CJ's Peace Corps Namibia Adventure!: A Two Month Recap

Hello to all my lovely blog readers. It has been quite a while since I have posted any blogs. I think the last one was the week of September 21-27 (Wow, I didn’t realize it had been THAT long). I will fess up to the true reason for not blogging; I just did not feel like writing anything. I also write a daily journal entry, and I am close to 95,000 words after only 8.5 months of Peace Corps Service. First, I want you to know that I will probably not be writing about my daily life anymore, and I will probably not post every week. The positive side is that I plan to write posts about interesting topics or updates on my life. I may even put up pictures to illustrate what I am talking about. This blog is snapshot of what I have been up to for the last few months.

My health club watching a movie.

It is crazy, and somewhat surreal, to think that I have been here for, as of the posting date of this blog update, 8 months, 2 weeks, and 6 days (I think). Time has flown by faster than I ever thought it would. A lot has happened, and a lot has NOT happened the last few months. I won’t go into detail about everything, but I wanted to mention the noteworthy events. My mpora family got two puppies, but one died because someone in the family broke both of the male puppy’s back legs. I have been truly fortunate to have another family in Rundu who have, in essence, adopted me. They are simply wonderful. They let me stay at their place all weekend; feed me; and take me places. A friend from the States bought me a mini-fridge for my office because I needed to start cooking on my own. My host father in Rundu was going to Windhoek and was so generous as to buy me one and transport it the 7 hour drive to my village. I went to the Group 34 Going-away Party. There were probably 50 people there at a house we rented, which had a pool attached, as well as a bar. I stopped my Grade 6 Grassroots Soccer Club due to their lack of understanding English, a bad venue, a bad time, and not enough preparation on my part. One of my Mpora host brothers has a tumor in his brain, but, at the time of this post, 1.75 months later, he still has not been seen by the specialist in Windhoek.

Burning the brush to clear the field for plowing season!

Neighbors plowing their field.

One of my host brothers!

A VERY important development was that I can now wash my clothes at my friend’s place in their WASHER (very big deal haha). I have been teaching Life Skills for Grade 5, 6, and 7. I have had a successful weekly health club with Grade 7s, as well as having a successful Grade 7 Grass Roots Soccer Club. I bought an electric hot plate and have started to cook things, mostly lentils, but, hey, it’s a huge step for me! We had our second part of Reconnect in Omaruru at the end of October. We learned how to do permagardens, a specialized gardening technique that emphasizes sustainability. I visited my host families in Okahandja the weekend before Reconnect, and was able to celebrate one of my host brother’s birthdays. The first person in my group, Group 37, left Peace Corps Namibia, and is back in the States. It made me really sad to see her go, but, after talking to her, I think she made the right choice. It is now the rainy season and it rains about two or three times a week. All the villagers are plowing their fields and getting ready to plant mahangu. Mahangu is a type of corn and is a staple crop in Namibia.

Received a nice crack on the head from smacking it into a window as I stood up.

I have been reading up a storm; I have read 38 books since I have been here, more than 15 of which have probably been read in the last two months. I have been watching 24, Big Bang Theory, and House. A friend from World Teach donated seven computers and a printer, scanner, copier, fax machine to my school. We are now in the process of getting approval from the Ministry of Education to remodel a room into a computer lab. It has gotten so hot at night now that I regularly sleep in my own sweat. The rain and wind has been so severe as to nearly rip the roof off of my hut several times. I went to a pageant in mid-November at my school. I have started playing computer games again (wish I had brought mine with me). I have started planning my international travel in Africa. Finally, I went to Ondangwa for a Peace Corps Thanksgiving weekend this last weekend with about 23 other PCVs and some of their friends.