3 months gone in a blink

It's strange to think that I've been in Namibia for over 3 months.  So I figured I would talk a little about my what my life has been like through lists.

  Things I can't believe:

            I'm in Africa

           That it's just starting to be summer here

           There could be this much sand

           Thorns could go through your shoe

           Red meat is really cheap

           Chicken is expensive

Things I love

            The people

            The weather

            That I'm in Africa

            The resources my school has

             How curious everyone is about why I am here

             The bread

Things I dislike

             The constant, tiring marriage proposals

             The bugs

             The assumption that I speak Africaans

             All of the down time I have right now before teaching in January

             Fellow Co-worker actions

Things I've done

             Eaten goat face

             Jumped off a dam

             Moved to a new place

             Learned (more like learning) a new language

             hitch hike to my shopping town and back

Things I want to do

            Go sand boarding

            Start a computer lab

            Go to traditional events

            Join Peace Corps. committees

            Have American holiday parties when I teach

            Start a pen pal system with an American school

           Start a girls club

           Adjust my schools punishment system

Places I want to visit

           Cape Town

            The beach in Cape Town where I can swim with penguins

            Caprivi Region

           Etosha National Park

           Swakomund

           Zanzibar or Madagascar

           Victoria Falls (again)

           Chobe National Park (again)

Things I miss

           Chinese Food 

           Cook Out

           Lemonade

          Washing machines and dryers

           Running hot water

           Cable

           Seeing movies at movie theaters

Things that are surprisingly difficult to buy in town

            Tomatoes

            Cheese (can't buy it at all in town)

            Peppers

            Fruit

            Water

Things I do in my free time

             Read

            Watch movies/ TV on my laptop

             Work out 

             Make friendship bracelets

             Cook

            Walk to the store

My life here is good.  I'm slowly making this place feel like home.

  

           

      

Walking around naked...except not really (aka my flat)

So on Friday I moved into my flat.  My bedroom is really simple.  There is a table and 1 chair, a bed, and a wardrobe.  Since my kitchen doesn't have any shelves or anywhere to put my food, I use half of my wardrobe for my food and cooking stuff.
         The kitchen is small too.  There's a sink, a fridge and a hot plate.  A hot plate is just the top part of a stove and many people use a hot plate in place of a stove and oven.  My kitchen is also the happening spot for all the local bugs.  At nights they are everywhere.  It's usually cock roaches (they're not nearly as big as the ones in the states) and some really small bugs.  But I avoid them none the less.

My bathroom

       My bathroom is split into two parts.  The toilet (missing a seat) is in one room and the bath tub and sink is in the other.  Since my bathtub has neither a shower head or hot water I take bucket baths.  What that entails is turning on the faucet scooping up the water with my hands and pouring it down my body.  I have a bucket that I could fill up and dump on me that way, but I don't have a shower curtain so I don't use it in order to control the water.  Once my body is all wet I wash my hair first and run it under the faucet to rinse it out.  Then I wash the rest of me.  All of this is done standing up with my hair in a bun (after it was washed) to prevent it from dripping on me.  I usually use cold water because it takes a while for me to heat up water and it's usually pretty hot so the cold water is refreshing.

My bedroom

     The  kids here are all very curious about me and my flat.  If I leave my door unlocked they will knock.  If I don't answer they will walk in.  I have been making them go back outside, knock and then wait for me to answer in order to help them understand how I want my space to be treated.  But once in they are mainly just interested in how it is set up.  They'll watch whatever I am doing and then leave.  I had many people come and greet me while here.
    It is loud by my flat.  My flat is in the middle of the 8th grade girls' blocks so they usually hang out around my windows.  I'm a really light sleeper so I'm going to have to get used to all of the noise.

The kitchen

    I am very excited to be living on my own.  It means that I have to cook (or rather learn to cook), but I like being in charge of what I do, where and when.  I am close enough to the school that I can usually get some wifi during the day to check my mail and talk to people.  However, the wifi isn't strong enough for my ipod to pick it up so I can't use apps like facetime or viber.  But once at school I can use those.   I was given permission to paint my flat so the next time I am in Gobabis I am going to pick up some chalk board paint and maybe another color as well.  

my picture wall

     I have been very bored during school.  We're not suppose to teach during this time which limits the things that can fill up my time. I have explored my school quite well and spent a decent time in the library.  I really like my school library. It has a lot of technical books ( even a discreet math book!) but is lacking in the fiction department. So I'm going to try to get some more fiction books.

Another picture of my kitchen

Homecoming...ish (aka moving to my site)

So I know it's been a while since I posted but I have been trying to figure out a schedule and make time to actually post.  Since I swore in on Sept 25 I have been busy...kind of.

Me and all the stuff

         That Friday Brittany and her supervisor as well as me went to Gobabis which is my shopping town.  We were suppose to stay there until the next Tuesday, but we actually stayed until Wednesday.  We stayed with Brittany's supervisor and simply lounged around. I did some serious shopping and bought almost everything I thought I would need for my flat.  Also while in Gobabis I got to explore the Ministry of Education there and got to meet the Director there (the head person for my region).   Gobabis has one major street, but has a lot of shops.  I was very happy to see a Mr.Price (a cheap clothes store), and a Wimpy (restaurant).  There are multiple grocery stores, and china shops.  There are a lot of languages spoke there.  I heard Otjiherero, Africaans, KKG, and a little Oshiwambo.  There are a lot of different tribes represented in that one town which is pretty cool.

My school

           On Wednesday we piled multiple suitcases, 2 hiking back packs, 2 green trunks, a ton of shopping bags, and ourselves into the back of a closed pick up truck and took the 1 hour journey to Otjinene.  The journey wasn't unpleasant because we had a mattress to sit on, and there is a tar road that leads to Otjinene. In order to properly picture Otjinene, think of the smallest town you know, and then divide it into 4ths.  That is Otjinene.  All the roads are sand, and there is one fuel station.  There is a store where you can buy necessities like cool drink (sodas), bread, milk, eggs, canned foods, toilet paper and what not.  There is a butcher shop where you can buy meat, and a bakery.  There are 2 take away places, and 1 china shop (to my pleasure).  There is a standard bank ATM, and even a small post office.  There are 3 schools here, which I think is a bit unnecessary.  There is a primary school (grades 1-5) a combined school (1-7) and 1 secondary school (8-10, soon to be 8-11).  Brittany the other volunteer in my town will be working at the primary school and I am at the secondary school.  Omaheke is considered cattle country and so there are cows EVERYWHERE, just kind of roaming.  Everyone here is very nice and always curious about who I am and what I am doing here.  I thought that me being here wouldn't be too big of a shock since they had a volunteer that left last year, but I was wrong.

Donkey pulled cart

         I have been staying with a host family for a few days until my flat at my school is ready for me.  I am actually hoping to move in today.  The house is small.  There are 3 bedrooms, and only one has a working light.  There is 1 light in the rest of the house that is in the kitchen.  There is one sink in the house that  doesn't work.  The family is really nice and I have already learned 2 new card games from the kids.

One of the classroom blocks at schoo

One of the classes. The kids "needed" a picture

        My first day I went to the car wash with my host mom.  A car wash and hair salon are 2 of the most common businesses you can find in a town  because they don't need a lot of space.  While there I met a lot of the community.  I have never been called "white person" as much in my life as I have in that first day.  People would tell there friends to "come meet the white person".  Of course this was all said in Otjiherero so they didn't know that I understood what was being said. At first people see me and assume that I speak Africaans.  They would ask me how I was, and I'd respond in Africaans ( greetings are pretty much all I know in that language), and then I'd have to switch over to English. To that extent I have been using my language everyday while here.  Usually just to greet people, but I have slowly been integrating phrases and words that I learned.  Everyone is generally amazed and happy that I know even a tiny bit of Otjiherero.  My listening skills have increased ten fold because of all the eavesdropping that I have been doing.

The only fuel station in town

      My school is nice.  All of the buildings are green and white.  The school is set up into blocks and all of the classrooms lead to outside.  There is a computer lab with 30 laptops, a home ec. classroom, an science lab, and a library. I was told that my school was the 2nd best school in Omaheke last year so that would explain the renovation that was done then.  The hostel is right next to the school and hosts most of the students.  Each room has 4-6 bunk beds where the learners sleep and 1-2 dressers.  A bunch of the windows are broken so I'm sure it gets cold at nights.  All of the learners were very excited to find out that I would be teaching, however they were disappointed when I said I would only be teaching come January.

my town under construction

      My flat has a kitchen that leads directly into my bedroom. I am going to put up a curtain because there is no door between the two.  My kitchen has a sink, a fridge, and either a hotplate (top part of a stove) or an actual stove (still working those logistics out), and racks that looks like it could hold shelves.  The bathroom is right next to the kitchen and has a bathtub and sink in one room and the toilet in the other.  My bedroom has a bed and a wardrobe.  I am hoping to find a table that I can use as a desk.  All of the walls in my flat are cement.  It is small but will work perfectly.
   All and all I like Otjinene. I think it should a good place for me to stay in.  There is not much to do but I am sure I will find ways to entertain myself.
               

   

Goodbyes...for now (aka Swearing in)

        Tuesday and Wednesday we had a supervisor workshop. Pretty much every supervisor and volunteer met and then attended workshops that focused on roles, expectations, and what Peace Corps is.  My supervisor did not show up.  BUT my friend Brittany's supervisor did show up and she is the principal of the primary school of my town so she was able to give me some information about my school.  For example, my school has just been renovated and has a nice computer lab.  My school is relatively small (around 400 kids) and there are no more than 15 teachers. I will be able to move into my small flat by the hostel and I'm going to have to buy everything for my apartment.  However a few of the workshops focused on discussing in private the role of the volunteer including what classes they'll be teaching and what not.  So unfortunately I wasn't able to discuss that with my supervisor.
      Today we swore in as volunteers.  I borrowed a traditional Herero dress from one of my host mom's friends.  It was a bit tight around the chest and I couldn't quite snap myself without help (my chest got in the way of seeing where it was suppose to snap into) and my host sibling helped me.  I wore a single petty coat underneath the dress.  My host mom went on to say that she usually wore 6 underneath her dresses.  The dress was then completed with a belt and the tradition hat that refused to stay on my head.  It was really emotional taking pictures with my host family because this was one of the last things we would do together.  As I walked to the center where the ceremony would take place in I got a lot of comments and looks.  I think most people were just really surprised to see a white girl in a Herero dress.
   The ceremony started at 10 ish (good ole African time).  The youth choir sang in the beginning and then we walked down the aisle to our seats.  It was a lot like graduation except I was in a huge dress.  The ceremony started off with the singing of the national anthems.  We sang the Namibian one first (the recording was a lot faster than we were singing), then the African Union one, and lastly the American one.  Our group was introduced by a training staff member.  We then watched this really awesome video that showed what our PST life had been like.  Our training director then gave opening remarks and asked the Country Director to accept the 47 trainees who had completed their training to swear in.  Then our Country Director "accepted" us and gave a really great speech about how we define ourselves.  She spoke about how she doesn't know us all individually but she knows we're "adventurous, selfless, courageous" and a whole lot other words.  She talked about how she felt like our surrogate mother and how she was really proud of us.  She then passed it off to a special guest the acting ambassador for the U.S.A who then gave a speech.  Then we said two oaths.  One was saying we would serve the U.S.A and the next pretty much saying that we would serve as a volunteer.  After this a business guy gave a rather dull speech about the importance of volunteers in Namibia.  A youth choir then sang a really cool song.  Then each language group presented something.  Africaans and my language both gave a speech (my friend adam gave the otjiherero speech).  The Kavango region did a dance.  The Oshiwambos sang.  And the KKG's and Zambezi's said a poem.  After this the national anthems were sung again in reverse order.
    I can't believe that I am finally a volunteer. I am really excited to begin my service.  I can not wait to meet my students and get started.  The next few months are considered phase 2.  Pretty much we will be observing classes, getting to know our schools and communities, and working on integrating.  Then in December we all meet up for a conference known as "Reconnect" where we talk about phase 2.  FINALLY in January (the beginning of the school year) I start teaching.

My host family and little neighbor

My friend Rachel and I 

The 3 out of 4 of us Herero women wearing our dresses

The people I walk to training and back everyday with.

Improvised pizza (aka American culture day and other stuff)

     I know it's been a while since I've posted. In all honesty nothing eventful has really happened and I don't feel like writing about the boring stuff.
     Last Saturday we went to a dam near by for a Braai (BBQ) and to go swimming.  It was a lot of fun to just relax and eat some food. I ended up swimming to this little island and back.  After lunch a bunch of us went and jumped of the dam (about 40 feet).  It was a lot of fun. I only did the 40 foot jump twice but I ended up jumping from a smaller height quite a few times.  In order to jump of the dam we had  to climb over the railing and turn around.  This was the scariest part for me.  After a while we gained a crowd of people on motor boats and kayaks.  The water was cold, refreshingly so, and really really gross.  But in the end it was totally worth it because it was so much fun.
    On Thursday we had our final LPI (Language Proficiency Interview).  I needed to get an Intermediate Low in order to pass.  Pretty much I sat down with a qualified tester (which just so happened to be our language coordinator) and tried my best to talk in my language for at least 15 minutes.  I did pretty well. I was able to convey that I liked to read fiction and I very briefly explained what my favorite book was about ( it's about a woman hero who does magic).  I also spoke about where I wanted to travel to in Namibia and why I wanted to go to Etosha (to see the animals). In the end I got a Intermediate Mid+ (what the + means I have no idea).  I will be retested during Reconnect ( December) and I will be expected to go up a level.
  Then on Friday we went to Windhoek and got a tour of the Peace Corps. offices.  We were suppose to take a bus but the bus driver never showed up with the bus.  So we ended up taking multiple combis and some people even had to jump into taxis.  In the end we all got there.  The office tour was interesting because we got to see where all the behind the scenes work  happens.  We also got to see the volunteer flats.  There are 2 rooms with 2 beds each in it.  If I was to ever get sick and have to go to Windhoek for a medical reason that is where I would stay.  From there we went to the mall to buy stuff for our sites.  However, we were discouraged from buying too much because in the end that is more stuff that we need to bring.  I bought some electronics there but nothing for my future apartment. I anticipate that we will be stopping in my shopping town on my way to my site so I will buy most of my things there.
  Today (Saturday) we had the American culture day.  We divide into different regions, mine was the north east, and each region made different foods.  We made pizza and chili dogs.  We cooked our pizza out on the grill.  In the beginning we didn't know how to cook the pizza because the dough was falling through the grates.  Eventually we used tin foil with a disgusting amount of oil on it.  The pizzas turned out alright (we even made 2 pan pizzas!), and then we made the chili dogs.  The pizza sauce and chili was all pre-made so all we had to do was heat them up.  The south region made peach cobbler, sweet tea and something else that I can't remember.  One group made nachos, another did gumbo and rice.  We didn't have a lot of people come to this which I thought was surprising. I thought more people would want to come to the American culture day than the Namibian one.  Each language also had to give a speech. I ended up doing the one for Otjiherero. I did pretty well, but I was a bit nervous so I stumbled over some of the words.  At the end of this event it became an American hang out.  We played American music and just danced around.

Me giving my speech

The North East Table

Our lovely braai pizza

New People and New Places (aka shadowing)

      Wednesday morning I left with 3 others to Otjiwarongo for shadowing.  We met at the training center and were scheduled to leave at 8 am.  Well, that didn't really happen and we only left around 10:30, but hey  we're on  Africa time as they call it here.  There were 6 of us traveling together so we took 2 cars.  We rode with some guy that our trainers knew and this was our first taste of hitch hiking.  I rode with 2 other girls in a tiny car that already had 2 other hikers.  It was about a hour and a half hour drive to Otjiwarongo. It's more north than Okahandja and a lot bigger. Otjiwarongo has around 30,000 people (according to the census but the people I stayed with said it was probably closer to 80,000).  My first impression of Otjiwarongo was that it was really pretty.  There was grass (grass!!!!!!!) along the side walks and there was a beautiful church.  We pulled up to a gas station where we got out and paid our driver $150 Nam.  From there I met up with the people in the other car and waited for the people we were staying with to pick us up.  Oskar and I were shadowing a young married couple Julia and Trent.  They're both volunteers and have been there for around a year.  They have amazing stories.  Before they joined the Peace Corps. they taught English in Korea.  They're both really nice and I am really glad I got to stay with them.  2 other trainees Scott and Ben were suppose to be staying with a volunteer Steve but since Steve's place is tiny (smaller than a UNCC suite!) and Steve lives near Julia and Trent, Ben and Scott stayed with Julia and Trent as well.

      Julia and Trent are both teachers and live in a teachers flat that is an extension of the hostel that the kids stay in.  Julia teaches 5th graders and Trent teaches 8-10. Julia's school is yards away from her place.  Most of the kids that go to her school stay at the hostel that is attached to it.  This means that there are kids outside screaming and playing at all times.  Trent's school is about a 25 minute walk away.

    The flat that I stayed at was really big in comparison to what I imagine most teacher flats to be.  The flat had a living room that consisted of a dining room table, a couple of chairs, and 2 hostel beds that guests would sleep in.  Then there was a tiny kitchen, a bedroom that I stayed in, a shower room, a toilet room, a master bedroom where Julia and Trent slept in, and another bedroom where 2 guys slept in.  All the walls were cement as were the floors.  They had running water but it wasn't usually hot so whenever they wanted to do dishes they would use a hot water boiler to heat up water and then use that to clean.  A lot of the stuff in the flat was left over from the last volunteer that stayed there.

   On Thursday I went and watched her teach.  She teaches 5th grade English and that day there were learning about stories.  Most of the kids wore school uniforms and all of the were colored (black).  There were enough desks and chairs for all of the students but a few had to double up.  They were very curious about who I was and at the end they were able to ask a few questions about me.  I got asked how old I was ( definitely not the first nor the last time I will get this one) where I was from and what languages I knew.  They were generally pretty well behaved.

   On Friday I observed Trent who taught 2 English classes and 2 BIS classes (basic information sciences). The kids had to wear uniforms to school everyday except on Fridays.  Friday was when they could wear casual clothes.  A lot of the guys looked like they were in a Chris Brown music video and the girls looked like they were going to a club. 

   Each night we cooked food.  Wednesday night we made salad, pasta and sausage.  Thursday night it was a different type of salad, and left over pasta.  Friday night we did a potluck dinner where Scott made corn chowder and we all pitched in sides or dessert. Saturday night was all about leftovers.  On Saturday went to a trade fair in Okakarara.  It was very similar to the expo we went to the first week.  Then after a bunch of other volunteers and the people shadowing them came over and stayed the night.  It was really fun meeting new volunteers and just relaxing with them.  The entire time I was shadowing I felt like I was on vacation.  I was so happy to be away from the trainers and training in general.  Today (Sunday) we got a ride back to Okahandja.  

This is Julia' classroom pre class

This is Trent's classroom

Trent's school's library which is pretty much just a closet with books

A mural the previous volunteer did

An improved bookshelf

The kitchen

Antici.......pation ( aka site announcements)

   Today was the day I've been looking towards for a very long time.  Today we finally found out where in Namibia we are going to be placed.  During model school today I had a very hard time focusing because all I could think about was where I got placed.  After a quick medical session ( first aid: minor wounds) we were given "blind folds". In reality they were just black trash bags that were cut up.  We walked to the back yard of the training center and told to put our blind folds on.  Once they were on our trainers started calling our names and guiding us to our location in Namibia. A map of Namibia was outlined in string and rocks and each town where people were placed was a stone with the town name underneath it.  Once everyone was placed on the map we took off our blind folds to see where everyone was located.
     I will be going to the town of Otjinene in the region of Omahake. I am about 4 hours east of Windhoek and I am very close to Botswana.  I am not alone though. Ironically my partner for model school is also in the same town as me.  We were given a packet of papers that has all of our site information in it.  I will be teaching grades 8-10 math and possibly 8-10 english and science.  My school has 3 female teachers and 15 male teachers.  When I first read this my eyes got real big, but then I quickly calmed myself.  I get along better with guys and I am not afraid to assert myself when approached in a manner that I don't like.  There are 190 girls and 168 boys at my school (that's 358 students total).  Thankfully my school speaks both english and the language I'm learning.  The town I'm living in is 2000 people.  So beyond teaching classes we are expected to have a secondary project as well.  My school would like to start an exchange program with schools overseas.  This was one of the reasons this site was one of my top 3 choices.  I was really happy when I realized that they gave me one of my preferences.
    I will be living by myself in an apartment.  This apartment is part of a hostel for the kids who go to this school.  I will have electricity, running water, the whole shebang.  I'm really excited to be living by myself. I've never been by myself and I' eager to live my own life instead of having to abide by my host family rules.  However I'm not really sure what to think of the whole living in a hostel full of kids situation. I have no ideas if the hostel will be really loud at nights.  I'm a really light sleeper and if it is really loud all the time I might have to invest in some ear plugs.  My apartment is 100 meters from the school and is owned by the government.  My shopping town is 2 hours away but my town is on a major road so it will probably be pretty easy to get there.  Besides Brittany in my town my friend Adam is going to be in the shopping town Gobabis.  Besides us three though there is no one around.  It is expected of me to live with a host family for the first 3 months.  I have already been given their name and the set up there. I will be living in a modern home similar to my future apartment.
    It was really interesting seeing where everyone got placed and how close together we all are.  A lot of people are going to be in the north and they'll be relatively close to each other.  Thankfully since I'm not in the north I won't have to take my malaria medicine everyday like them.  It seems like everyone got what they pretty much wanted.  Those who wanted a mud hut got one, and those who wanted a house got a house.  We are pretty much going to be all across the country.  I'm really looking forward to service now that I know where I'm going to be and where all my friends are going to be.  And in case anyone was wondering, I am very happy with my placement!

I love how these two dogs sit like that 

Lizard!!

My neighbor Luna with her new doll courtesy of the Sibley-Jett's and co.

Me with my town sign

A map of Namibia