A Special Visitor

I have not had any one from America come and visit me yet, until now!! I am very excited for my new visitor who arrived on Friday the 26th. He comes all the way from Tampa, Florida. His name is Flat Stanley. My friend, Ethan, sent him to me. I am excited to show Flat Stanley around Rundu and part of Southern Africa. Since Stanley is my first visitor we wanted to share his time with everyone on my blog…

Dear Mr. Divins’ and Mr. Decker’s 2nd grade classes,

Flat Stanley arrived safely in Rundu (Roon-do), Namibia on Friday the 26th of November. He traveled over one month and 7902 miles just to get here. It was a long journey across the Atlantic Ocean, but there is a lot to do and see.

Something I’m sure he noticed right away was how hot it was. Namibia is located in Southern Africa. It is surrounded by South Africa to the South, Botswana to the East, Angola and Zambia to the North and the Atlantic Ocean to the West. The seasons are opposite here than in Tampa. Right now it is summer. The days reach 42 degrees Celsius, which is 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit. We are getting into our rainy season, it only rains from November to May then we get into our winter from May to July, which is very similar to winter in Tampa, cool but not cold. Then we have our autumn July to September where it is mostly windy and hot. It is very hot and I do not have an air conditioner so Flat Stanley would be most comfortable wearing shorts, t-shirt and sandals.

In Namibia we do a few things differently than at home in America. People drive cars on the left side of the road, we measure distance in Kilometers not Miles and we use a different type of money. For every $1 US Dollar it is equal to $7 Namibian Dollars. A liter of milk costs us about $14 Namibian dollars.

Some other interesting facts about Namibia…
1. Namibia has only been an independent country for 20 years, before it was part of South Africa.
2. There are 13 regions in the country, Rundu in the the northeast region called Kavango.
3. While the National Language is English there are over 20 different languages spoken in Nambia. In Kavango the main of the language spoken is Rukwangali (roo-kwan-gaal-ee). A common greeting goes..
“Morokeni” (moro-ken-knee) “Hello”
“Ngapi?”(N-gap-ee) “How are you?”
“Nawa, One Ngapi?” (naa-waa, oon-ey N-gap-ee) “I’m fine, how are you?”
4. While the size of Namibia is 2 times the size of California they entire population is around 2 million people.
5. The capital of our Country is Windhoek (wind-hook)

I know Flat Stanley is supposed to be home by the 13th of December, but since he just arrived I would like to invite him to join me on my Christmas vacation to Zambia and Tanzania. If this is OK with your class.

I am so excited to have him here. I hope you enjoy Flat Stanley and my adventures! If you have any questions about Rundu or Flat Stanley's adventures you can post them as a comment and I will be happy to answer them all!!

Kareni Po Nawa (care-en-knee po naa-waa) This means "stay well" in Rukwangali.

Here is Flat Stanley along the Kavango River. It is hard to see but the river is the border between Namibia and Angola. Do you see that town in the background? That is Angola!!Here is Flat Stanley with our Namibian Flag!!!

Flat Stanley and I went to go to the Regional Council, but since we just had elections last Friday no one was there. We will try again to meet the mayor!

The Countdown...

As much as I am enjoying things here the 5 month deadline that I have looming over me to get things done only seems to get closer and closer. I feel like there is a lot of wrap up to do and to prepare for my predecessor (who ever gets to do this will be one lucky person)
This weekend… PARK CLEAN UP DAY!! My kids actually chose to spend all day Saturday de-bushing the park so we can get town council to plant grass before the rains come so it can set in. – Pictures to be posted at a later date
Nov. 13th ….. Mr. & Miss Kayec and End of Year KAYEC Celebration- can you believe the school year is almost over?!?
Nov. 20th….. Thanksgiving- Turkey, Friends and fun celebrating my second favorite holiday… Don’t worry Aunt Gladney I am making “Kimmies Last Green Bean Casserole in Namibia”
Dec. 9th….. Christmas Holiday in Zanzibar, Tanzania!!!!!! Perfect end to the year!

Then there is a bit of a gap but the BEST thing to look forward too…

APRIL 17th…. MOM BALAGUER comes to NAMIBIA!!!!! I am so excited to show my mom around. I have already told my kids and we are working on things to do for her (Dance, Drama, etc.) It will be so much fun and I am beyond excited to have my mom over here for a couple weeks to show her my second home!

21 Kilometeres Later

After a year and a half of talking about this we did it. I ran a marathon relay with my fellow Kavango 29’er. We each ran halves of the marathon. I had first half (I think he had the prettier run). The race was from Walvis Bay to Swakopmund (right in the middle of those towns is where the famous Angelina and Brad had their baby, our driver actually showed us the house and all I could think of was my sister JB). My part was mostly running through Walvis Bay then finished running on the highway between dunes and in the distance I could see the ocean. It was great! I may or may not have been the last person to cross the finish line, but my partner made up for it and hauled it to pass some people. The town of Swakopmund reminds me so much of Jacksonville… I felt like I was back in America just walking on the beach! It made me so happy to get to see the Atlantic Ocean again. In case you’re wondering, it looks and smells the same you are just sitting backwards. I knew I missed the water, but I didn’t realize I missed it so much. Now I just can’t wait to get on the beach again. The race was fun and I am glad we did it. The whole weekend was really enjoyable. There are some fabulous restaurants to celebrate the race being over we went to a nice restaurant and I got a grouper equivalent filet. The people who sponsor the race also have it worked out so kids from all over Namibia come and run. One of my schools went, they had a 4 person relay (the second to last runner was one of my KAYEC kids), they got second place for the boys relay!! The kids who went had so much fun they get medals and for most they get to see the ocean for the first time EVER!
This was taken about a year and a half ago when my partner and I first started talking about running the marathon relay... this is how our training progressed (notice neither of us running)

This is a shot of part of the group who ran the first half... its a good thing there were no pictures after!

It's getting HOTT in HERE!!!

It’s officially summertime in Rundu; you can’t even sit in your house with out sweating. I am drinking 3-5 liters of water a day and I am still so thirsty. Obviously, when I go to bed at night I don’t drink water in my sleep and from the time I lay down to the time I wake up my lips are so dehydrated that are super chapped!! Last week we had our first rainy night and we woke up to a cool morning. We are told that the rainy season is coming early this year. We have had some rainy nights since then, but only one really good one. I love the sound of rain on a tin roof. I hope everyone is right about the rain coming early, because I think I blocked the memory of last year’s heat. All I want to do is sit in a pool or be on the beach!! The good news is cold showers feel wonderful and it saves money on electricity!!

Hazards to look out for this summer:
1. I have to keep a fan pointing at my computer so it doesn’t catch on fire.
2. There might be a possibility of me melting this year.
3. I might get banned from the bank! I go into the bank just to cool down because they have air conditioning!! If I keep going in and not doing anything they might start to notice.

I am actually looking forward to summers in the South with a cold glass of sweet tea and being able to run and hide in air conditioning.

TIA...

I was traveling to Rehoboth for a workshop and after too many people trying to take my bag and yelling at me to come travel in their car. I ended up in a private car (you pay the same amount as you do in the van transport, but they usually get you there faster because there are only 4 seats as opposed to 14). We were about 10 km from Grootfontein, the next closest town to Rundu heading south. All of a sudden, the driver pulls off the tar road onto the gravel shoulder. We get out of the car and looking at the flat tire the driver says “I saw the tire was low when we left Rundu (200km ago!) I should have pumped up the tire”. The driver needed to call someone to bring a spare, because he did not have a extra tire and did not think to pump up the tire before we started. Did I mention that he did not have credit to call so he had to borrow my friend’s phone! When the man with the spare tire came we had nothing to put the tire on because neither the driver nor the man with the spare tire had a JACK!! Some random guy pulled over to help us and turns out the tire the guy brought for us to use was not the right size, so the two of them left us with the car on the side of the road as they went into town. In fast Nam time about 2 hours later we were on the road again after a random man pulled over and yelled at our driver for not being prepared when driving! It was an interesting hike day for sure!

My New Roommate, Larry

I was sitting in my bedroom getting ready for bed one night and I noticed everyone else congregating in the second bedroom in my flat. I asked them what they were doing and they said they had seen some animal under my pile of sheets. They thought it was a mouse or lizard. Being a Florida girl … I WAS REALLY HOPING FOR A LIZARD!! Lizards I can handle. When the mattress on the floor was moved … there he was running into my bedroom… my new friend LARRY!!! He was such tiny mouse (did you know mice could lay flat and crawl under anything) and he would have been cute if he wasn’t living in my house. Needless to say that night I slept with the light on and my fly swatter! Thinking he wouldn’t come near me with the light on.The next day my two friends went to the store and got mouse traps to put in my house. We only saw Larry a few more times after that. Once a friend was sleeping on the mattress on the floor (where we first saw Larry) and he heard Larry under the curtains by his head. The next time I was cleaning my kitchen and when I moved an outdoor mat. He was there again hiding in the corner in my kitchen. I was home alone and I ran out the door screaming (my neighbors must have thought I was crazy). That was the last night we saw Larry alive L I have not seen any of Larry’s family and I hope I don’t have to see them ever again! From now on my house is only welcoming Lizards and Wall Spiders.

"Only The Good Die Young"

I know I am not the most eloquent when it comes to writing so I am going to do my best here because this of all my blog entries deserves it. A volunteer who was serving in the Southern African country Lesotho was killed. It is a terrible tragedy and while I did not get the honor to meet Thomas I have heard a lot about him since I have been over here. He graduated from the University of Florida in 2008 (the same year I did) and started his Peace Corps service in November 2009 (this was 8 months after I started) he was working as an education volunteer. I have read his blog and the people who know him are so proud of him that I know he was an amazing, strong, motivated, powerful, life changing person. It is a tragedy to lose such a great volunteer. I will be keeping his family and friends in my thoughts and prayers everyday. I can not imagine what the community in Lesotho and back in Florida are going through but I will pray for them to have strength to get through this.

Hearing about this made me so sad for many reasons; while I did not know Thomas personally we were part of a very small family. He was serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Even though we may not all know each other we are all part of one big family. We are a small group of Americans who dedicate two years of their life to work in communities where you hope to do even the smallest amount of good. There are many volunteers who are serving or who have served, while we don’t all know each other we are all there to support each other any where around the world. Thomas was a graduate of the University of Florida. There are not many UF PCV’s nearby and when you meet one you immediately start talking about Florida Field, The Swamp, University Ave and the most important person in all our PC lives, our recruiter. When they made those commercials about the GatorNation we all laughed, but it was true. You meet someone from UF and you immediately say “Go Gators.” When I came I was in a group with one other Gator Grad. We knew we were lucky because our recruiter took the time to put us together and helped up get ready for Namibia. It is not just the fact we went to UF together it is that we have a common person in our life who takes the time to make us feel special. I know that Amy, our recruiter, took the time to get us here and she has continued to stay in touch. She has many volunteers and she is so busy, but she takes the time to make us feel like we are her only thing she has to do. It is because of her that our UF Peace Corps family is so close. I know she makes all of us around the world serving as a UF PCV feel special. I also know that Thomas was a very special person to her and that means he was a fantastic person and I wish I could have gotten to get to know him.

I have been thinking about this tragedy all day and it has reminded me to be grateful for the time I have here and how lucky I am to get to be getting to do what I want to do. I am so deeply saddened for the loss of Thomas and in his honor I am making sure I do not take any day for granted.

I hope that all who read this blog will also keep Thomas and his family and friends in your thoughts, prayers or whatever you do!

Everyone Wants Acceptance 2010

So I am not sure how we pulled it off. There were many hoops to jump but somehow we did it. With the help of the community, volunteers and people at home we made it happen. EWA (ehh-waaa) was a two day conference where we brought learners from Kavango and Caprivi to learn about gender equality, HIV/AIDS and leadership. It was jammed packed with sessions. Let me try to give a recap.

Pre- Conference:
We had some issues since last year. The conference was supposed to happen and the PCV’s had put together it they had prepared everything for EWA 2009 and they lost the funding. So we had to tell the learners who were invited and the facilitators who were trained that it was not happening It was really sad to see all the hard work that had been put in and then for it not to happen. When the PCV’s who had organized finished their service I said I would step up and make it happen this year. The beginning of the year we had our first meeting and we had it all planned out, we had support and potential funding. Then I spent the next few months focusing on Camp GLOW and my primary job. Once GLOW was over I dedicated all my time to making EWA happen. Our first big blow came when our funders told us that they could not provide funding. I was so tired and I just wanted to give up, but another volunteer, Lee, would not let me. He kept asking “whats up with EWA?” and we worked on getting as much as we could for free. The first thing was getting a place to hold the conference. One of the local secondary schools let us use their hostel facilities free of charge!!! From there things just fell into place. It’s funny how things always seem to work out somehow here, no matter how bad it gets it works out. We had worked out everything planning the conference and before we knew it August 25th had come and it was time for the camp!!

Day 1 : Arrival Day: This was not as bad as we thought it was going to be. This is basically a transport day. We rely on the Ministries to help us with transport. We got everything ready and all the kids arrived (except one town because of communication problems). That night we just welcomed and divided the kids. They played the animal game- the kids get the name of animals on a piece of paper and they have to act out the animals until the find other animals who are acting the same some examples are dog, elephant, monkey, etc. This was pretty funny I think the volunteers got more into it than the kids. Then we put the kids to bed. The hostel was really nice and clean and the hostel staff was beyond helpful.

Day 2: Gender Day
The first day the kids were up and knocking at 5 am!! They were ready for the day to start. We started with a good discussion on the difference of sex and gender and then we talked about their views about gender. The day had some really great discussions. We had 7 facilitators, they were trained last year and volunteered to come back and work at the conference, who led the sessions. The facilitators did fantastic they really helped us get the conference to happen. The day continued we played games and did more sessions and the night ended with a HIV/AIDS intro where the kids asked some really good questions. We ended the night teaching the kids about the female and male reproductive systems, how to use a condom and other questions they had about anything.

Day 3: Leadership Day
This was the day where the kids work on communication and how to be a good leader. The idea is that they will go back to their community and start a club. We also invited 6 career panelists to come and talk about how they got to where they were and just to inspire the kids. We had a pharmacist, doctor, lodge owner, accountant, procurement officer and principal. The day went well and the kids really enjoyed the people who came to talk to us.

Day 4: Departure Day
While I enjoyed the camp I was ready to get the next part of my holiday going. We all worked together and cleaned the hostel, washed down the bathrooms and packed everything to go. The transport came on time (this does not happen EVER!) and we were home by lunch time!!

It was a great camp and I am really grateful to all the people who helped. I am glad I got to be part of it and meet some new kids from different villages and regions that I would have never gotten to meet. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE (PCV’s, Facilitators, RPCV’s, family and friends in America and the people in the Rundu Community who donated time, supplies, energy) who helped make EWA 2010 happen!!

Side note: We did not have time to write the thank you cards with the kids so I will be spending this week writing thank you cards to everyone. I apologize for the delay in y are thank you cards if you are getting one.

Well paint my door red and call me Elizabeth Arden!

Over the past couple months I have really missed some special things I love about the South. Sweet Tea, the beach, anything having to do with the Gators, my friends and family…you know the normal things. It was sitting in my flat and I got the urge to watch Gone with the Wind. This is my all time favorite movie! I was telling other volunteers about it and they had never seen it. I even told my mom and Aunt that I wanted to watch that and Steel Magnolias… another one of my favs! As I said earlier I went to Windhoek for a workshop. While I was there I went into the Peace Corps Lounge and saw the book Gone with the Wind. I was SO excited I couldn’t believe that I could finally read the book that the movie I love so much was based on! Then while I was at the workshop in each of the rooms was a TV. I didn’t really turn it on because I was so content on my new book, but one night I choose to turn it on and what movie could just be starting on one of the local Namibian channels ONE Africa…STEEL MAGNOLIAS!! I was so excited that I was going to get to watch it I literally started jumping on the bed. Its amazing how when you really want to watch, do, see, eat something here in someway it works out and in its own way it happens J

4th of July

This is Nick and Stewart trying to be cool... Nick got the cowboy hat to try and be a country boy...kind of looks like Tim McGraw, right?!?
What you can't tell is that I am in between yelling at people to play a football game :)
This is Katie she is the other Rundu volunteer...dinners and lots of chatting go on with us
Our Nam 29 4th of July decorations!!

I have been trying to get my PC friends to appreciate the great holiday that is 4^th of July. Normally we celebrate at House Bavaria, but Patrick was out of town at the World Cup so we did it at my house. This year they made it a joke by wearing obnoxious red white and blue…it was very Gator of them (to be as obnoxious as possible)! We celebrated 4^th of July on the 3^rd of July and had about 25 PCV’s in town… We had to have a football game, pasta salad, Freedom Pong and fireworks. Man I love this holiday… I was sitting in my front yard in a chair pretending I am on St. Augustine beach with my family. I even had some Firefly that I had sent special to me ;) YUM! Nick and I even made some really good chicken wings with a very good sauce I must say!It was a great time we all needed a reminder of how much fun just hanging out and relaxing can be. The next big holiday is Halloween I think they will be just as good. I can’t wait until next year when I will really be back on the beach with my family and all the new little kids. I made my kids here celebrate it in their own way. They were to wake up on Sunday and yell HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY AMERICA!! When I told them this they came back and told me America is too old to be celebrating her birthday! I told them you can never be too old to celebrate!! It’s true I will celebrate this holiday until I die!

My Purpose...

Work is going great my kids finished cleaning their three schools (I will post pictures soon) and the schools have now implemented a program where if you are seen throwing rubbish on the ground you will get what is like a detention. Really they told the kids to slap someone and tell a teacher if they saw them throwing rubbish down, but I strongly discouraged that behavior. At least the schools are staying clean and the schools are supporting and like it clean!! We are now preparing to take 35 kids to Windhoek for a Sports Tournament consisting of Volleyball, Netball, Soccer and Chess. We are going to be spending the next few weeks training and preparing them. My job is to be the cheerleader and teach them stuff I learned in middle school. I have no idea how to play any of the games so I am just moral support! If you know any cheers please send them my way!!

I just got back from Windhoek for a PC workshop on planning trainings. I have never written/updated/edited so many learning objectives in my life, but it was done to improve training and I think the new groups will have a better more organized training then I did. It was nice to get to hang out with the staff I really enjoy the Namibians that work in the office, I wish I got to spend more time with them. It was a good reason to get out of Rundu even though I don’t really want to leave….I complained the whole way down. We are still trying to get funding for EWA this week I am working on figuring out how to make it as cheap as possible… fingers crossed something works out!!

Sweatshirts in July?!

It is winter time here, imagine a Thanksgiving in FL warm during the day and cold at night, and my toes are constantly cold! I have worn my sweater almost everyday. I am appreciating the winter since I know in summer I will be dying for some cold weather. I even sculpted my dinner to fit the season. Last week I made Lentil Chili… took some lentils, tomato puree and cumin and it was fabulous!! Then my attempt to make chicken soup was a success!! So for a whole week I would have lentil chili for lunch and chicken soup for dinner! I usually just make one or two dinners for the whole week and live off of that until I need to cook something else. This week is peppers, tomatoes and onions over a bit of pasta. I made a ranch dipping sauce. Did you know you could take a ranch flavor packet and add it to plain fat-free yoghurt and it tastes just like the bottle?? Healthy and inexpensive! I am back on my chicken soup dinners. Its so easy and really warms you up. There is nothing like sitting inside after work with a warm cup of soup and a good book. (I am reading Gone with the Wind)

No More Vuzuvelas?!? YEAH RIGHT

Let’s see so the last time I wrote the world cup was just starting…everyone is still watching every game…well they were I am not lucky enough to have a TV in my office where I can just leave and watch work so I have only seen a couple of the matches. I have talked to some people who asked why I was not going. I know I talked about it a long time ago but when it came time to buy tickets I didn’t think I would have the vacation time and money. So I made the choice not to go. I am now planning to go to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil…any one down?!? It was a disappointing loss for the US after a deja-vu loss to Ghana…I don’t think that was a good weekend for us. Everyone keeps telling me I need to switch to the African team now since that’s my home. It’s a good thing I gave up after the Americans got out otherwise Spain may have never won! That’s right the Spanish are World Cup Champions!!I found this out last night as I sit in my bed trying to go to sleep and all of a sudden my entire house was surrounded by honking Vuzuvelas!! When it is just one it does not carry that buzzing noise, but this honking noise I can not get out of my head. It took a few hours but people around me settled down and I got to sleep. So now that the World Cup is over I am interested to see what people will do for entertainment…there are always more football matches to been seen.

Good with Faces. Bad with Names

I have come to the realization that I SUCK WITH NAMES!! There are so many times I have been greeted and I have NO IDEA how I know this person who is so kindly taking the time to ask me how my day is going. I was walking past the post and a friend of mine, Katiku, was talking to a man. So I went up and greeted her and the man. Then he told me “you owe me something, do you not remember” I just stood there because I had not a clue what he was talking about. Finally after what felt like 10 minutes I said “I am sorry can you please help me I do not remember”. Turns out he is a teacher at one of the schools I work with. I felt so dumb I borrowed a dance outfit a month ago! Katiku thought it was hilarious but I was mortified. I have been here a year and I still do not know too many peoples names. I need to come up with a better system!! ANY IDEAS?!?!

GLOW is GONE :(

So camp GLOW went off successfully. It was a fun, challenging week that I will always remember. You can read about it and see pictures at http://glownamibia.blogspot.com

Some New Digs...

About a month ago we moved my office. I am now in a three bedroom house. It’s nice! The kids painted the rooms... it definitely looks like kids painted it! I think it gives it charm. Melanie, my counterpart, and I share an office, she stays in the master bedroom, one room for our supplies and games and the living room where the kids meet and play. Since school starts today I am excited for most of them to come back in and see the new place. We don’t have phone or internet but I like it. There is a big yard with squash and mutete (wild spinach) growing in the back so we are going to make a little garden.

We are going to start our community clean up project as soon as we get town council approval. We are going to clean up the local park and make it a place so people will actually use it instead of just passing through it. I am kind of excited to get back and work in the yard pulling weeds and picking up rubbish. It will remind me of home and all the Saturdays we used to spend working in the yard.

We are also putting together our sports teams for a big KAYEC competition at the end of July. A team from each town (Rehoboth, Rundu, Otjiwarongo, Ondangwa and Windhoek) will compete in a tournament of soccer and netball. I have faith that my kids will do OK. We just need to start training so they can live up to all the crap I have been talking to all the other Youth Officers around the country

It's Fall-ish!!!

The rainy season is over and the sand is beginning to get looser and tougher to walk through. Like the sand on the Tampa Beaches EVERYWHERE!! The only thing that makes this OK is that the weather is PERFECT!! We are slowly coming into winter, not really looking forward to winter because I have to wear socks around the office. Right now I am enjoying the weather as much as I can. There are many benefits to it cooling off outside! I don’t use my fan anymore when I sleep and if I sleep with the windows open I get too cold. I don’t sweat walking around town as much which means my clothes stay cleaner longer so less laundry days! Walking around town is enjoyable and since I am not miserable I am nicer to the men who try to hit on me just because they think they will get a free ride back to America. I think this change in weather really benefits everyone. I will say that with the weather the way it is I keep thinking that it is September not May so I keep thinking I can go to ESPN. com and read the football scores, that disappoints me every time!

May is the NEW holidays

May is a good month full of holidays!! Every week I have had at least a 4 day week because of national holidays that close my office. I blame that to my excessive laziness when it comes to working. It is hard to stay motivated when I know I can go home and read a book or watch the latest episode of Glee! This month we celebrated:
Cassinga Day on the 4th
Ascension Day on the 13th – it was very hard for people to get that at home we don’t get off for the day Jesus went to heaven after rising from the dead!
Africa Day on the 25th – we should have a North American Day!!
The best part is they all fell on Tuesday’s or Thursday’s so the office gave off the day before or after to make it a long weekend! I am getting back into work and staying in my office more and more. I have had a lot of errands around town for other PCV’s or the things I am planning so it may seem that I am leaving the office at 2 but really I am walking all over town until 6!!

Namibia Turns 20!!!

On March 21st 2010 Namibia celebrated 20 years of independence!! I was celebrating at the GLOW facilitators training. It really was a great way to celebrate.The country has so much promise in the youth who are motivated and passionate to make a change for the better. At the training they learned about gender balance, HIV/AIDS, team building and leadership. They had some amazing things to say about the challenges people here face and how to help them combat the challenges. I was sitting with a wise old volunteer who made the observation... With people like this leading Namibia into the future it can only get better! Even being here for only a year, such a short time, I can see the development and growth that is taking place. Namibia is such a great, rich country full of culture, history and friendly faces!!

If you have not read up about Namibia since I have been here here are some websites that may help you understand more what a great country this place is ...

Just a simple profile of Namibia -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namibia

One of our popular newspapers -
http://www.namibian.com.na/

An Easter to Remember

This is the first time in my entire life I have not been in a Church on Easter Sunday. I honestly feel I spent it in a place that was so breathtaking and beautiful some would describe it as heavenly. On Good Friday I headed to the South to a place called Sossusvlei. It is home to the worlds largest sand dunes. I went with 4 other Americans. The dunes are STUNNING in person. If anyone comes to visit (hint, hint) I would love to see it again! It should be something everyone gets to see because my pictures can not capture it. We climbed a dune called "Big Daddy". We only got to climb half because the whole thing would have taken 2 hours and it was getting late for us. When we got to the top point we overlooked an area called Deadvlei- I will explain it later- The dunes are such a bright orange because the sand was carried through the Orange River from the Kalahari! It is amazing to think of how much sand had to be moved to make the dunes. When we climbed down "Big Daddy" (too much fun!!) we literally walked into Deadvlei. I loved it and I loved it even more when I learned about it. The trees in Deadvlei lived for over 200 years and have been dead for over 900!! They have not decomposed because there is no way for things to survive so its like a petrified forest! It was beautiful!

We also had some amazing food while we were down in Windhoek. One night we ate at a fellow PCV's host sisters restaurant, Fusion, its a fusion of food from all over Africa. Again, if someone comes (hint, hint!) we will eat there. We had our Easter dinner at a place called Ocean Basket where I got a Publix equivalent sushi roll and a green salad. It was Nam-good for sure! All in all the weekend was very enjoyable and memorable I am SO glad I got the chance to go down there!!

That's right we crossed the Tropic of Cancer!! Next stop Equator than Topic of Cancer... I will work my way up!

We arrived at the lodge just in time to watch the sunset in the mountains... gorgeous!

These are Oryx and the one facing the picture is albino. Who knew they had albino Oryx!

The dunes were huge and it is really hard to capture it in a picture.

This was where we walked up to. The white pan to the right is Deadvlei!

The trees in Deadvlei were so magical.

It was really cool to see the moon out over the dunes.

Day by Day

Life in Namibia is going well. Nam feels more like home everyday, I may never come home! (lets see who actually reads this), but in reality some days suck! When that happens I do a few things depending on the day. I will either a) watch a TV show- I am really into SYTYCD and Friends- or b) read a book or c) sit down and really try to picture what I would be doing at home right now- every time I try I just can't picture myself at home which reminds me that no matter how crappy the day this is where I am supposed to be and it usually makes it better. or I just go to sleep and wake up on a new day!

I am still going to my job everyday - sometimes it really feels like EVERYDAY! There are about 40-50 kids who attend everyday. It is different groups of kids usually. It is exam time so we are just relaxing, playing games/sports, and watching movies. A lot of times my job can get really stressful, but like with anything you can't appreciate the good if you don't go through the bad.

There is a new health group (group 31) swearing in as I write this update. I am excited for them. We have 6 newbies coming up to Kavango. It will be a nice addition. Some of them have shown an interest in EWA so I am excited to get to work - an pass on this job - to one of them! With 5 of the people coming up being girls I foresee a good chance that my Friday wine days might be coming back :)

Sunday I start my April travel for two weeks away from site. I will be going to the capital and the first week getting first aid training and a general work meeting. The second week is GLOW!!!

Saturday is a friends birthday, We are going to do a whole day of celebrating and relaxing it should be a fun time!

I am getting better at my cooking skills... last night I made some banging guac (it is avo season here!) with Mexican beans for dinner - basically I made burrito less burritos!

I have unofficially started training for the half in October. So any motivational words would be greatly appreciated!

Kareni Po Nawa!! (Stay Well)

I never should have said never...

At home, I never used to get sick. Once a year I would get a bad cold and it would go away in a few days. Since my visit home I have had to go to the doctor twice, change my iron meds, and visit the dentist twice.

Dental:
I cracked my tooth on a dorito, yes a dorito. So I have been dealing with that mess since I got back. I finally had my appointment to get my crown put on. I had cracked the temporary filling and it was very sensistive. The doctor gave me two shots and somehow at the very last thing it wore off and instead of getting another shot he asked me if I could stand the pain. I said "yes" like an idiot... it was a TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD EXPERIENCE!!

Doctor:
During this whole dental mess. I developed a rash on my hands. It did not spread and went from swollen and paining to itchy and blistering. I went to the doctor (who is very handsome I might add!) and he said it might be a fungus so I am taking meds for that , but right now it just looks like I am really tan/sunburned on my hands.

I can just hear my mom now, "TMI, Kimmie!" sorry just thought I would give you the whole experience rash and all!!

The Small Things

A few weeks ago I got a couch for my house...ITS AWESOME I sit on it everyday! I will take pictures of my house soon now that it is decorated and lived in :)

I made a dinner with Kathy. Found my Cuban roots. It was like noche de buena in Feb. When I went home at Christmas I found a dry Mojo at Publix -man I love that store!-. So I made pork, black beans and rice! We have talked about doing a Easter/Passover holiday at my house and we are talking about making pork again.

I have actually become a good cook (somewhat!) over this side. I made cookies for my friends. It has been hard because the brown sugar is not like at home. So I have had to practice over the past year and I found that if you substitute 2 Tablespoons honey it works just as well!! I have also made Key Lime Pie and this weekend I made Lima Bean Soup. Man I am a domestic queen!!

This is a picture of my neighbor. SHE IS ADORABLE!! She just walks by and asks me questions "Where is your TV?" "Why don't you have one?" "What are you doing?" "Where are your friends?" She is very sharp and can sing to me her alphabet. She even will try to share her sweets. She just makes me smile. There is a little boy, her cousin who lives on the other side of me, and together they are a pair.

I could die a happy woman

It is the start of the new school year (our school year is Jan-Dec) and with the start of the new year comes the annual parents meeting. I went to one of my schools parents meeting. I was supposed to speak in front of all these parents, about 300, about my program and the new intake. I stood up and spoke made a joke in Rukwangali, it really wasn't a joke it was me saying "Edina lyange Kim, Ame mulizambeli koPeace Corps, Ame na hara mutete no mahangu" translated its : My name is Kim, I am a Peace Corps Volunteer, I like wild spinach and porridge! They seemed to find me very entertaining. Point is I did my speech and waited around until the end of the meeting for parents questions.

The last part of the program was a chance for the parents to stand up and ask questions. There was a woman who stood up, honestly I was not paying attention until she turned and pointed to me and said Kayec. I was told after that she was thanking me for changing her daughters(or son, the child changed each time someone told me about it) life. When the child started the program she did not speak good English and being in the program has brought up her grades and brought her out of her shell. The mother said that every parent there should enroll their child in the program and that it was one of the best things that could have ever happened to this school and child.

It was great to hear from a parent of the child. I know I can see a change in my kids, but to hear it from a parent was just the best year anniversary present I could have gotten.

Good Story...

So I was sitting at home in my bedroom around 7pm. It was starting to get dark and I was getting ready for bed (yes I know I am lame!) and I hear this yelling at my door. I go out and see a woman at my window looking in. (not appropriate!) she was at my door asking to be let in so I can help her to find her husband who died, but not in Namibia. She wanted me to escort her to the Ministry (they close at 5 pm!) I sent her on her way becuase I knew I could not help her. It was was strange and I am glad she has not come back but I do not miss her at all!

My New Babies

This past weekend was my bronze orientation! I did an intake of 100 learners it was chaos, but good chaos. I really enjoyed them. I think they will be a good group of kids. You will hear more about them I am sure. The weekend started on Friday and went until Saturday. We played games like freeze tag, red rover. Sang songs... WOW I am a camp counselor! They are so tiny. I will just post pictures and caption them if I can so its more interesting.

This is a picture of Immanuel and Petrus. They are two silvers who are fabulous and a great help. I asked them to come assist with the overnight because I knew there would be too many kids and not enough adults.

This is a group at the beginning of the day. I did the animal name game with them to figure out their teams. Each learner takes a slip of paper with an animal name on it and they must act like the animal to find thier team .I think this is Team Donkey or Team Goat!

This is a group of the boys doing the autograph signing laughing about something and I happened to catch them in the right moment!

This is the volunteers serving dinner to the kids. I think they were glad to get fed. The volunteers started cooking at 4 pm for an 8:30 dinner time. They got Macaroni salad, rice, soup and oros!

I think this is my favorite picture taken here so far. Hey are playing and having fun and you can see that in their faces!

We also played Red Rover... These kids were intense when it came to the game. I did get some good action shots though.

THE BRONZE BOYS!!

THE BRONZE GIRLS!!

I watch more TV here than I did at home...

Since being here I have discovered a beautiful thing called an external hard drive. It is one of the best things I have here. It holds all these movies and TV Shows and pictures. I just thought I would make a record of how much TV I have watched...
Prison Break (all 4 seasons)
Weeds (4 seasons)
90210 (2 seasons)
24 (on season 6, going to watch all 8)
Mad Men (1 season)
Friends (I have all 10 seasons)
The Tudors (1 season)
Its Always Sunny (4 sesons)
Glee (1 season)
Gossip Girl (2 seasons)
One Tree Hill (current season)

The list goes on and I am planning to watch The Wire and How I Met Your Mother!

WOW I am lame and I just shared that with the world... cool!

Weekend Getaway

Two weekend ago I went to Ngepi camp. There was a small group of us so we were always entertained. We all just needed a break and wanted to relax for the weekend. It is in my region so it was only about 200km to travel about a two hour drive. It was everything I could have asked for. We arrived on Friday night just in time to set up our tents and enjoy a cool drink (there is this really good grapefruit fizzy drink that is a very good mixer!). The day we just sat around and enjoyed the scenery and each others company. I sat on the dock reading Confessions of an Economic Hit Man looking out over the river listening to the hippos. It was just what I needed to relax

I Can't Believe A Year Went By So Fast!

So it was 12 months ago I left for Nam. I remember sitting in Maria and Mom’s hanging out with good friends and thinking “what the hell and I getting myself into?”. I can say I am so glad I got on that plane to staging. Things have turned out so perfect. I know I have said this, but I really can’t imagine my life any different/better right now.

Here’s an update on what’s going on in my life right now...
Camp GLOW...
This is the camp I am a co-chair on this project. We spent this past week in Windhoek getting quotes, doing inventory, selecting the 80 learners and 25 facilitators that are coming and just figuring some things out that we needed to . I am really excited about the camp and it should be a good time. I am also working as a co-chair on another camp called EWA, it happens in Kavango and Caprivi, and it is almost exactly the same as GLOW the only thing is we take 80 learners from only Kavango and Caprivi. These will all take place over the next 5 months so I am going to be ready for a vacation come July but...

KAYEC
... my work with my host organization is crazy busy also. Come July I will be working 3 weekends a month doing things for my kids until September! My kids will get to go to a sports tournament in Windhoek, a bunch of leadership trainings, and the same camp they went to last year on the river, and a new camp out in Buffalo Game Park. These will all have themes( team building and environmental education) and fun games we play. It should be a good time. I am hoping to also hike Fish River Canyon with some of the kids from Windhoek, Reoboth, Otjiwarongo and Ondangwa (you have to be in the program for 3 years and my kids are not there yet so I am hoping to tag along with those that have). This weekend all the Youth Officers (my job) got together in Rundu to discuss the next year. There are a lot of good things going on with the program and it should be really great for the kids. Over the past year I have made some mistakes and learned from the program so I hope this year will go smoother and better for the kids. Today I am making a large jeopardy board for our Tuesday “Power Hour Study Time”! We will meet every Tuesday and study select topics. If you have any other fun games that I can make into studying with out studying I would love some input. I was starting to feel overwhelmed with all these tasks in my head so I made a yearly calendar and let me say I will be ready for a LONG HOLIDAY come December. I think I am going to go hide on a beach in Mozambique somewhere and read a lot of books and relax!

Personal
As you could have probably guessed I don’t have much personal time. Today I am going home and cleaning my house on my half day (not fun, but I worked all weekend so I don’t have a choice!) I am still pretty lame when it comes to doing exciting things on my own (not much has changed since I lived in the States!)I am just taking advantage of every free day of nothing that I get. I really miss those weeks of having nothing to do. Everything else is great. The new group comes next Sunday or Saturday. There are going to be 30 of them!! There are going to be a handful coming my side I think.I am helping with one of the weeks, the site announcement week! Oceano one of our grocery stores has changed its name to Woreman Brocks. It has not been raining that much, today is overcast so thats nice and not so hot! The river is still pretty high and we still have a few more months to go hopefully the flooding won’t be too bad this year.I got a couch for my house!! Its nice, small, but nice! I am getting a girl from Windhoek, Melanie to help me with my job. She is coming March 1st so that should be good. She is super sweet and she might stay with me for a month until she can find a place to rent. Tomatoes are $17 per bag!!! I think OK foods just bumped all their prices up. Kathy and I made these mint chocolate chip cookies ... YUM I might need another few bags of those chocolate chips when they come out again!

I think that’s all the happenings...as you can tell my life is very exciting these days!
EWA

Ups, Downs, Twists and Turns

Since being back from the states I have been thinking about the things I missed while I was gone and the things I could wait to get back to...

Some of the things I missed:

Sunsets- I go outside and every night the sky takes my breath away with how beautiful it is. It is always something to stop and appreciate and I love that even with a bad day you always end the day with something beautiful

My Host Family- They have truly been like a real family to me. It is nice to know you have those people to rely on when you need them. They have taken me in and treated me like I was one of them since the day I walked in the door for my site visit. I am also lucky to have a second host family in Okahandja, my first family. It is very comforting to know that you have people all over the county that care about you and are looking out for your best interest!


The Car Wash- This is a local spot that serves the best Mahangu I have had yet! I remember when I first got here I was so over porridge and then when I left and I couldn't get it the first place I wanted to go was to Car Wash. I have to thank an old PCV, Justin, for introducing me to this place last March! I get one scoop Mahangu, a piece of meat and some mutete (wild spinach)... as we say in Kavango its "Utovara Unene"

It just feels right- I can say that while there are some crappy days and not too fun. Overall, at least once a day I am happy! I enjoy my job, walking around town, greeting people I know, understanding a bit about the culture and feeling like I fit in more than I did months ago. I know I am on the right path. While, I don't know what my next step will be yet (I think this is the first time in my life I don't have my life mapped out to what I am doing) I am fine with just enjoying what I have here!

Its not all fun and games! There are somethings that are not so good that you learn to deal with...
The language barrier- I will be the first to admit I have not gone over and beyond learning my language. Rukwangali is hard and I do not speak it often. I will find myself in many situations where people are just speaking a foreign language and I do not understand anything! I feel like I am missing out on things because I do not understand what is going on around me. If there is no one there to translate I am in trouble! People do communicate with me in English, but you can tell its not as simple for them as Rukwangali. There are things that just don't translate over

The heat!- I am from Florida and it gets hot there but I realized the difference. In the summertime in FL you are always going from an air conditioned car to an air conditioned house to a pool! Here you are lucky if you have Air Con and on top of that you walk everywhere and its usually in the hottest part of the day! During the summer I could not step out of the house with out breaking a sweat. You just sit in the heat too hot to move! Now the rainy season is coming but that brings mosquitos... YAY for malaria medicine!

An Ocean Away I think the hardest thing about coming back was leaving my family again. If I could bring my family and friends over to this side I would never leave. It was so great to spend time with them and get back in that crazy family routine we Balaguer's have. I wish I could share this experience with them and have them here with me. I miss so many things about home and most of them all go back to family and the good times we have had. I even miss working in the yard on the weekends! Sometimes I just want to get up and plant some pretty plants and flowers in front of my house and then I remember "oh yeah I can't afford that stuff"


A little more complicated...
The best and worst part of my day- I adore all my kids that I get to work with. They are all wonderful and have great attitudes and are just good kids. I enjoy coming to work knowing I will get to read with them or help them understand some hard math problem a little better. When they are with me it is always a great time. We laugh, learn and just enjoy the time we have. When they are not with me is when it gets hard for me. I don't know if they are being fed, taken care of or loved. The kids here are faced with so many issues I could not imagine facing at their age and it breaks my heart to think about them with out home, food or family to support them. Their positive attitudes are truly amazing. They may have the worst possible home situation, but you will not hear them complain about it to you. They will just come and enjoy their time with you.

Best Christmas Present Ever! One of the questions you have to ask yourself everyday is "Am I even making a difference?" It is so hard to answer that question because of some of the things you see. Is the impact you hope to have going to be lasting? Am I even making a positive impact? What can I do better? When I first started working with my kids last April they filled out an application to join the program. One of the questions asked them "What do you think the IYA Program will do for you?" Most responses fell under a dew of these... They will pay my school fees, They will give me food to eat at night, They will buy my school uniform, They will help me (insert something of monetary worth here). I knew I could not pay every learners school fees so I did not try to I just offered them a place to come in the afternoons where they can play, study and learn about anything they want. In December, we had our Christmas party and I gave the kids a questionnaire to help me plan for this year. I asked the same question as before "What can the IYA Program do to help you?" and the responses were the best thing I could have asked for most fell under these categories... Help me get better English, tutor me in Math, Help me with my sports. It was so rewarding to know that these kids don't look to me for just money they come to me to help them improve their skills. It truly was the best present I could have asked for. I just hope that I can do more for them this next year.

Through the FB Eyes

I found an application on Facebook that compiled all your status updates...I just took 5 minutes to read through them and they made me laugh and remember some good times! You can see the good, bad and ugly days I have been through so far!I like that it can only go back as far as when I was counting down to Nam... ENJOY!

Mon January 25, 2010, 7:11 am: Had my toes in the sand... Wish i had my @** in the water bc my shortcut i think just put third degree burns on my toes... Ouch!

Sat January 23, 2010, 11:51 pm: Sunday Morning... Pj's, extra large cup of coffee, and Jack Bauer... Dang it's a good morning!

Fri January 22, 2010, 2:39 am: what about "free hour" means you can take my last dollar MTC!!! How am I supposed to send SMS'es when I keep getting "you have insufficient credit" messages!

Mon January 18, 2010, 7:33 am: Translated it was...'I'm telling you that white lady understands you'... I love the little kids who have faith in my rukwangali skills :)

Sat January 16, 2010, 9:21 am: EWA meeting = excitement and success :)

Wed January 13, 2010, 5:26 am: disappointment of the day: the orange I brought for lunch tricked me ... the beautiful, round fruit I longed to eat was moldy and rotten on the inside. I still tried to eat it, but it was too far gone :(

Tue January 12, 2010, 1:17 am: where did this nauseous feeling come from and why won't it go away :(

Mon January 11, 2010, 8:07 am: I think my new coffee mug is too much big... I am still wired and I drank the cup at 7:30 am :/

Sun January 10, 2010, 10:13 am: Its time for the holiday to end... Work starts again tomorrow morning bright and early!

Tue January 5, 2010, 12:26 pm: Home sweet Namibia! It was a great visit home but I am glad to not be on a plane or in an airport for a long while... Thanks everyone who made it great :)

Fri January 1, 2010, 1:18 pm: It's gameday!!!! Going to watch the gator game on a big screen with a glass of firefly! Happy New Year this is a great way to kick it off :) GO GATORS

Tue December 29, 2009, 9:28 am: hanging out in Jacksonville :) first thing on my list is see the beach!! second is get ready for Ashley Bridwell's wedding and watching a LIVE GATOR GAME!!!

Thu December 24, 2009, 5:09 pm: Christmas with the REAL LIFE Griswalds!!!

Tue December 22, 2009, 6:11 am: and the travleing goes on... heading to Gainesville for the day to chop off my hair, eat some YUMMY sushi and see WONDERFUL people!!!

Mon December 21, 2009, 8:13 am: tampa bound!

Thu December 17, 2009, 12:40 am: America Bound! Excited to touch my feet on American soil in 24 hours :) The best way to get in touch with me is to call my mom at 8132054958

Tue December 15, 2009, 7:10 am: All my bags are packed i'm ready to go ... Two days of travel starts tomorrow!

Mon December 14, 2009, 12:55 pm: Flying roaches?!? What's next Namibia?

Mon December 14, 2009, 4:52 am: just looked at the weather for home... why is it going from 80's and 70's to 60's and 40's just in time for me to arrive?!?! Cold Weather, what??

Sun December 13, 2009, 9:00 am: Nothing like playing with 4 adorable little girls to cure a hangover ... Seriously we baked a cake and are coloring and I feel much better

Sat December 12, 2009, 3:34 am: Its officially holiday! Enjoying this beautiful but hot day poolside soon to be in great company:)

Thu December 10, 2009, 8:18 am: Listening to some country getting excited to head home in a week!

Mon December 7, 2009, 12:03 pm: What happens when you put ostrich, crocodile, kudu and zebra on a plate washed down with a stella... HEAVEN!

Mon December 7, 2009, 3:57 am: End of Year Workshop... Looking forward to getting on a plane in 10 days!

Sat December 5, 2009, 6:54 am: In all lines of weather we'll all stick together for F-L-O-R-I-D-A! Go Gators! Wedding ceremony over now its time to celebrate!

Fri December 4, 2009, 2:15 am: last day in the office until the new year, last thing marked off my to-do list , last Friday Wine-Day with Rachel :(

Wed December 2, 2009, 5:41 am: Looked at some pictures from college today and 90 percent of them were somehow related to Gator sports... Some would say I have a problem, I say its a healthy obsession!

Tue December 1, 2009, 12:31 am: World AIDS Day!

Mon November 30, 2009, 1:42 pm: I'll be home for Christmas :) until then spending as much time with my family and friends here!

Sun November 29, 2009, 6:14 am: Starting the wedding week of my cousin at the flag raising... Kavango wedding number 2 Bring on the mahangu and nyama :)

Fri November 27, 2009, 3:02 am: Christmas Party with my kids :) I love my job!

Wed November 25, 2009, 12:48 pm: I am thankful for all the blessings in my life...my family at home and in Kavango who are more supportive and loving than I could ever imagine, my friends who understand me even when I don't and my kids who make me smile everyday even on the worst days! Happy Thanksgiving!

Tue November 24, 2009, 11:16 pm: Why can't I be the one who never loses anything? If anyone has an old ipod they want to donate to the dumb Kim lost her ipod in the rain fund let me know!

Tue November 24, 2009, 2:47 am: what would happen if I held the Kavango volunteers hostage and never let them leave?!?

Sat November 21, 2009, 5:21 pm: Is so lucky and grateful for the life i have and people that surround me

Sat November 21, 2009, 12:21 am: Give a cheer for the Orange and Blue waving forever! Get it Raider Regiment... Good Luck at State today rock the Trop! Happy Rundu Thanksgiving :)

Fri November 20, 2009, 12:48 am: Award Ceremony Day!!! Congratulations to all my Bronze kids!! (even though none of them have a computer to be able to read this I am still REALLY proud of them!!)

Wed November 18, 2009, 11:52 am: Do you believe in a one in one hundred billion billion chance?

Wed November 18, 2009, 12:05 am: realized this morning that I get distracted too easily if I don't have a daily to-do list written out...its OK I will be back on track after I go buy a cool drink!!

Mon November 16, 2009, 9:09 am: Has 3 offical weeks of work left this year! Where does the time go?

Sun November 15, 2009, 10:37 am: Now Understands why people at home are so excited about Glee!

Fri November 13, 2009, 11:06 pm: Daa, daa, da da dada GATOR BAIT! Gameday in SoCo... Its a visor throwdown

Fri November 13, 2009, 9:38 am: It was Carolina blue skies all the way to Katima :)

Thu November 12, 2009, 10:34 am: Had to move on to christmas music because there is no thanksgiving music ... Thats a lie i love Christmas music ... So excited for the holidays :)

Tue November 10, 2009, 7:48 am: Just walked into a moving SWAPO rally ... Whoops!

Mon November 9, 2009, 10:02 am: Is really proud of my orange and blue bookshelf made from care package boxes :)

Mon November 9, 2009, 3:37 am: loves checking things off my to-do list... means I am one thing closer to a much needed vacation with my family and friends!!

Sat November 7, 2009, 11:51 pm: Had a 6 legged walk spider in my house... Thought all spiders had 8

Sat November 7, 2009, 2:48 am: In all kinds of weather we'll all stick together for FLORIDA... Go Gators!

Fri November 6, 2009, 12:31 pm: I don't want to if you don't want to...

Fri November 6, 2009, 5:50 am: Friday :)

Thu November 5, 2009, 4:37 am: gets really defensive when people talk crap about my team and our fans ... don't make an assumption because you met one drunk obnoxious fan! I guarantee I can find at least one who wears your school colors too!!

Mon November 2, 2009, 9:30 am: Is so excited to be home! Please let the weekend come fast I need a Friday Wine-Day!

Sat October 31, 2009, 11:37 pm: was so glad to wake up and see my boys were back! I am SO PROUD to be a FLORIDA GATOR!

Fri October 30, 2009, 11:15 pm: Our love shall never fail, there's no other name so glorious... ALL HAIL FLORIDA, HAIL! subbing my traditional capt and coke and mayhem for a nalgene and workshop!

Fri October 30, 2009, 1:29 pm: Knows that my gator loves are showing those silly bulldogs how to party! Best weekend of the year!

Fri October 30, 2009, 2:08 am: is going to make the best out of this weekend ...

Thu October 29, 2009, 1:16 pm: Falling asleep to the grinch because Halloween movies are not my favorite but i still want something festive :)

Thu October 29, 2009, 3:05 am: what do you get when you mix finding nemo with really cute kids, pumpkin carving, fake fall weather and a box-o-wine... A WONDERFUL THURSDAY!!!

Wed October 28, 2009, 1:12 pm: My friends at home are going to be at fl/ga and my friends here will be celebrating halloween Nam style... Why do I have to miss both?! There better be some good pictures from both occasions

Mon October 26, 2009, 6:59 am: Feels like the wicked witch at the end of wizard of oz!

Sat October 24, 2009, 8:12 am: Come on Gators get up and go!

Thu October 22, 2009, 7:57 am: loves my sister and her random phone calls about my crazy family and happenings at home... they are my favorite!!

Wed October 21, 2009, 6:12 am: Loves the progress her book club is making

Tue October 20, 2009, 9:26 am: Is dreaming of the salt air breeze and the sound of waves crashing on the shore!

Mon October 19, 2009, 3:22 am: I know I'm not going and I shouldn't be counting down but I can't help it... 12 DAYS UNTIL FL/GA!!!

Sun October 18, 2009, 9:03 am: Is hoping my kittens can find their way home :(

Sat October 17, 2009, 7:57 am: Where palm and pine are blowing. Where southern seas are flowing....there's no other name so glorious ALL HAIL FLORIDA, HAIL!

Tue October 13, 2009, 11:48 am: Is hoping for good hiking karma

Mon October 12, 2009, 4:25 am: is really nervous to walk to the school right now...I was sweating walking to the office at 7:30 am!!

Sun October 11, 2009, 4:19 am: I think watching little kids dance can make anyone smile :)

Sat October 10, 2009, 3:43 am: Da da da da dada...GATOR BAIT!

Wed October 7, 2009, 10:57 pm: loves mornings when I wake up and I am 100% happy with where I am and what I am doing!!!

Wed October 7, 2009, 4:59 am: Damn its freaking hot here!

Tue October 6, 2009, 7:18 am: Is loving this afternoon... First one of my kids is remarkably better on her reading then when we first started book club 2. My host cousin who is maybe two years old saw me for the first time in 5 months and remembered me then got sad he had to leave me and 3. I am waiting in the que to get a package from the Searcy's :) tuesday afternoons are good to me!

Mon October 5, 2009, 5:10 am: Is thinking that my kids took the no school day to a no kayec day :( lets hope some come

Sun October 4, 2009, 3:39 am: Loves my secondary projects ... I love little girls when they do ballet!

Fri October 2, 2009, 10:03 am: Home sweet home!

Wed September 30, 2009, 10:46 am: The smell of rain on the road always makes me think of summertime

Mon September 28, 2009, 10:53 pm: whats going on outside is not helping the motivation that needs to go on inside! This water falling from the sky and making me just want to go home and lay in bed and watch my two favorite men Scoffield and Bauer!!

Sun September 27, 2009, 7:49 am: Sunday = 24 day!

Sat September 26, 2009, 11:31 am: Give a cheer for the orange and blue waving forever! GO GATORS!

Fri September 25, 2009, 8:12 am: Feels like the mom from troup beverly hills at the end of the movie when they walk across the finish line :)

Thu September 24, 2009, 4:14 am: getting ready for the 1st annual Rundu Bronze Expedition!!! 50 kids, 20km hike, 2 hour boat ride and tons of fun!!!

Wed September 23, 2009, 5:14 am: Wonders why almost all the new music i got sounds like stuff taken from an old song?

Tue September 22, 2009, 9:32 am: Is so excited there will be ANOTHER girl in our family come Feb. I hope she gets her parents style and the my good looks ;)

Mon September 21, 2009, 6:46 am: Was really impressed to see the police stop to get the trash off the road until he threw it to the side of the road and drove off

Mon September 21, 2009, 3:33 am: Namibia's morning radio show: Soluja Boy, Talk about Sirumbus, Georgia on my Mind and wrapping up the session with Kwaito music!!

Mon September 21, 2009, 12:32 am: Now instead of breaking everything I touch I just lose it...I knew I should have named my camera maybe it wouldn't be hiding from me now if it had a cool name

Sat September 19, 2009, 3:24 am: Grace's olympics :) then on espn mobile the rest of the night :) GATOR BAIT!

Wed September 16, 2009, 5:50 am: Wants a old yellow rocking chair sitting in the sand with a firefly and lemonade in my hand

Tue September 15, 2009, 5:22 am: Has the sunshine but i am missing the ocean and a cold drink in my hand!

Mon September 14, 2009, 4:56 am: Really wants to spin something preferibly a rifle but my broom stick at home might have to do

Sat September 12, 2009, 7:16 am: 2 bits, 4 bits, 6 bits a dollar... All for the Gators stand up and hollar!

Fri September 11, 2009, 8:59 am: Is finally attempting the harry potter marathon with peggy :)

Thu September 10, 2009, 6:07 am: My kids always make the days so much better ...'usili' 'what does that mean?' ' its true' 'whats true?' 'usili' ... Oh our conversations make me laugh

Thu September 10, 2009, 12:16 am: HAPPY BIRTHDAY to two of my favorite people... BIL and my PC Namibia Gator!!! I love you George and Peggy!!!

Wed September 9, 2009, 4:43 am: Is thankful for a life of florida summers they were just a warmup ... Its Almost 100 out and the summer is just beginning

Wed September 9, 2009, 4:39 am: Is thankful for a life of Florida summers because it is almost 100 degrees out and the summer is just beginning

Mon September 7, 2009, 8:46 am: Watching my favorite Christmas movie ... The Grinch! I blame it on a mix of looking at flights for christmas and living with a dr. suess themed glow for a week :)

Sun September 6, 2009, 2:40 am: Loves lazy sundays with the kittens and prison break

Sat September 5, 2009, 5:46 am: The only thing that could make not being able to watch the season opener... I have a flight and i will be home dec 18

Fri September 4, 2009, 10:01 am: Gators got that ramma jamma ohh Ahh!

Mon August 31, 2009, 11:25 am: Is at the state hospital with a learner and some dude with a massive gash just broke down a door and came at us like a zombie...wtf!

Sun August 30, 2009, 4:12 am: The gator nation is everywhere ... Some one just said don't tase me bro!

Sun August 30, 2009, 3:24 am: Some one just said don't tease me bro ... The gator nation is everywhere

Mon August 24, 2009, 1:55 pm: Is really disappointed that with the time difference the first game of the season is at midnight here... Freaking night games I liked you more when I was in The Swamp at noon sweating my face off!

Mon August 24, 2009, 6:48 am: And kerri are amazing party planners :) Grace's olympics 2009

Fri August 21, 2009, 1:28 am: is going to make her half day of work a quarter day!

Wed August 19, 2009, 3:01 am: does not understand Namibia cell phones how can predictive text recognize MVEMJSUNP but not something simple like absolutely?!?!?

Tue August 18, 2009, 11:18 am: Oh Armageddon how do you get me everytime

Tue August 18, 2009, 5:31 am: maybe got a little too excited about my French Press and drank too much coffee this morning!

Mon August 17, 2009, 9:16 am: Is really excited to have the first night alone in my house!

Sat August 15, 2009, 6:25 am: Vacation was amazing and I am really sad such a perfect week has to end

Wed August 5, 2009, 1:38 am: I miss my Gators... The fall won't be the same with out those Saturday's!

Sun August 2, 2009, 5:48 am: I just paid 50 to see harry potter...it might be the best money i have spent here :) i heart windhoek and superspar(its a grocery store but no comparison to publix)

Thu July 30, 2009, 1:57 pm: Happy Birthday Jess! I love you!!

Sat July 25, 2009, 11:07 am: Is sooo excited I can't wait for Feb to come :)

Fri July 24, 2009, 10:48 am: Kavango was cute until he shit on my clothes, but i still love him :)

Wed July 22, 2009, 5:19 am: Takes it back ... 2 days of work

Wed July 22, 2009, 4:33 am: FML!!!!!!!!

Wed July 22, 2009, 4:24 am: Hump Day!!! 2 more days of work!!!!

Mon July 20, 2009, 12:02 pm: Is already in love with little Kavango...I will be the best aunt in the whole world :)

Mon July 20, 2009, 4:37 am: is keeping busy to distract myself instead of watching the minutes pass by :)

Fri July 17, 2009, 2:03 pm: Camping and getting ready for capture the flag tomorrow :) Go red bulls

Thu July 16, 2009, 6:43 am: Is getting pumped about extreme capture the flag!! Any tips or suggestions would be very helpful :)

Tue July 14, 2009, 2:32 am: reason 256 I need to learn Rukwangali...communicate with the people in the post office to see if they are laughing about my empty piece of cardboard or the silly white lady who has hope I might actually find my book!!

Tue July 14, 2009, 1:05 am: Namibia postal workers could make it a little less obvious when you steal from my packages... just cutting me the top of the package...Who would mail a piece of cardboard for $20.... uggghhh!!!!!!

Mon July 13, 2009, 2:50 am: Monday... how did you come back so fast???

Fri July 10, 2009, 6:55 am: is going to do absolutely NOTHING this weekend and I can't wait :)

Wed July 8, 2009, 12:50 am: wants to be on the beach with a glass of firefly in one hand in a good book in the other!!!

Mon July 6, 2009, 4:25 am: how do the weekends go by so fast?!?

Fri July 3, 2009, 7:15 am: Is so excited i can't contain it ... Happy 4th of July!

Tue June 30, 2009, 4:35 am: I want to work, but I don't want to be at work ...

Mon June 29, 2009, 3:52 am: just updated my to-do list and my calendar and somehow I got really busy!!

Sat June 27, 2009, 6:32 am: Is treating myself to a harry potter marathon :)

Fri June 26, 2009, 8:53 am: Why is fourth of july still a week away :(

Fri June 26, 2009, 5:36 am: is working late on Friday and coming in tomorrow too!! I am going crazy!!

Thu June 25, 2009, 1:00 pm: Is watching Twilight AGAIN! Dang you Rachel for forcing me to watch this again and making me want an Edward! You suck but I love it :)

Wed June 24, 2009, 8:23 am: finally found a book I have been looking for since high school that I read in 4th grade... The Worldwide Dessert Contest GREAT KIDS BOOK I recommend it !!!!

Tue June 23, 2009, 6:11 am: Is inspired by my kids to shave my head!

Mon June 22, 2009, 8:35 am: Something about this monday is just not right

Sun June 21, 2009, 11:20 am: Is really proud of my dinner tonight in honor of my dad... If peace corps teaches me anything it will to be a good cook!

Sun June 21, 2009, 5:28 am: Wishes I wouldn't have accidentaly erased my dads new number... If someone has it please share it with me so I can be a good daughter and wish him a happy fathers day!

Fri June 19, 2009, 3:16 am: is ready to get back to Prison Break... how dare work interfere like this!

Thu June 18, 2009, 12:35 am: needs a good long running playlist...any suggestions?!?

Tue June 16, 2009, 7:52 am: does writing letters to people and coloring birthday cards count as a productive day?? I vote yes!!!!

Fri June 12, 2009, 2:03 pm: Is finally letting my inner dork come out :)

Fri June 12, 2009, 2:38 am: is listening to Jimmy Buffett... makes me want to be sitting on the beach with a margarita in my hand!!!

Thu June 11, 2009, 4:11 am: how is it not the weekend yet?!?

Tue June 9, 2009, 12:02 am: thinks its worth it to get up at 5 am to see the sunrise this morning!!

Fri June 5, 2009, 4:47 am: really needs to keep up with the news!!!

Wed June 3, 2009, 6:16 am: Wishes i could have some of my dads chicken soup

Tue June 2, 2009, 1:54 pm: Can't fall asleep because the all dog alert going on outside ... No one here would want to steal a hundred puppies unless they were going to eat them and for that to happen i would have to be on the east side of the country so what the heck is going on!

Tue June 2, 2009, 2:29 am: feels discriminated aggainst... how can you only rent to Namibians?!?

Sun May 31, 2009, 11:51 pm: is sad the weekend is over :( counting down until Vic Falls/Chobe Trip!!!!

Sat May 30, 2009, 4:58 am: Is sitting by the pool with a capt and coke enjoying good times with friends ... Happy birthday brother!

Wed May 27, 2009, 11:41 pm: is it the weekend yet?!?!

Wed May 27, 2009, 4:39 am: dinner two nights in a row... I LOVE my job!!!

Tue May 26, 2009, 9:35 am: If Imitation is the nicest form me flattery i am so happy... My little host brother is making a sandwich 'just like kem' and he is not eating it with porridge

Sat May 23, 2009, 10:15 am: Macaroni and cheese, chocolate covered pretzels and 24 hours of Jack Bauer... Nothing else needs to be said

Fri May 22, 2009, 8:47 am: Has found her movie watching soulmate :)

Tue May 19, 2009, 2:23 am: is wondering why we stop playing games like capture the flag and crab walk soccer?? Its a good thing I work with kids and still get to play :)

Sun May 17, 2009, 3:07 am: Is inspired to do a top 5 and a bucket list!

Tue May 12, 2009, 12:24 pm: Pretty much has the best job in the world... Climbed okondeka and went on a game ride with some cool namibians :)

Wed May 6, 2009, 9:38 am: Has made passion fruit rice krispie treats(i didn't know the marshmellows were flavored) for her family, hand washed a load of clothes and is about to make dinner ... Who would have thought i would become domestic when i moved to africa!

Tue May 5, 2009, 10:11 am: Is sad they don't celebrate cinco de mayo in namibia but glad we celebrated workers and cassinga day which gave me a long weekend with good company!

Fri May 1, 2009, 3:44 pm: Asked 'would you rather eat your cooked finger or your raw eyeball?' Nick replied 'depends if there are spices' ... Would YOU eat your eyeball for a million dollars? This is why I love nam 29

Fri May 1, 2009, 1:51 am: Is excited for the long weekend...a visit from Friends and a family wedding!

Thu April 30, 2009, 1:43 am: Needs help with my computer... It says i am connected to the local area connection but when i pull up the internet it won't open and it says its not connected ... Help!

Wed April 29, 2009, 7:42 am: Is in a much better mood after watching the kids have so much fun :)

Sun April 26, 2009, 9:38 am: Is excited i just killed a wasps nest with twenty tenants outside my bedroom door!

Thu April 23, 2009, 9:06 am: Is starting the countdown until reconnect with camel paks :)

Fri April 17, 2009, 7:35 am: Officially a Peace Corps Volunteer! Yay nam 29

Mon April 13, 2009, 10:38 am: Is super happy that my brother just put the theme song from this years fl/ga on my phone...now i can listen and think about my favorite college friends:) oh good times makes me miss home a little though

Mon April 13, 2009, 6:18 am: Is speaking rukwangali at an intermediate low ...clearly a mistake on the part of the tester

Sat April 11, 2009, 12:30 pm: Sitting under the african stars with the best group of people ... Big brother, my northern girl, the boyfriend, snake and mopey :) my favorite people in the world

Sat April 11, 2009, 12:25 pm: Is looking at the stars with the best group in africa ... Love nam 29 and my big brother :)

Thu April 9, 2009, 11:46 am: Is skipping sunrise service with the fam... Sunrise service means starting at 8 o'clock until sunrise

Tue April 7, 2009, 10:28 am: Ame kwa kulironga Rukwangali... I'm studying rukwangali every possible chance i get before the language test on thurs!

Mon April 6, 2009, 10:59 am: Is actually excited about porridge tonight:) good old maize meal and water ...yum!

Sun April 5, 2009, 5:32 am: Is lying in bed sick :(

Sun April 5, 2009, 5:30 am: I'm at my host families in okahandja,namibia...finishing training in two weeks then we get sworn in and can start our jobs

Sat April 4, 2009, 11:43 pm: Is not a fan of being sick...at least it happened on a sunday where i can lay in bed all day! Darn flu shot

Sat April 4, 2009, 10:34 am: Enjoyed the host family appreciation day ...mac and cheese, fresh farm goat and a horrible attempt at a thank you speech in rukwangali but i enjoyed the after party so much more :)

Fri April 3, 2009, 4:59 am: Enjoying a cup of REAL coffee thanks to ashleys family in the states :)

Wed April 1, 2009, 5:22 am: Is sitting in the dentist office in windhoek with half a numb face wishing i was at training... What a horrible april fools (i found out this morning that yes they do celebrate it here)

Sat March 28, 2009, 12:54 pm: is excited I didn't get too lost in Windhoek today...got some sun, met some cool people, took my first free hike!!

Thu March 26, 2009, 10:49 am: needs to practice her Rukwangali so I can pass my language exam tomorrow morning... all I can say is my name is and I like peanut butter because it tastes good :) wish me luck!!

Wed March 25, 2009, 10:25 am: Really has got the balaguer curse of breaking things... I just chipped my tooth :( what's next ?

Mon March 23, 2009, 2:15 pm: is happy she got to talk to some people from home tonight!!!

Fri March 20, 2009, 1:10 pm: will be half way done with training this time tomorrow... one month down 26 to go!!!

Thu March 19, 2009, 10:14 pm: Working on independence day?! Absurd!

Tue March 17, 2009, 12:27 pm: Had a good st.patty's day but thinks its sad that all i could tell namibian's was we year green and drink green beer...

Sun March 15, 2009, 9:54 am: Has mixed feelings about sitting in training for 5 weeks!

Thu March 12, 2009, 9:21 am: Is sad i can't be with my family during this sad time for my sister and her new family

Wed March 11, 2009, 12:47 pm: Is living the cycle of ups and downs and i am glad to end the night on an up!

Sun March 8, 2009, 9:33 am: Is in rundu excited to start an after school program :)

Sun January 25, 2009, 7:45 pm: has a plane ticket to Africa in 25 days!!!!

Mon November 17, 2008, 8:38 pm: is leaving in 3 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!