Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Term 3

The start of term 3 has been riddled with problems and annoyances. After coming off of a wonderful break, the learners have decided that being a mutinous, whirlwind of insanity is an excellent way to kick off the new term. The problem is similar to that of senioritis, except with more violence. The learners who are going to pass, know they are going to pass, and don’t care. The learners who are going to fail (most of them) know they are going to fail, and don’t care. Most of this term is spent doing review for the end of year exams. So the learners don’t have anything new and the smart ones know everything already. The ones who are demotivated because of the last term’s grades give up trying to learn the old information. So you have two completely separate groups of disinterested people. This creates a huge headache for the teachers.
Now before you go thinking that everything is bad, I’ve developed a new hobby to release my stress. I’ve finally started digging my garden. It’s 6m x 6.5m x 10cm roughly. I posted some videos on facebook but for those of you who are not my friend on facebook, I will explain the process. The entire area was full of dead grass left over from the previous rainy season. This grass is 2.5 feet high and with roots that go down a few centimeters. The grass has adapted to be resilient and grow back quickly. I cannot simply plant over it, so I have to dig it all out. I’ve spent at least ten hours on it already and its coming along nicely but I need to spend about another 10 hours or so on it. This is all just preparation, we haven’t actually planted anything and we won’t be planting anything until the beginning of November.
Also this week I met my new roommate Sam. He’s from Georgia and seems like a nice guy. He won’t move in until December because he has to do a homestay with a family in Rehoboth. He will work at Rehoboth Primary School teaching English. It was awesome meeting his principal, Paul. Paul is actually interested in making sure the volunteers are comfortable and he’s committed to painting part of the flat, as well as moving in some comfortable furniture. This is a small miracle. I slept on the floor for three months because my bed was so shitty (only accurate word) it hurt my back. My principal (and the inspector) wouldn’t do anything for me. It good to see that there are some principals who see volunteers as more than just free labor.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

if you're traveling the north country side

I started my journey heading north on the B1 (main road) to Tsumeb to meet up with my friends Quinn and Gretchen. I’ve been to Tsumeb before but it is one of the nicest areas in Namibia. It has some of the most fertile land and looks well maintained by the population. Of course, I did not visit the location (ghetto) where most of the problems are. After that I headed north (still on the B1) to Ondangwa. The landscape along the road is reminiscent of Paines Prairie, with long stretches of flat grassland with only a few trees no taller than a two story house. Along the road sprawls mud huts and tiny villages every few kilometers. Nearly half the population lives in the area, we call, the four O’s, or Oland. This area is populated by the Owambos and is largely homogeneous. I made my way to Eenhana (silent “h”) and then on to the village of Okongo to see my friend Edward.
Just north of Ondangwa the landscape changes, the grass is greener, the trees are taller, and a real feeling of Africa overcomes you. Edward and I cook in his brick house on a homestead. A homestead is an enclosed area with several huts or houses living under the same patriarch, many PCVs in the north live with a family on homesteads. Edward introduces me to the family and we decide that we should go to Oshikongo, a border town between Angola and Namibia. Oshikongo is one of the strangest places on earth and I determined I was 64% more likely to die in that town than anywhere else in Namibia. It’s not exceptionally dangerous or anything, there’s just a ton of taxis and people. Taxis in this area do not drive by any sort of rules. The just simply drive and try to get more people for more money without any regard to other cars or pedestrians. Now the crazy part about Oshikongo is the china town area. I didn’t expect to find a china town outside of Windhoek but right on the border is a china town with restaurants, housing, and shops, for the Chinese only.
I went back to Okongo but left the next day for Tsumeb. I met my friend Min, who was traveling to Victoria Falls, and went to a really nice country club with Quinn. Nothing of real excitement happened. I left and went on to Okahandja, meeting up with Shannon, Brian, Diana, and some of the new group, who arrived a week ago. While in Okahandja I am told of an opportunity to head to Spitzkoppe and I leave the next day heading east.
I meet up with my friends Adam and Jeanine, and their friends Spencer and Mel from America. We camped in the Spitzkoppe mountain range. It’s a good thing I always bring my tent (and food) while traveling. Spitzkoppe is an absolutely gorgeous mountain range complete with technical climbing routes, or if you’re like me, hiking routes. We spent much of the afternoon and early evening just climbing around on massive boulders and mountains before watching sunset over desert. We made a fire and slept well that night. The next day they dropped me off in Karibib and I heading for Rehoboth, making it home around 4pm, completely exhausted. I covered between 400 and 650 kilometers everyday without rest for 6 days.


Also the title comes from a Bob Dylan song.