Southern Blood

It’s a country kind of day.  Play that Jason Aldean and a little Hunter Hayes.  Take my heart back to the good ole South.  Remind me that Southern men are better than I give them credit for.  Remember that my blood runs deep with that Southern pride even if I live a semi-nomadic life.

It is almost the weekend and I survived another Namibian week, and quite gracefully I must say, besides the hiccup at the beginning of the week where all of my classes changed.  I no longer teach grade 6 English, but I now teach grade 5 (HELP!).  Also, they took away grade 8 and 9 Arts and gave me 6, 8, and 9 BIS (Basic Information Science).  It was stressful and frustrating, but just like most situations, with time it became acceptable.  The biggest struggle is changing a month into school, with only about 40 teaching days left in this term. 

During the week, I was also able to make a quick trip into Opuwo.  Oh, and I turned 23.  For those of you wondering, my birthday here was pretty basic.  Only a couple people at school knew it was my birthday, and they kindly got me small gifts within their budget.  The male teacher that I am closest with got me a coffee mug and some sweets, and one of the older ladies got me a towel and washcloth, which will come in handy throughout the year.  I was seriously just flattered that they remembered and acknowledged it.  On my birthday, I also had a 4-hour meeting.  It started at 6pm and got out at 10pm.  AFRICAN TIME FO SURE!

As for this weekend, I am headed to OSHIKATI to see my favorite girls!!!!  I am so pumped to be with all of them again and to celebrate birthdays.  I will be taking my first combi ride alone (hopefully with another teacher), which I’m sure will lead to another blog entry within the week.

I miss you all like crazy.  And again, thank you all for the sweet birthday wishes.  Every single one made that day even more special!

Almost two months into this crazy adventure, which means only 2 more until my parents come, 7 until Amanda and Mark arrive, and 10 until I return home.  You can do anything for a year!

Growth

I am growing.  Always, always growing.  This journey is changing me and molding me into the woman God intended me to be.  I am thankful for that.  I am thankful that a little over a year ago on February 23, I found out that I would be moving to Namibia, Africa.  At that time, the thought was just a dream.  I never imagined life would play out the way it has.  I didn’t think I would face as many challenges, but I also didn’t think I’d meet so many incredible people along the way and be blessed so immensely.  Between WorldTeach Volunteers, random volunteers in the country, people in Otjerunda, people in Windhoek, and people in Opuwo, I am forming friendships that I know have the potential to last for years to come.

After doing some work and a quick, pathetic workout (peanut butter is turning out to be my frenemy), I took the time to look back over the journal I have been keeping while here.  I read through it with a sense of pride.  From day one to now, I have conquered so much.  Yes, I still have daily issues and daily frustrations, mainly ones that come with living and working at my job, but I have established a routine, I have made connections with other teachers, I have seen improvements in my learners, and I have seen eager minds at work.  With that last comment made, I gave my first tests this week.  The marks were all over the place, but there are those few students that get it, which makes the really low grades worth it.  As for those learners that still struggle, but continue to fight and participate and try so so hard, oh those are the ones that melt my heart.  To see them respect me, to get involved in class lectures, and to truly try to do well.  These are the students I love.  The fighters!  We need more fighters in this world.

For those of you who are music people, and who allow lyrics and instruments to speak to your soul, I ask that you listen to LP’s Into the Wild.  That song is my anthem for my Namibian year.  It gives me power.  It speaks deep within.  It reminds me that I am a traveling heart eager to see this great big world.

“Somebody left the gate open.

You know we got lost on the way.

Come save us, a runaway train.

How do we, how do we not fade.

How do we, how do we, how do we not fade away.

Into the Wild.

How are we living, living, living.

Into the Wild.”

These may not be 100% accurate since I don’t have access to the lovely world of Google as I type them, but whatever they are, they move me.  To think about their meaning is deep.  Analysis is different for everyone, but for me, the gate has been left open so many times.  How many times have I been lost?  The question “how did I not fade away?”  The only answer is from the strength of my Savior who sent me into the wild.

Epupa Pictures

New pictures from our second Epupa trip:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151720924358765.612199.618718764&type=1&l=6a469d93a8

Potty Mouth

Remember how I told y’all our toilet is broken?  Remember how I am now using the outhouse for all of my bathroom duties?  Well blog world, let’s get a little closer.  Let me share some of my intimate details with you…

The other night, I was speaking with my roommate about there being no toilet paper in the outhouse.  She politely informed me where I could find the stash, but that led to us discussing bathroom life.  She asked if I had been going to the outhouse (duh!) and if that was ok.  Supposedly, we could try to get our house toilet to work again, but there are no promises it will.  Me not really caring, I told her that the outhouse was fine and that the only time I had a problem was when I didn’t feel well at 3am.  That in itself was an adventure.  Imagine a skinny white girl with a headlight on her head in the pitch black walking so fast because she is afraid of the cows.  Apparently the cattle enjoy the school grounds during the night.  I was afraid, like deathly afraid one would charge me with their horns (Hook’ Em Horns, right?).  White girl problems in a 3^rd world country for sure.  Back to my toilet deal though.  After I informed her of feeling sick one night, she again asked me where I go pee.  I told her the outhouse of course.  Well that was just a crazy concept.  Supposedly if you have to go bad enough, you can pee in a basin and dump it down the shower drain.  As if the shower isn’t disgusting enough, right?  This baffled my American self, so I told her I would continue to use the outhouse.  Well since then, I feel like everyone is judging me when I go to the outhouse.  I feel like I need to wear a sign that says, “I’m only going number 1.”  Between the learners and the teachers, they probably think Miss Mac poops more than any other human being on the Earth!  So with all of that being said, I have deemed myself the Poop Queen of Namibia because I know everyone is thinking it and nobody is saying it… Here’s to a good reputation in Namibz!

Church Families

Holy smokes, my God is good and my church family is even more gracious than I could have possibly imagined!  After having a rough Sunday and crying to my parents, they too were in a bit of a funk.  They hate seeing their baby upset, which is such a constant reminder that my parents are seriously the best.  Either way, they weren’t feeling great after talking to me and were hesitant to go to church, but God knowing what they needed, gave them the strength to make the appearance.  Prior to attending though, my dad sent an email to Pastor Marty including one of my blog entries.  It discussed all of the blessings I was receiving, but also some of the struggles I was going through.  I closed the blog with a quote from Parkway that seriously moved me that day and got me out of my funk.  Because of that, Pastor Marty chose to take up a donation that day in order for me to be reminded how much my church family loves me (some of these details are shortened due to the fact that my email is down while I write this).  That thought alone moved my heart and reminded me I am loved.  Well supposedly, they only expected around $200-$300.  However, on Wednesday, Marty talked to my parents, informing that a little over $1000 were raised!  I cannot even begin to express the gratitude that comes with this news.  Blessing is too small of a word to explain how I feel. I am truly thankful for this continuous support and love from those of you at home.  Knowing I have that money gives me so many opportunities.  To travel, to help my learners, to improve this school.  The list is endless, but the money will definitely be used to better my time in Africa.

To all who donated and to all who continuously pray for me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!  I am constantly feeling love from my America family and friends, which honestly helps me survive each week.  The trials and tribulations are hard, but like James says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”

All of my Love,
Tay

Seventh Graders...

Today is a day where I miss my sweet preschoolers.  I wish I could just give them all hugs and tell them I miss them.  Middle schoolers are tough y’all, especially when they are the age of high schoolers and older.  Basically, today was an exhausting day.  I am frustrated with learners, I am frustrated with other teachers, and I am frustrated with myself.  For an outsider, it is so obvious to see where the problems lie, but it seems almost impossible to fix them because you are not coming into their lives until they are 16.  How can I test these children on writing papers when they don’t even know how to construct a paragraph?  How can I get them to answer questions about a story when they don’t try to follow along? 

Today, I am at a loss.  I am literally questioning what I am doing here?  Not in a way that will make me pack my bags, but in a way that makes me stop and ask, “what if they learn nothing from me,”  “what if I’m not teaching them anything new?”  I honestly don’t know what they should have already learned.  By fifth grade, all of the classes should be taught in English, but lets be honest, that isn’t happening.  Teachers are switching back and forth between English and Otjiherero, learners are doing other class work in my class, and teachers are not preparing efficiently, which messes with the timing of my lectures.  I ask that you all pray for my sanity and that I start to figure some stuff out.  Next week, I will start giving tests to my learners.  I hope that something sinks in because eventually, I will have to test them for their CASS Marks (the grades that determine if they pass or fail).  Fingers crossed they do ok…better than ok! 

MoE

Crazy things are happening this week!  For starters, the Ministry of Education has been at our school since Monday.  They are evaluating the teaching skills, looking over the school, and doing other official ministry things.  Every one of them has been incredibly kind.  Their English is so advanced and I have been able to ask questions about things that I was unable to ask prior to their visit.  The one crazy thing that happened though, was that one of the ladies wanted me to no longer teach English, but to switch to BIS in order for the whole school to be exposed to my English.  I was ok with this, minus the fact that I need at least one English class to get my TEFL credit.  Luckily, on Tuesday, she monitored my 8A class and was surprised and pleased with what she saw.  The learners were responsive and they were able to answer questions.  After that, she suggested that I stay in English and maybe switch Arts to BIS.  All of that is still up in the air, so we will see what happens. (Since writing this, I have now been asked to teach 5^th grade English instead of 6^th.  Again, we will see what happens.)

As for other news, I received my first piece of snail mail!  It was from my Field Director, which was really nice of him, and now, I know that I am officially capable of getting mail.  Heads up for those that send something, it seems to take a LONG time!  I mailed a postcard to my parents the 2^nd week of being in Namibia and it just arrived last Saturday.    Another interesting fact, hot tea can be made at 1pm without even boiling water!   During this time of day, the pipes are so hot from the sun, that the water is actually steaming hot!!  This is good to remember in the winter because I don’t know how or where I will be able to set up my solar shower, and there’s no way that I am taking cold showers in cold weather!  Not happening.

This weekend, I am planning to stay in Otjerunda at night.  I will go into town on Friday to get groceries, a new watch, and do some work (aka emails, blog, Facebook, and pictures), but then I will go home to sleep.  I will also spend the day in town on Saturday doing more relaxing things, but again, I won’t stay the night.  I am hoping that this helps me to get over my Sunday blues and shows my other teachers that hey, I’m still around!  The following week though, will be a different story.  In two weeks, I am off to Oshakati for the weekend!  One of the girls is having a birthday party and since my birthday is that week too, I figured I should treat myself to some girl time.  I’m already super pumped to see everyone again and to head to Benny’s for a pool day!