Late Update!

So, a lot has happened since my last post (sorry). Life has been hectic recently and finding the time/internet connection to update is not always easy. So here’s an update on my life J

Site Visit: I visited my permanent site! I was advised not to put my precise location on my blog so talk to me if you don’t know where I am and would like to know more! I can say that I am in a pretty good sized town. I have a shopping store, post office and a few restaurants easily accessible. It’s somewhat a tourist town so it’s very pretty. I was NOT expecting to have so many amenities this easily available. I have electricity AND hot water available to me. Most of the streets in town are paved. Once you leave town and go to the less lucrative parts of the area (called the location) the streets are no longer paved and are either dirt or gravel. For my first couple of weeks I will be living in the location with a host family. After I get to know the community somewhat I will move in town. I have a site mate named Nicole. She is a volunteer with Peace Corps and has been in my community for a year already. She volunteers at the community hospital and she’s absolutely lovely. My after school youth group meets in the location everyday around two. I will spend a large portion of time tutoring these kids in Math and English (Yikes!). I will also teach them about HIV/AIDS and prevention when able. While in this community I will also pick up secondary projects. These will include working with any community organization/group to better the community that is not my primary assignment with the after school group.  

Language:  So language has been an extreme difficulty for me. There are two other volunteers in my group learning Khoekhoegowab and I have been having the most difficulty. My issue has been that I can read it just fine; I simply cannot speak it, nor do I understand when it is spoken to me. I have asked my instructor for extra lessons, but time is limited. We took a mid Pre-Service Training (PST) Language Proficiency Interview (LPI) and I scored Novice Medium. The levels are as follows (Novice Low, Novice Medium, Novice High, Intermediate Low, Intermediate Medium, and Intermediate High). In order to pass as required by Peace Corps Namibia, I need to score Intermediate Low. This means I need to raise my score two whole levels. The interview is strictly in your target language (Khoekhoegowab) and consists of the interviewer asking questions about your life in America, family, life in Namibia, host family, etc. In order to achieve Intermediate Low you must complete a role play in the target language (eeek!). Well, I recently took the last LPI… I have no idea how this happened but I passed! I even did the role play. I almost kissed my instructor! I was so proud! I answered almost every question 

Swearing in: Earlier this week I was sworn in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV). My swearing in ceremony was held in Windhoek and the Prime Minister was invited. This means it was somewhat of a big deal. I wore a traditional Damaran (one of the tribes that speak Khoekhoegowab) dress. My host mom in Okahandja had the dress made especially for me to wear to swearing in. Our swearing in was later on NBC (Namibian Broadcasting Channel)! Yup, I was singing in a different language on the Namibian news. Jealous?

Moving to site: On Thursday I officially moved to my permanent site. I’m so excited to be finished with training and be an official volunteer! My first three months at site will consist of me completing a needs assessment to determine what precisely my community wants and/or needs from me. This means I’ll be spending a lot of time just walking around and getting to know people and talking to community leaders and stakeholders.

Once again, sorry it took so long for this post! However, now that I’m at site, I will probably be updating less. I will maybe update once a month or when something of importance happens!

Stay classy, readers

Me in my Traditional Damaran Dress

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.” 

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.