Part Thirteen: Swakopmund music week (9th - 18th December)

I am sitting in an Internet cafe writing this which in itself feels very bizarre. We left Otjikondo at 5am last Friday and headed for Swakopmund, six hours and a couple of pit stops later we arrived. We stopped to buy breakfast at Omaruru which was very weird - this is where two of the other Project Trust girls are working. We didn't see them but it was funny to imagine them working and living there. They had a huge Spar which had everything in so I can’t see them missing any particular food from England. We both bought a brotchen with a borrevos in (a roll with a sausage in) for breakfast which only cost 95p – bargain! We didn't arrive without difficulty...before we could enter Swakopmund we were stopped by the police who asked to see ID for all the Namibian people and passports and visas for Chelcie and I. Obviously none of the children had ID which he was not happy about and then he got very cross when we didn't have visas and passports. We had to tell him that we had a year visa but it was in Windhoek with our passports ready to travel to Cape Town and he was not amused in any way. He very nearly wouldn't let us through until Mrs Vermaak (the headmistress) got very cross but we have to have it couriered from Windhoek so that we will be able to get out of Swakop again!

After dumping our kit at the bungalow (two small bedrooms, a loo, shower room, kitchen, sitting room and garage) we headed for the Music course which happens at a Primary School. By now I was feeling slightly sick as really nervous about what was going to happen and whether there  was going to be any other clarinet players or if I would be stuck playing ridiculously difficult music by myself! We were handed name tags (capital P!) and mine had a little picture of a clarinet in and music course tshirts. However I was handed an age 7-8 size which needless to say was tiny. Luckily I was able to swap it for a small adult navy blue polo shirt. I spotted one other person (middle aged rather large woman!) who also had a clarinet picture which reassured me slightly.

After a welcoming ceremony which scared me even more we headed straight to rehearsals so I said goodbye to Chelcie and the girls and went on search for the clarinet room. There are eight of us playing the clarinet; mixture of children, adults, black Namibians, white Namibians and Germans. We have a lecturer - called M something, maybe Martin?! (Marius!) and an assistant lecturer who comes from Cape Town where he has just completed his second year studying music, called Zimasa known as Zim! Only a couple of us would be able to play in the orchestra and the rest of us would play in the Big Band. I didn't really mind which one I got into as I didn't know what it would consist of, however, it was very scary having to "audition". Mr M... picked difficult sections from the orchestral music which we then had to sight read by ourselves so he could listen to the sound we made, aghhhhhh!

Straight away he noticed that I had a German clarinet and asked if I was used to playing it. I said no but that I have been trying to teach myself. It didn't take long for it to come out that the clarinet that I was playing on had totally different fingering to an English clarinet and not just a few different keys. It was like playing a different clarinet. He was telling me the new fingering for notes and then expecting me to remember and play the music - this was horrible and very stressful. Luckily, he was very nice about it and told me not to worry too much but he needed to hear me play so he could judge my sound quality! When he went to get more music Zim asked he could try and play it and he couldn't make a sound for a couple of minutes and then really struggled to play it all which made me feel a lot better! My lecture compared it to trying to ride a bicycle sideways on a normal bike! However, somehow I made the grade and made it into the orchestra playing 2nd clarinet.

We then went straight to a tutti orchestra rehearsal  - playing hard music which was made even harder by having to try and remember all the new fingering for the notes while playing (the music is also incredibly fast). Luckily I knew that Faustinas had the other clarinet where he was staying so I would be able to play that one the next day. After a hard afternoons work I met up with the girls and Chelcie and we headed for the bungalow. Started cooking straight away as Chelcie had another rehearsal from 6-8 and the girls are used to eating at 6 anyway and we had been up for hours by now. We had chicken, macaroni and salad. We then went for a walk along the beach and onto the pier. Swakopmund is totally different from the Kuene region (where Otjikondo is). It has a much stronger German influence and is much more of a European town rather than feeling like Africa. The climate is also totally different, nowhere near as hot. In the middle of the day its nice but otherwise quite cold. I'm wearing jeans and a jumper at the moment rather than tshirt

After Chelcie returned after a good rehearsal we then had the difficult job of getting the girls into bed - they are all sharing one room between them (two beds and two sofa beds (two girls sleep in each one) and one girl on sofa cushions on the floor!). This wasn't made any easier when the boys they have made friends with arrived at their window to talk and gave them a mobile! Luckily they were quite tired from the drive so it didn't take much to persuade them to sleep. The next morning we awoke at 6:30 - I had slept really well as it was INCREDIBLE to be sleeping on a real mattress. 

We went to Devotion at 8:30 at the school which was a little chapel service. We sang two songs - the first one none of us knew but the second was Kumbiya and so all went straight into harmonies and adding little twiddly bits which was brilliant. The rest of the congregation was looking round at our little "Otjikondo choir" and I felt so proud to be with them and afterwards the pastor said thank you to us! Rehearsals started at 9:00 and I had sectional rehearsals where we worked on difficult parts of the Orchestral music which are not only incredibly fiddly but go at a million miles away. However I'm having great fun playing the clarinet again and being really tested. It’s really fun to be playing with people who are really amazing. A new German lady arrived today (she didn’t come yesterday as her plane was late) and she is sooo unamused that she isn’t in the orchestra and was being really badly behaved which was pretty amusing. We have a break at 10:15 till 11:00 and then we played again until 12:30 when we have a long lunch break. We then rehearse from 3:00 to 5:00 before returning to the bungalow.

After our first proper day or rehearsal all the girls wanted to go play with their friends so we

Arranged to meet them back at the bungalow at 9 and we went to find Internet. We spent an hour trying to read emails and write messages to people but it all felt very rushed and horrible. Both of us were quite homesick afterwards so went to a restaurant to find sugar and chocolate to cheer ourselves up! Chocolate mousse and breakfast tea for Chelcie and hot chocolate and crème brulee for me – we then had to power walk back to the bungalow in order not to be late so we also got endorphins from that to make us happy!

After the second day of playing Crazy German lady also known as Claudia managed to barge her way into the orchestra but Marius put his foot down and insisted she play second clarinet which meant that I was promoted to playing first. I actually thought this was a joke but he was being serious so I then had whole load of new music to learn which was even harder but I suppose its good to be tested! Crazy German lady created a lot of amusement throughout the week and gave the Germans a very bad name – she has come for ten years and apparently has developed quite a reputation!

Concerts: Over the week played in four concerts: 1. An open air concert which was an advertiser for the rest of the week, 2. An ensemble concert, 3. Orchestral, Choir and Big Band concert and 4. A repeat of the previous concert. The first concert was made interesting by the bright sun combined with a lot of wind – if your music would stay put on the music stand it was difficult to see the notes because of the glare of the sunlight! The ensemble concert was quite interesting as we played not only with the whole of the woodwinds but also just the clarinet section and we had quite a range of ages and clarinet skill! But it was good fun. The last two concerts were the big ones and they were both a success. On the first night the Carmina Burina 9which we ended the concert with) received a standing ovation which hasn’t happened at the Musikwoche for 10 years so that was quite special! We also went to the Lecturer’s concert which was spectacular. The music was incredible and I heard some of the best music I’ve ever listened to. For me the highlight was a violin solo which was out of this world. During the interval we were introduced to a friend of Mrs Vermaak’s who said “Between you and me these are two really good GAPs” – this was amazing to hear. It’s so lovely to get recognition for the hard work and know that its being noticed and appreciated.

Concert 1: Rondeau from Abdelazar by Henry Purcell (Woodwind Ensemble)

                  Ballsirenenwalzer from the Opera “The Merry Widow” by Franz Lehar

                  Carmina Burana – O Fortuna by Carl Orff

Concert 2: Rondeau from Abdelazar by Henry Purcell (Woodwind Ensemble)

                  The Entertainer by Scott Joplin (Clarinets)

                  The Big Brass Band by James Power (Clarinets)

Concert 3 and 4: Symphony no. 2 in B minor Movement 1 by Alexander Borodin

                           Hungarian Dance no 5 by Johannes Brahms

                           Hungarian Dance no 6 by Johannes Brahms

   Ballsirenenwalzer from the Opera “The Merry Widow” by Franz Lehar

                           Carmina Burana – O Fortuna by Carl Orff

                                                          Fortune plango vulnera

                                                          Veris leta facies

                                                          Omnia Sol temperat

                                                          Ecce gratum

Dunes: After the concert we went to the dunes which was INCREDIBLE! Suddenly we were in the desert and you could see forever in one direction was sand, but, if you turned around there was the sea - so bizarre. The dunes were massive and really steep - quite hard work to walk up, I thought that the top of the dune would be rounded but they weren’t, instead there were proper edges to the dune. People brought boards and went dune surfing which looked amazing fun and we are going to go this week now that the music course is over. We had races rolling down the hill which was fun but actually quite scary (no I wasn’t being a wuss!) as you go really really fast as the dunes are very steep! When I reached the bottom everything was spinning so much that I couldn’t work out if I was still moving or not! Sand went absolutely everywhere and even after two showers I was still finding sand trapped in places – even in my eyebrows!

On Wednesday Gilly arrived with her daughter who is also called Gilly, her husband Arnold and their son Oliver who is 2.5 and suffers from cerebral palsy. Oliver has been very ill over the last few days having fits and was admitted into hospital in Swakopmund and subsequently diagnosed with epilepsy. This has been very worrying for everyone but he is now back out and much happier which is a relief for everyone. After the ensemble concert we went to the Stommels bungalow with the girls and serenaded them outside their sitting room window which looks out onto the street. We sang “From a Distance” and then a Damara song. This was very moving and inside all the Stommels were crying and then the girls started crying and then obviously I started crying! Suddenly felt very homesick and a long way from home.

The bungalow: this was actually really nice although a little squished – supposed to be for six people and there were six of us. Also we had to do lots of sweeping as sand creeps in everywhere and soon we had a fine coating of sand on the floors. The girls were actually really good all week apart from one night when they were AWFUL! They would not go to sleep and just kept on talking and talking and giggling and then they were quite rude to use when we tried to get them to be quiet. After a word with Mrs Vermaak the next morning she had a little chat with them and they were really good for the rest of the week! Generally we did the cooking and then they washed and cleaned up. The kitchen was too small to have lots of people in and they weren’t very many cooking implements – not a single wooden spoon or anything to stir things with! They re wasn’t enough cutlery or plates so we bought some plastic ones. We ate easy things to cook like macaroni and mince or borrevos and mashed potato. We also took the girls one night to sing at an Old Peoples home which was really nice. They all really appreciated our singing and as usual I was very proud. The next day Mrs Vermaak arrived with Christmas presents for all of us from them which was so sweet and totally unnecessary – a bottle of moisturiser, a bar of soap and a mini bar of chocolate each (top deck with mint – very scrummy!) which was so generous of them.

Swakop: This is actually quite a small town and feels very European – a very strong German influence. Chelcie and I both agree that it feels like a toy town as there is a real eclectic mix of buildings including our very own Pandora's Box which is a cafe and gift shop! There are a lot more white people here which actually feels quite odd as we are now used to being usually the only ones. Most people speak German and everyone is really friendly. It’s really nice being by the sea although it can be quite cold at times and it’s nice being able to be out in the middle of the day. There are lots of little cafés where we have lunch and lots of African shops with bits and bobs in. Also some clothes shops but they have big shops rather than brand shops such as Top Shop like we do in England. We have both bought bikinis for Cape Town and I have bought a pair of shorts that I can train for Athletics in next term.

After the last concert we had the after party which was so much fun. Chelcie and I went back with Zim and Qwasi (cello player) to where they were staying and had whisky and coke – was actually quite nice. We then went to our bungalow (we had a race back to the bungalow going different ways and Zim and I were horrendously beaten but as I had the key they had to wait for us!). We then made a very fashionably late entrance to Kuckis where the after party was being held. We sat with Zim, Qwasi, Richard (French horn), Mfunda (double bass), Aileen (organiser) and Friederika (clarinet). Apart from Eika, they were all students from South Africa who came as assistant lecturers. Sadly they won’t be there next week as they are all going home for Christmas but they have said that we are welcome to go and stay with them at some other point which we will probably take them up on. After a very fun night with a lot of laughs they walked us back to the bungalow – once again we had a race and this time due to some cunning manoeuvres Zim and I won the race! Although he nearly passed out in the process – apparently our stealth walk was actually quite obvious and not as inconspicuous as we had imagined!

We have now moved out of the bungalow and have set up camp in Villa Veisse for three nights before getting the shuttle bus to Windhoek and then hopefully on to Cape Town. It feels very weird now that the girls have gone and we are now officially on holiday with no duties to be done! I feel that its now time to return to Otjikondo – it has become home for us and its weird to be away. Both of us have been feeling a bit homesick this week – its great having contact with everyone but it also makes us feel very far away. Neither of us feel at all Christmasy but we have decided that this is a good thing as it means we won’t miss it so much. Yesterday we went Christmas shopping – we are doing stockings for each other. I had a very successful time but I can’t put what I bought Chelcie in case she reads this so you will have to wait in high anticipation until January! I have also gained a new nickname – Zim challenged me with creating a unique nickname for him – I came up with Zebbedy (from the magic roundabout) but Chelcie came up with Dave which won as its totally ironic as nothing like Zimasa. I then said that he had to come up with one for me…..Smees (Lord of the Rings) as I am always playing with my ring! I’ve had a really great time here and met some lovely people….definitely a great start to the holidays. My clarinet playing also definitly improved and it was really lovely to be playing again. I really can’t believe that the first term is done and that I have nearly done a third of my time in Namibia! definitely 

Lots of love to everyone and a very Happy Christmas to you all

Ottilie xxxxxxxxxxxx

Part Twelve: First term completed! (2nd December – 7th December)

The last week of term has been absolutely crazy and we have been ridiculously busy but it has also been great fun although, I could do with a long lie in to recuperate!

The rainy season has now become in earnest and the last few days I have had to wear my raincoat all day. When it rains in Namibia, it really rains. Unfortunately, the electricity system doesn’t seem to be able to cope with rain so when it rains we then don’t have any power! Rain is also usually accompanied by thunder and lightning which can be quite scary! On the evening of the first I thought Noah’s ark was repeating itself, I have never seen so much rain! As our roof is made of tin this was not conductive to sleep so Chelcie and I congregated in the kitchen and started to write a list of what we wanted to do in Cape Town while toasting marshmallows over a candle! When I was in bed reading my book I heard a fluttering over my head so I looked up but couldn’t see anything, this happened twice. The third time I looked up I saw a bird squeezing its way out of the space between the ceiling and the wall where small stones sometimes fall on me! The bird flew round the room for a couple of minutes before I could get it out of the door – very odd!

Three month anniversary resulted in me having my face painted as a reindeer and Chelcie as a Christmas tree. I was very pleased with my Christmas tree but Chelcie didn’t like it – I actually thought it was really good! Sara said it looked like a misshaped butterfly but that was when Chelcie was wearing her glasses over the top. All the children thought the Christmas tree was much better than the reindeer – they thought I looked like an old man and told me I looked ugly. I do love their brute honesty!

On Friday we had prefect elections – we had to choose five girls and five boys. Everyone in Grades 5-7 voted plus all the staff, although, our votes were worth five points so it didn’t turn into a popularity contest. After everyone had voted and posted their votes into a ballot box, one for the learners and one for the staff, I helped Sara count up all the votes. It was very interesting to see how people voted – from how they voted for the boys you could tell which tribe the learner from as one would vote for a certain group and another for a different group of boys. The results were: Head Boy – Mario, Deputy Head – Brenden, Sports Captain – Tjirondwauvi, Prefect 1 – Tomas, Prefect 2 – Paulus (I voted for Brenden, Tjirondwauvi, Tomas, Diodores and Mario), Head Girl – Kenisha, Deputy Head  - Sevelina, Sports Captain – Diina, Prefect 1 – Xunta- I and Prefect 2 – Joyce (I voted for Kensiha, Sevelina, Joyce, Xunta-I and Asada). Everyone was happy with the outcome; Kenisha had a total landslide with every single person voting for her which was amazing. I was really sad that Diodores missed out and only by two points – I blame Chelcie who didn’t vote for him!!

On Saturday morning we had a baptism service for four babies from Otjikondo including Helena (Paul and Sara’s youngest). The Swakop choir sung From a Distance again (looking very smart in black tops and white skirts although Chelcie and I were in white tops and blue jeans!) and it was a lovely service although it went on for hours! In the middle Chelcie and I got the giggles during one of the hymns which was really strange. We couldn’t stop and we were both shaking – it was even worse as were sat right in front of the Stommels but luckily I don’t think they saw as we were kneeling in front of chairs. I nearly bit a hole in my lip because I was biting it so hard trying to stop laughing! When it got to communion Olivia Stommel kept on asking very loudly “What is it?” about the wafer and Gilly answered “the body of Christ” which gave me and Chelcie the giggles again as Olivia is only two and a half! In the afternoon after a last Nativity rehearsal we gatecrashed the Prefect Party at Gilly’s house which was great fun. They were already swimming when we arrived and I joined them straight away. Chelcie sat in t-shirt and shorts with her feet dipped in until I told Goddie to push her in! There were a couple of water guns and some floats and we had a lot of fun. After a large slice of chocolate cake and a glass of “cool drink” we returned to the flat for a quick change before doing TV.  We were watching “ The Spiderwick Chronicles” which was actually quite scary at points and I was sitting with some little girls so they wouldn’t be scared but, let’s be honest, I was more scared of the giant snake than they were! Erich (head boy) who was sitting behind me ended up pulling his chair very close to mine and resting his head on my shoulder which was very sweet.

On Sunday morning we showed the Grade 7’s a compilation of photos of them that we had made them and carried on writing the newsletter. On Sunday afternoon we had the first performance of the Nativity – our audience were Grades Threes and Fours from St Michael’s. Technically this was our proper dress rehearsal but we treated it as a proper performance. While I was waiting for it to start I felt physically sick I was so nervous but I was telling the cast that they shouldn’t be nervous and they would be great! We asked them to remember three things: firstly to speak clearly, secondly to have lots of energy and thirdly to smile! I so wanted this to go well as we had all put so much work and effort into it. In the end it all went really well with no obvious errors all though they sang two of the carols at break neck speed! The lights also went off momentarily twice but luckily came back on and they carried on as if nothing had happened. Gilly rated it 99% perfect so we were all very happy, I nearly cried twice as I was so proud of them and the solos were very moving, at the end Gilly had tears in her eyes!

After the Nativity we set off in the Combi with the rest of the teachers to Mrs Vermaak’s house for the teacher party. We had a really fun time: all the teachers did Secret Santa for each other. These are drawn early on in the year as they put a lot of thought and effort into what they buy for each other! They gave things like a braai, a foot massage bath thing, an electric frying pan...Mrs Vermaak gave me and Chelcie a nice packet of biscuits each which was lovely. We played charades with Pictionary cards which was great fun and very funny but meant that at times you would be trying to act cucumber or prawn! We had great difficulty getting back to Otjikondo as its cross country the whole way and there was incredibly heavy rains all evening. It was definitely a case of three steps forwards, two steps back as the Combi kept on getting stuck in the mud so we would have to reverse. At one point we had to get out and push – as we were all in unsuitable shoes this meant taking them off and rolling up the jeans. You would sink into the mud or into a puddle which wasn’t very nice but quite funny and of course we got soaked because of the heavy rain. Ken was wearing white leather boots which he was petrified about ruining so before we left Mrs Vermaak’s house he put on two plastic bags over each shoe so he would be “mud proof” – this was a very funny sight!

On Monday and Tuesday we cleaned all day and sorted the newsletter. We were responsible for having the art room, library, games room, music room, sports room and birthday cupboard spotless ready for inspection by Gilly. We also had to sort out all the art work for all the learners ready to hand out – this took FOREVER! Monday evening was the proper performance of the Nativity in front of all the staff and learners at Otjikondo. I was even more nervous as this was the performance that really counted and I really wanted them to do themselves proud – which they did. It was a very different performance due to an audience that responded much more to the play, lots of laughter. The cast were very good at remembering not to talk and wait for the laughter to stop. There was a very funny moment when the Kings walk down the centre aisle to enter and Savannah the Labrador followed them and nearly joined them on stage! Everyone really enjoyed it and our hard work definitely paid off. We had a cast party afterwards with lots of ice cream, biscuits and “cool drink” (this is what they call a fizzy drink such as coke).

After the cast party we headed to Tabs’ house for her birthday party which was great fun. We took a birthday card and a chocolate cornflake cake that I had made her. Stanley, Calistha, Ken, Festus, Elia, Chicken and another guy whose name I can’t pronounce let alone write were there and it was a really fun party. Much later on our way back to the flat, (head torch firmly in place – thanks to Tom Archer!) we saw a snake! It was a thin, long black snake, apparently a black mamba, and it was crossing the path. This was pretty scary (they can kill you) but it didn’t really sink in until the next day. I have now seen my first alive snake and I have no wish to see another one – one was definitely plenty!

Tuesday morning we had the last Church service which was very emotional as it was a “Goodbye service” to all the Grade Sevens. By the end they were all crying, as was I! There was lots of music as usual and the Grade 7 girls sang by themselves. All of the Grade 7s wrote on a piece of paper a wish and a dream which is then kept in the church for ever so that they know that whatever happens their wishes and dreams are kept safe at Otjikondo. I think this is a really lovely idea.

On Tuesday evening we had a concert and prizes for the cleanest room and classroom. At 5:30 (the concert was at 7) we went to check with Faustinas that he had enough things for the concert and to say that we would sing with the Swakup girls 3 songs, however, he hadn’t realised he had to prepare things so suddenly we had a concert to organise! We found 12 randomers and taught them the 12 days of Christmas which was hilarious – actions included! Faustinas made me go get the clarinet so I could perform – Evita and Hey Jude (amazing sight reading skills!) The Grade One girls sang “Joy to the World” which was incredibly painful and the three violin players played a piece from the Lion King together. We sang Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful and Any Dream Will Do from Joseph. We managed to pull off another very impromptu concert! In the middle of a song, Father Christmas arrived! Chelcie and I were quickly donned his helpers and we gave out all the presents to the children.

                                                Girls                                                                Boys

Grade One:                            Dolls                                                                Cars

Grade Two:                            Dolls                                                                Trucks

Grade Three/Wings:              Sunglasses, purses and hair ties/clips                 Water guns

Grade Four:                            Animal umbrellas                                              Rucksacks

Grade Five:                            Wash bags and toiletries                                   Giant tennis balls

Grade Six:                              Craft boxes                                                      Footballs

Grade Seven:                         Fleece blankets                                     Football shorts

The children were all very excited and some were even a little scared but they all loved their presents. One very funny moment when he stood up and his trousers fell down.....also he talked to each child and Abraham said he had been a King in the Nativity and Father Christmas said “Oh yes, I saw....” luckily Abraham didn’t pick up on it! We got back to the flat at about 9:30 absolutely exhausted but we still had to fold 200 Newsletters before the morning which involves folding two bits of A4 paper and slotting them together!

Wednesday – last day of term. We had an early start so that we could hand out all the art work at breakfast. This was incredibly stressful and next term we will organise it earlier so that we can give them out during the last art lesson. We then had prize giving: in each class there were prizes for the best student, the most improved and the best behaved. There were also diplomas handed out for activities and for a student who has an average of over 80% in a subject. Next term we will be much harder markers – there were lots of diplomas for Art and PT! There were also prizes for sports, music and drama as well as home ecology and agriculture. The old prefects were given Otjikondo caps and t-shirts and the new ones were announced. Also the scholarships were announced which was incredibly emotional – Grade 7’s and I were crying again! Anyone in G7 with an average of above 65% in the exams is awarded an Otjikondo scholarship. For the next five years they are given $350 per term for school fees. It was absolutely incredible to see how much it meant to the people who got them and you could see how some of them actually needed it. Gilly nearly got knocked over as one person rushed at her so quickly to give her a hug when she was awarded the scholarship. I had chills all over my body. This is something that really shows how special Otjikondo is – they are the only primary school in the whole country that has anything like this. At the end all of the staff lined up and as the children left we shook hands with every single one or gave them a hug. This made me cry again (December might have a high total!) as this would be the last time that we would see some of these children and some of them are so special and I will miss them lots.

I really can’t believe that I have got to the end of the first term here. If I am being totally honest when I set off from the airport on the 31^st of August I really wasn’t convinced that I would last this long. I had serious doubts that this was going to be the right thing for me and I couldn’t have been more wrong. I have had the most unbelievably amazing term, done some of the most incredible things and seen some wonderful sights. I found the beginning of the second month hard but otherwise I have been really, really happy here and I couldn’t actually think of anything that I would rather be doing on my Gap Year. The people here are so lovely and some of these children are really, truly special. We find out things about their home lives which can be really difficult to hear but it makes you marvel at how well adjusted they are and how some of them have to be old before their years. Otjikondo is an incredibly special place and all the learners are so lucky to be able to go to school here. For many of them it’s not just a school but a home where they have so much love and some fantastic opportunities which they wouldn’t receive elsewhere.

Anyway, enough raving about life here as I will make you all jealous; tomorrow will be a day of cleaning the flat, finishing writing letters home, and packing for the holidays. We leave at 5:30 am for Swakupmund on Friday and rehearsals start at 2 o’clock that afternoon! After talking to Faustinus about the orchestra I am rather apprehensive as it is much smaller than I imagined – there could be a possibility that I might be the only first clarinet in which case I think I might have to lie and say I learnt the second part! Hopefully I should have more access to internet during part of the holidays so I will be able to keep you all updated on the next chapters of my adventure!

Lots of love to everyone,

Ottilie xxx

Part Eleven: Ringworm (1st December)

Chelcie had been complaining for a couple of weeks about this thing on her elbow which looked a bit like a scab and was quite scratchy. I told her to show it to the nurse or one of the Stommels just to check it out, but she didn’t. Anyway, she finally asked Sara and.............Chelcie has ringworm! I laughed a lot and then quite a lot more! It’s highly contagious so if I get it I will be highly un-amused! As she’s had it for about 5 weeks now, tough wood, hopefully I’ll be safe!

Part Ten: Happy Birthday Diodores and Daddy( 23rd November – 30th November)

Wednesday was a very busy day as Chelcie not feeling very well so she stayed in bed. Having done art with G2’s – got them to draw their “Dream Worlds”, I then went and mopped the stage from where we had spilt blue paint from painting the backdrop. Ms Shituleni also hadn’t come into school that day so Mrs Vermaak asked if I would take the G3 class as well. I put on a DVD for them and the G1s who I was supposed to be doing art with and then the G2s also joined me as their teacher thought it might be nice for them! On the plus side I got to watch Princess Diaries and had a rather relaxing morning! After taking Wings for PT I returned to the flat for a quick lunch before rushing off to a Nativity rehearsal which was absolutely awful – they seemed to have gone about 3 weeks backwards and couldn’t have make the whole thing more boring if they’d tried! Started to despair quietly...Went back to flat and made Good Luck cards for all the Grade 7 learners I do Remedial with as their “common entrance” started on Thursday. Gilly came to my Swakup music week and was very happy with what she heard so I think that everyone is being allowed to come which is good – touch wood.

On Wednesday night we had a bit of a good bye party as Nina left for Windhoek on Friday morning and then flew back to Germany on the 30^th. I made spaghetti bolognaise and chocolate bread and butter pudding. With the help of a certain clear liquid we had a very fun night – Tabs came and Stanley and Festus were supposed to come but got held up so we had a girly evening which was really good fun and a good way to say goodbye. On Thursday lunch time Nina cooked for us and Tabs, Festus and Mr Ken came and we had a really good time – Nina baked her 8^th cake in the last couple of weeks! At break time we had a bit of a party in the staff room with brochen and another cake that Nina had made. We took a photo of all the teachers together which was nice after a considerable amount of coaching to Mario about how he should take the photo and not to cover the lens with his thumb! It was sad to see her go and it will be weird with just me and Chelcie in the flat.

We have been incredibly busy making the backdrop and doing all the scenery but it is now all done and was definitely worth all the hard work. Our Nativity is set in heaven (it tells the traditional Nativity story from the point of view of the angels who organised everything) – we painted the top two thirds of the backdrop indigo and then glued on stars cut out of silver foil. On the bottom third we made clouds by gluing on rolled up balls of thick tissue paper into balls – this took hours and hours, the edges of the clouds have been spray painted silver (every cloud has a silver lining!). We have also cut out giant clouds from polystyrene and spray painted the edges silver – these have been stuck around the edge of the stage and hung from the ceilings. We also cut out loads of stars which are either silver or gold and they have also been hung from the ceiling. We have tried to make it that as you enter to watch the play you enter heaven because of the 3D effect.

On Friday evening we had a disastrous Nativity run through – if Gilly had seen it, the play would have been cancelled instaneously – this is not an empty threat as it happened last year. We went down to Gillys very depressed but were greeted by a huge bundle of post which made us both very happy and we both got a parcel. Mine was from Godmother Jo and had an advent card, a Christmas present and a bar of lindor chocolate in. Incredibly exciting and the chocolate went straight in the freezer and I can’t say it lasted long there!

On Saturday the Nativity was shown to Gilly to decide whether it would be good enough to be shown to the school or not. Luckily the children all acted proplery and for the most part remembered where to walk and stand. Although it didn’t go without hiccups Gilly was happy and said it was about 70% which was a good place to  be – very relieved. We had another good run through on Sunday and this time we let them wear their costumes. It was very exciting to see them up there with all the scenery and in their costumes and I was very happy with how it went. However Shepherd 2 had chicken pox so I had to act her part which got a bit hysterical when I was lying on my front on the stage and trying to direct at the same time! We have a slight issue in that we have a couple of bee nests at the top of the stage which buzz very loudly when the stage lights are on, fly around, scare the children and have stung a couple of them. The worst thing about them is that Chelcie has made a series of bad bee jokes including “Bee careful” and “Don’t be afraid”, which I have had to suffer!

Monday was Diodores birthday (G6 – one of my favourites, if I’m being totally honest my absolute favourite!) so I made him a card and a  “D” out of hammer beads which he liked but what he really wanted was my ring which he really loves and likes to “borrow” often! Had quite a relaxed week as not teaching Grades 4-7 and with the others we have been doing end of term things such as watching a DVD in their lessons. On Tuesday we had a staff meeting to discuss prefect elections which happen on Friday. Grades 5-7 vote and all the staff although our votes are worth 5 so its not just a popularity contest.  We vote for Head Girl, Deputy Head Girl, Sports Captain and two prefects and the same for the boys. We went through all the current Grade 6s and everyone voiced their opinions. Some people we said yes to straight away and some were discarded straight away but some of the children caused very split opinions among the staff as to whether they would be suitable. I have already chosen five girls who I will vote for but I still need to narrow down the boys from 7 to 5.  We have also been doing the Birthday Cupboard for all the learners with Birthdays in December so that they don’t miss out because of the holidays. We mistakenly tidied all the cupboards before doing this so had to do it again after loads of children had rifled through them! Eric (head boy) took my favourite top in  “Large boys” – a blue lumberjack style shirt but he promised to let me borrow it on Saturday so I’m happy!

Today is Daddy’s birthday – Happy Birthday! Funnily enough going to try a horse! Weird not to see him but he got my card which I had sent on the Out Weekend and I managed to print out 5 photos which I sent with his card and one of my favourite poems (Three little Foxes) – he said his favourite photo was the one of the elephant which I took in Etosha – not one of his beloved daughter who he hasn’t seen for the last three months! When I texted him to see how he had got on with Jaspar (the horse he was trying) he said he wasn’t suitable but he had brought another horse called Finn home. Mummy later texted to say Daddy had only ridden him for 30 minutes before bringing him home - typical Daddy! I was lucky enough to spend the day at one of the Stommel’s farms, where the Heritage Centre is, with the Grade 2s and Wings on their class outing. We had a really lovely day out, although, I am now knackered. After a tour of the Heritage Centre, we spent the morning playing games such as football, skipping games (very difficult – you need springs in your feet), British bull dog, and a lot of African games such as “skolloley”! We then had a braai before heading back to Otjikondo. On the way back Joandre told us that we were the best gaps every and Tylan-Dre asked that we stay until she finished Grade 7 – so sweet and lovely to hear!

The rainy season has begun as we have had several thunderstorms and rain – they usually happen either early evening or during the night – not so good as we sleep under a tin roof which makes rain very noisy! The rain is nice as it clears the air and the next day is always slightly cooler however the electricity system in Namibia cannot cope with rain therefore it is pretty much guaranteed that if we have rain then we wont have electricity. This means that cereal is often on the menu for supper and we each have a candle and a box of matches in our room for when the light goes.

The shop: apparently I haven’t painted a very good picture of this so hopefully this will clear up any previous discrepancies. The farm shop is in one of the farm out buildings within the farm yard. It is very small and the only fresh thing it sells is potatoes and onions. All the food is on shelves behind a wooden counter that runs the length of the room. Customers come up to the counter and ask whoever is serving for what they like. Namibians generally pay for each item one by one so that they know they will have enough money for the most important things which they would order first. The shop sells things like pasta, rice, dried lentils, cereal (muesli, cornflakes and occasionally rice crispies), some biscuits (custard creams and then different flavour ones like chocolate, strawberry and vanilla and also rusks which we buy), there are also tinned things like spam, tuna, sweet corn, mushrooms, pineapple and other fruits, a few spice packets and then toiletries (shampoo, toothpaste, soap, washing powder, shoe polish...). There is also a freezer where you can buy cans of drink (coke, appletiser, beer, sprite, fanta – orange, pineapple or grape) or chicken or gemsbok. You can also buy some snack things like a small packet of peanuts, a packet of sweets or a bar of chocolate. All the food arrives from the Outjo supermarket on a Thursday and bread and elephant’s foot comes from the Bakery on a Friday afternoon. The annoying thing is that you can’t guarantee that there is going to be the same thing there every week as sometimes they won’t send something – sweet corn has been a staple part of my diet but it hasn’t come for the last couple of weeks.

Every Friday we get our box of food which contains either a broccoli or a cauliflower, a lettuce, a butternut squash, a bag of peas, a lettuce, two cucumbers, a bag of tomatoes, a carton of milk, a dozen eggs, one or two pots of yogurt, a hunk of gouda (orange cheese) and three bottles of fruit juice (mango, orange and guava) and some six brechen (rolls). The annoying thing is that the order is never exactly the same – quite often the leave one of the vegetables out, sometimes the gouda is massive and other times a small slice. The peas normally come once or twice every three weeks which is actually a good thing. Anything like pasta we buy from the shop and that goes on the GAP account which is paid for us. If we want a treat like a fizzy drink or a bar of chocolate this goes onto our account which we pay for. 

I can’t believe as Daddy pointed out today that I have now done a quarter of my time in Namibia – the time really has flown and I have had an absolutely incredible time and I’m very excited about travelling this holidays. So records for the month: I have sent 21 letters and received 24 (you win this month!), cried once (how impressive is that?!), made one birthday card and twelve good luck cards, DJ’d at one party, painted a backdrop, been on two class outings and read 21 books. This was on the side of a can of coke I drank: Right now 138 million people are sharing a meal with the people they love, 72 million people ar laughing, 19 million are celebrating their birthday and 48 million people just smiled at stranger, which I thought was quite nice.

The next time I will write a blog I will have completed my first term at Otjikondo – how scary is that? It was lovely to get a letter from Hen from her brief stay in England between Botswana and Hong Kong and of course the parcel from Godmother Jo was incredibly welcome. However the shout out has to go to Mummy who is by far my most regular correspondent and I love getting her letters and hearing all the news from home – I am sure that one of the parcels will get through eventually! Love to you all as usual and have fun opening your advent calendars tomorrow morning – I know I will

Lots of love

Ottilie

Part Nine: Snowy comes to stay and an unexpected trip to Outjo (15th November – 22nd November)

Ms Rachel didn’t return from her trip from Windhoek until Wednesday so on Tuesday I took the G1s again. Mrs Vermaak kindly took them for the first period so I had time to prepare for the rest of the morning! They were much more energetic and very boisterous – we did a worksheet on weather, filled in our weather charts – there was one cloud in the sky so we put down cloudy as I didn’t want to put sunny down again! We did some simple maths sums and then I read them a story – “Beware Princess”! Had our first really long power cut from lunch time until about 8 today when Paul came and fixed it for us – he switched the same switch we had been switching all afternoon but he obviously had the magic touch as suddenly we had light!

The children here are all obsessed with my feet! Everyone here wears open toed shoes – flip flops or sandals, and I’m literally the only person who wears closed shoes! When I went on the Grade 4 trip all the children saw my feet when we went swimming and reported back to the rest of the school how beautiful my feet are. Since then I have been plagued with requests to see my “beautiful toes” and questions as to why I don’t wear open toed shoes – I find them uncomfortable! Although I find this all very odd and a bit weird I have at last shown all the children my feet and they are totally fascinated – quite a few children have promised to buy me “plaquies” at Christmas so that they can see my “beautiful feet” every day!

We had our last spelling tests for the term – food for the younger ones (only 14 spellings as I wrote down macaroni twice) and magnetism and electricity for the older ones. We have three children who got full marks throughout the term which was very impressive: Jacky (G6), Linea (G7), and Otsho (G7), so they will get spelling prizes at the end of term. We finished on a high with 56 children getting sweets for spellings.

We had an upsetting incident in one of our Art lessons with G1; everyone was working when suddenly I noticed that Andrias was crying on the floor. We didn’t see what happened but apparently he had teased Leonardo and Leonardo had hit him. Leonardo had whacked him across the face which made an already wobbly tooth bleed and then come out. Ms Rachel the G1 teacher came and went absolutely ballistic at Leonardo (really scary) and said that she would ring his father and get him to come to Otjikondo that afternoon to thrash him. It was really horrible and in my view not a good way of teaching the lesson of not to hit other people.

I might be famous...! A man arrived in the staff room- he had come about a month ago to visit Tuyakula and Tuwilika (identical twin girls in G5) as he knows their mother, this time he returned with a TV crew! Apparently, he had permission to film from Mrs Stommel via Sara but when I later confirmed this neither of them knew anything about it only that he would come occasionally with some tourists but not a TV crew! I showed them around and took them to the G2 class and the G7 class, both of which sang for them. Sao (G7 girl) played up beautifully and was hilarious to watch as she followed them around. I then took them outside and they filmed some children playing. I also was filmed quite a bit but only realised half way through that I was carrying my red clipboard and wearing a pink t-shirt – I will most definitely be edited out!

I brought with me the ring that Sas gave me for my birthday, the ring Izzy gave me for my birthday and obviously my silver seven ring, ring. I always wear two of them and the children absolutely love them...especially the boys! They love to borrow them and I have so many requests for them to be allowed to have one “to remember me by”! I’m not so sure about this!

Sara and Paul went to Swakopmund for five days so Snowy came to stay with us and we went everyday to feed Georgie bird (the parrot). Snowy is so unbelievably cute and a very good time waster. He slept alternately in Chelcie and my rooms. One night he fell asleep on my foot as I was writing my diary at my desk – so sweet! Alas Snowy didn’t understand that at the weekend we are able to sleep a little longer and wanted to be played with at six in the morning!

On Friday night we had four G7 girls come help cover cardboard stars in silver foil – they got lots done which was perfect. While they were doing this I helped Elifas (G7) with some Geometry as he had asked me for some extra help. He doesn’t do Remedial maths with me but he was in Wings. I had spent the last couple of nights making him some beautiful revision notes – if I do say so myself! And hopefully they will be helpful and he will pass! Had an incredibly busy Saturday as we cleaned the GAP flat so that it was immaculate – it had got a bit messy because of all the prop making and Gilly had noticed. Everything is now spick and span – I sharpened so many pencils that I got two blisters on my fingers and no I’m not just being pathetic! We also decorated the Hans Seidal hall with balloons and bunting for the disco we were holding that night. Stanley had promised to be back from his day out to do the music for us....but he wasn’t. This left us with no African music and not knowing how to play music out of the TV so we only had the GAP flat CD player. Luckily one of the children went and got Mr Ken (G6 teacher) who came to the rescue, and soon we had African music blasting out of the TV speakers. I gave my camera to Goddie and Immanuel (both G7) who took hundreds of photos. Everyone had a really good time – some of those children can really dance! I also now have about 50 photos of Immanuel, luckily he’s beautiful and really photogenic, and quite a lot without his top on!

On Sunday we started painting the backdrop – the top two thirds indigo and then the bottom third clouds. We both had rollers and it wasn’t that bad although you get covered in specks of blue paint! On Monday morning we finished making 17 pairs of sunglasses for the Angels – quite a feat! On Friday we had our first run through for the whole play – although it took an hour and a half to do it wasn’t too disastrous and made us think that it would just be about possible to pull it off in time as long as God was on our side!

I have been very busy sorting out the music for Swakopmund. I have made ten music folders which is filled with recorder music and singing music – hymns, carols and some other songs such as “Any dream will do”. We have had lots of extra rehearsals and they sound really great. In Church on Sunday we all sang “From a Distance” which went really well – hopefully all the girls will be allowed to come! On Sunday evening the children go and sing in the Church and it was lovely to hear them learning “From a Distance”.

As it’s nearing the end of term, in PT lessons with the younger ones we have been playing games like Musical Chairs and Musical Statues which they all love. I am actually quite good at Musical Bumps and in the G2 lesson I was the last girl in for Musical Statues! Chelcie is not as good but claims it’s because she is tall...?!

On Tuesday night we went down to Gilly’s house to get meat and Ms Shituleni (G3 teacher) came to collect money for their class outing the following day to Outjo. Gilly asked if one of us would like to go to – what do you think our answers were? And as we were teaching G3 double art and Music she said that we could both go much to our excitement. We set off from outside the Dining Room at 6:30am (having already sprinted back to the GAP flat as I had forgotten the letters to post!) and we set off for Outjo – the learners were very excited to see that we were coming too as we had told them that we weren’t. We were both very excited to see Outjo from another perspective and to do something different from the day. We sat in the front of the Combi which Tabs was driving. Technically it was only one seat so we were quite squished but definitely not complaining at this point!

Our first port of call was the Bakery – although they had already finished most of their baking we were given a tour and we saw some pastries being glazed, pigs ears (pastry biscuits) being dipped into a vat of chocolate and some sesame fingers being made. This was all fascinating and absolutely mouth watering! The children were all given a free Koekis (square piece of chocolate cake with hundreds and thousands on top) and in return they sang lots of songs beautifully for the owner. We then made our way down the street stopping at the bank, the garage, a leather shop (some really beautiful leather bags), a general shop and finally ending up outside the Post Office. At each stop we were either given a little talk or Ms Shituleni improvised and then the children would sing. While the children breakfasted on peanut butter sandwiches and oros, (the most disgusting brightly fluorescent coloured molten sugar drink!) Chelcie and I went into the Post Office to buy stamps, post letters and open the magical post box to collect the mail. Not only were there three letters for me but a parcel slip which I excitedly and mistakenly thought might be for me – no such luck! After a quick trip back to the Bakers – custard Danish for me with mango juice and  an apple doughnut and apple juice for Chelcie, we headed for the police station where we were given a lengthy and at times interesting talk by the Commander in Chief! We were taken to a prison cell which was incredibly basic and horrible – walls covered in obscenities, metal loo in the corner, and the sounds of prisoners coming through the walls. We were also taken to the room where all the evidence from cases is stored – this smelt awful as there was no window and the door has to remain closed at all times. The evidence ranged from empty coke bottles, to pairs of shoes, to food Aid, to rucksacks to a packet of marijuana which the policeman took out to show the children and then managed to spill over the table! The policeman took all the children’s hand prints using the finger printing machine and then Chelcie and I stamped each other’s arms with our thumbs!

We then made our way to the hospital – this was the first time that I have suddenly realised that I am in Africa not for a positive reason. The hospital was split into two parts; old and new. The new part wasn’t that bad (it was for private patients) in that it appeared to be clean and functional although there were no single rooms and there didn’t appear to be much privacy at all. We were shown the “Psychiatric Ward” which I found deeply shocking – it was no more than a prison cell. There were no windows and the floor was stone, in the far corner there was a mattress on the floor and there was a drain for the loo. The door had bars on and three bolts – we were told that if you didn’t get better here, then you were moved to the big mental hospital in Windhoek. I don’t know how anyone could possibly get better in such surroundings, especially, as it was called a ward suggests you would have more than one patient in there at a time. We were then shown the morgue and the nurse informed the children that this was where the dying people (not dead) people were sent – I sincerely hope that this was a grammatical error.

We then made our way to the older part of the hospital which was truly shocking and made me feel very teary. The rooms were bigger with a lot more beds in and the state of the rooms were awful. It appeared to be very dishevelled and dirty, signs on doors were selotaped on and they were holes in the floor where the tiles were missing. Just walking around I started to feel dirty and tainted. The children’s ward was horrible – instead of beds there were cots which to me looked like cages. It was very obvious which patients were there suffering from AIDS. In the maternity ward we saw the G4 teacher who had a little baby girl the day before. I think that both Chelcie and I got our first real dose of culture shock – I find it really difficult to understand how it can be deemed acceptable to have somewhere so inhumane and in obvious neglect supposedly helping people to get better.

We then made our way to the museum where we ate our lunch in the garden – hamburgers, ice-cream and fizzy drinks – a real treat for the children and for us! We had a quick rest before going in – I lay down on my front on the grass in the shade with the girls and soon I had about three girls playing with my feet, Destiny playing with my hair, and Japua lying on top of me as apparently the grass was spiky! We spent a short time looking around the museum which was about the history of Outjo before heading for the Taxidermy...

The Taxidermy was fascinating – this is the place where you take an animal skin and it is made into a rug or mounted. We were told the method they use and shown some of the places where it all happens. We went into one room which looked like a dry cleaners – lots of racks with hangers, however, instead of shirts or trousers hanging up there were lots of animal skulls! Needless to say it was a pretty smelly place! The end room was a large barn filled with the mounted animals which were incredible and very realistic. I saw my first snake in Africa – luckily it was dead and was persuaded to touch one, strangely it felt rather nice – very silky!

We then make our final stop which was to the supermarket before heading back to school. Chelcie and I decided that after all our hard work we had done and to come we deserved a few treats! We bought pizza for supper, a large pot of ice-cream for our freezer as well as toblerone for me and coco pops for Chelcie! It was a very interesting, if shocking, day out and we had lots of fun and it was a lovely change from the norm.

This is a dedication to Lou Lou who has requested via letter, text and via Mummy that she would like a mention in my blog! So here goes....thank you very much for your regular correspondence which is much appreciated and very welcome. You are a very good sister but I cannot give you the prize for the best sister as that is an ongoing competitive race which is yet to have a clear cut winner!  I’m very glad to hear that you aren’t e.....d or p......t yet as promised and I hope it stays that way until I come home!

Lots of love to everyone as usual - I hope that you are all well and that it isn’t too cold. I’m missing you all lots and I really do appreciate everyone who is staying in contact – it makes me feel a lot closer to all of you, hearing what you are all up to. Second shout out has to go to Hattie, even though she has yet to write to me! (A very long letter arrived from Hattie, the day after I wrote this, which was much appreciated, so the last comment is no longer valid! I am very excited that we will be living much closer to each other) Every Saturday I take my iPod to the cleaning session as it makes the time go quicker – my group of children have three songs which they request weekly: 1. The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars, 2. California King Bed by Rihanna and 3. Without a Smile by Hattie Briggs! They all love it and it makes me very proud of you as it is brilliant – we all want to hear your next songs so send them to me (for the sake of the children)!!

Lots and lots of love and a gigantic hug

Ottilie xxx

Part 8: Grade 7 Farewell Party and the sacking of Mary! (1st - 14th November)

Cant believe that its now November - I left home in August which was Summer and it is now properly Winter although here it's hotter than ever! We only realised that it was the 1st of November at 12.00 while teaching Grade 5 Art which resulted in Chelcie and I chasing each other around the art room to see who could do "Pinch, punch first of the month no returns" first, I won, much to the amusement of the learners!

We have started teaching high jump - this is not a problem for the younger years but a bit trickier for the older grades that want proper demonstrations as I am truly awful at high jump but obviously cant say or show that as I am the teacher! Although Chelcie had no qualms in demonstrating her lack of skill!! (Don't worry she is in the room as I'm writing this I'm not just really rude - sorry Gero). The stands which the pole rest on don't stand by themselves so we have to hold them - when Betty (in Wings) jumped she managed to knock it and it went straight into my forehead. This was pretty painful (Chelcie very unsympathetic) - the stand is made of metal!

So far its been the week of the mouse. Having had all our saucepans sitting out on the counters while we left mouse poison in the cupboard, on Wednesday this got too much for my OCD so we washed everything up and put it all back again. We reorganised the Kitchen so now it feels more like our space and it looks a lot nicer especially now we have got rid of the hot plate that we were cooking on. However, the mouse still lives as it ran into the Kitchen from the garden so Chelcie chased it out again with a broom. The door between the garden and the Kitchen is staying firmly shut at all times now! During my G6 remedial class a lizard joined us in the Art room and then went into a cupboard. I didn't like it in there so Abner went to go and get it out - he picked it up and it bit his finger and then he chased me out of the Art room and quite a bit further before chucking the lizard in my direction. I should never have shown my weakness for creepy crawlie things to the learners, however, the rest of the group were impressed by the speed when I ran away. In our G6 Art class Paulus brought his pet mouse in a plastic container to our lesson. It was actually really small and quite cute but it still creeped me out so the mouse had to sit outside the classroom - I didn't like being it being in the same room as me!

The 2nd was our two month anniversary at Otjikondo - in the evening we toasted marshmallows over burning cardboard in our braii which were absolutely delicious! We painted our faces on Friday as Wednesday and Thursday were just too hot. We had three fireworks each on our face although Chelcie was not very impressed by my art skills - I'm better at tiger cubs than fireworks!

On Thursday I was given my clarinet. I decided not to bring the clarinet with me as I just didn't seem to have enough space for it and the music - this was a mistake and I have regretted it. However, the author of "Namibia calling" came from Germany for a couple of days with his concert pianist father and they brought me a clarinet. This was incredibly exciting - the clarinet is German and has slightly different keys to an English one and is actually incredibly hard work to play! I was given the clarinet on Thursday night and told to organise a concert for Friday morning... I got the six advanced recorder players from G7 plus Charlothe to play the drums. We gathered in the Chapel at 8.45am and quickly organised a programme. Suddenly the audience swelled and I was actually quite nervous. Gilly, Reiner, Sara and the children, the author and his father and about 6 visitors who videotaped the whole thing! It was an interesting concert - the children did very well considering we had no time to practise but there was one excruciating recorder piece, luckily I caught the authors eye and he was smiling so that was okay. I played "Another suitcase in another hall" which was fine but not great as still getting used to the clarinet. However, I felt like a proud parent when the learners sang and played the Marimbas. They are really very talented and I just felt so proud of them. Gilly kept on requesting more music so we played for about half an hour in the end - I was quite happy with my first impromptu concert.

Had a bit of a scare with UCAS when Mummy texted saying that I needed to ring them immediately but not saying why and being very secretive. However, none of the numbers worked on my mobile so Mummy rang. She explained that she had managed to lock my account but something had changed which meant that I had either been rejected by somewhere or given an offer. I went down to Gillys and she let me use the Internet so that I could email UCAS saying that they could talk to Mummy as my representative. Mummy also explained that I have been asked to early interview at Exeter but obviously not available for that but at least that's a positive thing. UCAS then said that an email wouldn't be enough and gave Mummy two new numbers for me to try but neither would work on my mobile. I was now quite stressed as I didn't know what else to do....Chelcie the genius made me try on her mobile which worked! I managed to talk to UCAS who unlocked my account and have put Mummy as my representative so she can now deal with everything. She also told me that UEA had given me an unconditional offer which was SO exciting as I now have a uni that I would happily go to on my return. Very funny as the UCAS woman worked out that Mummy was talking to her colleague at the same time explaining that I couldn't get through!

Saturday was the G7 Farewell party so we had some last minute rehearsals during the week. On Tuesday we had one organised at 2.00, finally at 2.20 everyone had arrived and at 2.30 Chelcie and I walked out! They were being so rude asking why we had made them come - because they still couldn't do one of the dances - complaining they were tired and they put absolutely no effort in, so we left. Sara had strict words with them at the beginning of the Art lesson and we managed to get everything done. We spent Saturday morning decorating the stage - on the back wall *Grade 7 Farewell* in a semi circle with *2011* underneath in the middle which Chelcie made (Chelcie likes to write little comments in red on my blog which she thinks are funny! Here she wrote "give me some credit" which I thought I had already done but obviously not lavishly enough so - WELL DONE CHELCIE the letters were incredible and looked very smart, you deserve a gold medal for your incredible artistic and rare talent in being able to do bubble writing!) They gave as a present two pomegranate bushes to the school so we put the same material around the pots with a star on the front. The night was so much fun - we went over at about 6.45 and took loads of photos of the G6s who were waiting on us and they all looked so smart in white and black with little white aprons. The G6 boys described me as "hot" and "dangerous" which I cant say is what I expected from my pupils! The G7 boys joined and then slowly the parents and the girls trickled in. I sat on table 3 with Uemuura, Philoo and Mina and all their parents. We ate meat salad, followed by chicken schnitzel, rice and coleslaw and then fruit salad and ice cream. (Reading back over the blogs we have realised that I always go into great detail about the food - but I am a foodie!) In between the courses we had a welcome speech by Mrs Hawaxas (Deputy Head), a speech by Mr A van Niekerk (school inspector) and Mrs Vermaak (Headmistress), a "word of thanks" by Mrs B Jagger (a mother), the three songs by the G7s and of course the Otjikondo High Court.....

The High Court was absolutely hilarious. Every year they arrest two people (kept a secret until the night - we were petrified as they kept on hinting in would be us) and charge them with crimes they have committed. The crimes are serious but very funny. The learners dress up as policeman, judges, lawyers... The first case was a man who worked in the electricity department and he was charged with the 47 power cuts that occurred from January to May 2011. He was very funny and he got away with a warning as it was considered not his fault! The second case was made against Letha who was the hostel Mother for Weavers but left without giving one months notice - this case was abandoned as it was "discovered" that the judge was her daughter Olivia in disguise. They were all very funny and it is something I definitely wont forget. Chelcie and I were in charge of serving pudding so we had to go and dish out 120 portions of fruit salad and ice cream. Considering that we aren't allowed to serve ice cream at Gillys house yet as we aren't very good this was daunting. However we managed with some help from Gilly and Tabs - I did the fruit salad and Chelcie the ice cream. Very funny as Chelcie was pretty much using her fingers to get the ice cream off the spoon which the G6s were very shocked by. After the Grade 7s did Auld Lang Syne we had dancing on the stage which was great fun. We were both very proud of the G7s as they all looked incredible and they did the songs and dances so well. The girls go full out - full length slinky dresses, heels and wigs. Passion wore this bronze dress and her make up and hair made her look exactly like Cleopatra which was very funny! Anyway 293 photos later we had a very memorable night.

On Monday morning Mrs Vermaak told us that the singing had been the best they had had at a G7 Farewell which was lovely to hear. The downside of this is that she expects the same high standard for the music week - when we busk  and play at the old peoples home, as well as now having very high expectations for the Nativity - no pressure! The Grade 6s also got into a lot of trouble for Saturday night because after all the dancing they went into the Kitchen and were stealing all the leftover food and then had a massive food fight - Gilly was not amused!

We are now having three rehearsals a week with the girls coming to Swakopmund in order to learn enough music on the recorder and singing and it obviously has to be a really high standard. Gilly has made ten really smart music folders to put all the music in so I now have to copy out everything that they have learnt so far and put the new pieces in. However, four of the girls (Lizelda, Exeldra, Passion and Margaretha) have been suspended from the music week as they were in the wrong place and didn't return to the hostel until 9.30 on Friday night. Hopefully, if they behave they will be allowed to come but its touch and go at the moment. I have had my music sent to me from Swakop so that I can practise and should be able to play the music by the time I arrive - it shouldn't be allowed for composers to write with 4 sharps or 6 flats!

We have spent this weekend making clouds, stars, crowns and streamers and the Kitchen is filled with polystyrene. The crowns and streamers are finished but there are lots more clouds and stars to make. The Nativity is coming along well and finally there is a bit of life in the scenes and we have chosen all the solos and blocked the carols. We have had to replace Mary as it wasn't working out so our Angel 15, Revonia, is now playing Mary and our Angel 2, Desiree, is also playing Angel 15! Luckily Mary isn't actually a huge part but Revonia already knows all her lines and is doing brilliantly.

We have now booked and paid for the Intercape - we leave from Windhoek on the 23rd and after a 20 hour journey we arrive in Cape Town. We are now coming back on the 1st at 10am as it was £40 cheaper than the 3rd but I don't imagine the journey will be much fun! We have also booked our Youth Hostel and we are staying in Long Street which is supposed to be right in the middle of things. We have been reading lots of travel books and have got very excited about all the things that we want to do.

After a horrible PT lesson with the G4s when we made them run laps instead of continuing doing high jump after some of the boys had all charged at once at the mat and were doing somersaults over it, we were also told to go home as they wanted Catherine and Jordan back - something we really wanted to hear, we no longer have to teach them. Apparently its not just us they are horrible to and everyone is having a problem with them at the moment. Its a real shame as individually there are some really lovely children in that class but all together the create a pack.

This Friday night Chelcie and I had an amazing time and we both agreed that if we hadn't bonded by now (don't worry we have) this would have been the moment when we would have realised what nice people each other were! I had made a new concoction for us to eat - potato and cheese pie with mushrooms, onions and peas in which was good although our potato masher is not that effective so there were a few lumps in it! I made streamers (cutting strips of pink shiny paper and sticking them onto kebab sticks) while Chelcie covered stars in silver foil - after one try Ive been banned from stars although I am good at cutting out clouds! We made our CD player work as a speaker so had lots of music on. We then decided to listen to the music from "The Button Box" this is one of the options we were given for the musical next year - we have fallen in love and it is now a definite. We listened to all the music, many of the songs twice if not three times!  There are four main characters: Grandmother, Grandfather, little girl and boy - the latter two are going through their Grandmothers button box and for each button there is a song/story. The music is absolutely brilliant and all totally different - one is about a chocolate button, a Chinese frog, a belly button, an aboriginal one, an Irish leprechaun one... for each button there is a song and some a dance - we danced for about an hour and we already know some of the songs quite well. The Irish leprechaun one will require us to choreograph a 3 minute Irish dance - we already have lots of steps in mind. Elifas (G7) and Diodores (G6) came to return some DVDs and found us dancing crazily around the Kitchen to the Irish dance music which they found hilarious. They stayed for a bit and then we all roasted marshmallows on the Braii which they loved. They obviously went back and told everyone about the "crazy GAPS" who were going mental in the Flat! We also discovered the mouse dead in the middle of the floor - I say we but mean Chelcie. I had been putting things away in the fridge and then moved away, Chelcie then went over to where I had been and was very surprised that I hadn't noticed the dead mouse lying inches from where my feet were. At least its now dead and we don't have to worry about it anymore....unless it has brothers and sisters!

Sara and Paul have adopted a little white kitten with grey stripes. Two very small kittens were found wandering around so they now have one although Paul hates cats! It is very sweet and they are going to Swakop on Wednesday for the weekend so we get to baby sit it which is very exciting. On Saturday night we went to Gillys house for a braii which was great fun as usual and Michael the author has returned for a 3 week visit. Chelcie and I were blackmailed into singing although we managed to escape but only just - actually Gilly wanted Chelcie to sing as she thought I was just a clarinetist but then Chelcie managed to turn the attention onto me declaring I had done my Grade 8 and could sing in German -yes, she is supposed to be my friend, obviously not a very good one! We were given a very strong spirit which was dark brown, incredibly strong and tasted like very potent cough medicine. Gilly also told us about the boy who is coming to St Michaels in January (brother school to Otjikondo and also run by the Stommels) - he is called Sam, comes from Oxfordshire and has the same birthday as Chelcie - very odd. So Sam, if you are reading this HI! I think we will see quite a lot of him as he is coming by himself so I think he will come to Otjikondo for  quite a few weekends.

Chelcie paragraph - normally I tell you things that Chelcie says which she considers funny (!) but the last two weeks the joke has been on her. Just as we were getting ready for the Grade 7 Farewell (when everyone wants to look their best) she managed to shave off her leg, removing all hair and most of the skin. Not a pretty sight! I was actually quite sympathetic...On Saturday mornings I always do the Boys bank and Chelcie the Girls. Chelcie always finishes first as Gilly does the G1 and G2 girls so she has less than me. However, this week I finished first, due to Tjirondwauvis sterling work, and celebrated triumphantly until Desvino arrived late wanting bank - I was not amused! At this Chelcie decided to taunt me with her win - running backwards laughing at me. BUT the last laugh was on her as she fell over backwards removing more skin from her right leg. I found this very amusing and was very unsympathetic to her complaints! On Sunday night she managed to burn herself twice on one finger picking up a hot pan - oven gloves Chelcie?! Apparently this is all my fault.....I hear you question why. Apparently I am clumsy and it has rubbed off on her...so I am to blame?! Skewed logic if you ask me...

Today I got to teach the Grade Ones as their teacher wasn't there. I really enjoyed myself although I know that I definitely don't want to teach that age group (six and seven year olds) as they are too young. I did some maths with them (If my Father has nine sheep and then he sells six of them, how many does he have left?) and then I read them a story called "Little Tiger" which they then answered questions on. We also filled in a weather chart - surprisingly enough Monday was Sunny! 37 is a lot to control in a class but much easier when they are all sitting down at desks in twos but there are quite a few girls in that class who I still don't know the names of.

I'm not sure when the next one of these will go up as I don't know if I will have access to the Internet during the holidays. I am thinking of you all lots and lots and I hope the days aren't too dark. I have been very virtuous and last week went running on Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning, although my calf muscles were not very happy with this! I am now going on the tar road  and then turning left onto the gravel road through one of the farms. The downside of this is that my foot has now packed in and is jolly painful. Shout out this time has to go to Staighty for her incredible letter which was so funny - cant believe that she has been allowed to teach Netball - that should be a crime as we played in the Fs together in Shell!
Lots and lots of love to everyone and I hope that you are all well and happy.
Lots of love and a big hug.
Ottilie xxx