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.