Beatin' the heat (or at least attempting to)

With two weeks left in term, it seems that everyone is a bit restless. I do not know if it is because it is nearing the end of the school year or the heat is getting to everyone’s heads, but this is what has been happening...

~ The teachers seem to have given up on teaching. Day after day, the kids sit alone in their classrooms while the teachers chat in the staffroom or are nowhere to be found.

~ Theft is on the rise. I have now had a watch, a dictionary, and a pair of earrings gone missing. The learners have been stealing each other’s things from the hostels when all year they have been relatively respectful.

~ A few of our girls have “fallen pregnant” by the construction workers in Okalongo. It is devastating to hear of the numerous pregnancies.

~ Learners have given up on school. If they are not rowdy in class, they are sleeping with their heads on their desks. None of them do their homework anymore. This results in me threatening or bribing them. Sometimes they are almost too much to handle.

~ This is probably a crazy assumption, but I think the heat also affects the internet. My internet has become mad unstable! It uses my credit like a mofo.

~ The heat in the afternoon is almost unbearable. I take at least two freezing cold showers a day. If I do not take one right before bed, I won’t fall asleep. Even with the cold showers and the fan blaring, it is hard to sleep at night. On top of it, the mosquitos have returned and they are just straight up annoying.

~ The kids have been plotting revenge against the school. (This is mostly the Grade 12’s and it is their form of a high school prank.) They made a plan to steal the hostel bell and to then throw it in one of the oshanas (a big lake). I thought this was hilarious, but my school did not. They have also been hopping the school fence to sneak out to the shebeens.

~ My colleagues tell me that I have been “missing” these last few weeks, because after school I seek refuge from the heat in my house. The heat literally makes it hard for me to breath. I hate teaching in the afternoons because it really diminishes one’s energy.

~ On top of it all, we lose power at least once a day. A few weeks ago we also lost water. It was so bad we almost had to send the kids home, but thankfully after 3 days it came back.

~ The learners keep frozen water bottles in my freezer or come over to ask for cold cloths to put on their bodies. They have lived here all their lives and they still can’t deal with this weather!

Whoever said Africa is hot as balls, understated the truth!