How Quickly Things Change

I have been in Namibia for 9 weeks now and life has been insane!! I am starting to really get into a good teaching pattern and have finally, FINALLY learned all of my student’s names. I am telling you, they are really hard to pronounce so after trying for a few weeks I just resorted to nicknames :) 

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Well, I started that post last night and woke up this morning and everything changed haha. Welcome to life in Africa. So when we had our staff meeting this morning we were informed that the time table and the classes we were teaching were going to be changing. We had to switch around subjects and grades because one of the teachers had to be moved down to Pre Primary Grade 1. We have about 50+ Grade 1s and another teacher was needed. I have spent all morning doing the time table, color coding it on the computer and then drawing it up on a sheet of paper. This is the finished product hanging on the wall in the office. 

I am now teaching Grade 5 & 7 English, Grade 7 Science, and Grade 7 Math. I am happy to not be teaching Grade 6 anymore but I am sure Grade 5 is going to be a whole new challenge. I have about 35 to 40 kids in my class that barely speak any English. It is going to be like starting the whole year over again. Needless to say I have a lot of work to do this weekend and this coming week. WOOHOO! Definitely learning to go with the flow BIG TIME! But I am still smiling and learning new things each day.

Project Update

Projects, projects, projects. My head is starting to spin, in a good way, thinking of all the things I need/want to get done. I came into town early this weekend in order to send out emails and talk to businesses about doing things for my school. I have actually priced out blankets for my learners and will be starting to buy them. The winters here get FREEZING at night so I want to do this project as soon as possible. There were 2 blankets that I had narrowed it down to and have made my final decision. Because of pricing and the amount that I have to buy I will be supplying my students with a wool like blanket that appears durable and warm. They are gray and won’t show dirt that easily. There are 256 learners at my school but only about 220 that board there year round. I am going to be buying between 240 to 250. Each blanket costs 39.99 NAD which is equivalent to about $5.00 to $8.00 USD.

I have some extra money set aside to buy a couple of blankets but I do not have enough to pay for all of them. If you donate towards this project a learner will write a letter back thanking you and send a picture along with it as well. Granted, many don’t know English very well so you might get some very interesting letters back :) If you would like to donate please speak to my mom or dad. They will be helping me on that end!

Celebrity Status

If you ever need an ego boost and want to feel like a celebrity move to a foreign country where you stick out :). I think every weekend that I head into Opuwo I feel like a celebrity walking the streets as people are calling my name. So this past weekend it was magnified for some reason and was definitely interesting. I went in on Thursday to get emails and phone calls made since I don’t have network during the week. I had forgotten my cell phone charger back at the school so I had to find one that would fit my phone; plus I had other errands that needed to be ran. I went into a china shop to look to see if they sold blankets and asked if they had phone chargers as well. (side note: China shops are small shops where you find the most random stuff but it is usually where you find everything you need. They are, most of the time, ran by Chinese.) I struck out on the blankets but the guy said he sold chargers so he leaves and comes back 5 minutes later with his OWN charger and tells me he will charge it for me. I had to get to the cafe to get internet so I asked if I could take it to charge my phone and bring it right back. He said sure and handed it over; ask me if that will ever happen in the states. While he was looking for his charger to lend me the lady who was in the store loved my dress. She told me she wanted it now now now; meaning that I take it off right there and give it to her. I told her that when my mom came down and brought me different clothes that she could take my dress. She then saw my pocket book and took it off my body and proceeded to parade around the store with it asking why she doesn’t have this because it looks so good. It wasn’t even 9:30 AM by this point. I leave the store and head to find a charger because I didn’t want to have to use this man’s charger all weekend. I found a sketch looking shop called Wiz Cell and walked in. They had a universal charger kit for 8 USD so I bought that and had them test it before I walked out; Success! So I walked back to the store and returned the man’s charger. Let me remind you, Opuwo is basically one road so people can watch you walk around like a crazy person. Well, apparently a man was because as I was walking back to the restaurant he stopped me and asked what was wrong because he had seen me walk back and forth numerous times. He thought I was lost or there was a problem. I laughed and said, “No, I am a teacher that has a lot of errands to finish today.” As I parted with him a man and his 3 kids were walking behind me. We greeted eachother in Otjiherero then he proceeded to tell me all the names of his kids and ask mine. I continued to walk and he grabbed my hand and put his youngest child’s hand in mine. So I am now walking down the street holding a young child’s hand. This went on for about 5 minutes. All I could do was smile at the girl as she stared up at me the whole time. Somewhere in between all of this a guy was standing with his friends in front of the Catholic Church and as I was walking ran towards me with a camera and was asking to take my picture. As if I don’t feel like I stand out enough. I kindly declined and told him I lived there and wasn’t a random white person. This all happened before I even had my breakfast and coffee. Later that weekend Mailin and I went local and ate meat off the street at the location. It was fresh goat and beef in onions and spices. It was delicious! As we were leaving a man came rushing at us with a camera again. I swear, people have our pictures everywhere. Sunday, as we were heading to breakfast 2 ladies were screaming my name from the inside of a store and waving. This is a daily occurrence when we are in Opuwo. It is almost like they know one of our names and scream it to see who answers haha.

Getting my life down to a routine.

Another week down and I am still smiling everyday!

My look everyday for training in the afternoons... minus the jacket :)

I am starting to get more settled and have a weekly routine. I was teaching 28 periods a week which is a lot so they took one of my classes to lighten my load. It definitely has made a huge difference but has given me more downtime which is a plus and a minus. I have become a master at playing solitaire and have also finished a lot that I have wanted to do. I am starting to get into the swing of writing emails and everything I need to send out on the weekend during the week. My little flat is starting to take shape as my house; my home for the next year or more. My stove wasn’t working for a really long time and is “fixed”. Definition of fixed is you can only use one burner at a time or else it will blow the fuse. So I ended up buying a hot plate and actually love cooking on it. The fact that the dials don’t really work and you have to guess where you need to set it really makes me feel at home because our stove was the same way. I have my running route down to a T and my body is getting used to the 2hour a day workout. I have never felt better in my life. I have made some really good friends who I look forward to spending the weekends in Opuwo and traveling with. Friend takes on a whole new meaning here. They have become more like family than anything else. They are what get you through the hard times and help you to survive the crazy African life. This week has gone amazing! It was my first full week of teaching. The past couple of weeks there has been at least one day where there was something going on at the school so we didn’t have to teach. I am loving my Grade 7 Learners. They are so eager to learn and work hard to do so. It was pretty discouraging though when I graded their first math test this week. It was on simple addition, bar graphs, writing numbers into words and words into numbers as well as place values. I had grades from 4% to 70% being the highest. I made a deal with them that if they made corrections I would add a point for each correct correction. My Grade 6 is KILLING ME! If you ever want a blank stare look they have it down to a tee. I love them but they are very hard to teach. Their English isn’t as good as what I was expecting so teaching them math in English is very difficult. We have resorted to the basics; addition, multiplication and order of operations because I didn’t know what else to do with them. Thursday was Valentine’s Day so I centered my lessons on that. I bought each student a new pen as well as a sweet. I put them on a index card with their name and a tattoo attached to it. I don’t think these kids have ever been more excited to receive something. This is the reason I am here; to put smiles on those children’s faces! On the hard days that is what I have to remind myself. Everyday I wake before the sun even rises, 6 AM. Some days I am woken up by a call from my parents as they head to bed; those days are really good days. I teach for most of the day from 7:30 till 1:30. Have a break where I head to get a bit of lunch. At 3 the students have study hours and I get grading/planning done. Around 4 or 5 everyday, depending on the heat, I head out to the field and train my learners for 2 hours. Training goes like this: 1 mile warm up. It turns into them trying to race me as I tell them to slow down in Otjiherero (Katiti). Then we come back and stretch and warm up for 20 minutes. They really enjoy this part for some reason. After warm ups I usually make them run 4 corners with crunches, push ups, jumping jacks, and mountain climbers at each corner. Mind you, they have no idea what I am saying so half the time I am doing just as much conditioning and training as they are :) After 4 corners we do drills across the field; lunges, grapevines, suicides, squats, cherry pickers etc. all the normal drills you run for any varsity sport in the states. We end training by playing soccer for a little bit. This usually turns a little frustrating because they tend to play keep away from me. I play with the kids and the locals play on the other team. I play a pretty mean defense and the locals don't like it very much. I just laugh because I have NO IDEA what they are saying. After training I go home and do some core exercises myself and jump into a chilly yet really refreshing shower. I make dinner, finish lesson plans, sometimes head to the mine and then go to bed around 10 or 11. It is a pretty busy day but it helps to make them go by faster!

Potential Projects

“Miss may you borrow me”

The first time I heard this it threw me off a little bit. One of my learners came up to me with her hands out and asked, “Miss can you borrow me?”. I had to have her explain what she needed and came to the conclusion that she wanted me to lend her a pencil. Where they all learned that phrase is beyond me because EVERYONE uses it. I hear it everyday and every period. Whether it is a pen, pencil, paper, marker, textbook, notebook or food. It has come to take on a deeper meaning the longer I am here. My heart breaks every class at the realization of what this school and these children lack. It is emotionally draining and at times overwhelming. The whole session we spent on teaching with limited resources did nothing to prepare me for the year I have ahead of me.  My school lacks pens, notebooks, textbooks, chalk, erasers, paper, teaching supplies, scissors, markers, etc. The only things that fill my classrooms are dilapidated desks, chairs and chalkboards that are falling apart. Our kitchen is a 3-sided “building” that is made out of aluminum panels on the sides. It contains two cauldron looking pots that makes the children’s 2 meals of porridge a day. The hostels are cement buildings with cement floors. There is one for the girls and one for the boys. They burst at the seams with learners sleeping on top of eachother on the cement floors. The worry of local drunk villagers coming to violate my girls is a constant reminder that something needs to change. For them, they don’t know any different but hearing a child ask when they are going to eat and if they had a blanket to stay warm is heartbreaking. While here  we are to raise money and carry out a project(s) that will leave a lasting impression on our school after we leave. I have been talking to some of my colleagues to get a feel for what needs to be done and what they think is the most important. The responses I have received have varied but have all had to deal with improving the well-being of the children. So... Here is a breakdown of potential projects and what is being done to figure them out. 

Project #1 - Supply every learner with a pen, pencil, ruler and enough notebooks.

-This one isn’t so big and can be completed in a weekend.

-I will be going into Opuwo this weekend to purchase more notebooks and pencils for my learners.

-I have come to realize that they are very OCD when it comes to drawing graphs and tables and wait for a ruler so to ease their time and to make my classes move quicker I am hoping to be able to purchase rulers for each learner. 

Project #2 - Buy bed rolls/ beds/ blankets for each learner. 

• I have been informed by Theron that the winters get FREEZING here. So cold that he sleeps with 3 blankets and that isn’t enough sometimes. I can not imagine my learners sleeping on cement floors with nothing but their bodies during this temperature drop. 
• I will be contacting companies to see if I can get deals on bed rolls/ blankets. 
• HOW YOU CAN HELP: If this project works out I will be sending out letters and emails with the prices of each item laid out. You can “buy” a bed roll or blanket for a student. For each bed roll or blanket that is bought, the learner that receives it will send a letter and his/her picture! You will have the chance to sponsor a child’s warmth for the winter term coming up!

Project #3 - Build a new dorm

• Many of the learners are sleeping on top of each other and don’t have room to sleep during the nights. The girls outnumber the boys here significantly and therefore need a new dorm. 
• This is one of the more challenging projects and will be a lot to undertake but will be so rewarding at the end. 
• I am talking to builders and trying to receive an estimate on how much it would cost to build a dorm building including windows. 
• HOW YOU CAN HELP: If this project works; which I am hoping that it will. Letters of support/ donations will be sent out to businesses and organizations. The other 2 girls that are in the Kunene Region are hoping to do projects similar to mine so we are looking to work together. We will be doing major fundraising in the coming weeks to sponsor these projects. If you know of any companies or organizations with extra money laying around that would donate it to a good cause send them this was.

These are three of the first projects that I am beginning to work out and get quotes from.  There will be more posts to come when the time gets closer and more details begin to finalize!

The New Normal

The New Normal.

So I have been in Namibia for a little over a month now and what started out as something new and exciting is turning into an everyday routine and becoming the new normal. It is kind of reassuring to know that I am settling in nicely and feel at home here. Normal does come with a lot of frustrations, however. So here is a list of crazy norms that have never been part of my daily life in the United States.

It is normal to:

• Wake up before the sun comes up and go to bed before the sun has completely set. 
• Teach 2 different grades 2 different core subjects. If I didn’t dislike Math before this is making me hate it haha
• Be called Sir because they aren’t used to having female teachers
• Eat Apples and Peanut Butter for almost every meal.
• Never have clean feet. I swear dirt is magnetized to them as soon as I step out of the shower.
• Play soccer or workout for 2 hours everyday after teaching all day. I am the school’s new all around trainer. The kids love it and it keeps me in shape so I am not complaining but boy is it tiring.
• Not have any communication with the outside World till the weekends. 
• Have to spend 8 hours doing something that would normally take 2.
• Travel 2 hours every weekend to get into town.
• Repeat myself 10 times and still have my learners and colleagues stare at me like I am speaking in tongues to them. 
• Enjoy a cup of coffee every break I get.
• Ride in the back of pick up trucks.
• Rely on people for every mode of transportation
• Feel lost and completely confused at least 2 times a day.
• Sleep under a mosquito net. At first I felt like a princess, now it is like a trap!
• Take 2.5 hours to do laundry that would normally take 5 minutes to put in the machine.
• Always be thirsty and salivate every time you think of water. 
• Have learners and colleagues bang on my door all hours of the day.
• Run with cows, donkeys, springbok and learners everyday.
• Wash my dishes in the bathroom sink
• Wash my underclothes in the shower with me. It is so much easier than washing them in bulk.
• Have it rain at random times during the day for only 5 minutes and then clear up.
• Have the power go out at random times.
• Have the water stop running while I am in the middle of a shower. This has happened 2 times already ahah
• Have a gorgeous sunset every night!
• Drive up to the mine to watch TV and speak English normally. I have adopted a weird accent haha. Over-pronunciation of T’s and D’s has contributed to this weird accent. 
• Have to climb a mountain to get spotty cell service. I have yet been able to make a call from this spot.

While some of these norms are crazy and I can’t believe that this has become my life; I am loving every minute of it; maybe except for things taking forever to get done. My New York impatience is taking a beating and I am learning to slow down. I am feeling like I am finally making progress with my Grade 7 learners. They finally had bar graphs click and are giving their first presentations Friday. My Grade 6 learners are going to be the death of me. It is so hard and frustrating. I usually teach them 3 periods in a row. I dread those days and find myself having to go outside for fresh air before I lose my cool. I am not one to get upset but when you have explained bar graphs for a week and a half every which way possible and still get blank stares it gets frustrating. I am just having to move on to the next topic and hope that there won’t be that many bar graph questions on the national exam. 

I am loving this new, crazy, normal, mixed up life.