Vacation Time Is Around The Corner

The Learners Are Done For The Term 

All the learners and kids from the Hostel have left for home. Only the teachers remain. So now it's just correcting the last of the finals and doing assorted piles of paperwork and the term will be over for Lisa too. She is really glad the school year is over, and while she's been preparing for next year in her school - the break in between is something she's looking forward to.

 

Vacation Plans

Her "break" will be about five and a half weeks - and since she's accrued about 24 days of leave (she thinks) she's trying to get out of country for a bit. Fourteen days worth to be exact! I gather Peace Corps Volunteers get 2 days of leave for every month they have served from the date of their swearing in. Lisa isn't sure if some of the extra travel days she needed to get to Peace Corps training over the past year are deducted or not but she thinks she has plenty to fit in a vacation. ( She also says she thinks you can "borrow" up to six extra days if you need to based on the expectation that you will be serving out the rest of your term of service.)

Lisa is in the middle of trying to arrange a trip to Victoria Falls - she has Peace Corps approval and hopes to have transportation set soon. If the Universe allows she'll be getting out of school 2 or 3 days early.

Bless her Principal for giving his OK to this since it's just time the teachers need to be in school for extra paperwork etc and I think he wants to keep her happy so she'll return for the next year - which she is planning to do! Then she'll head for Keetmanshoop (please Universe may the transport work out) then she'll take the 16 hour train to Windhoek then get a bus to Livingstone Zambia. She'll get the necessary Visas at the Embassy in Windhoek. Then Universe willing she'll spend 8 nights in a Hostel type Hotel called -

 wait for it John Cleese fans -

Fawlty Towers - HONEST!!! How could she not choose a place with that name! GRIN

She has no idea what she'll do beyond satisfying a real hunger she has to lounge around their pool for a while - but from her limited Internet research (and our more extensive research) it looks like there is no shortage of options - including many that are very affordable. Our only advice was for her to try anything that sounded "Cool" and we've suggested she spend some of her saved up money.

Yes even in the Peace Corps she's managed to accumulate a fair amount of $ - Considering they pay the Volunteers such a small stipend to begin with - I can only assume she's eating something and since there isn't anything else to buy in Aroab she's saved the rest - Now she should lecture when she gets home on the difference in buying things because you need them vs because you want them - she is a pro at that. Spending however is a skill she needs to work on. Well she never was a typical kid  -GRIN - GRIN!

If all goes well she'll be able to contact us by next weekend to tell us she's arrived - it will be at least a week after that before we get details of her adventure! She doesn't think her phone will work out of country but she hopes she'll be able to fire off an e-mail from an Internet Cafe that's supposed to be next to the Hostel. I have my fingers crossed that all goes well for her - but I reminded her that no matter how things go it will be a great adventure!

 

Other Things in Her Life

Friday the 28th her Drama Club presented the play on AIDS that she wrote. I gather that it went over extremely well and that Lisa is most satisfied with her inaugural leap into the role. She enjoyed creating the play and seeing it through to performance! I think the Drama Club will be continuing next year! Anything educational that the learners, Lisa and the school like is hitting pay dirt!

When she gets back from her vacation she'll have a few weeks before she has to head back to Windhoek for more Peace Corps Training. The local Church will have some activities planned for Christmas and I'm sure some family who is around will welcome her but it will still be hard. She'll miss us as much as we miss her. It's her second Christmas away.

The Peace Corps training unfortunately occurs on the first few days of the school term - the days just the teachers are supposed to come in - but still - Since she won't be there to get the classes she'd like so she'll end up with whichever ones they have left. So much for a years seniority.

During that in between time she hopes to work on the school Library, help her friend Erna who is building a house in Aroab over the break, and visit a lot of people in the community for tea and attempts at conversation. She keeps meaning to do this socializing but is usually too busy with school projects!

So she won't be too lonely. The Peace Corps Volunteers only have limited Vacation time so during the time between school terms they are supposed to be working on their secondary projects - but if said secondary projects involve the learners who aren't there - - - well you get the picture. It's different for those working in the health or other fields since they don't get such large blocks of time off at one time. Feast or Famine when it comes to the workload. Ahh well. Peace Corps wants them to be both Creative and Productive!

Final Thoughts

Lisa hopes you all had a good Thanksgiving - and that your Holiday Season will be filled with Joy and Peace She sends her prayers to all those killed or injured in the Tragedy in India over the past few days. Till next week - I wish you all the best also -

 

Susan Rothman

Almost Thanksgiving

It's Almost Thanksgiving Here

Which is something Lisa misses in Namibia. Ahh turkey and all the fixings! She even misses dealing with flights from College home! Especially as finals start to wind down and Christmas is coming ever closer. Hard to believe that her last day of the term is my Birthday - December 5th!

Lisa is trying to arrange some sort of mini-vacation over the "Summer" break (remember it's warm in the Southern hemisphere now!) Making plans without a computer and having to get everything approved by Peace Corps adds to the challenge! Nothing is ever simple or boring in Africa! But she really doesn't want to spend 6 weeks in Aroab with all the learners and teachers gone.

She reports that she's already tired of waking up hot and sweaty. Now if we could only swap some of her heat for some of our cold over the next few months - Ahh well -that's still just science fiction (GRIN) but the thought is so very appealing as we prepare for oil bills that will still be high even as the global price of oil drops.

But all in all we have a lot to give thanks for - Lisa is doing well and is learning so much from her time in Africa. Her Dad and I are managing to survive the financial meltdown that's flowing all around the US and the rest of the world. And we're all part of a larger network of family and friends who help keep us sane!

 

Politics Is Still Interesting and Not Depressing

Lisa was excited to hear that the Obama girls plan to attend Sidwell Friends Quaker School in DC since when she was attending American University in DC she went to a small Sunday Meeting that was held at Sidwell Friends. The kids went home for the weekend so she didn't actually meet many current students there - but it was still cool to attend Meeting at then - the former school of Chelsea Clinton. So now with the Obama connection it's even cooler. I think it sort of made Lisa miss her 4 years in Washington - life in Aroab is much much different! (GRIN)

Lisa also is pleased that the political news is interesting not annoying. And even though we still have major problems to deal with as a country she feels there is a lot of Hope wafting around that things can get better if we all work at it!

 

Thoughts About Teaching Next Term

Lisa has been giving a great deal of thought to how she wants to manage her classes next year and she's decided that she wants to try and start a garden - perhaps if she's ambitious 2 gardens (one at the school and one at the hostel) so if any of you have leftover vegetable or flower seeds from this past summer (or recent summers - since many seeds last a while) and you'd like to help - send them on to her. Any she doesn't use can be shared with other teachers.

I'm guessing seeds for plants that like heat and dryness would be best - but Lisa is planning to try growing some in containers so even if they need a lot of water she may be able to keep them going! (and growing - GRIN - ) And in the name of science even seeds that "shouldn't grow" in her environment might if nurtured with care - and seeing that some seeds aren't destined for Aroab soil would teach the learners a lot too!

 

Other News

Friday Lisa's friend Erna was taking her son to Keetmanshoop to get new glasses and get his eyes examined so since Erna had arranged for the ride to Keetmanshoop she asked Lisa to come along. - with exams going on the daily schedule is different so Lisa was able to go. It was great just getting away for part of the day since Lisa realized she hadn't left Aroab even once all term! No wonder she's going a little stir crazy - it wasn't all from finals! (GRIN)

She had a nice day and got to spend some time on the Internet to get caught up on life. She still doesn't have computer access in Aroab - boy that's one thing she really really really misses! Most people contemplate deals with the Devil for money, power, fame or revenge - Lisa's weakness would be the promise of high speed computer service (GRIN- GRIN) cable TV, and a DVD player! She never thought about how dependent she was on these things and how much she would miss them.

A year of no showers, now cold ones, and even being 90 miles from the next town are easy for her to deal with compared to not having her Internet connection!

 

Happy Thanksgiving To One And All

Lisa wishes you all a peaceful and blessed Thanksgiving - and reminds all of you to appreciate your family and friends. And your Internet Connection! - that last one was from me!

Till next week!

 

Susan Rothman

Happy 24th Birthday Lisa

November 11 was Lisa's 24th Birthday

Thank you to all of you who sent Lisa e-mail birthday wishes on or near her birthday - she was delighted by all the good wishes. It was so nice to be remembered by so many from back home. Lisa also received presents! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa - thank you Aunt Madelyn, Uncle Ron and Gregory and Rebecca, and Thank you Mom and Dad (aw shucks - GRIN -)

One of the birthday gifts we sent her was an early Christmas gift of a "Christmas Tree in a box" - a kit to make a 2 foot tree out of paper - with decorations and everything. Lisa said she was in a holiday mood and there were a batch of kids from the hostel in her home so they helped her put the tree together - it was one of those cases where she felt old since the kids got the knack of putting tab - a into slot  -a - much much quicker than she did - they were quite nimble! Anyhow - she hummed "we need a little Christmas" and she felt quite happy. Everyone had a grand time. Boy will they have great memories of the "Peace Corps teacher who lived in their town!"

 

School

Exams are going well - her Agriculture learners seem to be doing a little better than they did previous terms. Considering some classes need a grade of 30 percent to pass, and some 40 percent, - she sort of thinks most of them should pass. But it's sort of depressing to her when learners miss some of the easiest questions.

And she discovered she had to re-grade the English exams - they found a rubric that she was supposed to be following (couldn't find it before she graded the exams could they  - oh well). She was doing roughly what they wanted but since these are end of the year finals and since the school is trying to improve standards etc she needed to grade with more precision. She managed - but 90 English exams are a lot to re-grade. And that's only a third of the classes she teaches. Man it's a hard way to learn how to teach!

Since it looks like the rest of the Grade 8 to grade 10 English teachers are going to be moving to other schools next January at the moment Lisa will be the senior English teacher. Of course they may get replacement teachers with experience but then again they may not. She's hoping that she'll have enough clout to follow her 8th grade English Learners to 9th grade - that would be 2 English classes vs 3 to teach - but who knows what will happen.

It sounds like  teachers move around a lot in Namibia - those assigned to rural or distant schools try to get placed in larger school districts in bigger towns or in schools closer to their homes as time goes by. And since Aroab is so far away from everything it's hard to retain teachers. The school is very nice from what Lisa says - it just would be nicer if it was in a more populous location!

So the next few weeks will be filled with finals, correcting them, monitoring them, wishing they were over (both Lisa and her learners wish for that - GRIN -)

 

Politics

We still spent lots of the phone call discussing the election and what's ahead for Obama. She's reading every scrap of info she can get on economics - from assorted magazines we've sent her over the past year etc. And she noted that one of the biggest problems seems to be that to improve each individual's economic situation  they need to spend less and save more but to improve the nation's economic outlook we need a lot of spending! Hmmm - one sides solutions create the other sides problems - or at least exacerbate them!

 

Odds and Ends

Lisa's still not sure what she'll be doing during the term break - the end portion will be most likely spent in Peace Corps training but that still leaves a few weeks - now in general the volunteers are supposed to be working on their extra projects when their "official jobs" are on break - but they do get  a few days of "vacation" allocated to them. They just have to figure out where they want to go since they have to turn in their request for leave from their site something like 2 or 3 weeks in advance.

I hope she manages to travel somewhere - to at least visit some other Peace Corps Volunteers - even if she doesn't do anything fancy. I can't believe I typed that - as if living and teaching in Namibia isn't "special" enough. Man how quickly we take situations for granted!

Again thank you all who sent her Happy Birthday e-mails! Take Care - I'll update again next week!

 

Susan Rothman

A Good Week

Lots of Happy News

We called Lisa this morning and spent much of the call going over election results. (about 45 minutes - that will be quite a phone bill! ) She was a very happy camper. It was great for her - being able to tell everyone that this time he hadn't just won a primary, or the nomination - but had actually won the election. Her friends in Aroab are happy for us - and someone she didn't know stopped her in the supermarket and thanked her for electing Obama. This election means a lot world-wide!

Whenever she's by a TV she's caught up on the news - from Obama choosing Rahm Emanuel to offer the chief of staff position to, to the search for the perfect White House puppy that won't set off Obama's daughter's allergies. She saw somewhere that Emanuel graduated from a dance school and that Lisa thought that was perfect training since politics was one huge dance! - I haven't heard about the dance connection myself - but it's amazing what Lisa hears about in Namibia that isn't covered here! (GRIN)

 

School News

Friday was Bible Day in school - all the 7th and 8th graders received Gideon Bibles - something Lisa guessed would cause a huge commotion if done here! It was a big deal for the learners I guess. They had the choice to receive their Bible in either English or Afrikaans - and it was a mix, some learners preferred English some Afrikaans. Each classroom also received a Bible - just one per classroom - but those Bibles were in both English and Afrikaans - so Lisa figures that by going through it she'll be able to pick up more Afrikaans - she's looking forward to it. I was pleased to hear she's working on her Afrikaans since she really hadn't talked about her progress language wise in a long while.

This week formally starts final exams - though Lisa is already correcting the written part of the English exam which was given early. She doesn't like all the time it takes to correct papers, tests etc. All you teachers out there can empathize I'm sure (GRIN). And the paperwork in general is overwhelming at times. I can't think of a job out there that couldn't do with a reduction in paperwork. (DOUBLE GRIN).

 

The Surprise Party

way back last weekend Lisa was brought to her "surprise party" by some of her learners - which was held in one of the school rooms - it was very nice - with some of her learners and fellow teachers wishing her an early Happy Birthday. They had snack stuff, pasta salads, and cake. It was very nice for her to be remembered!

 

Lisa's Birthday

Remember - if possible please send Lisa a brief Happy Birthday message Tuesday November 11th - her 24th Birthday! Again her working e-mail is :

Lisa_rothman@hotmail.com

remember that underscore between Lisa and Rothman! I think receiving a few messages will brighten her day a great deal! It will be her second birthday in Africa! Man how time flies! - If you don't get to send the message on the 11th you can send a belated message later - whenever you do get around to it - in Africa late is often on time! (GRIN) and being remembered is always nice - no matter when it occurs!

 

That's about it for now - will update again next week! Thank's for checking in on this blog and for keeping Lisa in your thoughts!

 

Susan Rothman

Congratulations President-Elect Obama

Excitement Is In The Air

Just after 11pm EST when Obama was announced by all the major networks as the new President we called Lisa who was getting ready to leave for school  (it's 7 hours later in Aroab)- she was VERY EXCITED to hear the status of the election and said she'd be walking to school with a skip in her step.

She had sort of been holding her breath, and had been afraid to jinx things by being too optimistic - (sort of the way Toby on the West Wing refused to allow celebrating till the votes were recorded) but she had been very hopeful. The only sadness was that Obama's grandmother hadn't lived to see this moment.

After so long and so much explaining to her Namibian friends she can finally say - "this time he really did win the Presidency - Obama is our next President" It has been weird for her explaining how winning primaries and eventually the nomination just meant he had secured the Democratic spot to run for President not that he actually was President. So now it's finally settled!

 

To Everyone - THANK YOU For Voting !!!

Lisa wants to thank all of you who voted - she hopes her absentee ballet managed to arrive safely and gets counted - at least we saw her listed as voting absentee in the book we signed in at our polling place. So that was a good sign. And our line wasn't long at all but I gather there had been more people casting ballets than usual so that also was a good thing.

If for whatever reason you didn't vote - please do so next year - or whenever your next local election or primary pops up - If Lisa can manage to jump through the hoops to vote from Namibia we can do it from our hometowns!

I have to get some sleep myself, though I'm almost as excited as Lisa is about Obama's victory - Will update next weekend!

 

Susan Rothman

November's Here

Phones Don't Always Connect

Spoke with Lisa this morning - our first call didn't go through - which annoyed Lisa since she had her cell phone charged and on and then got a message that she missed our call. Sometimes calls go right to voice mail for no apparent reason at all. Ahh well - what counts is that we finally talked to her. For an hour! (GRIN)

 

Back In Her Place Again

Lisa is finally back in her house - it's beautiful she says though there isn't any hot water and she still has the old extension cord connecting her to the hostel for electrical use - but it's nice to have privacy again! Being around the kids was nice - BUT. . . (GRIN)

It's summer in Aroab so even though she doesn't have hot water except when the sun shines (GRIN), if she takes a shower right after work the water tank is still warm from solar energy, lukewarm but at least not cold water. Of course on hot days cold showers don't feel that bad (GRIN) - maybe by the time winter comes to Namibia again the hot water heater will be up and running (we can hope).

The hostel is upgrading it's facilities at least in terms of repairing and replacing border fences, gates etc. Which, as do all things - has it's pro's and con's.

The good side of the equation is stronger and better security for the hostel and for Lisa's place. The not so good side is that her "short cut" gate is now permanently locked up ( she moaned "what did the poor gate do!!!" - sometimes we anthropomorphize a bit when we have time to think too much -GRIN- ) so she has a much longer trek around to get out and thus walk anywhere - from school to the store. It's just the equivalent of a few blocks extra - but when you walk everywhere it adds up! It really makes a body want to walk the way the crow flies (a mixed metaphor - please forgive me)

 

School - Busy As Usual

Yesterday was tree planting day (they were going to do it a few weeks ago but didn't get to it) so everyone planted trees and watered them well. Lisa thought the whole things was "Cool" and she hopes they get a good start before the Christmas break or they'll all come back to dried out sticks since she isn't sure anyone will water them over the break!

At least in her part of Namibia they don't celebrate Halloween at all - so no one got dressed up or carved anything etc. She could have tried dressing as a princess or something but decided she didn't want to keep explaining why she looked so silly all day. And she didn't want to take a chance dressing up as a witch or anything since though Namibia isn't really into the older religions she didn't want to take a chance that dressing like a witch would change peoples opinions of her. She saw no reason to ask for trouble.

Lisa was disappointed to learn she wouldn't have as much free time to correct tests in school this exam cycle - since she didn't have a register class (what we know as homerooms) after monitoring her exams she had the rest of the time free to correct them - now all non-register teachers will trade off and help monitor other classes' exams so that those teachers get a break and can do some of their own grading on school time. In the earlier grades one teacher teaches everything to one class and thus gets no time off to correct exams otherwise etc.

While a much fairer situation she already misses the extra grading time and she isn't looking forward to keeping more classes of learners quiet during their exams. Sometimes fairness isn't much fun.

 

An Early Birthday Party

She's been invited to what she believes is a surprise early Birthday Party for her! (since her birthday falls during exams holding it early seemed like a smart plan) It's being arranged by some of her her learners and her fellow teachers. I gather the 9th graders have been very good about keeping the surprise element a secret but her 8th graders keep asking if she's coming to the party for her.

Now she's a good sport and has been playing clueless so she can act surprised when she arrives but as she said it's tough to claim plausible deniability when the kids keep asking if she's coming. (GRIN) I guess It's tough to keep a party a secret in her neck of the woods. I thought it was rather sweet of them to plan a party for her. We'll find out next week what actually transpired!

 

She Wants It Over With!

The Election that is. And we agree. It's been long enough and we all want to shout Enough Already! With luck by next weekend we'll know the results (Hope it's not like 2000 with a long drawn out unhappy ending) She (and her Dad and I) are supporting Obama so we wish him luck in the final days of the campaign.

We chatted about various items on various ballets like the NYS one changing the name of the Veterans organization that has to approve various benefits - since the state constitution says X must approve and now it's called Y. It's wild that it takes a proposition to deal with a name change. And Lisa has decided that instead of calling non traditional marriages Civil Unions they should be called "Heart and Soul Unions" I don't know where that came from but I agree with Lisa that it sound's much nicer.

 

Wasn't Selected

She wasn't chosen to be part of the teacher training sessions for the new Peace Corps Volunteers - I gather many offered but few were needed - only 2 trainers per session I guess. Mostly she had tried to volunteer in order to fill in some of the 6 week Christmas Break. She isn't sure what she'll be doing but with all the kids gone from the Hostel and most of the teachers at their farms it will be mighty quiet. She's thinking about trying to visit some other Peace Corps Volunteers who are in the same position or having them visit her. So we'll see what works out.

 

Odds and Ends

It's hot right now but the rains haven't started yet - I guess they've started in the north but Lisa's dry little desert town is still - dry!

She ended one cold but now is getting congested again so it looks like a new cold is beginning. Oh well.

 

And Remember - Please Try and e-mail her a simple Happy Birthday on her 24th Birthday - November 11th! her e-mail again is -

Lisa_Rothman@hotmail.com 

(remember the underscore between Lisa and Rothman please)

 

Will Update next week! Make Sure You VOTE!!!

Susan Rothman