Tshaj tawm: 31.05.2018
On Monday, I was back at my school and, as often, spent the whole school day alone with my class because the teacher had to go to the doctor. The kids were, as almost always, dancing around me, but that's just part of it. One significant aspect of why I prefer being in the soup kitchen, for example, is that I don't have to constantly reprimand the children there. By being able to play, cuddle, and joke around with them, you can naturally build a completely different relationship with the children and not always be the silly teacher who just complains.
On Tuesday morning, just before I wanted to go to school, Jeannie came around the corner with the question "are you spontaneous?" so the plans for Tuesday and Wednesday changed at short notice. Since her mom's passport was unfortunately only valid for five instead of six months and she couldn't fly to Namibia because of it, Jeannie and I still picked up the rented car and drove to Waterberg for one night. The campground was already paid for. So in the morning, we drove into town, had a coffee first to calm ourselves down, and then picked up the car. At around 1 pm, we headed towards Waterberg. Everything went great with the car and the rooftop tent, so after an ice break in Okahandja and about 3.5 hours drive, we arrived safely at our campsite. We had already been there on our Victoria Falls trip.
First, we set up our tent (I had always wanted to sleep in a rooftop tent), built ourselves a cozy "nest," unpacked the table and chairs, and cooked a delicious gnocchi vegetable stew. It was then enjoyed by candlelight and fairy lights, which was unexpectedly pleasant as the temperatures were mild. However, at some point, the huge termites annoyed us, so we packed everything up and moved into the tent with the fairy lights. The next morning, the alarm clock rang very early, we dismantled the tent and climbed up Waterberg for the sunrise. The view (see photos) was just as impressive as all the sounds of the numerous animals that could be loudly heard from up there. The last time in the afternoon with the group, it didn't strike me as extremely. Now, for the second time and only with Jeannie, it was like a concert of different animal voices in combination with the wind and rustling leaves. We waited until the sun had completely risen and warmed up a bit before we went back down and prepared a cozy breakfast at the camp. We enjoyed the peace in the camp until 12:30 pm, chatted, even received a spontaneous visit from Laura and her parents, and then leisurely made our way back to Windhoek.
In the evening, I went to salsa one last time. Unfortunately, I didn't know beforehand that there would be no dance classes in June, I somehow missed that information. It was very sad because not everyone was there to say goodbye to me. But maybe I will have the opportunity to see a few of them on Friday evening.
Today, I was back at school and found out that the teacher will have her last working day tomorrow and then change schools. Let's see if I will be alone in class again on Monday and Tuesday or if another teacher will teach.
I just said goodbye to Janning, who is flying back today. In a week, I will be the one leaving😳 I still haven't fully realized it. Now I'm just lying by the pool for a while and later tonight, I will drive to friends and cook with them.
I will definitely write one or two more posts before this blog comes to an end soon.
I am looking forward to being able to hug all of you again soon ❤️