Getting anywhere (Rundu) takes
~4 hours each way. And a lot of patience. Thank goodness I can sleep in kombis.
The back gravel roads, where we stop to pick people up and drop them off takes
forever, and the drivers sometimes stop to chat with friends etc. You do meet
some fun people though! And we stopped at a ferry launch which crosses the
Okavango River to Angola, where you can look right across. That was pretty
cool!
We got to Rundu and finished our banking business-I have an ATM card now!
And then we got milkshakes! Yum!! AAAAAND there were women selling MANGOS! And
plums! Gonna be a great week!
We watched the Jungle Book as a school tonight. The
kids laughed a lot, and the speakers were much more functional than last week,
when we watched Pirates of the Caribbean.
Afterwards, as per instructions of the principal, girls went back to the hostel
first, and the boys, characteristically, complained. But then I played some PDK (a Namibian band)
for them, and they danced and had fun. Then I sent them home. I try not to make it feel like I am punishing
them for being born boys.
Hopefully next week, other
teachers will be prepared not to have a movie night on Saturday evening, but
instead do something more interactive, fun and educational. I think one teacher wanted to plan a debate
night. I’m planning a play night for the
grade 8s to present their term’s work from Arts in Culture for the end of the
term. And at some point, I want to get
together with Nathan, a Peace Corps volunteer from Chicago who is stationed 7 k
away, and have a leadership workshop with the grade 11s.
Teaching is going well, and Mr.
Fungo and I are working out the logistics of the term and who will be teaching
what. I think we need to function a bit
more as a team, and I want to work more student centered/cooperative learning
strategies into both of our teaching.
Technology installation began this week, so hopefully computers will be
here, and school wide wireless internet will be up and running very soon!
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