March was a month of travel, finishing teaching, and catching up on things. Some big things for the month…
Rainy Season came upon me in full force. It was cloudy for DAYS! For those of y’all that don’t know, I’m a sunshine girl. I love the sun and I’m not a big fan of constant rain. While the locals were happy for the rainfall that was helping their crops to prosper, I had resorted to only wearing Chacos (rain always mean Chacos) and staying in class until the rain stopped before running home trying to avoid puddles. My site was very dry compared to others though. A good number of my fellow PCVs schools closed due to flooding or closed for younger learners who were no longer able to cross the large, deep oshanas and rivers that had begun to flow again. Some of my learners come to school wet after crossing a river that is now flowing through our settlement from Angola. When they told me it would rain in Oland, I never believed there would be a river nearby.
I’m trying to bring #TacoTuesday to Namibia. I successfully hosted a taco Tuesday with three of my colleagues/neighbors. We had refried black beans, Spanish rice, mince with Taco seasoning sent from home, pico de gallo and homemade tortillas. They LOVED it. The next morning all three came to me as we walked to the schoolyard. The conversation went something like this:
Them: “You know Clarice, I did not sleep well last night.”
Me: “Oh no! Why not?”
Them: “I was thinking about eating tacos!”
Me (laughing): “What?”
Them: “I just kept thinking about tacos and this morning I woke up hungry for
tacos but my belly is empty.”
The garden has made progress! The fence was put up around the space. It is the first step in getting things started. The older learners also helped to clear the area of weeds, thorny bushes, and more weeds. It is still a work in progress, but any progress is god progress!
I got to go on my first vacation! My friends and I visited Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana in our week off school. I got see the magnificent, wonderful, gorgeous Victoria Falls. I was in complete awe… Its amazing! I was standing there with a smile on my face almost the whole time in the park on the Zimbabwe side. We did a river cruise and I ate lots of delicious fancy (after living on a PC budget) snacks, drank bottomless orangy cocktails, and got to talk with a great group of women from all over the US. In Botswana we got to visit Chobe National Park, where we went on another river cruise (aka real-life Jungle Cruise), a game drive where we saw giraffes, hippos, elephants, a monitor lizard, crocodiles, and some wild dogs, and finished the trip by staying a night under the stars in the park (with all the above-mentioned animals nearby). In Zambia, I got to eat lots of fresh fruits, enjoyed Caribbean and Indian food, and relaxed.
The term is coming to end and exams are now starting. I was able to finish up teaching my learners the last of the necessary topics needed for their April exams just in the nick of time during the last week of March. Now I just need to do ALL of the marking that I have been putting off throughout the term and fill in their grade sheets to turn in.
I went on my second media committee project during the last week of March. I’m learning a lot about videography and putting it to use in some of my own videos. I’m very glad that I’m able to be a part of this committee during my time here. Hopefully my own videos will also improve as I continue to learn more.