Adventures in Namibia: Long Weekend

Thursday

My cold being even worse today, I tried to be as on top of my game as possibly going to school. Looking back now, the day went by pretty fast, but it definitely had its ups and downs. My 7th grade classes were great today. I had talked to the teacher at the beginning of the day, and asked if before they read their passage and did their comprehension questions, if I could go over some reading strategies. She was really open to the idea and was excited to see what I was going to teach them. I didn't have a lot of time, so we stuck with boxing the title, underlining the important parts and circling words we didn't know. We had already gone over reading the questions first, so we reviewed that, too. I think next time I will add in writing questions or thoughts they have off to the side. Overall, it was great and it helped them a lot (as seen by the high scores on their questions when they turned them in).

My authors, 6A, once again amaze me. They were so excited and focused the whole time, and we had a lot of fun as they all started to share with me their work and talked to each others about their own books. At the beginning of the period they got a little noisy as we started, and I reminded them that I didn't mind the talking as long as it was productive, author conversations. Later in the period, it began to get a little too noisy again, and Karel says to me, "Miss, I promise its only loud because us authors are talking about our books...I walked around and checked and they are definitely all being authors". I loved it. I thanked him for his help and called him my little publisher, then sent him back to his seat to be an author again. They are a mere 10 points away from their "Top Secret", which is perfect as Monday is Valentine's day. :)

Janelle and I then both had a free period, which meant a little PE with the Special Class. Ms. Forchen had already talked to us about setting up PE with her class before we went home, and all the learners were really excited for us to come. Unsure of how it would play out Janelle brought frisbees and jump ropes and decided we would figure it out as we went. We started with Janelle leading the line to the court and doing follow the leader. The learners loved acting like airplanes, skipping and flapping their wings. After Janelle demonstrated how to use a jump rope and frisbee, we split them into two groups--I took jump ropes and Janelle took frisbees. It was so cool to see how much they improved in the little bit of time we were out there. They all had a blast and did not want to go back in. When having them line back up, Janelle asked them why we did PE and discussed the importance of a healthy mind and body. It was a great free period, and I think we all worked up a sweat thanks to the sun beating down on us.

And then there was 5D. Oh, oh, oh my 5D group. So they were once again left alone during a period, as athletics takes the time of some of the teachers away from their normal classes. Being that they were in the Library, I was not the biggest fan of them sliding across the floor into the desks, chairs and shelves, since their shoes were wet from the rain. Also, They were all tossing books around, yelling, and fighting, of course. Being that all of this was occurring when I had a free period again, I once again stepped in. I got them all in their seats and reading silently (well...somewhat). Although it wasn't perfection, they at least were not causing chaos again. Later I had them for math, and it once again took about 10 minutes to line up in straight lines without talking or fighting. At this point, I was done. They entered and we discussed the 3 rules that they had set the day prior with the principal and their behavior today. Instead of math, we did some English work: we wrote letters of apology to the principal for their behavior in the library, during class time and lining up. This was the first time it was actually quiet in the room for more than 2 minutes in who knows how long, and they could definitely tell I was done with their behavior. After school, several learners had to come in and finish their letters. Several of them did not, so we will be having a great conversation on Monday about making good choices.

Friday

Being that our accomodations fell through for the weekend in Swakopmund (we are going next weekend instead), and that we had already told our teachers that we would be gone and prepped lesson plans for them, we had the day to ourselves. We spent the morning by the pool, followed by spending the afternoon and evening in town. Several of us have now almost finished up our gift lists and shopping, and we were all pretty excited with the items we purchased. I chowed down on some spaghetti for dinner, and then we came back for a little group movie time before bed.

I almost forgot a slight hiccup in the day...the man on post street. There are several people asking for money along Post street, and this time one man approached Janelle and I when we were going to meet up with everyone else. We said no, and kept walking. He then reached out and touched/grabbed my arm, I then very firmly said, "No! Go away," just as Paula had so nicely demonstrated at the start of the trip (yes...her voice was in my head). This then happened with Bri, too, and then with MJ. MJ, however, did not see the man coming and was just grabbed from being, which lead to her letting out a little (or not that little) yelp. None of us blamed her, as she didn't see it coming, and it made for some good laughs later.

Saturday

We started off the day by the pool again, as we are all excited to see the sunshine again. A group of us then ventured out to see some of the marketplaces within Katutura. We visited an Owambo marketplace, a community marketplace and then one called Panduka. Panduka is where we spent most of our time. This organization was created for women with disabilities to make a living. There are workshops throughout the week where you can see the women working. Unfortunately, we were there on a Saturday. However, we did get to go through the shop and see all of the fabulous things these amazing women have made. We all purchased several items and enjoyed the view by the dam before moving on.

Once we got downtown, we realized how dead it is in the city on a Sunday. It was now 3 or so, and all the stores had closed at 1. We found a couple stores that were open to waste some time, then went on our little walk to where our dinner reservations were--Luigi and the Fish. Okay...so maybe the little walk was like a mile and a half, but it was fabulous! We got to take some great pictures and I had a lot of fun figuring out where to go (didn't even get lost this time). Dinner was AMAZING. It was a just as Kari's travel book said--"The Seafood Joe's". That being said, a lot of us didn't get seafood being that oryx was the game for the evening. Many of us got the oryx wrap and it was phenomenal.

Sunday

This day was as productive as the rest of my weekend should have been. Completing my home visit paper, lesson planning for Monday, organizing my closet and applying for several jobs (yes...the reality that I need to find a job on my return home is setting in). We had some great pool time yet again, however, and I am definitely soaking up some rays! I got a little burned on my back, but it was the first time yet for the trip. I also have a pretty awesome watch tan line going on. We are all pretty excited for Valentine's day tomorrow and are going out to Joe's to celebrate our group-love. :)