One Month In

Some of the other teachers and I at a prize giving ceremony



The front of the school

More of the school

One of the many random animals that occasionally roam the school grounds

The school library

Some kids at the orphanage learning how to play Twister

I have been at site for about a month now but don’t have much to report. The days have been pretty slow. I do not start teaching my own classes until next term which does not start until January. Until then, I do not have a lot of responsibilities. I have been teaching a lot of the other volunteer’s classes though, so that has been good to get more experience. I am still trying to figure out which methods work best with the learners and it’s nice to have this time to try out different things. I found out this week that I will tentatively be teaching Natural Science to the grade 5’s and Basic Information Science to grades 5-7 next term. Granted it’s very likely this could change seeing as how often times the schedule for the term is not even made until during the first week of the term, but I’m hoping it doesn’t. I think the grade 5 learners will be pretty fun to teach. I have also been trying to come up with ideas for secondary projects (projects to work on besides teaching) while I have all this extra time, but it is a little early to start anything since I am still trying to get a better understanding of the school and community and their needs.

About the only noteworthy thing I’ve done lately is make a trip to Otjiwarango last weekend. I had a really relaxing time with two of the PCVs that live there and one other volunteer that came to visit for the weekend as well. Nothing too exciting happened, but it was really nice just to be somewhere different, be able to do some shopping, eat out, have some drinks, and commiserate with other volunteers. I was able to get a ride there with one of the teachers at my school but was a little worried about hiking back on my own. I decided to go ahead and pay for a taxi back in Otjiwarango but after waiting a couple hours was only able to find one going as far as Outjo, which is about half way to Khorixas. Once in Outjo, I decided to try free hiking so I had the taxi driver drop me off at the edge of town where the turn to Khorixas is. It was not until then, when I stood on the corner in the hot sun with my giant backpack full of books and other bags of groceries which I had acquired over the weekend and could barely carry, and looked in all directions not seeing another soul in site for at least a half an hour, that I started to worry. But at the same time I realized just how much I am enjoying being here and getting the opportunity to do things like that – I mean how many people can say they have sat literally in the middle of nowhere in Africa by themselves trying to get a ride on a road with no traffic? Ok, so maybe a lot of people from here can say that…but the point is my worry was overcome by awe and besides, even if I couldn’t carry them too far, at least I had supplies with me. Luckily, one of the first cars that drove by stopped and offered me a ride, and although it wasn’t for free, I took it just to get out of the sun. And I successfully made it back to Khorixas on my own.

It's on Facebook - It's Official

On Friday, October 16th, 2009, I swore in as a Peace Corps Volunteer! Along with the other 31 trainees of Group 30, I said the Pledge of Service in my new local language and was officially accepted as a PCV. The swearing-in ceremony was held at our training center and went well. It included performances by a local youth choir and speeches by the Minister of Education, a representative from the U.S. Embassy, and our Training Manager. One or two trainees from each language group also gave a speech. I opted not to give one, but once again, I think the Khoekhoegowab was the favorite speech. Everyone always seems to be very impressed by the clicking. I am still struggling with the language and probably always will, but I did score a novice high on my final LPI. It’s not as high as I was hoping to get, but it was an improvement. After the ceremony, there was a nice meal served which was a lot fancier than I think any of us trainees were expecting. A lot of the trainees dressed in traditional clothing for the ceremony, myself included. You can see in the pictures that I am wearing traditional Damara dress. I was a little jealous of the girls in the Herero dresses, since theirs are a more obvious outfit but still enjoyed wearing mine. My host mom was really sweet and ended up giving me the dress! They didn’t waste any time sending us off to our sites though. As soon as people were done with the meal, they started leaving.

I was among the first people to leave for site. It was weird saying goodbye to everyone. We have all only known each other for two months now, but we spent so much time together during those two months that it’s a little hard to think about being on our own. Even after being gone a few days now, it still doesn’t really feel real yet. I am very excited to be at my site though. However, the trip to site was not too exciting as it was a long one and I was dropped off last again. I loaded up my many bags (I’m not sure how I already ended up with so much stuff, I blame Peace Corps and all the paperwork they give us), said my goodbyes, and headed out for site. I went with two other Kunene Region volunteers and luckily, our supervisors brought a big combi that had room for all of our things. We stopped in Otjiwarango and were able to go to the amazing Super Spar again. I tried to buy a lot of my groceries there since they are cheaper there and this is probably one of the only times I will have a free ride and won’t have to worry about carrying groceries back to my site. After making about 5 more random turns (what they call stops) in Otjiwarango, we were on our way again. When we arrived in Kamanjab to drop off one of the volunteers, it was getting dark. Because Peace Corps does not allow us to travel after dark, we had to overnight there. We were able to stay at the school there, which would have been fine, but I got attacked by mosquitoes all night long and was not able to get much sleep. I think from now on if there is not a mosquito net, I am going to just set up my bug hut (tent). I think the extra effort and the strange looks I may get will be worth getting some sleep. Saturday morning we planned on leaving Kamanjab at 8 am and ended up leaving around 9 am, which is good for Namibian time. So after dropping off the other volunteer and traveling on several gravel roads, I arrived in Khorixas about 4 hours later.

For the next two months, I will be staying with another host family. I am staying with a couple and their daughter, who is about 7 years old. My new host mom is the secretary at the school I am working at. So far things are going well with my new host family. There have definitely been a lot of awkward moments, but it is to be expected and I am starting to get use to it. The daughter is a little shy, but she seems to be warming up to me quickly. My favorite part of my new home stay is that their dog just had puppies! They are pretty adorable and always cheer me up.

Today, I had my first day at school and my first experience teaching. At the morning assembly, all of the learners sang to welcome me again which was really nice. The volunteer I am replacing is gone this week and part of next week, so I am teaching her classes. For never having taught before, I would say that the classes went well. It is hard coming into someone else’s class and not knowing exactly what to teach or how things are run, but I think I managed. The learners all seemed fairly well-behaved and I’m hoping that today wasn’t just a fluke. It’s good to be able to get some classroom experience and see what kinds of things the learners respond to. I taught 4 classes today and all of them were fairly large so I think it is going to be a struggle for me to learn all of their names, but hopefully overtime I will be able to. So one day down, 2 years to go!



Okahandja Youth Choir at Swearing-In Ceremony


My host mom, Belinda and I



Traditional Dress


Food at Swearing-In


My new host sister


Puppies!

Final Week of Training!

Oh my gosh, so there are only 5 days left until I will officially swear in as a Peace Corps Volunteer! My training ends on Friday and then I will head off to my site for the next two years! The end of training is definitely bitter sweet. I am excited to be done with training, go to my permanent site and actually start doing what I came here for. However, it is nice being here with all the other trainees who are going through the same things and knowing that there is always someone around to talk to. I have also gotten used to living with my current host family and am not really looking forward to having to adjust to living with a new family. However, despite my fears of loneliness and being in a new place, I am ready to go.

This week we got a packet of assignments that we are suppose to complete during our first couple months at site. There had been a lot of question as to what we would be doing during this time period, since we do not officially start teaching until the next term in January, and the packet answered a lot of them. School will be in session until the end of November and during that time period we are expected to do a lot of observing, co-teaching, and practicing things like lesson plans. Then in December, when school is out, we are suppose to focus more on getting involved in our communities. Even though I’m still not completely sure what I will be doing, having more of an idea of what is expected of me during this time period has made me feel more ready to go. I think it is definitely going to be a challenging first couple months though. I am ready to feel like I am actually doing something here, but it seems like there is a long road ahead of me before I will feel that way. Another big challenge is not being able to leave my site. The Peace Corps is strict about traveling during the first few months at site and we are still waiting to hear what their official stance is going to be. What they have told us so far is that we have to remain at our sites with our host families until December 20th, at which time it sounds like we will be able to move into our permanent housing and at least go visit another volunteer. We then have Reconnect during the first couple weeks of January, which is where all of our group comes back together and has technical training. Then after reconnect, we finally start teaching in mid-January. I have a feeling the first few months are going to go by extremely slow…

There is not a ton to report from the happenings of the last couple weeks. Training has been going well, but pretty uneventful. The weekends have been somewhat more exciting. Last weekend, I successfully free hiked to and from Windhoek. It was nice to go somewhere different and eat some good food. I actually tried Indian food for the first time there and loved it. Other than eating a ton, I just did some window shopping and appliance pricing. It has been challenging to get over my need to shop and buy things, but I’m working on it. This Saturday, we had a host family appreciation day at the training center to thank all of the families for having us. A mix of American and Namibian dishes were made including macaroni and cheese, hamburgers, rice krispie treats, potato salad, and sheep. Someone from each language group gave a speech in their language to thank the host families and they all seemed to really appreciate that. We also had to get up in front of the families and sing and dance to some of the songs we sing every day. I didn’t really enjoy this part due to the lack of my singing and dancing abilities but oh well, overall it was a nice day. Saturday night my host mom through a 50th birthday party for her uncle. It was a little slow and boring at first, but then they broke out the Windhoek Lager and boxed wine and the mood completely changed. It ended up being a really fun night, but made me realize how much my language skills are still lacking. When people tried to talk to me, I couldn’t understand much past the greetings. They at least seemed to just enjoy that I was able to say anything. I am planning on getting a language tutor once I get to site so hopefully that will help. I scored at a novice-mid level on my last LPI and am hoping I will reach the intermediate-low level I am expected to on the next one but still do not feel very confident about it. My final LPI is Tuesday so I have a lot of studying to do in the next two days!

I’ve still been really bad about taking pictures but here are a few and I will try to start taking more.

Eating at the Indian Restaraunt


Waiting for a ride back from Windhoek



Khoekhoegowab language class






My "date" and host mom at birthday party

Site Visit

My week at my permanent site went fairly well. The only reason it wasn’t great was I got pretty sick for the second half of the week and wasn’t able to do much. Saturday, I traveled to my site with my supervisor and the other Kunene Region trainees and their supervisors. It ended up being a much longer trip than I expected because we dropped off all the other trainees before we circled back to my site. After about 10 hours of traveling, I arrived in Khorixas. Sadly, it was dark when we arrived and I wasn’t able to see much of the town. The only description I had heard of Khorixas was that it was a very dusty town and I wasn’t able to tell much more about it in the dark. When we pulled up to the school a bunch of the learners (what they call the students) came outside and sang to welcome me. They even included my name in one of the songs. I didn’t really know how to react but it was very nice and unexpected, since it was so late when I got there. After greeting the learners, I went to the two current Peace Corps Volunteers’ flat where there was homemade pizza waiting for me. It was just what I needed after a long day of traveling.

I stayed in the flat I will be living in once I move into my permanent housing and it seems pretty nice. It is on the school grounds and right next to the learners’ hostels. This is really convenient for work, but also has the possibility of it getting a little tiring being around the kids all the time. The flat has electricity and running water which are two BIG pluses. However, there is no hot water so I had my first, of what will be many, bucket bath experiences. I had to heat the water in a big pan on the gas stove, which I still haven’t gotten use to lighting, and then take it in the bathroom and awkwardly wash myself. It is definitely something that is going to take me some time to get used to, but I’m sure I will adjust and I am just thankful I do not have to go fetch my water first. The flat has two bedrooms and I found out that I will be living with another PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer). I was a little nervous about this just because I haven’t had great experience with roommates in the past, but I met her this week and she seems really nice. She has been a volunteer here for the last two years and is extending for a third year. That means she is not only proof that Namibia is a great place to be since she is choosing to stay longer, but also will be a great resource for me and all my newbie questions. I was also a little worried because she has a cat and I thought this might put a damper on my plans to get a dog, but she said that she and her cat love dogs so I’m pretty sure I’m going to get a puppy as soon as I can!

Sunday, I got a chance to see Khorixas in the daylight. Jessica and Jill (the current volunteers) walked me around and gave me a tour of the town. It is a fairly small town in American standards but considered semi-urban in Namibia. I think much of the population must be kids though. There are four primary schools and two secondary schools. It seems I will be able to take care of my basic needs there though. There are a couple grocery stores that even have some produce available, a hardware store, a PEP store (kind of like a smaller Walmart), a post office, a couple banks, and a hospital. I was told there is even a place that has soft-serve ice cream, so I think I will be able to survive. The description of being a dusty town seems pretty true. Most of the roads are gravel roads, but apparently they may be tarring a few more soon which would be nice. Monday, I went to school with Jessica, the volunteer I am replacing. I was introduced to all of the staff and then again in front of all of the learners at their morning assembly, where they sang for me again. For most of Monday and Tuesday, I just shadowed Jessica and observed what she did. I have not gotten much of a job description of what exactly the school wants me to do other than “everything Jessica does.” It’s great that they like everything that she is doing for them and it seems that she has done quite a bit, I just hope that I will be able to do some of my own things – whatever they may be. Wednesday and Thursday, I was sick and did not do much but lay in bed. I felt really bad because the staff organized a welcome party for me, but I was too sick to go. Hopefully, this did not offend any of them because that’s not exactly how I want to start out at a new job. On Friday, I found out that the school was taking some learners to Kamanjab for a soccer tournament, so I decided to get a ride with them because that is where another trainee’s site is. The ride there was kind of interesting. It all seemed very unorganized. I was first told they would be leaving at 2, then 4, and I think we finally left around 6 or so after we drove around looking for the lady who was suppose to be cooking for the learners. We rode in a combi where there were at least two learners crammed in every seat and some that just stood the whole time. And then the learners and the teachers sang the whole way there. It was definitely different than a school trip in the States would be.

Once I arrived in Kamanjab, I met up with a few other trainees where we enjoyed some spaghetti and shared what we had experienced during the week. After hearing about everyone else’s sites, I’m definitely happy with where I got placed. The next morning we all took a taxi to Otjiwarango, where we met up with another trainee. Otjiwarango is a fairly large town and is where I will do my big shopping. There is even a Super Spar there! I am learning to take pleasure in the small things here…The coolest part of my week happened on the way to Otjiwarango though – I saw a giraffe (pictured above)!!! It was just standing in the middle of the road, sort of like you might see a deer in the middle of the road in the States. The taxi driver was nice enough to stop for a min and let us take pictures of it. That definitely made my week since I had just been waiting and hoping to see animals since I arrived here. Hopefully that is just the start of many animal sightings.

At Otjiwarango, a couple of the girls split off and decided to hitchhike and the rest of us decided just to pay for a ride. This is where I made the crucial mistake of sitting on the outside of the four of us. Apparently, even when you are paying for a ride, they will still try to cram as many people as they can into the cars here. The four of us got into the back of the car where there were four seats and thought we were set to go. We were wrong. Another guy crawled into the back, right by me. And he brought his big bottle of beer with him. Not that he needed any more to drink because he had clearly already thrown back a few. I thought maybe it wouldn’t be so bad and I could just ignore him, but this wasn’t the case. He started talking to me and telling me how beautiful I was and asking me if I was married to which I replied I was hoping to discourage him. This just led to him asking where my ring was and after telling him that I didn’t wear it because I didn’t want it to get stolen he just persisted. He just kept telling me he wanted to marry me and have me take him back to the States. Luckily, John, another trainee, kept trying to intercede every time the guy started to talk to me. I think this and the beer wore him out because he eventually fell asleep. Then I just had to deal with his head falling on my shoulder and trying not to get drooled on. This is pretty common behavior here and just another thing I am going to have to get used to dealing with but I definitely learned my lesson - if I am traveling with a guy, they need to sit on the outside. I think I’m going to start a tally of marriage proposals throughout the next two years though – so far I’m only at two. And don’t worry Mom, I can handle it! Needless to say, I was definitely happy when that ride was over and we were back at our training site.

This past week was just back to normal training. It was nice to be back, but ever since I returned, training has been going by really slowly. I had my mid-LPI (language proficiency test) on Friday. It went horribly, but it’s sort of what I expected. I ended up just laughing through the whole test because I couldn’t understand what the tester was asking most of the time, but that’s better than crying through the whole test I guess. This was basically just a practice test though and is not as important as our final LPI which I will hopefully be more prepared for. We are expected to be at an intermediate-low level at the end of training and I’m pretty sure I’m at a novice-low (the lowest level) now. I think I am at about the same level as the other trainees in KKG though so that is comforting. And at least I’ve got three more weeks to practice!

P.S. I’ve updated my address to my permanent site so any letters or packages can be sent there from now on (HINT, HINT)

Khorixas

I have been in Namibia for 3 weeks now! It feels like I have been gone a much longer time so I have no idea what 2 years is going to feel like! Sorry it has taken me awhile to write an entry. Training has been keeping me pretty busy and exhausted. Other than having a constant feeling of not knowing what is going on, I am having a good time. The first week we were in country we stayed at the training center and then we all moved in with our individual host families. I am staying with a super nice lady not much older than me. The house is very modern – I have electricity, running water, hot showers, TV, and even a microwave. Definitely not the hut I was naively picturing before I came. As for the food, I haven’t eaten anything too crazy yet. We had a cultural cooking day this last Saturday with lots of traditional foods – like goat head and several organs but I opted not to be that adventurous yet. I figure I’ve got 2 years to work up to those things. I did watch a chicken be killed that day though. I think about the most interesting thing I have eaten so far is Omaere (s/p?) which is spoiled milk. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds but it’s still not something I will be eating on a regular basis. Namibians eat A LOT of meat so I have been trying to adjust to that. Other than meat it has been a lot of rice, porridge, and pasta. Oh and mayonnaise! For some reason mayonnaise seems to be put with almost anything here. Several of the host families pack the lunches for their trainees and there have been quite a few odd combinations that trainees show up with. Luckily I pack my own lunch and have been sticking with good old PB and honey sandwiches.

A typical day of training goes as follows: I get picked up at 7:20 am, we all assemble in the main hall at 8 to sing songs including the Namibian and American National Anthems, we break into small groups for 4 hours (yes 4 looong hours!) of language training, have a break for lunch where I almost always make a trip to Spar (the grocery store), we all gather again in the main hall for a variety of different training topics like medical, transportation, safety, etc. and then get dropped off back at our home stays around 5. Going to training feels a bit like being in elementary school again because we are picked up, dropped off, and all bring our packed lunches (in matching lunch boxes) that our host parents are required to supply for us. There are 33 people in my training group and everyone is very nice. We are all going to be in different parts of the country and were assigned different languages based on where we are going. I am learning, or at least trying to learn, how to speak Khoekhoegowab, a clicking language. It sounds very cool when it is spoken but it is a very challenging and frustrating language to learn. I am struggling quite a bit with it. There are four different clicks in the language that are treated just like other letters. After a couple weeks of language training I can still only do 2 ½ of the clicks. Everyone keeps saying, “Oh it will come, just give it time” which is actually not comforting at all to hear but hopefully they are right and I will eventually get it. At least I will be teaching in English.

Yesterday was a very exciting day because we found out our permanent site assignments. I am being sent to Khorixas which is in the Kunene Region. I leave Saturday to go visit my site for a week so I will know much more about it then. So far all I know is I will be replacing a current volunteer, teaching science grades 5-7 at a primary school, and living in a flat at the hostel. The town is said to be semi-urban which in Namibia means a population <5,000 with a few shops that have the basics in them. I was expecting to be teaching higher grades but I’m ok with younger because I think it will be fun to teach kids at that age. It sounds like I will also be involved with the science club and science fair they have at the school, as well as have lots of other opportunities for secondary projects. Tomorrow we meet our supervisors and then they take us to our sites. However, we have to find our own way back to the training site which I’m a little nervous about. We have been told very mixed things about transportation here in Namibia. Luckily, there are two other trainees close to my site so I will be able to travel back with them most of the way. I am very excited just to get out of the town we are training in and have a change of scenery. Since we have been here we have only left the town for one day to go to Windhoek, so it will be nice just to be able to see more of the country. I’m really hoping I will spot some cool animals because I have yet to see much more than the million dogs and chickens which are here. I’m sure I will have lots more to write about next week.

9,507 miles

After a looong application process and a lot of ups and downs the day is finally here! My staging for the Peace Corps starts tomorrow! Just as a quick overview - I applied to the Peace Corps in January of 2008, was originally nominated for Sub-Saharan Africa leaving in September 2008, was then put on hold once September came around and told that I would have to wait until the next summer’s programs, and finally received my invitation to Namibia in March 2009. I will be in Namibia from August 2009 until December 2011 teaching secondary science. I start an initial orientation in Washington DC tomorrow, fly out the next day after what I can only imagine will be an exciting day of shots, and get into Johannesburg, South Africa a mere 17 hrs and 40 min later. The next day I complete my 9,507 mile journey and arrive in Namibia. I will be in training for the first eight weeks and will receive my permanent site assignment during that time. There are still a lot of unknowns at this point – where exactly I will live, what the conditions will be, the type of school I will be teaching in, etc. This blog will be a way for me to keep everyone updated as much as possible and share my experiences. I will miss everyone and hope you stay in touch. Since I don’t know how often I will be able to check my email, I look forward to getting real letters from everyone as well!