Hiking and Teaching

School thus far

Teaching my 8th grade math class.

Teaching is going really well so far for Lindsey and I. There are a handful of students that care a lot and try really hard, a handful that somewhat care and try sometimes, and about half that don’t care at all and don’t do anything. Maybe it is like that in all schools across the world? I don’t really know. We are trying to focus on the ones that care and care somewhat. 

Lindsey helping some students. Look how focused they look.....

They get so excited to be in pictures. They kept saying, "Sir, sir, take my picture." 

Me with our two Peace Corps supervisors. They came for a visit to check in on us.

Getting Around

I don’t know the exact percentage of people here that actually have cars, but according to Google it is less than 5%. In the villages (where we are), basically no one has cars. Therefore, getting around in Namibia is quite tricky. We have two options for getting around here. We can either 1.) Pay for a ride in these big vans that they call combis or 2.) Hitchhike 

This is what a combi looks like - a hippie van

Option 1 - When we go to Rundu to buy food, we pay for a combi ride. It is essentially a taxi service in a van, and that is how most Namibians get around. They like to cram anywhere from 10-20 people into ONE van, which pulls a trailer full of the groceries/supplies that people carry around when they travel. Being in a combi is not a fun experience. Imagine riding for 3 hours in a cramped van when it is 100 degrees outside and somehow - all of the flies in Namibia managed to get inside the van. And there is no A/C. AND the drivers like to blast Namibian music as loud as possible, which is a strange mixture of keyboard, electronic drums, and people yelling into a microphone with the Autotune on 100%. Does that sound fun? Nope, not for three hours at a time. Nevertheless, we try to avoid combi rides if it is possible. 

Option 2 - Hitchhiking- What? Are you guys crazy? No, not that crazy. It is also very common for people here to hitchhike. If you miss the combi or if you can’t afford it, this is your option. For Lindsey and I to hitchhike out of Mayara, we have to walk almost an hour to the one asphalt road going through the Kavango Region, and then wait by the side of the road until someone picks us up. That is why we don’t hitchhike out of Mayara because sometimes you can wait on the side of the road for hours because there are NO cars on the roads here. For example, over December, when we were traveling all over the place, we got dropped off in Keetmanshoop on the way to Luderitz (not like you know these places but just incase you wanted to look them up) and ended up waiting on the side of the road for 7 hours for a car, until we finally gave in to the scorching sun and paid for a combi.

However, hitchhiking is usually a much better option than taking a combi. Like in December, we hitchhiked from Rundu, all the way to Luderitz, and back up again - a distance over 1000 miles - for free (minus the one combi ride I mentioned earlier). We usually get picked up by white Afrikaners (those are the decedents of Germans still living in Namibia) who drive really nice cars, WITH A/C, and they never ask us for money. It is a much more comfortable ride, and completely free - usually. Of course, the Afrikaners don’t do that for everyone in Namibia. They only stop to pick us up because we are white and it is very unusual to see a white person on the side of the road. Needless to say, we have met a lot of interesting/cool people.

Rules of hitching

1.) You never, EVER ride in the back of a pickup truck. It is probably the scariest thing ever (have only done it once and it was our very first hitchhiking experience) and if you get in a wreck, hit a bump, blow a tire = death. So not worth it. Just wait for the next ride.

2.) Never ride in a Semi-truck unless it is the last resort . They go ridiculously slow and it will end up taking at least twice as long to get where you are trying to go.

3.) Negotiate price before getting in. As I said earlier, most of the time we get hikes from Afrikaners who don’t want money, but when we get hikes from anyone who is not an Afrikaner, it is best to talk about price before you get in. Otherwise, it will be awkward when you try to explain that you are a volunteer and are dedicating your life to the betterment of Namibia and you don’t have money because we are not paid (that is not true, we are just paid very little), but they don’t care because we are white and they assume we have lots and lots of money. If you talk about it first, they either say it is no problem or you can wait for the next car.

4.) Wear bright colors or your Peace Corps shirt. This obviously draws attention to you.

5.) Let Lindsey flag the cars down. Why? Sex appeal matters. Most of the drivers are men, and they are much more likely to stop for a helpless looking, white girl in a bright t-shirt on the side of a road than for a man. Lindsey and I almost always get picked up faster and get in better cars than most volunteers. Just sayin, Lindsey is a pro.

How could you not stop for this poor, helpless girl?

Bye bye kitty

So this past week one of our kittens died. I have never been a big softy for animals, but that was honestly one of the saddest things ever. We watched her slowly die over a period of 5 days and couldn’t do a single thing about it because there are no vets around here. We actually tried to bring her to a vet (we still have no idea what kind of vet or if he even could have helped) last Monday in a nearby village called Mukwe, but the vet wasn’t there and we were told he wouldn’t be back for several weeks. The next day, Lindsey brought the kitten in a box to Rundu, but the vet there said that she was already too far gone and he put her down. I don’t want to go on and on about a dead cat, but it was a very sad few days to say the least. I guess the only good thing about it is now we don’t have to buy as much cat food?

More questions? Send them over.

Peace,
Tim