Deja vu

The new term has started and everything is getting right back on track. This year seems to be starting a lot better than last year. I’ve given up trying to motivate the all kids by becoming a mentor to them. The overwhelming majority just don’t care. I have a few that seem to be following my example though they aren’t in my classes anymore. This year I have grade 8 physical science and math, and a grade 10 physical science. My classes are pretty well behaved so far but it’s early in the year. Last year I made a rookie teacher mistake by being too lenient in the beginning. It’s a lot harder to be a hard ass to a bunch of people you don’t know than you’d think. After getting a taste of undisciplined children last year, it’s become much easier to be a hard ass to the kids. I see the ones who are most likely to cause problems and try to stop it early. Everyone in Peace Corps says your second year gets easier and it couldn’t be truer. I know what to expect from the staff and from the learners. I know what to do if the power goes out. I also know what to do when everything completely changes in the middle of the day for no apparent reason. Last year I tried to be the model of professionalism and certainty, always being on time to classes and being annoyed when a staff meeting went over or started late. I was trying to be the rock in the middle of the river. Slowly, over time, I’ve learned to be a piece of drift wood instead and just go with it. It’s not easy to do. In the US we are so used to the rigidity of our educational system that it’s hard to break into a fluid system.
This rainy season is not like last year’s rainy season. Last year it rained nearly every day and once or twice I woke up to find a seasonal river going through the town. This year the rain has been more sporadic. It will rain about four or five times in a week and then it won’t rain at all for a week. I love the rain here. It slows everything down and cools everything off. The only problem with the rain is when the power goes out but even then you just eat a can of beans and read by candle light.
Athletics (track and field) has begun for the year. The entire school is broken into teams and forced to compete against each other. Even if you hate sports its compulsory. I don’t quite understand why they make it compulsory, but they do. I see the same problems this year that I saw last year. For instance, no one hydrates. Before races the runners are given sugary juices and maybe a Gatorade, but not water. As a result some of the competitors collapse upon finishing the race or right before the finishing line.
Within the first three weeks of school starting we have had two teachers resign from their posts. One was a grade 6-8 math teacher and the other was grade 8-10 life science teacher. This creates a rather large dilemma because both were put on the time table (schedule) and now all the other teachers will have to cover for them. Hopefully we will be able to replace them soon but I’m not overly optimistic. Most likely all of their classes will be given to other teachers and we will continue as normally as possible. However, the other problem is, I leave in October and all of my classes will also need to be divided amongst the teachers. Imagine needing to split three teachers’ workloads on the rest of the teachers at a school. It’s not fun for anyone.

Jet Airliner

Before I left for America, I embarked with several friends on a trip through northern parts of Namibia in a rented bakkie (truck). The first day started in Rehoboth and ended in Ruacana Falls on the border with Angola. This is where we found out our map was not entirely accurate. It stated that Rehoboth was 900km from Ruacana, its closer to 1100km. After a full day of driving we camped for the night and relaxed. The next day we went down to the falls and looked at the trickle of water that barely peaked through the rocks. It was a bit disappointing. Since it’s been dry season so long there’s almost no water in the falls. However, the mountain man of the group had a good idea and we went bouldering on all the rocks that would be covered in water and inaccessible come rainy season. After Ruacana we traveled to Epupa falls. This drive was spectacular, through mountain terrain, dried river beds, and near traditional Himba villages. Here the falls did not disappoint. Though they are along the same river, Epupa Falls is not as seasonal as Ruacana.
From Epupa we traveled south through some crazy mountainous terrain to Sesfontein (6 springs) and Fort Sesfontein. Now, something I’ve learned, driving is not the same everywhere you go. Imagine driving down a mountain, 7 people and gear for a week, on a dirt road, without anti-lock brakes. Luck for the group I learned on the fly and only lost control a handful of times and never in a serious way. Sometimes we slid a little. We saw the fort (now a hotel) but were unable to stay due to the expense. We drove on the next day to Twyfulfontein (doubtful springs), organ pipes, and the burnt mountain. We spent the night at a campsite that had a nice little restaurant and bar. The cool thing about this place is that they also had lots of bats. On more than one occasion we thought we might get attacked. I already had plenty of rabies shots so I wasn’t too worried. Finally we went to Brandberg, Namibia’s tallest mountain. Though this is a beautiful area, the guide (who was required) was a complete jackass and attempted to spoon feed us bullshit about the history of the place. Here one of our spare tires was stolen from our truck. It put a damper on the end of what was an amazing trip. We went back to Rehoboth, dropping people off along the way, and it was good to be back in my flat relaxing.
Two days later I boarded a plane and took the 30 hour journey back to Gainesville Florida. The plane ride was awesome. I wore my Peace Corps polo shirt and met a lot of cool people, some were former PCVs and others who just finished service or were still in Peace Corps. The 17 hours from Johannesburg to Atlanta was close to miserable, the over the counter, natural, organic, sleep aid did nothing whatsoever. In fact in my 30 hours of travel I slept maybe four. Once back in Gainesville I called people, hung out with my family, and made plans for later in the week. I never really believed much about jet lag, but that me hard for the next few days. I would go to sleep around 5pm and wake around 2am. It was strange but eventually worked out. I had a lot of fun seeing people and hanging out with family. I traveled back to Namibia starting three days ago and finally made it back to Rehoboth. Tomorrow I’m going to make enchiladas. Also, Air Namibia is not a fun airline. By far, the worst food of the trip and all the seat belts say “Air France”.