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

Part Seven: Wildebeest blood on our hands - literally, and legs and feet! (28th October - 31st October)

The morning started with a bang or should I say a scream. I was cleaning my room and I just moved the two cardboard boxes that hold my letters and my mementos when I saw three of those massive black beetle bugs. I trapped one quickly and ran to the kitchen for two glasses to trap the others - I had to chase one but otherwise that went fine. I then picked up one of the boxes and SCREAMED - there was a bug underneath crawling towards me, and promptly dropped the box squishing the bug! Chelcie was in her room having a shower but came quickly having heard my 'operatic' scream!

We set off for the tar road with our rucksacks on our backs where we saw Chicken also waiting for a lift. Literally as we left the grounds Chicken flagged down a car and we all got in. Chelcie and I got in the covered boot of the truck and we began our journey! We played 'how many animals can you name for each letter of the alphabet' - Chelcie was much better than I was although I remembered gnat for G! WE arrived in Outjo and headed for the Bank to get some money out.

On our way a guy started talking to us asking where we were from and lots of questions including what we were called. I didn't want to say my actual name so I became Anna and Chelcie was Rachel. This was quite funny as we kept on bumping into him and he kept on calling down the street 'Anna, Anna' - he was selling little wooden balls and he engraved Anna into one which he then wanted me to buy! Chelcie for the first time in her life forgot her pin code so was unable to get any money out!

We headed for the supermarket where we picked up toiletries as well as some things we needed for the flat - raspberry jelly, popcorn kernels, marshmallows and cupcake cases! We also bought some Aero as a present for Roland and Byron. We then made our way to the phone shop as Chelcie had been complaining for weeks that the mobile her parents sent out didn't work. The phone shop rang this guy who came down to sort out the mobile - Chelcie handed it over explaining that she was unable to make calls, send texts or receive any. Literally just as she gave him her phone, it rang. It was very funny although rather embarrassing as it turns out she just hadn't had signal before!

We then made our way to the Bakery for our first hour of Internet which went so quickly - I didn't even manage to read all my emails let alone reply to anyone. We then each bought a pastry and a drink: I had mango juice and a custard danish and Chelsie had a coke and a yum-yum type thing. There were so many delicious looking things that I could have happily eaten! having had our elevenses we went to the Post Office to post letters and buy some stamps which are actually quite expensive! The Post Office lady directed us to the Bookshop where we bought envelops - but no airmail ones, and there was a printer where we both printed off a couple of photos which was nice. WE then went to the Bank to see if Chelcie could use her driving licence as proof of ID to get money out but that didn't work out so I got some money out to lend her (hero). After a bit more wondering about we returned to the Bakery for some lunch.

We both had steak burgers with chips and an Appletiser which amused our waitress! This was quite good although not amazing! We then did two more hours on the Internet and I posted all the other blogs. Sorry I couldn't put any photos up as they took forever to load but hopefully when I get to South Africa for Christmas I will be able to post some up. The time went really quickly but it was amazing to be able to talk to some friends on Facebook chat and leave messages for those not online. It was very odd as Chelcie managed to email two photos to her Mummy and then I asked her to email one of me sitting under the school sign to my Mummy but it failed. However that night Mummy texted saying that it was so lovely to get the picture of me and C so not sure how that happened - magic! Turns out it was a photo of me and some children - C stood for children not Chelcie, no Mummy I am not a mind reader! (N.B *actually Mummy sent a text saying that we had got a picture of Ottilie and C (standing for Cluny) had put it up on the computer!*) We then waled back to the post office as I now had Izzy's Hong Kong address and wanted to post that letter. On our way we were met with crys of 'Chelcie' and 'Ottilie' from a minibus full of Otjikondo children which was really odd!

We then returned to the Bakery for a treat and a drink for the road - we both had cokes and I had the yum-yum type thing and Chelcie had what looked like a flapjack half covered in chocolate but it also had pastry on the bottom and tasted more like a biscuit and it was nuts not oats so not really anything like a flapjack! We walked out of Outjo and past the turnings so we could start trying to hitch a lift. This was actually plan C as we wanted to get a lift with the Bakery as they deliver to Otjikondo on a Friday afternoon but they were full, so we then rang someone called Reinhardt who drives that way on a Friday but he was already at Otjikondo so plan C it was!

It didn't take long for us to catch a lift and a lovely lady called Mrs Miller picked us up. She was a white Afrikaans lady and was driving her 15 year old son Julian back from school with his 2 17 year old friends. She was really friendly and we got to sit on a seat(!) and she took us 30km out of her way back to Otjikondo. We made a quick pit stop at the GAP flat dumping our purchases and grabbing our rain coats as it was now raining. Luckily Paul and Reiner drove out and they said they would give us a lift to the turn off to Ohorongo Safari where Roland was picking us up. We got into the back of the truck and the 13km drive was CRAZY! Neither of us had our hair tied up which is a big mistake in the open air - the wind was so strong, it was raining and really large hail stones were hurling at us. Our cheeks went all floppy and we could properly lean into the wind and not fall over! We were both quite relieved to get there in one piece although our hair was now one giant tangly knot!

After about 25 minutes Roland and Max (his puppy) picked us up - luckily it stopped raining, in the Safari Cruiser and drove straight at us - psycho! It is about a 50 minute drive to the Lodge from the road across pretty bumpy tracks. On the way to Byrons house we stopped to look at the Lodge which is truly incredible. The clients stay in these fairy tale looking thatched cottages. There was a rectangular swimming pool with a wooden bar with loads of animal skulls, skins and horns as well as lots of African carvings. We saw the "dining room" which had a drum made from an elephants foot sitting casually in the corner! We then drove on to where Byron lives. We dumped our bags and then we went for a walk - I have totally fallen in love with Ohorongo as it is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been to. We walked down to a massive lake and Max had an incredible time chasing sticks and swimming. The sun was setting and I have an incredible photo of a black tree against the setting sun and its reflection in the water. It was so serene and peaceful and I massively envy Roland who walks there every night.

We went back to Byrons house and had a cup of tea outside while Max and Ganga went crazy. We also met the fattest cat in history - Musket! Roland then challenged me to a game of pool even after I told him I was totally awful and to be honest I was slightly wary after the last time I played pool - you all know what happened! However, after a few tips from Byron I discovered a small amount of talent and I was actually beating Roland - I took a photo to prove to everyone who has seen me play pool before! At the end we both had two balls left and then sadly he won. We played again and I was totally thrashed - Roland potted one of my balls before I did! We had supper which was steak, new potatoes, squash and vegetable sauce followed by chocolate! Byron is a complete chocoholic, and we had Toblerone, the Aero we brought and Toffiffee - hazelnuts covered in chocolate and then toffee. You can only get them in Germany or in Johannesburg airport and the order has already been placed by him for when my parents come out! (note from Mummy: you can actually get them in England, watch share prices rise in April!). My OCDness became very apparent - they weren't eating the Toffeffee in rows but kept dotting around the packet which was slowly killing me. I also got ridiculously jumpy as we kept on talking about insects....ugh. Roland kept throwing little balls of silver foil at me - one of them went down my dress and gave me the biggest shock when it fell out a couple of minutes later!

Chelcie and I shared a double bed and it was lovely to have a proper mattress. I had a lot of nightmares about massive insects because of all our previous conversations. At about 3am Chelcie shouted out her pin number which made me laugh as this is what I had predicted would happen. I was woken up at 5am by Ganga licking my face which scared the living daylights out of me as he woke me from a dream about giant insects which I then thought were on my face!

On Saturday we went for a drive around Ohorongo with Roland - we sat on top of one of the Safari cruisers and we could see forever. I have properly fallen in love with Ohorongo as it is so spectacularly stunning - you drive on little sand roads through this amazing park with the most incredible animals. We saw hundreds of springbok - they are so funny when they run as they look like the have springs on their feet, gemsbok, vultures, zebras, giraffes - some baby ones which were soooo cute, warthog, a fox, jackals, Roan - really weird looking creatures with massive ears, Korribuster birds - the heaviest flying bird in the world and white tailed wildebesst - they are very impressive looking creatures (imagine the Beast from Beauty and the Beast) but the noise they make is a giant hiccup which is hilarious coming from such an impressive creature!

We went to their tented community which is the equivalent of 5* camping. The tents are massive and sit on raised platforms - inside there was a four poster bed and a single bed and they had ensuite bathrooms! They were incredible and the view was even better. There was even a small swimming pool and a dining room with more animal skulls.

On our way back we caught sight of a herd of blue wildebeest which is what Roland wanted to shoot, however they were all standing behind branches and after about half an hour of waiting they cantered off....we followed. This time Roland was able to shoot one - the bang was SO loud. Roland then went off with his gun to see where the wildebeest had died. Chelcie took this opportunity to go to the loo behind a tree - she had been desperate for hours! It was then that we noticed the name of the car was "Green Bitch"! Roland returned and he drove the car to where the now dead wildebeest lay - this was really odd as we had seen it alive about 30 minutes earlier and now it was dead....

We had to get the wildebeest into the back of the cruiser to take it back. We tried to pick it up but was way too heavy - Roland discovered that I wasn't lying when I said how weak I was - I was useless! Chelcie had picked up the head and lots of blood fell out through its nostrils down her leg and onto her bare foot, I nearly wet myself laughing. Roland then gutted it to make it lighter - this was really rank and he thought he was really funny and threw the wildebeest balls at me! He had to be really careful so he didn't puncture the stomach which was MASSIVE and there were lots of poo pellets hanging about which had been on their way out... After he gutted it we tried to move it again - this was really difficult as the wildebeest was really heavy and as I said before I am really weak. Finally we got it onto the truck and then we washed ourselves as I now had wildebeest blood on my hands - really disgusting!

We set off back to the house - I now sat in front with Max and Roland as I didn't want to sit over a dead body! Roland is a bit of a psycho driver and suddenly we heard this massive thump - I thought Chelcie must have fallen off the bench but the wildebeest had fallen out of the back of the cruiser! So we reversed and started the procedure all over again which was much harder as it was now slippery with blood! Eventually we got it back in and then Chelcie felt really faint. She got in the front which meant I had to sit over the dead body which was staring up at me with its tongue lolling out. I felt I was being cursed by the blue wildebeest - not a pleasant experience especially when I looked down at my right leg and saw massive globules of wildebeest blood sticking to me!

After showering we had a very late lunch of sausage, cheese sausage, mealy pap and vegetable sauce. The mealy pap had been cooked totally differently and looked like a whole new food. Luckily it tasted totally differently as well - this time it tasted like sticky rice and was really delicious. We then had a rest and started to hand wash our jeans. Byron wanted me to wear a pair of his and made me try on about 3 pairs even after we worked out that he had a 38 inch waist and I'm a 28 and for them to fit length wise they would have to sit right under my boobs! I also got a tad burnt even though I was wearing sun cream - my watch mark is now incredible but I have a ridiculous looking stripe across my feet in between where my jeans stop and my Toms start!

At about 6.00 we set off for the Oktoberfest - wearing still wet at the top jeans! I sat in the back in the middle between Roland and Chelcie who thought it was great fun to squish me and I swear by the end of the journey I was narrower! Roland was also astounded at my lack of balance as I lurched from side to side - the roads are very bumpy on the farm. We went via another safari place to collect some zebra skulls to send to some clients in Europe. On the way we nearly had a horse join us in the car as we rounded a corner and there was a horse coming directly towards us. Byron stopped the car just, literally just, in time!

Oktoberfest was so much fun - it was held in the Farmers Union Hall at Kamanjab. We paid $100 Namibian dollars to get in which paid for supper which was delicious: choice of lamb or pork with bacon potatoes, squash and cheese salad and bread followed by cheesecake. The beer was really cheap $15 but to me tasted pretty horrible! We did a lot of dancing - to a mixture of Afrikaans music and American oldies music and it was so much fun. They also had lots of crazy competitions - for the men "Who could saw through the log quickest" and "Who could pick up the most bricks" and for the girls "Who could pick up the most pint mugs filled with water". All very bizarre and incredibly competitive! They all danced in the waltz position with lots of turning and swivelling and we did a mixture of this and normal dancing. This was very funny as you would often get waltzed into!

We spent all our time with Byron, Roland, Peter and Paul (Stommel) which was really fun and we also met some of the local farmers. Peter is the third guy who lives and works at Ohorongo. He is a German Namibian - he has blond hair and the most incredible ginger, curly moustache (imagine a ginger Poirot!). There was a very long speech in the middle in Afrikaans saying thank you to everyone - Chelcie got the hiccups, which meant that we all got the giggles and were very badly behaved!

Paul brought us back to Otjikondo which meant that we woke up in our own beds which was lovely. I had my first lie in - still woke up early but snoozed until 11am. Spent the rest of the day reading, relaxing, planning lessons and writing up the diary.

Quite tired on Monday but nothing that crazy happened. Goddie (G7 and one of my favourites, although at the beginning I kept on calling him Godot by mistake because of "Waiting for Godot"!) who lives in Outjo and has a girlfriend called Natasha who goes to school there, told me that he waited for half an hour in the Bakery for me, to introduce her! So cute but we had just left - I wanted to meet her to see if she was good enough for him! We also used the oven for the first time as we now have an extension lead. We had fajitas (had some in the deep freeze from when we first arrived) so chicken, onions, cheese, lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. It was really yummy and I made a nice sauce from tomato ketchup, mayonnaise and extra hot Tabasco. However, we had another visit from our mouse. We now have a mouse which lives in the Kitchen - not really sure why as it is immaculate and clean but not good news at all as mice attract snakes. We need a mouse trap pronto!

I cant believe that it is now the end of October. So, records for the month: I have received 16 letters, sent 27 (I'm winning!), made 3 birthday cards (Chelcie 19, Matti 4 and Stanley 27), cried 5 times, seen 55 elephants, lost at pool twice, hitch hiked twice and read 9 books.

It was so lovely to talk to the people that I did talk to on Friday on Facebook and I'm sorry to anyone who I missed although I hope you had a message from me instead. I cant believe how quickly time is flying by and it wont be long until I am in Swakopmund on the music week. Lots of love to everyone and a big hug to everyone particularly special! If the English weather gets too depressing just think of me in the baking heat to cheer you up!!

Lots and lots of love,

Ottilie xxx

Part Six: Christmas comes early and we get an oven (16th October - 27th October)

It had been a music weekend so church was filled with different groups playing including my Advanced Recorder group who played ‘Morning has broken’ – felt like a proud parent watching them from the congregation! Gilly asked us to take photos of the learners playing music during the service so we snapped away.  Chelcie and I then spent the morning cleaning! Not only did we clean out the fridge but we also defrosted the freezer – wow I am still only 18!

This week was the week of cross country running! I now have a route which consists of a figure of 8 around the farmyard and the school. I run on Thursday and Saturday mornings and can do three laps in 25 minutes. We also did this week in PT with Grades 3-7 with various degrees of success even though we only make them run it twice. In the Grade 7 lesson I got the crossest I have ever been here and I used the disappointed card! After telling them that we expected them to run and then take a break when tired and not run, about half of the girls pretty much refused to run. This made me boil over as they didn’t put any effort in and this resulted in me losing my temper and then forcing them to do extra laps running around the football pitch threatening that if they didn’t they couldn’t go on their class outing!

Spellings this week were colours for the younger grades and Science body words for the older ones. They had learnt them much better this week and we had lots of people getting full marks although from now on Grade 1 won’t take the Spelling test as they are too young and really can’t spell! Second week was animals for the younger ones and Geometry words for the older ones – requested by Grade 7s but I  could never spell parallelogram!

Tuesday was Stanley’s birthday so him and Tabs came to lunch and then again for supper for birthday cake.  Also Gilly went to Otjiwarango and bought us an oven! It is black and looks like a big microwave – it has a grill, an oven and two hobs on top! This is incredibly exciting although we can’t actually use it yet as there is nowhere to plug it into yet but we are very happy looking it! Unfortunately, our washing machine has broken so now we are washing things by hand which isn’t actually that much fun and I’m not sure how good I am!

It has been the week of horrible insects! On Wednesday when we were tidying up the art room shelves we discovered a MASSIVE MASSIBE yellow, hairy fat spider on one of the shelves. I got chills all over my body and it was so big that not even Chelcie could deal with it! We went to enlist the help of the Grade 7s but when we returned...it had gone! They spent a while looking for it but it is talented at hide and seek. One of the children tickled my neck and I jumped about a foot and screamed so loudly which they all found hilarious – I less so! On Friday night I was in bed reading by book when I heard a scurrying noise which sounded distinctly like a mouse coming from the box where I keep all my letters...I went to investigate! When I pulled out the box I discovered a huge spider dragging another smaller black bug across the floor in order to eat it. It was HORRIBLE! I didn’t feel I could wake Chelcie up so I had to be brave so I manage to thwack it with one of my shoes leaving an imprint of spider on the floor – ugh! In the morning there was a massive black, long fat horrible beetle bug scuttling across my floor it was running away quickly so I had to chase it and trap it under a glass ready for Chelcie to deal with later! I really really don’t like the bugs out here – they are all so giant and horrible and unnecessary!

Had a really fun weekend – on Saturday night we went to Paul and Sara’s house for a Braai and Byron came who is always good fun. For pudding he bought a carrot cake which was delicious and a massive round, French cheese which looked a bit like brie. It had been made from unpasteurized milk and tasted like sweaty socks – it was REVOLTING so we all had to have more cake to take away the taste! He had also brought a toblerone which one of his clients had brought out and that was delicious! Amazing to eat real chocolate and made me think of Daddy! On Sunday morning we went there to watch the World Cup and they were finishing the cake and toblerone for breakfast! I found it quite ironic that I ended up watching the match as if I had been in England I definitely wouldn’t have watched it! We then went to Gilly’s for lunch so we were fed well! In the evening Roland came round for a bit as he was on his way back home from a party and it was nice to see him.

We have started to make props for the play and sort out the scenery. In my craft group today we started the presents for the Three Kings as well as making gold coins for the Innkeeper. Over this week I have now completed the “Project Plan” which is a huge sheet with God’s plans for Jesus in pictures on – drawn by Chelcie, coloured in by me! We have also made a scroll using the sound technique of squishing a tea bag on paper.

Our washing machine broke this week – it is now mended, however, I had to do some hand washing....this is what I thought I would be doing here anyway and I’m very glad I don’t have to! I don’t think I was very good at it so might just put everything through the washing machine just in case! We are now able to use the oven as Gilly bought us an extension lead so I think Monday will hold the grand ceremony of the first use of the Oven!

In Otjikondo, everyone is either in the Yellow or the Green team. The Green team wins all the sports events and the yellow team are the academics. All the learners, teachers and hostel staff are in a team and once you are in a team you are in that team for life! I am now officially in the Yellow team – it is my favourite colour and as I’m the sportier of Chelcie and I we thought it would be a good idea as apparently the Yellows never ever win the sports but maybe this year. In January for the first five weeks we do Athletics every day for two hours – this is already filling me with dread but at least I will be super fit....if the heat doesn’t kill me first!

On Monday I have playgroup with ten girls from Grade 1 and 2. I am reading them “The Witches” by Roald Dahl which they loving. It was very funny as Sagittarius, Elifas and Linus (boys from G7) all came to listen and were enthralled and promise to return next week! This week has been crazily busy as we have had two extra rehearsals every day – one after lunch and one after supper so have been pretty exhausted. As we have tomorrow off there is no Nativity rehearsal so we have been having practices with small groups to help them learn their lines and trying to get them to learn the Carols which is easier said than done! The Grade 7 farewell supper is next Saturday so we have had two practices with them as we have to prepare 3 songs with them, two of which require dances!

On Monday night suddenly all my post arrived which was lovely and I got 12 letters and a newsletter from Project Trust. After much anticipation I got my first two letters from Emma which were incredible which included a lovely quote which I thought was very suitable: “Though miles may lie between us, we’re never far apart, for friendship doesn’t count the miles, it is measured by heart”.  It was also lovely to get two letters from Izzy A which was amazing as I feared she might have fallen off the face of the earth! I also had masses from home which was lovely as well as a letter from Granny Paula who said she had read my blog – so if you’re reading this I am sending lots of love and a big hug and a letter is on its way!

Very excited about tomorrow and our trip to Outjo where all these blogs will finally get posted along with putting photos onto Facebook for you all to see. However, quite apprehensive about our first go at Hitch hiking, I will probably end up spending the journey in the back of a truck with some chickens and goats! Thank you once again to everyone who is keeping in touch, it is lovely to return to my room at the end of a long day to have a text from a friend with some news of what you are up to. I hope that everyone who has just started Uni is having an amazing time – write me a long letter and tell me all about it!

Lots of love to everyone as usual

Ottilie xxx

Part Five: Not one Elephant, not two elephants but fifty five elephants! (14th October – 15th October)

You can stop holding your breath – never fear I am alive and well having not been eaten by a lion or an elephant!

Thursday night seemed to go on forever as I lay awake in bed like a six year old eagerly awaiting Christmas – I think I slept for about two hours as I was so overly excited! After a cup of tea and bowl of muesli and yoghurt I made my way over to the school at 6:30. All of Grade 4 were in their home clothes and had a little bag and a blanket. We packed the cars and by 7:00 we were off. The boys went in the Buggy – an enclosed van with no seats in the back so all the boys sat on the floor. This towed a trailer which had the tents and the sleeping bags in, Festus drove the buggy and Ms Rachel sat with him. Stanley drove the Kombi which all the girls sat in and I sat in the front. This is like a minibus but not as civilised as the ones we know – the seats are more like benches with backs but no seatbelts. We also packed all our food into this.

So we set off to Etosha and went via Outjo to collect the sausage and rolls which were to be for our supper that night. We had a slight problem in that the Kombi every time we stopped such as at a T-junction the whole engine would cut out! This was quite funny but we didn’t think it was a good idea to go Etosha with a crazy van which might land us stranded among lions so Stanley made a quick trip to the garage where they flicked a switch and all was solved! All the children had a chance to go into the big supermarket and spend some of their saved pocket money – laden with sweets and crisps we set off again. While sitting in the Kombi, I got out my camera to take a photo of the girls and to my horror it didn’t turn on – I didn’t understand as I knew it had a full battery as I had charged last night. I opened the battery part and nearly died – I hadn’t taken the battery out of the charger but had put it away in my cupboard in the GAP flat. So no camera to take photos with....I was devastated but still very excited about everything that we would hopefully see.

Etosha is massive so it wasn’t long before we were in “Etosha region” but it was a couple of hours before we reached Okaukuejo. At the main gates of Etosha Park we stopped to give the children their break of jam and bread which was much appreciated. Ms Rachel told me that she had brought a camera so I could have copies of all them – massive sigh of relief! Before we even reached Okaukuejo I saw my first herd of Zebras and springbok. Zebras are really cute and their faces look really cheeky. I’ve decide Otjikondo should definitely get a pet Zebra which I could take for walks in the morning! Our final destination for the day was Halali which was where we were camping, but we stopped at Okaukejo to climb the tower. Okaukejo is one of the places you can stay in Etosha – you can camp there or you can stay in a little apartment and there were a few shops, a restaurant and a couple of pools. I bought some postcards of the animals that I would hopefully be about to see. Then Ms Rachel discovered that she had lost her camera! This so nearly made me cry as the thought of having no photos twice was too much! After a panicked 10 minutes the camera was found and it was handed to me for the rest of the trip....thank you! We then climbed the tower (103 steps) and at the top the view was incredible. You could see for miles and miles in every direction.

We then made our way to Halali – you could drive whichever way you wanted and you saw the animals on the way on the side of the roads or at the water holes. We saw so many animals – it was absolutely breath taking. We saw zebras, giraffes, gemsbok, springbok, ostrich, vultures, secretary birds, jackals, hartebeest and my first two elephants! We were at a watering hole when we saw them – they were so incredible. Even bigger than I expected and so unbelievably beautiful! From then I couldn’t stop grinning which all the children found hilarious and Stanley finally began to believe how much I love elephants. After that I would have been happy not seeing anything else! We sat and watched the elephants that were drinking and splashing the water over themselves and of course I was snapping away on the camera! The only shame was that the learners don’t have a very long attention span so we didn’t stay for nearly as long as I wanted, although, I could have stayed for hours!

At another waterhole where we were watching Springbok and giraffe the Kombi then decided not to start again! This was quite alarming as there signs all over Etosha saying “Do not get out of your car” but Stanley had to get out to try and fix it! After 10 minutes of hitting the fuse box (I think?!) with various things and the car still not starting we both got out our mobiles to ring for some help (don’t actually know who we were hoping to ring?!) but as usual in a crisis there was absolutely no signal! Luckily after some pushing and more hitting the Kombi decided to start to our huge relief!

By now the learners really wanted their lunch and claimed to be dying of thirst – it was incredibly hot but they really know how to complain/whine! We arrived at Halali for a late lunch at about 3:00/3:30. Having lunched on cold fried chicken and macaroni salad everyone was feeling a lot happier. Everyone changed into their swimming gear and we made our way to the swimming pool for a much needed swim! As my bikini bottoms were stolen in Windhoek I was borrowing Chelcie’s swimming costume! I was pretty nervous about the whole activity as we had 33 learners who couldn’t swim and me being put in charge – talk about responsibility! Luckily Stanley had got a swimming badge when he was at Otjikondo, so he assured me everything would be okay! Everyone who knows me knows that I am a very self conscious person so I wasn’t delighted when Ms Rachel told me to check out the pool while they all watched! The learners are all incredibly skinny....so I clambered out of my shorts and a t-shirt and swam two lengths much to the delight of all the learners! Having discovered where the shallow end finished all the learners jumped in with shrieks of delight which made all the European tourists laugh a lot! You could see all their brains whirring trying to work out where I fitted in with 33 children and 3 adults! The learners were incredibly happy and we spent a couple of hours in the pool cooling off with me teaching some of them to swim, giving them piggy backs and generally splashing around! It felt absolutely incredible to be in the water and to be properly cool for once! Stanley and I had two races (I won both!) which illustrated to both of us how unfit we were! One of the tourists asked me why we didn’t let them out of the shallow end and when I said that none of them could swim she suggested that I tow them round the deep end. I didn’t feel this was such a fool proof idea!

When we got out of the pool two German tourists told Stanley and me that they had an alligator in their car! They had been driving along and seen it in front of their car and then as they had carried on driving it had got into the bonnet! I didn’t believe them so they told me to look....I screamed as I saw this massive lizard thing, about 2 metres long, wrapped around inside the bonnet! They all found this incredibly funny. It wasn’t an alligator (they didn’t know the English word) but I think it was an iguana! They were trying to get it out of the bonnet and they had these massive pincer things which they were trying to grab this creature with! They persuaded me to look again and as I looked over the bonnet it poked its tongue upwards which scared the living daylights out of me as it was almost a metre long! They managed to get it out of the bonnet and it shot up into a tree which I was then taking photos of. One of the German tourists came up behind me and sort of picked me up and carried me towards the creature – more screams! I was then rather worried as we were camping very nearby and I really didn’t want to share a tent with this thing!

The children then all showered and started to pitch the tents and we had the difficult job of working out where everyone would sleep. There were 6 tents and 21 sleeping bags - the plan was that Stanley and Festus would sleep in the cars and that Ms Rachel and I would share a tent, however, we worked out that this would mean that the girls would have to sleep with 8 in a tent and the tents aren’t that big. There was also the added complication of the fact that some of the children still wet the bed. They had brought their own duvets to use but we didn’t want to separate the bed wetters: 4 boys and 6 girls! I ended up sharing a tent with 5 girls in which we all slept head to toe! It was pretty cramped and the floor was very solid! After we had cooked supper of sausages and a roll with left over macaroni salad and I had told them all “Beauty and the Beast” and “Cinderella” we made our way up to the water hole. This was 5 minutes walk away and by now it was dark. We passed a sign informing us that “Tourists visit this waterhole at their own risk”! Luckily I had brought a torch as no one else had!

There was a wooden structure above the water hole where you could sit and watch the animals sitting on rocks or wooden benches. When we got there, there were five rhinos which were incredible – so powerful and quite scary looking! We watched them for ages until some of the children started to fall asleep. It was very mesmerizing as you had to watch in silence and it was dark apart from some lights lighting the water hole. We took the children back to the campsite and they all went to bed. I told the girls to leave me a space to sleep and Festus, Stanley and I went back up to the waterhole to wait for lions. The rhinos had gone but we sat and just talked quietly. After an hour and a half we decided to go to bed as nothing had come and we were exhausted but Festus set his alarm for 2:00 (when the lions were predicted to come) and he was going to wake up Stanley who would wake me up. Despite being sooo tired I didn’t really sleep – too much excitement! But at about 1:30 I managed to sleep thinking I would manage a quick cat nap but woke up at 4am! Festus had decided not to wake us up and had gone back to sleep himself! I tried to go back to sleep but didn’t manage it – I had forgotten to bring a pillow so I was using my rucksack with my fleece on top as a pillow. When I looked down I saw Audrey’s hand on top of the fleece – she had obviously thought it was soft and then I had been using it as a pillow! Later I also discovered a Bible underneath the fleece so I had a pretty weird pillow! The learners woke up at 5 and then didn’t want to sleep anymore and by then I was quite cold and ready not to have someone’s feet in my face! Lavinia was also sick this morning at about 5 and then a few more times later – apparently she gets ill every class trip from nerves combined with excitement. Luckily she felt better over the morning and by the time we headed home she was fine.

At 6:00 we went back up to the waterhole where there were Giraffes drinking which were so beautiful and we watched them for about an hour. After breakfast of bread and jam and packing up the tents we left to try and find some lions! We took some photos at the gate to Halali next to the giant elephant’s skull! We then spent an hour or two driving and not really seeing anything and then we decided to head back to Okaukejo, on the way we went to a waterhole where we saw 46 elephants. I was in pure heaven! There were three families there including some really small baby elephants that were so CUTE! We watched them walk and wash and splash each other and it was just incredible. I nearly cried! I got really emotional and had one of those “Oh my God, I’m in Africa and I’m watching elephants” moments – so weird! On the way back we managed to get separated from the boy bus as Stanley took a wrong turning and by the time we turned around they had vanished but we caught up with them when we reached Okaukejo. We were planning to swim here but they wanted to charge us $30 each to swim as we weren’t staying there that night so we couldn’t. Stanley and Festus went to look at the waterhole there while I tried to debate with the Staff about the swimming! Stanley then came back for me as there were 5 elephants at the waterhole. This was the most amazing, wonderful, incredible sight I have ever seen and I could have stayed for days watching! We sat so close to the waterhole that if I had jumped the fence I could have touched an elephant in under 20 seconds. There were loads of zebras and springbok and 5 massive elephants and it was just unbelievable. Unfortunately we could only stay about 10 minutes as we needed to go and get the children and Ms Rachel but that 10 minutes totally made the trip for me. I also bought a little wooden spoon here with an elephant on the top for remembrance!

We were then told of a sighting of lions about 22km away so the lion hunt was back on! We drove in eager anticipation until we reached the water hole where there were so many zebras, gemsbok, springbok and ostrich. We could also see two lions sitting down eating – one male and one female. They were quite difficult to see but the binoculars were very useful and were passed around eagerly. They were so magnificent – in particular the male. It then got quite funny as they started “making love” which the children found hilarious – especially the girls with the binoculars at this point! Stanley and I tried to eat the sour worms that I had bought in Outjo but they had all melted together into a sticky mass and we had to use his pen knife to try and cut it all up!

After lunch of Vet Koekies and an ice lolly (special treat) for the children we headed for Otjikondo. We got back at about 5:00 – I was totally exhausted after no sleep and being in the sun driving all day but couldn’t be happier! After telling Chelcie everything and exchanging our presents! (You’d think that we had been parted for longer than 2 days – we both bought presents and left each other notes when I left! We have also started talking in sync and finishing each other sentences and we haven’t even lived together for 2 months yet!). I bought her a Cheetah postcard and she got me a welcome back Appletiser (!) I put all the photos from Ms Rachel’s camera on to the laptop. Although the only thing I wanted to do now was to get into bed we had already decided, before we left for Etosha, to have a Braai that night so Stanley, Festus and Tabs were coming for supper. The actual Braai was a bit of a disaster as we had picked the wrong wood?! We were told it would’ve poisoned us so everything had to be transferred to the two hot plates so we ate in stages! However, Gilly has decided to buy us an oven which is hugely exciting and will make meals more varied! We had a really fun night and after some Savannah Dry (Namibian cider!) I felt a lot less tired! Went to bed very happy having had two of the most amazing, unbelievable days of my life, with the photos to prove it!

Love as usual to everyone and hope that you are all well. Special thanks to the Cranes as without their recommendation I would never have thought of bringing my binoculars with me and they made the whole trip even more spectacular as I was able to see the animals in such detail.

Ottilie xxx                  

Part Four: Chelcie’s birthday and making friends with a psycho (1st October – 13th October)

Pinch punch, first of the month, white rabbits! (I haven’t said that for years – actually oddly satisfying!) Spent the first few days recovering from the tonsillitis and bronchitis and although I have to take medicine until the end of the month, I am now feeling a lot better. Chelcie’s birthday was on the 6^th so there was a lot of preparation needed to make it a fun day. I made her a big A3 card – although I have no artistic talents, I am very good at colouring in and I really enjoy it! So I stuck an A3 picture of 3 people on safari (I brought with me an A3 colouring in book) and stuck it onto a piece of cupboard. I also made two bracelets – plaited wool and put beads on, and I made a necklace having found a cheetah’s head made from metal in our store cupboard, I plaited blue thread to make a chain. I also made a little pillow; it was white on one side with a print of a chameleon on and the other side was purple and I copied out the poem for the 6^th October from the “A Poem for Every Day” book.

On the afternoon of the 4^th we painted our faces to look like Tiger Cubs to celebrate being here a month. We are going to do it every month near to the 2^nd to celebrate our anniversary. Some of the children pretended to find it very scary and I kept on forgetting we were wearing it and then seeing Chelcie and getting quite a shock! Gilly says that we will go down as the craziest GAPs, so at least we are making our mark!

The 5^th was a teacher holiday so there were no lessons for the learners, so on Thursday night we spent a couple of hours writing a quiz for the learners and splitting them into teams. The quiz started at 8:30am for Grades 3 – 7 and at 9:20 we walked out! We had spent 50 minutes trying to get them to be quiet and sit down in their teams but they were all very disgruntled about being split up from their friends (one person from each year in a team) so as they weren’t listening, we walked out! They were supposed to watch TV for the rest of the morning, have matches in the afternoon, and a mobile competition in the evening but that was cancelled as a punishment! We spent the rest of the morning playing games with the Grade 1 and 2s which was very sweet and fun. Although frustrating as we had spent the time on the quiz, it did mean that we got the rest of the day off!

Paul returned with Sara his wife and his three children Mati (3), Olivia (2.5) and Helena (10 months) who are all very sweet especially Helena who is so cute! In the afternoon I made Chelcie a chocolate mousse for her birthday – I thought my arm was going to drop off. Not only do we not have an electric whisk but the end of our whisk has fallen off so as you whisk metal prongs press into your hand! However, I whisked until the egg whites wouldn’t fall out of the ball and then mixed everything together. It was hazelnut moose as there was no plain chocolate in the shop!

Chelcie’s birthday was a really fun day. Stanley and Tabs came for lunch (Nina wasn’t here as she went to the Kindergarten with Ralph and Paul) and we had chicken and salad and then the moose. We wore the party hats I had found and it was really fun. Also the mousse was really yummy if a little thick so I think that will be repeated at some point. In the evening we went to Paul and Sara’s for a birthday braai which was great fun and we were fed lots of delicious food! We had barbecued pork belly in slithers as a nibble and then beef steak and smoked pork with salad, salsa and potatoes for supper followed by ice-cream drenched in the alcohol which made up the Springbok shot which was delicious! The evening was really fun and it was a really good end to the day....PT the next morning was not so much fun!

Feeling slightly the worse for wear we taught acceleration which involved a lot of running! Luckily the children were all well behaved although I was made to do lots of running so that they all could race me! Sprinting is not my idea of fun, especially after a party the night before! We had our weekly meeting with Gilly on Friday and we were joined by Sara. This left us rather stressed as the list of things that they left us to do seemed endless. The Nativity is only in six weeks time and there is so much to do for that; props, costume, scenery, learning the songs, not to mention rehearsing and learning all the words for the actual play! We also have the Grade 7 leaving party to organise which is on the 5^th of November – we have various songs to learn and can’t use their Art or PT lessons as we have to hand in marks for them and we can’t use outside of lesson time as they are already stressed so really we have no idea when we are going to sort that!

We had a really lovely weekend. On Saturday afternoon we had a bit of a tea party with some of our favourite older learners as a MASSIVE cake had arrived the day before from Outjo for Chelcie’s birthday.  We sliced up some of the cake and put it on a big plate and took it out to where everyone was sitting – no one moved so we told them to help themselves. I blinked and then all the cake was gone – they were stuffing into their mouths and grabbing pieces in their hands. Very funny and it was good cake! Anyway they stayed for hours and we had to chuck the last couple out! That night we then had our second braai – which was successful although the butternut squash got a tad burnt on one side!

Sunday was a funny day...on Saturday sixteen Grade 7’s had got confirmed at St Michaels (local missionary school) and they all wore their clothes on Sunday. The girls looked like they were going to be married as they were all in white and had little white jackets or shawls to cover their shoulders. Some of them had gloves and they had all had their hair done so lots of fake hair and white flowers and pearls were scattered about, they were also all wearing heels. They boys were in suits and Bascallus had a white one and wore matching white leather shoes! So far I have found Church services quite emotional as I miss the Marlborough ones...I find it difficult to follow the services as it is done mostly of by heart and it is a Catholic service. Also I can’t join in with most of the singing as the hymn books only have the words in and not the melody. This week I found it particularly difficult and I cried throughout the service! This was bad enough but made worse as I was sitting with the Grade 1 boys to make sure they were behaving and they noticed! Took a while to stop crying after Church as had got very over emotional and was very homesick!

After a difficult morning we then went to Paul and Sara’s for a braai which was lovely and made the day so much better. It was their sons fourth birthday on the Monday so this was a party for him and we made him a card. There were lots of people there which was fun: Gilly and Reiner, Paul and Sara and their children Mati, Olivia and Helena, Paul’s sister Jenny with her husband and two little boys and Roland and Byron. Roland (22) and Byron (30s?) are from Ehorango Safari which is nearby in Namibian terms. They were really nice and we got on with them really well. Roland had left a note at our flat a couple of weeks ago introducing himself and inviting us for a braai or a game drive at some point. We asked Gilly who he was but she didn’t know and said to wait until Paul came home to check that he was a psycho and if necessary Paul would drive us there, check him out and if he wasn’t suitable drive us home again! When we asked Paul who Roland was he told us that he was very nice and that he knew him quite well but he also told Roland about him being a suspected psycho which Roland made jokes about. The little children amused us all afternoon – they had a paddling pool which they were diving into and they were chasing each other all over the garden. They then decided it would be more fun to chase us and we were happy to oblige although my head has definitely changed shape having been sat on for about 15 minutes by a 6 year old!

On Mondays we have four PT lessons and I got pretty burnt and have some very strong lines! However I am now definitely going brown and my watch strap mark is now very strong! (Matilda you will have to go on holiday before I come home, sorry!) We have also started doing spelling tests for all the Grades at the beginning of their Art lessons which I then mark. This week they had words which sound the same but are spelt differently such as mayor and mare. Grades 1 – 4 and Wings have 15 words and Grades 5 – 7 have 20 words. This week is much hotter and on Wednesday it was 37˚ which was too hot for my liking! In the morning we took Grade 3s for a cross country run – we worked out a good route around the school and the farm and I took a faster group out in front. It felt amazing to be running again – I’m having withdrawal symptoms from Lacrosse! Although it was pretty hot – the girls were less impressed to be made to run and I was punished at the end by having a lot of water thrown at me which was very refreshing! On Thursday we don’t teach until 7:40 so we have a bit of a lie in but I decided when I was awake at 4am to set my alarm for 6:20 and go running! I did three laps of the route we had worked out the day before which tool me half an hour and I felt very energised afterwards. Lots of the teachers were very impressed to have seen me out running and all the children were too! I need to try and get into a routine of going running by myself occasionally. Also it’s really annoying as our washing machine keeps on shrinking our clothes – I promise I’m not just getting fat but soon I’m going to have to be really really skinny to fit some of my clothes! The washing machine is in German so might have to go and ask Gilly if she can make it stop shrinking stuff as we have it on 30˚ and I’m pretty sure the right wash!

Tonight the Teachers invited us to join them for supper which was really lovely. They cooked in cauldrons on an open fire. We had liver with onions and peppers and porridge. My first mealy pap and it was truly horrible! We ate with our fingers so had to tear the liver apart and the noises were awful! Chelcie quite liked the taste but I really don’t like liver – far too rich. The porridge is totally different to English porridge; it is totally smooth and has the consistency of mashed potato although it’s a lot stickier and is definitely more savoury than sweet although they eat it both ways here.

Chelcie still considers herself a comedian, so each blog there will be a little paragraph to share some of her “funnier” jokes with all of you!: Gilly always says “ney” at the end of a sentence like some people say “okay”. When we were discussing this Chelcie made the obligatory horse jokes! There is a worker here who we have made friends with called Chicken – this is real name and he is really funny! I have already agreed to be his girlfriend (apparently he asks everyone this!) and he has informed me that he is coming home with me in August on the plane. Anyway we were talking about Chicken and Chelcie said “He’s fowl!” I thought I would join in with the jokes so when we were talking about drawing a star with 500 points I remarked that it seemed rather pointless!

Tomorrow I leave for Etosha at 7am – I am so super super excited as I might get to see my first ever elephant which would make my year. I need to pack my bag not forgetting my camera or my binoculars and the sun cream!

It was lovely to hear from Louise and Sarah last night informing me a little bit about their lives and I am looking forward to “the longest letter ever” from Hattie! Please write to me as I have got to the homesick stage if I’m being totally honest! I am absolutely loving it here and everything that I’m doing but it seems a very long time until I will see all my friends and family again! Letter day really is amazing as we get to hear a little bit of what is going on at home which makes it feel slightly nearer. Lots of love to everyone as usual and I hope that England isn’t to dreary without me! And that the weather isn’t too horrible. Hopefully I won’t be eaten by a lion in my tent tomorrow or an elephant – how ironic would that be?! But if I am I love you all!

Lots and lots of love and a massive hug to everyone

Ottilie xxx      

Part Three: Chelcie discovers she is a comedy genius! (23rd September – 30th September)

Grade 4 have officially become the “Devil Class” - in PT we are currently doing Athletics and specifically at the moment long jump. By the end of the 40 minute class we had one girl and one boy in hysterics from the rest of their class calling them names. We also realised that trying to explain that they should run out 13 paces to know where to start their run is far too complicated and sophisticated an idea for them to comprehend! Next week they are to be punished by having boring lessons all week in order to illustrate that if they aren’t nice then they won’t do anything fun. In their art lesson they have some ‘fascinating’ information on Japanese architecture to copy out for 80 minutes and then in both their PT lessons they will run laps continuously in the heat! This may sound cruel but worked wonders with the Grade Twos! Teaching long jump was when Chelcie discovered she is in fact a comedy genius – “He’s such a bad jumper, he’s a cardigan!”

Chelcie and I had great fun writing in extra parts for the Nativity – some of those children are going to be thrilled that their part in the Nativity is...wait for it: Guest Number 3. Saying that we have written in parts so that every child has at least two lines to say and obviously they will all be involved in the singing. In our first proper rehearsal we read them the play as the scripts weren’t ready to be handed out...when we read out the cast list one particular “Drama Queen” started crying when she heard she was the Innkeeper’s wife. It may sound pretty awful but it’s actually the third biggest part and it’s not actually our fault that she isn’t granted a name! Friday was so hot and being in the Hans Seidal hall was pretty unbearable but we suffered through learning Away in a Manger off by heart and singing through Mary’s Boy Child. After rehearsal Chelcie and I had a water fight with some of the children by one of the taps (taps are located all over the grounds so that the children can drink from them). This was great fun and hugely refreshing but it was quite scary how in a matter of minutes we were totally dry again.

Before we could start TV night we had to chase a loose donkey off the football field (very different to an English football field – no grass, hard yellow ground with a smattering of sand over it). The donkey ran off the football field, around the back of the hall and through some of the children’s garden plots. This was hugely funny and we managed to turn the donkey around and it ran back again over the football pitch and into its field, where we firmly closed the gate! Tjirondwauvi (a boy in Grade 6 – I won’t lie he is one of my favourites although favourites are very unprofessional!) had a toy rhino (similar in size and style to the duck I brought with me) on his key but it had a split down its back, so I offered to sew it up for him.

When we returned to our flat I discovered a pretty big spider on the wall next to my bed. I called for Chelcie and after about 10 minutes we managed to trap it inside a mug and take it outside. Namibian spiders are very speedy. On opening my cupboard about five minutes later I discovered a massive sketch of a spider although when I went to hang up my dress the spider came to life! It was absolutely MASSIVE, without exaggeration the size of my hand. More yells for Chelcie. The reason I had thought it was a sketch was because the spiders are very flat in Namibia; they are pale grey with black lines on them, which to me looked like shading! The spider was too big to fit inside the spider catching mug so we decided to kill it. We removed very slowly all clothes on the hangers and I handed a large book to Chelcie to use as the weapon. Then Chelcie decided to develop a spider killing conscience – talk about timing! When she went to hit it the spider escaped and went into the next door cupboard where all my folded up clothes are – at this point I was so close to crying, this spider was horrible. Armed with a magic spray appropriately named DOOM, Chelcie sprayed the spider causing it to fit and unable to run away and then smushed it with the bottom of one of my shoes. This was a horrible experience and I woke at 2:30 from a nightmare of being covered in Spiders and I had a mini fit shaking all duvet and blanket to free them from all the spiders!

On Saturday morning after cleaning we did ‘The Bank’ which I think sounds quite ominous! There are two banks – one for the boys and one for the Girls. They are metal drawers with a small booklet for each of the children. Each book has four columns in: the date, in, out and balance. We took the banks to the art room and all the children line up in silence outside. I did the boy bank and Chelcie the girl one. Tjirondwauvi was my helper so he would get out the right book so when the boy approached my desk I would know who it was! The children have to hold out their hands so I can inspect their nails – if they have dirty nails then they have to go and clean them and then come back again. They have to say “Please may I have X dollars” and then thank you. It depends on what Grade you are in as to how much money you can take out. The maximum amount is for Grade 7 which is $8 which is the equivalent of 80p. At the beginning of the term they bring back money to put in the bank, everyone starts with $35 (£3.50) so if you don’t bring that much back Otjikondo puts the money in for that child. By looking at the books you can see the range of children who go here – some children will only have the $35 where as others will have as much $300 but that is often for the children who have long journeys home at the end of term. The bank was a bit of a test to me especially as Tjirondwauvi only pointed out to me after about 15 children that I need to work out the balance!

After doing the bank we went to work in the shop which was frantic as all the children came to use their pocket money. I bought Tjirondwauvi a lollipop ($1.50) for his help! In the afternoon Gilly kindly let me use the internet to sort out a few issues on my personal statement. It seems weird that there is internet here but we just can’t use it! We had choir practice at 4:00 which was a complete nightmare; 3 people didn’t show up and the rest didn’t appear until about 4:40. I went a little bit crazy. They all sleep on a Saturday until 4:00 and none of them have watches. We explained that they have to come ready to rehearse at 4 otherwise there is no point. This was frustrating as we wanted to perform on Sunday but now we couldn’t. 

In the evening after TV we had a little dinner party type thing which was really fun. Ivan cooked for us what was supposed to be traditional African food – he had been threatening to cook us snake and porridge – not amused! Anyway we got him the ingredients he wanted: porridge, potatoes, spaghetti, red meat, mushrooms (tinned), onions, seasoning, vegetable soup powder, BBQ seasoning powder and tomatoes. This combination of food rather shocked me! We layed the table as nicely as we could and even had flowers and a candle on the table. At 8.30 Stanley (boy hostel father, aged 26) and Festus (works on the farm, bit older and married but Sylvia (wife) not around this weekend) arrived but no sign of Ivan yet. Ivan then turned up and got to cooking or should I say delegating! I was sobbing chopping up onions which really amused the boys and Ivan made a ratatouille type thing. By 10:15 Ivan abandoned the porridge (he was horrified that on our cooker the water never actually gets to the bubbling stage!) and the potatoes were taking too long so we had ratatouille with steak and spaghetti which was actually really nice. We had been playing music all evening so we then danced – Chelcie learnt to waltz with Festus which was very funny especially as she is about a head taller than him! We all had a really good time and we went to bed after midnight – seriously crazy!

On Sunday woke up with a very sore throat and felling pretty ill but just presumed it was from a late night. Went to Church which I found strangely emotional and I actually cried during the service. I’ve realised how much I depend on my Sunday service but I find it very difficult to follow in Namibia mostly because in the hymn books there is no music just words and I don’t know the melody which makes it very hard to join in and because they do most things from memory and I don’t know any of it. I kept giving myself the pep talk that I couldn’t be cut off from God by a language barrier but I still find it really difficult. Sunday is actually a really busy day as we have to plan all our lessons and then prepare all the things that we need for the week – making colour wheels, preparing for activities, making seating plans and marking sheets etc... We went for lunch at Gilly’s which was delicious; chicken and chips with spinach followed by ice cream with bilberry sauce. In the evening Chelcie and I watched ‘Georgia Rule’ on her laptop which was very funny and then had an early night.

Woke up feeling worse on Monday but needed to teach. We rolled two big tyres from the farm up to the school which was very amusing and needed a lot of skill otherwise the tyre would topple and land on your toe! Chelcie once again decided she was hilarious and came out with some tyre themed jokes: “We’re on a roll” and “I’m getting tyred”! We used the tyres for more long jump teaching and this was pretty entertaining! Mrs Vermaak gave us the new term dates which were pretty different; our Easter holiday now starts on the 25^th of April rather than the 20^th of March. Although we now have longer holidays we have less out weekends so I’m not sure whether it’s better or worse although Chelcie and I agreed that we would rather our parents could have come in March/April rather than April/May. The summer term finishes on the 22^nd of August and at the moment our flight is on the 16^th so we have emailed PT to try and change this so that we can complete our year properly. Excitingly, my birthday is now on an out weekend so we should be able to something fun for it. I have been rooting around in our store cupboard and have found some party hats and napkins and some balloon which will come in useful for Chelcie’s birthday which is on the 6^th October.  In my Monday playgroup (10 girls from Grade 1 and 2) I read them half of ‘The Worst Witch’ which they loved and they can’t wait for next week to hear the rest of the story! On Monday night none of us were really hungry but we have discovered recently a new frying pan – it’s pretty small but not made out of metal! Chelcie made pancake mixture and this time we had actual pancakes. Not scramble egg pancakes last time but pancakes that not only tasted of pancakes but also looked like pancakes! It was a celebratory moment and we were both very happy!

On Monday night it rained – absolutely bucketed! As our roof is made of tin, I spent most of the night listening to it rain! In the morning there was not even one puddle to show for it! After going to Period One and surviving approximately 10 minutes I returned to bed. I thought I was going to be sick my head hurt so much. On Wednesday night Gilly made me a doctor’s appointment as I had been ill for nearly two weeks (including my better bit in the middle). Tabs (who runs the shop and is Gilly’s secretary and is lovely) drove me to Outjo. Doctor Berger was very nice but lightly horrified when he looked at my tonsils and then listened to my chest. He then diagnosed me with severe tonsillitis and bronchitis – just what I wanted to hear. I been but on bed rest for 3 days and if I’m not properly better in a week I have to go back, although, I should expect to have my cough for up to 3 weeks! I have been given 5 different medicines, 2 of which I have to take for a month and they have broken the bank slightly! The trip to the doctors, plus all the medicine cost me £110. It’s expensive being ill without the NHS! Feeling pretty miserable as it’s not much fun being ill without having your Mummy to look after you and is really weird being ill when it’s hot! So I am using my time now to write a blog report which will go up when we go to Outjo on the out weekend.

A massive craze has hit Otjikondo, bigger than the craze of eating raw cookie dough in Shell and even bigger than the microwave popcorn frenzies: lots of the learners have made themselves mobile phones. They are made from two blocks of wood and hours are spent on sanding them so they are perfectly sided. They then attach a hinge so that they mobiles can flip open. Pictures are cut out and stuck on to create screen savers and buttons are drawn on. Some of them are really good and they all love them. The learners have endless conversations on their mobiles and if you try to ask them to do something they reply with “Can’t you see I’m on the phone”, it’s hilarious. They leave TV night to take calls and really won’t stop talking and go inside again until their conversation is finished! On Saturday we were watching ‘Grease’ and it got to the part when Rizzo is kissing someone in the car – the learners went crazy! They were all standing up and taking photos of the scene on their wooden mobiles, it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. It took us about 10 minutes to settle them down again! The downside of the mobiles is that they are distracting in lessons and we have made it that if we see any mobile in class it is confiscated for the rest of the week!

This week I have been inundated with letters from my family including my first ever letter from Daddy which was lovely and a letter from Greeney which was especially nice as she had included some photos of the two of us together which can go up in my room (first person to write from Marlborough). Mummy also sent me a packet of Strawberry flavoured popping candy which is very exciting; not only that it arrived but I get to eat it when I’m feeling better! It’s so lovely getting letters from people as it makes me feel connected to home. I can’t believe that on Sunday I will now have been at Otjikondo for a month (I have already been in Namibia for over 4 weeks). We have decided that on our monthly anniversaries it would be fun to do something to celebrate so once a month we are going to paint our faces (there is a massive box of face paints in the store room). Now everyone who knows me well knows that I love to have my face painted but I haven’t actually ever painted someone else’s face...no one seems to trust me for some reason, so Chelcie is slightly wary but I assure her that by month 12 I will have mastered face painting! Also just to make you all jealous it has started to get REALLY hot – in Namibia October and November are called the Suicide months because of the heat. Now the really big news (drum roll needed): I HAVE A WATCH STRAP MARK! I have changed colour – I have probably reached my proper summer colour of cream as opposed to my winter colour of white. This is hugely exciting and you never know I might even reach honey colour!

Matilda said I should write down the scores of all the games that Chelcie and I play over the year but we haven’t actually played any games yet....! So, I have been recording other things: this month I have received 14 letters, sent 10, coloured in two pictures using felt tips (one of a monkey sitting on a turtle and one of an elephant painting!), cried ten times, and read 24 books (my theory of two books a week was a very, very bad estimation!). If you have any other ideas of things that I should be recording than let me know!

Okay better stop now as this quite a long one and Staighty has already complained that my blog entries are too long – aren’t you supposed to be interested in what I’m doing?! I hope that you are all well, that it isn’t raining too much and that whatever you are up too is fun. Write and tell me all your news as soon as possible. Love and hugs to everyone

Lots of Love

Ottilie XXX

Part 2: Sugar, Choir and Flu! 13th-22nd

Thanks to everyone who has been in touch - letter day is crazily exciting but equally, a text from a friend is immensely exciting. So, I have now been in Namibia three weeks and already my life in England seems such a long time ago.
 
The night after I last wrote I was woken up at 3.30am by someone trying to break into the flat, I was absolutely petrified - I sleep on the ground floor (all buildings are bungalows). I had no idea what to do - at home I have my escape route planned and a place inside and outside to hide in case of intruders! Here there was no where to hide - I couldn't wake up Chelcie, as that would have meant unlocking my door and going outside. I was even too scared to turn on my torch in case the murderer saw I was awake and decided to come for me first! So until 6.00am I sat bolt upright listening to the banging and the door rattles, metal torch in my hand ready to put my self defense lessons in practice! Funnily in the morning there were no signs of an intruder - not even footprints in the sand?!
 
I had my first remedial lessons - Monday to Thursday I teach maths to groups of Grade 6 and 7. Ironic that I'm now teaching maths but, after all my extra maths lessons, I am an expert in what makes a good teacher!
Strangely this is one of the things I enjoy doing most - it's really nice to work with some of the learners in smaller groups, which means that not only do I know all their names, but I'm getting to know them properly as well.
 
We spent a lot of last week making a birthday card for Gilly as it was her 65th birthday on the 14th. The card looked incredible - don't worry I was relegated to colouring in and Chelcie drew it. On the front was a three tier cake and each layer was decorated e.g. one had felt flowers on.
We drew candles and then used glitter pens for the flames and silver ones for the 'piped icing'. On the inside we drew circles for each grade to write all their names in. It took hours and half way through one of the silver pens exploded over one corner of the cake. I'm not joking when I say Chelcie and I nearly cried but we managed to repair the damage by sticking some paper over it and then drawing over it! Luckily Gilly loved it so it was all worth while. We celebrated her birthday with some Springbok shots which were delicious - tasted like mint milkshake with a strong punch. However felt a bit weird sitting with a 65 and 80 year old doing shots!
 
On Tuesday all the teachers (8) had to do a written English exam to check their standards so we held auditions for our chapel choir. We wanted it to be select so that people would look up to it and we now have 14 members; five from Grade 6 and the rest from Grade 7. We have four boys and ten girls, it was really difficult to only choose fourteen because there are some really talented singers here and they all harmonise naturally and beautifully.
 
Chelcie and I were feeling adventurous on Tuesday so we made pancakes for supper as we had all the ingredients. We measured everything in ratios as we had no scales and cooking them was a challenge. Our frying pans are metal - no non stick pans here, so we went for the 'scrambled egg' esq. pancake which although looked horrible, covered with lemon and sugar were actually pretty yummy!
Thursday is a very full on day, with three lots of double art and a PT lesson, so we have decided that we need a sugar break. At 11.20 we have a 10 minute break so we now run to the shop and buy a fizzy drink which fuels us for the rest of the morning!
 
Grade 6 ('The Devil Class') are actually really fun and for us the really difficult class is Grade 4. However 12 of the 14 girls arrived 20 minutes late! In the 10 minute break they had gone back to the hostels and stayed for half an hour! No Vet Coekies for them. It was discovered that they had all brought lots of food back with them which isn't allowed - only a little bit of food is allowed for the first few days. A massive inspection followed of the hostels and all the food was confiscated! No one was allowed Bank on Saturday and therefore had no money to buy sweets with!
 
Having tired of fitness in PT lessons (also it's now way too hot by about 10 to even think of running!) we though it would be fun to do some Hip Hop aerobics with some classes, as we have a DVD. We managed to entertain them with our limited Hip Hop skills ( I credit my skills to that one painful Sunday morning in Marlborough town hall this year!) however it was more difficult to persuade them to join in! I lost my temper at one class and promised them that this week they will just run laps for the whole 40 minutes without loo or water breaks. This week is a lot hotter and I'm worried they might collapse fro heat exhaustion however I must follow through with my punishment!
 
On Friday night I met Given who is the cutest little boy ever, however he doesn't speak English yet and my white skin is very scary. We went to the Dining Room at supper time and got some very steely glares from the people who we had punished, who were now getting plain porridge rather that their favourite treat of Vet Coekies. On our way over to watch a DVD, Stanley (the boys housemaster equivalent), decided to educate me on African music. He played me lots of happy music so I think the Valentines dance we organise should be fun.
 
On Saturday we had our first choir practice and Reiner took us to the museum on the neighbouring farm. 15 of us (2 people forgot plus Chelcie, Nina and I) got into the back of Reiners truck with a cool box, a music book and some sunglasses. Lesson learnt: NEVER EVER travel in the back of a truck wearing a dress! I spent the whole journey clamping my unhelpful dress to my legs, desperately trying not to flash my pants! 
This place is truly amazing. It's where Gilly and Reiner used to live and its full of relics - loads of animal skins, some HUMONGOUS bugs in the sink and their shower was a tin with holes in! We all signed our names on one of the doors - everyone who visits is recorded on the doors - it's brilliant. 
We began our practice by candle light: we taught them 'Any dream will do' from Joseph. They can really sing! So it was really satisfying, although I'm having to overcome my singing solo phobia. Once we'd finished practising Reiner instigated some African dancing which was brilliant. They used the drums, clapped and whooped. Daddy would have been right at home with his Reeling whoops and I can see him loving the dancing too. They danced throughout the house and it was amazing to watch.
 
Saturday night I retired to bed - I'd caught the flu that all the children had been suffering. I spent the next few days in bed with a temperature of 68.3C, a hacking cough and a continually runny nose. Need I say I was feeling very sorry for myself?! Also I felt pretty guilty as this meant Chelcie was having to manage by herself - no mean feat.
 
We had out first Braai last night - I cooked steak, potatoes and butternut squash in foil with a tomato salad. It turned out really well and was delicious although we could have done with some steak knives! Chelcie was sent wood scouting half way through as it burnt pretty quickly. We are being cooked supper on Saturday night by Ivan (my age who is here for a bit staying with his stepmother who is a hostel mother) which should be fun and a treat not to cook! Wow, that makes me sound 40. 

Last night we went really wild and went with him to the Hans Seidal Hall to watch television until 9.15! Music videos and my first ever episode of Hannah Montanna which I actually really enjoyed! It was a crazy night.
Feeling better now, however I've started drinking tea! How ironic that I've started liking tea while in Africa. It's actually more of a need than a like - by 9.00 I need some sugar. Yes, sorry Mummy, I have sugar in my tea!! Well the tea gets me through the rest of the morning (apart from Thursdays!)
 
Thanks again to everyone who is keeping in touch - it really makes a difference (if you haven't feel guilty!). My mobile number is 0817377860. Big shout out to Angharad - first friend who has written - your letter is on its way! If you are interested in knowing even more about where I am buy the book Namibia Calling by Michael Schnuur, it's truly amazing and tells the story of how Otjikondo was started.
 
Lots of love to everyone - hope you are all well and happy. Don't forget about me!
Lots and lots and lots of love
Ottilie xxxx