In Namibia!

I finally arrived in Namibia on January 2^nd after missing my first flight due to the weather in New York. Although I missed a few days of orientation and getting to know the other volunteers, I adjusted quickly and it feels like I have been here for weeks.

All of my flights went smoothly. I traveled from Newburgh to Detroit to Washington D.C. to Senegal to South Africa to Namibia. Traveling was long and tiresome but on my last flight from Johannesburg to Windhoek, I was blessed with a grand finale of beautiful weather and an inspiring presentation of clouds, like nothing I have ever seen before. Looking out the window and ignoring everything inside the plane I felt as if I was floating in an imaginary dreamland. The transition from day to night caused further astonishment. By the time I landed in Windhoek, outside was completely black, different from landing in a city like New York where you can see the bright city lights. Descending into Windhoek was like being on an amusement park ride where you are moving but can not see where you are going or anything around you. Of course, the trip couldn’t be perfect. My luggage stayed in Johannesburg while I left for Windhoek. I received my luggage two days later and, with Johannesburg being notorious for theft, my running sneakers and bed sheets were missing. I got over this quickly after acknowledging that there are more important things to focus on.

I stayed in Windhoek for one night and the next morning we left for our teaching practicum in Tsumeb. I was amazed at the wildlife I saw on the road. We had to stop several times for passing baboon-like monkeys and other “exotic” animals.

The hostel that we have been at this week is very nice with beautiful trees and landscaping. There is a swimming pool that we have used several times, a common room, a kitchen and a place to buy beer and soft drinks 24/7. This is all in an outside courtyard that is surrounded by all of the bedrooms. Our schedule this week has been: preparing lessons 9-10 AM, teaching 10AM-12PM, lunch/break 12-1:30PM, a debrief session 1:30-2:30, training sessions 2:30-5, and after 5, one group prepares dinner while everybody else does whatever (swims, plays cards, explores the town...). So far we have had Chicken Parm, bobotie (A South African dish that our group made), hamburgers and baked mac and cheese, prepare your own baked potato, and chili with cornbread. Tomorrow night we are having a braai which is a Namibian bbq. Yesterday, I went running during my break and got to explore the town. After dinner we have been doing something called “spotlight” where we all come together and each person speaks about his/herself. Usually 2-3 people go each night and it usually lasts for about an hour. I am going tonight. Last night, we stayed up late playing cards. We all stayed up late because we were free this morning and from 1-4AM we have access to free internet.

With the morning free today, Bridge and I decided to take a walk to visit the local cemetery. It was neat to see their way of Christian burial. After, we went swimming and I got sunburn. Tomorrow we are leaving at 6AM for Etosha, a national game reserve.

I hope everything is well with everybody and I would love to hear from you!

I will try and put pictures up next week