A new chapter

Now that we are back home, we are keeping a new blog at metzsidestory.blogspot.com.  FYI... :-)

Farewells

So many goodbyes.  Both of our schools, colleagues and learners, were very sincere and generous in having farewell parties and events for us during our last couple of days at site.  Lots of letters and gifts, food and meat, speeches, singing, crying, hugging, and even kissing!

The above photo is of Kevin's colleagues at the high school and the below is of my colleagues at the primary school.  Notice much of a difference in the demographic make-up of the two staffs?!

Singing:

Our canine visitors

Since Patches left, we’ve had some canine visitors become more and more frequent.

Of course we are not trying to replace Patches (like that’s possible), but we do enjoy their company...

… And their thoughtfulness in wanting to be our watch dogs!

But this one got a little too comfortable in Patches’ bed… love her tongue sticking out!

And then they ALL got a little too comfortable!

I doubt they would even step foot in most people’s houses here (for fear of being beaten), but it’s apparent that they can see we are different.  :-)

Steph's class photos- 2012

And here are photos of my Grade 6 classes from this year.  Opposite of Kevin, since I taught the same grade two years in a row, I stayed with the ones who failed.  (That sounds sort of insensitive, but that's not what I was going for!)

6A

6B

Kevin's class photos- 2012

Here are some new photos from Kevin's Grade 9 classes this year.  (Last year he had Grade 8, so he followed many of them this year.  Well, yeah, the ones that passed.)  I posted some of the silly ones instead of the serious ones just because they're more interesting, as you can see!

9A

9B

9C

A weekend at the farm

We’ve written before about the significant place that “the farm” is in the lives of many Namibians.  Well, we finally got to experience firsthand what is meant by spending a weekend at the farm with my cute old lady colleague and her retired (full-time farmer) husband.  Meet Mr. and Mrs. Thataone (pronounced: Ta-tow-nay)…

They were the perfect hosts, giving us a full tour around the different camps and cattle posts…

 

... And providing us wonderful, meat-filled (chicken and lamb) meals.  It may have been the best bed & breakfast (& lunch & dinner) we’ve been to yet!

 

Tellin’ ya, Namibians sure do know how to live!  Check out the inside of their house…  When farmers “go to the farm,” it’s like being home away from home.  (On a side note, I feel like the interior décor of many Namibians homes is like the style I imagine grandma homes in the States being like!  But probably more with more wild animal and religious things..)

Autumn trees

The foliage is nothing compared to autumn in the northeast, but for now, we’ll take the greens and yellows we can get!  Although I guess we’re the only ones here who appreciate it because these are the trees that will be beheaded any day now!

New money

Just in early May, the Bank of Namibia began releasing new Namibian dollar notes, and they’re getting a fair amount of attention and publicity!  Some say the money is prettier and more brightly colored.  Some say the notes feel different.  Some say they are less easily counterfeited, while others say they look fake.  Some say they just don’t like them.

(Left is front and right is back.  And top is old and bottom is new.)

And Kevin says only dead people should be featured on currency.

Hahaha, just kidding!  You know what we mean!

His Excellency Dr. Sam Nujoma, the country’s first president*, replaced Kaptein (Captain) Hendrik Witbooi, a pre-colonial war hero, on the 10’s and 20’s.  There is also at least one street in every Namibian town named after the former president, among other things.  And apparently the coastal town of Luderitz may even be renamed Nujoma Bay!  Sure Sam may be a Namibian hero for independence, but is he really the country’s only Founding Father?  At least according to the most prevalent presentations of Namibian history, the answer is pretty much just that.

Some colleagues asked Kevin and me who appears on American money.  We told them that former (dead) presidents and other prominent statesmen are depicted.  We also got a chuckle out of them by saying that Barack Obama is certainly not about to print new money with his face on it (or any other living former president for that matter).

*Note:  Namibia’s current president, Hifikepunye Pohamba, is only the country’s second.

Fish River Canyon

Over roughly the last 4 days and 5 nights, we finally got to go backpacking in the Fish River Canyon.  (The second largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon.)  After descending, you reach an 86-km trail (before factoring in the shortcuts) that follows the riverbed.  And I have to say that I was quite pleased to have escaped this hike with few blisters and zero painkillers- unlike last year's Naukluft hike!

Here is a view outside the canyon:

And here are some more shots during our hike inside the canyon.  It's pretty cool because you start forgetting you're actually in a canyon in the first place.

Wildlife we saw included wild horses, baboons, and this snake that we can't quite identify.  Maybe an adder of some kind?  It has horns!

Especially since this was our last Peace Corps holiday, it was nice to spend the time with a bunch of fellow volunteers.  Telling teaching stories.  Trying to figure out the remaining mysteries of Namibian culture.  Playing Truth-or-Dare around the campfire.  (Kevin's Dare had to be the best and most hilarious, the details of which I will not post publicly, leaving them in the hands of your imagination!  Why he chose Dare in the first place, I do not know!)

And now it's just about back to school for us!

Moçambique

We spent about a week and a half in Mozambique where we hit up Indian Ocean beaches, ate seafood, and went snorkeling.  All of which are activities we have not been able to do for some time now.

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The highlight of this trip might have to be our 2-day, 1-night sailing excursion to the Bazaruto Archipelago and Two Mile Reef.
 

The picturesque views of the amazing beaches make it hard to believe your eyes; being there was such a dreamlike tropical paradise.  The rich aqua-color of the sea in contrast with the pristine sand is just as perfect as the photos captured.

Meals on the sailing trip were included too.  My favorite was the crab and Kevin's the King fish.

We also loved the snorkeling and concluded once and for all that snorkeling must be one of our favorite activities of all time, especially together.  (We've snorkeled before in Australia's Great Barrier Reef and I in Fiji and Australia's West Coast.)  The intimate experience with the colorful life under the ocean's surface among the diverse coral reef is just unparalleled in beauty and serenity.  How we wish we could go for a snorkel every day!

Left is Lauren, our good friend and fellow PCV

The following are not our photos since we didn't have the capability of bringing our camera under water with us, but here are some images of our favorite sea creatures that we saw (upper-left: Mantaray; upper-right: Blue-spotted ray; lower left: Threadfin butterfly fish; lower-right: Moorish idol):

We can't help but feel that, overall, Mozambique and Namibia (especially where we are in the south) are worlds different, Mozambique being more of the untamed "Africa" of the two, in terms of terrain and culture.  Mozambique is much greener and more jungle-y and the people more boisterous but perhaps also friendlier.  And public transport was more, um, crowded... At one time we were 25 adults plus 5 children plus (live) chickens in a 15-person capacity minibus/ combi/ chapa.  But that was one that didn't even break down on us so we aren't complaining!  Speaking Spanish in place of Portuguese was also interesting.. beats Khoekhoegowab in our opinion!

Honestly, the photo does not due our packedness justice!

Yeah, that guy is holding a chainsaw.  No worries.

Also done in Namibia of course, but just not quite to such an extreme.

Boys fishing and having themselves a grand ol' time.