May 14-18

I’m writing this blog with only four days passed since the last one because I have time on Sundays to write, and that is not exactly the case during the week.

On the 14^th, I woke up at my usual time, 5-6am. I went to the clinic to get my breakfast. My supervisor is very generous and lets me use her refrigerator. I always have six bars of wheatbix, milk, and sugar. It’s not bad, although the sugar is not refined as it is in America, and therefore, not near as sweet. I pretty much blogged, wrote in my journal, and wrote letters all day while meeting and talking to patients. A lot of young boys came in and got condoms. Lunch was awesome, provided by my supervisor. We had spaghetti and I also had peanut butter and bread. There really were not that many patients that came to our clinic. It’s like that here; you can have a lot of people at once, and then no one for the rest of the day. We did have a former minister of government come in. I leave the office at 4pm to go run. I ran 6k with a few ops. It was hard and I definitely got a lot of weird looks from people. The running is great because it has so many positive aspects. It keeps me healthy, helps me deal with stress, gives me time to think, and it helps establish my presence in the community. It is a great way to meet people too! I had a good dinner and some really good talks with my host family. Then I finished the night by binging through a box of Frosted Flakes. One very important thing, I was smsing friends so much that I became dependent on it. One way I decided to stop this was by agreeing not to sms until after work and sending a picture and saying what we did during the day. I love it! It’s amazing and something to look forward to at the end of the day! 

I used my Netman, internet for my computer, on the 15^th. It was a pretty uneventful morning so I tested my Netman out. It worked slow, but is good enough for email, fb, blog, news, research. I put my return address on many envelopes. I studied family planning. I also talked to the nurses about teaching me things about the clinic during down time. I had peanut butter, bread, peas, and peaches for lunch, the first fruit and veggies I’ve had for lunch since I’ve been here. I washed my hair at my supervisor’s place too. That sounds weird, but bucket bathing and getting one’s hair clean is a challenge for me. Namibians cannot grow long hair so it is not an issue to them. After work I ran 6k without stopping! I was very excited! I met a bunch of young guys. I love my runs! My host brother was mugged at knifepoint in Rundu and it was unsettling. It took away a bit of the safety I felt in Rundu. Now, I just make sure I only go where there are people, and don’t take shortcuts like he did. I felt really bad for him; he was quite shaken. A random thought; I need to get my guitar! It’s killing me not having it. I just hope I can afford it. Anyways, the night ended with bouts of diarrhea. 

On the 16^th I focused on learning language as well as interacting with patients. It went very well and I learned a lot! The night before a guy was shot with a four to five foot arrow in a fight. I have pictures from some people who were there. It is fascinating! I felt very accomplished because I fixed my flash drive! A Namibian friend had given me a virus and hidden my files and I messed around with the computer code to fix it! Made me feel so good! It was a pretty uneventful day. I met a lot of people. I have to say that the ONLY problem I am having is that I am severely missing some of the trainees I went through training with. It is not fun, but I am thankful that everything else is fine at site. I played soccer with two of my host brothers and a neighbor. I didn’t want to run that day so it was fun to play and exercise. Later that night, I did the usual, and sat with the family and talked. 

The 17^th was an awesome day! I took my laundry to my supervisor for her cleaning lady to wash (I’m paying her because I don’t have the patience). I went to Rundu. On the way I met several youths we picked up in our car. I got lost trying to find the state hospital, but eventually found it. I met an outreach nurse who took me to meet a lot of important medical people. The most influential being the Principal Medical Officer of Kavango Region. It was quite enjoyable to speak to him and ask his opinions. I love meeting new people and making connections. I went to the grocery store after and bought supplies. I got so tired and sweaty walking from the store to the Peace Corps Office because I had some really heavy things. I was surprised to find four PCVs already there, all teachers. They are on break right now. I skyped a friend, but her kindle died and I was really sad because I had really been looking forward to skyping and talking. Anyways, it was a good thing I skyped my parents after. My parents are AMAZING! They never fail to cheer me up. They sang happy birthday to me because they won’t be able to on my actual birthday. My parents are the best things, beside God, in my life. I uploaded pictures to Facebook, blogged, and checked the news while I was there. I mailed some letters to some in-country friends (So check your mailboxes Kaitlynn and CB, if you read my post). We got back as the last light was fading from the sky. I showered at my supervisor’s place, ate food, and watched part of Hotel Rwanda. Another HIV patient died that night, and this time I was there. It hit a lot harder because I saw the face and the family. It made it real.

Yesterday, the 18^th, was such a good, refreshing day. I had some amazing conversations with my best friend here. I was supposed to go to the funeral for the guy who had died earlier in the week, but it was canceled. The lady who had died the night before was from the same family. They were both related to a co-worker at my clinic, and it was hard to see her cry. Another hard thing was that the man was in his twenties and the woman was forty or so, too young. It made me think about life and how fleeting it is. It helped me focus a bit more on the work I am doing. I was going to go for a long walk to think, but a man came in with an injury. A cow had kicked him and you could see all the way to the bone. It was the first time I saw something like that in real life. It didn’t gross me out. It was sad, but it was sooooo cool at the same time. The guy said to take some pictures, but I am debating whether to put them up. After that I spent the rest of the day at my supervisor’s place. It’s like an oasis. She has a really nice tv system and a bunch of awesome American channels like Discovery, NatGeo, and others. I also love watching BBC and Al-Jazeera. Eight prisoners from the prison came for treatment and I ended up speaking to my friend, a police officer for around two hours. It was great! I cannot wait for my friendships to develop. I almost went with them to watch the police soccer team play against some local village teams. I left around 6pm for home. It was a good day!