vic falls and big daddy i love the photos! dune 45 is a momma! and i can't believe what luck you had at victoria falls. the photos are great and you can see the falls, as well as the 'smoke'. we saw the falls from zimbabwe and were glad the water was down and we could see the declivity. oh, and those crazy people jumping from the bridge. nuts!
wish we were there. so glad you are having such a great adventure. yeah.
love,
margi & john
Time for Adventures Sorry I haven't blogged you in awhile. Working on getting house cleaned out for move this fall. YOU know what that's like. Just want you to know I think of you often and miss you, friend. Thanks for sharing your adventures:)
And I say to myself. . . I love these juxtapositions; you're really composting yourself into a new order of life, it seems. . . First there's the metaphysics of " I seem to be spending a lot of time being awed by time and space and existence in general...." and then there's something of everyday use like " I did figure out that when climbing sand, if you kick your toe hard into the dune, you don’t slide back as much," and meanwhile this unfolding scene of great natural beauty and variety, persons from near and far, memories, anticipations and the imagery of a whole world to be explored and celebrated. This is a wonderful world you're finding, making and sharing.
And Nicki, if I never ever get to meet you, it's been a pleasure knowing you!
Sharing your Trip Wendy: Thanks so much. Brings back memories of my trip to Capetown, Boulders Beach, & Southern Africa. I'm going to share this with some of Nicki's friends. Maybe one of these days I'll travel to Namibia! XO Sally
Fabulous!
I could hear your voice as you told about your travels with Nicki! Wish Paneen could join you on your next adventure.
You are missing the coldest "Spring" on record here in Alaska.
Love, Shirley
Invigilation Yes - this was a term I got in Saudi Arabia. They use it here in Vietnam, too. It is a Britishism, I guess (my university is Australian). It sounds like you are getting your feet wet with expat teaching. Any place the Brits or the Germans have been seems to be very heavy on bureaucracy and paperwork. I do have to say that I haven't much on my job.
I have applied and interviewed for a position in Chittagong, Bangladesh, and it looks good for an offer. I love Vietnam. My job is good but I can't say I love it. I may be off to Bangladesh for the fall to Asian University for Women. The students are mostly scholarship - bright and very poor. I have wanted to teach for the sake of teaching for a while now, and I planned on doing that after I started getting Social Security. This is a year earlier than that, but it seems a great opportunity.
Will you continue teaching abroad? Keep me posted and I may be able to offer a small bit of help and advice from my experiences.
I would LOVE to see you. Let's try to make that happen!
Joanne
Neighborhood News Wendy, the Pilates group--me and Barbara and Kay have been enjoying your blog. And your old house sold again--the woman is a therapist that Joel knows and I can't remember who her husband is. The street is finally ice free and dry, but our yards are still full of snow. I am supposed to start a wildflower class next week but we are meeting in a classroom for the first class, since no flowers are up yet. There was also supposed to be a free day at the dump for yard waste tomorrow, but they moved that up a week since you can't rake your yard til the snow melts! Lots of geese at the library and we saw lots of snow geese in Palmer last weekend. Really appreciate the pictures and so glad you finally have a fridge!!!
Between "Also a cage so you can swim in the river without crocodiles"
and
"Guess what! Guess WHAT! We got a fridge!
I'm thoroughly enjoying this outing!!
What an ADVENTURE! I'm enjoying your blogs, Wendy, which are the first I've ever read. I know a high school student from Namibia, adopted by a local couple at the age of five. She was interested, so I emailed her a blog notice, but I don't yet know if she's read any of them. She is from Windhoek originally, and has visited the area three times in the last thirteen years. Have a great touring period with Nicki--great that she could visit while you're there.
Thanks for Pics Hi Wendy,
Sorry I missed wishing you a Happy Easter. Brenda Hearn always asks about you when I'm at Bartlett. I know that spring always follows winter but our winter is still holding on --lots of sunshine though:) Really miss you, friend.
Sienna Sepia Tan Brown She was getting really chilled out and was not being an arrogant sniffer head butter any more. I was really beginning to like her a lot. It seems she has left us way too soon. I'm sorry for that Wendy. You are now in animal country though so the animals will know that you have lost a friend, one of them, and comfort her and you at the same time. What do elephants say? John
Exams already? wow how the time dashes by. I\'m dying to know what the chickadee joke is. Language is so intentional in usage and so open to all sorts of mischief when being received. Wouldn\'t it be fun to have english speakers from all over the world share jokes? My kids got to do a bit of this (kids are probably better at it) when we were in Ireland years ago. The Irish kids taught them all sorts of tricks with words they already knew. The south African kids chimed in and they were off to the races, so to speak.
Thanks for the photos. That baobab tree must be a thousand years old. Wow. Wow to everything you share. Thanks for carving out the to e to do the blog. I love hearing from you. M
This is so interesting, though I am sorry about Sienna. It is very hard when these persons leave us, especially after years of genuine bonding, play and mutual affection. I never knew Rahab well enough to have been her friend (is that going back far enough?), but our cat Stella is certainly a blessing -- and regularly makes a point of actually herding us to go to bed together with her at day's end.
The parts about life in the bush -- hurrying off the plane into the bushes -- remind me of Bethel where everybody had to be weighed before they'd let us get on the Wien flights to Anchorage. There the problem was ....the cold -- honeybuckets freezing and needing to be thawed on the same oil stove that heated the freezer-van; unless it got so cold the paraffin in the oil froze it solid (until you had a torch to loosen it up some to get it flowing again from the oil drums outside).
It must be a joy, amid the routine and bureaucratic, to find the elephants and crocodiles and hippos here and there. Nothing says fun like the numen of charismatic megafauna!
Thrive!
Developing Countries... Oh my, Wendy! I can identify with all of this. Your experiences are similar to some of mine in Nepal. As always, the people make everything worthwhile. You are a wonderful person and teacher; they are fortunate to have you there. Enjoy every minute of your adventure--even the sometimes not-so-pleasant times. I am sure you have adjusted by now to just expect the unexpected. Love, Jay
Happy Easter Nice to finally 'find' your blog! What an amazing, spirit-filled adventure you are having! going to 'mark' this page so I can find the blog a bit easier next time! All of us have challenges in some way or another!
Keep your cheerful countenance and a hankie for the sweat-drips! Thinking of you & keeping you in prayer. HUGS!
I wish I had had you as a teacher I just love hearing about the lessons you are doing with the kids--poetry writing and the way you used the Lady or the Tiger. What a fun teacher you are!
You seem to really be taking advantage of all the chances to travel in your area by very interesting modes of transportation. You really are Wendy, the Adventurous and Brave(scorpion).
Do keep writing as much as you can--your descriptions are so vivid.
Judith
Yikes! I am so glad you were able to avoid the scorpion! Your story reminded me of my very young childhood when my family lived in Yuma and then Phoenix, AZ. My parents told me my sister and I could not have a sandbox, because of the scorpions and sidewinder snakes! I'm glad I was not ever a victim to either of those critters, nor of the rattlesnakes, which at least gave warning!
Your descriptions of the singing and other music are so enticing. You'll always be able to carry that beauty with you, no matter how else your days may be going. BEST to you. . . Kathryn
Blessed Holy Week Hi Wendy,
Your brother in law prayed aloud for u n St. Mary's on Palm Sunday. Will there b Easter celebrations n ur neck of the world? Glad the scorpion didnt get u. The music sounds wonderful. We r so isolated here physically with each family in its own single family dwelling. U seem to b in the midst of the community life. Send a pic of ur home when you can so I can check it with my imagination. Those school supervisors sound awful. Makes me appreciate teachers unions more. I continue to sort through stuff, to simplify and to anticipate my move to Denver. There is more light now but as I blog snow is falling,falling -- with Easter just days away. Enough!!
PS Wendy, I just finished reading all of your entries, even the ones you thought weren't up like the Exorcism. Wow, this really is an adventure! "Hiking" and exorcisms and scorpions, oh my! The kids sound absolutely marvelous. Every teacher's dream. More photos please. The 3 you posted looked great.
Springtime in Alaska Wendy, this is the first entry I have read. I plan to get caught up on the rest soon. I did just want to tell you what you are missing. It has been bright and sunny and 9 degrees in the morning until this Friday when it warmed up to to 28 and started snowing. It is now 25 degrees, cloudy, a bit windy and has stopped snowing for the moment, but dropped about 6 inches in the last 2 days. I miss you, too, but love to hear about your adventure! Judith
I am a retired teacher of Russian, Latin, and history. I have two children and a beautiful daughter-in-law and granddaughter.
I am about to embark on a year-long adventure teaching in Namibia.... full info
Dorena Montgomery
non-member comment
Wonderful!
Sounds like the adventure continues! I could really see things as you told your story! Have fun!