Sarah Goes to Namibia: Weekend in Sossusvlei and First Day at Saint Barnabus Primary School

On Friday morning we left for a weekend in Sossusvlei. Uanee picked us up and we went to the market (not the store) to pick up food and snacks for the long car ride. After about an hour, we were off paved roads and it was dirt/gravel roads for the next 4ish hours. We stopped on the way for a picnic lunch—it was extremely elaborate, more than I would have expected! We had homemade buns (not rolls) that were delicious, ham, a German loaf (cold cut), tomatoes, onions, lettuce, dressings, and fruit juice. We prepared and ate under a nice shady tree. Then, we continued on our drive for a few more hours. The bus we were in had no air conditioning, so we rode with the windows open so there would be a breeze.

When we got to the campsite we drove past the pool and found that it was not swimmable. We were all really excited to cool off, so it was very disappointing we couldn’t swim that afternoon. We set up our tents and Uanee went to take Paula and Steve to the lodge where they were staying. Paula and Steve checked with the management there to see if we could come on Saturday after hiking the dunes and swim in that pool. Thank goodness they let us! Before dinner, Uanee told us there was a short hike about 40 minutes to the top of a dune a few km away where we could watch the sunset. While he dropped off Paula and Steve we visited the bar at the campsite and had a few drinks before deciding if we would hike for the sunset. Alcohol is very cheap here—a Windhoek Lager or Savanna Dry Cider is only N$17-N$23, which is between $1.50 and $2.00 in the states. It’s cheaper than water! After a few beers, we all decided to hike to the top for sunset. It was beautiful and so worth the effort, although we were getting a little nervous for the harder hike we would do first thing the next morning. While we were gone, our other guide Manfrid made us a beautiful spaghetti dinner (a good carbo load!) and we all went to bed.

On Saturday morning we woke up at 4:30 to get ready to hike. We went and picked up Paula and Steve (who were dancing in the parking lot when we arrived) and drove about 40 minutes to the dunes. We had to get on a 4x4 truck to get to the base of Big Daddy. It took us about 2 hours in total to get to the top. Although the hike itself wasn’t long in distance, the sand makes it much tougher. Each time we thought we saw the top, there was a new peak that appeared that was the real top of Big Daddy. We had to hike Big Daddy (taller and harder than Big Mama) because the group before us did it and of course we couldn’t woos out after that. When we all got to the top, many of us ran down the face of the dune—2 hours up, about 5 minutes to get down. It was so much fun! Then, we went into Dead Pan (a flat of clay where no sand will ever stay if the wind blows it there). We got back on the 4x4’s and went back to the truck for an incredible brunch once again prepared by Manfrid. It was so yummy—eggs, bacon, cereal, bread, sandwiches, veggies and more! Then, as soon as we were finished, we cleaned up and returned to our camp to shower off the sand before hitting the pool and Paula and Steve’s lodge. We spent the entire afternoon in the pool (about 5 hours) and almost all of us walked away nicely sunburned!

When we got back, we hit the bar while we waited for dinner and had a few drinks while playing Spot It. Just after our chicken and rice dinner, we headed to bed after a very long and exhausting day.

The next morning we woke up and walked into Sessriem Canyon before heading back. The drive was extremely long and very hot. We came back a different way over a really dangerous and very tall mountain pass. It was a little scary but absolutely beautiful. We made it back to Windhoek and had just exited the B1 (Namibian I-5), turned the corner about 5 minutes from home and all of a sudden the truck rolled to a stop. We all looked at each other, stinky, exhausted, hot and covered in sand…Uanee and Manfrid got out of the car, looked around and chuckled a little bit before telling us we had run out of gas. Luckily we had some big empty jugs in the car and were close to a gas station where Uanee could get us some gas. When we got home, we all showered and had a little lunch. It was about 4 o’clock, so we were all starved. We have a paper due today, so we all attempted to work on that a little bit…some of us had better luck than others. The Disney music and bottle of wine were a little distracting, but we all had a great time.

This morning was our first morning in our schools. It was a teacher day—students don’t come until Wednesday. We met our principal around 7:30 this morning and he asked that we come back at 8:30 for the teacher’s meeting. Dani and I had emailed our teacher and received a response last night, so when she met us, she was very excited. We got big welcoming hugs, which was comforting! Everyone was very excited to see each other after their holiday…they all hugged and kissed their close friends on the lips (very different than colleagues in the states) and were very loud as they shared stories and welcomed each other back. When the meeting started, the principal actually stopped to have us introduce ourselves (which we weren’t sure would happen) and began his meeting. He talked in a very motivational way and seems to really have some visions for changing the school and making it better. We’ll see if that comes to fruition, but the energy is there. they talked about what they would do when the learners arrived on Wednesday and it sounds like it’s going to be complete chaos, which we were prepared to expect. During a break another administrator gave us a tour of the school and showed us where our classrooms would be. School starts in two days and many of the classrooms are empty, desks are stacked or there are very few in there. It doesn’t look ready at all for learners. One classroom even meets in the garage because there are not enough rooms. Our class meets in the library. I am supposed to be teaching grade 5-grade 7 math, but who knows! We also found out that they are short one math teacher, so there is a possibility we will all be shifted if the ministry does not appoint a new teacher in time. It was all extremely overwhelming and I had to hold back tears part of the time. I had no idea what Wednesday will be like and know that whatever we prepare will probably not go as planned. But, that is will all teaching, even in the states. We left around 10 this morning and have the afternoon free to get organized and catch up. Tonight, one of the cooking teams will cook us dinner and we will meet Mary Beth, the head of the BNC (volunteer center) where we will tutor twice a week after school. We will do a short hike in the morning near Windhoek and have another afternoon free to get organized and prepare. School starts Wednesday at 7:00 am! Say a prayer for us as we all prepare for some sort of unforeseen chaos on Wednesday….