Sometimes Namibia sneaks up on me and I’m suddenly so happy that it’s hard to remember all those moments of unhappiness. Last Thursday I had to go to Windhoek for a dermatologist appointment and to see the dentist (again – we’re unfortunately becoming buddies, I’m not really sure how I feel about it). I got to hang out with another volunteer from my group who was also there to see the dermatologist, I got to visit Superspar, I got to drink Camelthorne beer (the only beer apparently anywhere in this country that tastes remotely like beer). During a trip to Superspar on Thursday, the clouds opened and we were stuck in the entrance waiting for the rain to stop at least long enough to get a taxi. We sat under the roof, watching the rain, drinking Camlethorne American Red ales. It was great. Friday I met Debbie and Emily from Mariental for sushi, and to subsequently travel to Okahandja. It was the first time I’d had sushi at the mall in Windhoek (only sushi place in Windhoek), and I learned during this visit that they put mayo in all the sushi (after I’d already eaten enough to know that I was going to get sick from the mayo). I told them that real sushi doesn’t have mayo. The sushi chef informed me that he was classically trained and that all Japanese sushi has mayo. Leave it to Namibia to find a way to put mayo in EVERYTHING.
We had fantastic hiking luck getting to Okahandja (although there were a few tense moments during the hike), and the weekend was great. We stayed with Debbie’s PST host mom, who is really just a lovely woman. Unfortunately, due to the volume of sushi I’d eaten combined with the mayo, my stomach was not quite right for about 24 hours. By Saturday afternoon I was feeling better, and we went to the craft market in Okahandja and then met a group of the new trainees. The new group seems great, they’re a little young, most of them straight out of college, but overall they seem like a nice group. I met the person that is coming to Gobabis and will be my roommate after his 6 week homestay. He seems alright. Shall know more after his visit to Gobabis this week. Hopefully it won’t make him want to go back to America. :) I had incredible hiking luck on the way back to Gobabis, too. My lift from Okahandja was a younger guy with a nice car and a/c, we had nice conversation and the trip went fast. No sooner had I gotten out of his car at the Gobabis hike spot than another car stopped for me. The ride to Gobabis was crowded, sweaty, and hot, but aside from that, it was quite pleasant. The hiking gods certainly were smiling upon me yesterday.
On a sad note, it was brought to by attention this morning that one of my learners has tattooed himself on the forearm, street style. This is the same kid that was in jail for a week during term 2. He’s a clever kid, as most of these street kids are. He also tends to be fiercely protective of me and often is more respectful of me than the other learners.
Normally we have morning assembly in our school hall, but this morning one of the pastors from Epako was invited to speak, so we assembled outside in front of the classrooms. I had to actually walk away from the group at one point to avoid laughing out loud. The dude kept talking about Jebus Christ, and added “ah” to the end of every word. “Jebus(ah) Christ(ah), he will save(ah) your soul(ah).” Even the learners picked up on it and outbursts of giggles rippled through the assembly. Quite an entertaining way to start the week.
Last week while I was at the doctor’s, I left work for the relief teacher to give to my classes. One item: a math test focusing on rounding, metric conversions and calculations, and time conversions and calculations. I marked them today, and while I haven’t scored them yet, I predict the high score to be somewhere around 4/10. I’m definitely predicting a handful of learners repeating Grade 6 next year, even with the 30% pass rate. That’s right. My learners only need a 30% in math to pass to grade 7. Sigh.
I do my best to avoid writing about things that could get me in trouble if the higher ups read them. However, more and more I’m fighting disillusionment with PC/Nam. There are volunteers who have really terrible sites at schools that don't want or need them, and most of them have requested site changes and have been refused. Some people even have questionable security risks that make life unpleasant and scary (like drunk people rattling burglar bars at night on the weekends). Sometimes I’m baffled when it seems that the organization does not have the best interest of volunteers at heart, and I feel frustrated listening to the stories that other volunteers tell about troubles at site. I complain about difficulties at my site, but the truth is that my difficulties don’t even compare to what some of the other PC/Nam PCVS are facing.
Anyway, as I sit here writing, it's so hot that there's sweat trickling down the back of my neck. I hope next year Namibia decides to include spring in its repertoire of seasons.
That’s probably enough for now. Thanks for reading!!!
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