End of course- parties, ceremonies, and
farewell
The last days of the course were
dedicated to the work planning of the teacher, the lecturer, and the principal
as well as to the way we value student achievement. The participants worked in
groups and also wrote a certificate for the course, and we are preparing for
the graduation party and the official graduation ceremony.
Nora invites us again to the
Ambassador's House for "Couples Evening." When we arrive in the
evening, many guest rooms are already filled with many Israelis staying in
Angola. Some are engaged in agriculture, some in building, and others in
diamonds. Young couples (some with small children), whose dream of making much
money brought them here; otherwise, I just don't understand why they choose to
live here.
On the final day of the course,
Cadet, a Mathematics lecturer volunteers to be responsible for preparing our
internal party. Felisa and I go out into the yard and enable them to get ready,
and they work wonderfully seriously.
The party opens with fascinating reading
of poems from the book by the leading Angolan poet and who was the first
elected president of Free Angola, Agostino Neto.
Next, there's a fashion show: Some
women came in traditional African dress, ready for the official graduation
ceremony that afternoon. During the show, the contestants are asked to answer a
question addressed to them by the "judges." The decision falls - all elected to the "Queen of
the Class."
Dealing with women's fashion shows,
then why not men's fashion. Here, likewise, everyone was chosen unanimously.
A short humorous dramatic piece faithfully
recreates the lesson where innocent children altogether make paper boats. Vera represents
the teacher and the "students" collaborate. Many discover brilliant
theatrical talent and the atmosphere warms. All the walls fell.
I willingly join the African dance
and then teach them an Israeli dance, and here comes the stage of gifts and
personal things that everyone has to say.
The trainees dress Felisa and me in
a traditional African garment that they bought as a gift, equip us with two
books and I receive from one of the trainees, who is a well-known Angola poet,
a personal book containing his poems and other modern poets.
In my closing remarks, I choose to
use a section from "The Tale of the Unknown Island," in which the
cleaner decides to leave the palace through the decision gate and tells them
that this trip to Angola is an exit through the decision gate, where you make
some concessions and get some amazing and surprising rewards.
The official graduation ceremony in
the presence of the ambassador, local government officials, the academic dean
of the local university and his deputies properly seal the course. I heartily congratulate
the participants and read an exciting poem by Agostino Net "We must
return" (written before Angola's independence in 1975 and aims to gain
freedom and return to the cultural sources lost to them due to the Portuguese
occupation).
The local television and press are
interested in the course and a young journalist interviews me for the radio and
the newspaper. Watching us return to a continuing course...
The next day, we will experience unusual
events at Luanda Airport. You have to arrive a few hours before the flight to deliver
the luggage (Which, of course, the stamps were opened and checked on the small
figurines we bought...). The embassy man who accompanies us instantly brings us
to the top of the queue and so we head back to the hotel after two hours of
queuing and handing over the suitcases. In the afternoon we are again on our
way to the local airport. Before boarding in the waiting area for every flight,
every passenger has to enter into a small room for a little investigation where
we are inquired, among other things, do we have local money? (You can't even take
a single Kwanza ...).
Next to me is a white girl who tells
me she belongs to the 'Doctors without Borders' and she visits Angola often.
Every flight, she tries to prevent this unpleasant thing and it doesn't happen.
As we finally climb the stairs to the waiting room, a man in civilian clothes
turns to Felisa and tries to find out where she is from and why? (Secret police...
I whisper to Felisa). When we are finally seated in the huge Boeing plane,
during our long flight home, Felisa and I summarize the experiences and try to
find out among ourselves, are we ready to return to this country?
We would like to be happy with a
continuing course but in Angola? We are not quite sure… But how do we say? When
you come out of the gate of the decision – you come out, and so days will say…
END
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