Soon be summer!

Another week has flown by and amazingly we have had cloudy skys for the last two days. There is talk of the rains arriving early this year - I don't know whether or not that is just wishful thinking. It is amazing to think that we haven't had any rain since we arrived as we hear of the weather back in the UK. We seem to have got acclimatised to the heat as I now regularly wear a coat until after the third lesson in the morning and shiver when it drops to just over 20C in the evening. The heat is very dry so a lot less tiring than when it is humid. Everything dries quickly - [WARNING schoolboy joke follows] including ones nose; as it said in a cartoon in The Namibian (newspaper) last week:
Q: "Why do gorillas have big noses?"

A: "Because they have big fingers!"

This week we had the leavers assembly for the Grade 12's (and to a lesser extent the Grade 10's) - it lasted two hours again, but this time we missed out the last two periods of the day. There was a combination of singing, dance, speeches and presents for the Grade 12 teachers. On Friday the principal's voice came over the tannoy and announced that there was a surprise in the staffroom for all staff at first break (9:05am). When I arrived there was "breakfast" which consisted of rice, lamb curry and grated carrot (they do this a lot here - it is mixed with pineapple, I think, as it is really sweet) it was very tasty just a bit early in the day! The meal had been provided by the head boy and girl and a couple of others in appreciation of their teachers! I've had a few Grade 10 learners this week ask for extra maths lessons - what a difference to the attitude of so many pupils in the UK. Grade 10 is a huge thing here in Namibia - if you fail to get a certain number of passes you aren't able to continue education and are very unlikely to get a job.