Half Marathon and Last Visit to the Bing

Sooo...I started this awhile ago and never actually posted it. All time references are off by a month or so...whoops!

The weekend before last was the Lucky Star Marathon in Swakop! It is a great race that runs right along the oldest and biggest dunes in the world (just beautiful!). You have the option to run the full marathon or split the marathon with a friend (one runs the first half, the other the second). Then there is a learner race where they run a 4 person relay. I ran the first half of the marathon (21 km!) and my site mate Christine ran the second half. There were probably close to 20 PCVs down there to run/cheer/bring learners. It was soooo much fun! I was actually had a pretty bad cold for the week before the race and had a nasty cough on the day of and was a bit worried about being able to run, but it ended up being fine! I ran a bit slower than usual but made it to the end :).

It is funny, because the adult portion of the marathon starts a half hour before the learner relays start. So you would think you would not see any learners along the way...FALSE! About 45 minutes into the race, all of a sudden you see these little kids with bare feet speeding past you. It really is amazing how fast these kids can run! I can't imagine ever running that fast...let alone in bare little feet!

After the marathon was over, we all had a big dinner and then ended up going out and celebrating our training being over! It was a fun weekend :).

I ended up spending a few days helping out a vol who is teaching an after school program in Swakop. It was fun to hang out with her and learn more about her project. Her kiddos were cute and their English was AMAZING!

After helping out in Swakop I went to the Bing for my last visit! It was great to be back in the village! Everytime I go back, I never want to leave and actually think about staying a 4th year to teach at Da Palm (don't worry though...I am coming home...I promise!).

I arrived on a Thursday afternoon and went to afternoon study to see all of my learners and teachers. I basically just hung out in the classrooms distracting the kids from doing their homework (I am a fab teacher, huh?).

That evening we had a memorial service for a teacher who died two weeks before. The learners and staff lined the road leading to the hall where the memorial was going to be held. As the sunset, we all sang and then followed the car carrying his body down to the hall. It was really a beautiful evening and quite a fitting way to honor Tate.

The staff at my school is extremely close and his death was a bit of a surprise to all of us, so, needless to say, it was pretty hard. His name was Mr. Shimutukeni, but we all just called him Tate (Tah-tay, meaning father). He would always stir up some kind of trouble in the staff room, but it always ended with us laughing! He was just well loved by all of the teachers and the learners--a great teacher who always had the learners' best interests at heart. I was really glad I was able to be there for the memorial service and the funeral.

So, Friday was spent hanging out again and catching up with friends, teachers and learners. I really just spent the whole day at the school! That evening, I went over to the school to hang out with my learners and we ended up playing games and singing under the stars until 10:30pm when they were sent into the hostel for the evening. It was the best way to end a great last day in the village! It is funny, because I know that would never fly in America. These were grade 10-12 learners (boys and girls) playing "kid" games with their teacher on a Saturday night, but we all just had so much fun! I will really miss that about Namibia. These kids go through so much and have to grow up so fast in some respects, but in others, they are still just kids who love to hang out and play games. I really can't say enough how much I love my school, my teachers and my learners. I was so so so so lucky to be able to spend two years with such amazing people!

On Saturday, we woke up early and traveled into town for Tate's funeral (the funeral was in Karibib, the town about 70km away). A few of my teachers had moved away from the village this year, but everyone came back in for the funeral, so it was nice to see all of them. The funeral was sad (of course) and lasted about 5 hours. Then we had the burial, which was another hour and a half (a long day!). While it was long, the funeral was a beautiful way to remember Tate. Lots of tears, but lots of great Tate stories as well.

In Namibia, funerals are almost always on a Saturday and usually a week or two after the person has died. This is so family has time to travel in and the family can gather money to cover the funeral expenses. On Friday night, the family and close friends gather at the family's house for prayers and singing. The body is delivered to the house that evening and the family greet the body with songs and tears. The family sits with the body for the whole evening until the funeral the next day. It is interesting to observe and be apart of the funeral process here. In some ways things are similiar, but in others it is quite different. Everyone kind of grieves in their own way :).

Well, that is about it for my Swakop/Bing visit! I took lots of pictures, which, once in America, I will put in an album and post online (the internet is too slow here/I don't have enough patience). I have lots of great pictures of my fabulous learners though! Oh I am going to miss them (I know, I say that a lot...but it is true :) ).