Time to catch
you all up. I made it! Although I’ve had pretty reliable internet access at a
few places in my current town, PC is keeping us trainees pretty busy during
PST. So I’ll do my best to fill in the past two weeks without droning on about
details.
Also: I got a
phone number. Anyone who wants to have it should just shoot me a message on
Facebook, and I’ll happily share it with you. I’d just rather keep it off the
web (don’t want crazed iSoDope fans or Edward Snowden copycats calling me).
Where to start? From the beginning, perhaps.
After an early wake up in Philadelphia (2 AM), we drove straight up to JFK
airport. Neat thing was that we drove right through the heart of Manhattan and
got a perfect look at Times Square. I think I needed that. 4 AM in the city
with no traffic. Went right through the Lincoln Tunnel. Nice way to say goodbye
to the US. At 11:15 AM, we all (deliriously) boarded our flight. I was
completely out of it. As was everyone else.
When we boarded the plane I was one of the last
ones to board - mostly because I made a mad dash to Hudson News to by some
ZzQuil. I quivered with excitement as I looked to my seat (64 A) and the seat
next to me (64 C) was empty. Nothing like a 15 hour flight with some leg
room. Unfortunately, my excitement was short lived. My row-mate for the journey
joined me. He wasn't much of a conversationalist.
“So are you from South Africa?” I asked.
To which he, without even looking at me replied,
“yes”.
So that was that. Fifteen hours later Dr.
Introvert, Group 40, and I touched down in Johannesburg. The city looked
massive. I’m excited to get back down there. A four hour layover, a quick two
hour flight (in which I was upgraded to business class due to a ticketing
error), and we were finally in Windhoek.
As you can tell from the video, there is nothing
for kilometers (forgive my choice of unit as I’m trying to make the change). It’s
easy to see how this is the 2nd least densely populated country in
the world. But we were here.
And what a feeling it was. I had trouble
identifying what my primary emotion was. Jetlag, excitement, exhaustion,
anxiety? But we still had 1.5 hours of travel to get from the airport to our
new home of Okahandja. We were all zonked from the trip. It’s an interesting
feeling when your excitement is dueling your body’s urge to shutdown. A mental
and physical tug-of-war.
By the time we got to the training center in
Okahandja it was dark enough for us to be disoriented. I’d moved around so much
in the past 30 hours, that I wasn’t sure where the hell I was. But I tried to
understand that I was home. I tried to understand the magnitude of what had
just happened. I left the states behind for two years in the unknown. I knew I
was traveling, but it took me a minute to recognize that each leg of the trip
pulled me deeper into something entirely unfamiliar. Maybe it was the
exhaustion, or maybe it was the gauntlet of twenty LCTs singing to us as we
arrived, but I realized all of this right when I stepped off that bus. I had
signed many forms and said my goodbyes, but stepping off that bus was my own
personal agreement and acknowledgement that this was all real.
The next few
days were a blur. Getting settled was pretty difficult when you are living out
of a bag. We were staying, temporarily, at a training and conference center
that was a short walk away from the Town Hall where we would be having our
training for the next three months. I had 5 roommates. The accommodations were
great! No snoring roommates and a comfy bed to boot.
We would be
staying at Kukuri Center for 7 days until we got our host families arranged.
The days leading up to that were filled with shots, medical and site
interviews, presentations, and warm welcomes. I was jet lagged for most of it,
and overwhelmed during all of it, but I felt the excitement of new beginning.
The day came
where I would 1) receive my language and 2) meet my host family. Peace Corps
seems to like to pile all the excitement on a single day. They dished out the
language information with a local twist. We were all handed pieces of paper
with animals native to Namibia. We were to make the noise of that animal until
we found the LCT (Language and Cross-Cultural Trainer) with the same animal. I
got the desert fox. Great. An animal with no universally understood sound. So I
did what anyone would – I barked. After meeting a lion, 2 horses (I assumed
zebra), a host of elephants, and what I thought could have been a whale, I
changed my tactics. I began just listening to the animals of the volunteer
world, to see if I could filter out a fox-ish sound. No luck. It wasn’t until
my LTC came by me and just showed me his picture. Remsy flashed me his fox and
I had to ask: “What language do you teach?!”
Otjiherero.
Spoken by the four clans of the Herero tribe. I knew absolutely nothing about
the language or the people who spoke it. I’ve since done some research and will
definitely throw a post up as soon as my language skills improve.
And I moved in
with a family the next night! I said by to the other 48 trainees and hopped
into my host mothers car. I would be living at her house with her two sons
(Johnson 17, Waldo 5) and her mother (Ouma) until September 26th.
They live in a neighborhood in Okahandja called Smarties (because each of the
houses is painted a different bright color).
I’ve now been
living with them for about 5 days. They’re wonderful. I felt immediately
welcome in their home. Waldo is a ball of energy. He loves playing cards
(specifically the game ‘War’). I taught him the rules, but he changed them a
bit.
Waldo’s Rules
for the Card Game War
1)
He
can look at his cards.
2)
He
can play any card he wants whenever he wants.
3)
I
have to play my card first.
4)
If I
have two Kings after he deals, I have to give him one. (This rule does not
apply to Waldo).
I’ve not yet
beat him. I have hope.
Johnson is a
super smart kid. He’s in Grade 10 and is in the middle of his exam period now.
He loves African House music, hip-hop, and R&B. He’s already shown me so
many sweet songs.
As for my host
mother Maggy – she is the best. She organized a BBQ yesterday that her sister,
brother, and their families could come and meet me. I appreciate, so much, her
hospitality and generosity. It’s an amazing feeling to be welcomed,
unconditionally into a home. I feel so comfortable here.
It’s a strange
feeling waking up, every day, with a smile on your face. I love it here. I’m
happy here. I know I’m new. I know that this is just the beginning, but what a
lovely beginning it has been.
I’ll be sure to
check in soon. The next 2 months will likely be a lot of the same – training,
training, and more training.
(Post-Script)
So uploading
this business is harder than I originally imagined. And the longer I wait, the
more there is to update. So I’m no longer studying Otjiherero. My CED Placement
Officer pulled me and three other volunteers out of the class to tell us that
our languages would be getting swapped (this usually happens with either site
switches or medical considerations – in this case, the former). I’m now
studying Afrikaans. Which is awesome for two reasons – 1) Words like brood
(bread), kom hir (come here), and telefoon (telephone) & 2) my host family
speaks it. Either way – I’m excited for the change, and although it's a bit
discouraging to have to start over, I know it was for a good reason.
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