Shark Cage in the Kalahari

Ok, so what's new and exciting.

A couple new volunteers have arrived from Zimbabwe and England. The girl from Zimbabwe is doing sport at the school, but she's only been here a few days and is still coming to terms with Tsumkwe. On the other hand Ben is from England and will be staying with Michael. He'll be here for a few months, then is off to Botswana for several months of volunteering. We picked him up in Grootfontein a couple weeks ago and had steaks for dinner the first night. It was one of the best steaks ever and cost only $55 NAM. That night we stayed at a lodge called Maori where you can buy a case of oranges for $20 NAM! The oranges are picked fresh that morning and taste amazing, I definitely won't be getting scurvy from lack of vitamin C.

CDM (abandoned diamond mine) where Michael and Ben stay has a huge caged-in patio that Ben and I want to use as our "shark cage". We plan to buy an old goat for $100 NAM and tie it to a pole to bait in hyenas and leopards. We're hoping to have a few beers and see what happens, think of the photos! Speaking ofanimal, this past Sunday we went out on the pan to look for elephants. Unfortunately we spent most of our time "testing" the freshness of elephant dung and only saw one ostrich. Argh!

My placement is going well, but the learners have discovered its really fun to write obscene screen saver messages. I showed them how to modify this a few weeks ago and said "look, you can write your name and watch it bounce around on the screen, how fun". Naive me! I guess I should just be happy they're so keen on computers.

On the extremely bright side I'm really enjoying living at the Tsumkwe Craft Centre. Its a $4 million complex and I'm the only resident! I honestly feel a little guilty as the entire complex is surrounded by 10 foot wall, with interlocking brick, grass, plants and trees on the inside. This is in sharp contrast to everything outside, which is basically sand and brush. I also have a full auditorium and several other buildings to have parties are play hide and seek in. However, the best part is the 12 foot walls in my main room which are perfect for projecting movies! I'm able to occasionally get a projector and have a 12 foot screen. Its pretty sweet and good excuse to get together with other volunteers.

Over the next few weeks I plan to wrap up classes, as exams begin August 5th and all of the students and teachers will be too busy for the lab. I'll most likely be helping teachers mark exams or will do some computer training for the community. The semester ends August 19th (what a wonderful day...do you know why?) and I hope to do some travelling with Michael and Ben after that. We're contemplating a few different trips and will keep you posted.

Hope this finds everyone well!
Jason