hey. yesterday was the last day of school. the kids mostly went home on wednesday after they took their last exam, so we were finishing up report cards and completing @#&%! forms in triplicate. it sucked, because one of the teachers who needed to be there didn't show up, and the secretary was demonstrating her mastery of the work avoidance technique called get really mad if anyone asks you to do anything. i was trying to help out as much as possible so i could avoid having to schedule work over the vacation. things kind of degenerated, which made the rest of the day seem even better. i finally left school around 12:30, when it became obvious that we weren't going to finish. got a ride to town and met kristin (who is leaving monday to go back to chicago over the term break). she wanted to hitch-hike to go stay with our friends in rehoboth, so we walked to the edge of town and started thumbing. sat there for a lot longer than usual -- maybe 1/2 an hour to an hour, when a car comes flying by. he stops a ways down the road, pulls a u-turn, and screams back towards us. it's a ford focus?? (the last time i rented a ford focus, i just remember it not being able to accelerate or pick a gear). the guy's going all the way to windhoek, so can take us the whole way and it turns out he's driving fast. he sets the cruise at 210 km/hr (125 mph?) and we pass every single vehicle that passed us by within an hour. it was amazing. just what i needed. it wasn't scary at all, either. it's obvious that this guy drives like this and knows what he's doing. he doesn't pass when he can't see or really take risks, but we just haul butt. i don't think, for any amount of money, we could have made the trip in a shorter time -- the wait included. we also have the odd sensation of cutting our speed in half every time we come up behind somebody we can't pass. anyway, he's also a private investigator who used to be a policeman and has interesting stories about the time he chased down 4.3 kg of diamonds and is rooting out corruption in the big companies here. he's even got companies paying him to run an anonymous tip line that generates leads for his company to investigate. it was a really interesting trip.
yah, so when i last wrote i was pretty fed up with stuff. it isn't as bad now, although it is really an up and down thing. i kind of snapped one day. i can't remember everything that happened, but there was a girl with a seizure in one of my classes, a fight with some teachers, a drunk guy throwing a broken bottle at me, and whatever else. i found about 6 little kids and invited them over and we cooked pizza. it was strategically a bad move, because now even kids who have food at home come over and tell me lies about being hungry, but it was just what i needed to decide or remember or whatever that i can and/or do have a place here. that i can find good in things that happen and be happy sometimes. i was actually feeling pretty gushy, then the kids stole some (not much) money from me and brought me right back down to earth.
the results for this year have kind of come into view. it looks like 2 of the 17 grade 10 learners will have passing grades for this term, but many of them will have 'g' symbols (which mean getting between 20 and 30% on the test). apparently this is better than anyone can remember the kids doing and that i should be happy. i, of course, hope it can be improved and that next year the kids i've taught for two years will do even better.
teacher discipline is still a huge problem. i've been vocal about my belief that we need to go to classes and teach, and war hasn't broken out, so it is a good thing. it isn't reasonable to expect people to change a lot, but every little bit makes the work i'm trying to do more effective and i'm thankful for it.
the running is excellent. i ran a 19:40 5k last weekend, which i think is the fastest i've run since high school (although still not that fast). it was the last 5k of a 24k run too, so who knows what i'll be able to to do someday. it is a real pleasure to get out and run -- alone or with some kids.
got to go. i'm out of time. talk to you later.
yah, so when i last wrote i was pretty fed up with stuff. it isn't as bad now, although it is really an up and down thing. i kind of snapped one day. i can't remember everything that happened, but there was a girl with a seizure in one of my classes, a fight with some teachers, a drunk guy throwing a broken bottle at me, and whatever else. i found about 6 little kids and invited them over and we cooked pizza. it was strategically a bad move, because now even kids who have food at home come over and tell me lies about being hungry, but it was just what i needed to decide or remember or whatever that i can and/or do have a place here. that i can find good in things that happen and be happy sometimes. i was actually feeling pretty gushy, then the kids stole some (not much) money from me and brought me right back down to earth.
the results for this year have kind of come into view. it looks like 2 of the 17 grade 10 learners will have passing grades for this term, but many of them will have 'g' symbols (which mean getting between 20 and 30% on the test). apparently this is better than anyone can remember the kids doing and that i should be happy. i, of course, hope it can be improved and that next year the kids i've taught for two years will do even better.
teacher discipline is still a huge problem. i've been vocal about my belief that we need to go to classes and teach, and war hasn't broken out, so it is a good thing. it isn't reasonable to expect people to change a lot, but every little bit makes the work i'm trying to do more effective and i'm thankful for it.
the running is excellent. i ran a 19:40 5k last weekend, which i think is the fastest i've run since high school (although still not that fast). it was the last 5k of a 24k run too, so who knows what i'll be able to to do someday. it is a real pleasure to get out and run -- alone or with some kids.
got to go. i'm out of time. talk to you later.
