June 22-28

I went to Rundu around 930 on the 22^nd,  and walked to NamPost to mail letters. I went to Pick n Pay and bought my normal stuff. I have fallen in love with my little treasure foods I get. I usually buy a huge glazed raisin bread, about the size of a small person’s head, two bags of Simba Chips, and these cookies called lemon crèmes. I went back to the office and found five other PCVs there. I was really sad to find that they had all come in the night before and stayed at Gio’s place, and they wouldn’t be staying tonight. I met one of their Namibian friends who seemed pretty cool. I got a lot of stuff done on the computer because all of them left and I had the office to myself. I talked about with mom and Dad through skype. I told them how hard it has been to get the motivation to make my own work. As Health PCVs, we have zero structure, and it is hard to get out and find something. It is also because we deal with the added stresses of dealing with cultural stresses, feelings of isolation, loneliness, etc. A lot of the time I just want to go into my hut and be by myself. My mom and dad suggested I make a work schedule and stick to it. It seemed like a good idea, so I decided to do it on Monday. I watched Youtube videos for the rest of the day (I miss being able to watch random youtube videos). I was supposed to get my hair cut by another PCV, but she didn’t show up, which made me a bit sad. I walked back and forth between Gio’s a few times because he was out and I had to pick up the key. It was getting dark and I was worried about getting mugged while carrying my bag with my laptop and stuff in it. I ended up watching Big Bang Theory and ate my food. Being alone at Gio’s, along with other factors, I realized that I was feeling extremely lonely. I had been in Rundu by myself almost all day, and all the PCVs left Rundu or were out. I came to the realization that I don’t come to Rundu for the amenities so much as the people. It also made me realize I should stay in my village more.

I didn’t sleep well at all, but I woke up and had an amazing conversation with a PCV I hadn’t met before. He gave soooo much advice and words of wisdom. Here are some random quotes. “You can give money, but it doesn’t last. I give two years of my life (for Peace Corps) and it’s timeless.” “Enjoy your youth. If you want to take a trip (after PC), I say take it. Spend the money because you may never get to again.” “You don’t need to suffer to serve (in regard to living in a hut or a modern house in PC). I feel happier when I teach in air conditioned rooms and I teach better. I feel better when I have a full belly.” He also had some interesting things to say about Christianity, although I don’t necessarily agree with what he said. It was thought provoking however. “Give 10% of your time, not money. You can fast on anything, not just food.” I don’t agree with him that Christians should give time INSTEAD of money, but I do think that giving 10% of your time, IN ADDITION to your tithe, makes sense. Another awesome quote was “I may be an accountant, but we’re all accountants of time, so use it well.” He told me about an interesting experience he had with a Namibian lady. She threw a piece of trash on the floor and he asked her why she did that. She said “Because white people aren’t in charge anymore and we don’t have to do what they say.” Wow, that is crazy, but I do understand why she thinks that. The PCV also gave me some other travel advice. All in all, it was an amazing conversation. I went to the PC office after that. I had seen one of the PCVs buy hair clippers and I was excited. I thought I would buy some too and see if I could cut my own hair. I went to the store, but decided to wait and try his clippers out when I would see him the next weekend. I went out to a really pretty lodge and looked out over Angola while smsing my best friend here. God’s been putting a lot of things on my heart lately, but the biggest theme is needing to trust him, but also that I need to force myself to do things I don’t want to do. I went back to the PC office and had an amazing skype conversation with my best guy friend, Aaron, who is in Germany. We talked about how you can be a Christian, but never fully trust God. Only when you trust God can you truly fill that “god sized hole in everyone’s heart.” Aaron gave me some good questions that he asks himself. “Am I living by a ‘just saved by grace’ mentality or a ‘new creation’ mentality?” “Also, I give to others so freely, but do I know how to receive from Christ?” I told Aaron I was afraid of failing and he asked me “What would happen if you failed?” I didn’t know what to say.

On the morning of the 24^th I woke up, prayed, and had quiet time. I almost decided to stay back and work from my hut, but decided to go to the clinic. I started working on my weekly work schedule. It was really fun and encouraging. I contacted some schools about visitation and set up dates to come observe. Then, I studied language. Later, I sat outside with my co-workers and read the Namibian newspaper. I wrote two more letters to friends back home. I called one of the local teachers later and she told me she would not be around the next day. I called another PCV that night, but her cell phone service is awful. Overall, it was an awesome day.

On the 25^th I woke up, prayed, and had quiet time. I went to the clinic, but my milk was frozen so I had pb and bread. I really want to make friends here with girls as well as recruit a female counterpart, but I don’t know what is culturally acceptable. It’s something I’ll just have to learn as time goes by. Because my plans fell through for the day, I was feeling extremely stressed, and somewhat fearful of having another unproductive day, when I was making such an effort to do good work. I just prayed and had to trust God that things would work out. I went to the school with my counterpart and God really came through. I felt more comfortable with the teachers than I have ever felt before. My counterpart and I went and spoke to some boys and he was amazing. He was so good with them! I’m really excited to work with him. While I was there I tried to fix the internet, but there is something wrong with the router or dish. I went to the library and checked it out. While I was in the library, I was embarrassed when I called a teach by another teacher’s name…because my counterpart told me the wrong name. Also, while in the library my counterpat pointed out 7 venomous snakes on a snake chart that he had seen in the area. I hate snakes. I went and observed a teacher’s classes. It was awesome! He is really good with students. We went back to the clinic and ate lunch. Fyi, I finished a 400 gram jar of peanut butter in two days…I have a bad addiction J. I patched bicycle tires for the next few hours with my co-workers. It was really fun! Later, at dinner, I found out that Namibians treat oil as a standalone food. I was forking out some tomatoes to put on my rice, when my host mother asked “Do you not like oil?”

The 26^th was by far the best day of work I have had since I have been in Namibia. It was so good that it was fun! I wore a tie and a long-sleeved shirt because I was visiting a secondary school with my counterpart. I found out that the patches didn’t work on the bikes. It was quite disappointing. I began what my counterpart and I were told was a 10 kilometer (6.4 mi) bike ride. Namibians seem to be bad at judging distance because it was 18 kilometers (almost 11 mi)!!!! It was not easy I must say. I arrived sweating profusely. Next time, I am wearing workout clothes and will change there. We got there about 9am and my teacher friend took us around to a few classes. We met several teachers as well as other staff. They were absolutely wonderful and so welcoming! I found out later that the principal was really excited to have us come. They had a PCV at the school until March. We went to a pre-primary class where the adorable kids sang songs for us. We also sang happy birthday to a little girl. We stayed in my teacher friend’s class for the rest of the day. We were given the chance to introduce ourselves to 8 different classes. The students always went crazy with awe and happiness when I spoke Rukwangali to them.  They liked the jokes I made. In some classes, Victor, the teacher I was observing, gave the learners the chance to stand up and introduce themselves. I also asked them to tell me what they dreamed of doing. They seemed to be surprised that I asked them. I always love asking this question because many people do not ever get the chance to dream. The students said they wanted to be lawyers, nurses, history and art teachers, pilots, engineers, and a headman. I did find it a bit strange that only girls said they liked playing netball (similar to basketball), and only boys said they liked playing soccer. I got the chance to talk to the students about health, America, career guidance, and HIV/AIDs. I talked about how poverty is a root cause of risky behavior. As a health PCV, people in the world tend to think that “Young people are going to have sex anyways. Just give them a condom.” I think that condoms are okay, if they are the last line of prevention. Condoms don’t address the root causes. I have learned that poverty is the root cause of a lot of risky behavior. I have learned this throughout life and especially lately, as the world begins to realize that investment (jobs) is better than aid. Even a very influential medical professional in the Kavango Region told me so. If people believed and had hope that they could do something with their lives and weren’t “dying” of boredom in their villages, they would not engage in risky behavior as much. The current mindset seems to be “All I’m going to do is stay in this village and do nothing for the rest of my life. Why not just have sex and make life more fun.” Some might find this controversial, but the world is slowly beginning to realize this. One can even see in the last few months, how investment is the answer, not aid. Oxfam, a well-reputed non-profit even wrote a paper about it investment versus aid. Anyways, the students saw the point of what I was saying. By the way, my friend, Victor, is awesome! He has been teaching for 14 years and loves his job and his life. He speaks 10 languages and understands 13. The students seem to adore him. We went to his place, which, although it is a hut, is extremely modern inside, with Cable TV, a fridge, and everything. He fed us amazing rice and sausage. We had amazing talks about strengths and challenges of KK. Strengths: Adult literacy classes; team teaching; teachers use English; teamwork; female and male learner and teacher gets involved or watches both netball and soccer; amazing work environment; great work culture; excellent relationship with community. Victor works closely with community, headman, and regional councilor. They have done many things. They have gotten security guards and resources through letter writing alone. I had such a fun and amazing time talking to Victor over lunch. I was extremely animated as was Victor. I found out he watches soccer every day. I love soccer! Hopefully we can watch some soccer sometime. I appreciate him so much. I felt like he was my friend and we could hang out. I felt included. I felt loved and respected. Everyone knew about the other PCV. He and Victor were really good friends/colleagues. Apparently, the PCV taught two classes, but did a lot of computer classes. I was ecstatic when I found out they had a computer lab and no teacher for it. They also don’t have a Lifeskills teacher. Victor told me about one of the reasons his school is so good. “Education is three legged pot: Parents, teachers, learners. Without one, the pot will fall over.” Later on we watched the students play soccer. We left around 4pm. The ride was really hard because of my clothes, the leaky tires, and my seat kept sliding down. We stopped to buy snacks on the way. I have become addicted to a few different types of cookies here, lemon crème, custard, and a few others. I went and bucket bathed and then had dinner, Mahangu and tasty cabbage. I got news that day that I did not get onto the Volunteer Support Network, something I had really wanted. However, I didn’t feel that bad because I am trusting God more. If he wanted me on it, I would have been. Later that night I finished season 1 of 24 (the TV series).

I have been failing at quiet time. There is a learning curve to knowing how to listen to God. I decided not to go to the other school because my body was so tired from the 36 kilometer (22 mi) bike ride the day before. I am going to buy new tires and a bicycle repair kit most likely. I wrote some letters to a few friends. Then I taught my counterpart how to do community mapping. It was really exciting and went very well. I read about lifeskills. I showered after work and read. After dinner I taught my counterpart how to play UNO. He won 3-2 games. He really enjoyed it. I went to bed early, but woke up around 930. I had some of the worst nightmares of my life. I thought there was a black mamba snake by my head. I felt something slither in my lethargy. I slowly moved my pillow to protect myself. All the while my adrenaline was going, my heart was pounding, and I was afraid. There was nothing there. I smsed a friend for a while, but I was sweating so much. I also had another really awful nightmare.

The 28^th was destined to be an awesome start to an awesome weekend! It was our 4^th of July PCV weekend celebration. We were all going to another PCV’s site from Friday until Sunday. I woke up and packed. The car ride to Rundu was good. I just read the entire time. By the way, I’m on book 3 of the Harry Potter series. I bought my customary Raisin Bread and Simba Chips, as well as Cadbury’s Top Deck Chocolate (Mint). I skyped my friend Crystal for a few minutes. I met a World Teach Volunteer who was going with us to Divundu. She had just come to Namibia a month ago, and only to Rundu two weeks ago. I left for Divundu with five other PCVs around 230. The ride was a little cramped, but not bad. We got to the site around 5pm. I couldn’t believe how beautiful this PCV’s site was. It’s a camp and it has really nice bungalows. The weather was awesome! The site is literally next to the Kavango River. There was a cooking building and a big outdoor dining area, as well as a big bonfire. There were 4^th of July decorations. One of the most exciting things was that the PCVs who normally cook are amazing at what they like to do! I had many peanut butter cookies right when I got there. We hung out for several hours and then had tasty soup and AMAZING, buttery bread. There were 19 of us that night. It was so memorable to hang out in the kitchen with a bunch of PCVs and sing to the music someone had brought. After we ate, we had actual smores, but instead of graham crackers, we had Marie biscuits. They tasted almost like a graham cracker. I ate so many smores that I barely had enough room to eat the brownies. I went to bed around 1130.