Diversity Tour - 30 Kids + One Bus Driving around Namibia

Again, it's been too long since I've posted anything so I'm backtracking some to catch up!

During the August school break I helped out with the Diversity Tour. Each year Peace Corps Volunteers put together a tour around Namibia for learners that would otherwise not have an opportunity to see different parts of their country. We choose 30 learners from around Namibia adding to the diversity of the tour so that the learners are able to meet other kids from around the country.

Our tour started with everyone meeting in Windhoek. We stayed in school hostels in each town and it was interesting to live as a hostel learner for one week. I'm very thankful for not having to live inside a hostel! During the first few nights in Windhoek, some boys upstairs decided to flush their boxers and clogged the pipes causing them to burst and have raw sewage all over the girls floor downstairs. It was disgusting! I was thankful we were leaving the next day. While in Windhoek we took the kids to see One Africa television station, Polytech (a university), Parliament, and the airport. The airport was my favorite part! We were given a tour of the inside of the terminals and then went out to the fire station where we were able to ride on these enormous fire trucks. Our fire truck driver turned on the hose of the truck and we saw all the water spraying out. Some of the kids were on top of the truck and got soaked...but they were having a blast. We also were able to inside one of the large airplanes and see the flight controls and all the different sections. To fly first class on one of these large planes would be amazing! I wouldn't mind the 15hr flight so much riding in a seat that completely reclines!

After we left Windhoek it was just a day of traveling. We drove to Tsumeb and stayed there over night to be closer to Etosha for the next day. We left early in the morning to drive the remaining part to Etosha. Then we entered the park and we were all very excited to see lots of animals! We did see a giraffe right away so I thought we would have a full day of seeing animals, but then we drove for a few hours with not seeing anything! We stopped at a lodge to have lunch and then we were able to go to the watering hole where we saw a group of elephants playing and drinking the water. The kids were so excited - and so was I! I love elephants! The kids were so quiet which we were happy about since there were other tourists watching as well. Afterwards we got back on the bus and started our drive out. On the way out we saw another HUGE elephant and a male lion hanging out watching the watering hole where the elephant and some other animals were. Since it was the middle of the day I was very surprised to see a lion out in the open. Then we stopped at another watering hole where there were tons of zebras and wildebeest. After a very worrying start to the day, we ended up seeing a ton of animals and had a really great day.

We then drove to Otjiwarongo for another overnight stay. The next morning we woke up to drive to Swakopmund where some of the kids saw the ocean for the first time! It was so much fun to see how excited they were to see the ocean and then even though it was cold outside and the water is freezing, they all jumped in and played for a long time. A lot of them wanted bottles to fill up with ocean water and sand to bring home with them. Then we ate lunch by the ocean and enjoyed some rest time (and warm up time for the kids who were wet!). The next day in Swakop we drove out to Dune 7 - one of the worlds highest sand dunes. I've made the trek up this dune once and told myself once was enough b/c it is challenging to climb up. Every two steps you take you slip back one. But since I was there I decided to make it once more to the top. While I slowly climbed the kids were racing up and running down and racing back up again. They probably made it up three times to my one! It is worth making it to the top and coming down is a lot of fun! I just wish it were a little easier to climb.

I think Swakop was the best part of the trip. It was a lot of fun seeing the reactions of the kids to these new things that are so amazing right in their own country!

The trip was exhausting since almost every night we were in a new place and we had to prepare all three meals plus snacks for 30 kids and 10 adults. I'm helping plan the trip for next year, but am going to let someone else have the experience of the trip. After teaching for a full term - I need my week off to relax!

I'll add pictures soon and post more events from this last term soon as well!

Term 2

It's been a whole term and I have not posted anything! The time is really flying by here. I've been in Africa for over a year now! It feels like I just arrived yesterday, but also feels like I've been gone forever too. Time is such a strange thing.

This term I continued to teach the same classes - grade 8 math, grade 8-10 BIS (basic information science) and Art. This term went by so much faster than term one and it was difficult to get in all the material I wanted to teach. But I did my best and hoped for the best. My end of term results were a little lower than I wanted, but I'm learning how best to teach and how best to be in charge in the classroom.

Other events from this term:

Zia (my host niece) turned 2 and I baked her birthday cake.

We had two staff parties; one at the beginning of the term for celebrating term 1 and then one at the end celebrating the end of term 2. The first party was at my colleagues' house and we had a potkie (pronounced poi-kee) which is a large stew that is cooked in the traditional black pot outside on a fire.

Our second party was at the hot springs at Kanikobes. It's a natural spring and the water is HOT! We had a braai and had a lot of fun relaxing!

I went to Brukkaros Mountain which is the mountain I can see daily from Tses. It was so beautiful out there. Next time it would be nice to go in a 4x4 vehicle because it took a while just to hike up the "road" to get to the main part of the mountain. I hope to do some more hiking around it soon!

At school, I received a wonderful donation from my church back home, Westlake United Methodist Church. They sent my school art supplies, pens, pencils, erasers, and a classroom set of calculators. It's so nice to have art class with actual supplies to use and to give a test or exam without half the class sharing the two calculators they have. During end of term exams the calculators were put to good use and everyone was thankful to have them!

We had a cultural day at school where the learners were able to perform traditional dances, marches and dramas. They really did a good job and it was fun to see a lot of them dressed in their traditional clothes.

We also had a beauty pageant, Miss and Mr St. Therese. This is a MAJOR event for our school. I made the suggestion to have the theme be India because the soapie that is currently showing is "India - A Love Story". So we had the Taj Mahal as our background and I taught a dance to Jai Ho as the opening number. It was so much fun to teach the dance and I might consider doing a dance class next term or next year. The kids did a really great job! They were judged on their India/Traditional wear, casual wear and evening wear. We had a good crowd show up and the school raised around N$2,000. I'm really glad I was able to be a part of putting it all together.

Before the pageant we had a photo shoot at the dunes nearby. The pictures turned out so beautiful with the blue sky and the red sand. It was a fun day to be photographer!

It's been winter months here and it's been COLD some days. I'm very glad I purchased a heater because it really came in handy! But I really enjoyed the cooler weather. There were only a few days that were really almost unbearable. And it was mostly because the wind and the sun never coming out from behind the clouds. It's turning into spring now and the weather is so enjoyable. Cool in the mornings and at night and warm during the day - but not hot. It's nice to not sweat all the time!

Zim-Zam-Bot - Part 3

The next adventure I went on was on a safari through Chobe National Park in Botswana. We woke up early to take a bus to the border. On the way to the border we saw a giraffe very close to the road. I thought that was a good sign we would be seeing lots of animals!

We had to take a boat to cross the river to get to Botswana. From this point you could see four different countries – Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana. They are currently in the process of building a bridge, but must wait for the river waters to recede before they are able to begin. They have ferries that transport people, cars, and large trucks. But the ferry can only hold one lorry (18-wheeler) at a time, so there are 50+ lorries waiting in line to go across the river. We were told that it can take up to a month to get across at times.

The first part of the safari was on a boat. We rode along the shoreline looking for animals. We saw many birds, crocodiles, water lizards, hippos, elephants, impalas, baboons, and other monkeys from the boat.

After the boat ride we went back to the main building and had a delicious buffet lunch. Then after lunch we headed into the park to drive around looking for more animals. We started off by seeing some warthogs (Pumba!), impala and a water buffalo. The impalas we saw were in a bachelor herd/colony because with impalas there is one male with all the females. Once another male becomes stronger, he will fight with the male that is with the females and try to take over the lead. Later during the drive we saw the main male guy with all the females. He was herding the females together because another male was coming into his territory!

My favorite was seeing all the elephants. I love elephants and it was amazing to see so many in their natural habitat. There were quite a few babies which was fun to see.

We also saw giraffes and lions. The lions were in the shade resting, so it was difficult to see them clearly, but amazing all the same.

This was one of my favorite days seeing all the animals. Being in the South in Namibia, I don’t see many wild animals and it was great to now say I have!

Zim-Zam-Bot - Part 2

The hostel where we stayed had many different activities you can book. I decided to go on the Lion Encounter where you get to walk with cubs and adolescent lions. When we arrived at the site, we were shown a video on the lion project that this excursion helps fund. This project has four different stages. The first stage takes lions as cubs and protects them until they are mature enough to start learning how to hunt. This is the stage where they go on walks with people. The second stage is where they have to learn to hunt on their own. In this stage, they are in a sheltered environment with no competition for their meals. Also at this stage, human contact is cut off. In the third stage, the lions are released into a larger area (about 10,000 acres) where they still have to hunt on their own, but now with competitors such as hyenas. During the third stage they are monitored to make sure they are able to survive on their own in the wild and to ensure they are bonding with their pride. They must also reach sexual maturity during this stage. The fourth and final stage is when they are released completely into the wild. All lions do have microchips so that they can be tracked in the wild.

After the video we were given some rules on how to behave close to the lions. The lions are not trained in any way and are still wild animals, even though they are more used to humans because of the daily walks. We each were given a walking stick to use if the lions started to approach us to distract them. We were also told to stay behind the animals and to stay in the group – to not look like vulnerable prey.

Our group met Bisa and Bemba two 18 month old female lions. You can tell that they are still young lions because they haven’t lost all of their spots.

We were given a chance to pet them as they were laying there and it was crazy kneeling behind a cat this big! But very, very cool.

I also got to be one of the ones to walk beside the lions.

The walk lasted about an hour and we just followed the cats as they made their own path. They have a mind of their own and would just decide to lay down at times to rest. Eventually they would get back up and join the rest of us. It was a cool experience, but was a little pricey for the hour we spent with the lions. But at least the proceeds go to the project to help repopulate lions in the area.

We walked with the lions early in the morning and I was back to the hostel before the 10am shuttle to the falls, so I decided to go back to the falls, but to see the Zimbabwe side.

I went with three other volunteers, Quinn, Rob, and Sam. I’m really glad that I went with this group because the reactions of both Rob and Sam were priceless. They had not yet seen the falls and their enthusiasm and excitement were intoxicating. Also on this side of the falls, you get completely soaked with the mist. But you are able to see a little more when the wind cooperates and moves the mist aside for a moment. Because of all the rain, I wasn’t able to get too many pictures.

At the end of the trail, you can walk out onto some rocks and just let the mist soak you. As we were walking away, I looked back and the wind moved the mist enough for me to watch a whole tree go over the falls! Roots and all! These are some really powerful falls. I love waterfalls, so I would have loved to be able to see more of them without the mist, but the mist is what made part of the experience. I would like to try to go back during the dry season to see the difference. One thing that is so interesting about the park is that the only barriers between you and the drop off the cliff are natural shrubs. It’s nice to not have too much man made obstructions when you are seeing such natural beauty.

After a full day of exploring, I had a nice family style Chinese dinner with Rachel, Lindsey and Stephanie. A good way to end the day.

Zim-Zam-Bot - Part 1

What a wonderful holiday! Full of adventure and site seeing. My holiday began by taking an almost 24 hr bus ride from Windhoek, Namibia to Livingstone, Zambia. It was long, but nice to just sleep while traveling. After we arrived in Livingstone, we had a short walk to our hostel Jollyboys. This was my first hostel experience and this place was NICE! It had a nice “chill zone” area that was a sunken den area full of chitenge pillows.

Almost our whole group was in one dorm style room – 16 beds total. It was great to see everyone and catch up.

Day 2 began by getting a lift to Victoria Falls from the hostel. We first walked out on the bridge that spans the Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe. They have a bunji jump area, which is the third highest in the world! Many people in our group jumped later in the week. I thought about it, but I’m not sure I could actually make the jump. Maybe another time…

From the bridge you could see beautiful rainbows. In fact, the rainbow that is in the picture below was actually a full circle – with a double rainbow circle around it! Amazing!

After the bridge we went into the Zambia side park. There are different trails to view the falls from different viewpoints. We took the trail to the boiling pot first which had a lot of steps to get down into it. On the way there were different little rivers, lots of trees, and some baboons. Baboons scare me some – they are very aggressive. One tried to get food from us and then I saw another one steal food out of a little girls hands!

Back to the boiling point…some pictures:

Another trail took us for more views of the falls. There’s so much mist at the falls right now because of the rainy season and there being so much more water right now. It was difficult getting a good picture because the sky and mist were so bright. But here are a few:

The last trail we took was over a bridge that goes right in front of the falls. I wasn’t able to take any pictures because you get absolutely soaked! It was like walking in a rain storm there was so much water. It was really amazing – a little cold at first, but not bad once you got used to it. I wasn’t able to see any of the falls from this trail because there was so much mist. But it was still a cool experience.

Another Year Older

Both Namibia and I celebrated our birthdays last month - Namibia turned 21 on the 21st of March and I turned...another year older...on the 22nd of March. It was really great to celebrate Independence Day here in Namibia. It's very different celebrating an Independence that is so young. Some of our teachers spoke during the assembly about how it was when they were in school during apartheid and one told of how he participated in marching for a demonstration. Each class presented a poem, dance, song, etc. Below is grade 8B doing a traditional Nama dance:

(I will post a video when I have a faster internet connection or hours to sit letting it upload)

Some of the teachers decided we would dress in traditional attire. I borrowed a dress from my host sister Celeste. The dress I borrowed was from when her daughter Zia was baptized. I had so many complements at school! Now, I am trying to find some material to have my own dress made.

Another Independence Day event at school was the Mr/Miss Independent pageant which I was asked to be a judge. It was difficult to judge because everyone did a great job. One thing that was different about this pageant was that the boys dressed as girls and the girls dressed as boys. It was HILARIOUS! Below are some pictures of the formal wear:

Over the Independence Day weekend, I made a trip to Mariental to visit with some other volunteers. It was a nice weekend to get away and on Monday I was treated to lunch and a birthday milkshake.

On my actual birthday, I had one class sing "Happy Birthday" to me and I had a lot of hugs and handshakes from my learners and colleagues. After school, I walked to the store and bought a cooldrink (coke) and some biscuits (cookies) to share with the Matron in the evening.

Sunday Bugs

This morning I woke up and went to church with my host sister Celeste and her daughter Zia. We walked to the church and were running a bit late – or so we thought. The service was supposed to start at 9:00am, but when we get there, it wasn’t near ready to start. We heard that the preacher might be sick, so it might not start until closer to 10am. So we sit outside and wait. We greet others as they arrive and enjoy the coolness of the morning. Once church begins, we sing some songs, say some prayers and then it’s time for the sermon. Because the service is in Nama-tongue, the preacher asked one of my colleagues from the school to stand at the pulpit next to him so that he could translate the sermon for me. It was really nice to be able to hear what the sermon was about, but a little weird to have a sermon spoken directly to me the whole time. It still is strange to me that I am singled out so often – it’s nice to be recognized but it is strange to feel like there’s a spot light on me. I stand out anyway…

Then on the walk back home, a bug flew into my eye! It was small, but it irritated my eye. Then later this evening, Celeste asks me what is in the corner of my eye. She gets it out with her nail and it’s the bug from earlier in the day! UGH! That’s gross – but my eye is just fine, no problems at all.

Tonight it is cold outside – really just cool, but after months of ridiculous heat, anything below 80 feels cold right now. The sky looked like it was going to be a huge storm coming. We’ll see if it actually comes into the village. It seems like all the surrounding villages get rain, and we just get a little. But even a little is nice because it really cools things off.

I’m not sure if it’s the rain or what, but there are so many new bugs around. And they are all HUGE! I took a picture of this one because I had never seen it before. Then one day it just pops up and they are everywhere! I’m not sure if it bites or not – nor do I care to find out. I stay away from bugs as much as I can (until they decide to fly into my eye!)

Deep in the Heart of Namibia

I end up teaching my Art lessons (as well as my BIS (library)) 14 times over two weeks. I have 7 classes of girls for week one and then 7 classes of boys for the second week. This makes life very easy when it comes to making lesson plans which is super nice! These past two weeks for Art have been about singing. Luckily there are some music books in our library – and they are from the states, so I was able to find some music to teach them and let them teach me some of their music. It’s so interesting how each class reacts differently to an assignment. At the beginning of each class, I played for them the Star Spangled Banner (because it’s a difficult one for me to sing alone) and then taught them Deep in the Heart of Texas. Some loved it – others I think just amused me by singing along. Some classes sang the WHOLE class with different songs and it was so enjoyable! Then some classes wanted to dance while I played music from my computer – music which I got from one of my learners. As soon as they would enter the classroom for art they asked if we were singing and were so happy when I said yes. It was so entertaining and really made these last two weeks memorable.

I am now known in the community for having a camera. This is good and bad – good because I get invited to fun events – bad because it can be a burden sometimes. But this week it was a good thing. I was invited to come take pictures for the Miss Sweetheart pageant. This was a pageant for the pre-primary girls who are girls that are 4 and 5 years old. They were SOO cute! I ended up being a judge because one of the judges was not able to come. I sent for one of my learners, Johannes, who has become the photographer for most events. It’s so nice to be able to just hand my camera over to him because I was able to enjoy the pageant and do a better job of judging. We had to judge each girl on smile, confidence, outfit, walk and crowd reaction. At first we debated if we should judge them on confidence – but let me tell you – these girls had a ton of confidence. And their walks – some were just too much! The first round was swimsuit, the second round was casual and the last round was formal. I just can’t stop saying how cute they all were. Each one would walk up to the stage and then down the catwalk to do a pose at the end for camera and judges, and then would walk back off stage. I know that as you read this you might be thinking of the scary pageants for toddlers that we see in the states – but this was nothing like that. It was so innocent and cute! I hated having to judge each one and wanted all of them to win, but there was one girl who EVERY time she came out would have a huge smile on her face and really played it up to the judges. Of course we voted her as the winner. We also picked a 1^st princess, 2^nd princess, and Miss Personality. Thankfully all three of us judges agreed easily on who each one should be. I got to be on stage as the winners were announced and was able to give out the goody bags to the girls who did not win the crowns. It was such a fun evening!