Lunch lays eggs…

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…