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An Odd Weekend
Splash Bang Wallop!
"...There
was Pat, lying face-down in the water" More...
Three and In
"An
hour... of one-two's against trees" More...
My First Teaching Week
"70
slides, 80 pages of notes, and 14 exercises later" More...
More Little Differences - Weddings
"Watch
the bride feed the groom a morsel of food" More...
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Oct 1995
October began with an odd weekend.
It went something like this...
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Splash Bang Wallop!
PAT is an Irish volunteer
friend of ours - no jokes please! Yes! he likes a drink; he likes
to laugh, to fool around - but diving night-time into shallow pools!?
Ouch!
We met him on Saturday
- in the Seventh Day Adventist hospital! - and that's just what
he'd done. Splash! And there was Pat, lying face-down, motionless
in the water; with the faintest sound of blowing bubbles. Just ever
so slightly startling!
We visited a few times
- Rachel tried to give professional help, and I did whatever I could
(like helping him to the toilet!). Throughout, I tried hard not
to think that it was a stupid thing to have self-inflicted. I also
tried hard to explain the growing evidence of incompetence, displayed
at the hospital.
For me, it was the first
time to see someone seriously injured. It was a time I wanted to
joke - to remove the spell of shock - instead, I had to be Mr. Sensible.
[He flew to Johannes- burg some days later, still unsure whether
or not he had fractured his neck! He had!]
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top 
Three and In
AFTER the adult world
of accidents, hospital beds, and responsible caring - the afternoon
of Sunday - I just needed to rest. Levitico was waiting at our house,
so rest had to be play. He'd brought my leather ball with him -
repaired by a local cobbler - so we had a kick-around.
With the arrival of Roderick,
I decided on an energetic footballing variation we'd not tried before:
3 And In! Now this classic football game of my youth, is nostalgia's
finest moment. Much of my childhood was spent in the competitive
pursuit of trying to score 3 goals before your friend; the reward
being the (relative) ease of then keeping goal: hence, 3 and In.
(I even relived this glory in my final year at university - with
close friends, in the rain - perfect!)
So, even though our garden
was not that suitable - hard ground, small, and surrounded by delicate
hedgerows - that's what we did: an hour of 3 And In. An hour of
dribbling, of one-two's against trees, of glorious Brazilian ball-balancing
- all that. In goal - I just sat on the ground, waiting for the
shots. And when they came, I fell backwards, to scramble a save;
I laughed at their failure to score, and they laughed too.
Dusty, dirty, sweaty,
tiring - and bloody good fun - my childhood's not dead yet!
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top 
My First Teaching Week
AFTER months of moil;
after weeks of waiting (can someone please cable those PCs); and
after days of dusty final preparation - I taught my first course.
"UNIX To The Uninitiated", I thought - but EVERY student
had attended an earlier VSO-inspired version. Not the best of starts.
At the end of a dull
Monday for them, I promised it would get more challenging: "I
hope so!", said Mr. Too-Smart. On Friday - 70 slides, 80 pages
of student notes, and 14 hands-on exercises later - all had been
challenged a great deal. Even Mr. Smart-Alec had struggled with
the tougher questions I'd set... Tee hee!
And as for Mr. Nash the
teacher - not too stumbling, a little humour, and very well prepared.
I felt satisfied with my performance, and relieved I had actually
taught. Even the usually-to-be-dreaded course appraisals were positive:
'Briefly state your feelings about the course'
"It was a nice one". (Delightful answer, eh?)
'Any suggestions for improvements...'
"No suggestions, but I would like to be taught the advanced part
of it by the same Steve Nash", "Advanced course is needed
and to be taken by the same conductor", ...
...Aw shucks, what can
I say? Except I am really enjoying my working-life, a lot!
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top 
More Little Differences - Weddings
MALAWI weddings are special
- everyone says as such . And when the wedding party finally made
its slooow entrance through the school hall, I could see why - all
seemed to float: butterfly steps forward, a quiet step back; in
twos, in time with the band. Honoured guests - proud parents, brides-maids
and their consorts, and of course the bride and groom - all waltzed
in smooth as you like: smiles on every face. We all just whooped
and whistled, saving the loudest noise for the bride and groom.
What an entrance! An archway of arms then formed, standing between
them and their wedding settee - utterly kitsch; utterly charming!
Augustin was to marry
Constance, and Mrs. Ndilowe - my boss, and sister-in-law to Augustin
- had graciously invited us to the reception. (A death, a bizarre
accident and football fun, so why not a wedding too!?)
The school hall was grubby
- with plastic-patio-chairs crammed together to seat all the guests.
The lights were a little bright too; but I had to stop thinking
of the event in terms of a British wedding. Sit back, and watch.
Watch everyone get up in turn to 'pay' their respects, and to step
in time with the band (including us; we'd brought lots of small
change for this inevitably prolonged "perikani"). Watch
the bride feed the groom a morsel of food, and the groom feed the
bride. Pandemonium, I can tell you! - and they looked so embarrassed
(well they were standing in the middle of hundreds, and it did look
intimate!)
These were the lasting
impressions - the 'little differences'. Even though it had been
a day of strange, disturbing news, we really enjoyed this sample
of Malawian culture.
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