So I have had some pretty cool weekends the past two weeks or so. This weekend I decided to just hangout in Omungwelume and watch the grass grow. Also, there was a cultural festival at my school where all of the classes from Eengedjo sang traditional songs and danced to drums. It was fun to see some of my learners (and teachers!) in traditional Namibian dress. I'll be sure to put up some pictures.
Two weekends ago I went back to Etosha with some other volunteers and a few new Akrikaaner friends from outside Opuwo, a town where there are a lot of Himba- I won't go into details about the Himba and will just tell you to google it. Like right now. See? So even though we spent maybe a half hour there, there was a fair amount of culture shock for me.
Anyways, I was on the lookout for lions but unfortunately we didn't see any. We did see more elephants, lots of zebra, oryx, a rhino! And the highlight of the trip was undoubtedly the sighting of three honey badgers. If you don't know what a honey badger is, go to youtube and search it, there's a pretty hilarious video on there that accurately depicts these wonderful creatures. Unfortunately they were too quick to be very photogenic.
We were bombing around in the back of this bakkie (pickup truck) with a tarp tied down. There was also a huge storm and one of us didn't bring a rain jacket. Obviously being from New England I was prepared, but was still pretty miserable. When it rains in Namibia, it never just sprinkles, always pours. Despite the downpour, it was a really great weekend. I'd like to thank Gary, Mosie and Andre for taking me around and being so awesome.
Teaching is getting a little easier. Each day/week presents new challenges but I feel like I'm starting to roll with the punches. I've also picked up the title of school nurse and have been seeing learners when they are hurt/sick. So far we've had a few sprained ankles, a dislocated shoulder...and actually quite a few psychotic episodes. The latter is becoming more commonplace than I think is normal, even for teenagers, and I'm starting to become slightly concerned that there's something in the water that is making these kids lose their minds. Keeping an eye on it....
