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Welcome to the written depiction of my Namibian Experience with the Peace Corps! This blog will document the crazy adventure that I have embarked upon. I hope this blog will serve as a means to keep my family and friends updated on my adventures in Namibia, as well as, aid future volunteers in any way possible.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Across Cultural Lines


“Holy Cow! I’m in Africa!!” I say this to myself at least once a day, usually while I’m watching the sunset transform the sky into some new impossible color that my camera can’t seem to capture. I wonder if there will come a time when I’m no longer shocked by the fact that I’m here. Sometimes I forget entirely that I’m in another country until I hear or see something that reminds me of America and I have to step back and remember where I am. For instance, last week I was unpacking my things in my new host family’s house. I could hear the T.V. playing a commercial of a South African lotion in the other room. Suddenly, the commercial changes and I hear Ryan Seacrest asking me who’s going to be the next American Idol. I run to the next room in shock. After the iconic logo and theme music fade, I’m left staring at the T.V. for several minutes trying to figure out where I am. These moments happen often and leave me very dazed and confused.

Apart from these jarring realizations of my current locale, things haven’t been that different so far. This is mostly because I’m staying in one of the wealthier areas of Namibia, while in training, that has access to more resources. My final destination in this country will be much different, I’m sure. However, here is a small list of things that are not quite the same as I’m used to:

-Tomatoes, onions, and mayonnaise are used in most dishes prepared here. This doesn’t cause a problem for me, but I know many people back home who just gagged a little. Last night I had a “salad” that consisted of tomato paste, carrots, peppers, and onions. Sounds weird, but was delicious. My host mom, Alta, is going to teach me to make it.

-Butter is put on everything involving bread. Which doesn’t sound that odd… until you see it put on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
 
-Meat is a big deal here. Because of the land they don’t eat as many vegetables, so the meals are primarily meat. They say Americans eat too many vegetables and not enough meat. They also eat donkey and horse here. I haven’t tried it yet, but if I do I’ll let you know how it is.

Side note: Saturday is cultural day at training. Traditional foods will be prepared according to Namibian standards. Mupane worms are on the menu. Stay posted for a review J
 
-Children are in awe of white people. They stare unabashedly and will wave constantly. The other day I was riding home from training and saw a group of children waving at me from the window. I smiled and waved back. They began jumping up and down, waving and blowing kisses at me. All I could do was laugh.
 
-Gender roles and equality are quite different here. It is not uncommon for a man to have a wife and several girlfriends. The respective women of one man will all become friends and watch each other’s children. While walking home from a fellow volunteers host house in my neighborhood the other day, a man stopped me and asked if I was married. This is basically a pick up line here. I answered, “very married” and he smiled and said, “I’m married twice; it’s better that way.” 

Sunday, March 17, 2013

First Week

Man! This first week has been crazy! It took forever to get here. I left Shreveport, Louisiana on 3/11/13 at 5:00am and arrived in Namibia on 3/13/13 at 7:00 pm! I traveled on 4 different airplanes and two buses to get here. The longest flight was almost 15 hours.

I started training the day after I arrived at 7:30 am. So far I've been through 3 days of training and have been given too much information to process! I find out which African language I will learn tomorrow, as well as, meet my host family for the next 3 months. On Tuesday I will move into their house. I'm really nervous about it.

Other than that, I've just been trying to see as much as I can. I'm in a town called Okahandja. It's not far from the capitol, Windoek. The people here are really nice and so far everyone I've met speaks english and about 7 other languages. This part of Namibia isn't really that different from the U.S. There are grocery stores and restuarants where you can get pretty much anything. Once I get placed at my permanent site, things will probably be much different. So, I better soak it up now!

Today, I went on a hike up a hill (it was a mountain to me) that was called Pride Rock. On the way to the base of the hill we had to go through a farm with a bunch of children who decided to be our guides up the hill. There were about 5 or 6 of them, I guess. Many of them were not wearing shoes. You should have seen them flying up those cliffs! It was crazy! Once we made it to the top, we stopped for a bit and took some pictures. The kids were so excited! They loved having their picture taken and eventually just took the cameras and started taking their own pictures. On the way back they decided to follow us to our hostel and just sat and talked with us for a bit. It was definitely a wonderful day. The view of Okahandja from the top of Pride Rock was simply breathtaking. Pictures could never do it justice.