Somehow it's already the first day of term two! The grade 8's were shocked that we start with classes right away and none of them brought their school things. So far, my one class I was supposed to have before break hasn't shown up. We missed the first two periods for an assembly, and then half the kids missed the next class because they were picking up their winter uniforms. Typical first day.
Pass rates for grade 8 - out of 269 learners, 86 passed their Term 1 exams.Grade 9, 130 passed out of 170. Grade 10, 78 passed out of 82 (wow!). Grade 11 & 12 about 90 passed out of 170 in each grade. So that was sad. BUT I was really proud and impressed to see a lot of my reading club and French club learners in the top 10 of their respective grades!
This term I'm excited to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the grade 8's, and The Prince and the Pauper (simplified version) with the grade 9's. Dylan will be finishing his syllabus with the grade 10's as they write their final exam pretty much right away in term 3. We're also excited about going to our COS (close of service) conference in July, where we will finalize a date for our departure from Namibia.
It's going into winter now, so it's pretty chilly at night and in the mornings, and it'll still get colder for the next month or two! I'm really excited to drink lots of tea and hot chocolate and pull out my sweat pants and long sleeves after our 8 month long summer.
We currently have 10 puppies living in our kitchen - they were in our backyard but we had a crazy out of season thunderstorm that flooded everything yesterday, so in they came. We're hoping it's warm enough and dry enough to move them back outside this afternoon.
Today we took the metro to Haddayek el Maadi (where I used to teach English) and got some delicious ice cream at a place called Khalifa. This is in a more Egyptian area of Maadi, unlike the international area we live in, so we had an interesting walk home. I wish we could have taken pictures of the whole thing, but it seems strange (and unwelcome) to take pictures of people going about their daily business, so I'll just have to describe it for you.
At Haddayek el Maadi... The streets we walk down are lined with tall apartment buildings, parked cars, and other pedestrians. We talk to each other over our shoulders, walking single file to avoid the traffic squeezing through the middle of it all. Most of the other people out walking are men, although the occasional veiled woman walks past as well. There are shops on both sides of the street selling everything from rugs and mattresses to live chickens and pigeons. We smell and see the local fast food - falafel, ayesh (flat bread), lots of fried things. We're still full from ice cream and lunch.
As we get towards the end of this street we see the fruit and vegetable market, full of color - red and green, orange and yellow. Women in black smile and offer us their wares. We buy some ayesh from one stall. "Wahead bikam?" How much for one? "Arba." Four. This seems a little unreasonable. Then we understand - four ayesh for one Egyptian pound! One of these goes to a beggar woman sitting near the metro stairs, the others we will eat later with carrot tahina at home.
Once in the metro station, the girls separate from the boys to take the women's car. Today there is a man demonstrating a vegetable corer for the women to buy - he guts a zuchini and an eggplant during our brief ride. We think its not a bad idea - it would make it easier for the women to make mashi, stuffed vegetables.
Once we get out of the metro at our own stop, we take a deep breath and relax. Although our section of Maadi seemed pretty busy and bustling this morning, it's a walk in the park compared to Haddayek!
We are spending the first two weeks of our April/May vacation back in Cairo with Dylan's mom! We are accompanied by two other Namibia volunteers, who are visiting Egypt for the first time, and my brother Michael (still en route from London), who will also join us in going back to Namibia. This was a somewhat unlooked for opportunity for Dylan to come "home" one more time before his mom moves away this summer.
After 30 odd hours of traveling we arrived safely at the Coster apartment in Maadi. In an effort to keep ourselves awake we walked to CAC to show our friends around and did some grocery shopping at Miriam market where Dylan and I were happily welcomed back by all the employees. =) Now we're waiting for our dinner - Indian food, delivered straight to our door! Such luxury.
It is wonderful to be in a "home" as we think of home - all the amenities and comforts of the US, and a lived-in, family sort of feeling. We've arrived on the first day of a long weekend and are looking forward to attending MCC (our church) tomorrow.
It's a welcome break to be out of southern Africa. We've been there such a long time, it was a bit of a shock that we can so easily be carried so far away by a single airplane (or three). Hoping this will be a fun and refreshing time and we can look forward to going back to Namibia afterward. =)
I apologize for leaving such a depressing post up for so long! Only two days after that, I had a learner ask me, “Miss, why are you different from all the other teachers?” I asked him how I was different. “Miss, you are kind.” Definitely made me smile. =)
I also wanted to update you on a couple of the prayer requests I posted at the beginning of the year. One was to work more closely with my Namibian colleagues, and that’s been happening! Unlike last year, we have an HOD (head of department) who is really good about checking up on us and seeing if all the classes in the same grade are doing the same work. This has forced us to coordinate much better than we did last year. Also, during another teacher’s absence, I am team-teaching her class with another teacher. All of this is sometimes frustrating, but I think it’s for the best.
Also, I asked for prayer regarding getting to know my kids and really being there for them. This past week we were given forms to fill out with each of our kids, so I’ve been having one on one conversation with them, which is great. I’ve also been reading Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events to my register class, which they really enjoy. =) Every morning they ask, “Can’t miss read the story?”
I’ve also had good conversations with some of my best reading learners – the ones who have read every book for reading club and are always asking for more. As those of you who know me might guess, I can really relate to those kids and enjoy talking with them. They are some of the few who dream big because their imaginations are so much wider than many other kids.
There’s one learner in my register class who is also now part of French and Reading club. She does such a great job! Even though she says it’s difficult, she perseveres and her pronunciation is even better than many of the other kids. And she’s only in grade 8!
Today I'm hosting a showing of the movie Stormbreaker for the 25 kids who read the book by Anthony Horowitz. Sometims
Period 1 – Four learners come in to ask me for information on “passion killing.” They want to know the advantages and disadvantages. ??? I really don’t know what to say. Apparently it was for an English assignment, so we discussed what a passion killing is, disadvantages (although they still wanted to know some advantages), methods of prevention, and consequences. So random.
Period 2-3 – Another teacher is supposed to be teaching in my classroom. His class arrives, but no teacher. Finally, twenty minutes in, some learners come to tell me that the teacher is not coming, but they have some notes for the class to copy and some tests to give back. Pretty upset at the teacher, but okay. Then the learner starts announcing everyone’s test scores at the front of the class. “Whoa! What are you doing?”
“Sir said I must read everyone’s scores.”
“Okay, no, we’re not doing that, just give people back their tests.”
The other learner who was writing notes on the board sits down. She has written six lines. “Where are the other notes?”
“That’s all miss.”
“For the whole double period?”
“Yes miss.”
Grrr…I spent the rest of the double period separating fighting boys, trying to get people to return stolen belongings, and asking everyone to stay quiet.
Add that to the fact that the bells didn’t ring on time so my classes were always late, and the fact that the printer is STILL out of ink a month after it ran out. Not a good day at school.
This past weekend I was invited to go camping on a nearby farm called Ghaub with some people from church (Dylan was also invited, but opted to stay home and get some work done). I haven't been camping very many times in my life so it's always an interesting experience.
One of the highlights, although a rather scary one, was going into an undeveloped cave network - no paths, no electric lights installed, no handrails. Just a hard hat and headlamp and a local guide. I've always been fascinated by caves and wondered what it would be like to go in one without all the modern conveniences. Now I have an idea!
I almost turned back at the very beginning because it just looked like we were climbing into a deep dark hole in the rocks - and they were closing the gate behind us, locking us in. Somehow I made myself not think about what I was doing, and took some deep breaths, and made it in. It was unlike most caves I've been in - most of the ones I've seen before are nice and cool inside; this one got hotter as you went down, and there was less oxygen as you went down too. Eventually we were all panting even though we were mostly just sliding down slopes.
At one point the guide showed us a candle they keep down there to measure the oxygen. He didn't light it, just told us that it burns if there's enough oxygen. Then he started walking on and left it behind. "Aren't we taking the candle?" "Oh no, sometimes it goes out." ?!!!
Once we got to the lowest point of that particular network of tunnels, the way was blocked by a lake filling the lower tunnels. Two of the guys we were with were convinced they had to touch the water to see what it was like. Next thing I know, one of them had climbed down and jumped in! I thought they were completely crazy and was not at all tempted to follow. Anyway, they made it out okay and seemed glad they'd done it.
The sad thing was, most of the formations inside the cave were dead. Unfortunately, when there aren't paths or handrails, you have to grab whatever you can to help climb/lower yourself down, and as soon as stalactites or stalagmites are touched, they stop growing. Definitely not the most beautiful cave I've been in, but good for the spelunking experience. =)
Going up was much easier than going down - the air got cooler and easier to breathe as we went. Still we were all pretty wiped out when we reached the exit. The guide offered to take us into other tunnel networks (there are 2.5 kilometers of them!) but we passed.
The rest of the camping trip was more relaxing. We had some rain, for which we were grateful because this rainy season has been extremely dry. We cooked and ate way too much meat (the Namibian staple), went swimming, and enjoyed talking. Although I have to admit most of the time I was lost in a sea of Afrikaans. Glad I got to explore some more of the triangle though! (The triangle is the area between Tsumeb, Grootfontein, and Otavi.)
Dylan and I were talking recently about how being a teacher is similar to being a student in many ways. Enjoying a long summer break, then gearing up to go back to school by buying new supplies, looking forward to seeing friends from last year, finding out what your class schedule will look like… It’s so easy to fit into this groove since it’s what we’ve done most of our lives!
I do think teachers have more work than students (though some students may disagree with me =). All the planning and marking takes a lot of time and teaching itself requires a surprising amount of energy! This past week was my first full week of classes, which coincided with a full week of athletics and a bad cold, so it was pretty crazy. Dylan had it worse, if anything, with extra classes after school and then athletics!
Athletics, I should remind you, is basically mandatory track and field for the whole school. Minus the field part since we have no equipment. While I support the idea of getting the kids to be active and be involved in something after school, I don’t really agree with making them all run laps and sprints around a dirt track for two hours in mid-day Namibian heat. Especially when I have to do it with them, as one of the few teachers who is capable of running more than a few hundred meters. On the bright side, this has earned me a reputation for being very athletic, which I don’t think I’ve ever had before. =) And I got to work on my tan. And it’s a short season – next week we’ll have our school competition and that’ll be the end of athletics for the term.
As for classes, I’m continuing to teach the three English classes I had last year who are now in 9th grade, as well as a new 8thgrade class which is also my register (homeroom) class. I didn’t have a register class last year, and it comes with a lot more responsibilities, like being in charge of their report cards and collecting school fees and such. On the other hand, it theoretically gives me a chance to really get to know the kids. We have an hour long register period every day, so as long as I’m not in a meeting (unlike every day last week), I spend that hour with my kids.
When we started the year we were in a bit of a panic because we were told that all the eighth and ninth grade classes were going to have 40+ kids. Originally there were supposed to be 43 in my register class! Fortunately these claims turned out to be an exaggeration in most cases – my classes actually range from 25 to 39 learners. It’s amazing how much more I can get done with the class of 25!
Although it still seems to me like we have a long time left here (10 months!), from the first day of school people were asking me when I was leaving, telling me they’d miss me, or asking if I would extend to stay another year. It does feel different to be on this side of our Christmas holiday – now we’re experiencing lasts. Last first day of school, last athletics training, last rainy season, etc. And it’s already February! I think the year will go very quickly.
We have some prayer requests looking at the year ahead – so grateful we have so many praying friends & family! First, pray for the kid we’re teaching. They’re the ones we interact with most and whose lives we may be changing or influencing without even knowing it. Especially my register class kids – pray that anyone who is in need will feel able to ask me for help or advice and that I’d know what to do or say next! I want to be able to love these kids and be a role model for them.
Second, pray that we’d find ways to work with our Namibian counterparts. I know I’ve requested this before, but somehow it never gets easier. This year it’s more important than ever that we work cooperatively with people who will be here after we’re gone, or else many of the things that we put a lot of work into starting and running may fall apart as soon as we go. In particular, Reading Club for me and Additional Mathematics for Dylan. These are both things that require a teacher to commit extra time outside of their normal work, which most Namibian teachers are not willing to do. Also, all our learners will be taught by Namibians next year for their all-important 10thgrade exams, and they’ll have a better chance if we have been working with the Namibian teachers so everyone’s on the same page.
I guess the obvious request is to pray for whatever we’re doing next, but that seems so far away still. For now, we want to stay focused on being here and teaching and building the relationships we’ve begun in the past year. We don’t want to check out too early by dreaming of where we could be in 2014, though it’s tempting. So pray that we’ll make the most of this opportunity to be where we are, as it’ll probably never come again.
Sorry for the long delay in blogging about our wonderful Christmas and New Year – had to wait until we were back at school for more reliable internet access!
We started off our big vacation with a flight to Cape Town on December 22nd. Dylan and I were the first to arrive so we waited around for a few hours for the next arrivals. I was super impressed that they had an Accessorize and a Subway in the airport! We had to have some hot chocolate while we were waiting because we were so cold in the air-conditioned terminal. =) Around 1pm we were able to greet Ann, Dan, and Abby as they came out of the arrivals gate!
We found our rental cars and dived into left-sided traffic to get to our accommodations for the week. We stayed in an area called Constantia, which is known for its greenery and beautiful vineyards. Johnny was picked up that evening (still the 22nd) and his luggage even came too – the next day. =)
It’s hard to bring people together from five different places without a few travel delays, and unfortunately Mimi and Granddad (Dylan’s grandparents) took the hit for our group on that. Originally scheduled to arrive an hour after the Cairo crowd, Mimi and Granddad missed a flight due to weather delays and ended up having to fly through Tel Aviv, Israel, and didn’t arrive in Cape Town until Christmas Eve!
On our first day we went grocery shopping to get some supplies (we were staying in self-catering flats with a small kitchen), and were very excited to see BERRIES in the store! Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries…it was amazing. We stocked up on those for breakfast and had some delicious pizza for dinner.
For our first full day in Cape Town we drove down the coast to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. On the way we stopped at Boulder Beach to see the warm weather penguins. We watched from a boardwalk as they scuttled around on the beach, up and down dunes, or occasionally right under us! Shortly after that we drove into the national park surrounding Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. It was a pretty crowded place, but we still managed to see some beautiful views of cliffs and oceans and rocky beaches. It’s all very green compared to Namibia!
That night we were treated to Indian food, something Dylan and I really miss here in Namibia! Maybe it’s just been a long time since I’ve had it, but the Indian food we had there tasted just as good as India Palace to me!
Christmas Eve found Dan, Johnny, Abby, Dylan and I on a boat to Robben Island (Ann was at the airport getting Mimi and Granddad). Robben Island was used as a high security prison during apartheid (and as home for a leper colony before that) and is where Nelson Mandela served many of his 20+ years of imprisonment. On the island, we were actually guided around the prison by a former prisoner who had spent almost 20 years there. On a cloudy day, like we had, it’s a pretty bleak place. Especially now, having lived in Namibia and seen firsthand a little of the legacy of apartheid, we appreciated the history there.
Finally united with Mimi and Granddad (and miraculously, their luggage), we spent Christmas Eve singing some carols and reading the Christmas story. Our chorus ranged from a very nice rendition of Silent Night, to a somewhat disastrous attempt at The Wassail Song that had us all crying with laughter.
On Christmas Day, the Coster/Wilson tradition is for the kids to wake up the parents in the morning by singing carols. So the morning started with Johnny and Abby singing to Dylan and me, then the four of us singing to Ann and Dan, then all six of us singing to Mimi and Granddad.
We spent the morning opening stockings and presents – some interesting items came up as things had been brought from the US, Namibia, Afghanistan, and Egypt – and eating yummy scrambled eggs and cinnamon rolls for brunch. In the afternoon we took the gondola (right word?) up Table Mountain. It was nice and sunny when we went up, but as soon as we started hiking over the top to the other side we found ourselves surrounded by fog and clouds. It was interesting how the fog curled over the ridges, almost like a waterfall. It was very windy on top, and by the time we were standing in line to go down we were all huddling in our jackets!
The day after Christmas we flew to Windhoek. It was a public holiday, so not much was open, but we did get to have dinner at Joe’s Beerhouse – well known, not for its beer, but for its variety of game dishes. Between us we tried oryx, zebra, and springbok – the springbok was particularly good.
On the 27th we finally made our way up to Tsumeb so Dylan and I could show everyone where we live and teach. Unfortunately, both our schools were locked up for the holidays so we didn’t get to go in, but we drove around town and saw as much as we could. All the Costers stayed at our house (we had extra space since our roommate left) and everyone met other Dog. =)
The next day we started off relatively early and headed for Etosha. We had all day to drive through the park and make it to our lodge at Okaukuejo for the evening. The park was a very different place in December than it had been in May when my parents were here. Since it had been raining, there were puddles all over the place and fewer animals gathering around the waterholes. Still, we saw all kinds of antelopes, zebra, giraffes, ostriches, etc.
We had a long drive from Etosha, through the desert, to Swakopmund the next day. We four kids (yes, Dylan and I are kids), had a car to ourselves and we passed the time by playing the newly invented “Favorites Game” where we would come up with a topic (i.e. favorite smell) and then guess each person’s favorite. When we ran out of topics we read one of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events books aloud.
Swakopmund was lovely and cool as usual, cloudy most of the time, but somehow still giving half of us sunburns. We played a lot of games up on the balcony outside one of our rooms, walked around town a bit, went to see some movies, enjoyed reading and exercising along the beach, and ate lots of good food. Here we finally found time to fit in a mini-backgammon tournament (another Coster tradition), which Dan ended up winning on New Year’s Eve. We did stay up till midnight and cheered in 2013.
On January 2nd we parted ways – Ann, Dan, Johnny and Abby back to Windhoek to fly home, and Mimi, Granddad, Dylan and I back to Tsumeb. Mimi and Granddad extended their trip to see more wildlife in Etosha and another game reserve called Erindi.
Dylan and I relaxed at home for a few days and started preparing for the new school year, then drove down to meet Mimi and Granddad at Erindi for their last couple of days. Erindi is a private game reserve, rather than a state one, and is much smaller than Etosha. They also use tracking equipment for some of their animals, which makes it pretty much a guarantee to see animals like lions, cheetahs, elephants, and rhinos. The restaurant there overlooks a waterhole where we saw herds of different animals every night, in addition to the resident hippo and crocodile populations – very impressive!
We said goodbye to Mimi and Granddad on Thursday the 10th and headed back to Tsumeb so we’d be ready for our first day of school on Friday. The vacation was actually long enough that I feel ready to go back to work – had enough relaxation for the time being. We’ll see how long that lasts! Fortunately, we’re already working on planning our next long holiday in April/May 2013. =)
See pictures below -- click on one to make it big, and then hover over the picture for an arrow to appear to click to move to the next picture.
As soon as school finished, Dylan and I jetted off to Zambia to see Vic Falls. And by "jetted" I mean, took the 15-hour overnight bus ride. Actually it wasn't too bad -- air conditioned and we slept most of the way to the border. It was immediately clear on crossing into Zambia that we're a bit spoiled in Namibia. The Namibian border control was very organized -- had a single building, a parking lot, official forms to be filled in, etc. The Zambian side had people, cars, and buildings scattered haphazardly around and we had to fight to sign in a register book before we could get our passports stamped. We passed a lot of thatched roof huts and were impressed at how green everything was. On arriving in Livingstone, we dropped our bags at our hostel and went out to explore.
Our first goal was to find the Indian restaurant that was advertised in our guidebook. We found it, but for various reasons it took two more trips there before we actually managed to eat anything. When we finally had dinner there on our last night, we were super impressed -- absolutely delicious chicken tikka masala and chicken korma and naan bread!
Many of the shops in town were familiar to us from Namibia -- Spar and Shoprite for example. Eventually we found the big tourist market and had fun looking for souvenirs and Christmas presents. The currency in Zambia is kwatcha and the exchange rate is about 5200 kwatcha per US dollar. It took a while to get used to talking about money in the tens and hundreds of thousands! On finding that the chitenges (colorful African cloth) were actually very expensive at the tourist market, we went in search of the local market as well. After a half an hour walk and a fruitless search through stalls of clothing, kitchen goods, fish, grains, and all kinds of other things, we finally found the chitenge stalls! I love these cloths and had a field day picking out my favorites to buy for only 7000 kwatcha each.
Sadly, we did not get away without some stomach problems and consequently we spent Sunday lounging at the pool at Jollyboys (where we were staying). It was aow-key day finished off with a sunset cruise on the Zambezi (see pictures below).
Monday and Tuesday we went to both the Zambian and Zimbabwean sides of Vic Falls. The sites are really well developed with paths and lots of viewpoints for taking pictures. This time of year is just beginning the rainy season, so the water was still fairly low. Even so we were getting wet on the Zimbabwe side!
We were not remotely tempted by the bungee jumping or any of the other crazy adrenalin activities offered, but we did stand on the bridge and watch someone jump. It reaffirmed our desire not to!
Wednesday morning we had a few hours before our bus left so we visited the Livingstone Museum. There was a lot of information on Zambian culture and history, the formation of Vic Falls, and David Livingstone himself.
The bus left Livngstone promptly(!) at 12, bringing us back to Tsumeb at 3:30am. We were greeted right away by Other Dog when we got to our house, but other than that we went straight to bed.
Now we have a carefree week at home followed by finally meeting Dylan’s family in Cape Town! Enjoy the pictures!