I need to provide a recap and photos of our weekend in Harnas – it was amazing and we all had a great time. Unfortunately, I need to hand in a draft of the full legal portion of the assessment to Willem by Friday morning and I’m battling a cold, so it might be a few more days before I have the chance to update the blog. I wrote this entry last week and wasn’t sure if I’d post it, so here’s a little something till I get my act together with the Harnas update.
Namibia’s got me thinking a lot about resources. Natural resources, community resource management, public-private ownership… After my long tirade about the Case of the Missing Lunch last month, and all my other entries about wining and dining, I figured I should take a break from talking about food. Alas, here I go again.
Sadly, quite a few of my personal food items have disappeared from my personal drawers in the Puccini House kitchen. One week it was all the canned goods from the Italians, then it was my bottled curry sauce, a bag of dates, then my Thai spice mix (though this was admittedly stored on the spice rack), then my peach chutney sauce, a can of tuna, a bag of rotini, and then one night I found my personal tea stash in the community cupboard.
Random, and upsetting. I know it wasn’t the same person shopping in my drawer since it would only be a few items at a time over the course of a month. Though these are small groceries disappearing, I usually only go to the supermarket once a week and buy what I can carry. No one’s touched my frozen veggies so I never go hungry (and there are definitely delivery options available), and Brooke hasn’t noticed any of her food disappearing, so it appears I’m just the unlucky one.
Bothered by the disappearing food at home, I was getting rather annoyed when Lucia helps herself to my food at work. I often have a pack of gum, nuts, dried fruit or biltong (jerky) on my desk, and found it odd she helps herself without asking permission or making any sort of acknowledgement. I usually offer, but after a while I began to feel like a food pantry. Of course, I’m happy to share, but felt slighted by the taking without asking or thanking.
Then I thought about it. Am I the rude one for thinking she needs to ask permission? Should the default be to assume things are shared rather than mine and mine-only? Am I a jerk for thinking she should ask?
I like to think the people at Puccini House have just been confused about the communal drawers versus the private drawers (even though my name is now on a sheet of paper inside my drawer). Maybe only one or two bad apples have passed through the hostel and the rest could legitimately think it’s leftover or communal cupboard stock. I can’t complain too much. Knowing I’m a long-term stay, many departing guests have generously left some food for Brooke and me.
Still, I keep my “good stuff” (peanut butter and care package goodies) in my room.
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