Exam Setting (3-13)

Last Wednesday I was given an invitation—attendance compulsory— to participate in exam setting/writing for grade 10 from Monday to Thursday this week. I was not thrilled to be ordered to be away for four days, and I didn’t feel that I was ready to help write exams when I’d been here for such a short time. However, Mrs. Reinhold thought it was great that I’d been invited and would have the opportunity to learn about the exams. I thought I’d learned enough about them by looking over past exams.

My assignment was to moderate the writing section for grade 10’s regional mock exam in August, which is practice for the national exam in November or December. I was told that moderating meant that I would wait until the others wrote the questions and then check them. When I arrived and was told that I would be sitting around for most of the first two days, I was not pleased. So, when Elizabeth, the woman in charge, arrived, I let her know I was not pleased, and she said she had meant to assign me to the reading section and that moderators could help write the questions. I think she changed her plan, but I was happy to work with the reading section because there was more to do. The three people working on the reading section have worked together for a few years, and one has set five exams. So they knew what they were doing and didn’t need my help, but the man quickly figured out that I would type faster than he. So typing is what I did for two days, and I was happy to be doing something useful. The group appreciated my typing—and my correction of a few small problems—because it meant they would finish earlier than they had anticipated. They were a fun group to work with and I enjoyed the time with them. But I was glad it wasn’t the full four days.

I had to return home Tuesday evening because Rachel’s visitation was Wednesday. When I left the workshop, the exam and the answer key were typed and just needed to be printed and given a final check, which the others could do quickly on Wednesday. So I didn’t return after Rachel’s observation as originally planned.

A nice benefit of being there was that I saw Trinity, my roommate during the last training. She was there for training to teach Oshidonga. We had a good chat during the break.

My roommate in the bungalow was Ndunge, one of the teachers at our school. We were surprised to see each other. Her training workshop—counseling for people affected by HIV/AIDS—is for two weeks. I can’t imagine being gone from school that long, and she was really regretting being away so long. Since there are no subs, her classes have no instruction for two weeks.

Monday evening I needed to go to the mall. Ndunge didn’t want to go, but one of her classmates—and new friends—did. However, she had no money for a taxi. Forgetting briefly that taxis are paid per person, I said she could come with me and I’d pay for the taxi. I didn’t mind paying, but when she bought a chocolate bar in addition to food for her daughter, I felt like I’d been taken advantage of; it seemed that if she had money for extra things like chocolate, she could have paid for her taxi ride. I need to remember that “no money” is a standard response and stated problem and not always offer to pay for them. Wilhelmina has been an exception, as she often buys treats and has never asked me to pay for something because she doesn’t have money.

When I was walking along the road for a bit waiting for a hike to come along, I felt really happy to be returning home. As I passed the clinic, Kamongwa was on duty and asked me to take photos. He posed for ten photos around the buildings with and without his rifle.

Sunday night before I left, there was a thunderstorm with lots of rain. My small pan for washing had an inch of water in it Monday morning, and it’s in the washing room that has a roof. So the wind blew that much water into the room. The lake beside the homestead was really large Monday morning, 

and the other lake had increased in size. In addition, there were a few other small ponds, and the road was flooded near the clinic. 

I enjoyed seeing all the water along the road to town. The whole area looks different.

Saturday I decided to hoe up the weeds in my yard, which were abundant after the rain. Whereas there had been about a hundred plants when I cleaned them up two weeks earlier, there were about a thousand small ones after the rain. All the dormant seeds popped up. I’d been wanting some physical exercise, and I got it, as it took about three hours to hoe up the whole yard. I borrowed the leaf rake I’d seen Helena use to smooth the ground after digging it up, and the yard looked quite nice. Helena even commented on it. Not surprisingly, after the rain Sunday night, the weeds popped up again, and by the end of the week it looked like there were another thousand small green spots.

Rachel’s visit went well. It was good to see her. She observed grade 10, which is a good class. On Thursday, two of the boys asked when the beautiful lady was returning. I told them I didn’t think she was returning, but they wanted to hear it from her. So I emailed their question. They’ll be disappointed to learn officially that she isn’t scheduled to come back.

Wednesday afternoon a group of grade 10 and grade 9 girls decided to use me as their photographer. We had fun taking photos with them posing alone, in pairs, and with me. It was interesting to see how they posed—usually seriously. I enjoyed not having the Asian cuteness all the time. Several wanted prints and gave me money for that.

Since the first rain, a different type of lizard has been around. At least I hadn’t seen this type before. I’ve seen one climbing up the corner wall in the morning a few times. It moves slowly and hesitantly when I stand nearby. Unlike the lizards I’ve often seen that run quickly if I approach.

There are also frogs. I haven’t seen any here, but I hear them when I walk to the toilet at night. We saw one that had a bad leg when we were walking to the bungalows Monday evening. People talk about eating frogs.

The mahangu/millet was starting to pop up before the rain on Sunday. Now it is several inches high. Soon the whole field will be green. A few beans have sprouted and some corn, squash and sorghum. Last Saturday morning Kamongwa called to me at 7:15. He was excited to tell me that he wanted to demonstrate how they cultivate—right then—and he wanted me to take photos. So I quickly got dressed and joined him going to the field. He showed me how he uses the hoe to loosen the ground around a clump of plants and then removes the smaller ones so that there are four or five left in the hole. He had me try so he could take a photo. After I was more awake and ate breakfast, my inner gardener was ready to work, and I returned to the field with a hoe. I lasted two hours, which is about what I had planned. With the heat and hard work, I needed to stop and rest after that. Both Helena and Kamongwa thanked me for helping them and said I had helped a lot. They worked for about five hours.

Friday I went to town with Wilhelmina to develop photos for the girls. She also wanted to take me to the new open market, which replaced the old one I’d been to before. The old one will be torn down, and a shopping mall will be built on the site. 

The new marked is nice. Vendors wear the traditional pink skirt with a white blouse. There are benches where people can relax, and there are several areas with seats where they can purchase the traditional alcoholic drink. The tower in the center has an elevator to the top, from which there will be a good view of the town. It wasn’t working on Friday; so I’ll have to do that on another visit. 

Clothes are in small shops with imported used clothes, very likely from the U.S., being sold in center of the area. When we were looking at the dried goods, I learned that what I’d thought was millet when we were threshing was sorghum for making the traditional alcoholic beverage. Wilhelmina had a good laugh when I said I’d purchased some to make porridge. Fortunately, I hadn’t cooked it yet. I knew it looked different from millet seeds, but millet is all people talk about; so I didn’t think about it being something else.

(A random girl who stuck her head in front of the camera so I could snap a photo.)

Shoprite, one of the grocery store chains, has a section with Easter candy. I like the chocolate covered marshmallow eggs. I confused Wilhelmina when I said she could take me to Shopko. After a few attempts that she didn’t understand, I realized my error.