Coblenz: The Land of Basketball and the Internet

This week has been an exhausting whirlwind of activity. We have been running 12 hour days of classes from dawn until dusk. Then even though you are exhausted you don't want to go to bed because the evenings are so pleasant after the mid to upper 90s we have had everyday. The two most exciting weather moments so far have been the first day we saw clouds which took longer than you might think, and then today it rained for a couple minutes. Not enough to do anything but it is awfully hot and dry in Namibia.

 

OK, so that title implied that I have big news. We got our permanent sites yesterday so all 60 of us found out our new homes and more importantly our new neighbors. I will be living and teaching in a small town called Coblenz. If you look at a map it might not be there, however, from Windhoek follow the main highway, B2, north as it starts to bend east towards Grootfontein. Grootfontein is the closest town for me to do regular shopping outside of the essentials: flour, sugar, canned goods and alcohol. Yes, in Namibia alcohol is an essential everywhere. To get to Coblenz you take the C42 east to another small town then south a total of about 100 clicks to my little nook in the middle of nowhere.

 

I will be replacing a PCV in Coblenz so he has been giving me the scoop on the place since yesterday. He started projects at his school to bring in internet, which is spotty, and satellite TV including a DVD and VCR with a library of movies and he started a library for under $100 that now has over 3000 books. I don't know if that is 100 american or namibian, but either way I have some big shoes to fill. My house is already equipped with pots and pans and an antenna so that I can get cell phone reception from a tower 80 km away in the evenings and overnight. The only drawback is that I have to get an older phone to be able to use the antenna but its not that bad b/c it is a total Zack Morris phone. My house has running water, electricity, hot water and a small heater for those cold winter nights.

 

From what I have been told the principal at the school is very good but most of the teachers are rather apathetic, they're good people, they just don't teach much. I will have 9th and 10th grade math and science, mostly 9th my first year so I can teach them two years before their national 10th grade exams. The school has a science lab with some equipment that I want to inventory during my site visit next week. No one is using the lab equipment now so that will likely be a focus for me. Academically the only thing you need to know is that expectations are extremely low in Namibia. If a student makes a G that is considered pretty good and anything higher is exemplary. What is a G? 100-80 is an A, then the next ten points for a B, C, etc which makes a G in the range of 30-39. This will also be a major focus, not so much grade inflation b/c that doesn't make sense but raising expectations and confidence levels.

 

The other important thing about my school in Coblenz is that we dominate the area in athletics. The soccer teams are excellent and they even have a basketball goal which I will need to do some work to get mounted in the ground permanently. There are plans in the works to buy a bus to transport the kids for events in a more humane way that a cattle trailer. The Herero people are dominant in the town and are primarily cattle ranchers.

 

Tomorrow I will meet the principal of my school and travel to Coblenz on Tuesday. Until then you can try to call me remembering that Namibia is currently 9 hours ahead of Mountain time. Incoming calls on cell phones are free so you are going to have a find a good way to make the call but there is no charge on my end. Try looking online for phone cards ( Bizon.us) or at Sam's. People have found rates around 25 cents/minute. This is another PCT's cell phone that will be charging for the better part of a day then be up and ready.

011-264-812040854

011 to dial internationally - 264 is Namibia's country code - the rest is the cell phone number

 

Best time to call is evenings here which is closer to morning or lunch time in the States.