Last couple of weeks

So I'm in my last couple of weeks here in my first year in Namibia. I haven't been able to post because blogger was being weird for a while. Didn't forget! Okay so back to the last couple of weeks...I have about three weeks left and i'm flying back to the US to visit my family. I have finished teaching my learners and they are now taking their last exams. I have marked paper one and paper two for english and it looks like my kids did amazingly well for the most part. I couldn't ask for better improvement. I don't know how much of their improvement came from me personally but I am so proud of them for what they have achieved this year. We had an end of the year party together with some dancing and watching the last Harry Potter. We didn't get to finish the last part of the movie but the kids did see Dobby die and they were mortified. Asser, one of the learners, said "Miss, tell me if Harry dies because if he does like Dobby did...i'm going home" I told him that I couldn't ruin the movie but he begged it out of me and I caved.

When I told the kids i'm not coming back to this school next year they were very dissapointed. I tried to explain that the school has too many teachers next year and that i'll still come visit them next year. That made them feel a little bit better. I am going to a school called Okatope Secondary School to teach what seems like grade 9 English and computers. I passed by the area on my way to Oshikango last weekend and it seems nice. I'll still be in a village however the house i'm staying in has running water! Weird concept for me. You mean I can turn on the tap and water comes out?! Whoa.

We have had a few end of the year parties lately and I've been enjoying my time with my colleagues. One was a surprise from the principal after a meeting one day. We grilled goat meat and chicken and drank and danced. Same applied for the party we just had. It clearly is not a Namibian party until you slaughter a goat and eat it. Not even joking. Funniest part about it is that the meat is soooo good . You know who else was enjoying this feast? Hunter. He was at the party picking all the bones that people tossed for him. He was definately the happiest dog ever. It was so nice to see him with the learner that has been taking care of him at the principal's house. They are best friends now and they even go hunting together! Wapota (the learner) told me that I was really good at naming my dog.

When I get home to the U.S. i'm going to try and post a whole ton of pictures here for people to look at. Will write soon.

Peace and love,
Chels

Hunter's Visit

So I’ve been contemplating posting about this for the past couple of weeks and decided to wait. As you all know, I am extending my contract through WorldTeach to come back to Namibia next year. The part that I haven’t shared yet and have just sorted out is that I will not be staying at my site anymore. I have very mixed emotions about this reality. I can tell you that I will miss my learners and I will miss my village. Yes I called it my village but that’s because it’s felt like my home this year. On the bright side, I will make wherever my new site is my new home. Home is where your heart is and for the time being, my heart is in Africa. That is not to say that I don’t have a home where my family is but where my passion is remains here with me in Namibia.

I am not sure where my new site will be yet but I will hopefully find that out this week. I am sure you are all wondering…why is she leaving Onambutu? I could go through the whole thing with you but ultimately the answer was that my school has too many teachers for next year and has no room for a volunteer. So, I will leave it simple as that and move onto the next adventure here. I have two months left with my learners and I plan on enjoying this precious time that we have left. You may also be asking yourselves, why stay and extend if you aren’t staying at your school? Well, I said that I believe my time here isn’t finished and I meant it. Whether it is here or another place I feel passionately about volunteering and teaching in Namibia. I have grown to love Namibia and the challenges and rewards it has brought me. It’s not easy but if someone ever told you life was easy, they were lying.

Ready for some random information? The baby goat that I wrote about a few posts back was found by its mother two days later and is still alive. Also, I have come to terms with the fact that Hunter is no longer my dog. He doesn’t really come around here anymore because he has found a new loving home with the learners at my principal’s house. They simply adore him and rave about how nice it is to have him living there. One of my 8A learners was telling me that Hunter is now used to him and follows him when he is walking. He also told me that Hunter was named perfectly because he loves to hunt animals while they are out in the bush together. It makes me smile to think that this boy found a best friend in Hunter. Hunter was there for me when I needed it at the beginning of this experience and now I can rest assured that he is well fed and well loved. The boy knew how much I missed Hunter and walked him back to my area yesterday. I was shocked when I heard someone walking into my house and pushing open the door to my room. It was Hunter, all alone and very excited to see me. He found his way back to the house and into my arms once again. I spent a few hours with him and we walked into the village together. I couldn’t say goodbye so it was a see you soon and I walked into my house for the night. When I woke up this morning he was gone but I am thankful for the visit.

 Peace and Love,

Chels

Birthday Shenanigans

Yesterday was my birthday. I am now 23 years old and having a few class periods off have gotten to thinking. Another year older, but what’s in a year? It really depends on what you do with it and what you make of it. From year 22 to 23 I have left college and moved home, worked 3 jobs to try and pay for Africa and then finally moved to Africa to start my volunteer experience. I don’t feel like the same person I was a year ago. It’s strange sometimes how one can change so much and yet not so much. I feel that my values are the same, just stronger. I’m a much stronger person than when I left the United States in December. But how long do these changes last? Sometimes we fall into old habits and the change doesn’t remain. I hope that this isn’t the case.

I love birthdays and I love spending them surrounded by friends and family. The happiest I felt today was when my students in 8B started singing happy birthday to me and at the end of class some of the girls gave me handmade cards. There isn’t much paper around here and markers are scarce so their effort was so sweet. I was also very happy to get to talk to my parents on Skype. They always know what to say to cheer me up. I went for a walk shortly after talking to my parents and when I came back to my favorite shebeen and told Lydia and her son Philippe that it was my birthday I was immediately given a free drink and some sweets. I love Namibian kindness. When I went to bed I was feeling angry that my housemate hadn’t said happy birthday to me and when I woke up this morning I had a text from her saying that she wanted to be the last to say it to me at midnight and that she loves me very much. I was so touched by that. Then when I went to leave my bedroom I found sticky notes everywhere that she had put up for me to remind me of my birthday. It really doesn’t matter how many people remember your birthday it’s the quality of the people who do. I feel so blessed this year.

I also spent this past long weekend in Opuwo with my American friends. We went to a lodge there with an infinity pool that overlooks the mountains. It was absolutely gorgeous and I had a fabulous time celebrating the birthday weekend with them. We camped at the campsite with our tents. Mine was a borrowed “china tent” bought from one of the china shops here. It ended up falling on me on the last night we were there but it held up nicely the whole weekend. We had a braii with some meat and corn which was delicious and I had a cosmo by the pool. Almost gave me the illusion I was home somewhere fancy.

Peace and Love,

Chels

Goats and Chicks

So I think maybe as an American i'm way too sensitive toward animals. There was a baby chick outside oneof the local shebeens the other day and I kept asking where the mother was. The lady who runs the shebeen was saying she didn't know and that the chick would die. A rooster then came out of nowhere and started pecking at the little thing. I of course screamed and the rooster left. About an hour later, sure enough, the chick was dead.

Yesterday I came home to see a goat and its newly born baby outside my door near a tree. The next morning I woke up to find the mother had abandoned the baby and it has been here all day crying. Again, everyone says that it will die like it's no big deal. I however keep thinking of how to rescue this goat without ending up with a goat for a new pet. Letting nature take its course is not really my thing.

Hunter has been missing for some days now. He decided about a week ago that he was too cool to stay here all the time and has been roaming around with the other dogs and hanging at the principal's house where he is fed very well and has learners that adore him. I shouldn't be so upset about it but I feel like maybe I have given up my pet to the African dog lifestyle.

Recently I realized how close going home is (well compared to how long i've been here) and I have started counting down the days. Since I know i'm coming back, I feel it's okay to get really excited to go home and see my friends and family. I've missed everyone terribly and can't wait to spend some time back in the good 'ol USA. First things first, a Dunkin Donuts coffee. I don't drink coffee in Africa and I really miss a nice french vanilla iced coffee.

I really don't have much else to say but I just wanted to keep updating this so that people could keep reading!

Peace and Love,
Chels

Just to catch you up

Okay so let's start from where we left off. I was in the middle of exams for term 2. We finished exams and my learners did a lot better than I had expected at first. We went from 11 learners failing first term to only 5 failing this term out of the 61 grade 8 learners. I left the school still unsure about my principals decision on my extension. She had me turn in all of the exams that I had marked so that they could be moderated by my Head of Department for languages. So, I tried to forget and I packed my bags for the holiday. We had ten days off and I was really excited to get a break.

I arrived in Ondangwa at Indira's house only to find that her house was completely overflowing with relatives who were there for the wedding. She wasn't there because she was sent to the hospital earlier in the week for what the doctor called low blood pressure. I was greeted by her mom and dad who know me very well since I frequently go to their house on the weekends. Then I met the groom which is Indira's brother. Later that night I didn't get much sleep because the night before the wedding everyone stays up and sings until morning. I was trying to sleep but with the house full Indira had about 5 other people staying in her room.This was all on Friday that week.

Saturay was the start of the two day wedding. One day is dedicated to the church ceremony and going to the bride's house. The other day is for going to the groom's house. The first day I didn't go to the bride's house only because Indira had just gotten out of the hospital and she needed a lot of help preparing for the next day when the whole wedding would be at their house. The big day was on Sunday and apparently everyone woke up around 4 to start cooking. Most people who know me can pretty much answer for themselves whether I was up around that time. I joined in and started peeling potatoes and cutting carrots. The family prepares all of their own food for the wedding and sets up tents for people to eat in. There were tents everywhere and more food than i've seen ever.

Later on the bride's wedding party arrived. It is tradition at each house that the parents are not allowed to go to the other's house and when the wedding party gets there they have to sing and dance. Once the family is satisfied with their singing and dancing, they will let them into their house. After they did this the bride and groom stand behind a table and receive their gifts. Some give money in a basket and others bring physical gifts.

After all of this the serving and eating begins. Then later for this wedding they had hired a DJ toplay all night. I had a really good time at the wedding but I was definately stressed as to how many people were around all the time.

The rest of my vacation was pretty low key. I was pretty excited to get my nails done one day and I was able to drive a car! Of course it was strange at first to drive and sit on the opposite side than I am used to. The drivers in Ondangwa are really aggressive and I got road rage a couple of times. Pretty normal.

When I went back to school I was feeling pretty refreshed and ready to teach.The first day back I went to my first class and then a colleague of mine came to me saying that Indira was asking for me because she didn't feel well and wanted me to walk her home. When I got there she was face down on her desk and mumbling answers when I asked if I could bring her home and if she could stand up. I rushed to get the principal who said she needed to go to the hospital and asked if I would go with her. Of course I said yes and by the time we left Indira wasn't speaking or moving. We loaded her into the back of the principal's truck on a mattress and covered her with a blanket. I sat with her the whole ride to the hospital. When we got there her mom and cousins were there to help her out of the car and into the casualty room for emergency cases.

To make a long story short I will say this, she is fine now but still in the hospital. I was also thinking while I was sitting at that hospital that you really haven't seen pain and suffering until you've been to an African hospital. There are people everywhere. There really isn't enough staff to help all of the cases and people endup waiting all day to get treated. The sound of the babies crying is still with me.

The last update I have for you is that yesterday I was called into my principal's office and told that she has invited me back to teach next year. She said that she will always invite staff back who have improved the learners and that are surrounded by learners all of the time instead of surrounded by colleagues. I was very excited to hear this news. Still trying to srap my head around the reality that i'll be going home for a month but that's only a month out of a two year time period that i'll be away. It's all worth it in the end. I miss home terribly but I feel that what i'm doing is right.

Peace and Love,
Chels

Extension?!

Well it is now official, I have applied to extend my service for another year here in Namibia. I feel as though my time here is not finished and I still want to give back. I am also very proud of my mom's school in the US for fundraising for books for our very empty library! If I get the extension, that will be my project for next year.

There isn't much to update at this point. We are in term 2 examination time and I just recieved paper one and two from my 8th grade English classes. I am so angry at the other school who set this examination. It uses english that is far beyond what my students or any 8th grade students here are capable of and they were basically set up for failure. Even I, a native english speaker had trouble when I looked at the questions they were asking. Sometimes it really seems that some teachers are TRYING to trick these learners. What's the point when you're supposed to be teaching them?

We have a term 2 break coming up after exams for a little over a week. I am spending it in Ondangwa with my housemate Indira. I have been invited to her brother's wedding. I was fitted yesterday for a traditional dress that I will be sporting that day. The dress is knee length with purple fabric. I am pretty excited to get to see a traditional wedding. I was told it is a two day event. I will update more on the wedding after I attend.

Oh, I almost forgot. Here is a little gem for entertainment. I won't go into details but I have been sick for the past month and I finally went to the doctors and found out I had worms! Everything is fine now but I believe I got them from drinking some water in a friend's village without purifying it. TIA, this is Africa :)

Peace and Love,
Chels

Harry Potter...the boy who lived...

I just wanted to update the readers on something that made me smile. I’ve been letting the learners watch Harry Potter at the end of class if we finish everything that we need to get done. The learners have now been coming to the computer lab when it isn’t their class time to come and watch the movie. The keep saying, “Miss, miss! We have a free period, can we watch Harry Potter?” I have students coming to the lab to say hello in the morning just because they want to greet me. Some of my 8A boys came yesterday with their “wands” they made out of sticks at home and begged me to let them sweep the computer lab. They are all raving about Dobby and drawing him on the chalk board and talking about him in our Harry Potter discussions. I dread the day we watch the movie where Dobby dies. They will all be devastated.

I have had a request from one of the younger grades to come teach them English one day because they “Want to speak like Ms. Chelsea”. I think that the little things make the biggest difference and students excited to watch a movie in English and talk about it and begging to have me come teach them when they know we have a language barrier, it just melts my heart. These children here are amazing and I know I will truly miss them when I leave this place. It’s always a plus to share something you’re passionate about and have students respond in such a positive way. I am obsessed with teaching and with Harry Potter. Combining the two was the smartest thing I’ve done lately.

Peace and Love,

Chelsea

Half way there

I have now been in Africa for over six months. This is the longest I’ve been away from the U.S. In my junior year of college I spent a semester in England studying abroad there. I have found that it’s one thing to study abroad; it’s a whole different ball game to live abroad. The countdown on the bad days until you go home is so much longer and harder to cope with. When everything is falling apart…as things do…you don’t have the support system you have at home. You truly are living alone and dealing with everything alone. I thought that after half a year away, things would get easier. The newness of living here wears away and I’m left with trying to stay positive and deal with every day things here. I miss having a hot shower that when I turn on the faucet I can just hop in and feel better. It is now winter time here in Namibia and it’s freezing in the mornings and evenings. Taking a bucket bath is getting harder and harder to do.

There are only so many times I can sit in my room and watch movies until I get restless and want to go somewhere. In the U.S. I would go out with my friends and catch a movie or go hang out and take a drive. I’m stuck in this village most of the time. Being far away from all of the other volunteers is not easy. Okay I’ve said enough about all of this.

Second semester teaching is interesting and I learned a lot from teaching the first semester. I know what my students are capable of now. The only problem is when I have an entire class who isn’t capable of eighth grade English and another that is fully capable. It’s hard to feel helpless as their teacher. I want them to do well but it seems impossible to get them to where I want them to be this year. I have a feeling most of the class will have to repeat eighth grade next year.

One thing that lifts my spirits every day is the little kids here. They are always excited to see me and wave at me smiling the whole time. Adjusting to life as a middle/high school teacher when I studied to be elementary is hard.

I feel as though lately it’s been hard for me to make a positive blog post which is why I’m not writing them anymore. I’m not ready to quit trying as some of my other colleagues in WorldTeach have done. Three of the original fourteen of us have gone home for their various reasons. I don’t judge them on leaving; this experience is far from easy. I think that everyone’s original thought when they come to volunteer is that they will be making a difference all the time. I know this not to be true. We are adjusting and learning every day way more than anyone else around us. We are the foreigners in this country and we are the ones who aren’t used to life here. People here are used to having nothing and living with that. The learners are used to the style of teaching that they have had their whole lives. When I walk into the classroom, everything is new to them. I don’t know how to have a whole class stare at me for 40 minutes while I lecture. This is not my teaching style or philosophy.

Another positive here is my dog Hunter. Last night when I was ready to break down and cry he had snuck into my room and was laying on my bed waiting for me. He is always so excited to see me and wags his tail like crazy. When all else fails, he is there to hang out with me and cheer me up. No wonder dogs are used in therapy. He is my personal African therapy when times get hard.

I’m ready for a change of pace in my life here. I started walking every night to the road and back for exercise. I need to find my passion for being here again. I haven’t lost it; I’ve just misplaced it somewhere along the way.

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Peace and Love,

Chels

The bad and the ugly

So last week we had a staff meeting called and I was not sure of the topic but left my day's schedule to attend. Turns out, the meeting was literally about waste and garbage. Talk about an uncomfortable meeting to have. The principal started off by greeting us like always and then informed us that there have been some complaints. The first one is about all of the rubbish that is scattered across the teacher's living area. We have to put our garbage in a hole in the ground and burn it. Apparently, some of the things that haven't been burned have been picked through by some of the learners and they were bringing things home. So first item on the agenda, clean the area and make sure to burn our trash. Next order of business, the waste. I'm talking about outhouse waste. The next item on the docket was to talk about the outhouse that the teacher's, other than myself, are using. Apparently teachers have been jumping the fence illegally to go to the outhouse so the principal was going to take away their rights to the toilet and take away the key. So far, none of these things involved me.

This is where it got interesting. The next part of this waste talk was to mention my outhouse that I use behind my house. In front of all of my colleagues she started talking about how the only waste that should be in that toilet should be mine and everyone is forbidden to use that outhouse. However, on closer evaluation, she sees that the outhouse is quite full and others have been using it. The staff meeting then went on for another ten minutes to talk about my waste. I was beat red and trying to not look at anyone during this time. The resolution was for the other teachers to come up with money to build their own toilet to use. Phew, thank goodness that meeting was over. So I went home that day to go into my outhouse. I was surprised by a bat that flew into the toilet and I am still unsure if it flew out or not. Talk about gross and disturbing. Okay now that you are as uncomfortable as I was when we were talking about waste...let's move on.

Last night I went into the village to get some juice and was stopped by someone who had met me before. He asked me to join his friends in a chat, so I said I had a few minutes. This chat ended abruptly when he saw the picture on my license and informed me that I have gotten fat. I can't even count the number of times i've been called fat while being in Namibia. At first I thought that it was that no one knew it was a bad thing to say. For some this seems to be the case. For others, they are blatantly rude like that. I told him that where I come from, that is the worst insult you can give a woman and turned to leave. One of the other men in the shebeen was next to my grocery bag with my juice so I said "sorry" and reached behind him to grab it and book it out of there. This is when he told me that I needed to stop and put the bag back. Apparently, in this culture a woman should never reach behind a man for any reason. I was so frazzled by my previous conversation that I said, "Wait, are you seriously stopping me to put my bag back so that you can hand it to me when you just watched this other man call me fat and I just want to leave?" He then said he was joking and he was sorry. Everyone was very sorry about calling me fat and joking about the grocery bag. However, I count this as one of the times I just wasn't in good humor to find any of it funny.

You may start to be getting the reason I called this post the bad and the ugly. Sometimes being here in Namibia, I wake up and wonder what I am doing here. There seems to be good days and bad days just as anywhere I would suppose. I thought that I had adjusted to the culture here, but some days I feel like i'm back at day one. That reminds me, today when I was in a truck getting a ride with some other people to go to a conference, a man greeted me in Kwanyama. I greeted him back with enough time for a woman to start bursting out laughing at the way I pronounced the greeting. The secretary then tried to correct me saying "it's tate not tat" for man. I know all of this. It's one of the only things I can say in their language with certainty. Needless to say, this has not been my best couple of days. At least i'm trying to speak the language. Oh well.

After being at the conference for two days, I get to go back to teaching tomorrow and see my students. Crossing my fingers that things go a bit smoother.

Peace and Love,
Chels

Back to the village

It’s week one back in the village after my long vacation. I spend the remainder of my days in South Africa travelling from place to place until I reached Cape Town. My favorite place was Stellenbosch where my friends and I went on a wine tour and I learned how to taste wine properly. Yes, I can now swish and sip. I also tried Lebanese food and found out that I absolutely love it! I still think about that meal often and crave some good Lebanese.

 Cape Town is absolutely enormous. There is much to do there and much to see. I spent a lot of my time walking about the city and getting familiar. I also made a trip up to see Table Mountain. The end of my vacation was spent in Windhoek after a 22 hour bus ride. I think that any amount of travelling I do for the rest of my life will be pretty simple…after travelling many times during this trip for large amounts of time…I can handle anything.

So, here I am back at the village. We started term two this week. I’ve decided to try some new things with my teaching. In computer class, if they all behave, we watch a portion of Harry Potter at the end. They are absolutely fascinated with this movie. I am also trying to not take things so personally. Last term was an adjustment period for both myself and my learners. I realize that they are not used to my style of teaching and I need to respect that they need some time.

This week has been so crazy. The day I got back to my village I lost my dog Hunter when I went to go get groceries in Eenhana. He followed me to the road and chased after the car when I got in it and we drove away. He was lost for two days and I had all but lost hope when my principal came to the computer lab and told me that the villagers had found him wandering around there. I realized in that moment that it is going to be very difficult to let him go at the end of my volunteering. I was so happy that he was found that I can’t imagine losing him and leaving knowing this.

I have to lead the morning prayer tomorrow. This makes me so nervous. I will have to stand and address the whole school and lead the morning assembly. I find that everything I do is under a microscope anyway so what should it matter. However, the other part of me doesn’t want to be in front of the whole school where all eyes are on me. I am perfectly comfortable in a class teaching 30 learners, but don’t ask me to address everyone and feel totally fine. Ugh, problems. You would think that after travelling to Africa by myself and being here for five months I would be more brave. I guess everyone has silly things they are afraid of no matter how courageous you can be in other areas.

I will try to post more often to the blog because I have been told that more people read this than I realize. I have been having internet problems since I got back from holiday.

Beach Therapy

Good morning from Jeffrey's Bay! When I left Durban I met up with some of the other volunteers and we travelled to Coffee Bay. Let me just say, it's probably the most fun place on the planet. We spent four nights at this beach getaway and stayed at the best backpackers I've ever been to. When we arrived they brought us to the bar and gave us a free drink and it only went up from there. Coffee Bay is a small place that we needed to take a shuttle into. The locals were very nice and a lot of the travelers were super friendly as well. This is a place you go if you need some serious beach therapy. So of course, staying on my streak of just chilling at the beach I did just that at this beautiful place. During the day I roamed the beach and relaxed in the sand. For lunch a couple of days we went to this place next door that looked like we were transported back to the 70's. It was hippie central. However, a lot of the white locals dress and have the relaxed feel of hippies and I loved it. They also had amazing home made ice cream there. 


For dinner I mostly had the backpacker's meals. They were so delicious and very reasonably priced. The xhosa bread that they make in this area was so good. I'm pretty sure most of my travels has revolved around food and trying things and loving the indulgence. I'm alright if I gain a few pounds on this journey because I know when I go back to the village with little resources I'll loose those pounds pretty fast. 


We said our sad goodbyes to Coffee Bay yesterday and hopped onto the shuttle back to Mthatha to then catch the baz bus. We met back up with Jason and Casey on the bus and all seven of us made the long journey to Port Elizabeth to rest for the night. This morning we woke up bright and early to catch the 6:45 am bus that took us to Jeffrey's Bay or "J-Bay". I just found out that I can play with lion cubs here for the equivalent of about 15 U.S. dollars. We shall see what today brings. I never know anymore what crazy things I'm going to get myself into. What a fun adventure!


Weirdly enough I find myself missing my village and wanting to be there. I think that despite the hardships I face there I'm really enjoying all the wonderful friends I've made and of course my puppy Hunter! It will be so hard to leave Africa behind when it comes time. Let's not think about that now...onto the next adventure!


Peace and Love,
Chels

Vacation Adventures

Hello Readers, 


Sorry I haven't posted in a while. As you know, I've been travelling for my vacation. Right now I am by myself at a backpackers in Durban, South Africa. Before we get to how I got here, let's backtrack to the beginning of my holiday and work our way forward, shall we?


I spent a night in the village alone on the Friday that we knocked off for break. Scariest thing ever. I didn't realize how dependent I was on having people living next to me to feel secure. Hunter had been taken a few days earlier to my boyfriend Jerry's village to be watched over by his mom for the month. This also made me realize how much I depend on having Hunter as a companion during the night. He may not sleep in my room but I think having a pet in the house provides a sense of security and companionship. I miss my little man. 


On Saturday I set out to travel in a combi to Rundu and meet two of the other volunteers. Combis tend to break down in Namibia so I was praying to the travelling gods that I didn't experience this again like I did in the desert during my long weekend break. The travel gods were on my side during this trip. After treking to the end of the road in my village a car pulled up as I got there. This never happens. The last time I got a ride out of the village I had to wait 2 hours for a car to stop. Once I got in the car a very nice lady started chatting with me. I found out she is a nurse at the local hospital. She insisted that she come with me to find me a combi in Ondangwa. After we found a combi we said goodbye and I was on my way. I don't think I ever feel that my thanks is enough when people do such selfless things. However, a personal philosophy is to pay it forward. Next time someone needs my help I will certainly be there to do what I can. 


Rundu is a beautiful part of Namibia with a river running along and palm trees everywhere. I spent the night at one of the other volunteer's houses. In the morning Jason, Casey and myself were on our way to try and travel to Zambia. To cut to the interesting parts let's skip to the cab ride when we finally got to the border. A man that  looked Rastafarian pulled up and we were desperate to get to the border ASAP because it would be closing in a half hour and we would be stuck there. As we were driving along he informed us that it is bad to drink and drive. So his personal philosophy is to take your hand off the wheel, drink, and then drive. I don't agree with this at all but it was an amusing little joke. 


We finally passed the border and got into another cab that took us to Livingstone in Zambia. This is a very touristy town with lots to do. We arrived at the backpackers we would be camping at. It's funny to think we were camping in the middle of this busy town. The first day a couple of us set out to go to Victoria Falls. I was very excited to see this beautiful place. It's one of the seven natural wonders of the world. We got our tickets and walked past two security guards. We were about to ask them which way to go until we saw a third man running away from them and the guards chased him and started kicking and punching him to the ground and took out their gun. It was time for us tourists to move on and find our own way instead. 


The falls were beautiful and we rented a poncho to walk across the bridge. Otherwise you get soaked. If I was to go again, i'd just wear a bathing suit and skip all the nonsense. We saw a bridge in the distance that people were bungee jumping off of. We found our way to this bridge and Jason and I decided to make the jump. Unfortunately, we were signed up for a booze cruise on the Zambezi River that night and didn't have enough time to wait for the people to get off of lunch. We went back and did our booze cruise instead. It was absolutely gorgeous to watch the sun going down over the Zambezi. We also saw some hippos and their baby. Hippos make the strangest noises. 


The next day Casey and I woke up to ride elephants. We rode an elephant called Medeenda. This means "dancing elephant, eating machine". They also called him the "free spirit" of the group. This was very accurate. He decided to go off of the path quite often to grab branches with his trunk to chew on. When it came time to have the rider ask him to stop to take a picture, Medeenda decided he wasn't having it and went off into the bushes instead to grab some more branches. Silly elephant. This reserve was a really cool place because all of the elephants had been rescued from terrible situations. For example, some of them had been in a drought or abandoned by their mothers and the people at this reserve took them in to train them. The elephants do two rides a day and in between they get to roam around wherever they please and swim in the Zambezi. 


The next day Jason, Casey and I headed back to the falls so that Jason and I could do the crazy bungee jump off of the bridge overlooking Victoria Falls. Apparently it's the third highest commercial bungee jump in the world. Jason went first and I watched him jump into the canyon below. Next it was my turn. Once I got onto the platform my heart started beating rapidly and I was asking myself if I was completely bonkers for wanting to jump off of this bridge head first. Once they tied my feet together and asked me to shimmy to the edge I knew I was completely crazy. I tried not to look down as they counted, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" and they I put my arms out like a bird and jumped off the platform head first into nothingness. The feeling was indescribable. I screamed so loud my throat hurt afterwards and the rush of the free fall was terrifying. Once I felt the bungee pull and knew it hadn't snapped and I was safe I enjoyed the upside down view of a rainbow over the water. Once I climbed back up and met Jason on the bridge we made the trek back up to Casey at the bar overlooking the jump. She had a hard cider for me waiting. What a good friend. 


The next day the whole group packed up and we got on a 16 hour train through Zimbabwe. Then we got off and took another 16 hour bus to Johannesburg in South Africa. We stayed the night on the outskirts in a fun little backpackers and then packed up again to take the Baz bus to Northern Drakensberg. This place was breathtaking. It's up in the mountains with nothing around but nature. We stayed there for a night and took a nice walk. From there the group decided to split up. Some went to camp for 5 days in Losotho and others were going there for a few days. After hearing how expensive it was to get into this remote place I decided to go off on my own and come here to Durban to hang out on the beach for a few days. That's a completely free thing to do and it's nice to have some time to myself to relax a bit. I finished a wonderful book today while sitting on the beach. By the way, the Indian Ocean is wonderfully warm. Nothing like the Atlantic. 


So here we are, back at the beginning where I am sitting in a backpackers in Durban writing this blog post. I'll be here for another day or so and then i'm going to do a coast crawl to get to Cape Town. Next stop is Coffee Bay which I hear is gorgeous. After that, who knows what's next! 


I hope everyone is well.
Peace and Love, 
Chelsea

Village Fever

So I am sitting in school. No learners, nothing to do. Yeah it’s the day before our month long vacation and I am so ready to get out of here and travel. I’ve been in the village for three weeks now. You know what you get when you do this? VILLAGE FEVER. It’s a common occurrence among those who cannot stay in a place with absolutely nothing to do for an extended period of time. I haven’t taught a lesson In two weeks I’ve only been monitoring exams and marking them for the learners to get their grades. After sitting in countless classrooms for hours at a time without being able to do anything except stare at the students taking their exams, and then having to sit for countless more hours giving them grades and watch most of my learners fail, I have earned this vacation.

Yesterday we had an assembly to hand out the grades. I had made some nice certificates for the learners that did the best in my English classes. Not only could I not pronounce their names in front of the entire school, after I was done the principal then announced that each class teacher would announce the two best learners in their class and then the worst. Thank goodness I’m not a class teacher because I wouldn’t be able to do that. I was told that it’s supposed to be a motivational thing, but I can’t stand when children are embarrassed and put down in front of their peers. Especially when the abuse comes from adults.

Exams have not brought out the best side in me or my school. I hope that this vacation will give me a fresh start for the second term. I am planning on going to Victoria Falls for the first week of the vacation and possibly to South Africa after that depending on how I feel after camping for a week. I’ve never really been camping in my life so this should be interesting. You would think I’d be less nervous about it considering I’m at a school with no running water and I live in the bush. Nope. Not the case.

I think that anyone living abroad has a breaking point where you go, “What am I doing here? What do you mean it’s only been four months and I’m here for another eight?” I’m at that point right now. I have been going back and forth trying to figure out if I’m going to stay here for another year or not. My mind set right now is telling me, “Get out of the bush!” but my heart is saying “Come on Chelsea, you’re suffering from village fever, just relax”.

So for lack of an optimistic blog post, here’s to a better day. I am ever hopeful that I will get over this little slump and move on with this experience.

Peace and Love,
Chelsea

Much needed Vacation

Day one back after vacation, can I go back please? Swakopmund was amazingly beautiful with the ocean on one side and the gorgeous sand dunes of the Namib desert on the other. It is a breathtaking place with much to do. There is amazing food and you could choose a different kind of cuisine every night. Who doesn’t want that? I also had great company. Many of the other volunteers came down to Swakop for the long weekend.

Monique and I travelled to the airport in Ondangwa and got on a flight to Windhoek. When we arrived there we went on a search for a kombi to take us to Swakop. The ride was packed with 12 people plus the driver and we broke down and stopped at least 5 times before we got near Swakop. We broke down for the last time when the engine failed and we were left standing outside in the Namib desert waiting for another ride to come. Over an hour later we got another kombi to Swakop where we met up with Damaris. She is our volunteer that lives in Swakop. Lucky duck.

That night we went out for an amazing meal. I had spinach and feta ravioli which was very good. Only thing is we had to sit outside and believe it or not, Swakop is freezing at this time. The restaurant provided blankets for us and we all talked and caught up with each other. Some of us hadn’t seen each other since orientation a few months back.

The next day we hung out and walked around town. That night we watched the sun go down over the ocean. During this vacation we had a lot of relaxing time which is exactly what I needed. The next day after that was spent wandering the beach and sitting and talking in the sand. The day after that we went to Dune 7 near Walvis Bay. This is the largest dune in the Namib desert. We went “quad biking” or as we call it, four wheeling. It was absolutely amazing to four wheel through the desert. The instructor taught us how to ride the side of the dunes and go down steep hills. Going the highest speed possible was the most fun. There’s nothing like riding around in the desert and seeing the views from the top of a dune.

When we got back after quad biking some of us decided to go climb dune 7. I wimped out half way through but it was fun nonetheless. I ended up part running, part rolling and part scooting on my butt down the dune. I wanted to see which was the most fun. It was definitely rolling down, except the amount of sand that I accumulated. I don’t think I’ve ever been that sandy in my life. I still probably have sand in my ears and up my nose.

Swakop is a nice place and absolutely gorgeous, however, I don’t know that I could live there. This makes me grateful for all of the nice people in the north. Most of the people if not all that live in Swakop are white Afrikaaners. These people are SUCH snobs. They don’t tolerate anyone who isn’t exactly like them and I wouldn’t be able to be around that all the time. Even the volunteers who are white, we aren’t Afrikaaners so we don’t count. I’m not saying that all of these people are like that but a very large majority of the ones I have met are.

Coming back was an adventure in and of itself. It was a day and a half ordeal because I left at about 8 in the morning and didn’t arrive into the Ondangwa airport until 6 pm. By that time, you can’t get a hike back to the village. I stayed over my housemate’s parent’s house for the night and saw my dog Hunter for the first time in 5 days. He was SO excited to see me and jumped and tried to bite my ankles for about a half an hour. The next day when I was going to leave I couldn’t find him. Turns out he wandered into the family room and got locked in. Then I was driven to the hike point where I realized that my phone had dropped out of my pocket. On the taxi ride back to the house Hunter threw up on me. When I finally got there thank goodness they had my phone. I then got another ride to the hike point and got into another car to get to the village. On the hour ride to the village Hunter threw up on me again. By this time it was now time for school. After a hectic morning and the cold weather in Swakop, I fell very ill and had to sleep for the rest of the day after getting some medicine from the clinic.

Speaking of the clinic, we have one just in our village. They have basic medical things and few medications to give. I always feel bad when I go to the clinic because the nurses let me go first because I’m a teacher at the school. Meanwhile there are about 20 other people waiting outside and I’m sure have been waiting for a while. Yesterday when I went they had a serious case. One of the older women in the village was having heart problems and needed to go to the hospital. However, when there is a serious case the transport has to come from Eenhana which is a half hour away and they have to go on the dirt road. This road is bumpy and terrible. I really hope that this woman was okay because she had to wait to go to the hospital and then on top of that it was her heart and I don’t know if anyone’s heart can stand that bumpy ride like that.

This week we have started our April examinations for the learners. Coming up we have our May break which is almost a month long. I want to go to South Africa but I’m hoping that I’ll have enough money to go for a short while. Being on a volunteer’s salary basically pays for food and transport and not much else. Oh well, such is life. I chose to do this and need to live with what I have.

Peace and Love,

Chels

All I really want is some peace man

I don’t even know how to describe how my last couple of weeks has been. Calling them exhausting and challenging would be an understatement. Sometimes when a person is challenged this often I think it’s fair to say that a burn out is inevitable. I know that the ministry would probably not like me to talk about the situation that I am in so publicly so I will just say that I have had a dispute over another colleague at my school and now I am awaiting results of this conflict. Let me just say, it is not wise to threaten someone who is on a foreign mission in your country. Don’t do it. Ever.

Sometimes I don’t understand people. Maybe I don’t need to understand this particular person. For my own peace of mind I think I need to let people who are in charge handle it and try not to worry so much. I have been trying to let go of things that I have no control over and trying to handle things that I do have control over.

I’m honestly getting sick and tired of some of the disrespect that goes on from some of the learners here. Why did I travel half way across the world to teach you if half your class is going to try and skip coming to my class? It is rude…and I’m done. I don’t want to keep repeating myself during the week to multiple classes. It is rude and disrespectful to not come to a teacher’s class. There is no excuse for it. I am less inclined to want to help you if you don’t bother to show up.

I am the only class that the learners can possibly skip because it’s the only one they have to walk to. I am also not the only teacher that is disrespected. I don’t know what it is with these upper grades but they have a tude problem that needs some fixing. This is exactly why I have my certification in elementary school and why I do not choose to work with middle or high school. I understand that they are still young and challenging authority, but I don’t want to be the target of it.

I think I haven’t written a post since the one about my daily life because I knew I wasn’t happy right now. I try very hard to keep positive with whatever is happening and I don’t want people to take what I’m saying the wrong way. I am still grateful that I am here but I think that every person has a limit as to what they can take and I’ve reached mine for the time being. What I need is a vacation.

And guess what? I have two more days of teaching this week and then Wednesday after school I’m going for the long weekend. I am travelling with some of the other volunteers back down to the south of Namibia to go to Swokopmund. This is the best thing for me right now. Swokop is the area on the coast where the ocean is. If you know me you know that the beach and the ocean is my “happy place”. I think the long weekend near my happy place will put me back into balance and give me some perspective. I don’t know what it is about staring out into the ocean, but it makes a person humble and remember how large this world is.

I would also love to post pictures for this blog but the internet connection is terrible and I am unable to do so at this time. So I am sorry you'll just have to imagine for now!

Peace and Love,
Chels

The Daily Grind

I had a conversation with my mom last night and she suggested that I describe my day to day life to you. I had never really thought to do this because it is so normal to me now. I forgot that it may be interesting to someone who has no idea what my life is like here.

First of all, I live in a house on school grounds that consists of two bedrooms, a kitchen area, and a living room area. I live in one room and my housemate Indila lives in the other. Hunter has taken over the living room for his own. So really the only shared space is the kitchen. It is the only house on the grounds where the teachers live. The other teachers live in what we call shacks (they are rooms made of tin).

In the morning I get up at 7:00 and get ready for the day. I dress in professional teaching clothes just as if I was teaching in the U.S. All of the teachers dress really well. On Mondays we wear black and white. No one really knows why. I guess someone decided it was a good idea. On Tuesday and Wednesdays we wear whatever professional clothes we would like. On Thursdays we wear sports attire to support our netball and soccer teams that play on Thursdays. On Fridays we are allowed to wear jeans. I know what you’re thinking, you wear jeans in Africa?! Yes, I do. I have gotten used to the blazing hot weather for the most part and I am able to wear pants here.

My day consists of about 4 classes a day. Each class is 40 minutes long. I have my English 8A and 8B every day and other than that I have a rotation of my computer classes for grades 8-10. In my spare time I plan or help others out with things on the computer. We “knock off” at about 3:30 most days. Classes end at 1:50 (except for Mondays when there is an extra class until 2:30). In the extra hours of the day the learners are expected to stay in their classes and study for the remainder of the day. This is why it always strikes me when learners don’t bring their homework. You mean to tell me you had study time the day before from 2-3:30 and you couldn’t manage to fit my English homework in there?

Each class has 9 teachers and subjects. (Geography, Entrepreneurship, Life Science, Agriculture, English, Oshikwanyama, Mathematics, Art and Physical Science) and now with me here, they have BIS (basic information science) otherwise known as ICT or computers. The classes stay in their rooms throughout the whole day (unless they have computers and then they come to the lab…or as they like to call it the “computer stadium”). Each teacher has their schedule and rotates into the classrooms during the different periods. This school has grade 1-10 so there are a lot of classrooms. Each grade has either 2 or 3 sections with about 30 students in each one.

At the end of the day we all return to the teacher housing and relax and do whatever chores we need to do before we have to cook our meals. Sometimes this consists of hand washing laundry. We have small wash basins that we use. We go to the tap and fill the basin and then add a washing soap. Each basin can wash about 4 articles of clothing until you have to change out the water and repeat the process. Each article of clothing needs to be hand washed 3 times before you can wring it out and hang it up to dry on the clothesline. Once is with soap and the other two is with regular water to rinse it out. I’m not very good at hand washing but I’m getting better at it and my clothes stay clean so that’s something to be proud of.

If we are not washing or cooking dinner, we are normally socializing and playing cards or watching something on one of the few laptops here. Also, Mr. Imms has a flat screen T.V. in his room so he is a popular man during soccer matches. It’s all about Manchester United for a lot of the teachers here. So yeah, I’ve kind of become a soccer fan. Or at least I can tolerate watching it now as a social thing. Because my name is Chelsea and there is a soccer team named Chelsea, I get a lot of jokes thrown at me about it.

As for cooking, my housemate and I usually make chicken and soup with either macaroni or spaghetti. Last night I was really craving the traditional Mahangu porridge that they make here. It is very plain and you eat it on the floor with your hands. Normally you have one plate of it and everyone sits around together and eats from it. You take a small ball into your hands and roll it kind of like dough and dip it into either milk or soup and it is delicious. It also makes eating a social thing instead of something you have to do. Of course we all know we have to eat. But it’s nice to spend time with people. A lot of times in the U.S. eating is rushed and a solo thing.

If we are not doing any of these things, then we are in the village playing pool and relaxing listening to music from the jukeboxes. I have become obsessed with the music they have here. They have so much rhythm! They have either house music or quito (sp?) music. Each one has a unique style and beat. No matter which it is, it’s incredibly fun to dance to.

On the weekends most teachers go home to their families. The mothers and children live here during the week and then see their husbands on the weekends. Vice versa with the men who are married here. Because we live in the bush it’s very hard for anyone to see anyone else other than the villagers and teachers during the week. If you stay here on the weekends, there isn’t much to do. This is why I travel a lot to go see other people and stay other places for a few days. The only thing about leaving is that even this is hard. Hitchhiking is not easy. Sometimes you get a ride the moment you reach the hike point on the road and other times you are waiting in the blazing hot African sun for 2 hours before someone stops. In either direction, Eenhana is a half hour away and Ondangwa is an hour away.

Speaking of the hot sun, right now it is either really hot or really raining. We are in the rainy season right now which means that at any moment during the day the rain comes and pours buckets. Sometimes, there isn’t much of a warning. It’s not like I have the weather channel for my village so it’s a guessing game each day. Last year the surrounding areas flooded and roads were inaccessible for a large amount of time

I think this pretty much covers a lot of what I do on a day to day basis and gives you more of an idea of where I am and what I do. Always feel free to comment on the blog and ask any questions, I’d be happy to answer them.

Also, tomorrow is Namibian Independence day and we are all getting together to eat goat, drink and be merry. We all pooled together our money to buy a goat to slaughter it and share! Because, “in Africa we share” remember that phrase, because it is quite popular here. Literally, anything you have, you share with others. Kind of nice.

Peace and Love,

Chels

I may be a dreamer but i'm not the only one

What does it mean to make a difference and change the world? I think that it starts with following your passion. You can do much more good in the world if you are passionate about what you are doing. I don’t care what it is you are passionate about. It could be anything. Follow your dreams and don’t shy away from something that seems too far out of reach. Wouldn’t it seem too far out of reach for me to travel to Africa for a year to teach? I’m writing to you now from Africa where I am currently volunteer teaching. Think about it, if I can be in Africa and fulfill my dreams, why can’t you? You need to follow your passion and see where it takes you.

I think I was meant to be here and have this experience. I followed my gut feeling about where I was supposed to be and what I needed to be doing. I could have taken the easy route and applied for grad schools and stayed home trying to get a job. For the time being, that is not what I’m meant to be doing. I’m not saying that doing all of this is easy or even pleasant all of the time…this following your passion stuff.  It’s challenging and exhausting. However, wouldn’t you much rather be doing something that you know you want to do than be stuck doing something you hate? We only have one life to live (yes that is a soap opera name) and we should try and live it so that in the end we have no regrets. I can say with confidence that I have no regrets thus far and I do not plan on having any for as long as I live.

Make a bucket list. Tick things off the list when you can. Make a plan; set a goal.

Now that I have that thought out of the way I can fill you in on the past week. I had a much better week teaching my learners. I’ve been planning my lessons like crazy to make sure that there isn’t a moment for my learners to be talking or disrupting. They are busy little bees in Ms. Chelsea’s class now! I think that being bored contributes to a lot of talking in class.

This weekend I went to Ondangwa with my housemate Indila to her restaurant and bar that she owns. It was cool to see how she runs her business here in Africa. We brought Hunter along with us and he hung out with some of the young boys that Indila looks after. She has so many responsibilities at only 25 years old. She runs a business, looks after some young boys that stay at the house, looks after her cousin and her cousin’s baby, and looks after the girls that she employed to work at the bar. She pays for everything herself and still gives them a salary. She also teaches at the school with me. Talk about being able to multi-task!

When we were all coming back from the weekend I had Hunter in my lap in the car. The driver drove so fast through the village to drop us off that when he stopped the car, Hunter threw up on his back seat. I think that’s a little bit of karma. Stop driving so fast and maybe my dog won’t vomit in your vehicle J

Yesterday we had a staff meeting called. Staff meetings here are announced mid-day when someone decides there should be one. So around 12 when I was passing by the office I saw the notice on the chalkboard that we need to report for a meeting at 2:30 when the last class ends. I rushed out of my last class to get a chair to bring to the staff lounge and sat for the meeting. Business went on as usual as one of the teachers was explaining that parents were coming in and complaining about students being kept late after school. The students are staying late and playing and then blaming it on sports. They say that they are being kept by the teachers. Really they don’t want to go home and do chores and look after the animals so they lie to their parents.

Another issue as my colleague so kindly blamed me for was that learners keep coming to my house and visiting me. He turned to me in the middle of the meeting and called me out specifically. I then informed him that I have a housemate (and pointed to her) and asked why he was not addressing her as well. He then kept saying do you understand me and Chelsea they shouldn’t be over there because that’s teacher’s housing. I then told him that I never asked the learners to come over and I agree that they shouldn’t be there. I also informed him that he should not be attacking me specifically.

After school I went over to him and explained that it is unprofessional to address someone in such a manner during a staff meeting. He should have come to me privately and discussed it with me first. A staff meeting is not a time to point fingers and bring things like that up. He said he understands and that he was sorry. I think that it’s important to stand up for yourself. I do not feel bad for what I said. Life goes on.

Peace and Love,

Chels

Breaking Point

This week teaching was very interesting. I’m getting to a breaking point in some of my classes. The students get out of hand sometimes and I get very frustrated. I ended up walking out 5 minutes early from one of my English classes because they would not listen when I said they needed to quiet down. They were much better the next class. I am no longer interested in raising my voice in any of the classes. I calmly talked to the class saying that talking over me is disrespectful and rude. If they did not quiet down I would leave. Some students continued to talk so I said okay I’m done for the day I hope we can have a better day tomorrow. Today in my 8C computer class I went into their class before computer period started and informed them that they would not have the privilege of having computer class today because last class I had to kick one of the students out for not listening after time number 3 of telling him not to play on the computer and to practice his typing like I asked. I said to him “I’m done asking go back to class”. A lot of the students then mocked me as they were leaving the lab saying “I’m done, I’m done” and laughing at what I said. Today when I went in I explained that this was unacceptable and disrespectful to me as their teacher. They need to readjust their attitudes and come back next class.

After having a stressful teaching week I travelled to Oshakati to meet up with a number of the other volunteers. One of our friends travelled all the way from Rundu to come see us. Rundu is about a 7 hour drive from us. It was nice to see everyone again and hang out with Americans. We stayed at a guest hotel and the next night at the guest lodge in Oshakati. We planned on staying with one of the volunteers at her school. However, upon arriving we found out that she was talking to some of her colleagues and they asked her if she was scared to stay for the weekend on a “home” weekend at the hostel school. Apparently a lot of the learners taunt the locals and throw things at them. The locals then break into the school and try to kill the learners or whoever is in the hostel on a home weekend. Recently a local broke in and stabbed someone with a screwdriver. Not a safe place.

Can I just say as well that I cannot believe it is already March? I’ve been here since the end of December but it feels like I’ve been here for about 3 weeks and not over 2 months. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I am enjoying the time I have here and even though I’m having a rough couple of weeks I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. Being a first year teacher and teaching in Africa is a huge obstacle to tackle and I am learning a lot from this.

Peace and Love,

Chels

Such is Life

 With the teachers gone this week I’ve had half days of school. On Friday I decided that I would bring my Uno cards, playing cards and markers to my eighth graders and let them play during our class. They had so much fun playing cards and watching the Uno games that I was playing with the other learners. I think it’s important to remember that these students are just kids. They want to have fun sometimes. I am the only teacher here who plays games with them. A lot of the focus is on academics and passing exams. I know this is an important part of school but I firmly believe that letting kids be kids is also a part of school. To make them grow up so fast is wasting their childhood. They have so many responsibilities at home that range from watching the animals to pounding mohangu for dinner and watching the younger kids. If I can be a nice break during their day and we can still learn things then I’m perfectly okay with what I’m doing.

This weekend Hunter and I set out for Ongwediva to go back to where he’s from. I left him at the house for the weekend with his mother and his sister. They were so excited to see him! I think he enjoyed his time with other dogs. I spent the weekend with another volunteer and we had a crazy time. I think we were both feeling a little overwhelmed with the culture barrier this weekend. As my mom describes it “it’s like being a celebrity”. Everyone wants to talk to the American girls everywhere we go. We can’t go anywhere without being bothered for our numbers or having people touching us or talking to us. Sometimes I would just like to go shopping for food without having people either staring at me or talking to me. Such is life I guess.

Coming back from the weekend I took some taxis and then got into the back of a car with 6 other people. I kept saying to them…there is no room. But alas, there was room if you act like human sardines. The moment I got out of the car and started walking the mile into town it started to rain. I thought to myself “oh no big deal it’s not raining hard”. The moment I finished my thought, it started torrential down pouring on me and Hunter. Carrying a full hiker’s backpack, a full bag full of groceries and a puppy in a bag in the rain does not equal a very fun time. Especially since said puppy decided it would be fun to try and escape and make a run for it multiple times. When I reached the shops in the village I was completely soaked from head to toe and my shoes were falling off. As I walked past the shops I heard some of the kids crying out “Go Miss Chelsea!” No one else was out in the rain so I had quite a reaction out of all of the people in the shelter of the shops. When some of my colleagues came to me later they said that they had heard of my unfortunate event already. News travels fast here.

When I arrived home I found a herd of goats that were finding shelter under my roof and decided that my doorways were the best place to be. I didn’t want to walk to the outhouse in the rain after I changed so I popped a squat in the grass next to the goats. All I kept thinking was “this has to be a low point in my life”. Just the goats and I using the great outdoors as our personal toilets. May be too much information. However, this is Africa and these things do happen!

Peace and Love,

Chels

Nostalgia

Today in my free time I started thinking about home and all of the things I miss. It’s okay every once in a while to remember where you come from to understand where you are. One thing is Dunkin Donuts coffee! Here we have instant coffee that you pour into hot water. Definitely not the same. I was also texted by the other volunteer from NH and he asked if I miss being able to say wicked. I totally agreed that I miss saying all the normal things I say at home. With a language barrier I have to keep my vernacular pretty simple.

I also miss my friends and family. Especially my family. It’s nice to get to talk to them on Skype and swap stories about what is going on. However, I miss spending quality time with them and sitting and having Harry Potter marathons on Sunday nights. I miss getting to drive a car. I miss walking in the snow and feeling it fall on my eyelashes. I miss being able to take a hot bath when I’m having a bad day. I miss being able to go get an ice cream. I miss coming home from a long day and talking to my mom and dad. I miss talking to my brother about being "the chosen one" (Harry Potter reference). I miss telling my sister she's a ninny and i'm kind of a big deal, people know me (Anchorman reference).

Now that I’ve contemplated on what I miss I think it’s healthy to balance it with things I love about Namibia. I love my new puppy Hunter. I love my new friends I’ve made. I love walking and exercising. I love that I am eating new foods that I don’t eat at home. I love the stars at night. There is NOTHING like a starry night in Africa. I love the sun sets. I love my learners. I love teaching. I love feeling confident and independent. I love my new sense of myself and others. I love learning a new language. I love dancing to the music here. I love the other volunteers. I love being challenged.

Being able to keep a balanced life is pretty important. I think I’m able to better understand what that means when I threw myself into a situation where I felt so unbalanced at first. I am challenged all of the time with my environment and interactions. I am quickly learning to let things go that truly do not matter and hold onto things that do. Seeing one of my learners faces light up today when I shared some of my music with him for his phone was wonderful. I got frustrated with my 8B class and lectured them about laughing at other people. Even teachers because yes, we do have feelings too. I cannot pronounce their names, but at least I am trying. Picking your battles is important. I have a lot more to learn and I think in life we never stop learning. But at least I can say I’m still soaking it in and learning from mistakes and triumphs.

Peace and Love,
Chels

Weekend in the village

This weekend I stayed in the village to recover from Hunter staying up all night long crying at me this week. I missed the other volunteers but I got a taste of village life here on the weekends. Most of the teachers leave to go home so it was me and a few others who were behind. On Saturday some of the learners went to Eenhana to go run track against other schools. Being a fast typer, I was the one who made the list of learners who were competing in which meter race. Let me just say, some of these names sound made up. When I got to someone named George I was so happy because I could spell it and I knew I was doing it correctly. Then you’ve got names like Hishidhivali Elikan. Try saying that ten times fast.

When some of my colleagues got back from Eenhana I was just walking into the village to go hang out for a few hours and socialize. I met up with one of my friends who works at one of the small shops and she told me that I needed to stay and go do traditional things with the villagers. One of the bars was just opening and they made mohangu (traditional Namibian beer made from oats) and insisted that I drink it with them. They also slaughtered a cow earlier that day in order to feed all the people coming out to party. I actually ended up walking right into a puddle as I was mesmerized watching them pick apart the cow and hang it up. I ended up having some of the meat later on and it was delicious! It was wonderful getting to spend time with some of the people. Out of nowhere they started clapping and singing and stomping their feet. Later on in the night when I returned from dancing at the shop with some of the other women the people insisted that I get into the middle of the circle and they clapped for me as I danced and stomped my feet. It was so much fun! I got a lot of hugs afterwards from the older memes.

I also had a confrontation with one of the men. He was pushing my friend around and yelling at her. I got so mad that he was pushing a woman that I stepped in the middle and told him to relax and back off. He then informed me in Oshikwanyama as he pointed to our skin that he was black and I was white. That really set me off and I informed him that I didn’t care we were the same and I walked away. Later on that night he along with many of the other men were complimenting me on my dancing and asking me to come talk with them. I also had someone tell me they love me. It’s pretty common here to have this happen. I just laugh and walk away.

I tried to go into Eenhana this weekend and it ended up being an epic fail. I walked the mile out to the hike point and sat in the blazing sun for over an hour with only one car driving by that did not stop to pick me up. I ended up giving up and walking back to the village. At least I got a 2 mile walk in. I get frustrated sometimes with having to hike everywhere. I have to depend on other people for transportation. I also get pretty heated trying to adjust to what they call here “Africa time”. When people say they are “coming now” they mean like 2 hours later. Time isn’t as much of an issue here as it is in the U.S. When someone says now they mean much later, now now means in a little bit, and now now now means what we mean when we say “now”. I find myself asking people “Oh so when you say now, do you mean now now?”

I’m excited for this week because many of the teachers are gone for a workshop so grade 10 is staying home all week and grade 8 and 9 are only staying until break time which is 11:40. That makes my teaching week ten times easier than it normally is. The one drawback is finding what to do in my free time. Of course lesson planning is always an option but other than that…it’s not like we have a movie theatre or mini golf or anything really to go to. I have to occupy my time with very limited resources. Thank goodness I have friends here that I can play uno and chat with. I’m thinking about bringing out the deck of regular cards one of these days and teaching them to play rummy 500. Won’t be the same as when I play with Mom and Pat back home but at least I won’t be out of practice when I come home. J

Peace and Love,

Chelsea

Skip and Draw Four, Color..Blue

My new roomie has moved in and she is so very nice. The first day she arrived she started blasting Celine Dion songs and singing along. In that instant I knew we would get along quite nicely! There isn’t very much I think is worth reporting as of this moment but I hear from several people that they enjoy the blog posts so I will do my best to write about anything that comes to mind.

The other night I taught some of my colleagues how to play Uno. Yes, they got just as frustrated with the length of the game as I’m sure a lot of us do. Also, skipping people on purpose or giving them a draw four. I think that these things transcend any kind of culture barrier and bring out the competitive side of anyone. Yesterday I taught some of my 8A learners how to play Peggle after school. They were fascinated with watching me play and it drew a rather large crowd. I’ve been drawing a lot of attention to myself lately after getting the puppy. I often hear learners crying out “HUNTER!” when I walk by with him. My roomie Indira has told me that in fact I had a misconception about dogs around here. She said that they are a must in any of the traditional households. She also said that when you are dating someone you must go to their house and then you have to be invited back in order to properly be accepted into the family. Must be so much pressure!

I have also found out pretty quickly that people run their mouths a lot here. They love to talk and gossip about the latest and greatest news. I try to keep my life private here but it’s quite hard when learners and colleagues watch what I do and see things. For example, on the weekends when I’ve been going to Ongwediva, I know of several learners that have apparently seen me with my volunteer friends. They write about it in their compositions about their weekends “I saw Ms. Chelsea with her friends but did not say hi”. Or, “I saw Ms. Chelsea with her friend and her puppy and she looked very happy”.

I am very happy to have the puppy here for some company. However, just like a baby at a month old, he sleeps at odd times like…say….all day long. Then at night, he stays up and cries at me while I’m trying to go to sleep. I feel bad for my roommate because she didn’t really ask for this. She has been really great though saying that she doesn’t mind and she’s the auntie for Hunter. He has also been getting quite attached to my friend Jerry who allows him to bite his ankles. Just what I need after having Tobias Sassafrass Ewing (Toby)in the family at home is another ankle biter! J

As promised, here is the video from orientation with me in it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HizOkVoKMs&feature=youtu.be


Peace and Love,
Chelsea