Halloween

 Is on its rather grim way and as here in Namibia any excuse is used to party, here comes another one. I do like dress-up though (everyone is a child inside) and so really think that I would like to take part this year. 

History states that the celebration of Halloween has been derived from a number of ancient festivals, such as the Irish Samhain, Roman feat of Pomona, or the festival of the dead, Parantalia. It is a celebration of the end of the Summer months and the beginning of the dark Winter; laying in stores for the cold months to come, and dousing all fires apart from the celebratory bonfires, from which the home hearth's were again lit after. 

This alone means that surely here in Africa where our seasons are reversed we shouldn't be celebrating this holiday, and if we wanted to, it should be at the end of summer and not the beginning - but who knows!

The belief is that on this particular night of the year, the curtains between the mortal world and the world of the dead are much thinner and the spirits can pass through to our realm, causing whatever havoc they may be able to if they so chose. The practice of wearing masks was thought to ward off the evil spirits and prevent them from doing any harm to the villagers and their homes.

The act of dressing up and going door to door begging for sweets and treats seems to have originated from something called "souling", a medieval act of beggars going door to door on Hallowmas (November 1st) receiving food in return for prayers for the dead. 

So all in all it is a rather grim day, and reminds me of the Crow movies, but there you go, dress up we shall and see if we can win any prizes for being the most creative. It's a far cry from the real significance behind Halloween and All Saints and All Souls Day.

Dentistry ...

For many years now I have been meaning to go have braces put in and to correct my awful teeth. I started in England and then got scared and backed off, and then ignored it, but every time I see a photo of myself I freak and so today bit the bullet and off I went to the dentist. 

Now, I was firstly not impressed as he double-books patients so at 8:45am he was already running 20 minutes late. This gave me the time to peruse his treatment room, which only disgusted me further as it was filthy and there was even blood on the cupboard bin and the whole place looked like it hadn't seen a cloth and detergent in months. Me with my freaky OCD doesn't cope with stuff like this, and it is even worse as this isn't just somewhere you can sit and walk away from, they will be sticking things in my mouth and if they can't clean their rooms will they even be able to clean their equipment??? Also their equipment looks as if it is about 200 years old apart from the x-ray machine. 

So do you go to another dentist and pay much more or do you bite the bullet and deal with the dirt???

The dentist says that my jaw has grown wrong and not developed correctly, so the chances of correcting this are slim and there could be many side-effects that could damage my teeth and roots permanently. I also may have to go to Cape Town for an operation to have my jaw broken and shifted forward which will correct the overbite but that will be at the end of the treatment. My top jaw has also developed incorrectly, and so is much narrower - that will be corrected by shifting my teeth on top sideways to widen it slowly. 

He took an impression made from this gooey stuff that he said tastes like ice-cream (my ass) which hurt like hell and x-rays, and I need to go back on Saturday to find out how it will work and what the cost will be. He also says that NHP probably won't pay it at all and the plan that we have is crap but once he has given me all the paperwork then I can go to them and see what they say.

So we shall see what the outcome on Saturday is, but if I don't do it now then I guess I never will and I hate my teeth with a passion, they are a real embarrassment to me and would love to have them fixed so that I can smile without being self-conscious or criticizing every photo that I see. Pio seems to think that I should get a second opinion so that will have to be done as well - yippee!

Here goes nothing! I am debating whether I will have the courage to go through with it or run like hell lol.