My Last African Blog

Sad.

At this time two days from now I will be on a plane to London, saying goodbye to the place I have called home for the past three and a half months. I feel like I've been living in a dream. Or perhaps my "old life" back in Canada is the dream, it's hard to tell. This whole summer (or winter) I've found it so hard to believe that in a couple weeks I'd be going back to school, to choir, to my home. Maybe it's because I've had a choir and a home here where, in many ways, I just feel like I belong. Maybe rather than I dream, I should say it feels like I've been in a parallel universe - each timeline independent of the other, but I've had the ability to jump between realities. At the risk of quoting "The Wannabe", I won't go on. But what I will say is that while I am very sad to be going, there are many things that I look forward to upon my return to Canada. It's funny dealing with all this happiness and sadness all at the same time - maybe Garth can recommend a book for me :P

So, here's what I'm doing - I'm making a couple lists. First, what I will miss about Namibia (in no particular order):

-Mascato: This one's easy. So many great friends and memories.
-The Ocean: I think I've gotten to the point a couple times this summer where I've actually taken for granted the fact that I've been living two blocks from the ocean. At these moments I've been an idiot.
-Village Cafe: Mmmmmmmmmmm.
-Lunch/dinner at Mrs. Venter's: Mrs. Venter always pulls out all the stops for dinner, making far more food that we could possibly consume. But even when it's a simple lunch, it's always nice to just sit around the counter and chat.
-Charlotte: Charlotte is the cleaning lady employed by my landlords, Dirk and Marie, who has also been doing house work and laundry for Scott and I. But apart from how nice it is to find our shelves reorganized and our underwear ironed, she is just a joy to have around the house. At first, she barely spoke a word of English, and when she didn't understand what we were saying she'd just give a jolly "OOOkaaaay" and go merrily along, but I think she's understanding more and more. I really can't say enough about this woman!
-Afroshine: I was lucky enough to get a couple chances to work with these guys, and what never ceased to amaze me was how much natural talent they have. Why them!? Why not me?!!! Anyway, it was really fun playing with them - especially at their last show on Sept. 7, which Jen also played at, and which will be broadcast on national television later this month!
-Ninjazz: Ok, so the official name is not nijazz - I think the working name for now is "Mascato Jazz". But this is something that I'm going to miss a lot. I've sung in FORM for the past two years directed by John, and that's been great, but it was also great to do jazz with Scott, which I had never done before. I loved the enthusiasm of everyone in this group - even after 7-hour rehearsals of Jenkins music, they were always happy to stick around for a quick practice. Also we had our first performance at the Afroshine gig on Sept. 7. We sang "Sweet Spirit" and "Even the Pain" by ourselves and then backed up Afroshine on "Ti Mama" and "Everyone". They were amazing! To be honest, before the performance Scott, Jen, and I were a little scared that it might all fall apart, but they stepped up in a MASSIVE way. The manager was also super excited and will definitely be booking them again in the future!
-Scott: It's been really fun living with Scott and I'm going to miss it. Most of the amazing things that I got to do this summer, from going to South Africa, to just noticing cool little things around town, would never have happened if he hadn't been here.
-The dessert: Right now, I feel like I'd be happy to never see another dune again, but I remember when I first arrived here and how great it was to see the dunes. So I'm sure I'll feel that way again.
-Food: Rusks, jungle oat bars, woolworth's wok boxes, the most amazing apple juice in the world, tizers, game, mince ( which is what they call ground beef, but it tastes different here), Simba H.S. Balls Chutney flavoured chips, brotchens, spar's broccoli salad, curried mince fatkoeks . . . this is all I can think of at the moment.
-And, least of all, Buddy: The worst dog in the world. He is an offense to four senses, though the fifth one is assumed. He barks, he stinks, and looks and feels like he hasn't been groomed in decades. He actually really reminds me of Master Splinter from the old TMNT movies. And let me remind you, Splinter was a rat. BUT. I will miss him just a tiny, tiny, quark of a morsel.

Next list - things that I am looking forward to in Canada:

-Family and Friends
-My choirs: "But you've been singing in choirs for the past three months straight!" you say. Don't get me wrong, I've loved singing in Mascato, but I'll just say that if you'd done it, you'd understand.
-Maggie: My cat!
-My guitars: I had one with me, but I've missed the others.
-Wireless (and fast) internet everywhere: We've actually been spoiled to have wireless internet at our house, but Namibia is still way less "connected" than Canada. At least, that is, when it comes to computers. Cell phones? That's a different story.
-School: My semester has actually already been going for a week and a half and I've been missing classes! I've started doing some of the work that's been assigned, but it'll actually be nice to get back to the university and get to work.
-Food: Perogy Pizza, cheesecake (not the same here), everything really - food just tastes different here. Even when they have the same products that you're used to from home, you're never entirely sure what it's going to be like.
-My clothes: This seems like a silly one, but I've actually had a couple dreams about wearing some of the clothes that I left behind (which was about 95% of my clothes). I'm sure my mother won't be surprised about this one though.
-My condo: There have been other people living there all summer and I'll be happy to claim it back, complete with newly installed windows and wireless internet!
-Edmonton in Autumn: Three months of sand and palm trees actually takes a toll. I need some colour!

Well, that's about all I can think of at the moment. Tomorrow we have the final two performances of the musical, and the day after that I'm off. This morning I finished all the last minute shopping that I had to do, so I'm pretty much all set. I guess there's nothing left to say but that it's been fun and I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog!

-Joel.