Over roughly the last 4 days and 5 nights, we finally got to go backpacking in the Fish River Canyon. (The second largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon.) After descending, you reach an 86-km trail (before factoring in the shortcuts) that follows the riverbed. And I have to say that I was quite pleased to have escaped this hike with few blisters and zero painkillers- unlike last year's Naukluft hike!

Here is a view outside the canyon:

And here are some more shots during our hike inside the canyon. It's pretty cool because you start forgetting you're actually in a canyon in the first place.

Wildlife we saw included wild horses, baboons, and this snake that we can't quite identify. Maybe an adder of some kind? It has horns!

Especially since this was our last Peace Corps holiday, it was nice to spend the time with a bunch of fellow volunteers. Telling teaching stories. Trying to figure out the remaining mysteries of Namibian culture. Playing Truth-or-Dare around the campfire. (Kevin's Dare had to be the best and most hilarious, the details of which I will not post publicly, leaving them in the hands of your imagination! Why he chose Dare in the first place, I do not know!)

And now it's just about back to school for us!

We spent about a week and a half in Mozambique where we hit up Indian Ocean beaches, ate seafood, and went snorkeling. All of which are activities we have not been able to do for some time now.

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The highlight of this trip might have to be our 2-day, 1-night sailing excursion to the Bazaruto Archipelago and Two Mile Reef.



The picturesque views of the amazing beaches make it hard to believe your eyes; being there was such a dreamlike tropical paradise. The rich aqua-color of the sea in contrast with the pristine sand is just as perfect as the photos captured.

Meals on the sailing trip were included too. My favorite was the crab and Kevin's the King fish.

We also loved the snorkeling and concluded once and for all that snorkeling must be one of our favorite activities of all time, especially together. (We've snorkeled before in Australia's Great Barrier Reef and I in Fiji and Australia's West Coast.) The intimate experience with the colorful life under the ocean's surface among the diverse coral reef is just unparalleled in beauty and serenity. How we wish we could go for a snorkel every day!

Left is Lauren, our good friend and fellow PCV

The following are not our photos since we didn't have the capability of bringing our camera under water with us, but here are some images of our favorite sea creatures that we saw (upper-left: Mantaray; upper-right: Blue-spotted ray; lower left: Threadfin butterfly fish; lower-right: Moorish idol):

We can't help but feel that, overall, Mozambique and Namibia (especially where we are in the south) are worlds different, Mozambique being more of the untamed "Africa" of the two, in terms of terrain and culture. Mozambique is much greener and more jungle-y and the people more boisterous but perhaps also friendlier. And public transport was more, um, crowded... At one time we were 25 adults plus 5 children plus (live) chickens in a 15-person capacity minibus/ combi/ chapa. But that was one that didn't even break down on us so we aren't complaining! Speaking Spanish in place of Portuguese was also interesting.. beats Khoekhoegowab in our opinion!

Honestly, the photo does not due our packedness justice!Yeah, that guy is holding a chainsaw. No worries.Also done in Namibia of course, but just not quite to such an extreme.

Boys fishing and having themselves a grand ol' time.

Johannesburg, South Africa was not a destination we were excited, or

even planning, to see while in southern Africa. We've been strongly

cautioned by locals of all backgrounds of the city's crime and danger.

Not to mention, it's where we've personally had packages from home

tampered with before they've reached us, and passengers' luggage at

the JNB airport is known to be no different. But when we had to go

there to drop off Patches for his flight home, we ended up seeing a

different side of this city that we'd been avoiding.

I suppose especially after being in the sparsely-populated, less

developed Namibia for this long now, the tall buildings, multi-lane

highways and freeways, selection of restaurants, and HUGE shopping

malls were really something! (Maybe it's just my fading memory, but I

could swear the King of Prussia mall would have some competition!)

The TREES were amazing also! Anyway, it's certainly not what you

picture when you think of Africa.

While there, we took up a couple of (white) South African business

guys' offer to show us around Sandton one night, and the upscale area

truly impressed us. Not to say that we weren't careful and aware, but

after the scared, looking-over-your-shoulder paranoia wore off a bit,

we came to enjoy our visit in the big city. (I guess I should add

that one of those South African guys used to be in the special forces,

so that probably helped relax us too!)

Despite feeling more at ease about our immediate safety, we were not

about to knowingly make ourselves targets by carrying around a camera,

so we therefore have no photos of our own of Johannesburg. At least

there's always Google Images!

Patches made it to the other side! He's just getting settled and used to his new family and new, well, everything. God really answered our prayers with making this whole process safe and straightforward (even though my Mom gave us some scares, but that's another story..!).

My brother was sending us a play-by-play of their journey picking up Patches with his iPhone, including photos and videos. While they were still in the car on their way, he said he could hardly sleep last night because he was so anxious to get Patches, the same feeling you get as a child on Christmas Eve. (Awww.)

Patches with Uncle Stevie

Steve said Patches gave him a ton of kisses and basically just wanted to cuddle on him the whole car ride home. Which is exactly what we explained to my family that we knew he would do!

It seems Patches is in-love with his new family already, and they with him. It will be difficult for us to be away from him for a while, but it makes it a whole lot easier knowing he's safe, happy, and giving and receiving lots of love!

Can't wait for the rest of you to meet our African American pup too!

One letter written by Monica and Sunete, Grade 6, to bid Patches farewell:

We warned our learners that they would not see Patches when we return to school next term after this holiday because he is going to America! Many, many boys and girls expressed that they would miss him. But perhaps a stronger emotion they felt was a bit of jealousy… Patches is living the dream of every Namibian! If we are bringing our dog to America… why not a learner?! (Understandable point.) Kevin’s principal (warmly) said what everyone is thinking: “Patches is one luckydog.”

We did the best we could explaining it all to them, and I truly think our learners understand as much as they possibly can. After all, they already know he is no ordinary dog! And they see how much we love Patches and how much he loves us, and many have even said they believe Patches would die if we didn’t bring him home. So… that’s what we’re doing! “But if it doesn’t work,” many said, “I’lltake him!!!”

Patches will be staying with my parents and brother until we come home, starting on May 1st when they pick him up from JFK at 6:20 in the morning! (Thank you, thank you again!!!!) We appreciate your thoughts and prayers for his safe travels and for our peace of mind and aching hearts (longing to reunite with our boy).

Kevin's pride and joy, John Dawid, is running this weekend in a southern Africa Athletics competition. Namibia is hosting the event in Windhoek, and athletes from 13 countries will attend! John is a great kid who has been working hard; he deserves such a great experience so that makes it even sweeter. We hope he does well, and are proud no matter what place he finishes.

(The metal is from his second place finish at the National competition for the 800m.)

..And we're finally getting good at this! At last, we understand what

is going on and how things work!

I got exactly what I wanted for my birthday this year... even if it was 2 days early. Thanks Garden Café! ;-)

Mmmmmm.....

We just LOVE the Garden Café in Okahandja, Namibia. But not just for their delicious food and because the place is adorable and there's no place like it in Namibia....

... But we mostly love the Garden Café for its mission and the amazing work that is happening there!

Tony and Catherine are American missionaries (center, in the photo above) from San Diego who have been in Namibia for 4 years now. (Also pictured is their son and daughter-in-law who were visiting them here.) They have a wonderful church in Okahandja and they started the Garden Café and its training program as a way to create job opportunities in Okahandja for out-of-school youth and to teach them about good business and customer service practices.

The training program they've developed that has gained quite the reputation so now their waiters and waitresses are even being sought after by other restaurants and shops! Morethan 90% of their graduates findemployment despite a high national unemployment rate (we think it’s as high as50%). The program is comprehensive andchallenging and requires a lot of hard work and dedication, so these youthreally deserve it. And we personally cansee the great difference in customer service that we receive when visiting the Café,especially compared to the pitiful customer service we are used to receivingfrom other restaurants, shops, and organizations in Namibia. But even by American standards, the friendlyand sincere service is terrific.

Itcan be challenging to make a sustainable difference in the world, especiallyabroad. As Peace Corps volunteers, weknow this well! But the Garden Café ismaking a real, noticeable impact in the community and giving second chances toyouth who are willing to work for it but had little other opportunity until now. If you're interested to know more, you can go to www.facebook.com/gardencafenamibia .

On a side/personal note, we've become good friends with Tony and Catherine from the time we first got to know them in 2010 when visiting their church and also adopting Patches! They are the "parents" of Patches' mother, Bella!

Patches and cows will just never get along.

Despite how much more enormous they are, he still insists on trying to make them stay away from his territory (perhaps not realizing that the fence already does a pretty good job of that).

Patches discovered the joys of a hula hoop, along with my learners during PE. They love saying the word, always giddily asking me to repeat its pronunciation.

The learners also found watching Patches to be quite amusing! But it was when Patches retrieved the hula hoop like this that one learner and friend of Patches said, "That is not a dog, Teacher... That is a person." It was easy to see that Patches had cleverly learned a way to skillfully pick up and carry the hula hoop in a balanced, graceful, and confident way, with the back of the hoop resting on the root of his tail!

Our camera just can't handle Patches' lightning speed, but here are some action shots for fun anyway:

Kevin: I'm looking for John Dawid. Have you seen him?

Manfred: Hmmm. Is he the white one?

Kevin: He's not white!

Manfred: Well, he's brown.

Kevin: And what color are you?

Manfred: I'm dark brown... And he's light brown.

Kevin: And what color am I?

Manfred: You're white.

Kevin (holds arm against white t-shirt): But this shirt is white.

Manfred: Then you're light light brown.

Kids here are always openly making reference to their skin color!

(Usually, but unfortunately not always, in a neutral to positive way.)

It's funny though because from what we've noticed, it's almost as if

everyone refers to themselves as brown, to kids darker than them as

black, and to kids lighter than them as white! Always makes us

chuckle a bit.

You may remember from a previous post that boys sometimes find and try to domesticate "rabbits" (which were actually more like squirrels). Last time I was caught off-guard in my classroom without a camera, but this time I was able to take a photo since these two visited us at our house.

As we have spent more time here and talked with more people, we

realize this second Independence Day more than our first just how weak

a sense of national identity exists here. Especially in comparison

with America. Maybe by now we shouldn't have been, but we somehow

found it surprising to realize that only certain Namibians will

celebrate this public holiday and what it means.Namibians tend to find their identity in their tribe, mother tongue,

or even shade of skin color. And America is largely the opposite in

that most people have a greater sense of their national identity

rather than their ethnic one. As an example, I may not even know if

my friends' families come from England, Italy, Germany, Ireland,

Poland, etc... unless they are particularly proud! Even then, it

seems that the majority of Americans identify as Americans first and

foremost.And if identifying mostly with our greater nationality means

highlighting our similarities with most of those with whom we live and

work, whereas identifying more specifically with our ethnic background

means highlighting our differences (which I would argue is usually the

case), then I have to say that the benefits of the former seem to

outweigh those of the latter. For one thing, we can certainly attest

that racism and tribalism is very high in this country, which seems to

be not just a matter of correlation but one of cause and effect.So while a part of me still somewhat envies Americans who have a

strong connection with the countries where their families came from

(and not just because they like the food!) since being of Polish,

German, and British descent never made much of a difference to me, our

experience here has made me prouder to be an American at least!(Now don't get me started on "stateism" in America!)

It's our second Namibian Independence Day while here. And no school!

Since our camera was already visible (as I’ve said in the past, we very much limit how much we are seen with it), it seemed like a good opportunity for us to get another family photo.

You can see how much Patches cooperated initially… if he’s feeling energetic, Patches will interpret any gesture to mean it’s playtime! (Our camera was set up to delay and then go into burst mode which is why this photo was even taken, haha.)

Kevin and I had the idea of holding a School Photo Day as a fundraiser where learners could get their photos taken and printed, so last Sunday was our first shot. It was pretty successful, but we think this first Photo Day may have already generated more interest in another for the learners who didn’t partake this time.

Anyway, here are some of the photos we took, and you can again observe some cultural norms of Namibian youth “catching” their photos. (For example, Americans tend to smile, while other cultures may tend to be more serious.) Most of the larger group photos were soccer or Qwaito (dance) teams, although a couple were “Kung Fu groups!”

A young soccer team, featuring the Dogg's newest hip hop CD:

A young Qwaito group:

Guy friends:

Another young soccer team:

Friends from Grades 5-7, featuring some of my faves! (I mean, I don't have favorites..!)



I like this one because Patches was invited in!

Friends from Grades 6 and 7:

BFFs from high school:

Friends from high school:

Friends from Grades 5-7:

A "Kung Fu" group, learners from Grades 4 or 5 and the girl on the top from Grade 7:

High school friends:

Next 3 are high school girls:

This is one of the register class (homeroom) of a teacher who just left our school since he was only temporarily filling in for a teacher who was on Maternity Leave. He told the kids to borrow school uniforms from other learners to make the photo really nice… and then, well, look at what he wears! It’s just another cultural thing, I guess.

One of the puppies from “Mama Dog’s” last litter just had a litter of her own. She had 4 who look nothing like her, but they’re still cute as anything. There is also a photo of the dog house built out of corrugated metal and whatnot. Honestly if you ask me, it’s not much different (except in size, of course… <insert Zoolander quote here*>) from the shacks in the “locations,” where many of Namibia’s poorer people live.

* What is this? A center for ants?! How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read... if they can't even fit inside the building?!

Here are some photos taken at and after the Athletics Regional competition, which was last Thursday, on the 8th.

In some of those you can see how the kids like to really get into the plants when they “catch photos!” Just a random, cultural-sort of observation.

Athletics (Track & Field) is finally over- Hallelujah! After our two

schools held their Interhouse competitions to select our best

learners, Kevin's school hosted the Zonal competition (think of a

league competition) for the high schools in the area, and then my

school hosted the Omaheke Regional competition. So Kevin and I really

got a good glimpse into the inner workings of these types of events.

(The schools rotate hosting these competitions so they only do it once

every 5-7 years, so lucky us..!) Those 2 days turned out to be less

disorganized than we anticipated, perhaps partially as a result of our

contribution, so that was a relief. Still many, many hours went into

being prepared for all this, so now that we're finished, we have more

time and energy for other commitments again.After the Regional competitions comes the big National competition in

Windhoek at the end of this month for athletes from all of Namibia's

13 regions to compete in. And we just heard that 1 learner from each

of our schools will compete! That's not a lot, but still it's

something.As for the actual running by the athletes, Kevin and I were pretty

disappointed at the lack of effort and heart. Many of the kids would

not finish, either by not showing up to compete, dropping out in the

middle of the race, or allowing themselves to collapse on the track.

Many would slow down before even crossing the finish line, especially

if there was no other runner nearby or they were not in first or

second place. And many, many of the girls who finished would do so in

tears and refuse to walk, resulting in friends or family or officials

basically carrying them to the nearby ambulance for medical attention.

And if you ask us, it was exactly that that the girls wanted:

attention. Pretty sure girls from the States are tougher than that!

Anyway, we realize that it's complicated and the learners are not to

blame for this kind of behavior so much as the wider culture.

Camp GLOW is a Peace Corps Volunteer-run, week-long leadership camp

for 13- to 18-year old Namibian learners. GLOW stands for "Girls and

Boys Leading Our World." Originally it was just for girls, but now 40

girls and 40 boys attend the camp each year. Kevin and I both

nominated some of our learners and 3 for each of us were accepted and

plan to attend this April holiday! It is very exciting for them (and

their proud teachers of course) because it is quite a unique

experience for learners who have never been to such an event. And it

is a great opportunity for these learners to develop themselves so

they can shine even brighter than they already do!If you would like to make a donation of any amount, big or small, you

can do so here:

http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.backabuddy.co.za%2Fchampion%2Fproject%2Fcamp-glow

. Needless to say, it is appreciated by us Peace Corps Volunteers,

the learners who attend, and those whose lives the learners are

empowered to make a difference in!Kevin and I will not be there, but we hope to hear about it from the

kids and from the volunteers who are running this year's Camp.

A normal occurence is walking into your staff room to a giant slab of "whole" meat just lying there on the table. Patches had visited Kevin that day and was just a little bit tempted!

Athletics meets have been the focus of everyone's attention lately, so the meat was going to be prepared to sell at these events.

We unexpectedly spent a recent evening with some boys cooking worms "meat" (aka: worms or something?) in cans on the fire where we were burning our trash. Guess you could say they are opportunists! And it was really their lucky day because we even 'donated' some spices to the cause.

We didn't partake in the delicacy this time... if for no other reason, because it was the most unsanitary culinary process ever... Fetching worms from dung-invested areas. Not washing them. Using the lids of cans to cut the worms open and squeezing the guts and poop out with one's hands. Not washing any of that. And lastly, well, putting worms into our bodies.

They really got those cans boiling! Also you can see the green leafy stuff the boys found and put in there for some extra flavor.

Patches also wanted to get in on the fun and continues to love licking the faces off of anyone who will let him... Which wasn't exactly this particular boy, per say!

They were having a ball and making jokes and teasing each other the whole time, so a fun and funny time was had by all!

The high school held a beauty pageant the other week and somehow we ended up judging! (Haha.) Here are some photos of the contestants and the action.

Summer wear:

Own style:

Evening wear:

The final girls:

The girl in the pink dress won (a younger "freshman"), who in the next photo appears to be about to receive her award in the form of a plastic yellow chair... but fear not, even amidst the chaos, no one got hurt. The kids just got so excited and couldn't help but onto the stage at the end to congratulate "Miss Unique 2012!" To be expected of course... Beauty pageants are kind of a big deal here.

Important to so many youthful Namibian events are a few musical interludes to break things up. Hopefully this video works so you can finally see the loved and adored (.. understatement) Qwaito-style dancing. There's a part of me that beams with pride a little bit to see "my" younger Grade 5-7 boys tearing it up in the front row of these mixed-age dance groups.

And here you can see how close the dancers got to the audience... as well as vice versa!

Here are some more of my Grade 5 to 7 boys in the audience (which you can see is like an ocean), and there are a couple of them I'm coming to really want to bring home to the States (what would be a dream-come-true for almost all of these kids). They're pretty adorable and a lot of fun:

*PS- Mom, the learner you talked to briefly on the phone the other day was Manfred, the darker boy on the right. Just to put a face to the voice! :-)

We have just come to the end of Term 1- Week 3, and it again feels

like time is flying! The start of a new term, let alone a new school

year, is quite hectic for the whole country... In these first few

weeks, timetables (schedules) tend to change several times, new

teachers are still arriving to replace those who have left, and

learners are slowly coming back to school from a long holiday at the

farm or village. For teachers, it is an important time in terms of

making first impressions and setting the tone for the classroom (in

other words: laying down the law!).Athletics (Track & Field) is perhaps the one thing that is off to a

quick start, taking precedent over many academic and other things! At

our schools at least, ALL of the learners train for Athletics after

Afternoon Study. And all of the teachers coach, including all the

older (and heavier) ladies at my school!But without the expertise of real coaches and focus on the training of

only the motivated learners (as a result of this exercise being

compulsory for all), Athletics feels quite half-hearted to Kevin and

me... Each day practice starts late and ends early, teachers and

learners "dodge" if they can get away with it, out-of-shape and

unmotivated ("lazy," as they are called here) learners complain about

their every discomfort, ache, pain, thirst, etc so they can quit

practicing and rest. Ironically though, in theory Athletics training

is supposed to be intense because learners only have a few short weeks

to get into shape for competitions after a long holiday of very little

physical activity. We hope that the atmosphere of Athletics for the

remainder of the term will improve after the Interhouse, the meet of

our own learners only competing against each other to determine who

will go on to represent our schools in competitions against others.

We figure that at that time, the least interested of the learners will

be weeded out so those remaining can handle more intense practice.Weather can be an obstacle as Athletics falls in the middle of summer

and rainy season. Regardless, overcast days with some rain are a

welcomed relief from the strong sun and heat. Here at our site, we

are actually quite happy with the summer weather as we realize many

other volunteers in the country experience much more extreme weather

conditions (eg: heat, humidity, flooding). Plus, we find the summer

nighttime temperatures to be quite pleasant. But hey, even without

AC, maybe we are just getting used to it!

While visiting Luderitz, we also "made a turn" to check out the ghost town, Kolmanskop, about 10km away. Ghost towns are fun, but we thought the sand dunes taking over Kolmanskop made it especially interesting.



(Once upon a time, jumping in photos became cool and still somehow lame, but we fell for it anyway.)

Usually I'm shy about taking out our camera around towns and villages here, but while we visited the coastal town of Luderitz it was pretty quiet so we went for it. Also note the German influence in the architecture.

While it's nice (for us, Namibians, and other Africans) to escape to the beach for holiday, laying on the beach on one of Namibia's coastal towns isn't exactly ideal (at least compared to other beaches we've been to). They are quite windy (especially Luderitz) and overcast most of the time. But the important thing is it's COOL (relatively). So when it's the middle of summer and blistering hot everywhere else in Namibia, everyone happily flocks to the coast just to get a break from the heat... including us!

The red dunes, Namibia's #1 tourist destination, where we brought in 2012.

It's only now that I am posting these that I am seeing how fake these photos look!! What a place!

Where we spent Christmas Day and Eve. The dug-out canoes are called "mokoros" and to set the record straight, I admit that Kevin seemed to be picking up the skill of "poling" better than I could (now pretend like you're surprised)! ;-)

Swimming pool:

Our few days spent camping in the Delta itself may have been our most relaxing holiday here yet.

Having been the only married Peace Corps couple in a while, we were excited to spend some quality time with the 2 couples in the newest education group (who arrived 1 year later than us). We revisited Spitzkoppe (which you may remember from our holiday last year) and had a blast! It was great hiking and climbing around together, but chatting, playing a variety of card games, and roasting marshmallows were also highlights.

Patches even joined us this time (pretty unexpectedly)!

And Patches turned out to be quite the mountain goat... But still, this trip exhausted even him!

We (and pretty much everyone else in Namibia) are on holiday! So we

will try to post about our travels as we go along as much as possible.

We put together a concoction of plans this time around, so we should

have some computer/ internet access at some sporadic points in between

going to different places.Hope you all are also enjoying the holiday season with family and

friends. We will be thinking of and missing you!

Kevin managed to squeeze in getting a couple of class photos taken with his Grade 8 learners before they all returned home last Friday for the summer holiday. Rumor had it that Ms. Metz took photos with her classes, so he hardly had a choice if he didn't want to!

A bunch of us volunteers got together in Gobabis to celebrate Thanksgiving the Saturday after you all did. It was a nice time of food and friends. We didn’t have turkey, but the chicken... and everything else... was just as delicious. Still, we were thinking of and missing you all.

It's hard to explain just how much we volunteers (I think I speak for all of us!) value spending time with other volunteers when the occasion arises. It's just that it's such a relief to be around other Americans who get "it" ("it" perhaps being both American culture and Namibian culture). Therefore, I'd say one of our favorite pastimes tends to be a lot of story-telling... and in fact, it can be hard to talk about anything but our mind-blowing experiences!

In no particular order, some boys and girls names we come across with varying frequency:

Boys GirlsMacDonald MoederkieInnocent InnocentiaPrecious Patience (sometimes for a boy)Venantius GaobotseBrendan CharmaineSonyboy SaraGift (sometimes for a girl) MelodyZenedane ChristofineUeripurua MarinaBrencious MagriethaSylvanus AnithaHerman EmmaKanime FatimaMathias EmerensiaKennedy KatrinaIsmael AnnastasiaHendrik Martha

It is certainly a mix of names which are common (or at least heard of) in the States as well as those which are not. (Some of the former have a slightly different pronunciation, however.)

Now these are the names we call some of our learners. However, this may not be the name the child is called by their parents, friends, or others. We know them by their “school names,” which are oftentimes preferred to some of their birth names which are difficult for teachers to pronounce who are from a different tribe and who speak a different “home language.”

In general, it seems like Namibians are used to being called by several formal names and nicknames. (Common nicknames include “Beckham,” “Beyonce,” etc.) And spelling also does not seem to be stressed as a learner’s name may be spelled one way on one class list and a different way on another.

I guess school really takes its toll on us some days!

Patches has been so sweet with the adorable new bitty puppies in the village. The first round of pups from “Momma Dog” (as we call her) he didn’t know what to do with, as if he didn’t know what they even were or what to make of them. But maybe he had figured it out because now with these guys, they’re all quite cute together. Anyway, it's fun.

Well today (Friday) was my last day of teaching for 2011! Since the secondary school learners have more exams to write they start earlier, so Kevin’s last day official day was a couple of weeks ago now. The learners at the primary school will start writing their exams on Monday and both schools will finish in just less than 2 weeks. In general, learners write one exam per day. It feels pretty dragged out, but the idea is that they have the whole day to study for the exam that they will write the next day. Study… Hah. Anyway, it will be time for a 4+ week holiday by early/mid December.

And so I managed to survive this last day of school on a Friday in which I had two double periods (one which turned into a triple because someone forgot to ring the bell I guess), and one of these double periods fell on the last two periods of the day. It turned out to not be so bad, but I had been dreading it since the kids have been extremely anxious to finish and go home. And they’ve been showing signs of feeling increasingly anxious in their increasing whining and complaining, decreasing compliance, and their decreasing sleep. More than 20 learners sleep together in a room at the hostel so it only takes one or two in the room to keep everyone awake. Last night what kept learners from sleeping, however, were beliefs in witchcraft and things taking place at night. The learners were convinced that there was a man who was turning into a black cat and basically haunting them last night. A couple of teary grade 6 girls came into the staff room this morning about it, and I continued to hear tales about this mysterious cat all day. So it’s just perfect that the learners will be sleep-deprived during this all-important time of writing end-of-year exams!

Also yesterday (Thursday), the primary school held a prize-giving ceremony which recognized the top learners with certificates and small prizes. When I think about it, it still amazes me that a great mark here is in the 70’s and 80’s (90’s being unheard of)… and that if the best kids here were brought to America to go to school, even putting any language barrier aside, they would probably have to go back and repeat a few grades.

The prize-giving was successful overall. Some misbehavior, but justice was had when some boys ran from Kevin trying to bring them back to the hall. (It’s common for kids to run from teachers, or any authority really, when they’re in trouble. This is largely because most of the time, it pays off and they get away). Unfortunately for these kids, Kevin and I do not tolerate such acts of disrespect. We got the names of the Grade 6 boys (mine!) who ran off (from the other boys who Kevin caught), and we taught them not to run from Mr. Metz after the ceremony. Kevin and I connived about a punishment and decided it was fitting to give them a 5-second head start, then tell them to run as fast as they can, and then have Kevin run after them and take them down. Thus, teaching them to not run from Mr. Metz (or mess with his wife for that matter)! It was fun. Then they had to run laps. The point was they received some consequence (which they usually don’t). And Kevin and I were impressed with the loyalty of the boys’ friends who chose to run with them just as support, even if they were late to dinner. (Most of them only joined them for a lap or 2, but still!)

In other minor news, Patches has made a habit of hanging out with one of us at school pretty much all day (unless we bring him home). We normally leave him outside to frolic about, but bring him inside if he’s hanging around the house when it’s time to walk to school in the morning... Because if he sees us going, he will follow us to school. But more recently, Patches has gotten very good at finding one or both of us at school even without seeing and following us. Fortunately he’s been mostly well-behaved at school and even sometimes simply rests or sleeps in the classroom under a desk where we’re teaching (this is mostly the case for Kevin since the older learners are more mature in their handling of his presence).

Patches is quite the specimen for the learners. The other day when Patches was following me around school, I visited some boys who were summoned by the principal to build a fence for the school yard. I told Patches, “dig,” and showed him the place and Patches didn’t hesitate to join in the work. I looked up to see quite the look of amazement on one of the boy’s faces, and they all laughed, not seeming to know how else to react. “Miss, you must give me this dog,” another said.

Some of the kids are really growing to love and appreciate Patches and playing with him. Others, unfortunately, continue to be slow in coming to understand how to treat him. But who knows, maybe there’s progress even in those learners that just isn’t quite visible to the eye yet.

Finally, we’ve really enjoyed the company of some of our colleagues recently, especially the guy who helped us plan Kevin’s birthday surprises! He’s a lot of fun and a jokester (actually reminds us of an African version of Chio for the Metzes and others who know him!). I’ve started to tease him about how he always says “some few things.” As in, “I’m just getting some few things. “ Or I just have to do some few things.” This is great of course, except that he and many others will be leaving next year. And this guy is actually South African so needless to say, he won’t really be around. The way the school system is here, there is a lot of change and teachers moving around to and from different schools in Namibia for one reason or another. Just one more thing we have to accept and make the best of.

So those are some few updates from our side! Hope you all enjoyed Halloween and will enjoy Thanksgiving in less than a week! How we miss the joys of American holidays and the wonderful company of YOU!

About 2 weeks ago, our colleague friend and I planned another surprise for Kevin for his birthday. Harnas was where we had originally wanted to go for his actual birthday, but since it didn't work out for the day of the birthday, we figured we'd put the plan in motion for another time when Kevin wouldn't expect it.

The deal with this place is that that they've rescued animals that wouldn't have survived in the wild for some reason and rehabilitate and reintroduce them if/when possible. Harnas also takes visitors on their daily feedings, which is what we did.

Leopard:

The cheetahs may have been the coolest part of the excursion since we took the vehicle into their enclosure.

The wild dogs were interesting in their own way too. Unfortunately we couldn't upload the video to show you, but their sound, if you can call it that, is just obnoxious!

I've never seen juvenile ostrich play before, but they were puffing out their wings and spinning around together. It's pretty adorable!

One of the thorniest trees we've seen yet! And that's saying something!

As we wrap up Term 3, I thought I would introduce to you the "files" that we are supposed to keep.

The Ministry of Education strictly requires that all teachers keep a preparation file and administration file. They are very particular about exactly what is kept in these files and in which order. They are also very particular that teachers specifically use the lesson preparation forms which they provide (and which I happen to find extremely unhelpful).

And it goes without saying that teachers are expected to cover their files in wrapping paper so they are pretty. This culture puts high value on image with an assumption that if something looks good then its contents, etc are good. Interestingly though, many teachers put so much time into making their files and other things look presentable, that they sacrifice the time in which they are supposed to be teaching in order to do this.

The Ministry is also supposed to come and check all these things, and I guess teachers get in pretty big trouble for not abiding by the red tape.

It may seem insignificant, but to be honest, the high level of bureaucracy in this culture can be one of the most frustrating parts of our service!

Fortunately, some colleagues see this and are also frustrated by it, so that somehow makes coping with this fact of life here more bearable.

Somehow, I guess with all the hecticness of the site change at the time, we never posted photos of where we live. I thought we had some photos of the outside of our accommodation, but since I can't locate them now I will try to remember to post that later. But here are some photos of the inside:

We find the space to be a bit small for the two of us (especially with the bikes!!!), but at least this has led to some innovative storage methods so we are coping. Otherwise, it's a place of our own, so we are happy!

The new ablution block at the primary school is now officially opened! And they've got to be the nicest toilets of any primary school in Namibia.



I just hope they stay about as clean and new as they are now, but I have my worries. As we've said before, many of these learners are quite economically-disadvantaged and stay at the farm, so many are not all that used to using and maintaining toilets (and nice, new ones at that). It feels safe to say that they feel more comfortable using the bush, which I noticed this week as many learners ran past the toilets into the neighboring bush to satisfy their needs.

I'm trying to help the school with putting rules, etc into place and executing consequences for breaking them if anyone will take this seriously. But we will wait and see, and I will have to follow up about this matter next school year for ya'll who care about toilets in Namibia!

Oh yeah and they cost N$200,000, or just under USD $30,000. So this is not a small investment! (PS- What's the most recent trend of the value of the USD?)

Patches is a pretty energetic guy, sometimes recklessly so. He had come back from exploring one day about 2 weeks ago with a pretty good gash a couple inches long on the underside of the bottom of his front leg (close to where that 5th toe is). We think he must have gotten snagged going through one of the wire fences around. The photo was taken a couple days later after the filler tissue started forming.

We have a good relationship with the State Vet in town, Immanuel, who told us to bring Patches in so he could stitch him up. (And I wish we had a picture of him because he awesomely sported bold cowboy-style boots with his Vet uniform.) He offered to do this free of charge just because he appreciates that we are volunteering to help his country! (We love any time when locals insist on these acts of kindness since many days volunteers go without feeling appreciated at all.) Also, Immanuel, like most State Vets, see far more cattle and other livestock than dogs, but he still felt comfortable enough to work on Patches.

Patches was a fighter with the anesthetic (Immanuel also said this area is very tender for dogs), but after he had enough in him the Vet was able to get the job done. Unfortunately that night, even despite wrapping him up pretty good, Patches managed to take out 4 of the 5 stitches. We ended up letting it be, and he's alright.

But thank Namibia for Immanuel. He is a super great guy and veterinarian!

I admit that Patches does help teach us about "letting go" since there's not much we can do at our site to monitor him without massively taking away his freedom. We don't mind learning these lessons now, since perhaps they will perhaps come in handy further some future day...

Last Sunday, a colleague/ good friend of ours here and I managed to pull off surprising Kevin for his birthday. He was pretty clueless until we got on the school's bus early that morning to go to the local Arnhem Cave with the top 3 learners from each grade from the secondary school along with the accompanying teachers.

In the video you can hear and see the Namibian birthday song which the learners sang to Kevin as we headed off that morning.

The cave itself was cool, but we also just had a lot of fun swimming and braaing with everyone.

One teacher's 5-year-old found herself a bit attached to me (or actually my hair, which she started braiding), and we ended up playing in the pool together quite a bit. (One of the grade 11 girls also asked to touch my hair, so it's nothing unusual.) I also enjoyed reminiscing on my swim instructor days at the YMCA(!) by teaching her some swimming techniques, which was pretty successful because she was just loving the water and being silly getting wet. Her parents seemed a bit nervous at first (Namibians can be a bit hydrophobic, in comparison with our culture anyway), but then I think they were just pretty impressed by what she could do in the water at such a young age.

(Sister Clara (left) nearly made it, but ended up turning back. But really I just tell you this because of the image of a nun in a cave which still amuses me. (Sorry for being immature, although I hope I'm not the only one!))

The secondary school learners also felt they had to take advantage of the opportunity to swim because they just didn't know the next time it would come up again. For some of them, it had been a couple years as it was.

Also I would like to testify that I don't think my hair color is as light as they seem in the photos, perhaps because the group photos were taken with a friend's camera..!

The day was a treat for Kevin, the learners, and all of us. Truthfully I think he was happy to share the spotlight for his day. But one of these birthdays he might not be so lucky, but I suppose he'll have to cope!

And Kevin thanks everyone for the birthday wishes and greetings he had received from home!

We are so thankful for these two Grade 11 learners, especially Roger/ Bukumwe (right).

We wouldn't trust just any learners to take care of Patches when we are away, but Roger has been more than reliable, trustworthy, and loving. Whenever we leave site now, Roger is our go-to. During the last school holiday when we went to Chobe and Vic Falls, Roger even graciously took Patches to "the farm" (where he lives) so he could take care of him there. And from what we understand, Patches had a lovely holiday himself and even felt he shouldn't be so lazy and tried out herding some sheep.

Roger and Mitch Hanna are also the two learners who made the most efforts to introduce themselves to us and make us feel welcomed when we first go to our current site. They even wrote us letters within a week of our arrival to do so, which are now tacked on to our wall.

We've become quite close with Roger, and so has Patches! One day, Patches had apparently wandered all the way to the learner hostels just to say hello to Roger and bring him over! Roger is another one of Patches' favorites who you can easily tell he is especially excited to see.

Another thing we noticed after our return from the August holiday,

along with the arrival of Spring, is that the stores are already

stocking Christmas decorations, etc. And the Shop Rite employees are

wearing their Santa hats! When we commented about it to one of them

the other week, the man said, "Christmas is only a month away!" So we

weren't sure if that was bad math, wishful thinking, a joke, or

something else! Or maybe this is just what happens when you don't

have Halloween or Thanksgiving to hold you off. (Although I'm not

saying that stores in the States aren't also starting to get their

customers in the mood to Christmas shop.)

Seasons (except summer!) seem to change quite quickly here-- the winter cold has been gone since we returned from our last holiday. Our surroundings have become noticeably greener, flowers started blooming (mostly yellow, pink, and purple ones on the trees, as featured in the photos (but the yellow ones are hard to see)). RAIN is coming! We've already received a bit of a rain two nights in a row last week. We heard it pattering on the roof while we were sleeping and jumped out of bed to run outside and check it out. It's also been considerably warm during the day and night. The real rain is still coming though, but the underground waterways allow the plants to become green even before rain arrives.



I have to say, spring may be my/our favorite season here, but summer, the heat, and the rain will be here before we know it. Autumn is probably my/our favorite season at home, so we miss that too. Wish we could be in two places at once (for many reasons)!

...Kevin's famous first words to me when I finally got to see him running in the marathon. So I stopped running with him and took this photo instead. It may be significant to note that I had to take an overnight train to see him, freeze a bit, and have a police car take me to kilometer 15 to see him. This was Kevin's first half marathon, by the way, and it just took place on Saturday the first. The run was on the road from Walvis Bay to Swakopmund, two popular coastal towns in Namibia. The scenery is quite dramatic: the Atlantic Ocean on the runners' right and dunes on their left.

Kevin and Lauren, a fellow PCV in our group and good friend, won 1st place in the relay! (Kevin ran the first half and Lauren the second.) Kevin's time was 1 hour 31 minutes and Lauren's was 1 hour 40 minutes.

I asked Kevin to write up his story for the Metzes, who always seem to take interest in the details of his wrestling and running events from the time he was just a lad. Enjoy!

The gun went off, and I started running what I thought was a good pace, which put me with the front pack. I was a little worried because I know those guys are good, but I felt my pace was OK. My fears were relieved after about 1km when the front of the group really took off. So I was running with this tall, gangly white guy who turned out to be from Germany. I could see he was running the full marathon so I asked him what his target time was, and he said 3 hours 15 minutes to 30 minutes, so I figured that was a little slow for what I wanted. So I decided to catch the guy in front of us. I ran with this next guy for the next 8 or 9km. He would speed up to try to get me to fall behind, which I did a few times, but I kept with up with him. Then I finally passed him for good.

Overall, I felt good for the first 16 to 17km. Extra motivation was gained from PCV’s cheering for me along the way, especially by my lovely wife at kilometer 15. But toward the end, the tendinitis in my knee started to act up. Motivation was decreased by 14-year-old boys running past me like they were running 100 meter dashes (and the learner relays even started 15 minutes after the regular race, so these kids really were fast). I knew I had to finish so my partner could run, so I ran/hobbled the last few kilometers. I made it just in my target time at 91 minutes, which is 7 minutes per mile. I handed off, and after recovering for a while went to cheer for my partner who did a great job and ran better than she thought she would which put us at first place overall for the relays. Two days later, and I can still barely walk. Good thing most buildings in Namibia aren’t more than 1 floor so there aren’t many steps.

The learners here eat all kinds of things (which they maybe

shouldn't), and we have no idea why since the hostel feeds them

breakfast, lunch, and dinner (which, if you're wonderig, includes a

lot of porridge, from my understanding).If you read the previous post below ("You can't trust the quiet

ones..!"), you'll know the learners eat paper. To add to that, when

reviewing with one of my BIS classes (Basic Information Science, like

Library class) about the rules of the library, one learner seriously

offered the answer, "Do not eat the books." Correct!Also, I have thrown my banana out the classroom window into the bush,

only to see seconds later that some girls quickly searched for,

retrieved, and ate it, as if they would perish if another had beat

them to it. So now I know to courteously leave these, apple cores,

orange peels, etc on a rock or ledge somewhere so some lucky learner

can retrieve it without it being covered in sand. Not that that would

be such a terrible thing because I've also caught my learners eating

handfuls of sand as they are entering my class. I ask them why...

"Miss, it's nice."It's beyond me! And I even get the feeling that there are much

stranger things that they eat, but I'm not sure that I want to know

what.

I was standing in front of the class teaching as usual. At the table

of desks in front of me, I notice a loose sheet of paper appear. I am

unsure of which learner it belongs to, but before I can make any

assessment, one learner quickly snatches the paper, which is followed

by the other learners at the table joining in and very quickly

grabbing back and forth across the table at the paper. In about 3

seconds, the paper completes 5 or 6 passes. Suddenly, Maria, a

petite, quiet, bright girl at the table, manages to, in the blink of

an eye: snatch the paper, crumble it, put it in her mouth, and swallow

it. And it was gone. It happened so fast, as if these actions were

somehow all completed simultaneously. It was all so discrete too, so

I was fortunate that my teaching went uninterrupted. Although I

suppose there was not much reason for major interruption to occur

since what had happened, even if anyone else in the class would have

noticed, would not have been perceived as very abnormal. If anything,

the interruption would have come from me if I had not managed to cover

up my laughter!