"Back to school, back to school, to prove to dad, that i'm not a fool"

Only 9 days more until I am no longer a Peace Corps Trainee and am sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer! Woohoo! Where has the past seven weeks gone?  Next week I will move up to Ondangwa and that will be my permanent home for the next two years. Crazy exciting!

Namibia is beautiful, and amazing, and hilarious.
Being a larger white woman makes me the cream of the crop here in Namibia.  That is, once people realize I am an American and not an Afrikaner.  People here believe that being an American woman who is not skinny is very rich and very beautiful, so I receive quite a bit of attention from the men around town.  I usually just ignore them or laugh.  I have no doubt that if they were to confront me I will show them my serious side.  :)  For most people that know me or at least have met me, might find this a little hard to believe.  I am a very easy going person who smiles a lot, and giggles a whole lot more.  But rest assured, I can be mean and hold my ground when I need to.  A local kid, who I have named "Bossy-pants" learned this the hard way.  Lets just say he will no longer be threatening my fellow female volunteers to play soccer with him. :)

Housing at site is still a mystery to me.  I had a house arranged for me but due to some circumstances I had to be assigned to an alternate home in the same community. Once I know more about that home, I will definitely post pictures and details.

As for mail anyone is wanting to send my way I have a new address to start sending stuff to.  :)
Sister Melissa Nicks
c/o Oonte OVC Org
P.O. Box 1022
Ondangwa, Namibia
Africa
Its good to put 'sister' and bible verses on packages because it is less likely to be tampered with. :)  Also, on most care packages you are asked to list what is in the box, please don't list valuables... maybe put that you are sending books and magazines or stuff that people wouldn't want to steal as much as valuables.  :)  The bible verses will be nice to read as well.

This past Sunday I went to church with one of my friends and it was a great sermon. There were maybe about 20 of us in the church and the pastor was nice enough to do the sermon in both Afrikaans and English so we would understand his message.  It made me miss Sandals church a ton!   My host family here at training doesn't really go to church so I have to find people to take me with them to their churches.  The good news is that my supervisors at my permanent site are Christians and are very excited to take me to church every Sunday with them. :)  I am excited for the next few weeks but nervous as well. 
This next week and a half will be pretty stressful.  I have classroom observations and co-teaching for entrepreneurship, a group presentation for our SEED small business partners, and my final LPI (language proficiency exam) on Monday.  It's all drawing to a close.  It's very bittersweet.  I will miss all of my new American friends but look forward to my adventure starting.  :)