Chris Visit 2008: Remarkable. Memorable. Awesome.

A personal “thank you” to Chris for making time to hang with me and giving me the opportunity to explore my new country. He allowed me to experience things that I would not have been able to on my own. I feel grateful to have family that will do such things. Speaking of my family, a million thanks to anyone who had anything to do with the rather large bag of goodies that Chris carried with him. It was like Christmas is February. It was rejuvinating to get some of the things I needed and a few awesome suprises, as well.

The staph infection is healing nicely and I will be heading home at the end of this week. No worries.

I made a video of me chatting about my foot and my village, another showing off my hut and one other of varied images. Should you have an interest in getting a copy of the video, please email me and I will see that you get one.

Some thoughts from “Chris Visit 2008”…

Next time, Chris should rent a car not a tin can on four bike tires. Despite its shortcomings, it was the “little car that could”. It performed well in the off-road/on-water conditions we encountered during our visit to Etosha National Park. Bravo tin can.

We spent the night in Etosha in a room that is that exact replica of how I want my future home to be decorated. It was simplistic. See photo for a visual of the bed.


“Namutoni” is the name of one of the rest camps in Etosha. Chris thought the park employee who was helping us find a place to spend the night called it “number 20”. Chris proceeded to call it “number 20” during the whole conversation. Silly American.


There are no hiking trails in Etosha. In fact, you can’t even get out of the car unless you are at a rest camp or a toilet. I suppose it cuts down on fatal interactions between humans and the wildlife. Would not want a silly tourist trying to snap a close-up of a Leopard.



Chris wanted to see Giraffe. The first thing we saw after passing the gate into the Park? Giraffe. The last thing we saw before leaving the park the following day? Giraffe. And not just one or two or even three, but more than 20. We also saw zebra, zebra babies, springbok, wildebeest, female lions, birds, tree stumps that we thought were animals, rocks that we thought were animals sleeping, beetles, chameleon, owl. We were in the tin can when we saw much of this stuff. It was Jurassic Park, except we were in a car more suited for an episode of the Flintstones.




I think the most useful time I have ever spent in a car occurred Friday night when we took a night game drive. We began at 8pm and ended near 11pm and there were no other people or cars to be found anywhere. The rainy season is the low season for tourism in the park because the animals are more difficult to find. However, we were lucky to see quite a few. There is a magical quality to experiencing wildlife at night. I felt more vulnerable. Exposed. Our guide swept a light back and forth in search of life as we traveled in an open-air SUV. He had an amazing eye for wildlife and we were fortunate to witness jackals, springbok, giraffe, black-faced impala, several species of birds, and a male lion.


Yeah, you read correctly. A male lion. It was sleeping 15 yards off of the road. We pulled over and the guide cut the engine. We were close enough to hear him lick his impressive paws after yawing several times. He was about ten years old and was waiting patiently for the pride to make a kill so he could fill his belly. The highlight was when the lion decided to show us he was the king of the bush by growling and roaring at us. Each time, our guide would turn the lights off and allow us to experience the intensity of the lion’s roar in complete darkness. It pierced though the night with a commanding tone. Wicked cool. Humbling. Goosebumps. At one point, some hyenas joined in, but we never saw any of them. It was intense. Enough said.



Namibia is gorgeous. Mountains. Desert. Super-sized Sunsets. Tremendous Lightening.

Since when do I look German?

All Gold Tomato Sauce is not Ketchup. Hence the name.

I inhaled all the Snickers that were in the package from home in a 24-hour period.

The Dr. Pepper was like gold running through my veins. More please.

The hotel played the Zamphere Greatest Hits album on repeat. “Unbreak My Heart” is flawless when performed by Zamphere, Master of the Pan Flute. Not familiar with Zamphere? Google.

“Keep it left.” Chris uttered this quite frequently when driving the tin can rental car so that he would not have a head-on collision. It worked. Let’s hope he does not go back to America and “keep it left.”

Anyone ever seen this movie about a Scottish drug addict, meals on wheels volunteer who steals money from her dead boyfriend’s back pocket and travels to Spain with her best friend? It was playing on the hotel TV and we did not catch the ending (nor the name of the film) because the electricity went out.


Random thoughts about being in stuck in Windhoek for the second week in a row…

I started to run since my foot has healed enough. There are hills in Windhoek. There are no hills in all of the Caprivi Strip, which is where I live and run normally. I bonked.

The Cultural Center is big city cool. It’s a slick building with various local artists selling their stuff. It has trendy coffee/internet cafes.

How can you call it a “meat pie” if it only has spinach and cheese in it?

I went to “King Pie” and ordered a combo meal: cheeseburger meat pie, chips and a coke. Ate the chips. Drank the coke. Tossed the cheeseburger meat pie. Well, I ate the breading on the outside. Tasted like a croissant.

Two weeks in Windhoek has reminded me that I am a small town girl at heart. I am ready to head back home to my village and my hut.

I miss Mo. Cute, huh?

Who will be my Valentine when my foot is oozing multi-colored puss?

Yeah, my foot is a wreck, and I felt I should give those concerned a medical update. A week or so ago, I began to notice a tremendous amount of bites on my feet. Despite my best efforts, I did not have the willpower to stop from scratching the bites on occasion. As a result, I opened some of the bites enough and it was exposed to bacteria at some point. Towards the end of last week, I was running a fever and my foot began to swell. The infected areas began to ooze and were extremely painful. It progressively worsened through the weekend until Saturday when I was told by the Peace Corps medical staff to get on a bus for Windhoek as quickly as possible. So, I hobbled my way onto a 15-hour, overnight bus ride to the capital city. I can’t recall a time recently that I have been more uncomfortable. At that point, my entire foot and part of my leg was swollen and there was an infinite amount of pain. On top of that, it was oozing multi-colored puss and I was running a fever. Very sexy. I was happy to arrive Monday morning in Windhoek and receive medical care. It turns out I have a staph infection, which was not a surprise to the Peace Corps nurse when she heard where I lived. I am on antibiotics. I have to soak my foot in hot water and other stuff every morning for nearly an hour, and then it is wrapped up after being covered in medicine. I was on crutches for two days, but I can walk on my foot now because the swelling is down. However, I am told I will not return to my site until the infection is completely cleared, which means I might be here for another week or so. I must say, the “sick bay” (the apartment where sick PCVs are kept) is a treat. There is hot running water, air conditioning, a full kitchen and a TV. I took two showers yesterday. It was fabulous. I made myself a cheeseburger. It was mouthwatering. I watched soccer on TV. It was exciting.

On top of that, Chris arrived in Namibia this week and I will see him tomorrow. The Peace Corps nurse said I could go with him for a few days, but I have to change my own dressing and take it easy. We are making plans to lounge at the pool, which sounds perfect.

So, for all those wondering what exactly was going on with Tina’s foot, you now know. I am healing. Keep in mind that I am new to village living and I must learn how to maintain my health in a different way than I did in Colorado. It’s a learning process, for sure. I am bound to make mistakes, and I do not plan to make this particular one again.