It’s been a few weeks since I’ve written a blog post but teaching full time is exceptionally time consuming. Last week my school had control tests. A control test is when the administration forces all math, science, and English teachers to give a test at specific times. It was annoying because I had already given tests the previous week and had to write (make) new tests and grade five classes of tests this week. It was a pain but I got everything done.
This week I was in Okahandja at a Peace Corps seminar on gardening. I have never had a garden before but I managed to grow an onion by throwing rotten onion out of my kitchen window. I have a small area next to my flat that has space for my garden. It won’t be very big but I will be able to grow a few things for myself and maybe a few others. The first part of the seminar was about microgardening with hydroponics. This method is not very feasible for most of the group because it requires a lot of trips to Windhoek to get the supplies and all. The second part of the seminar had a former Peace Corps Volunteer (from Haiti in the 80’s) who explained permagardening, which is a form of permaculture. He showed us how to make these small gardens that are extremely high yield by double digging the soil and using basic rain capturing techniques. It’s pretty cool and my counterpart Dawn became more interested in doing this at the TRC where I live and at various schools and aid relief programs. I’m pretty excited about these gardens too. It’s going to be a lot of work but it would be nice to get the garden going and have a few trial runs before I attempt this at my house. Not my parents house but the someday imaginary house that I have in mind which includes a brewery in the basement and now a garden in the backyard.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Athletics
This was a pretty tough week. Since we finally have our official time table for the school year I had to adjust several lessons to classes I wasn’t expecting or completely prepared to teach. It was a headache for Monday and Tuesday but it got slightly better as the week went on. I do not care for my schedule much because it is very heavy at the beginning of the week and lighter towards the end of the week. For instance, I teach eight straight periods on Tuesday without a break, and seven on Wednesday without a break. But it is not all bad, my school finally has internet and I will start bringing my laptop on certain days so I can check my email without getting up at 4am.
This week was also hectic because of the athletics (track and field) meet that was held Friday and Saturday. I was a time keeper for the high schools and spent most about 10.5 hours taking measurements of people running various distances. It was boring as can possibly be. The exciting part was watching the learners collapse. This happened for multiple reasons. The athletes train for maybe three or four weeks before the meet and are not usually in the best of shape because several times practices are cancelled for rain or learners simply don’t show up. Also, no drinks water at the meet because “it makes them throw up”. I tried explaining simple hydration techniques but no one really listened. Several got bad cramps and had to quit competing. It’s actually pretty scary to have an athlete collapse about 10 feet from the finish line and then be carried under a tent and rubbed with a wet cloth, by the hundredth or so time though you get pretty used to it.
I’ve determined Namibia has four basic seasons: winter, summer, rainy season, and second summer. Summer is characterized by near 100 degrees temperatures everyday and nearly no cloud cover. We are now entering second summer. Most days are very hot with very very blue skies. The occasional evening or night time shower occurs but this happens rarely. The nights are getting colder and come winter (sometimes in April or May) it will be close to freezing at night and 50’s or 60’s during the day.
This week was also hectic because of the athletics (track and field) meet that was held Friday and Saturday. I was a time keeper for the high schools and spent most about 10.5 hours taking measurements of people running various distances. It was boring as can possibly be. The exciting part was watching the learners collapse. This happened for multiple reasons. The athletes train for maybe three or four weeks before the meet and are not usually in the best of shape because several times practices are cancelled for rain or learners simply don’t show up. Also, no drinks water at the meet because “it makes them throw up”. I tried explaining simple hydration techniques but no one really listened. Several got bad cramps and had to quit competing. It’s actually pretty scary to have an athlete collapse about 10 feet from the finish line and then be carried under a tent and rubbed with a wet cloth, by the hundredth or so time though you get pretty used to it.
I’ve determined Namibia has four basic seasons: winter, summer, rainy season, and second summer. Summer is characterized by near 100 degrees temperatures everyday and nearly no cloud cover. We are now entering second summer. Most days are very hot with very very blue skies. The occasional evening or night time shower occurs but this happens rarely. The nights are getting colder and come winter (sometimes in April or May) it will be close to freezing at night and 50’s or 60’s during the day.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Finally have a timetable
This week I started a competition among my tenth graders to get them to do their homework and be good in class. They’re very excited and the reward is a movie, food, and drink at “Kayak” the after school place for the winning group. There was a massive rainstorm this week and the next morning when I went to my host family’s house for a ride to school (I can’t ride my bike when the roads are flooded) and there was a new ten foot wide river running in front of the neighborhood. After that storm it didn’t rain for two days. I like the rain better.
I started taking Afrikaans lessons again with my colleague’s thirteen year old daughter. It’s very humbling to be taught by a thirteen year old and a little annoying. I’m hoping to be fluent within a few months. We finally have a time table (schedule) that starts on Monday. My subject package includes grade 10 math and physical science, grade 8 math and physical science, grade 5-7 ICT and grade 5 religious and moral education. I’m not sure what to teach for religious education, especially to children who can’t seem to stop punching each other.
I started taking Afrikaans lessons again with my colleague’s thirteen year old daughter. It’s very humbling to be taught by a thirteen year old and a little annoying. I’m hoping to be fluent within a few months. We finally have a time table (schedule) that starts on Monday. My subject package includes grade 10 math and physical science, grade 8 math and physical science, grade 5-7 ICT and grade 5 religious and moral education. I’m not sure what to teach for religious education, especially to children who can’t seem to stop punching each other.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Master Chef
Three weeks into the trimester and still no complete time table (schedule). We have a MWF time table and a TR time table but our school is on a five day rotation which means there is a different schedule everyday so the learners can get to all the classes they have. For instance math is five days a week but science is only four days a week, but a learner might also take a once a week computer class. The schedule allows for more subjects to be taken but it’s not always efficient. I also found out this week that the other computer teacher teaches classes in the computer lab at the same time I teach grade five ICT, meaning that I am supposed to teach computer classes without a computer. I asked my HOD and he said I can do whatever I want with my grade fives. I am a babysitter for two classes every day. This realization originally annoyed me but I’ve found benefits in being a babysitter. One benefit is that I don’t actually have to teach so I just play games with the kids. I have them draw pictures, play heads up seven up, or let them play on the playground. It makes life easier less frustrating when I’m not teaching them.
I gave my grade eight class a math quiz and it didn’t go well. In Namibia if a learner fails a grade twice they are “transferred” to the next grade. The problem with this is you have learners in grade eight who haven’t passed a class since grade four. My school doesn’t allow learners to “transfer” after grade eight. The only way into grade nine is by passing grade eight. I helped out with Athletics (track and field) practice most of the week which was good but I couldn’t exercise by myself which is something I really enjoy doing. I learned I’m not very good with a javelin or coaching children how to throw a javelin. My bike tire got punctured by a rock, or broken glass or any number other sharp objects along the roads. I took the tube out, found the hole, and patched it up. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. Now I need to find how to stop the gears from making funny noises and slipping. Lots of rain this week.
I cook a lot now and I’m determined to be an excellent chef by the time I come back to the states. Everything I make is from scratch. If I want pizza, I make the sauce, the dough, cut the toppings, cook the meat, and grate the cheese, all by myself. Not the most difficult of dishes but really tasty. I’ve started experimenting with new foods though. I never really made breakfast in the states and now I can make pancakes and omelets. We have a Peace Corps cookbook and I’ve gone through and highlighted the different foods I want to make. The only problem is that sometimes the recipes are wrong and you have to remake the food with changes to the recipe. I had a cookie disaster with my cookies I was making for my host mom’s birthday but in the end I amended the recipe to work.
I gave my grade eight class a math quiz and it didn’t go well. In Namibia if a learner fails a grade twice they are “transferred” to the next grade. The problem with this is you have learners in grade eight who haven’t passed a class since grade four. My school doesn’t allow learners to “transfer” after grade eight. The only way into grade nine is by passing grade eight. I helped out with Athletics (track and field) practice most of the week which was good but I couldn’t exercise by myself which is something I really enjoy doing. I learned I’m not very good with a javelin or coaching children how to throw a javelin. My bike tire got punctured by a rock, or broken glass or any number other sharp objects along the roads. I took the tube out, found the hole, and patched it up. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. Now I need to find how to stop the gears from making funny noises and slipping. Lots of rain this week.
I cook a lot now and I’m determined to be an excellent chef by the time I come back to the states. Everything I make is from scratch. If I want pizza, I make the sauce, the dough, cut the toppings, cook the meat, and grate the cheese, all by myself. Not the most difficult of dishes but really tasty. I’ve started experimenting with new foods though. I never really made breakfast in the states and now I can make pancakes and omelets. We have a Peace Corps cookbook and I’ve gone through and highlighted the different foods I want to make. The only problem is that sometimes the recipes are wrong and you have to remake the food with changes to the recipe. I had a cookie disaster with my cookies I was making for my host mom’s birthday but in the end I amended the recipe to work.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
I started teaching
This week I started officially teaching classes though the time table (schedule) is not completely finished even by the end of the week. My school roughly had 750 learners last year and this year we have around 650. No one is quite sure why but we think more will show up sooner or later. So far on my schedule I get to teach tenth grade physical science, eighth grade math and physical science, and grades five through seven Internet communication technologies (ICT). Here instead of being a subject teacher, everyone just teaches whatever is needed whether or not they are actually qualified for it. Because the time table isn’t finished we’ve been using the same schedule everyday and just waiting until later to use a schedule and teach real lessons.
This hasn’t been too bad except for teaching the fifth graders ICT. The normal ICT teacher is in South Africa because he daughter started school in Johannesburg. I have no syllabus (syllabi are developed by the ministry of education and given to the teachers) and no one to ask what I should teach the learners. Because of a complete lack of preparation for the learners I have not allowed them on the computers and mostly end up babysitting the most rambunctious children for two class periods every day. It is not enjoyable though my older learners are excellent and I really enjoy them. I sought advice from other teachers at school, they replied “You must get a stick and hit them,” for multiple reasons this advice was ignored. Discipline with the younger learners is difficult. They are under the impression that if I don’t hit them they are doing nothing wrong. I’ve talked to other Peace Corps Volunteers and they have given me some advice but they mostly say it will just take time for them to get use to your style. My head of department tells me that when he writes the actual schedule I will not have the fifth graders and will likely only teach grades eight and higher, until then it’s just hang on and hope for the best.
On a more positive note I had several people over this past weekend for a house warming dinner. It was a lot of fun sitting around and discussing our first two weeks of real work with some of the older volunteers who went through the same thing last year. Also the food was wonderful. I made pizzas for people and the second night Martin made tortillas and we had beef curry tortillas. It was pretty delicious. We also had scrambled eggs and pancakes Sunday morning. If you couldn’t tell getting together and eating real food is very important to the sanity of a Volunteer.
This hasn’t been too bad except for teaching the fifth graders ICT. The normal ICT teacher is in South Africa because he daughter started school in Johannesburg. I have no syllabus (syllabi are developed by the ministry of education and given to the teachers) and no one to ask what I should teach the learners. Because of a complete lack of preparation for the learners I have not allowed them on the computers and mostly end up babysitting the most rambunctious children for two class periods every day. It is not enjoyable though my older learners are excellent and I really enjoy them. I sought advice from other teachers at school, they replied “You must get a stick and hit them,” for multiple reasons this advice was ignored. Discipline with the younger learners is difficult. They are under the impression that if I don’t hit them they are doing nothing wrong. I’ve talked to other Peace Corps Volunteers and they have given me some advice but they mostly say it will just take time for them to get use to your style. My head of department tells me that when he writes the actual schedule I will not have the fifth graders and will likely only teach grades eight and higher, until then it’s just hang on and hope for the best.
On a more positive note I had several people over this past weekend for a house warming dinner. It was a lot of fun sitting around and discussing our first two weeks of real work with some of the older volunteers who went through the same thing last year. Also the food was wonderful. I made pizzas for people and the second night Martin made tortillas and we had beef curry tortillas. It was pretty delicious. We also had scrambled eggs and pancakes Sunday morning. If you couldn’t tell getting together and eating real food is very important to the sanity of a Volunteer.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Electrolytes
“Electrolytes, what plants crave.”
This quote comes from the movie Idiocracy. It comes from a discussion that is flawed cyclical logic. The quote is appropriate for the first week of school.
We don’t have a schedule (called a time table here) because not all the learners are registered, the learners can’t register until their school fees are paid, they can’t pay school fees until the school opens, the school opens on the first day of school, where there is no schedule because the learners haven’t registered.
Anyhow that’s enough complaining for now. It will all get sorted out within a week or two. Until then I play the piano, read my textbooks, look for experiments I can do without chemicals, and work on getting the school internet. Getting the school internet has been successful so far. I went with my head of department (HOD) and vice principal to the store and talked to them about school options and government stipends for internet. Within a week or two the school will have internet and I will no longer need to get up at 4am to use it for free. I went to Gobabis a few weeks ago. Its 200km east of Windhoek and is one of the more beautiful areas I have seen so far. I forgot my camera and it’s still not working very well so there are no pictures of the journey. I’ve started a exercising everyday and convinced my vice principal to ride his bike to school with me, about 4km on dirt roads.
It’s been raining nearly every day around three in the afternoon. It reminds me of Florida in the summer time. My host mom’s Birthday was the 22nd and I made cookies for her. I found out that the cookie recipe in my Peace Corps cook book isn’t very good and needed modification. But like a true scientist I experimented until I came out with good cookies and the family was very impressed.
This quote comes from the movie Idiocracy. It comes from a discussion that is flawed cyclical logic. The quote is appropriate for the first week of school.
We don’t have a schedule (called a time table here) because not all the learners are registered, the learners can’t register until their school fees are paid, they can’t pay school fees until the school opens, the school opens on the first day of school, where there is no schedule because the learners haven’t registered.
Anyhow that’s enough complaining for now. It will all get sorted out within a week or two. Until then I play the piano, read my textbooks, look for experiments I can do without chemicals, and work on getting the school internet. Getting the school internet has been successful so far. I went with my head of department (HOD) and vice principal to the store and talked to them about school options and government stipends for internet. Within a week or two the school will have internet and I will no longer need to get up at 4am to use it for free. I went to Gobabis a few weeks ago. Its 200km east of Windhoek and is one of the more beautiful areas I have seen so far. I forgot my camera and it’s still not working very well so there are no pictures of the journey. I’ve started a exercising everyday and convinced my vice principal to ride his bike to school with me, about 4km on dirt roads.
It’s been raining nearly every day around three in the afternoon. It reminds me of Florida in the summer time. My host mom’s Birthday was the 22nd and I made cookies for her. I found out that the cookie recipe in my Peace Corps cook book isn’t very good and needed modification. But like a true scientist I experimented until I came out with good cookies and the family was very impressed.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Holidays
I returned to Rehoboth from the Namibian Coast on January 1st 2011. I had spent two weeks camping in a tent on the beach and my clothes, and myself, were disgusting. But the trip was completely amazing. I met up with my Rehoboth host family in Henties Bay. The following day I rode with them up to the campground at mile marker 72. It is 72 miles north of Swakopmund and only campgrounds along this one road are measured in miles. Everything else in the entire country is measured in kilometers. I spent five days camping and fishing with them. My host dad (and supervisor) Harry caught a 10 kilogram fish. I don’t remember what type of fish it was but it was nearly the size and a person’s torso. They also prepared a delicacy for me called a “smiley”. This is where you eat the face and brain of a sheep. Honestly it didn’t taste bad, except for the brain, which was pretty gross.
On the 23rd I went down to Swakopmund to meet up with fellow Peace Corps Volunteers from my group and other groups. Swakopmund is by far the oddest place in Africa. It is essentially a German town on the east coast of Namibia. The signs for restaurants are in Afrikaans, English, and German. This is the richest city in Namibia and apparently where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sometimes vacation. It is a complete contrast to everything that I have seen in the rest of the country. Rich South Africans like to vacation there for Christmas because of the mild climate. They also like to talk about how Namibia was better under South African control, and apartheid. Yeah I heard a lot of racist comments over the course of my vacation, but that’s a story for another time. I was happy when I received a call on the 24th (my birthday) from my family and got to talk to everyone for a little bit. It was a short phone call but it was wonderful to hear everyone’s voice.
On Christmas day we exchanged gifts in a secret springbok (secret Santa) fashion. Everyone seemed pretty happy with their gifts even if it was for someone they had never met before. We had a campfire on the beach and most people were received calls from friends and family. It was a good Christmas.
On the 28th myself and 19 others rented two bakkies (covered pickup trucks) and drove north to Cape Cross to see the seal reservation. That night we camped on the beach near a shipwreck. We watched a gorgeous sunset behind the shipwreck and built another campfire. The next day we broke camp early and drove south to Walvis Bay which is the third largest city in Namibia. It is an industrial shipping port and commercial fishing area. We didn’t spent much time in the city, only enough to get great seafood and free crab claws from this little take out place that sold oysters for N$3.50 (about $0.50) per oyster. We then drove a little bit further south to Dune 7, the largest sand dune in Namibia (and maybe the world but I’m not actually sure of that). All 20 of us climbed the dune and that was where my camera got too much sand in it and stopped working. After Dune 7 we drove to the salt mines near there and then back to Swakopmund because we only rented the trucks for 24 hours. I did get to drive however and it was awesome driving on the left side of the road.
Once back in Swakopmund I had a quiet few days, I watched a few movies with friends and ate too much food. I had a quiet New Years Eve because I stopped celebrating New Years a few years ago (long story) and barely made it to midnight. I got up around 7am, packed up all my things, and went to get a hike back to Rehoboth. It was a great trip but after a certain point in every vacation I always feel like getting back and getting to work. I have a few New Years’ resolutions: stop cracking my knuckles and neck, I do it way too often. Start and finish the P90 workout series, which I started today. And learn to play the piano better. I have received a few books from my parents and my school has a piano for me to practice on.
On the 23rd I went down to Swakopmund to meet up with fellow Peace Corps Volunteers from my group and other groups. Swakopmund is by far the oddest place in Africa. It is essentially a German town on the east coast of Namibia. The signs for restaurants are in Afrikaans, English, and German. This is the richest city in Namibia and apparently where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sometimes vacation. It is a complete contrast to everything that I have seen in the rest of the country. Rich South Africans like to vacation there for Christmas because of the mild climate. They also like to talk about how Namibia was better under South African control, and apartheid. Yeah I heard a lot of racist comments over the course of my vacation, but that’s a story for another time. I was happy when I received a call on the 24th (my birthday) from my family and got to talk to everyone for a little bit. It was a short phone call but it was wonderful to hear everyone’s voice.
On Christmas day we exchanged gifts in a secret springbok (secret Santa) fashion. Everyone seemed pretty happy with their gifts even if it was for someone they had never met before. We had a campfire on the beach and most people were received calls from friends and family. It was a good Christmas.
On the 28th myself and 19 others rented two bakkies (covered pickup trucks) and drove north to Cape Cross to see the seal reservation. That night we camped on the beach near a shipwreck. We watched a gorgeous sunset behind the shipwreck and built another campfire. The next day we broke camp early and drove south to Walvis Bay which is the third largest city in Namibia. It is an industrial shipping port and commercial fishing area. We didn’t spent much time in the city, only enough to get great seafood and free crab claws from this little take out place that sold oysters for N$3.50 (about $0.50) per oyster. We then drove a little bit further south to Dune 7, the largest sand dune in Namibia (and maybe the world but I’m not actually sure of that). All 20 of us climbed the dune and that was where my camera got too much sand in it and stopped working. After Dune 7 we drove to the salt mines near there and then back to Swakopmund because we only rented the trucks for 24 hours. I did get to drive however and it was awesome driving on the left side of the road.
Once back in Swakopmund I had a quiet few days, I watched a few movies with friends and ate too much food. I had a quiet New Years Eve because I stopped celebrating New Years a few years ago (long story) and barely made it to midnight. I got up around 7am, packed up all my things, and went to get a hike back to Rehoboth. It was a great trip but after a certain point in every vacation I always feel like getting back and getting to work. I have a few New Years’ resolutions: stop cracking my knuckles and neck, I do it way too often. Start and finish the P90 workout series, which I started today. And learn to play the piano better. I have received a few books from my parents and my school has a piano for me to practice on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)