Welcome to Quick Hits Pt. 2! This is where I tell you guys about some of the more amusing occurences in this land of Namibia! ·
- I was free hiking with 2 other PCV’s from Otjiwarongo to Ondongwa when the driver hit a guinea fowl who was crossing the road. He turns around, stops where he hit the bird, doesn’t check if there was damage to the car, grabs the dead bird by the feet puts it in a plastic bag and tells us that these birds taste nice and will be his dinner.
- · Saw children riding cows and donkeys on the main highway.
- · I was supposed to go with my principal to Rundu to speak to the Ministry of Education about opening the borehole in our village but he had to cancel because one of our students had fainted. He said that she had been infected by demons during the night and that they needed to go to church to cast them out.
- · I have two pet geckos that live under my bed, Godzilla and Lady Gaga, they keep my room mostly bug free.
- · For track and field practice most of the students do all the running events barefoot or with flip flops, shoes are very rare. Also javelin is done with long sticks sharpened at the end, discus was done with my Frisbee, and shot put was done with a large rock.
- · One learner ripped out half of a page crumpled it up and chewed it for the rest of class. Another day another learner asked if she could take my chalk so she could eat it. I asked my teachers about that and they said it was normal, they also used to do it as kids, they also mentioned that munching on the dirt from termite mounds was common.
- · One of my 9th graders said he had a business idea for me. He said that with my camera he can take pictures of learners, I take the camera to Rundu and print the pictures and bring them back. He then sells the pictures to the learners. My students are little hustlers!
- · One of my students cheated twice on essays for my class. After the second time I told him 15 minutes before school was over to meet me immediately after school so he could clean the area around the teacher’s houses (common punishment here) he did not show up, so I pulled him out of class the next morning, and marched him to the principal’s office. The Principal asked him why he didn’t show up, his answer, “I had to walk to the clinic because my son was sick.” My mouth hit the floor causing an earthquake, this was a 9th grader!! I’ve gotten used to a lot of crazy things but whenever I think of that moment I am still dumbfounded.
