Part Two April 30-May 6

I started feeling sick the morning of the 30^th. I started taking Airbourne right away. It was a great day of class, except that I felt really sick at the end of class. It was unfortunate because I was supposed to cook for the families that night. I felt so sick I had to ask them to finish what I had not. I fell asleep until they called me out for dinner. I made spaghetti, garlic bread, and ice cream and it was actually pretty good! I also snagged some garlic bread for some of my friends as a little surprise gift.

I felt so sick the next morning, May 1^st, that I stayed home from training, something I haven’t done in years. It was unfortunate because it was the last study day before the Language Proficiency Interview (the final oral language exam) and we had four hours of language. But I wanted to be better because we were leaving for Windhoek in a few days and I had really been looking forward to it. I rested, took airbourne, facebooked, and drank a lot of water. It was a bit discouraging that only two people from my group texted me to see if I was okay. 

I went to class after lunch, feeling much better. I studied language and then we all went to our end-of-training celebration dinner. I was very mellow and ended up talking to my best friend the entire time. The food was good and so was the movie. We had secret buddies that we were supposed to encourage or buy little gifts throughout training. I wrote notes because I did not know what my person liked. I did not know the impact these notes had. My secret buddy cried when she said that the notes meant so much to her because she was going through a difficult time with issues at home and language troubles. I was shocked because I had felt so cheap. It just goes to show you that I never know what small actions can lead to in another person’s life. 

The next day, May 2^nd, was our shopping trip to Windhoek. I was feeling better, but the ride wrecked me. We went to Peace Corps Headquarters until lunch for training. I also visited the doctor. One thing that our country director said was that he is not a fan of the macho idea that Peace Corps Volunteers feel they have to stick out the full two years, even if it sucks. Well, I am one of those people. Even if it is miserable, I believe God has me here for a reason, and that he wants me to grow.

I hung out with Crystal, Kellie, Kaitlynn, Nicole, and Cherie for the afternoon while they shopped. Random tangent: chivalry. In this day and age, chivalry is a hotly contested subject. I did not know how others in my group would react, but I do it for those who I think will be receptive. I love carrying my girlfriend’s stuff, out of chivalrous nature, but also because I just enjoy doing it, even for some of my guy friends or my dad. I open doors for people. I always walk on the curb-side when with a girlfriend on the street. I always wait to go last for nearly everything, such as getting food, even if I’m the guest. Anyways, my girlfriends here tend to be pleasantly surprised by it, which makes me feel great, but also a little sad that most guys don’t stuff like that for other girls, or even other guys. 

We had lunch at a restaurant in the mall. I wasn’t happy because they did not have what I had asked for and the replacement meal was not good. The guy also overcharged me by $30. The peanut butter toffee milkshake was amazing though! We saw giraffes on the way home from Windhoek. I did not study language, although the language test was the next day. I just did not have the motivation or energy. I went to Alicia’s and had dinner and texted one of my friends. I ended the night in an extremely good mood!

I woke up early on May 3^rd to study a little bit. We had free study before the test, but I really did not feel like studying. I was in a “I’m gonna do how I’m gonna do” mood, and I also wanted to encourage a friend about her test, which she was nervous about. I listened to her test and she did sooooo well! Lol, I felt so proud! I went out while she was testing and got her and a few of my friends some small gifts as encouragement. They loved the gifts, which made me really happy! My language test went okay. I did not think I did that well, but I didn’t care because I was done with training!! Everyone was in such a good mood! It was one of my best days. We had a hilarious last session with my Rukwangali group. Our teacher taught one of the girls how to dance. Later that day, they gave awards for language. To my utter shock, I scored the 3^rd highest out of everyone and 2^nd highest out of the Bantu languages. I was so proud. I went with four of my closest friends to eat. I just sat back and basked in the sense of freedom, and the friendship with these girls. I felt that, with training over, I could finally have normal friendship with them.

I skyped Mom and Dad on the 4^th. Today was my laundry day. I watched movies and smsed my best friend here. We had such a good time! Other than that, I just packed everything.

I skyped two friends the next morning, May 5^th. The van showed up and hour early to pick me up! I was sad because I did not get to say goodbye to my host mom in the way I wanted to. Anyways, we went to the training center and I had a good talk with one of my friends. The ride to Windhoek was great! I was so excited for some freedom and the four star resort we were staying at for three days. We had to wait for three hours for our luggage so show up, which was irritating because we wanted to spend a lot of time at the pool. However, it finally got here and the pool was awesome! We had dinner at 630 and it was amazing! One thing I noticed about the overall conference was that most of my group, Group 37, was not mingling with the other groups. Only I and few others were mingling. We hung out at the bar for a while, but then I went to watch a movie with a friend. After the movie we went next door to the party.

The next morning, the 6^th, was the first day of the conference. I had breakfast. Then, we went to the conference room. I was nervous about the flash mob, but it went really well! The sessions went fine, nothing too boring. In the afternoon we had a session on malaria. We had lunch and then me and two of my friends hung out with some of the other crazy, but awesome, Peace Corps Volunteers. We ended up in a room with about 17 volunteers and it was so great just to relax and observe.

Part 1 April 23-29

Wow, it has been three weeks since I last blogged! Things have just been up and down and all over the place. Also, one tends to lose a bit of motivation, but I hope to write three blogs, one for each week I didn’t write. 

This week was just another week of training. We had a sexual harassment training; it was good but I was definitely sleepy. My friendships have really started to blossom. The 24^th was a pretty awesome day! My language class with Thenga, our Rukwangali trainer, went very well. I slept at lunch and read. We had a session on OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) and nutrition. The nutrition part was useful to me. Later, we practiced our speeches for swearing-in. This was the first practice and I was extremely excited. I love public speaking and feel it is one of my strengths. It went so well! The trainers gave some really great encouragement. I still wanted to practice more, though, because I stumbled over some words. 

Today was movie and pizza day, and I was very excited for it. Some of our event committee people ordered pizza from the Garden Café and set up a projector. We watched “The Gods Must Be Crazy.” I didn’t really pay attention though because I wanted to talk to people while watching the movie. It worked out in my favor when we had to switch venues. I went outside with one of my friends and we stargazed and talked. It was amazing! It felt, for the first time, that I was back in the states with friends for a night out on the town. 

The 25^th had some rough spots, but it was still a good day! I was so tired and exhausted. Language class was good. Got in a discouraged mood, and then negative things seemed to roll in, one after another. We were supposed to practice our flash mob that we planned to do at the All-Volunteer Conference, but I was really distracted. A comment was also made about my dancing; it came at a bad time, so I didn’t participate in this session. Later that day we went to the OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) shelter. I had one of those really touching moments when this little boy latched onto my hand and held it during the entire tour. He kept trying to grab other female volunteer’s hands and force our hands together, the little matchmaker. The OVC visit was good! However, funding has been cut so they are having to rely on private donations. 

Later that day I went to my friend’s place and relaxed. On the way back, a huge, stupid dog chased me. I look back on it now and it is really funny about what I said. I was really nervous about this dog because it was big and because my neighborhood back in the US had a lot of stray guard dogs. I, comically, kept my knife with me, just in case, but I was worried that I might get in trouble if the dog attacked ME and I stabbed it. Haha I was worried the dog would be the victim because apparently, this dog is known as a biter, yet nothing had been done about him. I was texting one of my friends the entire time. I was serious about what I was saying, but she and another good friend of mine, were laughing hardcore together (Yes, I’m naming names Crystal and Kaitlynn)! I didn’t realize it sounded so comical until I looked back at my texts. I felt somewhat foolish. My pals are never going to let me live that down! After that, I went to bed because I was so tired.

The 26^th was the hardest day of my time in Namibia. I woke up extremely stressed. This sucky day was mainly due to some group dynamics amongst the trainees. People were irritable; issues were popping up. I was really down. There were several factors that made things worse: I was waking up at 3am or other odd hours every day for weeks; I was not eating as I should have, which was my fault entirely; I was on medication for my Coxsachie virus as well as the malaria medicine. I felt so discouraged that I was physically sick. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go back to my host home, but I knew I needed to get away to think. I got permission and left until after lunch. During this time I did a lot of thinking. I won’t go into details about exactly what I was thinking, just the solutions I came up with. First, I identified the issues; then I addressed each issue. Lessons I learned: Eat more; Sleep more; wait for medications to be done with. Some of the other personal issues were taken care of by talking to people. I also began to look for more support systems. 

One of the overall realizations was that I need to rely more on God and not on other people or myself. I believe that God has a reason for everything. My two favorite verses kept popping into my head. Philippians 4:4-Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Philippians 4:13-I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. Also, it was really encouraging that a few of my good friends texted me to check on me. Christian music, good food, and relaxation really helped me that day, too. I went back to class and solved one of my issues right then. I started to feel really good. Later that night I went to a talent show with my host family at their church. It was hilarious! I was in a sky high mood and so happy that I stayed up until one. I also stayed up that late because I had to make Rice Krispy treats for American Cultural Day. Definitely failed at getting more sleep that night, but it was worth it. 

The 27^th was American Cultural Day, where we would put on a big meal and entertainment for all of our host families. I was in a really good mood. The Cultural Day was fine, but nothing special. The food was good. Later, I went shopping for food for the dinner that I was supposed to make on Monday. I spent a lot of money, but I didn’t care; these two families have done amazing things for me. For the rest of the day I hung out with two of my closest friends here. We went to the Damara Unity Conference and were introduced to hundreds of members of the Damara political system. It was so fun! Later, I watched some movies with a friend. The 28^th was just a relaxing day at home.

The 29^th was a great day! My best friend, closest friends, and everyone else were in a really happy mood! It was partially because it was our last Monday ever for training. One week until we were done! We went to the hospital later, although it was a bit uneventful. It seems that people are never expecting us so we take them by surprise. Later, I went to Alicia’s for a final dinner that she cooked. She is an amazing cook and her food was wonderful (makes me hungry just thinking about it now). Later, I Skype cooked with my mom because I had to cook for twelve people the next day and I am a terrible cook.

Site Visit Part 2

This is part 2 of 2 of my blog about my site visit. The next day, the 16^th, I left for Rundu to shadow another PC Volunteer. I have to say that it feels as if every rooster and donkey is placed outside my window. I found out as well that my friends and family were getting my letters and postcards I sent around March 13^th. I have to say I’m a bit unhappy that I have only received 5 out of 14 letters that people have sent to me. Anyways, one of my host brothers, Benhard, is going to teach me how to build a hut when I get back! One thing I’ve found out is that using the bathroom at night is freaky; I keep worrying a snake is going to bite my butt. I also found a snake trail leading to where I think a snake lives beneath my hut. It’s funny, people think I look like Justin Bieber, I assume because I am white, have the same color of hair, wear sunglasses, and my hair, loosely interpreted, could be seen as similar to his hair. I’ve also been told that it’s getting around that there is a clever white boy who speaks Rukwangali. 

Anyways, we left on Nam time, two hours late. I met Gio and Bonnie at the school. Then we went to the PC office and used the internet. The open market we ate at had such amazing food! It was so cheap! I had French fries, potato salad, and rice! I am going to eat there a lot!

On the 17^th I woke up with hives or bug bits, quite a few of them. We went to the office to meet up with 5 others. We had lunch at the office again. Then we walked to the Kavango River Lodge to see one of the most gorgeous sunsets I have ever seen overlooking a landscape consisting of the river, a wide expanse of green/brown land, and Namibia and Angola. We went to Omashare Lodge after and had pizza and apple pie. 

The next morning, the 18^th, was our day to head back to training. I was quite happy to get back to see my friends. I was also really itchy.  We went to the transport meeting area and waited an hour for a combi (van) to leave. We got back seven hours later. I counted my bites/hives and found that what was 190 was now 200+. I appreciate things so much more after visiting site. It was wonderful to see my host mother and the house. I skyped my friend Kimberly in the morning. I went to the doctor that morning because I was gaining 2-5 hives per hour. It turns out I have the honor of having the first African disease amongst my group of PC people. I have the Coxsackie Virus. It is caused by ingesting or inhaling something; I was confused about what. The doctor gave me some prescriptions and said that the worst the virus would do was cause fever, which I do not think I will not get. By the end of the day I more hives. This day was really awesome because we mainly got to hang out and talk about all our crazy stories! After that all of the trainers and us went to our favorite café to celebrate all the birthdays we missed or will miss when we move to site.

The 20^th was movie day at Alicia’s. There were six of us in total and it was a wonderful day. We watched Despicable Me and had sliders. I skyped with two of my friends later that day.The 21^st, Sunday, was another movie day, but just with one of my closest friends here, Crystal. It was so good! Our good friend Kaitlynn came over and we had a great time watching movies, playing games, and talking. I am so thankful for them. Today, the 22^nd, was an amazing day! I pretty much started a friendship over with one of my friends here and it was a huge burden off my shoulders. Today was just awesome!

Site Visit Part 1

This is part one my blog post about my last week and specifically, my visit to my permanent site, Mpora Clinic in Kavango Region. I woke up early the monng of the 13^th and skyped with my parents. I was really embarrassed because I had to bring a big suitcase, when I really needed a mid-size one. The car we drove in was really nice! On our way to site we saw warthogs, which was cool! The trip took 5.5 hours. The clinic is beautiful! There will be about 15 people working there by my second month. The thing that struck me was that it was so clean! 

My homestead where I’ll be staying for the next two years is a kilometer away. When I got there I was greeted by the head lady and some others. They danced and trilled when I got there! It was so awesome! We sat for a while and talked. I’ve been so happy that my Rukwangali is really good according to the people I run across in my village. We went back to my supervisor’s place and had lunch and hung out. My supervisor has a pretty nice house out in the middle of nowhere, so I was able to take a shower. Back at the homestead we had chicken and porridge. It was difficult to eat in total darkness so I used my headlamp. The headlamp is one thing I could not have done without at my site. My homestead is great by the way! My hut is not too bad! It has a cement floor, two chairs, a table, a desk, and a bed. Later that night my family pointed out where an elephant was crossing a few kilometers away, although I couldn’t see because it was too dark. 

The next day was a great day! I did not sleep well because I, stupidly, left the plastic covering on the mattress and slept without a shirt. My mosquito net also was not set up so it was just lying on top of me. One huge positive is that there were no mosquitos! I practiced language that morning and then went to Catholic church with my supervisor and co-workers. It was amazing! The music was acapella and awesome! It lasted three hours and I  had to get up to introduce myself to the entire 150-200 person congregation. After church we went to the main city, Rundu. My supervisor showed me where to buy everything I need. Then we went to Rundu Beach. It was awesome! The water was so refreshing, even though the river is known for crocodiles and hippos. Right across the river, a few hundred yards away, was Angola. We then visited a clinic and had some juice and watched some soccer. That night, back at the homestead, we had roast beef and porridge. I took my first bucket bath too! It was pretty good actually!  One thing I have learned is that my feet will be perpetually sandy.

The 15^th was a Monday and it meant we would spend the day at the clinic. I had a good night’s sleep, and used the restroom in a hole I had to dig, which was challenging. I have found that boiled water is not my favorite because it tastes metally. I went to my clinic and it was nice to meet some patients. My supervisor threw me into the fray right away by making me lead a pregnancy counseling session. It was a bit scary, but I loved it and learned so much! The rest of my time at the clinic that day was great! I also went to the school to introduce myself to the teachers, principal, and students.

On a side note, it has been awesome here because no one judges in the usual way. They don’t care if my hair is messed up. They also think I look much older than I am. I have decided to not cut my hair or facial hair for 3 months because of this! I don’t know when I’ll ever have a chance like this.

 
I had a great evening at the homestead; my host mother, the head lady, had walked quite a distance to buy me a huge Coke!!!! I felt so special! I showed my family pictures on my phone and gave them key chains and postcards from San Francisco. It’s amazing how they were so amazed! They just kept saying “wow”, and “it’s so beautiful.” I was shocked they had never heard of Disney, which I thought had as much brand recognition as Coke does. I can’t wait to introduce them to Disney! I couldn’t sleep well that night because of the Boston Marathon attack. I kept getting texts from friends and I woke up at 12am, 2am, 3am, 4am, and 5am.

Fiesta Night to the Day Before Site Visit!

Sunday was an awesome day! Four of my friends came over to my house and we ended up watching The Road to El Dorado! It was the first movie I watched with other people in a group! Around one we went to Alicia’s for Fiesta Night! The cooking took forever, but was well worth it! Alicia made tacos, Mexican rice and beans, and chips and salsa! It was so scrumptious! We also had a piñata and the eleven volunteers who came had a great time relaxing and enjoying each other’s company!

Monday was the day before the Language mid-term. Everyone was definitely stressed, but I really wasn’t. I realized that I could only say what I had been taught. Although we needed to get Novice-high, I thought I would get Novice-mid. Anyways, Alicia and I went to her family’s farm and took pictures with the lambs and puppies! Then we went back and watched Ice Age 4. It was a great evening!

I am proud to say I dreamed in my Namibian language, Rukwangali. I woke up very early and studied. I did a through practice language interviews with friends and became extremely confident because I did so well! I took the oral test and it was a cinch! It was actually fun! I was even sad when the tester didn’t push me to the next level!

Tuesday was also site announcement day! I was honestly dreading it because I don’t put as much stock in a place as I do the friends I have made. They could put me any place and I’d be fine. The way they announced the site placements was by drawing a giant map of Namibia in the dirt and then placing us on the map. My site is awesome! I think, by far, that I have the most stereotypical African experience out of the volunteers in my group. It’s so crazy that every time someone brings up something that they have to do without, they all just say “compare yourself to C.J.’s site.” I take this as a badge of honor. I am an optimist, and this is one of the reasons why I think they placed me at my site. It was bit of a shock to find that I was actually getting what I had asked for. Here is the list of things I don’t have, then I’ll put why it’s awesome. No shops except 60 miles away, no internet, no electricity, no water except 30 minutes away, no bathroom, no toilet yet, cooking outside, mud hut, outdoor bucket bathing, no fence, no gate. Closest volunteer is 16 miles away. Also, according to my supervisor, there are a LOT of snakes, especially cobras! Okay, the positives now. I view all of this as affirmation that I am where God wants me to be. I also feel affirmed because the people in charge believe that I can do it. I am thankful that I live a few kilometers from the main highway. Most of all, I will grow in so many ways that I would not grow if I was in an amenity filled place. I will be working at Mpora Clinic. I will have many projects, yet to be determined. I will be living at the Village Head Lady’s homestead. These are definitely exciting things, but also challenging. Being a Christian, I believe that I have someone on my side who can overcome ANY challenge; this is why I believe I will do this; although it will be difficult.

I woke up at 2:30am because of bad dreams about snakes. I woke up feeling very tense and stressed. I decided to Skype with my parents. I think that everything hit me at once and definitely shed some tears in front of my parents. I don’t ever do that, but it definitely hit hard. My parents are amazing and know how to comfort me, by just letting me shed my tears and by listening and advising. It’s weird because the reason why I cried was not about the challenges of my site, but that I was crushed that I am so far from my closest Peace Corps friends. I have grown sooo close to some of the PCVs. Another weird thing was, even when I was crying, I was sooo positive and optimistic. It’s just who I am. Positivity and optimism are something I almost always have. I couldn’t even cry and be sad at the same time. Some people wonder why I am so positive; the reason is that I have Christ in my heart, and I know He will take care of me and that I am saved. I have NO fear because of that fact. There are worries of course. I quite positively believe that I will be hurt in some way at my site, mainly due to my inexperience in a village environment. But it is what it is. At school on Wednesday, we got our language results. I was shocked that only 7/18 people met the requirements. I was one of them!!! I was so happy. Later, I called the volunteer I will be shadowing on Tuesday and Wednesday. We had a great talk. Unfortunately, he is a business volunteer so the shadowing may be more fun than extremely helpful. We got some tips about transport from the trainers too. 

Thursday and Friday were supervisor workshops. I met my supervisor and almost instantly knew why they paired us up; she is a huge extrovert and seems very happy! We share some similar likes! Anyways, I am blogging early because I will not have internet again until next Friday. I will be staying at my site for 3 days, and shadowing a Peace Corps Volunteer for two days. I will be leaving at 6am on a 9 hour drive to the north. I should have lots of stories when I get back! I definitely feel fortunate to be in this situation. I am just praying it will go very well!