Time is Flying By!

It’s hard to believe I have been here for almost two weeks. Time has flown by and I have loved almost all of it! I went to church last week and it was amazing! It was spiritually fulfilling and one of my friends said she even liked it. We met some amazing people and learned about Namibian culture, such as the different handshakes. We also met a man who is in charge of all the Namibian Christian camps, or something like that. I love networking and that is one of the reasons I went, and skipped the hike to Pride Rock. They taught us logic models this week. We also learned about the Namibian tribes and the genocide that took place during the struggle for Namibian independence. I got my language on Monday. I will be speaking Rukwangali. I was hoping for Afrikaans, but God has a reason for everything. It was exciting to get my language, but I saw that my closest friends here received a language that will most likely place them quite far away.

On Monday, we met our host families. We moved in the next day and I am happy to stay that my neighborhood is one of the safer, nicer areas. I can’t wait to have people over. My friend’s host family has an adorable one month old puppy I love! Friday was an awesome day! We had class, but were let out early. Five of us went to another PCV’s place to hang out. It was an AMAZING time of bonding and getting to know each other. None of us wanted to leave. Another friend who lived in my neighborhood walked a PCV home, but it was much farther away than we thought. We got majorly lost. We kept asking for directions and people said “very far, very far.” Finally, we hailed a taxi and, grudgingly, paid the $32 Namibian dollars to get home. It was a fun adventure, but we learned a lesson about leaving well before dark. We were back by the curfew time, but it was very dark. We took an “I survived” picture after. It was a great bonding moment too!

I have made some close friends here already. I bond quickly with people, but I feel this time it was record time due to the others also reciprocating my actions. I can definitely tell I am already growing personally; it is reflected in some of my friends here. I think adapting to different/new personalities will help me anywhere in the states. It is also nice to have people who are similar to me in many ways. I love having a PCV down the street from me. We can go over to each other’s house a lot because our families are related. I like everyone in our group quite a lot. I cannot wait to get to know these lovely people better and grow together.