So, I am now teaching the kindergarten 3 hours per day, 5 days a week in addition to the other projects. Three hours doesn't sound like much, but I am totally exhausted by the end of each lesson. The kids range in age from 2 to 6, so they require a lot of attention and affirmation at each step. Because they're so young, they also get bored really easily, so even my Elmo puppet tricks get old after a while:) It was pretty difficult to get them to respond at first because they had no idea what I was saying, but they are now catching on to some of the basic commands "come over here", "sit down", "listen to me", "let's sing", etc. What makes it all worth it, though, is that they are starting to get the hang of hello, goodbye, numbers 1-6, basic colors, and saying A-G in the alphabet. Not too bad after 5 lessons, I think. They also call me "Teach-ah", and they run around me yelling it to show me their projects. Sometimes, when we're working in a group, I will catch one of them surreptitiously touching my hair or my arm - I think they're a bit curious as to why I look so white and strange, so they're just trying to figure it all out. Today, we planted a garden with corn, radishes, carrots, and  sunflowers. They were so careful when placing and watering the seeds today - it was really cute. 

All of this sounds rosy, but there are little things that keep reminding of where I am. For example, we always have a short lunch break around 11:30 at the kindergarten. Two of the girls never bring any food with them, and I found out yesterday that they are staying with their cousins because their mother doesn't take care of them (I didn't pry into why this was). I was told by the lady who helps in the kindergarten that, since their mother isn't here to prepare lunch for them, they don't get a mid-day meal, and sometimes they may not eat dinner either if they don't go back to whoever is taking care of them (they stay temporarily on the farm during the week so that they can attend kindergarten). If you could have seen these kids' faces when the other students pulled out their lunch, knowing they didn't have anything, it would have broken your heart. They were hungry, of course, but the harder thing was that they were so ashamed. Of course, I was a little outraged that 20 adults on a farm couldn't come up with 2 extra bread rolls for these kids for lunch, so I got it sorted out with the kindergarten helper and the farm owner. Anyway, it just illustrates that life is a lot harder for people here. It's easy for me to come here for a few weeks and pat myself on the back for teaching some English and helping out, but I've never been hungry, and I've never wondered if my mother would come for me.

To end on a positive note, the other volunteer (Christiane) and I are taking a 4 day trip next week to Swakopmund. This is a colonial German town on the southern end of the Skeleton Coast, so we'll get to hike in the desert, do some dolphin viewing on the ocean and possibly take a short flight over the Skeleton Coast to see the amazing dunes and shipwrecks from above. Distances are so far here (it's nothing to drive 500 km and not see another car), so some things are better seen from above if you only have a few days. The funny part is that Christiane doesn't have her driver's license with her, and I don't know how to drive stick, which is the only kind of cars they rent here. So, before we head out on Monday, I am going to be driving around in circles trying to learn manual. I know, I know, you are probably saying how ridiculous it is that I can only drive manual. Well, after this trip, all will be resolved:) More to come after our adventures in Swakopmund!