Wrapping up training...

We took our Final Language oral exam yesterday and we will receive our marks later today, but we're feeling pretty good because we're pretty sure we passed. It's a relief to have that pressure off and no more 2-4 hours of language studying everyday!

Tomorrow (Thurs) we go to Windhoek to do some food and household items shopping before departing for site after the Swearing-in Ceremony on Friday. I can't believe our 2 months of training is days from completion. (And we will finally officially be PC Volunteers!)

We have a little surprise for you, so if you like surprises, check back this weekend for that post. I wonder what it can be..?! :-)

Departing for our site visit to Khorixas!

So very shortly, we will be departing for our site visit to Khorixas with our two principals who we met yesterday. Basically, the purpose is for us to begin to meet people in the community and schools (and we all know how important first impressions are), and to orient ourselves and mentally prepare for what we can expect. We are excited, but also a bit nervous... because we hope we like Khorixas! (It could be a long 2 years if we don't!)

Yesterday: Yesterday, all of our supervisors arrived in Okahandja to meet us and attend a Peace Corps-run workshop with us. Most of our supervisors (about 70% male) are the principals of the schools where we will be teaching. My and Kevin's supervisors (and many others) seemed like very friendly and cool people, and many have a surprising amount of teaching and administrative experience, in part because they were able to begin their professions quite young. Kevin said, according to his math, that one of the principals he interacted with seemed to begin his teaching profession at 16! It's amazing though that, despite the age and experience of the teachers and administrators in the room, as well as of those who had come to run guest presentations at previous training sessions, Namibians have been so grateful and humble in requesting our assistance and expertise. (Keep in mind, most of us have little to no teaching experience.)

Along our way to Khorixas we will stop (or "make turns") in both of our main shopping towns, Otjiwarango and Outjo, for food and maybe some other goodies. All in all, without the stops, Khorixas is probably about 4 hours from Okahandja (the town where we have been living and training), but with the stops we will be traveling most of the day. It's pretty exciting to be going through shopping towns when you, like many Namibians, don't regularly have access to the ammenitites available here. So when traveling, one should always expect to make turns, probably at every shopping town you will pass through, for a lengthier period of time than expected. (To our understanding, Khorixas has some basic shopping, but it is limited as well as more expensive.)

That being said, we probably will not have email access until Wednesday/Thursday. Familia- if you really need to get a hold of us, we emailed you our cell phone number a couple weeks ago, which is possible for you to call (preferably using Skype to Go, since it is cheaper for you).

Birthdays!

We celebrated numerous birthdays last week, including 2 fellow trainees (who were born on the same day-- we surprisingly have a few of those in addition to the name repeats (3 Kims, 2 Jeanettes, 2 Julies, 2 Stephanies), our host sister Fatima, and our language trainer- dear, Auntie Martha. You can see her featured in the following photos in traditional Damara dress (for the very special occasion of her 65th anniversary on earth).


What a face! You can start to imagine her personality, she's such a cute lady who everyone just adores. We're so lucky to learn language for 2-4 hours with her every day!

Auntie Martha, Benna (our Training Manager, also a wonderful guy)

And for Fatima, we left notes around the house, which she loved! We assured her not all Americans behave as we do!
Happy Birthday to those at home: Grandma, Dave, Gianna, and more!

Dancing

On Saturday we partook in some cultural exchange with a group of young (school-age, more or less) Namibian dancers. They taught us their thing, and we taught them the electric slide, etc. I think it's safe to say they were more skilled than us, but to be fair, I think they perform/compete quite a bit. Good times were had by all. The video doesn't do the dancing justice, but here is a preview (in which I also am featured!).

Sindjendjendje nyemi tandato..

Video sample (courtesy of PCT: Sarah) of how we begin our training sessions each morning. We've learned a number of catchy welcome songs in various African languages- this one is definitely a favorite among many trainees especially! I can't translate the words (of mostly any of the songs, for that matter), but they all basically say good morning or welcome (or at least, that's what they tell us!).



When we get better at it, we will also have to post a video or something soon of us demonstrating how khoekhoegowab sounds (the click language we are learning).

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. :)

Itinerary for our first 8 weeks

Where we are and what we are doing:

Aug 15-- Checking into our hotel in Philadelphia
Aug 16-- Staging (orientation into PC) and more shots :-( mostly for Kevin
Aug 17-- Bus to JFK International airport :-/ ; Fly out to Namibia! (see itinerary below)
Aug 18-- Arrive in Windhoek

******International Flight Itinerary******
Aug 17, 2010- United Airlines- Flight 9816- 15 hr 25 min- Non-stop
Depart: JFK @ 11:15am, Terminal 4
Arrive: Johannesburg @ 8:40am

Air South Africa- Flight 76- 2 hr 0 min- Non-stop
Depart: Johannesburg @ 1:20pm
Arrive: Windhoek @ 2:20pm

Aug 25-Oct 14-- Move in with your Namibian host families in Okahandja, 8 weeks of intensive training begins in Okahandja, usually at the National Institute for Educational Development (NIED), on a variety of subjects to be blogged about

Oct 15-- Swearing-in ceremony to officially become PCV