A few things from this weekend

I know my last blog post was not too long ago but I wanted to share this weekend with you and I know that if I wait until the end of the week I will probably forget most of it.

1. My mailing address is:

Private Bag 5528

Oshakati, Namibia

2. Yesterday was really nice. A few volunteers met up in a nearby city and had lunch and did some grocery shopping. After, Bridget and another volunteer, Hannah, came back to Omungwelume with me and Bret. We boiled sausages in beer and made sandwiches with them, sauerkraut and onions. We also had baked beans and corn. We drank wine and listened to music. It was really nice. After dinner we took a walk in the cemetery which is right outside the school gate. The weather was nice and there were not many bugs out. When it got completely dark, we sat under the stars and were amazed at how many there were and how bright they are.

3. This morning, Bridge and I were sitting outside and all of the sudden we heard MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and a cow came running down the street. She was frazzled; we think she was lost. It was really funny. She looked like she needed to be milked too.

4. This entire week has been cool with a lot of rain. Our house has been infested with bugs and we finally got some bug powder yesterday which actually worked. There was no rain last night and today it is really hot. We probably should not have been out in the sun this morning because we are all exhausted by the heat. We think Bridget has sun poisoning because she was throwing up earlier. (She is ok. Nothing to worry about). She is going to spend another night here and go back to her village tomorrow.

5. Sometimes we feel lost without our cell phone or internet access. Well today, we haven’t had water. I was told that occasionally the village doesn’t have water but I always overlooked how annoying that would be. It is extremely hot; a cold shower would be nice; we can’t wash any dishes, do laundry, clean up or flush the toilet. Hopefully we will get it back tonight so we can shower and clean up before we start the school week.

I am probably going to spend the rest of the day relaxing, reading and lesson planning. School starts at 6:25 tomorrow for Monday assembly/prayer service. I can’t wait to here the learners sing the school song and national anthem; it is really amazing when they do.

I survived the first week!

I survived my first week of teaching and have begun adjusting to a new lifestyle. Despite being unorganized and having a bumpy start to the school year, Eengedjo Secondary School is a good school. Last year, the school had a 92% passing rate for 10th grade standardized tests. These tests determine a learner’s advancement to 11th grade. The country’s average passing rate is between 40 – 50%. With this statistic, Eengedjo is ranked #27 in the country and #2 in the region. This is a big accomplishment; the school is working to pass 100% of its students this year.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the staff worked to create a time table, distribute books and place the learners into classes. Even with all of this work to do, many teachers just sat around and watched soap operas in the staff room.

Eengedjo is a hostel school. 400/700 learners live on the campus in dormitories. The learners have to remain on their best behavior because, if they do not, they have to forfeit their place in the hostel. Such a strict code of conduct is caused by the high demand for space in the hostel. Literally, the consequence for almost every broken rule is loosing your place in the hostel. Already, there has been a learner kicked out for being drunk.

I was introduced to my two English classes on Tuesday and, on Wednesday, I visited their classrooms and played some get to know you games so that we could get straight to lessons when we were finally given a time table. I forgot to mention that even though there was no time table Monday through Wednesday, the learners still had to sit in their classrooms all day with no teacher and nothing to do.

Finally, on Thursday, the time table was complete and I was given two English 11 classes and all seven 12th grade computer classes (only 12th graders take computer; just about none of my students have ever used a computer before). The school runs on a 7 day schedule. Each class meets twice for computers within those seven days. 11th and 12th grade English classes meet for ten periods within the seven days; therefore, the learners are scheduled for English twice a day three times out of the seven.

The schedule looks like this (As you will see, there is no time allotted for switching classes) :

Period 1: 7:00-7:45 AM
Period 2: 7:45-8:30 AM
Period 3: 8:30-9:15 AM
Period 4: 9:15-10:00 AM
Tea Break: 10:00-10:30 AM
Period 5: 10:30-11:15 AM
Period 6: 11:15 – 12:00 PM
Period 7: 12:00 – 12:45 PM
Only on Day 7: Period 8: 12:45 – 1:30 PM (Luckily, I don’t have a class that period)

On Mondays, school starts at 6:25 AM for a weekly prayer service.
On Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, the learners have a study period from 2:00 – 4:00 PM. At this time, the teachers either stay in the staff room and do lesson planning/marking or they monitor the study hall. Even though this is required of the teachers, many of them just go home. The learners who stay at the hostel also have a study period at night.
On Wednesday and Friday afternoons, the teachers have off. Wednesday is cleaning day and the learners are given tasks to do around the campus. This week, they had to cut the grass in front of the school.
They eat breakfast at 10 AM during their tea break. They have lunch at 12:50 PM and dinner at 5:30 PM.

Omungwelume is considered a village/small town. There are two “bigger” mini-markets, a few churches and barber shops, a primary school, a junior secondary school and my school. Also, there are several shabeens (informal bars). These are the center of attention in the village, especially when there is not much else to do. One of our WorldTeach rules is that we are not aloud to get in a cab once it is dark out because of the serious drunk driving problem here in Namibia.

Omungwelume is located on a paved road that takes you to Oshakati, the largest city in the region (about 27 kilometers away). On Wednesday, my roommate, Bret, and I went to Oshakati to get a few groceries. In order to get around in Namibia, one must hitch rides. We walked to the main road and hitched a ride with two other people. Once in Oshakati, one has to get another taxi to whatever destination. Coming home from Oshakati, one has to take a cab to “Apollo 11” where, then, one would find a ride to his/her respective village. Our experience was interesting and lived up to what we heard from previous volunteers. When we got to Apollo 11, without the taxi even stopping, a stampede of drivers came rushing at us. One person opened our door, took our groceries and put them in his taxi so that we would have to ride with him. After we followed him to his cab, all of the other drivers came and tried to convince us to go with them. Our driver told us that we had to wait until two more people came for a ride so that he could fill his cab. After THREE more people smushed into the cab, we took off for Omungwelume.

I have adapted to an after school routine. I usually have a snack, write my emails, do some exercise (I still haven’t gone running yet because people don’t run here. I have to prepare for all the staring that will come my way). When Bret comes home, we make dinner and then I watch tv shows on my computer. Bed time has found itself at around 9:30 – 10.

Tomorrow, we are meeting a couple of volunteers in Oshakati for shopping/lunch and then they are coming to Omungwelume for the night. We should have fun.

I hope everything is great at home and would love to hear from you!

The beginning of an adventure

I arrived yesterday in Omungwelume, where I will be living for the next year. The drive took about 8 hours from Windhoek and when we arrived, my housemate, Bret, and I were greeted by our principles. We are living at my school in teacher housing. Bret’s school is about a 10 minute walk from our house. My principle, Mr. Johannes, gave me a tour of the school. When you enter the gate a security booth is on the left, our house is on the right (a short walk) and the administrative building is directly ahead. Beyond the administrative building are 2 rows of classrooms, each row having 3 buildings with 3 classrooms in each building. To the left of the classrooms is the technology and design building and beyond that are the school garden and its pig farm. Beyond the classrooms is the cafeteria and assembly hall and to the right are the hostels (the dorms for the learners). To the right of the classrooms is more teacher housing.

After the tour, Bret and I settled into our new home. The house is a good size with beds, dressers, table and chairs, a bathroom, kitchen and a living room (with no furniture). Unfortunately, though, it was extremely dirty and we spent the entire night cleaning and sanitizing and will be finishing tonight. I think I could have swept out my garage, back patio and front walkway at home and have accumulated less dirt than we did last night.

This morning I had to wake up at 5:45 to be at school for morning assembly at 6:25. The assembly lasted about three hours (1/3 of which was a religious ceremony conducted in Oshikwayama). After the assembly the teachers just sat in the staff room for the remainder of the school day while the administration put class lists together. This wasn’t so bad because we were warned during training that the Namibian schools are very unorganized and that we probably wouldn’t get much accomplished during the first week of school. At about 1 pm, one of the teachers took me into Oshikati (the larger town in my region) so that I could get my tax ID number so that I can get paid.

With a lot of time to think today my mind was going everywhere. At points I was homesick and wondering what the heck I was doing here while other times I was really excited for the year ahead. I think God heard my doubts and knew that I needed something to make my day because guess who was in Oshakati doing the same exact thing without me knowing: Bridget! That was a fantastic surprise that we both appreciated very much.

I am currently waiting for Bret to arrive home from school, so I decided to make sauce. I found canned tomatoes but they aren’t as good as at home. The entire sauce making process/dirty counters is making me homesick; I guess I’ll just have to look forward to December.

Going back to last week, the Safari at Etosha was awesome. We saw zebras (In Namibia, the e is pronounced as it is in “bed”), giraffes, springboks, wildebeests, jackals, muskrats, a lion and an elephant. We got to witness a springbok give birth which was really interesting. My favorite was seeing the lone elephant standing in the middle of a gigantic open field.

On Monday, we went back to Windhoek for our last week of training. We ate some good food and had a lot of bonding time. It was really nice to get to know the other volunteers because now we have a big support system for the rest of the year.

On Tuesday, we were given a tour of Windhoek’s neighborhoods so that we could witness the disparities between the rich and the poor. Regardless of economic situation there was much more life in the poorer neighborhoods. We went to a couple of markets and spoke to the local people.

Throughout the week we had language lessons and on Thursday, the field directors’ husbands and my language teacher prepared a traditional Namibian dinner. It consisted of two porridges, chicken and a couple different sauces to eat with the porridge. Two spinach sauces, a tomato sauce with onions and peppers and a bean sauce.

Friday night, we were treated to a really nice “African Fusion” dinner where I had a fish with coconut sauce and rice. It was very good and worth the long time it took to be prepared.

We spent Saturday doing last minute shopping and all hung out because it was our last night together.

In Namibia!

I finally arrived in Namibia on January 2^nd after missing my first flight due to the weather in New York. Although I missed a few days of orientation and getting to know the other volunteers, I adjusted quickly and it feels like I have been here for weeks.

All of my flights went smoothly. I traveled from Newburgh to Detroit to Washington D.C. to Senegal to South Africa to Namibia. Traveling was long and tiresome but on my last flight from Johannesburg to Windhoek, I was blessed with a grand finale of beautiful weather and an inspiring presentation of clouds, like nothing I have ever seen before. Looking out the window and ignoring everything inside the plane I felt as if I was floating in an imaginary dreamland. The transition from day to night caused further astonishment. By the time I landed in Windhoek, outside was completely black, different from landing in a city like New York where you can see the bright city lights. Descending into Windhoek was like being on an amusement park ride where you are moving but can not see where you are going or anything around you. Of course, the trip couldn’t be perfect. My luggage stayed in Johannesburg while I left for Windhoek. I received my luggage two days later and, with Johannesburg being notorious for theft, my running sneakers and bed sheets were missing. I got over this quickly after acknowledging that there are more important things to focus on.

I stayed in Windhoek for one night and the next morning we left for our teaching practicum in Tsumeb. I was amazed at the wildlife I saw on the road. We had to stop several times for passing baboon-like monkeys and other “exotic” animals.

The hostel that we have been at this week is very nice with beautiful trees and landscaping. There is a swimming pool that we have used several times, a common room, a kitchen and a place to buy beer and soft drinks 24/7. This is all in an outside courtyard that is surrounded by all of the bedrooms. Our schedule this week has been: preparing lessons 9-10 AM, teaching 10AM-12PM, lunch/break 12-1:30PM, a debrief session 1:30-2:30, training sessions 2:30-5, and after 5, one group prepares dinner while everybody else does whatever (swims, plays cards, explores the town...). So far we have had Chicken Parm, bobotie (A South African dish that our group made), hamburgers and baked mac and cheese, prepare your own baked potato, and chili with cornbread. Tomorrow night we are having a braai which is a Namibian bbq. Yesterday, I went running during my break and got to explore the town. After dinner we have been doing something called “spotlight” where we all come together and each person speaks about his/herself. Usually 2-3 people go each night and it usually lasts for about an hour. I am going tonight. Last night, we stayed up late playing cards. We all stayed up late because we were free this morning and from 1-4AM we have access to free internet.

With the morning free today, Bridge and I decided to take a walk to visit the local cemetery. It was neat to see their way of Christian burial. After, we went swimming and I got sunburn. Tomorrow we are leaving at 6AM for Etosha, a national game reserve.

I hope everything is well with everybody and I would love to hear from you!

I will try and put pictures up next week