"How to eat a taco"

It's been nice to not have a million things to do (at least at this point), and one thing we've had more time for is cooking!

Our host family is happy too since we got to make tacos for them last week. (Let us know if you can think of other suggestions for American foods that might not be available or common here.)

The tricky part was that the local grocery stores don't stock much in the way of Mexican food. But... we managed!

Meat, cheese, and lettuce were easy. Salsa we made out of enchilada sauce and tomato puree. We put it on our tacos and dipped chips in it that weren't anything like tortilla chips. So the chips and salsa weren't really the same, but they were tasty. We also made the rice more Mexican with tomato puree and some Mexican spices. Refried beans were insanely expensive. The alternative: mashed up kidney beans.

The tortilla shells were the greatest challenge (and really, they weren't very difficult), but also the most rewarding. It was our first time making them from scratch, and luckily (we were nervous at first) they came out awesome and so fresh. I don't know if I'll be able to buy them pre-made anymore.

Hit the spot:

Notice also our lovely kitchen and dining area in the background of the photos. Not much is stocked behind those cabinet doors and drawers (in the way of both, supplies and food), but it certainly is enough to meet our basic needs.

The following video is entitled, "How to eat a taco" (which is a sequel of "How to make a taco.") You can experience our host family with a bit more animation here. :) (Sorry the quality isn't great. I think the mode got switched at some point when our camera was in the hands of a young host cousin.)

Host family at Okahandja

For now, just a few photos of our host family in Okahandja (the town where our 8 weeks of training takes place)...

Top: Grasa (cousin), Kevin, Fatima (sister), Steph
Bottom: Latisha (cousin), Shad-e (sha-day; cousin) , Julianna (mother)

The 3 cousins are going back to school soon, but it was fun to have them while they were in town (though they expended much of our energy, always wanting to play or take photos!).

Exterior of our host house

With host cousin modeling for us

Our host bedroom

Living conditions so far have been modest, but very comfortable. No complaints at all! (Except maybe that our mosquito net (not in this photo) kept falling down on us!)

Arriving in Namibia

PC staff was there to greet us right after we deplaned and went through Immigration at Windhoek, and us volunteers were relieved to find that all of our bags had arrived (ok, except 1, but not bad since there are 44 of us) and had not been tampered with! Johannesburg airport (where we had stopped over) has, well, a reputation, so for those of us who knew that, we felt this was an accomplishment. Using zip ties on the zippers of our luggage may have helped deter any offenders, which Kevin and I distributed to those who also did not use locks since we had so many, so thanks from all of us, Dave, for that suggestion!

PCVLs (volunteer leaders) also greeted us. Basically, they are 3^rd year volunteers in country who finished their 27-28 month assignment and applied to extend and take on a new project while being a support to us first-time volunteers. In this case, they supported us by passing out “fat cakes” (a deep fried ball of dough, like a doughnut) for us to snack on, so I, at least, didn't quite feel like we were partaking in little tastes of Africa yet.About 10 minutes into our bus ride to Okahandja (~1.5 hours, 90km we think), we spotted baboons on the side of the highway, so they were pretty sweet. And after passing through the capital of Windhoek (where we will visit by foot next week), we also observed kudus (in the deer family, but larger and huskier with decent antlers, but you all have google so go ahead and utilize it) and giraffes out our windows! They were pretty close to the side of the road, so we got a great view but unfortunately no photos yet. Those will come I hope, but at least you all know what giraffes look like. :)

The reddish landscape was mostly flat or hilly with some green shrub and vegetation. And also very nicely paved roads (which are characteristic of this country).

Local PC trainers (many of them language trainers) cheerfully greeted us with song and dance in one of the local Namibian languages. Throughout our training the last couple of days, PC staff has expressed their gratefulness for us all coming to serve, which was helpful for those of us who are energized by praise. Sessions have been fairly introductory and basic, mostly concerning health and safety so far. They have been easy on us considering the effect that jet lag, change in time zone, new diet, new environment, and new vaccinations/ medications can have on a person. Oh yeah, and Kevin's gotten pretty brave taking the needle!

So far so good on the malaria prophylaxis. I've been pretty concerned about nightmares, but so far so good!!! To my knowledge, none of the volunteers have been sick or anything yet. We are sleeping under mosquito nets and although mosquitos are not prevalent right now, we have heard some accounts of their effectiveness against lonely spiders.

So bottom-line there is we're healthy and happy. :)