Picture: Anna ready to go to school
I have somewhat adjusted to being here. I have a preferred position now: working in the kindergarten in the morning, doing writing and editing for the owner in the afternoon, and serving dinner at night. Because the owner is happy with my work, I can have this work, instead of having to serve the guests food and drinks all day, as the other volunteer must do.
It’s still a lot of work, though. The kindergarten may sound sweet, but it’s quite tiring. There was a lot of the “silent crying” today, where they fold their arms in front of them, put their heads down, and cry without making a sound. Anna doesn’t want to do any activity for long. When I don’t switch activities, she cries. When I make her follow the rules of a game, she cries. When I take away what she’s stolen from the boy, she cries. Several times they both had their heads down crying at the same time, and I was left by myself until they finished. Anna even ran away from kindergarten twice today. I don’t remember such theatrics happening at my preschool…
After kindergarten, I helped the owner create a Facebook page for the farm. It looks good (you can do a search for “duesternbrook”). This is an example of the kind of work I feel I should be doing, as opposed to hospitality management and customer service. Hopefully I can continue doing this sort of work; there’s plenty of it. The only problem is that the owner is leaving on Monday for a two-week vacation, and I’ll be left with only the manager supervising me. And I don’t think she cares about these sorts of things. We will see…
In other news, I went on a game drive today. Two hours of riding through the bush; and we saw giraffe, kudu (aka: dinner), orynx (aka: appetizer), hippos, donkeys, and more.
All for now... I'm exhausted.
Hey Jenelle! Love hearing how you're doing so far. Post more pictures!
ReplyDeleteHey, thanks for posting some photos. Great work. Is that your pupil? Those sub-Saharan African children really know how to pose for the camera, don't they? I mean, just the right tilt of the head and the upward gaze always seems to give the heart a good squish. The teaching them, however, sounds like trying work - you are allowed to employ corporal punishment, aren't you?
ReplyDeleteI found in grade-school in Mississippi that the mere presence of a duct-taped paddle hanging on the wall was enough to keep many of us in line - rather like a sword of Damocles over all our heads.
I'm seconding Debbie's entreaty for more pictures - particularly the landscape. From the shot you posted it appears they've dedicated the entire country to earth tones. Not complaining: it's a tried and tested formula.
By the way, the landscape of Namibia is surprisingly vivid from space, and many of the geological features are quite clear. Have a look.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=durstenbrook&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl
Ought to be glad you're not stuck down on the skeleton coast - not a lot going on there at all but sand dunes.
Keep the chin up and the news and shots coming, J.
Remember, you're our eyes and ears down there!
Jenelle didn't say that. That was me, Jones, couldn't you tell by the lively style?
ReplyDeleteLandscape is all sand, earth-colored stones, and brush, as far as the eye can see. I'll see if I have anything else I can post.
ReplyDelete