A tale of a Monday in Oshikulufitu

A little tidbit from my day:

While teaching grade 7B during period 7 (there are 8 periods per day), a group of about 15 learners from 6A, my next lesson, ran up and were standing outside the door. 

6A learner: "Miss! At your house, there's a snake! At the tap!"

Me: "In the sink behind my house?"

All of the learners: "Yes, Miss!"

Me: "Ok... Did anyone try to kill it?"

Them: "No, Miss!"

Me, sheepishly: "...does anyone want to go kill it?"

Them, all in unison: "Yes, Miss!"  

And the whole pack of 15 kids ran off in the direction of my house. Grade 7B and I got back to our discussion of the word "balance," as a noun and a verb, one of our new vocabulary words for the week. 

Just as we had moved on to the word "transplant," the gaggle of grade 6's returned to the classroom door. 

6A learner: "Miss, the snake isn't die."

Me: "Why not?"

Another learner, looking like she was at a loss for words: "It went into the fire extinguisher."

Me, trying to guess what a fire extinguisher could be: "Uhhh, you mean the big white cage on the back of my house where there are gas cylinders?"

6A, in chorus: "Yes, miss!!!!"

Me: "Hmm. Let's go get help."

At that point, there were only four minutes of period 7 left, so I left the grade 7s to fend for themselves. The grade 6s and I were off to the staff room for reinforcements! I entered, and (while laughing) told the whole story to two of my colleagues. They both leapt up into action and were outraged that all the learners came back-- not one of them stayed to at least keep and eye on the snake's whereabouts! 

We headed over to my flat (a ~1 minute walk from the office) and started to boil water, which was my colleagues' idea of how to chase the snake away from its hiding place. Once the water was boiled I joined my two colleagues and the ~15 excited (and terrified) learners in my backyard. Itumba poured the boiling water in from the side while Shivolo was armed with a big stick, ready to beat that snake! It immediately started weaving it's way up the side of the cage away from the boiling water. A few good whacks with the stick later, the snake (and my neighbor's window) were both done for. The learners then argued over who was going to be the one to use the stick to carry the dead snake over to the trash pit! 

I then looked at my watch and saw that the grade 6As and I had used up nearly all of our class time in the snake hunt. Ah, well. When you live in Namibia, the presence of a poisonous snake is a priority! Anyway, I went and gave the kids an abridged English class during their study period after school. All is well that ends well! You certainly never know here what life has in store for you or when a snake might just decide to chill out in your sink!