Well, we are back in Namibia with one week under our belts. Today we started serious teaching & things look promising. I have English 7 & 8; Jim has English 5 & 6 as well as Grade 9 PE, 8,9,10 Religion & Moral Ethics. I also have Grade 6 Social Studies & one class per week of Grade 5 Life Skills. We are quite happy with our schedules. Most of mine are in the mornings (before it gets too hot) and Jim has mostly afternoons—so we can each work at home with no interruptions (except learners coming to door for whatever strikes their fancy). Wish we could report major changes in administration/colleagues, but we can’t. Things are just too much like last year, with evidence of some possible changes coming into play, but we just won’t hold our breath.
This is rainy season. Unlike last year at this time, it is HUMID & not so hot & has been raining nearly non-stop. We did get a break over the weekend, however, so we did all of our laundry. Jim got some of his tan back hanging it all out. We did a small load in the middle of the week & it ended up hanging on the line for 2 days & we finally brought them in, rinsed them & dried them inside. But that’s when the rains stopped! They should begin again in another day or 2. If they remain as heavy as last week, we will have some serious flooding. Already there are some businesses that are not open as they are surrounded by water. We have ants building hills up the walls inside our flat. That presents its own challenge.
The trip back was exhausting. I don’t know how that can be avoided. It’s just a lot of miles to cover. I think that we are recovered, but still find ourselves more tired than we think we should be. Some of you were aware of Jim’s health issues while we were home. No need to go into all of that, just to say that he is fine. His test results were favourable, and he is doing well.
Being home was yet another learning experience for us. It was wonderful to see family & friends, of course. We did not spend enough time with anyone, so there was a certain amount of frustration in that. We found ourselves restless & unable to focus, maybe a bit lost, out-of-sync. The first few days I felt like a stranger in our own home—that definitely caught me off-guard. Never did reach a level of comfort in the different culture. There’s no question, we love Namibia & missed it. When we arrived back in Windhoek, we met the new WorldTeach volunteers who were wrapping up their orientation. One young lady has spent extended periods in several countries and she said that her experience has been to have minimal ‘culture shock’ upon arrival in the foreign country, but every time that she went back to US, she had difficult adjustments. That was comforting, because in living both in Germany & Namibia, I also did not feel the ‘culture shock’ that might be expected, but then struggled upon our return. Our Lord has a job to do next Dec/Jan!!
Went to church Sunday—how wonderful it is to have a car, making trip soo much easier! It was wonderful. The “crèche” was still up: a small thatched roof held up by poles imbedded in empty oil buckets filled with sand. The ‘decorations’ consisted of garlands of various colours of tinsel, attached to the church walls and roof of the ‘hut’ with wide brown postal-type tape. In compositions that learners wrote, most mentioned that they decorated for Christmas only a day or 2 before-hand. The simplicity moves my heart, but what I have seen isn’t what I would normally call ‘beautiful’
Time to fix dinner (sweet & sour chicken stir-fry—not exactly traditional Namibian!), then come up with spelling lists for the 4 English classes. Spelling is not stressed (obviously, in even their official documents) so Jim & I post lists each week & quiz them for points they can earn for a movie party at the end of the term. Bribery is rampant here—we’re just moving with the culture!
It is now a week later. I just discovered that, while I wrote, I failed to send it. But, I see that I was talking about bribery. Jim just told me about his experience with it. He was speeding, got pulled over, and the fine was going to be N$1400. Of course, he didn't have that on him, so he pointed out to the officer that it was Sat. afternoon & the office to accept fines probably would not be open & he couldn't wait around 'til Monday (he was a distance away), and he had to be back Monday to teach, so how would $N200 be? The officer agreed, pocketed the money & Jim went on his merry way. Officer didn't pat an eye.
Apparently our principal is going to be more conscientious this year, & the teachers are NOT liking it! There is a push to re-instate corporeal punishment as they don't know what else to do. I have a copy of "Alternative Methods" from the Ministry of Education (mind you, THEIR MoE) and am charged with providing copies to them to review & possibly get some ideas. I am grateful that I have something with Namibian origin, or it would not be considered.
Went to dinner at our Executive Treasurer's house last evening. He was the person to greet us when we first arrived & has been very supportive of us. He has spent extended time in several European countries, so he understands our frustrations & agrees with our desire to see some changes made. He is an insurance agent & one of the 2 founders of the school, so we had pictured a rather nice home. Oh my. He has a lot of land with many imported trees, most of which produce fruit, goats, chickens (& cows that he keeps elsewhere). But what seems typical, junk all over the place. They just do NOT throw anything away. (we had 2 pillows that were here when we arrived, and when I pulled them out of our 'storage', smelled very badly. Jim put them on the burn pile & they were snapped up by our house mates and he was sternly reminded not to throw anything away). The house is a large sprawling complex of additions with probably 15 rooms. Several rooms are arrange like a motel--a row of rooms with doors to outside. These he has for people who have nowhere to stay, like transients or 'homeless". But there was no room that I would say is finished. Either the ceiling is just bare wood, or piles of things on the floor because they have no adequate armoires, or it's not painted...It was a little depressing, but they said, "our home is small, but our welcome is great". It was a delightful evening. Our dinner started with rolls (wonderful German brotchen) with peanut butter, jelly, and cheese as accompaniaments. Thought maybe that was it, except for the cake & some other sweets that were on the table. But then, their children were cooking meat & brought a small plate with what looked like breakfast-sausage links. So we had our 2nd course of just the meat, which was very tasty. Then after much conversation, were were served huge pieces of cake. After much more conversation, they put wine glasses on the table, but we discovered the time & headed home. We were there over three hours & seemed like maybe one. This couple have 2 children of their own, plus probably 6 that they have adopted or simply taken in. Interestingly, whenever we have eaten in a local home (Namibian or Filipino), the children did not join us. even the adult children. But they did cook & serve us.
Okay, it's past time for me to get to work. It has been fun sharing with you. OOPs, one more thing. A new building is being added to our school, nearly completed. All labor was done by hand, in the hot sun, and the workers are paid N$5/hour. That is about $0.75 US/hour. Any construction workers out there who want to come work in Namibia?
With love,sharon
