Tree growing out of a car.

Dolly Parton and a Taxi Ride

It always surprises me when I take a taxi around town and Kwaito is not blasting from the stereo. (Kwaito is a South African/Namibian style of beats and rap. Think casio keyboard. It's pretty catchy, but a lot of it sounds the same.) This time I was really thrown for a loop....the man was rocking out to Dolly Parton.

I sat in the leopard covered back seat simply stunned. My ears couldn't believe that this Owambo man was feeling Dolly's pain on how a man had done her wrong. Finally, I blurted out "You like Dolly Parton?!?!?" He slowly looked back at me and gave me a head nod and eyebrow wave. Yup.

As we pulled up to the Rossing Foundation in Tamaraskia, I gave the driver my N$5.50. As my hand touched his, I also gave him a nod...that he somehow understands my pain, my frustrations on how men have done me wrong. I also thought about my home in Virginia, how much I love Dolly Parton. Perhaps Dolly has helped bridge a gap between me and this Owambo taxi driver. I felt strangely connected to him. However..... he didn't seem to notice.

But thank you Dolly for feeling my pain and helping me have a moment back home in Virginia.

Very Bizarre

Hmm....how would a school in the States deal with this?
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Nodding children puzzle teachers

OSWALD SHIVUTE

CHILDREN and teachers at the Okalunga Primary School near Oshigambo in the Oshikoto Region are convinced that supernatural powers are at work in the school - girls lose concentration and start nodding uncontrollably.
Principal Johannes Nehale told The Namibian that this phenomenon started last month and is affecting many schoolgirls.
"It's a very serious and strange phenomenon, because children, whether in the class or outside, they just start nodding, seriously nodding, and we do not know why they are doing so, or what is making them do so," Nehale said.
He said the matter has been reported to the Circuit Inspector and the Director of Education for the Oshikoto Region, who told them to take the children to the Onandjokwe Lutheran Hospital.
"We took them to the hospital and clinic, but the doctors found nothing wrong with them," Nehale said.
"The situation is disturbing and is disrupting the school work every day," Nehale said.
"We know about the problem, and we have sent nurses and social workers to the school to deal with the situation, but it seems it is continuing," regional Education Director Esther Nghipindoka said.
She said she plans to visit the school this week to see for herself what is going on.
"I think that it is just hysteria among the learners and this will stop one day," she said.
Several schools in the North have reported outbreaks of mass hysteria in which pupils claim to be affected by supernatural powers.
At the Mumbwenge Combined School, pupils screamed and fainted, claiming to have seen demons.
This continued from 2005 to 2006.
Other affected schools include the Okalunga Primary School, only 15 km from Mumbwenge, and the Ondukuta Combined School in the Omusati Region.
At both these schools the symptoms were the same - fainting and screaming fits.