1 year NAMiversary

One year since coming to Namibia!  (Photos taken in August of 2010.)

( Only some of us in Group 32.)

Remembering our bittersweet send-off in Philly...

We can't exactly remember what Grandpop was doing (we guess he got tired), but then again, do any of us usually understand what he is doing??!  ;-)

Can you believe it's been a year?!  We wonder how long it feels to all of you in the States..?

Good-byes and Hellos: Staging in Philadelphia

Sunday August 15th (7:00pm) -- Tuesday August 17th (2:30am!)

As for the 'good-byes' (or really, the 'see you laters'), it was pretty tough at the end there. The emotions started to hit me on Saturday night at a party at the Minguez's (Kevin's aunt and uncle's place) and Sunday while moving out of our place and while the Metz family band dropped us off at the Holiday Inn here in Philly. Kevin's been saying he still doesn't think it's hit him yet though!(This was before the tears!)

The hellos helped a lot though, as ~42 other Peace Corps going to Namibia were also checking in and congregating. Momma Metz called it when she pointed them out to me, saying we'd be socializing in no time! It was nice. A large group of us went to a pretty chill bar nearby, so it was fun getting to know everybody and hear about their journeys with the PC so far. We quickly learned that almost all of us have secondary education assignments (either English, Math, Science, and a few IT), but we also have a few with business assignments. About a 50-50 split of guys and girls. Most of us between 22 and 27 in age with a few middle aged women as well. Trainees from all over the States, we've got them pretty covered, though we noticed a few volunteers are from Montana and another few are from Wisconsin. Kevin and I were lived the closest to the Staging event in Philly. Many were jealous of our convenience, but someone did approach me and awkwardly admit that her first impression of us was seeing me crying while saying good-byes to the Metz's in the lobby!

Today (Monday) mainly consisted of a 10-minute walk down to the clinic to get our Yellow Fever vaccines (Kevin did quite well!) and what I would describe as orientation. More getting to know each other, getting to know the PC (its goals, missions, expectations of volunteers), discussing anxieties and aspirations, and logistics. There were some skits and drawings involved along with the discussion to keep us engaged and having fun, so not a very stressful day at all.

One of our facilitators served full terms in Chad and then Namibia not long ago, which meant we got to learn it is a pretty awesome country to be placed for reasons to follow later. In fact, one of the volunteers finished his service in Niger and chose to transfer to Namibia specifically because of all the great things he'd learned about it..

Also Kevin and I got lunch by ourselves at a restaurant where I soon learned a fellow Ursinus graduate in my class is now working to pay for grad school! Small world! And a group of 10 of us went to dinner at a Thai restaurant for our last dinner in the States (for a while)!

What we are packing (basically)

... Thought some of you might be wondering! We are each able to pack what any international traveler can, according to airport guidelines, 2 checked bags and 1 carry on (+ a personal item like a purse), containing:

- Several shoes! Comfortable dress shoes for teaching, Hiking boots, Chacos (hiking sandals), sneakers (for other pursuits), Sandals, Flip flops. Some socks too.
- 7-10 dressier outfits for teaching and going around, more can be bought there
(Namibians view clothing as an expression of respect rather than self (like here) so looking neat and professional is very important!)
- Clothing for hiking and outdoor pursuits
- 12-15 underwear, oh yeah
- Warmer clothing for cooler winter nights
- Set of sheets
- Lightweight towel
- Toiletries (some, the rest can be bought there as needed), including lotion (to help with the dry climate)
- Water bottles for the hot, dry climate
- Laptop and all that (good for teaching and communicating with all a ya'll)
- Camera!
- Glasses (1-2 prescription sunglasses, good to us so far!) Few pairs of contacts but PC and our eye doctors recommended we stick with glasses so we're playing it safe. This is mostly because of dust because water is actually usually safe in Namibia.
- Photos of YOU for us to feel at home and to show our new friends
- Sleeping bags and mats (good for our leisure times of exploring the region)
- Other camping stuff to make life a little easier (headlamps, flashlights)
- Gifts for host family (kid stuff, calendars of American landscapes, framed photos of us- they apparently really like that kind of thing!, etc)