered (which didn’t happen by a LOT this time) and whatnot. There’s also been some talk that we could get a couple small gigs around town with just the boys singing and me playing guitar – could be fun.
Highlight #2: Walvis Bay Performance and Megan’s Departure ☹
Monday morning was a bit of a gong show. After the Afroshine concert we had to drive back to Swakop. Even though you’re not supposed to drive on the highways at night, Garth had to get to work and Mascato had a performance early in the morning in Walvis Bay, so we had to choice. So after about three hours of sleep we were up again to go to this performance (I should mention that Scott was really sick and was unable to drive us, meaning that I was driving! Still better than Scott, poor fella). Speaking of poor fellas, keep in mind that Megan had to have all her things packed because her flight left right after the performance! So, we got there, sang the national anthem and the AU anthem and we were done. Well, at least Megan and I were done – the choir sang a few more songs later in the morning, but we had to go into town. Megan’s camera screen had broken the day before and we were going to see if we could get it fixed on replaced and we needed to leave plenty of time to catch the plane. Unfortunately. Megan ended up having to buy a new camera for the second time this trip! (Her first camera stopped working after it got sand in it). After a quick bite to eat, we headed off to the Airport. FYI, Megan is spending the rest of the summer as a nanny in Spain (in case you’re wondering why she’s nowhere to be found in Edmonton).
Highlight #3: Jazz Choir!
Monday before last we started a jazz choir! We’ve been singing “If It Could Be”, “Lady Madonna”, and “Even the Pain”. Apart from Linus, Sandra, Marcelino, and I no one has sung in a jazz choir before, but it’s sounding really great so far. Scott and I have both been very impressed with their progress. Also, the group will be performing at a festival at the end of September (unfortunately I’ll be gone by then. boo!). This weekend we’ll probably start some new tunes – “Time After Time” and “Kiss by a Rose” (just imagine Romano singing the solo on that one!).
Highlight #4: Geocaching Excursion #1
Tuesday before last was Canada Day! With nothing to do, Scott and I decided to do some geocaching! There was one cache in Walvis Bay that Scott **gasp** HADN’T FOUND YET!!!! It was hidden out by the Walvis Bay lighthouse out on a sandy peninsula next to a seal colony. Since we were headed to out to Walvis, we stopped by Garth’s place in Narraville to pick up Michelle. Before we headed out on our adventure we stopped for lunch at this cool looking restaurant on stilts over the water. The food wasn’t great, but it was a cool spot – we saw tons of jellyfish out the window, and even some dolphins! After lunch our adventure began. And it really was an adventure. “Road” would be a huge overstatement for what we were driving on. It’s a good thing Scott’s truck has 4-wheel drive. It should also mention that it was extremely foggy which just added to the ambience. Although we almost got stuck in the sand a couple times, we made it out to the lighthouse and found the cache! On the way back we were able to drive right along the ocean and see seals flopping around in the water.
Highlight #5: Nigel’s Arrival
Nigel arrived in Swakop last Friday. Since he’s been here we’ve had some really great game nights. We found a toy store the other day – Scott bought a game called Puerto Rico and Nigel bought Lego. Puerto Rico is a really fun game – the best I’ve done so far is second place with 43 points, but it’s actually fun even when you lose. It’s a pretty complicated game though, so it takes a while to get into it. We’ve also played some Dutch Blitz, and I’m proud to say that the last time we played I beat Scott, Nigel, and Linus twice in a row! Nigel claims he’s out of practice, which I’m guessing is true because he has a reputation as a Dutch Blitz master.
Highlight #6: Quadding Round #2
If you’ve read my previous entries you know that our first quadding experience was a little disappointing because we were having to constantly stop and wait for one very slow woman. Ever since then we’d been feeling a need for speed and were itching to go quadding again. Unfortunately Michelle couldn’t make it this time, and Megan’s in Spain so we took Nigel and Marcelino instead. Also we took the fancy semi-automatic bikes this time so that we could go super fast (oh, and no slow people holding us up!). It was really fun – we pretty much were going full speed for two hours. It was definitely worth doing for a second time.
Highlight #7: Geocaching Excursion #2
On Monday there was a power outage all over Swakopmund for about an hour. When the light came back on though, our internet was out (and it stayed that way until we had someone in to fix it on Wednesday). So, lazy Tuesday + no internet + Linus talking like a gangster = Geocaching! Ok, so this one Scott had already found twice before, but it was still a cool spot. It was out north of Swakop in what looking like a huge pile of rocks. It was fun to see a bit of what’s outside of town. Swakopmund is a very isolated place and it’s easy to get into the mindset that if you take this one highway for 30 minutes you’ll get to Walvis Bay and if you take this other highway for 4 hours you’ll get to Windhoek, and that’s it. But actually there’s a whole bunch of other cool stuff in the area if you take to time to look. Case in point, tomorrow we're taking a day trip out to Spitzkoppe, which I won’t try to describe before I see it. Apparently it’s very beautiful though – I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures.
Speaking of pictures . . .
Marcy needed an XL helmet so that his dreads would fit
Quadding!
Linus showing the Oil some love
Heading back to the truck after finding the cache
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