We warned you!

Yes, Patches is taking over our "Adventures in Namibia" blog!  Not what you were expecting by us becoming Peace Corps volunteers, was it?!  (Trust us, an important lesson one must learn about the Peace Corps is that things will not always (/often?!) turn out the way you expect!

We know you are anxious to see and read more about Africa and our endless battles of dodging venomous snakes and territorial hippos, but we will be here for 2 years!  Plently of time to blog about that!

Rest assured, we have been working behind the scenes and taking photos around Khorixas so we can introduce you to our new home town in a few days.  As you will soon see, it's... a simple place.

To reiterate though, we are currently in a transitional time when we are not teaching, travelling, etc.  Just getting adjusted to life here.  (Sorry to disappoint, but recently our biggest challenge most days is actually beating our high scores in Yahtzee (and raising Patches, needless to say), rather than surviving threats against wildlife!).   So frankly, it wouldn't be a huge exaggeration to say that Patches is our life right now!  Also, researching and making travel plans for the fast-approaching December holiday has been time-consuming, and you will get to see the fruits of that labor once we embark on those adventures!

So you can expect a post about something other than Patches soon.  In the meantime, figured it was a good opportunity to be rather frank in shedding more light about our daily living these last 4 weeks (and next 2, before Reconnect).  Be reminded of the contents of our "Phase 2" entry when you might check our blog hoping the newest post would be something exotic this time!

:-)

More Patches cuteness

  

  

And Kevin cuteness too. :-)

   

You can see how much longer he's getting!

 

And taller... and more muscular!

 

 

 

 

He will literally walk in our shadow to try to shelter himself from the sun during our walks. (We already knew he was good-lookin' so now we know he's smart too!) Khorixas can be too hot for us too, so we understand.

That's "Mr. Dolphin"... thanks for the stuffed animal suggestion Kara!  It worked like a charm!  Though it's a bit of a love/hate relationship... one minute he's ripping him apart, the next, he's sleeping on him

 

"Phase 2"

"Phase 2" is the name Peace Corps gives to the period after training & swearing-in and before attending "Reconnect" & getting to work. Most PCVs live in another homestay during Phase 2, including us.

"Reconnect" is another training session in which PCVs in our group reunite to reflect on Phase 2 and prep for the work!

(Peace Corps is full of terms, acronyms, and other jargon. Tell us to define any that we neglect to! "Reconnect" is pretty self-explanatory. To me, "Phase 2" just sounds, I don't know, sci-fi or something.)

So currently, we are in "Phase 2." (See! It's like we've entered a parallel universe, or something!) It's a pretty flexible and chillaxed time of acclimating and integrating at our site (ours is Khorixas). We have some assignments, involving making maps, interviewing community members, finding a language tutor and setting that up, attending school, journaling, etc, etc, so those things have helped keep us busy.  Actually in the past, groups have complained that their Phase 2 was too long and too boring! So in response, ours is 6 weeks with assignments. For better or for worse.

Patches is the other element keeping us busy during Phase 2!  Thankfully Phase 2 is a time of flexibility and adjustment, which we NEED because our little puppy has been so needy!  He still hates being left by himself and cries most of the time we are gone, but he is doing better sleeping in his bed by himself, though he definitely still prefers to cuddle.

So we have an excuse to post lots of Patches photos and updates!  (I think he honestly is the thing keeping us most busy right now, so it's justifiable!)  :-)

That being said...

Patches' favorite place to be (and sleep)...

His second favorite place to be (it's true, Kevin even thinks so)...

 

 

 Let's see that a little closer...

Patches <3's his mommy...