Inspection by Catholic Church, a German Visitor & Lüderitz Wedding

This last weekend marked the first of two weddings for the staff at St. Therese, this one taking place in Lüderitz (I finally got to see it, sorta). I'll backtrack a little:

I've been battling some kind of chest cold since Tuesday, the day after I decided to start running seriously again. Or maybe it was because I was walking around the village with Matthias while being under-dressed on a rainy, windy morning. Matthias is a German volunteer visiting with Ms. Kusch. (who is here inspecting our lesson plans and teaching methods) Currently St. Therese JSS is 11th out of 11 schools in the Karas Region. Ms. Kusch was the first principal of St. Therese and is head of the education commission of the Namibian Catholic Bishops Conference. She's such an interesting character, having the energy and passion of an idealistic twenty-something. Unfortunately I didn't have much time to talk to her, but she'll be back in September.

I did, however, get to entertain her guest. If any of you know the German education system, learners are required to do volunteer work or an internship after completing “high school”, i.e. 13th grade before they can go to university studies, taking a full 12 month break. I cannot begin to tell you how energizing it was to have a visitor for the week! Talk, talk, talk

Then on Friday we all began the trip to Lüderitz for Rosy's wedding! My excitement couldn't be dulled by the over two hour stop in Keetmanshoop for ... something??? We didn't need a radio thanks to the choir in the back singing songs in Nama and Afrikaans. After almost 8 hours in the combi, we pulled into the port city. I stayed with Carrie (fellow Nam 25er).

Saturday I got part of the grand tour of Lüderitz. It's a compact town sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Namib Desert. Could probably walk from one end of town to the other in under 20 minutes. Most people in town work for the fishing industry, a mining company or NAMDEB (diamonds). You can get a smoked fish for under US$3 or a bucket of lobster tails for under US$10! Lots of German influence on architecture. The highlight of the morning was her friend Günter taking us on a sailboat tour of the coast, passing two lighthouses, diamond mining boats, an abandoned whaling station, Diaz Point, a seal colony and a Jackass Penguin colony. We didn't get to see any whales or dolphins - he saw both on the morning tour. I took lots of pictures and will upload them as soon as I can get them off my card.

After the three hour tour we went back to eat and to catch a much needed nap - I was still feeling a little sick from earlier in the week. Just a quick 30 minute nap. Well, SEVEN hours later I woke up, missing the wedding and the reception (I've been in Namibia long enough to know it is better to go to an event early than late). Carrie and I were going to do a bike ride on Sunday to see some of the flora & fona, but my health put the nix on that idea.

The combi was supposed to pick me up at 2pm on Sunday but came at 3, right on time by Africa standards. Fortunately Carrie gave me some earplugs for the ride back. With the way I felt and how loud the people were behind me, I swear I'd be on trial for at least three murders. To top off the evening ride, my backpack and jacket were slimed by melting fish packed on top of it. Darn that global warming! In an effort to get better, I took today off (and probably tomorrow too).

Other news: I finished my 27th book today. Have gone on a reading binge, putting down eight books since July 1st, three of them over the past five days! Two books I found at a used book store in Windhoek – Slapshot (what is that book doing in such a non-hockey country?) and Into Thin Air (about the Everest disaster-see the Imax movie). I'm starting The Eye of the World, a 782 page beast. That should keep me occupied for a couple of days.