Mid-Service & All-Volunteer Conference

The week we were away from site was because we attended our group's Mid-Service Conference and an All-Volunteer Conference, both in Windhoek (capital).

The focus of Mid-Service was mostly revolving around, well, that we are at about the halfway point!  Really they held the conference early... We have been in Namibia for 11 months out of approximately 27-28.  But still!  So a lot of the discussion was reflection of what has been going well for us all in the last (almost) year and what we want our final year to look like.

The venue was at a place called Greiters Conference Center which sits in the mountains surrounding Windhoek, offering lovely views (especially at sunrise and sunset).

Since we didn't take any photos on this trek, the following photos were from when we were there previously in Nov/Dec 2010.  A lot of hiking was done and Patches was in attendance that time!

After Mid-Service, we spent the remaining time in Windhoek at a very modern hotel where we enjoyed super-awesome breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  The focus of the AVC was the 50-year anniversary of Peace Corps.  One highlight was that we were invited to the residence of the American ambassador of Namibia for pizza and drinks!  (She knows us too well apparently!)

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. :)