Cha Cha Cha Cha Changes

It’s nearly the end of September, which is a bit mind-blowing. Second term flew by, and the last trimester promises to do the same. At the beginning of the year I predicted that the second term would drag and that it wouldn’t speed up until the last few months, but I was off by 3 months or so. The holiday after the term ended was spectacular (somehow we managed to pack more into that time than into the much longer May holiday…), and Carmen has posted about it here, including pictures. I don’t have too much to add, except for saying that Fish River Canyon was one of the coolest hiking experiences of my life, and that elephants are just all-around impressive.

Tonight is the dinner for the debate club at Putuavanga, which I have been the mentor for this year. At the beginning of the year English club was going much better, and I felt a bit lost running Debate. I have never done debate before, don’t really like speaking in front of groups (except students for some reason), and attendance was less than spectacular. However, over the course of last term and this term, debate club has grown into a very important part of my week and what I do. The group consists of 11^th and 10^th graders (some younger kids initially as well, but they have disappeared). These are some of the kids I taught at the beginning of the year, and who I miss teaching now. We generally meet once a week on Thursday evenings to debate a random assortment of topics. I admire the students for trying their best to express themselves in a foreign language, and I hope the club is helping them to improve. My goal is to make the club truly student-run, so that it will last after my departure in December. Pictures from the dinner to come soon…

The above-mentioned flight home in December is looming quite large now. I’ve thought about it all year, but now it is much closer to being a reality. I still have mixed feelings about leaving Opuwo (especially with my future prospects back home far from certain), but I am also excited to see everyone again. I am equally excited to visit Cape Town in the ten or so days before we depart (though the temperature change going to MN is going to be rough to say the least). From all reports Cape Town is a place everyone needs to go to at some point. It will probably also act as a sort of transition back to the US, as the city is a tad more developed and fast-paced than Opuwo is.

I am also trying to get my act together to apply to PhD programs for next year. At the beginning of this year I couldn’t stop myself thinking and planning for the future. Now it’s hard to pull my head out of the present long enough to download an application or two…