HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!! I LOVE YOU THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS MUCH AND MORE!! :) HOPE YOUR DAY IS AMAZING! MISS YOU!

Your Daughter,

Jess

:)

Teaching...

Wake up, eat, teach, teach some more, plan, sleep and repeat...

That was my week. It was great yet exhausting. Education here is not the same as education in the U.S. and teaching styles are so different. I decided on Tuesday that I needed to drop all expectations and just go with the flow of things...this made for a very interesting week. I taught English and Math all week and consistently battled to keep the learners on task and engaged in their learning. The learners here...they beat each other, chase each other and they run around like crazy. The crazy part is when my teacher is in the class they are almost perfect, but when she leaves they are done. I realized this week just exactly why this happens...my students are scared of my teacher...on Tuesday I watched as my teacher hit a learner with a ruler several times, on Friday I watched as she used a hard plastic rod to hit 4 boys' hands in front of the whole class for fighting, and also on Friday I watched her hit several learners across the head with her hand...And yes I could only watch. I have to remember in my head that this is the only way they know! Some of the hardest parts about it is that I have to just sit there and watch and then I have to continuously struggle to get the learners to behave and listen to me. During a conversation with the class about their behavior I had a boy raise his hand and tell me that I should just beat them in order for them to listen. I told them that I will never beat a child and that I believe there are other ways to help learners learn and behave correctly. As much as it sucks constantly struggling with the learners and trying to figure out a system that works, I have learned so much! I love at those kids and even when I am frustrated, tired and exhausted I just smile and give them another chance to have fun learning. It funny because they don't seem to listen at all during the day but then at the end of the day as I walk towards the van I am surrounded by kids touching me and following me cheerfully.

I did accomplish my pedagogy this week. Wednesday Paula came in and observed me teaching a math lesson! I was soo nervous, but it actually went very well! While Paula was there it was great and then the second half of the day was once again loud and rough. I've learned though that we must not dwell on the bad days, but look at all the accomplishments and good events that have happened and move on. Every morning brings new mercies!! SO every day is a new day and every day I love those kids more!

BRING ON THE TEACHING! :)

1st Day of Placement...Grade 3 here I come!

Part of my class!

Well Monday was my first day in my placement! I am in a grade 3 class with Ms. Beukes. I have 40 learners in my class and I love them all already. Although...they haven't been listening very well. Anyways...back to Monday...It was a rough day. Everything was so unknown...my teacher introduced me to the class and told me, "Go ahead and do whatever you'd like with them." So there I was in a class I had never been in, in a completely different country, in charge of 40 learners. So I just did a couple "get to know you" activities and had them make these reallycool "Who Am I?" hands. They seemed to love it though, which was a plus. Then my teacher came back and it was almost like she expected me to know what I was suppose to do and truthfully I had no clue! AND Management SUCKED! When my teacher left the kids didn't listen at all.Itried every technique I know and still nothing. If my teacher was in there she would yell at them and they would listen, but that just made me feel like a complete failure. And after that all I could think about was my Pedagogy (observation) that my profs had to do on wed. I had no idea how I was going to pull it off.

After school we went out to eat at Sardina's (or something like that) and I was completely out of it. I missed everyone so much and I think it was just worse because it was a rough day and I was still not completely well. Plus I was stressing about my Pedagogy. So when we got back toCasa my profs asked if I was ok and I lost it. They just told me not to worry about it and that I would be completely fine. I then talked to my dad on skype and just was so upset. All that said...it was just a rough day.

THERE WAS A HIGHLIGHT THOUGH!!! It was MONDAY so that means it was my day to go to the orphanage/children's home!! I love it there! I love hanging out with all the kids and I know you aren't suppose to have favorites, but there is one girl who I have really bonded wellwith, Bianca. I love her to death and on Monday she was hilarious. I was trying to take pictures with her and she was cracking up! I also let Syndia take videos on my flip camera and I was watching them today and they were so cute! Those girls just make me smile!! :)

Syndia, Bianca and I playing with the camera :)

Bianca and I! Love her!

Syndia and I! What a cutie!

Zebra River Lodge and the Dunes!

Wow I know its been a while since I've written...I'm sorry...I have been very busy with school this week, it being my first week and all, but enough about that for now. I REALLY have to tell you about last weekend!

As some of you knowwe went on another one of our trips around Namibia last weekend and this time it was to Zebra River Lodge and the sand dunes! Zebra River Lodge is actually Peter and Elke's second hotel/lodge besides Casa Blanca (my home right now), so we got a great discount for the whole weekend, including a trip to the sand dunes!

Group photo on the side of the mountain,, overlooking Zebra River!

Me on the mountain side getting ready for a beautiful sunset!

We headed out Friday early in the morning (of course skipping another Friday of school..lol). It was about a seven to eight hour drive, part of it even on dirt roads, which was quite the experience, but let me tell you, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!! Zebra River Lodge wasBEAUTIFUL!!! It is a very secluded lodge surrounded by beautiful green mountains and rocks. We arrived to a small lunch and a huge pool all ready for us to enjoy! That night weheaded to the top of one of the surrounding mountains to watch the sunset, MY FAVORITE! I can not say it enough, IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL! I could have easily stayed there for longer!

Panoramic of Zebra River Lodge

It's places like Zebra River Lodge and thesand dunes that makes you rememberand think about just how BIG our God is! I can not say how many times I thanked the Lord for bringing me here. This place...it made me speechless...it still makes me think...how is it that I EVER forget how big God is?

My room

The rooms we very nice. Although it was very hot at night and I was paranoid about spiders and other bugs all night so the first night was a little rough. I didn't sleep much, waking up thinking there were bugs crawling on my. If only we would have had a lizard/gecko in ourroom...lol...they told us they eat the bugs and spiders and don't hurt you to if you see one keep it. One of the other rooms had one but not ours...dang it. I know, I know it sounds funny for me to WANT a lizard/gecko in my room, but I would take that over spiders and bugs any day...haha.

Anyways, the second day (Saturday) we headed out in 4 wheel drive vehicles to the sand dunes...what a drive! It was a dirt road all the way there with various steep hills, dried up rivers, and other "obstacles" that made the drive fun and engaging! Paula, my professor drove and she was a champ! As we drove, the view was breathtaking!

View while driving to the dunes

Dune 45

A couple hours later, we finally arrived at the sand dunes,TALK ABOUT A VIEW! There were giant piles of sand all around! We stopped for breakfast/lunch at one of the first dunes, dune 45 (picture above), which we thought was the coolest ever...little did we know, there were much BIGGER dunes to come. One bummer was I was still sick, so I didn't climb to the tippy top because I got tired much faster and coughed way more! Half way up I decided to save my energy for the biggerones that our professor told us we were going to and I head back down. Even half way though was just gorgeous!

Bri and I on Big Mama

We then made our way further into the dunes and found Sossusvlei (the name of the part of dunes we were headed to). This was where we meet big mama (picture above) and big papa! They are two of the biggest dunes! We hiked half way up big mama..I wish we could have gone all the way, but time was short, so we hiked up and ran down the side...FUNNEST THING EVER! :)

Deadvlei

Then we headed to Deadvlei at the base of big papa. This was a dried up lake area that was full of dead trees. It seriously looked like a desert for sure!

OH and I almost forgot...DRIVING IN THE SAND!! It was seriously sooooo fun! I thought a couple times we were going to hit the trees! Paula said driving in the sand was similar to driving on a sheet of ice with very little control, but it was SOOO FUN RIDING!!

The river we forged!

It was even more fun riding home Sunday though...WE FORGED A RIVER!!! Yes, we drove straight through a muddy running river. We thought we were taking the short way when all of a sudden we came up on a full blown river running across the dirt road, so we all got out and Jan (my other professor) headed out to cross the river and find the best path to drivethrough.Nothing was promised but we went for it and it was BOMB! BUT, our luck ran short when just down the road from that river we hit another and this time the river had taken out part of the road making it impossible for us to even try crossing without ruining our cars. So, we headed back through the first river and down to a different dirt road which successfully took us back "home". AND it also successfully found us baboons...

Yes those are baboons on the side of the road! :)

Needless to say it was one of the best weekends so far here in Namibia!!

Butt Bonding with Paula

Yes, my professor and I had a bonding moment when we both ended up with needles stuck in our butts and shirts practically off while at the doctor's office.

Some of you may know that I have been sick for almost a week now and have now missed school two days in a row. Well, Paula, one of my professors has been sick since before we got here, so we both headed to the doctor's today in hopes of getting something to make us feel better, not realized it would become a bonding experience.

Not knowing what to expect we went back to Dr. Burger's office together. I was first...Dr. Burger had me sit on the table as he checked my throat and ears. Then he just threw my shirt up and started listening to my lungs, Paula politely looking away. Then he had me lie down and with not very much warning told me to lie on my side and he was going to give me a shot in my butt...Uhhhh...If you know me, I HATE SHOTS, so my eyes got real big and inside I was freaking out. Paula saw my expression and sitting right beside me asked if I wanted her hand...OF COURSE I took it!!

After that it was Paula's turn...thinking she was safe from the butt shot, the doc checked her throat and ears, as well as throwing her shirt up as well, me looking away politely as well. As the doc listened to her lungs he told her, "It doesn't sound good", but then said nothing else. Then once again the words came out of his mouth, "Lie on your side, you're getting the same shot." Paula had the most surprised look on her face and said something along the lines of "Oh great..." As we made our way out to the prescription pick-up we had a full blown discussion about whose butt was bigger and how big butts run in both of our families...just another great bonding experience...lol. And with that being said, we both left with lots of meds and sore butts...what a bonding experience it was.

As we talked with the other girls when they got home, we realized that we didn't really ask any questions and just let it all happen, haha. So don't ask what the shot was..lol. Hopefully we will both get better soon though.

Oh and just so no one freaks out, I have a weird strain of the flu (yes I got a flu shot, but apparently their flu here is different then ours), which was starting to turn into a sinus issue so I now have 4 prescriptions: nasal spray, antibiotics, cough medicine, and some weird prescription tablets that dissolve in water. I've never taken so many medicines in my life!

And Paula, she still has bronchitis...poor thing. They gave her some antibiotics, cough medicine and the dissolving tablets as well. Hopefully she gets better soon. If she doesn't get better here then hopefully she'll be able to see her normal doc when she gets home at the end of next week.

At the end of the day, all we can do is tell the story and laugh about it, in hopes that whatever we got shot into us will help us. I'm not going to lie though, I now feel like a druggie with a sore butt.

Pre-Primary Take Two and a Trip to the Children's Home

Wow! Well the day started with an amazing message from one of the heads of department, Mikah. Instead of sharing scripture, he told a story...it went something like this:

There were these two men, each carrying a cross, from city to city. As we all know crosses are very long and very heavy. As they dragged their crosses along the dirt road they became very very exhausted. One of the men came up with an idea, he said, "How about we cut our crosses? Then they won't be as long and heavy." The other man refused and continued to carry his heavy, long cross. The first man however, cut is cross and it indeed became much lighter. As they continued to travel the first man continued to cut more and more until there was hardly any left, while the other man still was dragging is very long and heavy cross. Eventually they came to a HUGE valley right before there destination and with no other way across the man with the uncut cross laid it across the valley, walked across, picked up his cross again and continued on his way. The man with the cut cross asked if he could use his uncut cross but the man replied, "No, I can't my cross is too heavy to stop and wait, I must continue." So, the first man was left with very little of his cross and was unable to cross into the promised land.

Mikah related this story to us as teachers. He said that we have many opportunities to shortcut the hard things, to leave out standards, etc but we are only cutting our learners crosses when we do so and when those learners come to that valley they will be unable to cross over.

As I thought about this story more and more, I was inspired not only as a teacher, but as a Christian, as a follower or Christ. I will never forget this story!

After this amazing time Jessica Edwards and I were informed that the pre-primary teacher was once again gone for the day, so it was back to pre-primary for us! It was a very crazy day, although I feel as though it was somewhat smoother than the first day of school.

One of the greatest challenges for me was the language barrier. Many of the learners (being so young) knew very little English, so when trying to teach routines and procedures such as getting their attention, we tried 4 or 5 different methods before finding one that some what worked (quiet coyote). Even then it was a battle. Some students were very defiant and just smiled and laughed when we tried to tell them to do something, others listened the first time.

We reviewed the colors red, yellow and blue and taught green, we worked on counting, read stories, which were always a hit, and they drew self-portraits of themselves which we hung on the wall. At the end of the day, as the learners hugged us and left, I smiled hoping that each one learned something and were positively impacted throughout the day. Right as the last few learners left, exhaustion hit me like a brick wall.

Megan working on her self-portrait

Luhell working on her self-portrait

Some of the self-portraits hanging on the wall!

Haroldt holding his drawing of the Namibian Flag

Pre-Primary Class Photo

BUT, the day was not over!

We climbed in the van and headed to the Children's home were myself and two other girls will be helping at every Monday. The owner told us that they would love to have tutors and help every day so we split the 9 of us up into pairs and chose 1 day a week.This experience was one I had been waiting for for a long time. I was able to loved on those kids as I had always dreamed of doing. I ran with them up and down the road (barefooted by the way), they did my hair, I hugged them and talked with them for hours. I even helped some kids cover their school books (they all have to be covered). And at the end of the day we got pictures and talked of the fun we will have next Monday when I bring playing cards for them, more bobby pins (for them to do my hair), and whatever else I can stir up. I loved it and the next day, I stayed home sick, but was told that some of them were looking for me at school and that they all said hello from the home. What a joy it is to be with kids here!! I love it.

Etosha National Park

The BEAUTIFUL Namibia Sunset above Etosha National Park!

Ok so back to the trip up north. After leaving Opuwo, we headed to just outside of Etosha National Park, where we stayed in a bush camp. Yes, we slept in tents, but let me tell you, they weren’t just any tents; they were actually really nice minus the fact that we were in the forest in Africa with zip up doors…haha. There were two experiences that I need to tell you allaboutwhen at the bush camp. First, we swam with a water SCORPION!!!We had no idea what it was and when I saw it I was out for good, lol. Second, we had Eland steak for dinner and it was the best steak ever!! (Don’t worry I already told my dad that it nothing against him and that I love his steak too…lol). It was a great experience sleeping in tents in Africa, although this was when I started to get sick L UGH! A bad cold I think…it sucks!

Anyways, after staying one night at the bush camp we headed out bright and early into Etosha National Park. This park was HUGE and wildlife roamed in their natural habitat all around us. We drove from 6:30AM to 4ishPM and still only got half way through the park. It was so amazing though! We saw rhinos, springbok, wildebeest, giraffe, various birds, zebra, a hyena and much more!

One of the many zebra we saw!

Oh and I could NEVER forget…LIONS!!! But before I tell you theamazing experience that goes along with seeing the lions, I need to tell you that seeing lions in there natural habitat was top three on my list of things I wanted to do…

So that being said…here’s the story…

We stopped at a camp within the park to eat lunch and heard that some woman had seen lions 5 min down the road, so we all shoveled the food in and hoped in the van. Just before we left the camp, we noticed a flat tire on our baggage trailer so we stopped to fill it. As they were fixing the leak, we ran into one of the game wardens and of course our driver, Uanee knew him. This lead to Uanee asking the warden if he could show us where the lions were at and amazingly enough he agreed! As we were driving to the lions Uanee informed us that the game warden was willing to take all of us in the back of his truck out close up and personal with the lions! I was Ecstatic! So we piled in and headed out and I am not lying the lions were within FEET fromus, just check the pictures J. There was like 4 or 5 females, a baby, an adolescent male and one full-grown male lion! It was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had.

Ok I'm sorry but I waited hours for a really sweet video I have of the adolescent male lion following our truck, but it still wasn't uploaded and I'm done waiting. lol. You'll have to wait until I get home. :)