After a Long Wait....

So much is happening and I haven’t had the best form of communication but I think things will get better. I might have figured out a system to keep it cheap!! So let’s start with a few fun Africa stories that I want to share….

First and foremost I cannot get over how beautiful this country is it’s breathtaking to see all the beautiful mountains and landscape. I have still yet to see any giraffe or really any animal for that matter besides my dog, Wosie, but that is a whole different story. Everyone in Namibia is so welcoming I went to church with my mom and they had me sing in the choir and lead the prayer. People in our town know the volunteers maybe not for what we are doing but just because we are a group of 20 Americans and we stand out. So every morning as I am waiting for the kombi (12 passenger van) I get greeted by all the kids and adults who are going to work or school.
Our first night in Namibia we had to hang our mosquito nets. That was a chore all in its own right!! Our new improved nets hang like a box over the bed instead of a circle, but they didn’t come with any hooks so me and some other volunteers were standing on the beds with string a duck tape trying to get our mosquito nets up. I think we do have some pictures somewhere! We FINALLY get the mosquito nets up and I am lying under it on my bed writing in my journal and I find a mosquito INSIDE my mosquito net!!!!!! Not really sure how it got there but it wanted to be my friend. It was the first mosquito I had seen in Africa and it was under my net that is supposed to keep them out.
We are taking malaria pills and the one I am taking has some side effects….crazy dreams!!! The same night I found the mosquito in my net I also had a dream that my roommate’s mosquito net had huge roaches all over it!! The next week I had a dream that there was a mouse crawling on my roof and it was going to burrow through and fall on top of me and the only thing shielding my would be my mosquito net. The last one was the best I think… my host brothers and sisters were vampires and they wanted to eat my fellow volunteers so I had to get them (volunteers) out of my house and to safety. I know I dreamed some crazy stuff in America, but now I have an excuse!! It’s a shame I don’t have someone sleeping on a airbed next to me to tell me that I am just making these things us ( I will miss you Aaron!!)
I have a host family, well two but I am really only living with one right now. We have a dog named, Wosie, it means sausage in Afrikaans. He likes to sit with me as the bus stop. It would be fine but we have to dress business casual for work and Wosie does not know the meaning of sit. So by the time the Kombi gets to me Wosie has gotten me all dirty and smelling like dog. Everyone who is in the car thinks it’s cute that my dog likes to sit with me. They even left me there one time because Wosie was sitting next to me so they dropped the other volunteers off and came back for me later because my dog was going to miss me all day.
We had a cultural day at the center where we are training and some of the highlights include… killing a chicken, mashing corn with a huge stick, and eating some yummy fat cakes (which my mom taught me how to make and they are delicious with some peanut butter) I didn’t kill the chicken I just watched (sorry uncle Carson I am not sure how you ran a chicken farm) but the eggs inside the chicken were yummy and so was the grilled intestines.
I will be moving to northern Namibia along the Kavango River. I am learning Rukwangali. The good thing is the language is spoken the way it is written. My job is working for a trust and I will be setting up an afterschool program for about one hundred kids (ages 13-15). They do a lot of fun things my main job will be coordinating it all so that eventually we can leave it to the community to run!! It should be cool we will do an expedition to Fish River Canyon, a five day hike… I might get to do this I might not….I am hoping I do!!!! This week we are spending time where our permanent sites will be so I am just getting a feel for my new home. My second host family is great also and they have running HOT water a HUGE PLUS!!!! By the end of this my Namibian family will be huge two onane’s (mom), two otate’s (dad), and 7 little brothers and sisters… that is just my immediate family!!!
There is a group of volunteers who are already here and they invited me over for dinner which was really nice…they made me macaroni and cheese!!! It’s like they knew what I was missing the most from the states. I have been very adventurous this week I have walked around by myself and talked to people at the grocery store and gas station. This morning I have to walk around town and ask for donations from local shops for the program I am starting. Everyone in the community is really nice and helpful. People have been coming up to me asking me if I am still looking for volunteers for my project.
Sorry this is so long I haven’t had time to upload it and I just keep adding to it. I will post some pictures soon from cultural day and I think in our group we have at least one total group shot!! Please keep the notes and stuff coming that is really what I need most right now from home. I love hearing from you guys even something as small as a facebook post! I guess I need to go walk around town now and meet some people in the community!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!



A Note for My Sister:

It is almost 3 o’clock here and I am sitting in my office. I have been reading a book that Jackie let me borrow junior year of college and I am just now reading it, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, pretty good so far. Even though I am reading I can not stop thinking about my family. It is a pretty sad day for my family back at home. My sister’s father in law has passed away and it makes me sad I can not be there with her and George. I wish I could go home and give my sister a big hug, I’m not sure if I need it more or if she needs it. I was fine until her wedding song came on my iPod and made me cry so I have a favor… if anyone sees my sister give her a big hug from me since I can’t be there to give it to her!!! That is all I have to get back to reading my book now or else I will short circuit the computer from the water works coming from my eyes.

On a side note: Something about Africa makes me cry for the smallest things. I don’t think I have ever cried so much in my entire life!! I guess its all part of the process who knows!!