3 weeks of school and future plans

The third week at school for visually impaired children is over. It's still fun working here, even though the days are starting to feel similar. Since I'm in the preschool class, the children repeat the same things almost every day. The usual topics are numbers from 1-10, weekdays, months, seasons, shapes, and colors, etc. However, I occasionally get to sit down with individual children, take over the teaching, or come up with a task for the blind boy. As I have now found out, the teacher did not study teaching and honestly told me that she has no interest in the job. You can see that very clearly. Both in her competence and her motivation. Sometimes she actually sits at her teacher's desk during class with her phone, listens to music on her phone, or talks on the phone and eats chips - it's really hard to believe, but that's how it is 😄

The past weekend wasn't really exciting. Most of the others were on a trip to Swakopmund, so there were only five of us at home. On Friday evening, I went out to eat with Jeannie. Saturday morning, we went to the gym, then to a market, and then we were invited for brunch. In the afternoon, we were at the house, relaxing by the pool, making friendship bracelets, and playing billiards. On Sunday morning, we went to the gym again, but I was already feeling very tired, so I went back home after 30 minutes. In the afternoon, we gave math tutoring to a boy, and nothing really exciting happened.

Yesterday, the fourth week started, but since I wasn't feeling well and the taxis were on strike, I didn't go to work. But today I was back, and as suspected, I quickly realized that there are only a few children there and I am completely unnecessary. Since the three-week vacation starts again on Friday and all the tests and exams have been written, there is no more teaching, and most parents just keep their children at home. That's why I talked to the principal today and agreed to come back after the vacation on May 21. As you can see, I have learned not to just sit here and get bored 👍🏼😉.

Let's see what I will do in the next few days, but I'm sure I will find a project where my help is needed.

Next Wednesday, May 2, my last trip will start, which I am looking forward to. After a long back and forth, I decided to "treat" myself to this last trip. This time, I won't be traveling with the other volunteers from my organization. I will travel alone to Cape Town for the first few days and then take a guided 7-day trip to Swakopmund from there. I will spend another 1.5 days alone there before returning to Windhoek after 12 days. Of course, I will give you more updates on the go, as far as the internet allows.

I will then return at the beginning of June. You may be wondering now, "Beginning of June?" - yes, you heard that right. Actually, I should have returned at the beginning of July. After a looong decision-making process, I changed my flight and shortened my stay by 4 weeks. There are various reasons for this, some of which are difficult to explain here. One simple reason is that with my original departure date, I would have only had 5 days in Germany before flying back to Italy. By now, that was simply too short and stressful for me. I want to arrive home in peace again and have enough time for family, friends, and hobbies before moving on. In addition, I realized that 5 months are enough for me - I'd be happy to explain it in more detail when I get back. In any case, it has absolutely nothing to do with not feeling comfortable here or not liking it. So everything is great!! I'm just really excited to see you again in a little over 6 weeks!❤️❤️

See you soon!