Eucharisteo

I figured that after my miserable blog post last week that I should reassure you that I am not completely unhappy or jumping on a plane tomorrow to come home; although I am close to it. 

Construction of this ginormous garden is underway and it is starting to take shape. I have faced discouragement and many naysayers but through it all planting of the seeds should happen in a few weeks. The entire fence for the garden is up, cemented, and secured. We still have to buy the barbed wire that is going to go across the top but other than that it is up and functioning. There is still a lot that needs to be done but one teacher has stepped up to help me with as much as I need. We still need to put in the pipe and install the tap for the water, till the land, build more keyhole gardens, and plant the seeds. I am hoping that some crops start coming up before I leave. Many have told me that once I leave it is going to be destroyed and not maintained but I can’t continue with those thoughts. I have to live with the fact that I am trying my hardest to help this destitute school and have given them the means to better food; the rest of it is up to them to upkeep it. 

The fence is up!! 

What the beginning of a keyhole garden looks like

The gate to their new nutritional food!

I have been staying out in the bush more because I enjoy my weekends to myself; for the most part. It has its advantages and disadvantages. It gives me the chance to lay in bed watching movies and not do anything else. I can cook meals that I want to and have time to cook. Whoever said you get skinny in Africa has never lived here, trust me! Unless you starve yourself, you are not getting skinny. I can also workout more than what I have time to do on the weekends and just go for long walks through the middle of nowhere. Traveling 2 hours back and forth to Opuwo is getting very tiring and makes me car sick most of the time so the more I can avoid it the better. The downside is not having network and learners that STILL invade your space. 

My parents and I are working on a book called One Thousand Gifts. It is about living a life empty of yourself and full of God. The root idea of the book is the word Eucharisteo which broken down means Grace, Thankfulness and Joy. I have a huge chart in my house hanging in my room that has that word at the top. Each day I have to write at least one thing that I am thankful for, joyful of or where I received God’s grace. Believe it or not this has helped a lot. Knowing that even on my darkest and hardest days there are things to be grateful for helps so much. The encouragement and notes that people have sent from home have helped and are greatly appreciated. 

My chart that is hanging in my room. I add one thing each day. This is from a few weeks ago

When I am in on the weekends it has been fun to just sit and enjoy the company of my friends. Friends who have become more like family than anything else. They have become my saving graces and breaths of fresh air after hard weeks out in the bush. Leaving them when I go back to the states is going to be one of the hardest things. TK asked the other day how much they would need to pay me to stay haha. After these couple of weeks I will be taking a few personal days to go away with friends for a break before I break! 

This past weekend Mailin and I headed to Oshikati to meet some other volunteers for a July 4th celebration. Hamburgers, Red, White and Blue, and good American songs were all present. It wasn’t the same as spending the weekend bbqing out on the water but it definitely was close haha. It was nice to get to Oshikati and buy food that isn’t remotely available in Opuwo. Cheese, Special K cereal, Sugar Free rusks, just to name a few. 

Though I am having many hard times and struggles I am still trying to make the best of my time here. As my mom has always said, “God will give you a break when you need it. Not a minute before and not a minute after.” I have heard this my 15+ years of schooling and jobs and it has always rang true. 

Honestly...Life these days

Things have definitely had their ups and downs lately and I have definitely been one of the down things. Life here has been really rough lately and I have tried my very very hardest to remain positive but it is so hard when there is nothing that is encouraging that positive attitude. I have been staying out at my school more weekends to try to get more work done on the garden. These kids barely have food and I want to get them more nutrition soon. However, no one else seems to have that mind set. My hands have been  transformed from dainty girl hands to rough, calloused, blistering hands. The upside to all of this and a huge praise is that the poles for the garden are all in and cemented. Hopefully we will begin constructing the keyhole gardens this week and at least get a few things planted. I am eager to just see sprouts to reassure me that I am not doing all of this for nothing. I haven’t been homesick or wanting to come home this whole time I have been here but after these past few weeks I am ready to pack up my bags and go home to begin graduate school in the fall. Everything that could gone wrong or a problem could arise has. It started a few weeks ago when they were doing the budget. First, these people don’t understand finances nor priorities. DSTV was at the top of their list when the kids just received food this week. Which is a whole different story as well. Our learners haven’t had food at all until this week. We have been trying to collect money from the learners in order to go to Opuwo to buy the food. The government just delivered the food this week. We still don’t have school supplies. My kids don’t have pens or pencils. I don’t have paper to write on or to even make copies with and these people want to buy DSTV?! I had to type up and organize their budget as well as do the math. I thought I was only typing up the budget but I guess that there is some unspoken rule that whoever types it up is also responsible for buying everything on it. I have been used to do everything they don’t want to do. I have been in and out of town running errands, ordering supplies, making the garden, cleaning the office, typing up documents and the list goes on. This is on top of my teaching, lesson planning, and grading. I had to go to Opuwo to order supplies for them to fix the classrooms. I didn’t have a problem with this because I was going there to order things for the garden as well. The problems came when I brought the stuff to school. I knew what they needed and no one gave me guidance so I was left to make the decisions on my own. I asked for a few days what type of paint they wanted and no one gave me an answer so I just ordered creme because that is what they are right now. Well, I got cornered and yelled at for not getting the right color...because I can read minds, right? So I told them they could use it as a primer and get one color to do a top coat.  I put my foot down and said no to doing the exchange. I was also deemed responsible to buy all the school supplies in Oshikati, a couple hours away. I refused to do that. I was/am exhausted and feel like every step forward I take I am brought back a couple more. Till this day the supplies are still not bought. Surprised? I’m not. It has been a hard few weeks since being back and my patience is running out quickly!

I haven’t been homesick since getting here but lately it has really been kicking in and it is not something that goes away fast. Each day I have been spending more and more time talking to God because some days that is the only conversation I get besides teaching my learners. I can handle being out in the bush and not having any type of phone or internet service. I can get over the bucket baths and not having a stove. Those don’t bother me at all! But the way I have been treated, talked to and looked down at is what is getting to me. There is a line between culture and being rude and that line has been crossed numerous times. There is also a line between fulfilling a commitment and going insane. This is the decision I am facing right now. How much is too much and how much more can I take? I have been trying to convince myself that I am going to be better for this when I am done and that my learners need me to stay here. Honestly though, they care less about learning as well. So why am I really here? I would volunteer somewhere else in a heartbeat but this isn’t what I signed up to be. I have barely been teaching and no one could even care. In fact, one of my colleagues said that we need to work on focusing on sports because it isn’t like any of these learners are going to be doing anything with their lives. The inspector of our circuit also said that he doesn’t trust our school to function without the principal being here. Doesn’t that say so much about where I am? His worry is validated by the fact that on any given day there could be 1 to 2 teachers absent or leaving by break time. 

I have been looking at the feasibility of leaving and where I would go next. If things don’t change by August break I might be on a plane back to the United States with my brother and dad. In hopes that figuring out what I am doing next year will help me to feel like I am working towards something my parents and I have been making phone calls to different schools/jobs to see what would be the most beneficial. There are many choices, we just have to see what works out the best. Some options are: School in Argentina for the year, 6 months of school in the states then 6 months of school in Buenos Aires, Graduate School at University of Barcelona in Spain, or attending Grad School at Towson and living with my Grandma. 

Growing!

Construction of the garden has begun!!! There are going to be a couple different elements to this ginormous garden. The front of the garden will be dedicated to keyhole gardens. This is a fairly new idea on how to construct and maintain a garden. The keyhole gardens are built up in the shape of a circle. It is 2 meters in diameter and has a compost hole in the middle; this is where the hole is made. All of the crops can be accessed within arms reach. These gardens are perfect for rural, dry areas because they can be made with everything you find and do not use extra water to maintain the crops. We began clearing the land with shovels and rakes but have since asked the mine that is close to us to borrow one of their machines. If we were to clear this all by hand it would take ages for it to be finished. The school budget has approved the money that is going to be used for the garden and I am working towards approval of my funds. I am super excited to begin this as it means that the nutritional needs are my students will soon be met!!! I will continue updates as they come :) Below are a few pictures from the first day of clearing and marking

The Keyhole gardens are represented by the circles in the picture above. The rest of the area will be used to plant crops that you can not grow in the keyhole gardens. 

 

Full

Full

I’m BACK! After a full month off for vacation it is back to the grind. “Short” recap of break. The first couple of days I was in Windhoek with the rest of the group for a few brief meetings to mark our almost halfway point. It was nice to see everyone and hear all the stories they have from the first couple of months. After our meetings everyone went their separate travel ways and break had begun. I, however, stayed in Windhoek and enjoyed American things with my friend Ben for 2 days waiting till my mom came home. We got seafood/sushi, went to the mall, went to the MOVIE THEATERS, and I cooked in a real kitchen :). It was glorious. Mom and Krista arrived in the afternoon and after a tearful reunion we were off on our adventure. Adventure is a loose term when it came to what we experienced. Skydiving, camel back riding, shopping, so many types of meat, bumpy roads, beautiful waterfalls, village life, animals galore, flat tires, scrapes, bumps and tons of memories pretty much sums it up. The time for them to leave was closing and the tears and thoughts of separation were beginning to set in but the adventure didn’t stop. I booked a flight 2 days before and went to South Africa to visit family for a few days and saw Mom and Krista one more time before they headed back to the states. My 5 days in SA were wonderful and such a blessing to be able to spend time with my family, on this side of the World. I returned to Namibia to spend a couple more days in Windhoek and then back up North; which was a totally different experience. BUT back to the real reason for this blog.

As the goodbyes came and my time to go back to my “life” the emotions began to stir and I had mixed feelings of how this term is going to go. I stepped back and thought long and hard about what all has to be done and how I am feeling about it and came to the conclusion that my life is filled with amazing things happening. 

I am full of thankfulness because I had time off to spend with loved ones and see new places. 

I am full of gratefulness that my mom took time to buy things to help me out with staying in the bush and making my flat a home. 

I am full of love for my learners who are so eager to help and learn this term already. 

I am full of excitement as we begin to clear the land for the garden that will be built. 

I am full of amazement at the graciousness of people who have donated money to buy mattresses. 

I am full of gratitude 

I am full of anticipation to experience a lot of new cultural things this term (funerals and weddings mostly)

The list could go on and on but I think it can be summed up in one “full” sentence:

I am full of blessings that God has given me this year! and I continue to be shown these blessings each day through the hard times and good times. 

As Laura Story put it:

“What if Your blessings come through raindrops? What if Your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near. What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?”

Time Flies When You Are Living In the....Bush?

So I realized I haven’t written much on my blog in a couple weeks and figured it was time to do so. HOLIDAY HAS BEGUN!! It is hard to think that our first term of teachers has passed. I have one exam left to grade and my reports to hand in and then I am officially FREE!!! I have learned a lot this term. A lot about myself, this country, the people I live with and how to survive in the bush! Yes, I have semi-mastered cooking on a hot plate. I use mastered as a very loose term as I have subjected myself to opening a can of beans and eating from the can for a meal. As holiday starts I am looking forward to having a break and eating some normal food. However, I am feeling this separation anxiety as I say goodbye to my house in the bush and in Opuwo. Foreshadowing of what is coming in December is not very nice. In order to not keep this post so long and boring to write I will make it into bullet points.

What I have learned:

• Namibia is a gorgeous country that I have quickly fallen in love with
• I am totally capable of sleeping on the ground with a blanket. Mailin and I are pros
• Sitting in the back of a bakkie (pick up truck) is the best way to see the country. Although not always the most comfortable but you make it work. Mailin and I have gotten some pretty Awesome tan lines.
• My learners do love me! They cheered when I came back from a day of being sick :D
• Colleagues are friends, family, and frustrating all in the same day.
• Opuwo is a breath of “fresh” air after a long week of school.
• Staying in the bush gets interesting... especially when your learners and colleagues throw dance parties. 
• You come to Africa thinking you are going to lose weight when in reality you gain so much!
• I am ok sitting in my flat by myself after teaching for a day. 
• Washing your clothes by hand can be pretty therapeutic. 
• My bathroom sink has become a kitchen sink and everything else that I need to wash in it. 
• There are so many different people living in the Kunene Region that I feel so at home in this melting pot of Kunene. 
• So many different ways to say no, I will not marry you nor have your caramel babies.
• Bush ain’t got nothing on me!
• Donkeys don’t like white people. My learners told me so.
• Cows and Goats outside my window love to greet me in the morning. 
• Always pack an extra pair of clothes... no matter where you are going.
• Be prepared to leave and travel to some remote village/area at the drop of a hat.
• EVERY PART of an animal can be made into some type of meal... even stomach lining.
• Friends become family to get you through the hard times and help you relieve stress.
• I can go more than a week without service to call, text or contact anyone. It is actually a really nice break :)
• If they don’t really care about something, you shouldn’t stress yourself out over it either. 
• If it crawls, KILL IT, there is a 50% chance that it is poisonous or will harm you in some way.
• Bucket bath is the next best thing to a shower. 
• Not showering for 3 days is normal.... Water goes out almost everyday. 
• Best thing to do when you don't understand; LAUGH. They will most likely laugh with you.
• Looking your best is overrated... you will always look like you just jumped out of the back of a moving truck. 

Believe it or not I will be missing this place over break and feeling a little sad that I will be separated from here for a month. But totally excited that my mom and Krista are here in ONE WEEK! Therefore I will not be taking time to update my blog at that point. They don’t know what they are in for. Could be interesting driving around Namibia where the roads are few and the dirt/bumps are plenty. 

Randomness

A lot of different things have been going on but nothing all at the same time. It is hard to categorize and sort out everything into different blog posts so I figured I would cheat and throw everything into one! Where to start is the question. 

Well, we had our site visits in this region with our Field Director from WorldTeach. He came and saw where we were living as well as talked with our Principals, Inspector, and observed our classes. They went fairly well and I think we all learned a little bit from them. We still have not yet received our first paychecks in this region which kind of stinks but things are slow here. Hopefully by next week they will be cut for us. 

My application for the grant money from the Embassy has been successfully submitted. I called Wednesday to check to see if they had received all of my paperwork and they confirmed they had. They will meet to discuss the applications in 2 weeks time. From there they are then brought to the Ambassador to be looked over and have suggestions made. We were told that we will find out mid April whether or not we will be approved. That is perfect timing because then we go on holiday and come back ready to get down and dirty; literally.

With that being said, our first term is coming to an end. We only have a couple weeks left and we will be finishing up term 1 out of 3. It is crazy how fast things have gone. I am a little nervous for the close of this term because our classes have changed again. When my director visited he informed the school that I was overloaded on classes; which I was definitely overwhelmed teaching all that I was teaching; especially Grade 5 English. We were having a big discussion that led no where on how we are supposed to change up our classes. I am still not sure. I am now teaching Grade 7 English, Math, Science, PE for grades 5-7 and B.I.S. for grades 5-7. B.I.S. stands for Basic Information Science. It is kind of like library science and teaching the kids about computers and things like that. Unfortunately, we don’t have computers so that won’t be an easy topic to teach. My school is just trying to keep me on my toes by changing up my classes every couple of weeks haha.

WIth the close of term 1 my mom and Krista come to visit! In between Term 1 and Term 2 we have about a month off to travel and relax. We have a conference in Windhoek at the end of April for a few days in order to talk about how our time is going and then we are released to do whatever we want to do. Mom and Krista are flying into Windhoek on the 29th and are staying for about 2 weeks. We haven’t really hammered down what we are doing yet but have our first 2 nights booked in a nice lodge in Windhoek. Mom is being a champ and doing all the research with Krista seeing as my internet is limited. I know that Etosha and Epupa Falls as well as where I live are on the list but beyond that I am not too sure what we are doing. Mom has gotten all of her shots and I believe Krista has also. ONE STEP CLOSER! It is hard to imagine that after 3 months I will be seeing my mom in about 1 months time. Man, how time flies... in a good way!

I have been so blessed by all the generous donations people have been handing to my parents! The project is close to being fully funded and will allow me to buy all of my students mattresses. It has been really encouraging to see children donating money from their piggy banks and report cards in order to buy these children mattresses to sleep on. I am currently working on trying to figure out how we are going to get the mattresses from Opuwo to Otwani but I am sure, like everything else, it will work out the best way possible.

Those are most of my updates for now. I am starting to get into a better routine of writing and answering emails. If anyone wants to email me they can send it to awillo1.ca@gmail.com. I only get to check it about 1 time a week but I dedicate a lot of my time on Friday afternoons to answer them. You guys are all 5 hours behind me (East Coast people) so you might even have an answer by the time you check your emails Friday morning. Love and Missing home but loving my new home here! 

If you plant it, it will grow!

Life here has gotten a little rough. These past few weeks have been a whirlwind and I have felt very overwhelmed and a little homesick. I know I am only feeling homesick because things have been getting a lot harder. As mentioned before they changed that classes, subjects and grades I am now teaching. Well, as of yesterday that changed again!! I am still teaching Grade 7 English, Science and Math and English 5 but they divided the English classes into 2 so now I am teaching double. There are 40 periods in a week and I teach about 35 of those periods which is a little overwhelming and I have a lot to catch up on. For Namibia their grading system is a little different and I need to make up for lost time with the grades for Science and English 5. Term 1 is almost over and I have to have my grades in in a couple of weeks. With that being said, I can’t believe Term 1 is almost over!! That means I am a third of the way into my time here. With the end of Term 1 comes a visit from my Mom and Krista. I am not too sure they know what they are getting themselves into ;). I am sure I will be posting about their time here. But before they come we do have a few breaks leading up to that. Next week we have Thursday off for Independence Day. Friday is a busy day for me though. I have a grant proposal due and my second teaching submission for my TEFL program. We also have a long break for Easter so we will be heading to Swakopmund to hang out at the beach and relax for a 4 day weekend. But before that happens I need to get a lot done and hopefully find out whether I will be approved for a grant or not. SO.. with that being said. 

I have been working very hard to put together a grant application for a program down here that awards money to people to work on community projects. It is called the Ambassador’s Self Help Grant. Awards can be upwards of $20,000 USD. In order to be considered there is a 5 page detailed application involved and you need quotes from vendors that you plan on using. I have been getting into Opuwo on the weekends to receive quotes from builders and people who will help with the garden. I have a contact in USAID, shout out to Mrs. Washington,  who has been such a blessing and has agreed to come visit my school in April to asses what needs to be done in order to plant the garden. My learners only receive, at the most, 2 meals a day that consists of just porridge. Many go hungry and are lacking very important nutritious needs. With the creation of this garden we will be able to give the learners at least one nutritional meal a day. If there is an abundance of crops we will be giving those to the local community with a focus on the children who are 5 and under and those who are directly affected by HIV/AIDS. I am praying that this grant gets approved. It would be such a blessing to my school. I will keep you updated on the progress of the application and approval.

The view of the school from the garden site

Future site of our garden!

The clinic that is waiting to be opened that will hopefully be supplying water for the garden

I am currently working on another project as well! A year isn’t that long to get things done so I am hoping to get a jump start on these. I have been working to raise money in order to buy mattresses for the learners at my school. The colder months are coming and I want them to be able to get off the ground when they sleep. There has been an overwhelming response and people have been more than generous. I can’t thank my coworker, Ahna, enough either for putting together an amazing flyer to put in places downtown in Patchogue. It really is amazing how blessed I am to know such amazing people. So far we have raised about $800 towards the mattresses. That is more than I ever was expecting. Thank you all so much for all that you have been doing!! My school is very appreciative of all that people have been doing!

Hiking Around

Craziness and overload don’t begin to describe this week. To begin, it is always a huge job finding a hike (ride) back to school no Sundays. It consists of multiple phone calls, text messages and waiting (everyone is on African time). So this Sunday was no different. I was scrambling to find a ride without them leaving me. The thing is, you can’t hike to or from my school so you have to make sure that a coworker or someone from the location will be in Opuwo or heading back on Sunday. I am sure one of these weekends I will be left haha. You really are at the mercy of other people. My ride back consisted of a little CRV with 10 people crammed inside with luggage and groceries everywhere. It was a tight, hot, ride but I managed. It isn’t the worst that has happened. **Side story** I have had to take a ride to school in a CRV with 9 people and a live chicken jumping around in the front seat all while a Herero woman kept hitting me with her hat and digging her elbows into my hip bones. Then there was a ride in a CRV with 7 people and a live goat that was tied up in the back of the car. The goat cried the entire hour and a half in!. THEN there was a ride where it was also in a CRV and I had the guy behind me throwing up the entire ride. Thankfully we stopped in time for him to do it out the trunk door; most of the time. As I write this I am currently riding in the back of an enclosed pick up truck with my boss of the region. It gets very bumpy and hot but I have become Namibian enough that I can type a blog post in the back of a pick up haha.

**Side story over**

As mentioned before we switched up the classes we will be teaching so Monday was the first day that I really taught my new classes. Grade 5 is HUGE and pretty much consists of 88 eyes staring at you the whole time. I have already had to break up a fight and raise my voice. They just laugh because they have no idea what I am saying. We just decided today that we will be splitting Grade 5 into 2 classes so they will be smaller but this means more teaching. I am loving that I get to teach my Grade 7s 3 subjects. I see them about 20 periods a week and am really beginning to know them AND they get my jokes and sarcasm, something that doesn’t usually translate here. My afternoons and nights are spent planning and grading. Wednesday night I spent hours grading 3 tests and creating one for Grade 7 math. It is tedious work but I usually put a movie on, get my dinner and multi task. It makes me feel like I am back in college. Today I got asked to be the new choir director because the other one now has to teach in the afternoon. My initial response was I can’t sing in Otjiherero which got a laugh and a “Miss, our native language is English.” coming from a colleague whose English isn’t very good. I haven’t heard them sing one song in English so this could get very interesting and comical. Mom, you will be very proud that I finally came back around to music after leaving it in 10th grade :). This week was pretty long and had its challenges. On Monday I taught all morning and then went back into Opuwo for a couple hours. I am working to put together a grant proposal to build a garden at the school and that entails me meeting with vendors and getting quotes. I was able to do most of the work on Monday but still have a lot to write up and figure out. This is the hard part; once approved (hopefully) the “easy/fun part” of building it comes.I will talk more of that in another blog post. I didn’t get back home till about 9 pm that night and still had lesson planning for my one class to do. Tuesday went by smoothly until about 8pm. Wednesday got rough. The electricity went out at 8pm at my place so that made getting work done hard. I ended up just chilling and trying to grade. I gave up, put a movie on; which then my laptop died, and went to bed. The electricity was off for a while so I had to mop my kitchen periodically as my fridge almost all defrosted. As soon as the electricity came back on the water went out for a while. I guess you can’t have both here haha. It was all good though, you find ways to cope :). The rest of the week was filled with workouts, gradings, and planning. It was a nice break to have a few people call my landline on Wednesday. I was able to talk to my mom, grandma, my friend Ben and Mailin about work questions haha. Every little bit is a nice break. The weeks are going by really fast here; for the most part. I say that I need to have a cameraman follow me around for a week just so everyone can laugh at the things I do. Life here is so different than home but I love it! 

How Quickly Things Change

I have been in Namibia for 9 weeks now and life has been insane!! I am starting to really get into a good teaching pattern and have finally, FINALLY learned all of my student’s names. I am telling you, they are really hard to pronounce so after trying for a few weeks I just resorted to nicknames :) 

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Well, I started that post last night and woke up this morning and everything changed haha. Welcome to life in Africa. So when we had our staff meeting this morning we were informed that the time table and the classes we were teaching were going to be changing. We had to switch around subjects and grades because one of the teachers had to be moved down to Pre Primary Grade 1. We have about 50+ Grade 1s and another teacher was needed. I have spent all morning doing the time table, color coding it on the computer and then drawing it up on a sheet of paper. This is the finished product hanging on the wall in the office. 

I am now teaching Grade 5 & 7 English, Grade 7 Science, and Grade 7 Math. I am happy to not be teaching Grade 6 anymore but I am sure Grade 5 is going to be a whole new challenge. I have about 35 to 40 kids in my class that barely speak any English. It is going to be like starting the whole year over again. Needless to say I have a lot of work to do this weekend and this coming week. WOOHOO! Definitely learning to go with the flow BIG TIME! But I am still smiling and learning new things each day.

Project Update

Projects, projects, projects. My head is starting to spin, in a good way, thinking of all the things I need/want to get done. I came into town early this weekend in order to send out emails and talk to businesses about doing things for my school. I have actually priced out blankets for my learners and will be starting to buy them. The winters here get FREEZING at night so I want to do this project as soon as possible. There were 2 blankets that I had narrowed it down to and have made my final decision. Because of pricing and the amount that I have to buy I will be supplying my students with a wool like blanket that appears durable and warm. They are gray and won’t show dirt that easily. There are 256 learners at my school but only about 220 that board there year round. I am going to be buying between 240 to 250. Each blanket costs 39.99 NAD which is equivalent to about $5.00 to $8.00 USD.

I have some extra money set aside to buy a couple of blankets but I do not have enough to pay for all of them. If you donate towards this project a learner will write a letter back thanking you and send a picture along with it as well. Granted, many don’t know English very well so you might get some very interesting letters back :) If you would like to donate please speak to my mom or dad. They will be helping me on that end!

Celebrity Status

If you ever need an ego boost and want to feel like a celebrity move to a foreign country where you stick out :). I think every weekend that I head into Opuwo I feel like a celebrity walking the streets as people are calling my name. So this past weekend it was magnified for some reason and was definitely interesting. I went in on Thursday to get emails and phone calls made since I don’t have network during the week. I had forgotten my cell phone charger back at the school so I had to find one that would fit my phone; plus I had other errands that needed to be ran. I went into a china shop to look to see if they sold blankets and asked if they had phone chargers as well. (side note: China shops are small shops where you find the most random stuff but it is usually where you find everything you need. They are, most of the time, ran by Chinese.) I struck out on the blankets but the guy said he sold chargers so he leaves and comes back 5 minutes later with his OWN charger and tells me he will charge it for me. I had to get to the cafe to get internet so I asked if I could take it to charge my phone and bring it right back. He said sure and handed it over; ask me if that will ever happen in the states. While he was looking for his charger to lend me the lady who was in the store loved my dress. She told me she wanted it now now now; meaning that I take it off right there and give it to her. I told her that when my mom came down and brought me different clothes that she could take my dress. She then saw my pocket book and took it off my body and proceeded to parade around the store with it asking why she doesn’t have this because it looks so good. It wasn’t even 9:30 AM by this point. I leave the store and head to find a charger because I didn’t want to have to use this man’s charger all weekend. I found a sketch looking shop called Wiz Cell and walked in. They had a universal charger kit for 8 USD so I bought that and had them test it before I walked out; Success! So I walked back to the store and returned the man’s charger. Let me remind you, Opuwo is basically one road so people can watch you walk around like a crazy person. Well, apparently a man was because as I was walking back to the restaurant he stopped me and asked what was wrong because he had seen me walk back and forth numerous times. He thought I was lost or there was a problem. I laughed and said, “No, I am a teacher that has a lot of errands to finish today.” As I parted with him a man and his 3 kids were walking behind me. We greeted eachother in Otjiherero then he proceeded to tell me all the names of his kids and ask mine. I continued to walk and he grabbed my hand and put his youngest child’s hand in mine. So I am now walking down the street holding a young child’s hand. This went on for about 5 minutes. All I could do was smile at the girl as she stared up at me the whole time. Somewhere in between all of this a guy was standing with his friends in front of the Catholic Church and as I was walking ran towards me with a camera and was asking to take my picture. As if I don’t feel like I stand out enough. I kindly declined and told him I lived there and wasn’t a random white person. This all happened before I even had my breakfast and coffee. Later that weekend Mailin and I went local and ate meat off the street at the location. It was fresh goat and beef in onions and spices. It was delicious! As we were leaving a man came rushing at us with a camera again. I swear, people have our pictures everywhere. Sunday, as we were heading to breakfast 2 ladies were screaming my name from the inside of a store and waving. This is a daily occurrence when we are in Opuwo. It is almost like they know one of our names and scream it to see who answers haha.

Getting my life down to a routine.

Another week down and I am still smiling everyday!

My look everyday for training in the afternoons... minus the jacket :)

I am starting to get more settled and have a weekly routine. I was teaching 28 periods a week which is a lot so they took one of my classes to lighten my load. It definitely has made a huge difference but has given me more downtime which is a plus and a minus. I have become a master at playing solitaire and have also finished a lot that I have wanted to do. I am starting to get into the swing of writing emails and everything I need to send out on the weekend during the week. My little flat is starting to take shape as my house; my home for the next year or more. My stove wasn’t working for a really long time and is “fixed”. Definition of fixed is you can only use one burner at a time or else it will blow the fuse. So I ended up buying a hot plate and actually love cooking on it. The fact that the dials don’t really work and you have to guess where you need to set it really makes me feel at home because our stove was the same way. I have my running route down to a T and my body is getting used to the 2hour a day workout. I have never felt better in my life. I have made some really good friends who I look forward to spending the weekends in Opuwo and traveling with. Friend takes on a whole new meaning here. They have become more like family than anything else. They are what get you through the hard times and help you to survive the crazy African life. This week has gone amazing! It was my first full week of teaching. The past couple of weeks there has been at least one day where there was something going on at the school so we didn’t have to teach. I am loving my Grade 7 Learners. They are so eager to learn and work hard to do so. It was pretty discouraging though when I graded their first math test this week. It was on simple addition, bar graphs, writing numbers into words and words into numbers as well as place values. I had grades from 4% to 70% being the highest. I made a deal with them that if they made corrections I would add a point for each correct correction. My Grade 6 is KILLING ME! If you ever want a blank stare look they have it down to a tee. I love them but they are very hard to teach. Their English isn’t as good as what I was expecting so teaching them math in English is very difficult. We have resorted to the basics; addition, multiplication and order of operations because I didn’t know what else to do with them. Thursday was Valentine’s Day so I centered my lessons on that. I bought each student a new pen as well as a sweet. I put them on a index card with their name and a tattoo attached to it. I don’t think these kids have ever been more excited to receive something. This is the reason I am here; to put smiles on those children’s faces! On the hard days that is what I have to remind myself. Everyday I wake before the sun even rises, 6 AM. Some days I am woken up by a call from my parents as they head to bed; those days are really good days. I teach for most of the day from 7:30 till 1:30. Have a break where I head to get a bit of lunch. At 3 the students have study hours and I get grading/planning done. Around 4 or 5 everyday, depending on the heat, I head out to the field and train my learners for 2 hours. Training goes like this: 1 mile warm up. It turns into them trying to race me as I tell them to slow down in Otjiherero (Katiti). Then we come back and stretch and warm up for 20 minutes. They really enjoy this part for some reason. After warm ups I usually make them run 4 corners with crunches, push ups, jumping jacks, and mountain climbers at each corner. Mind you, they have no idea what I am saying so half the time I am doing just as much conditioning and training as they are :) After 4 corners we do drills across the field; lunges, grapevines, suicides, squats, cherry pickers etc. all the normal drills you run for any varsity sport in the states. We end training by playing soccer for a little bit. This usually turns a little frustrating because they tend to play keep away from me. I play with the kids and the locals play on the other team. I play a pretty mean defense and the locals don't like it very much. I just laugh because I have NO IDEA what they are saying. After training I go home and do some core exercises myself and jump into a chilly yet really refreshing shower. I make dinner, finish lesson plans, sometimes head to the mine and then go to bed around 10 or 11. It is a pretty busy day but it helps to make them go by faster!

Potential Projects

“Miss may you borrow me”

The first time I heard this it threw me off a little bit. One of my learners came up to me with her hands out and asked, “Miss can you borrow me?”. I had to have her explain what she needed and came to the conclusion that she wanted me to lend her a pencil. Where they all learned that phrase is beyond me because EVERYONE uses it. I hear it everyday and every period. Whether it is a pen, pencil, paper, marker, textbook, notebook or food. It has come to take on a deeper meaning the longer I am here. My heart breaks every class at the realization of what this school and these children lack. It is emotionally draining and at times overwhelming. The whole session we spent on teaching with limited resources did nothing to prepare me for the year I have ahead of me.  My school lacks pens, notebooks, textbooks, chalk, erasers, paper, teaching supplies, scissors, markers, etc. The only things that fill my classrooms are dilapidated desks, chairs and chalkboards that are falling apart. Our kitchen is a 3-sided “building” that is made out of aluminum panels on the sides. It contains two cauldron looking pots that makes the children’s 2 meals of porridge a day. The hostels are cement buildings with cement floors. There is one for the girls and one for the boys. They burst at the seams with learners sleeping on top of eachother on the cement floors. The worry of local drunk villagers coming to violate my girls is a constant reminder that something needs to change. For them, they don’t know any different but hearing a child ask when they are going to eat and if they had a blanket to stay warm is heartbreaking. While here  we are to raise money and carry out a project(s) that will leave a lasting impression on our school after we leave. I have been talking to some of my colleagues to get a feel for what needs to be done and what they think is the most important. The responses I have received have varied but have all had to deal with improving the well-being of the children. So... Here is a breakdown of potential projects and what is being done to figure them out. 

Project #1 - Supply every learner with a pen, pencil, ruler and enough notebooks.

-This one isn’t so big and can be completed in a weekend.

-I will be going into Opuwo this weekend to purchase more notebooks and pencils for my learners.

-I have come to realize that they are very OCD when it comes to drawing graphs and tables and wait for a ruler so to ease their time and to make my classes move quicker I am hoping to be able to purchase rulers for each learner. 

Project #2 - Buy bed rolls/ beds/ blankets for each learner. 

• I have been informed by Theron that the winters get FREEZING here. So cold that he sleeps with 3 blankets and that isn’t enough sometimes. I can not imagine my learners sleeping on cement floors with nothing but their bodies during this temperature drop. 
• I will be contacting companies to see if I can get deals on bed rolls/ blankets. 
• HOW YOU CAN HELP: If this project works out I will be sending out letters and emails with the prices of each item laid out. You can “buy” a bed roll or blanket for a student. For each bed roll or blanket that is bought, the learner that receives it will send a letter and his/her picture! You will have the chance to sponsor a child’s warmth for the winter term coming up!

Project #3 - Build a new dorm

• Many of the learners are sleeping on top of each other and don’t have room to sleep during the nights. The girls outnumber the boys here significantly and therefore need a new dorm. 
• This is one of the more challenging projects and will be a lot to undertake but will be so rewarding at the end. 
• I am talking to builders and trying to receive an estimate on how much it would cost to build a dorm building including windows. 
• HOW YOU CAN HELP: If this project works; which I am hoping that it will. Letters of support/ donations will be sent out to businesses and organizations. The other 2 girls that are in the Kunene Region are hoping to do projects similar to mine so we are looking to work together. We will be doing major fundraising in the coming weeks to sponsor these projects. If you know of any companies or organizations with extra money laying around that would donate it to a good cause send them this was.

These are three of the first projects that I am beginning to work out and get quotes from.  There will be more posts to come when the time gets closer and more details begin to finalize!

The New Normal

The New Normal.

So I have been in Namibia for a little over a month now and what started out as something new and exciting is turning into an everyday routine and becoming the new normal. It is kind of reassuring to know that I am settling in nicely and feel at home here. Normal does come with a lot of frustrations, however. So here is a list of crazy norms that have never been part of my daily life in the United States.

It is normal to:

• Wake up before the sun comes up and go to bed before the sun has completely set. 
• Teach 2 different grades 2 different core subjects. If I didn’t dislike Math before this is making me hate it haha
• Be called Sir because they aren’t used to having female teachers
• Eat Apples and Peanut Butter for almost every meal.
• Never have clean feet. I swear dirt is magnetized to them as soon as I step out of the shower.
• Play soccer or workout for 2 hours everyday after teaching all day. I am the school’s new all around trainer. The kids love it and it keeps me in shape so I am not complaining but boy is it tiring.
• Not have any communication with the outside World till the weekends. 
• Have to spend 8 hours doing something that would normally take 2.
• Travel 2 hours every weekend to get into town.
• Repeat myself 10 times and still have my learners and colleagues stare at me like I am speaking in tongues to them. 
• Enjoy a cup of coffee every break I get.
• Ride in the back of pick up trucks.
• Rely on people for every mode of transportation
• Feel lost and completely confused at least 2 times a day.
• Sleep under a mosquito net. At first I felt like a princess, now it is like a trap!
• Take 2.5 hours to do laundry that would normally take 5 minutes to put in the machine.
• Always be thirsty and salivate every time you think of water. 
• Have learners and colleagues bang on my door all hours of the day.
• Run with cows, donkeys, springbok and learners everyday.
• Wash my dishes in the bathroom sink
• Wash my underclothes in the shower with me. It is so much easier than washing them in bulk.
• Have it rain at random times during the day for only 5 minutes and then clear up.
• Have the power go out at random times.
• Have the water stop running while I am in the middle of a shower. This has happened 2 times already ahah
• Have a gorgeous sunset every night!
• Drive up to the mine to watch TV and speak English normally. I have adopted a weird accent haha. Over-pronunciation of T’s and D’s has contributed to this weird accent. 
• Have to climb a mountain to get spotty cell service. I have yet been able to make a call from this spot.

While some of these norms are crazy and I can’t believe that this has become my life; I am loving every minute of it; maybe except for things taking forever to get done. My New York impatience is taking a beating and I am learning to slow down. I am feeling like I am finally making progress with my Grade 7 learners. They finally had bar graphs click and are giving their first presentations Friday. My Grade 6 learners are going to be the death of me. It is so hard and frustrating. I usually teach them 3 periods in a row. I dread those days and find myself having to go outside for fresh air before I lose my cool. I am not one to get upset but when you have explained bar graphs for a week and a half every which way possible and still get blank stares it gets frustrating. I am just having to move on to the next topic and hope that there won’t be that many bar graph questions on the national exam. 

I am loving this new, crazy, normal, mixed up life. 

My new home!

After much confusion, my apartment not being ready, and a few days in Opuwo I am finally at my school; my home for the next year. Before I go on to describe my living conditions and my school I will back track a little. So on Thursday, Jan. 17 we were picked up by the Ministry of Education in Windhoek and were to travel to our sites. My school is about 9-10 hours from Windhoek depending on “traffic” and how many people your driver wants to pick up on the side of the road :). When we were about 2 hours from Opuwo, the capital of the Kunene region and the closest “big” town to me, another volunteer, Mailin, and I were informed that our apartments were not ready for us to move in. In order for our living arrangements to be deemed suitable it had to meet a few criteria and our’s were not ready. We waved goodbye to Taylor at her site and were ushered to Opuwo where we were told we would be staying until they finished setting up our places. This Is Africa, so we weren’t sure how long it was going to be. BUT! We stayed at ABBA Guesthouse for a couple of days. The guesthouse is owned and operated by a Christian couple that founded a Primary School at the Guesthouse and holds church on Sundays. This was definitely a God thing and a reminder that everything does work out for the best. This actually gave Mailin and I a chance to explore Opuwo; which is mainly one road full of shops. We started making connections and by the end of the 3rd day of us being there people were starting to know our names. 

Which, on that note, random people knew my name and I had no idea how. Taylor came in shopping so we met her at the ONLY grocery store available to us. We were standing going our lists and this guy came up to me and introduced himself as Stefan. We introduced ourselves and when I said my name he was like OH! I heard you were in town and then proceeded to tell me Happy Birthday. He wasn’t the first person to think it was my birthday either or the first person to come up and address me by name. Apparently, our region had received our information and pictures so everyone knew who we were and I guess my birthday was wrong because at least 5 people told me Happy Birthday. That day I met most all of my coworkers in Opuwo. They go to the city most weekends to get essentials. They threw a party for me which ended up me cooking the sausage and chicken using sticks over a fire because we couldn’t find a griller but it was the best way to meet my colleagues for the next year. A Braai (barbecue) under a clear sky of brilliant stars. Oh yea, Stefan was one of my coworkers. After a lot of back and forth I left Opuwo to head to my school on Saturday, the 19th.

I love my school!! At first, I was in complete shock and those were when the first tears came. I have been very busy/strong this past month and have not shed a tear but when I pulled up to my school; all those tears that I had been holding in began to fall. I can’t figure out if it was shock, happiness, state of fear/unknown but everything hit. So, my school is over 75Km from the nearest “civilization” which is Opuwo. I was told I was only going to be about 35-40K. So this was the first shock. I was trying to be as optimistic as possible but when we turned down the path that led to my school I am pretty sure all the color from my sunburned face drained and I had a “what did I get myself into” feeling. We got out the back of the bakkie and began unloading. They showed me where I was going to be staying and I think my shock outweighed how grateful and blessed I am. My apartment is part of a house and I have 4 rooms. I have one big bedroom that locks. I have a double bed!! That is bigger than any bed I have ever had. I am still waiting on my  dresser/armoire but that isn’t a huge complaint considering what I have. My bedroom is across the hall from a HUGE kitchen space. At the moment it is pretty bare with just a fridge and a stove but I am hoping to change that soon. My bathroom is in the other 2 rooms. One has my shower and a sink and the other has a toilet and a sink. So I have designated one of them as my kitchen sink and the other as my bathroom sink. I have a front door that locks as well. So I am starting to settle in and hang things on my walls. This is my home for the next year, I need to make it my own. With that being said, I have SO MUCH ROOM for visitors. Just bring a sleeping bag and you have a place to stay. The scenery is gorgeous as well. 

I am living at the top of a mountain surrounded by other mountains and vast land. Yes, there are the most snakes in this area and you have to endure a drive on all dirt roads from Opuwo but I am telling you, it is worth it. Who can say that they have played soccer with 20 African children as donkeys run beside you and the sun sets behind the mountains in the background. I truly am so excited about this year. 

It isn’t all rainbows and butterflies though so I will be needing a lot of prayer throughout this year. The language barrier and the frustration of not knowing what is going on is setting in a little bit. Not many of my colleagues speak English very well so they tend to speak what is comfortable to them. We are trading English for Otjiherero lessons. I am also starting to learn how behind my students are in English as well. I was talking to one girl today who is a grade 5 learner and I asked her what she liked to do/ what was her favorite subject to learn and she was unable to comprehend and answer. I still have no idea, as I am writing this, what subjects/grades I am teaching. I was told Science and English but since I have arrived and met everyone I have heard Science, English, Math, and Basic Information Science. I have been playing soccer with the kids everyday so I believe I was just officially made the soccer coach. The kids are impressed at how well a white girl can played. I schooled some of my older learner boys and I think I gained their respect that way. Funny how things work out. 

Some of my fears and worries were settled when I was informed that my principal goes to Opuwo almost every day so if there was ever a reason I needed something I can always hitch a ride with him. Considering I was taken to my site without much food or supplies I will be heading into Opuwo frequently. I need to get more food or else I am going to be skin and bones! 

Here is a link to some of the pictures of my room and site. Life is too short to sit around

Teaching in Omungwelume

For the past 5 days (last week) we have been living and teaching above the Red Line in Omungwelume. The Red Line in Namibia separates North and South Namibia and was used as a disease check point. Below the line is commercial white farming and above it is communal farming/subsistence farming. Cattle from above the line could not be brought to areas below the line in order to prevent the spread of disease and make a definite delineation. In Omungwelume we stayed and taught at a Primary School called Eengedjo PS. Children from around the village and in neighboring areas came and participated in the classes we were teaching. The classes began on Monday and ended Thursday. For me, this was the first realization that I am in Africa. 

The drive up North was an experience in and of it’s own. To us, it was a grueling 10 hour drive in a hot van known as a Combie but to everyone else it was luxury. The Ministry of Education provided two vans (Combies) for WorldTeach to bring us up North. The views that we witnessed as we drove up North were absolutely breathtaking. Considering Long Island is as flat as flat gets, seeing these rolling mountains and rocky terrain was amazing. I had to stop a few times and remind myself that this gorgeous country is my home for the next year.  

Views driving up North. A camera doesn't do the scenery justice!

When we arrived at the village we were greeted by a house that needed a lot of loving touches and a really good cleaning. So we got together as a team and worked on cleaning up the house where 2 of the volunteers will be living for the year. We have broken down cooking dinner into groups. Taylor, Mailin, and I are group one so we were up to cook dinner that night. This turned into our second realization that this is Africa. The electricity wasn’t working and none of us had ever used a gas stove before so we cooked spaghetti by candle light while we prayed that we didn’t blow the house up. Dinner was a success, for the most part. They don’t have spaghetti sauce here and ours didn’t taste the hottest but T.I.A (This is Africa) so you go with the flow.

For the week we lived it the dorms of the students that attend the school. The rooms boasted metal framed bunk beds, and a few storage cubbies built into the walls. The bathrooms weren’t much different. Lined with metal sinks and toilets that seemed like they were going to overflow everytime you flushed; it didn’t appear very welcoming. Not to mention that the shower stalls were curtainless... 

In order to not make this a really long drawn out blog in where I try to fit a weeks worth of teaching and experiences into one post I will try to summarize as much as possible. I love lists so that is what is the easiest for me to organize everything.

Monday was our first day at Omungwelume. For our practicums we taught in pairs and were split based on what grades we will be teaching when we go to our site. We started each morning lesson planning and getting the materials together that would be needed for that day. After planning in the morning we went to meet our learners in the courtyard of the school. They were very timid and reluctant to make conversation; this was to change as the week went on. We bonded over soccer and our lack of playing ability. I hope I can get my act together before I have to start coaching it at my school! For our first lesson we decided to teach them how to form sentences using a ver and subject. I was very nervous going into my first day of teaching but as soon as I stood in front of the class and saw those smiling faces my nerves dissipated. We taught and then had them do a fun activity that made them form their sentences using sentences that were already written out and then torn up. This was our first gauge on the learning level of our students and boy, was it a wide range. We had some that could only copy and then others that were forming sentences and labeling the parts of the sentence. This idea of multilevel classes will be one of our greatest challenges this year. Our lesson was a success and the students seemed to grasp what we were presenting. 

Monday night we walked around the village and got our first bakkie ride in the back of a pick up to the closest town; obviously we survived it :). A few of us decided to continue to walk around the village after we returned from our thrilling ride and for the first time in my life I saw a cow fight. A serious horn to horn fight. Here, like mentioned before, cows are pretty free to roam. Us girls tried walking around them but we couldn’t seem to escape them. I think we provided the village with a little show as these 4 white girls tried to avoid the charging cattle.

Tuesday was a fun lesson to teach and I was very impressed by some of the knowledge the learners brought to the classroom. We decided to introduce them to the idea of the food chain. We had a really fun activity where we had them act out the food chain. They drew animals or plants on paper plates and in order for them to portray eating something they had to hug eachother. By the end of the lesson they were able to go through the food chain independently. This was definitely helpful because I am teaching science this coming year to 5-7 graders. I am super nervous about this and praying that God gives me peace about presenting this material. 

Teaching the Food Chain

So the moment I have been waiting for the entire time I have been here happened. We had our first torrential downpour rainstorm. It was amazing to feel the coolness of the water and the relief it brought from the heat. I think since that day, it has rained almost every day here. I’m not complaining, a light shower in the afternoon is an amazing relief from the heat of the day. 

Wednesday we switched up partners for people who wanted to try to teach different levels. I stayed with the 5-7 graders because those are the only grades I am working with this coming year. We did another grammar lesson introducing adjectives that describe a person. I had a lot of fun with this lesson and we received a huge response from the learners. We had them come up with as many as they could and then added our own. After we had a pretty solid list we put actions to the words and soon had our learners jumping around the room and using motions to portray adjectives. For our closing activity we had the students create acrostic poems using their names. This was a bit challenging for learners on lower levels but was fun to go around and see what some learners were writing. We were all pretty exhausted by Wednesday so we just chilled for the night. During the days after teaching we had meetings that lasted a couple of hours; our days were long.

Thursday was our last day to teach our precious learners. This, by far, was my favorite lesson. With it being the last day we wanted it to be a lot of fun so we decided to teach them how to follow directions... using the Cha Cha Slide :). We played the song through and saw how many of the directions the kids could list. We filled in what they missed. After that we taught them the Cha Cha Slide which turned into a major dance party. One of the learners knew the entire dance to Waka Waka so she taught us how to do that after the kids had learned the Cha Cha slide. This is a lesson I will reuse and never forget. To watch some of these kids dance and the smiles they had on their faces melted my heart.

Our Dance Party!!

Thursday night we had another T.I.A experience. All of the volunteers piled into the Ministry of Education vans and headed to Angelina’s (gf of our Field Director) homestead. A homestead is a group of houses, huts, rooms that are surrounded by some sort of fence or brick wall where one family lives. When children get older they are to build a room or small house that adds to the homestead and this is where they will live when they get married. Here we toured the homestead and saw many of the traditions the African people hold. It is amazing to see how much they embrace their roots and still hold true to their cultures. We were served a traditional drink called Oshikundu. Oshikundu is made of fermented grains that are kept in hollowed out gourds. It tasted somewhat like wet bread. Along with the traditional drink we had the traditional Oshiwambo meal. This consisted of chicken and a thick porridge. The meal was eaten with your fingers by breaking pieces off and dipping it in the sauce that the chicken was made in. The porridge is made out of mahangu that they crush in one of their huts. As the day came to a close we left Angelina’s and headed back to the school to get ready to head “home” to Windhoek the next day.

Emily and I eating the traditional meal at the homestead

This past week was draining but one that I am ever so grateful for. I will never forget the first students I taught in Namibia. It also helped to show me that I will be able to be a teacher to these open hearts, minds and beautiful children. We returned back to the capital on Friday as a group but not the same as we left; we had seen and realized our purpose for being here. 

Some of the volunteers with Learners

UPDATE: So I have received a little more information on my site. I will be living in an apartment by myself with a kitchen and bathroom. I am teaching grades 5-7 English and Science. I won’t have internet at all so communication is going to be very limited after Thursday. I will have to head to Opuwo (capital of the Kunene Region) in order to receive good internet connection. I don’t really have cell service either. Well, I do but I have to walk 3k up a mountain to get it. I am determined to build a hut or string a hammock on the top of this mountain so I can chill and catch up on news back home. I do have an address but I will provide that in my next post.... 2 days till Musaso!

Ena randje owami Ashley!

Translation: My name is Ashley

So! After almost a year of waiting, planning, and talking about it I am finally in Namibia! FIRST POST FROM AFRICA! It was a really long flight that wasn't so pleasant but I survived it and thankfully don't have to do it for another year. There was bad turbulence the entire flight and it was a 15 hour flight. Who likes 15 hour flights?! Thankfully there were good movies to catch up on and a wide variety of music. After landing in Joburg for our layover we had to run, literally run, to catch our connecting flight. Getting through customs and immigration in Namibia was the easiest thing we had to do all day yesterday. From the airport we arrived at our hostel in Windhoek, the capital, where we met up with the rest of our group. We had about 1.5 hours to regroup and then went straight into meetings beginning at 2. It was a huge struggle to stay awake but prevailed and was in bed before midnight even happened. We experienced our first braai last night. A braai is a cookout. We had chicken, sausage, pasta salad and regular salad. It was delicious but so late! I was falling asleep eating haha. Needless to say, I slept like a baby last night. We were up early this morning for more training and meetings on Namibian culture and culture shock. It was interesting but nothing I hadn't gone through when I had orientation in Costa Rica. Although, some of the cultural things are interesting and all the rules they have about elders and how to be respectful. You have to shake their hands and curtsey when you meet them. When you talk to them in a greeting you have to look at the ground. That is only in some cultures. From what I gathered the Himba and Herero are really laid back as well as understanding. They appreciate you trying to attempt their language. I still don't have much information on my school so I am trusting and praying that everything works out. We are guaranteed a bed, dresser and a fridge so at least I know I will be getting those things haha. We had our lessons on hitch hiking and traveling safe. It should be such an experience and I am sure I will have tons of stories to go with it because we have already heard some. We had our first language training session!! I was so excited to start learning my language! It is called otjiherero. Our teacher, Remsey, was very good and organized. I actually learned a lot! I'll show a few words below. There are about 4 of us learning it so it is very personal and one on one. He makes sure we are pronouncing the words correctly and understand what is going on.
Thankfully we have the rest of the day off to chill and catch up on things. We have about 2 more weeks left of training before we go to our sites. We leave to start our teaching practicums on Sunday and tomorrow we head to the stores to set up cell phones. After tomorrow I will be as connected as possible. We can't set up our bank accounts until we get to our towns so there will be a day dedicated to do that.

Otjiherero 101:

Ami mba za ko Amerika ko New York: I come from American from New York

koko: no

Moro: Goodmorning

Metaha: Afternoon

Hwenda: Evening

and since I am posting this as I am going to bed... raree nawa (Sleep well)