Wow! I can't believe it's already Friday. I have two weeks, I'll be in Zimbabwe for a few days, and then I'll be travelling home. Today was somewhat typical so I won't spend too long blogging.Since Hopson is gone, I called the taxi company to get picked up from our house and dropped off at work.It was much more expensive than normal taxis, but still less than $10 US dollars.I was there early enough to drink a cup of tea before our morning meeting and registration (homeroom).Tea is very popular here and they have very good tea.Coffee is not good or popular here.However, they do find it funny that I don't put sugar or milk in my tea and they put a ton! (I might have mentioned this before)

I had two double periods this morning, first with my 11th grade and then with my 10th grade extended classes.Extended is like accelerated.I do not have any core classes, which would be regular.The 11th grade class just practiced algebraic equations and adding/subtracting/multiplying/dividing algebraic expressions.They've gotten pretty good at it, but it does get tedious just doing examples of these questions.They had a lot of homework this week as well so we were going over homework problems because they had to turn in 3 long assignments to me to give to Peter this afternoon.The end of their grading period is Monday.The 10th grade class has become one of my favorites.They are just a lot of fun to talk with and are clever enough to joke around and ask questions about me/my life/America while still concentrating on their work.Today we were proving circle geometry and they had to explain their reasoning more, which they can sometimes struggle with.They don't do well explaining their thinking.But they did pretty well finding all of the angle measurements by themselves.After that, I just sat around talking with other teachers and enjoying the extremely warm sunshine today.

My last class was period 8 and it was just a 35 minute 9th grade extra class.Peter has turned it into more of a life skills class teaching the students different ways to approach problems, to reflect, and to study.However, he did not tell me where he left off and I was not entirely sure where to begin so I let them have that time to do homework or ask questions since questioning me has become a way to get me off track in class. JThey asked everything from crime rate and HIV prevalence in Pittsburgh, to tuition to MIT and Harvard and if I liked Ketchup.They again asked me about famous people, but also wanted to know where in America I had been and where I had family.They asked about the tribal languages in America as well.They thought it was very strange that we all speak English and there are only pockets of places with different languages.Remember that most of them are tri-lingual or more, switching with ease from one into the other without noticing in the middle of conversations.They also asked about coffee and jobs for people their age and how they could go to school in America.One of my students has a sister that lives in Seattle and is married with a child.A lot of them aspire to go to America to get their bachelor's or master's degree.They are also very interested in our winter and snow since they have never experienced that degree of coldness before…this apparently is the coldest winter they've had in a long time.They also asked about housing and partying in America.One of them wanted to know what the biggest partying university was.HahaTheir concept of America seems to be one of violence, but still very prosperous.They also asked about our students, their abilities, and the types of punishments they get for doing certain things.Apparently, we are lot stricter than they are.Additionally, they wanted to know how grade school was set up and how much money it cost to go to grade school.They were completely shocked to learn that our schooling is free unless we go to a private school, except for school taxes of course.We also talked about the pronunciation of things like Nike, Nestle, sick, and other words like that and how Americans like to eat milk chocolate much more than Europeans and in their opinion that is why Europeans are healthier.It was pretty funny, but got rather hectic because everyone wanted to ask their question at the same time and discuss my answer to the questions before.

After 8th period on Fridays, the 8th and 9th grade always have an assembly.I soon learned, these are not like assemblies in America and instead are just meetings to discuss upcoming events and things that the students need to work on.10th and 11th have their assembly during 8th and 9th period.The school is having a talent show and a Mr. and Miss Combretum (the name of the school) pageant next Saturday.I'm hoping I am in town to see it.The entrepreneurship teacher at the school is Miss Namibia and she has been working to get this pageant together.One of the initiatives that the Namibian government has taken is for entrepreneurship to become part of the curriculum in secondary school (8-12).They did this hoping that if there were more entrepreneurs it would help their developing country's economy.They really encourage that class and their accounting classes in secondary school.

Afterwards, I went to PAY.I showed up early and was sitting outside in the warm sun for awhile talking to students.Not very many showed up today because it was so nice and it was a Friday.On Friday, instead of tutoring, the students have a life skills class about leadership and self-esteem and HIV prevention and things like that.However, they are currently in the process of moving their head quarters from one building to the other and so they canceled life skills hoping the volunteers and students would help.Then they wouldn't let us move anything so instead we just played volleyball and soccer around the building.The volleyball was continually getting stuck on the roof.I was taught some Oshwambo phrases as well, which was fun.Again, just like at the Pittsburgh Project, they love playing with my hair because it is so soft.I forgot to mention a funny story yesterday.We have a student named Alucia who is 18, but acts much older than her age.She is a peer leader at PAY and ends up spending a lot of time with the volunteers.She is crazy, but fun.Alucia randomly turns to me yesterday and asks the regular where are you from, how warm does it get there…etc questions.Then she just stops and stares.I was like what, what is your next question?She just goes, "Don't you have any sun there or something, why are you so white?(and then gesturing to the other volunteers around me as well) You people are all too white, get some sun while you are here."We had to explain that it's not the same and while a lot of them were much tanner than I, we would never get as dark as her.

By around 3:30 all of the students had moved inside to squeeze around one computer that was playing "The Punisher."Then we went out to play Kickball or as the English call it, "Rounds."Africans do not understand this game. HahahaIt took awhile to explain the rules and then when we started, the first kid kicked the ball and ran around the bases the wrong way and continued to run even after he was tagged.Again we had to explain the rules.I got a homerun!It was fun, but my team lost by a half point.If you got all the way around the bases it was 1 pt, if you had to stop, but eventually made it home, it was a half point.Two of the girls on my team kept screaming and ducking from the ball, so obviously the other team knew our weak spot.Also, there are no fouls in English rounds, which no one but the English people on the other team understood for awhile.They would kick it backwards and then run, while the rest of us stood there like, "Can they do that?"It was a lot of fun.I love PAY! It really reminds me of an international version of The Pittsburgh Project.I'm hoping I can still set up communication between the two groups.

This evening my mom and I just went out to dinner and relaxed.Tomorrow we will be going to Okahandja.I know I didn't spell that right, but I'll figure it out and correct it in my next blog. So much for not being too long! haha Sorry! Until then….love you and miss you all! Bye!

Shannon