Finally...an update!

Hello!

Sorry for not posting for a long time. I actually just realized that this is the first time I have sat down at a computer with internet since before Christmas! I actually feel a little anxious writing this and watching my one hour of internet slowly tick away...to think, in a year I will have unlimited internet access!

Life in the Nam is still going well. These first few months of the new year/my second year at site have been a little more difficult than I thought. I had a lot of challenges in my first year, but I really don't think I ever felt really homesick. This year, I feel a little more of the homesickness and a different kind of stress. I just keep thinking about how long I have left in the village and worry that I will never accomplish everything I want to accomplish in the small amount of time I have left (OK...so 9 months doesn't sound like a short amount of time, but it feels like nothing here..). So my homesickness (and yearning for those American conveniences) combined with my worry that I won't be ready to leave the village or Nam at the end of the year caused me a little stress in the beginning, but I think this is normal and I have really just kind of accepted the fact that I will always want to do more for my school and village and that the stress just comes along with the PC package. Long story short, I had a little bit of a rough patch in the beginning, but I'm back to normal and happy now :)

So...what have I been doing this year?

I have a register class (like a homeroom class, but much more work and stress). They are a grade 8 class and I actually don't teach them at all, which has been a little hard to get to know them. But, I sit with them every day in our study (from 3-5) and that has helped. They started out really bad. Well, not really bad, but they drove me crazy almost every day. After a lot of talks, changing seats and after study detentions, they are pretty good and I have really enjoyed being their register teacher. In Nam schools, the kids all move around in their register class and the register teacher is the "mom" or "dad" to the class. There is just a lot of pride in your register class and I have started to become pretty close to the kids, so while it is a lot of work, I am having fun with it. I will try to get a picture of them on here sometime soon...they are pretty cute (did I tell you one of them is 18 years old? yup...my kids are old!)

I am teaching all of grade 9 (3 classes) and all of grade 10 (2 classes) English. I love having my grade 10's (last years grade 9's) again, and I like the new grade 9's a little more every day. I have increased my teaching load quite a bit, but it has been OK. The actual lesson plans and teaching of grade 9 is much easier this year because I feel that I actually know what I'm doing this year as opposed to last year which was just a bit of trial and error. I have had quite a bit of discipline problems in one of the classes with a handful of boys, but I have pulled those little trouble makers aside and had some long chats with them and now they are no longer a problem. I think that is one of my major successes so far with grade 9. It is really great to see these boys who used to come in, make fun of other kids and constantly distract me and the class, come in, sit down and encourage the other learners around them to stay quiet and work hard.

Grade 10 is good. We just started reading Chanda's Secrets the novel I had donated, and it is going pretty well! It has been a little crazy with the whole thing because my school never runs properly and I have not had a ton of time to work with them and the novel. I am also realizing how hard teaching a novel to a class of 42 kids with low reading levels is, but I am trying new things every day and am determined to make it work! I have decided I will try to my best to help every learner read and understand and love the novel, but if not, it's OK and at least they will be able to engage in great discussions about HIV and life in Africa.

Another really exciting thing about Chanda's Secrets is that my mom contacted the author of the novel for me! And he said he was happy to communicate with my class while we are reading. Even better, he has put me in contact with a school whose entire grade 9 will be reading the novel in the Fall! So, my kids will be in contact with them and we can do some great cultural exchanges with each other. I am really really excited about this!! I will keep you updated about how it goes!

My Girl's Club is going pretty well. We are meeting and chatting and I am learning more and more about the Nam culture and dating at every meeting. The other day, we had a meeting and were playing "Questions Jenga" and one of the questions I had for them was T/F--I think it's OK for a man to have 2 wives or a boy to have 2 girlfriends. To my surprise, the girls all answered "true" and went as far to tell me "it was nice". After they saw the shock on my face, some of them changed their tune, but I just have a hard time understanding why they think this is a good thing. Our next discussion topic is relationships, so I plan on talking about this more and trying to keep my own views out of it, but also trying to show them why being faithful is a good thing...

OK...my time in Swakop and on this internet cafe is ending...so I am going to wrap up. I hope everything at home is fabulous! I miss you all a lot. I really really do!

I will leave you with a funny story...

So, the other day, all the kids were sitting in their register class (homeroom) for some reason (of course no teaching was going on). I was just sitting with the kids trying to keep them settled down when one of my little troublemaker boys stands up in front of the class, turns around, grabs his butt and "puffs" (farts). This puff was maybe one of the most potent puffs I have ever smelled. The kids are literally gasping for air while the little puffer dances around the classroom, holding his butt and basking in his puffing glory. A boy grabs my arm and drags me out of the classroom while telling me if I breathe in this air pollution I will surely die of lung cancer. The rest of the class tumbles out of the classroom to breathe in some clean air. It was total chaos, but really I couldn't force them to sit in that stinky room breathing in something that just might cause some kind of deadly lung disease. The air finally cleared and we all walked back inside the class and sat down. When I questioned my little puffing grade 8 as to why he committed this awful crime, he told me Sarah (another girl) told him to do it (of course Sarah denies this). I asked him if he thought he should go to the toilet and reminded the class that puffing falls under the respect rule, and next time the respect rule is so blatantly broken there will be consequences! Haha...the whole class was laughing...it was a bit of a bonding experience for our little 8a family :)

Oh...PS. Today is Nam Independence Day!! Very exciting...19 years ago today we gained our independence and were no longer known as Southwest Africa :)