Etosha...you win.

Hello People,

I was able to update once in Ongwediva about the teaching experience. I have some quiet time now to recap some of what happened after Ongwediva and into our trip to Tsumeb. We travelled away from the dormatory where we were staying and teaching and made it to Tsumeb to a really nice backpackers. I say nice only because it was so exciting to get to the room and see a fan and a pillow! The things you appreciate when you're in Africa... :)

The first night in Tsumeb we relaxed in the common room and stayed up talking to the nice couple that owned the place. Taught them how to play "never have I ever". It was quite funny. We had yet another night of eating pizza (it's almost all we have eaten here because it's cheaper to feed the group...side note on that...if I never see pizza again this whole year...i'll be quite alright with that) and then we went off to our nice beds with...let me restate this for emphasis...PILLOWS AND A FAN.

The next morning we got up for what turned out to be a pretty epic day. We left for Etosha National Park around 7:30 am and drove the hour and a half to get there. We decided to do our own drive through with the two Ministry of Education vehicles that we were riding in. It cost us 80 Namibian dollars to get in (which translates to 10 US dollars). I was in the van where we pack in 13 people on a normal day. We drove through the park for...are you ready for this...12 hours! It was such a long ride. However, we saw so many cool animals. We saw girrafes, elephants, cheetahs, a leapord, hyenas...etc! It was such a cool experience to watch all of these animals in their natural habitat. Apparently seeing cheetahs is very rare in Etosha but seeing a leapord is unheard of!

Here's the absolute best part of the trip....we got stuck in the sand in the middle of Etosha. There are signs everywhere saying that you cannot get out of your car and we had to get out and try and push the van out. We of course had someone as the animal lookout to let us know if we needed to jump back into the van. This is one of those stories i'm never going to forget! It'll be one of those "remember that time we got stuck in the sand in Etosha and had to watch for lions?" Etosha 1-WorldTeach-0 (You win this time Etosha...touche...)


So right now it's Monday night and come Thursday morning...I'll be at my teaching site for the year! It's so crazy to think about right now but i'm so excited to meet everyone and settle in. I am beyond excited to meet my students. After working with the students in Ongwediva and playing games with them and teaching them I cannot put into words how happy I am that I'm here and about to teach.

I hope everyone is well and happy.

Much Love,
Chelsea