Back to life, back to reality

Well, I’ve managed to make it through the holiday season and back up north. Much has happened in the last couple of weeks, very little of which has been productive, so it’s both a relief and a let-down that the festivities are over.

I spent Christmas Eve in a tent on the beach in Swakopmund, where apparently both Brangelina and Sharon Osborn were vacationing. Our campsite was beautiful, right on the beach, with hot showers and a close proximity to town. On Christmas morning we had a Secret Santa exchange, which was fairly hilarious with the china shop gems that everyone came up with.

            The rest of the week was spent sipping coffee in German cafes, playing flag football on the beach, and enjoying bonfires and dance parties on the beach. For two days, we rented two pickups, slammed 20 people into them, and traveled up to Cape Cross to see a seal colony and down to Dune 7 and Walvis Bay. Overnight, we camped on the beach next to a shipwreck, one of many that contributed to the region’s name, Skeleton Coast.

            On New Year’s Eve, the local beachside bar sponsored a giant bonfire, so we had a blast, met many South Africans, and counted down the new year. An added bonus of the trip was seeing the Capital One Bowl on New Year’s Day at a local sports bar. We ordered pizza and watched American football for the first time all season, which did a number on my homesickness. It didn’t help that Big Blue was the mascot of the year and plastered on the TV for a couple of minutes. It’s hard to imagine that the ODU and ACC basketball seasons are currently in full swing back in the states.

            Meanwhile, I am starting to sweat over the upcoming school year. This week teachers return to school and the following will bring the learners. I can’t anticipate much because I have heard that many learners don’t show up for the first couple of weeks. Some because they don’t know what day it is, others because they are still farming and the rest because they know the teachers won’t be there. It’s difficult to plan, but I plan on doing introductions for the first month to see the level of individual learners and to memorize their names, get them comfortable with my accent, etc. It’s going to be hard easing into the year as I would love to hit the ground running, and I know that the learners are extremely far behind where they are supposed to be. Not to mention, after an amazing vacation, I can’t really remember village life. Hello again roaming cattle, hippos, and baby goats!