walk, walk, walk, walk...

In America we have some crazy stuff, but in Namibia there's even crazier stuff.  :)

These are a few of the random things that I always think of while walking around and want to share with you all but can never think of once I'm actually in front of the computer. 

Frogs.  Did you know frogs hibernate?  I didn't.  So we have what is called a rainy season. This rainy season can begin as early as December and go until as late as May.  Rainy season pretty much means flood season.  It rained a little in December and then it stopped and dried up, but with that first rain I began to notice frog cakes everywhere... that is the nice way of saying flat, ran over, dead frogs.  :)  I asked my friend why I didn't notice them before and he said they hibernate under ground and once the rains come they are EVERYWHERE!  He wasn't joking, they are EVERYWHERE!  Quite often I find my self singing the little green frog song as I walk through my village and notice all the little tiny frogs EVERYWHERE.  One morning I was walking and saw a guy carrying a string with about 25 big frogs on it... They actually looked like the singing frog guy from WB (I know, old school).

Prickly branches.  All the trees and bushes here have these insane spikes all over them!  They are on everything and when you step on them they really hurt!  Trust me, I know from experience.  I think its so weird how everything has these thorny long spikes and still the goats and cows gnaw away at they branches eating the leaves.  So weird.

Russian Hawks.  So one day I was hanging out at my friend Daryl's house when he yelled for me to hurry and run outside.  He pointed up at the sky and there flying above us were hundreds of these hawk like birds flying all over the place.  It was seriously cool and creepy at the same time.  He explained to me that every year around this time these hawks migrate from Russia or somewhere around there to Namibia.  I thought it was pretty interesting.  Then last week, I was sitting in my room reading when I looked out the window and saw the very same Russian hawks swarming around my house and in the fields surrounding my homestead.  It was crazy!  I wanted to go outside but couldn't help but think of the movie 'the birds' and freaked out a little.  :)

Flies.  Holy cow.  They are always here but with the rain they have gotten worse and multiplied like no other.  When I walk to town I walk for about 20 minutes or about 2 km through my village.  I start at my house and as soon as I leave the homestead a fly decides to join me on my walk and fly circles around me occasionally flying into my face but then continues to fly circles around me the whole 2km!!! It's really annoying but kind of funny at the same time.  Do they get dizzy?  We'll never know. 

Cows.  Most Namibian people judge their wealth by the amount of cattle they own.  My family has about 20-30, we also have three baby cows that are super cute... but they have to stay on our homestead during the day because they are too little to go grazing with all the big kids because they might wander off or get lost.  Toward the end of the day the babies really miss their mom so they start mooing and then the moms come and start mooing back.  If there are people outside the mom will even growl at them... I didn't know cows growled, I do now.  So walking around the village, usually toward town, there are cows everywhere.  They stare you down when you walk by and I can't help but wonder if a person has even been attacked by a cow just from walking by?  I should google it.  Anyway, with lots of cows comes lots of cow poop.  I used to not mind it so much because it gets so hot here the poop dries up and wont stick to your foot.  With rainy season here, it doesn't dry out as fast or it stays very very wet... it makes walking around that much harder, I now have to watch every step I take and hope not to slip in cow poo. 

I have more random facts for you all but I will save those for another day.... maybe a rainy day... since the rainy season is officially here!

School has started and the first two weeks were dreadfully boring, but today I got to team teach with my counterpart.  I helped her teach 8 classes of Entrepreneurship and it was actually fun!  The kids get involved and actually like to participate, it was awesome.  I am loving it here more and more every day.  I really am enjoying myself and learning a lot about others as well as myself. 
I miss you and love you all dearly!  (that was to my family and friends...)
So, to the strangers out there who might happen to stumble upon my blog, thanks for reading!  :)  Peace out!