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