I LOVE...
Walking around my village or town and white people staring at me because I am living as a local...
Greeting people in their native tongue and the smile that spreads across their faces...
My amazing friends and family here mo(in)America na(and) moNamibia...
Explaining to my colleagues that not all Americans are white and act the same...
When kids come up to me and tell me to give them money, I look at them and tell them to give Me money. They just stare in confusion, I stare at them very serius. Afterwards, I laugh...
Riverside, California...
Namibia. The whole country...
Learning about a new culture while teaching about mine...
Explaining that Americans do have a culture, not just one but many...
That when it is 'balls hot' and humid outside, that means the rain is coming. Sure enough it is here by that afternoon...
No matter how hard I try to speak proper English, Namlish always makes an appearance when speaking to people...
Getting letters and love mailed to me from home... (hint hint ;))...
These are a few of the things that I feel so blessed by and love about my current home and life.
Last Saturday I got to hang out with about 30 others PCV's at a local rest camp to celebrate our new group of volunteers coming to the north/Halloween/and MY birthday and my friend Danny's birthday too. I had an amazing time. There was beer and booze consumed by all but I was always safe and used my head(I promise mom and dad, I was smart but still had fun!). The rest camp we stayed at is owned by some local Afrikaaners (native white people) and one of the groups that was there was a bachelor party. Once they found out it was my birthday lets just say I didn't have to buy any more drinks and drank some interesting stuff. Mostly the night consisted of getting to know my fellow volunteers that I will be serving with over the next two years, it was a lot of fun.
Yesterday, my real birthday, was pretty great as well. I started it out by talking to some of my family at midnight (happy hour is unlimited internet use from midnight-6am for N$10 for a week, awesome deal). I woke up and opened some cards that were sent with me before I left home in August and they were all so sweet! I definitely felt their love from so far away. I was picked up by my OVC supervisor to attend a meeting about partnering with a local organization, when I came outside she sang happy birthday to me. Her daughter, who works with us at the OVC, who also happens to be my first Namibian friend and facebook friend, saw it on facebook and they were so sweet wishing me happy birthday along with many blessings. The day went pretty great, our meeting was very productive and successful. After work my host family all wished me happy birthday.
Some exciting news: there are a few new members of our family that share a birthday week with me. Yesterday I noticed a cow outside of my window mooing like crazy... I looked outside below my window to see her newborn calf walking around inside our gated homestead. My family has cows that they bring into a corral at night and during the day let them out to graze, the baby is too little to be outside all day so we have what I like to call calf daycare on our homestead to ensure his safety (I'm assuming it's a boy, I don't see any utters). So we have a new baby calf and I also stumbled upon 5 new puppies that were born on Monday as well. I love baby animals so it is the best birthday presents ever!!! :)
I apologize for the length of this wordy blog, but i had a lot to say.
I feel very blessed to be here in Namibia learning and sharing my culture. Thank you to everyone that supports me and loves me for simply being my perfectly imperfect self.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Keepin it real, Namibian style.
Disclaimer: some of the details mentioned below might gross you out. Don't judge me, I'm living in a third world country in the Peace Corps.
With that said, here are some of the things that I find very different here in Namibia.
Potty Training: Lets just say I have been peed on multiple times in the past month. I had a host cousin that had a baby, he was the cutest 4 month old, but his diapers was a towel. Whenever I would hold him, the pee magically didn't soak into the cloth but soaked my shorts. Children(toddlers) here who are not potty trained just pee whenever. For example: I am standing in church singing when my feet are splattered with a liquid. I look over and my 3 year old niece just peed in my sisters arms, they acted as if it were nothing.
BUGS!!! Bugs here have 9 lives just like cats. I have killed many different bugs, mostly cockroaches, with my shoes and I get them good. But, they tend to come back to life, injured and all they try to crawl around. I hit them again and again. It grosses me out and I squeal just about every time!!!
Mosquito's- I HATE you!!!! I am not one to use the word hate often, its a very strong word and I more often strongly dislike something rather then hate. But these blood thirsty annoyances are on my extremely short HATE list. I can hear them flying around me but can't see them so it makes me paranoid. I have five bites at the moment and they itch so bad!!!!
Wall Spiders- We have these giant spiders that lay flat against the wall and move faster then I ever could. They are found everywhere here and are not really killed often because they eat the enemy, Mosquito's!!! I currently have one chilling on my curtain near my bed, I haven't decided if I will let it stay that close to where I sleep.
Food- I have had traditional fish and regular fish here and they both aren't bad. I kind of like it. Except for the fish heads (eyes and all) and all the bones. Too much work. But seriously, as a new fish eater, I have braved that storm and ventured into new waters. Minus the canned sardines or anchovies. YUCK!!! Too fishy!
Another food no no, is Tripe. I think I dislike it just as much as canned fish. It smells bad and the texture is just to weird for me. I finally had to break down and tell my host fam, I don't like it. It didn't help that we had it every other day, if not every day.
One persons Trash is another kids treasure!!!! I give my trash to my 7 year old cousin and my 3 year old niece to throw away and they carry the bag away and come back to my room with articles of my trash like they are toys.
Did you know that a styrofoam take away container can double as not only a storage devise for more trash but also as a car? A broken mouse is totally a car! Pill packaging is the best to lick! Yup, iron supplement residue must be the new sugar! My trash is pure gold in their eyes. Last week my host cousin had my razor in his mouth, I wanted to vomit. (It was the handle end in his mouth and the cover was over the blade still, thank God!)
Sweat!
Good lord, I feel like Richard Simmons in a work out video at Krispy Kreme. I am constantly sweating. The only nice thing about sweating so much is that when you move the sweaty area is cool in the breeze. :) I have never sweat this much in my entire life! Sorry if that grosses you out, but I'm just keeping it real. It is VERY hot and can get pretty humid. I am excited for the rain but also dreading it. It will flood and will continue to be HOT! That means that it will be miserably humid, good thing I have curly hair! :)
That is all for my randomness... for now. I'll post some more later.
As for me, site is great. I live with a family that has 7 kids, one uncle, one cousin, one niece, and a meme and tate (mom and dad). They are great people and are very close reminding me of my family back home. School is still boring but that is just because the learners are currently preparing for their end of year exams. My OVC is great. I think I am really going to love it here. :)
With that said, here are some of the things that I find very different here in Namibia.
Potty Training: Lets just say I have been peed on multiple times in the past month. I had a host cousin that had a baby, he was the cutest 4 month old, but his diapers was a towel. Whenever I would hold him, the pee magically didn't soak into the cloth but soaked my shorts. Children(toddlers) here who are not potty trained just pee whenever. For example: I am standing in church singing when my feet are splattered with a liquid. I look over and my 3 year old niece just peed in my sisters arms, they acted as if it were nothing.
BUGS!!! Bugs here have 9 lives just like cats. I have killed many different bugs, mostly cockroaches, with my shoes and I get them good. But, they tend to come back to life, injured and all they try to crawl around. I hit them again and again. It grosses me out and I squeal just about every time!!!
Mosquito's- I HATE you!!!! I am not one to use the word hate often, its a very strong word and I more often strongly dislike something rather then hate. But these blood thirsty annoyances are on my extremely short HATE list. I can hear them flying around me but can't see them so it makes me paranoid. I have five bites at the moment and they itch so bad!!!!
Wall Spiders- We have these giant spiders that lay flat against the wall and move faster then I ever could. They are found everywhere here and are not really killed often because they eat the enemy, Mosquito's!!! I currently have one chilling on my curtain near my bed, I haven't decided if I will let it stay that close to where I sleep.
Food- I have had traditional fish and regular fish here and they both aren't bad. I kind of like it. Except for the fish heads (eyes and all) and all the bones. Too much work. But seriously, as a new fish eater, I have braved that storm and ventured into new waters. Minus the canned sardines or anchovies. YUCK!!! Too fishy!
Another food no no, is Tripe. I think I dislike it just as much as canned fish. It smells bad and the texture is just to weird for me. I finally had to break down and tell my host fam, I don't like it. It didn't help that we had it every other day, if not every day.
One persons Trash is another kids treasure!!!! I give my trash to my 7 year old cousin and my 3 year old niece to throw away and they carry the bag away and come back to my room with articles of my trash like they are toys.
Did you know that a styrofoam take away container can double as not only a storage devise for more trash but also as a car? A broken mouse is totally a car! Pill packaging is the best to lick! Yup, iron supplement residue must be the new sugar! My trash is pure gold in their eyes. Last week my host cousin had my razor in his mouth, I wanted to vomit. (It was the handle end in his mouth and the cover was over the blade still, thank God!)
Sweat!
Good lord, I feel like Richard Simmons in a work out video at Krispy Kreme. I am constantly sweating. The only nice thing about sweating so much is that when you move the sweaty area is cool in the breeze. :) I have never sweat this much in my entire life! Sorry if that grosses you out, but I'm just keeping it real. It is VERY hot and can get pretty humid. I am excited for the rain but also dreading it. It will flood and will continue to be HOT! That means that it will be miserably humid, good thing I have curly hair! :)
That is all for my randomness... for now. I'll post some more later.
As for me, site is great. I live with a family that has 7 kids, one uncle, one cousin, one niece, and a meme and tate (mom and dad). They are great people and are very close reminding me of my family back home. School is still boring but that is just because the learners are currently preparing for their end of year exams. My OVC is great. I think I am really going to love it here. :)
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