Pandemonium, Priests and Pancakes

After 10 days, it feels about time to update you all on everything that's going on here before anything even more bonkers happens. Last week's task of covering classes without much being left for them resulted in a hectic week for us both. Although it takes some effort, it is perfectly possible to make up, teach and mark a week's worth of English lessons, and doing so taught me a lot about both my students' and my own capabilities : however, doing the same for Afrikaans lessons is considerably more difficult to do, given that my Afrikaans only extends to greeting people for the appropriate time of day. I got them to teach me bits and pieces (much to their amusement) and do some written work, which seemed to keep them busy and interested enough to make it until the return of relative normality this week.We're back to our Arts and BIS lessons, which they still seem to be really enjoying - I hate to sound so surprised, as enthusiasm for the subject is paramount for potentially challenging classes, but I really didn't expect a library class that's currently without a library to prompt the kind of response that it has done so far. Result! With a few hours of our time each afternoon, the library is getting a little bit less messy every day, and we're aiming to have it finished and open in the next few weeks.

Last time I blogged, I seemed to be under the impression that weekends here were quiet. This weekend, I learnt that in the unlikely event of a new priest being ordained at the local church, this could not be further from the truth. We had people coming from all over Namibia to attend the ordination service on Saturday morning and church on Sunday, and this otherwise tiny community went into overdrive. Church services in Africa are totally mind-boggling, particularly these important ones; I stood (the place was packed out, and 10 minutes early was still not enough to nab a seat) for 3 hours through a service according to unfamiliar customs and in a language that I don't understand, trying very hard to look like I wasn't completely lost. The music is incredible, in the truest sense of the word, and it seems to be all about singing, dancing, cheering, shrieking, waving, clapping, more singing - the most active service I'm ever likely to see. Currently, church is also (and dare I say, most) important socially - as newcomers, we see and are seen by the community, and when our presence is noted, it makes a good impression. Plus, I got a free lunch at the end of it, so for all that it was long, it was fairly enjoyable and most definitely worth going to.

We didn't quite manage pancakes on Tuesday as per tradition, so although I'm sure the original point of Shrove Tuesday is that you don't go stuffing yourself with sweet, fluffy, pancake-y goodness on the first day of Lent, it just sort of happened that way. I care not - they were simply phenomenal.Whoever sent Sachi that box of American pumpkin pancake mix, you are a star. What Caitlin and Sachi don't know is that since it is Valentine's Day and also my turn to cook tonight's dinner, I'm going to experiment with making ice cream as a treat. We'll see how it turns out - watch this space!