August 17
Apparently, I sleep talked a lot last night. There was no electricity
when I woke up. I walked to the PC Office around 6am. I LOVE walking in Rundu
that early. It is crisp, almost chilly, and the sun is beautiful. The city is
relatively quiet. On my walk I started thinking about how I am really hoping
for a guy best friend here, a PCV. I have a best guy friend, but he is in
Germany. I want a travel buddy. I haven’t had a male best friend since the 2nd
or 3rd grade. I hung out in the office most of the day. I skyped my
best friend from Germany for three hours. It was awesome! I went to lunch with
a PCV and had a good time. She is doing a school garden like me, but on a
massive scale. I’m glad because I can learn from her mistakes as well as help
her out if she has problems. I went back to Gio’s and went to bed around 830.
August 18
I woke up feeling stressed. However, I have enjoyed being by myself
most of the time this weekend. I posted a fb status about how I feel like a
useless PCV and got some AWESOME encouragement from some other PCVs and
friends. I went and bought some groceries then went back to the PC Office. I
did blogs and journaled. A World Teach Volunteer friend of mine came over to
hang out. I was stressed most of the time we hung out because I was worried my
ride would ditch me. Another PCV came in. Then I walked to the store with the
WTV (World Teach Volunteer). MY ride said to come now. I went to the meeting
place, and in the process left some of my groceries behind. I should be used to
Africa time by now. The driver said to come now, but did not show up for two
hours. I walked back to the office and told him to pick me up there. Long story
short, I ended up staying another night in Rundu because of my ride. I skyped
mom for about 5 minutes, then relaxed. I smsed a few PCVs about feeling useless
and they really encouraged me. Hung out with my best friend fro mGermany on
skype for an hour after I skyped my mom. It was wonderful. My friend and I
literally just “hung out” on skype by leaving the video and audio on as we
played around on the computer. It almost felt as if we were in the same room. I
went to bed at 830 at Gio’s.
August 19
I woke up around my normal time and went to the office. I
worked for many hours on support groups and gardens for my community. Three of
the PC Staff came in from Windhoek to rearrange the office and take inventory.
As they were working, a young guy came in asking for another PCV. This guy is
the other one of the two coolest Namibians I have met! I felt I was looking at
a reflection of my personality, in many aspects except a few. I am going to
copy paste what I wrote in journal because there is too much to write about.
This is not proofread or neat because I was so excited. “He had an American
accent. 20 yrs old, plays computer games (hitmen, GTA, mafia, Warcraft),
guessed I was a WoW guy, skateboards, likes rock (Sanctus Real, Relient K, the
Afters, Switchfoot, StellaKart, Classic Crime), Rap (90’s rap), Classical Bachelors in Education, wants to teach in
village, Wants masters in education, wants to travel, never been out of
Namibia, loves school, introvert, said I talked to him like a normal person so
he became an extrovert because he felt comfortable, he eats butter, pb, and
bread, loves pizza and lasagna when went out to eat with family, knows about
tacos, likes basketball gold tennis badminton swimming pingpong, wants to fly,
‘here in Namibia, if you’re a cleaner you’ll be a cleaner for the rest of your life,
teacher=teach for rest of life,’ ‘didn’t know that you could be a sw in the US
and switch to business’, plays piano, guitar, keyboard, I asked him what had
made him come here today ‘I wanted to meet someone new.’” Sorry for the jumbled
mess, but let me tell you how extraordinary this guy was. He was like any other
American youth I know. I still wonder if he was joking about being Namibian. I
also wondered if he facebook stalked me or something because he pegged so many
of my EXACT interests. I mean, not many people in the world eat peanut butter,
BUTTER, and bread, like I was raised with. He guessed I had played World of
Warcraft. He loves Christian rock like I do and we knew many of the same bands.
He loves school and loves to learn. He wants to get his masters. He is musical.
Seriously, how is it possible that he and I are so alike? I definitely want to
hang out with him in Rundu. I also think he may be talented enough to attend
school in America. I will either refer him to one of the new PCVs coming to
Rundu in September, or I might do it myself. He would fit in so well. Hanging
out with him reminded me of home. It made me miss the US even more. After he
left, I had a good talk with another PCV about some of the challenges of being
a PCV. Two other people came in and I had good talks with them too. I took a
taxi to my ride. It took us awhile to leave, and then a while to get home. I
unpacked my stuff and went home. Oh, I forgot. All this time I have been
filtering my water because I thought the borehole water was unsafe. I was
wrong. Three people, including the PC doctor, said borehole water is fine!
Things will be so much easier now that I don’t have to carry my water supply
for the day with me. I got some news that put me over the moon; the guy who is
bringing my camera to Namibia picked up the package and is on his way here! I
ate dinner and read Earth Afire, the second book in the Ender series, until two
PCVs called wanting to discuss logistics for the PC Health Camp in a week. I
went to bed at 930.
August 20
I woke up feeling pretty good. I went to clinic and ate
breakfast. I went to the office and waited for my supervisor. I was a bit
nervous because it had been such a long time since I had seen her. She came in
and it was great! I kept busy all morning, but at noon there was nothing for me
to do. I had my first actual lunch at the clinic since my supervisor left. I
had lentils and some other tasty stuff. It was so good to have actual food and
not wheatbix. I watched Tom and Jerry during ounch J. Then I went back and
journaled for a few hours. Three of my closest friends in Namibia smsed me and
invited me to spend Christmas vacation with them! I felt so special and it made
me really happy. They wanted to rent a car and I was nervous about the expense,
but I knew we’d work it out somehow. I’m so excited because I’ll have my new
camera to take pictures of all the awesome things we will see. I watched part
of a movie and went home around 550. I talked with my host mother, who is
apparently sick. I went to my room around 730 and watched Epic. Epic is an
AMAZING movie! It’s one of the best animated movies I have seen! I watched
Oblivion with Tom Cruise after that. It was great too! I facebooked a large
number of friends after that, just to say hi and check in. It was so fun that I
went to bed at 10pm!
August 21
I decided to go to the school today because there wasn’t
anything for me to do at the clinic and I am much more productive at the
school. There wasn’t much for me to do at the school, but at least I was
building relationship as I interacted with the teachers. My friend MS bought me
topps I went back to the clinic around 1030. Me and my Christmas Vacation
buddies booked the Skeleton Beach Hostel in Swakopmund for 4 nights! We will be
there during New Years Eve! We also booked skydiving for January 1st!
I am scared to death of skydiving, but I want to do it and show that fear does
not control me. We are all afraid of it, so I am not alone. It will cost a
whole month’s salary, but it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s going to
be awesome! Swakopmund is my top destination in Namibia to travel to. It’s an
ocean town and I’ve heard that it’s like you have walked into Germany. I went
to lunch and then met with my supervisor. I was nervous, but it ended up being
an amazing conversation that lasted 1.25 hours. I have some new projects such
as an HIV/AIDs Support Group, Community Outreach, and Health Education in the
mornings. I learned a very valuable lesson about working in any community.
Apparently, people in the community remembered that I said I would be out in
the community asking about them and what they need. I did not expect any of
them to remember or care honestly. I told sister that I was sorry for that and
that I was intimidated. I was (and still am) intimidated because I am so young
and inexperienced in village life that I don’t feel I can teach them anything
and that I won’t be respected even if I try. I also don’t have anyone to go out
to the community with me to interpret. My supervisor and I also talked about
some topics that weren’t really fun, but it was wonderful because we valued
communication so much that we still discussed uncomfortable topics. I went and
read after the meeting. I went home at the usual time. I went to my room early
because no one was home. I watched the Croods. It was really good!
August 22
I woke up at my usual time and packed for the health camp
I was going to be at for the next week and a half. Took me a lot longer than
usual because I needed more stuff and I had to fit everything in my hike
backpack! I was proud because I normally bring my hike backpack and another
smaller backpack or carry-on. The village driver was supposed to pick me up
right away, but I had to wait an hour. The car was overloaded as usual. I read
for a bit. On the way to Rundu , the PCV in charge of the camp smsed me and
said that one of the PC staff who worked in Rundu was driving to Divundu and I
could get a free ride. I don’t think anyone besides PC Volunteers understands
how amazing getting a free ride from PC is. It can make your day the best day
ever. After I got to Rundu I bought a bunch of junk food. I had to walk several
kilometers at a very FAST pace with a huge hiking backpack. The ride to Divundu
was good. I ate all my junk food. The PC Staff member told me where a bunch of
the new Group 38 people were staying. We also talked a lot about Namibian and
American politics. I got to the camp site and helped set things up. Fyi, I love
the PCV’s dog, Kapuka. It is the sweetest dog I have seen in Namibia. I went
and looked at the garden the PCV had been making. I was jealous. It is 60mx40m
and is beautiful. My garden will have many more challenges though so I
shouldn’t compare (I probably shouldn’t do that anyways). Two other PCVs and I
walked to Shametu Lodge. Shametu lodge is right next to the camp and they are
in the process of building their lodge. The owners are good friends of the PCV
who lives at the Malaria Camp. I think I’m going to refer to the PCV whose site
the camp is being held at as N. On the way to the lodge we found a puppy who we
thought was dead, but it moved when it saw us. It was absolutely pitiful and
all three of us were concerned. It was emaciated and it made pitiful attempts
to wag its tail when we got close to it. We decided to take the dog with us and
give it some water. It was a miracle that the dog was able to stand up after
giving it some water, although it had no balance. We spent lots of time with
the puppy. We went to town and bought Bratwurst, bread, mustard, ketchup, and
potatoes. I didn’t really wanna buy that much food, but it was one of those
“man night traditions” that the two other PCVs had. I talked with one of the
PCVs while we made the food. I showered while the food was being made and it
felt so good! One of my friend’s is picking up my camera from the guy who
brought it to America! I had to babysit the puppy the entire time because it
was so unsteady and would try to wander around. It almost fell into the fire a
few times. Kapuka also doesn’t like the dog. I watched part of Despicable Me 2
with one of the PCVs. I fell asleep though because I was sick from the food, as
were the two other guys. The meat was off. I woke up after the movie and had a
really good talk with one of the PCVs. Another thing I love about Kapuka is
that this dog is the BEST cuddle dog I have ever met. He came and slept in my
bed with me all night! I loved it.
August 23
I did not sleep well at all. I
kept checking on the puppy who was locked in the room with us. It was precious
to see the puppy nestle itself into my
clothes in the closet. I finally decided to get up at 5am. The puppy was in
worse shape than before we gave it water. We decided that we needed to kill it
because it was suffering and would probably die. No one wanted to do it so we
decided to let one of the Namibians do it. N (the PCV whose site the camp was
at) and I left for Rundu. We had a free ride which is always awesome. I avoided
going to the PC office right away. I was feeling a bit down. I went to the Open
Market and had my usual. I really enjoyed just sitting there and not rushing. I
walked to the office, but didn’t talk much. Everyone went to lunch and I got a
bit bored. One of my closest friends from the South of Namibia is visiting the
North for the week. She came into the office and it was soo good to see her.
She also gave me my new camera! We walked back to Gio’s then taxied to
Omashare, where they have awesome pizza. The food took over an hour and a half
to get to our table. Namibia is not known for its service at all. The food
tasted really good though. We walked home and I played with my camera for a
bit.
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