Let me start by wishing you a Happy Holiday. I am thinking of all of you back in the States. Big hug. Big kiss. Now, here is a tidbit about my life. The setting is my homestay family home, where I have been living for three weeks.
This morning there was a spider in my closet. As a result, I decided to remove all of my things and leave it empty until I leave next weekend. I know it’s not a rational response, but I hate spider confrontations. I was collecting my dirty clothes from the floor of the closet when a chicken egg rolled off my things. Odd. I was not sure how an egg made it there, but I decided not to be concerned. There is a two-year-old in the house so stuff tends to get moved around. Plus, the spider was distracting me.
I was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich later when my host mom tells me there is a chicken in my room. Interesting development. I decided to clean my room. I was rearranging my things on the shelves only to locate two more eggs. It turns out, the chicken, playfully known as “lunch”, was flying into my open window when I was out and laying eggs in the closet. Needless to say, the window is now closed. As I write this, Lunch is peering in. Tapping at the glass. It’s searching for a way into my room in order to take care of its eggs. I am ashamed to admit this, but I threw the first egg out of the window. Yeah, I am a chicken killer. It hit the ground with a splatter and one of the other chickens in the yard ate it. The other two eggs were placed outside in a more appropriate place for Lunch to fulfill her motherly instincts. This adventure comes at the end of a week highlighted by a trip to the doctor to get some medicine for pink eye. Yeah, Tina is suffering from pink eye. It's disgusting. Yet, the hardest thing lately isn’t the infectious eye disease or the farm animal raising a family in my closet right on top of my clothes, but it’s struggling with the intensity of my homesickness. I miss familiar faces. I feel the distance. I feel alone, really alone. It’s been a tough three weeks. The Peace Corps has it’s ups and downs and, luckily, I have had many ups to keep me going during the downs.
Since December 4th, I have been teaching at a local school and living with a Namibian family. The Peace Corps set up what is called “Model School” for volunteers to practice teaching in a Namibian school with Namibian learners. I teach 9th and 10th grade English, and I adore the kids. I also adore my host family. They have been so wonderful teaching me how to be Namibian, and helping me as I contend with a severe case of homesickness. I will happily spend Christmas with them and then, next Sunday, head back to the training center to celebrate the New Year with fellow trainees. I have plans to sit my butt in front of the one TV at the center and watch bowl games on ESPN International. Finally, on January 9th, I will become a full-fledged Peace Corps Volunteer at the Swearing In Ceremony. At that point, the Peace Corps will transport me to my permanent site and leave me there for two years. Wow. Heavy.
The following are random thoughts about my last few weeks. Enjoy!
*My Namibian host family eats with their hands for many meals. I like this tradition.
*I went to my host brother’s school one night to watch an end of the year awards ceremony. It is called a prize giving ceremony here. The oddest thing was the award for “Most Tidy”.
*I killed a cockroach and it was a surprisingly disturbing endeavor. It was not all that big, but I hit it pretty hard with the outside of my journal. There was an impressive amount of white stuff that seemed to represent whatever it is that constitutes the inside of a cockroach. I had this skewed vision of a cockroach as being hollow on the inside.
*I washed my clothes by hand again and I officially am the worst at being my own washing machine. I can’t get things clean, and all this hand washing is stretching out everything I own.
*There are chickens that belong to my host family that wander in their large yard. The kids named one of them “lunch” and another “dinner”. Lunch was the one in my room. Dinner is the daddy.
*When I was washing my clothes I left the back door open and all the little baby chicks came in to the room. It was laughable to witness me trying to chase them out of the house.
*I went to a professional soccer match. There was no scoreboard and some random guy on the sidelines ran out on to the field, snatched the ball and proclaimed that the match was over. The match was not over.
*I took my first Silozi language test. It was humbling to realize how much I did not know.
*I made pizza for my host family. They liked it so much we made it two nights in a row. I have never had any group of people want to eat something I made more than once. I had my host sisters help. It was one of my favorite moments so far.
All the best from Namibia and much love to all…
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Photo post...
My camera is not functioning right now, so I don't have a ton of photos, and it costs more to download photos so I did not put up many. However, enjoy these few photographs of my flight into Namibia and my first two weeks here.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
A chicken in the shower and a lion in the road…
Over the past two weeks I visited my permanent site and shadowed a current PCV. I spent the first week at my permanent site (in Peace Corps lingo that represents the village where I will spend two years). As a side note, on our 12-hour journey to the village we saw giraffe, ostrich and baboons. These animals were not in a zoo when I saw them, but hanging out on the side of the road. Ashley (the health worker who will be in my town) and I were received into our village community at a meeting at the school. It was interesting when the Khunta (who is a traditional tribal leader) welcomed us and expressed the importance of our work. At that precise moment, the reality of my placement here set in. This is my home. I have a new community of people who are prepared to help me maintain a life in a place so remarkably different than Boulder. I only hope I can offer them tools to help build positive, sustainable practices in the school and community.
The indoctrination to village life began when I had the opportunity to assist building my mud hut because it was not complete yet. The construction of a mud hut is like nothing I have ever experienced. Dirt and water were blended to the perfect consistency and then we grabbed it with our bare hands and created the final wall of my house. We removed our shoes and eventually I had a layer of mud caked to the bottom of my feet. The mixture felt like clay. It was rewarding work for me because I have never been that involved in constructing my permanent shelter. The house has two rooms divided by a wall. I have no windows, but two doors. The walls and the thatch roof do not connect, so there is a gap for air to move through (and for spiders, which we have already experienced). The space maintains an exceptionally cool temperature. It reminds me of the pueblos in the Southwest. I have a wash area, which consists of a grass fence tall enough to create a private area to dump water on my head. It sounds like the worst way to bathe, but it is just the opposite. I have enjoyed showering outside. It is refreshing and tends to be the only time the heat is bearable. There was a chicken in there the other day, which was one a memorable experience for Ashley, who was taking a shower.
Other highlights:
*I will be teaching 6-9 English and I will be revamping the library. The library is basically a closet and they have a rather small selection of books and magazines. I also have the task of getting the kids to read books in English.
*Over half of the kids in my school are orphans.
*I ate 7654 crackers with peanut butter on it during my permanent site visit. The peanut butter is called Yum Yum.
*Thanksgiving dinner? I had a cold Coke and a bag of chips.
*Mango flavored Tang does wonders for water that is, well, less than tasty.
*Elephants walk through our village during certain times of the year.
*I went to the Botswana border, which happens to be closer to me than the town where I buy my groceries.
The second week, we visited with a current Peace Corps Volunteer and shadowed him. It was nice to stay in a home with electricity and running water after a week in the hut. We had many interesting experiences during our visit. One of the most amazing was the safari. We spent the day at an amazing lodge. We had lunch (grilled cheese, which might not sound exciting, but there is not an abundance of cheese eating happening here, so I am going into dairy withdraw). After lunch, some of us went swimming in a pool, because swimming in rivers here is a death sentence because of crocs or hippos. After relaxing for a bit, we hopped into open air Range Rovers and headed into the game park. We spent about four hours traveling through the park. We saw giraffe, hippos, turtles, monitor lizard, water buffalo, zebra, ostrich and a bunch of other things that I can’t remember. Yet, the most amazing moment happened as we were heading out of the park. We turned a corner to discover a lion in the road. We rolled up on a pride that stayed within 10-15 feet of us for much of the time. Lions are impressive creatures with gigantic paws. After the lion sighting, we headed back for dinner by the river. We could hear the hippos grunting in the water. Those massive creatures are so cranky. We lingered at the lodge until late talking and laughing about all that has happened in just one month. The whole day cost me about $65 (American).
Other highlights:
*I got to proctor the end of the year exams at my PCV’s school. In Namibia, proctoring the national exam is called “invigilating”.
*I ate fat cakes, which taste a bit like doughnuts, but not as sweet.
*I attended a mourning at the home of a local man who died. It was at dusk outside, and the sunset was breathtaking. The whole countryside seemed to be on fire because the sky was a brilliant orange.
*Toured a hospital…it was a tough experience
*Learned about a Marathon in October on the Namibian coast. I have plans to run it with some other people.
There is so much more to be said, but I doubt anyone would read it all. I am back at the training center for a few days, then we head out for a month with a host family. I finally got the Internet and Bluetooth working on my phone, so I can have Internet on my computer again assuming I have cell service.
The indoctrination to village life began when I had the opportunity to assist building my mud hut because it was not complete yet. The construction of a mud hut is like nothing I have ever experienced. Dirt and water were blended to the perfect consistency and then we grabbed it with our bare hands and created the final wall of my house. We removed our shoes and eventually I had a layer of mud caked to the bottom of my feet. The mixture felt like clay. It was rewarding work for me because I have never been that involved in constructing my permanent shelter. The house has two rooms divided by a wall. I have no windows, but two doors. The walls and the thatch roof do not connect, so there is a gap for air to move through (and for spiders, which we have already experienced). The space maintains an exceptionally cool temperature. It reminds me of the pueblos in the Southwest. I have a wash area, which consists of a grass fence tall enough to create a private area to dump water on my head. It sounds like the worst way to bathe, but it is just the opposite. I have enjoyed showering outside. It is refreshing and tends to be the only time the heat is bearable. There was a chicken in there the other day, which was one a memorable experience for Ashley, who was taking a shower.
Other highlights:
*I will be teaching 6-9 English and I will be revamping the library. The library is basically a closet and they have a rather small selection of books and magazines. I also have the task of getting the kids to read books in English.
*Over half of the kids in my school are orphans.
*I ate 7654 crackers with peanut butter on it during my permanent site visit. The peanut butter is called Yum Yum.
*Thanksgiving dinner? I had a cold Coke and a bag of chips.
*Mango flavored Tang does wonders for water that is, well, less than tasty.
*Elephants walk through our village during certain times of the year.
*I went to the Botswana border, which happens to be closer to me than the town where I buy my groceries.
The second week, we visited with a current Peace Corps Volunteer and shadowed him. It was nice to stay in a home with electricity and running water after a week in the hut. We had many interesting experiences during our visit. One of the most amazing was the safari. We spent the day at an amazing lodge. We had lunch (grilled cheese, which might not sound exciting, but there is not an abundance of cheese eating happening here, so I am going into dairy withdraw). After lunch, some of us went swimming in a pool, because swimming in rivers here is a death sentence because of crocs or hippos. After relaxing for a bit, we hopped into open air Range Rovers and headed into the game park. We spent about four hours traveling through the park. We saw giraffe, hippos, turtles, monitor lizard, water buffalo, zebra, ostrich and a bunch of other things that I can’t remember. Yet, the most amazing moment happened as we were heading out of the park. We turned a corner to discover a lion in the road. We rolled up on a pride that stayed within 10-15 feet of us for much of the time. Lions are impressive creatures with gigantic paws. After the lion sighting, we headed back for dinner by the river. We could hear the hippos grunting in the water. Those massive creatures are so cranky. We lingered at the lodge until late talking and laughing about all that has happened in just one month. The whole day cost me about $65 (American).
Other highlights:
*I got to proctor the end of the year exams at my PCV’s school. In Namibia, proctoring the national exam is called “invigilating”.
*I ate fat cakes, which taste a bit like doughnuts, but not as sweet.
*I attended a mourning at the home of a local man who died. It was at dusk outside, and the sunset was breathtaking. The whole countryside seemed to be on fire because the sky was a brilliant orange.
*Toured a hospital…it was a tough experience
*Learned about a Marathon in October on the Namibian coast. I have plans to run it with some other people.
There is so much more to be said, but I doubt anyone would read it all. I am back at the training center for a few days, then we head out for a month with a host family. I finally got the Internet and Bluetooth working on my phone, so I can have Internet on my computer again assuming I have cell service.
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