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Published: February 1st 2010
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Photo 2
The beautiful pool at Zebra River Lodge. We got in as soon as we arrived. It was an incredible weekend here in Namibia. There is never a dull moment and I am so blessed to be having all of these experiences. This weekend we travelled down to the southern part of the country. We stayed at the Zebra River Lodge which is located in a beautiful canyon in the Naukluft Mountains in the desert. It was very warm (about 105 F) and for most of the weekend it was a blue sky! The journey was a little rough - we had about a 4 ½ hour drive and 3 ½ of it was on a rough dirt road.
On Friday afternoon we got into two, four-wheel drive vehicles and drove up the mountain on what barely resembled a road. We were bouncing around in the back seat as we drove over boulders and rocks. We travelled through dry river beds and even blew out one tire and I got to help change it! Thanks dad for all of the training! The view from the top of the mountain was gorgeous and it just really reminded me how small I am and how huge this world actually is. That night we drove up onto another mountain
Photo 3
One of the many bright orange dragonflies. to have drinks and watch the sunset over the desert. As a bonus, the full moon rose in the opposite direction as the sun set. It was nice to have a clear night sky with no light pollution to really enjoy the stars and the moon.
The next day we drove to the Sossusvlei in the Namib desert where the sand dunes are. We spent a few hours climbing on the largest sand dunes in the world! Unfortunately, I was not able to make it all the way up one of them because the sand was very hot and was burning my feet through my sandals. When in got cooler I climbed part way up one and then ran down which was so much fun! I did fall on the way down but the sand was so soft it was no big deal.
One thing that was a little bit of a transition was the extra roommates that stayed with us at the lodge. We had geckos that were in our rooms. These were very cute little creatures that I knew were great to have around because they ate the mosquitoes and spiders, but I just couldn’t get
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One of the other roommates. This gecko was super fast, sorry it's so blurry. used to them crawling around while I was sleeping. The first night I could hardly sleep at all but on the second night I was so tired from the first night and from the dunes all day that I slept pretty well.
We got back today and talked together about the weekend and also about viewing things from others’ perspective. This topic came up as we encountered different cultures and modes of operation this weekend. It is something that can be very difficult to do but makes a big difference in how we approach new and challenging situations. Being in a completely different part of the world and interacting with different cultures is giving me ample opportunity to practice this skill. The teachers at my school may not be managing their classrooms in a way that I like or believe is correct but when I think about the training that they have received, they may just not know any better or been given any other strategies. When I think about teaching from their point of view, I can get a better grasp of why they teach or discipline in the way they do and rather than be frustrated with
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The scenery around the lodge. it, can be understanding and can model a different approach.
I have so much to think about over the next week and in the weeks to come. There is not one day that I am not given something new to think about or challenge myself with. I thought that I would learn a lot from my teaching experience and the kids that I am working with, but I never expected to get so much out of the other trips on the weekends. I am so thankful for all that I have been able to see and am going to see. We just happened to meet a man that runs a non-profit school that works with children of migrant workers so that they do not get behind in school. Next weekend we are traveling to the coast and we will be visiting his school on Friday, just to see another school in the country to try to get a bigger idea of the education system in the country.
That is it for now, I will write again soon.
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