Where am I going to live?

Now that I’ve been here for over a week, I feel myself settling in nicely. Of course, we are in the confines of Camp Peace Corps (as we jokingly say!) This was a hectic week full of information upon information. We had workshops and classes starting at 8am and going until after 9pm some nights. A lot of PCV’s (current Peace Corps Volunteers) have been here this week for info forums and sessions. I am learning Afrikaans (Ek leer Afrikans!) which has been really fun. It is a lot like German, so I’m lucky to have a little background to help me learn Afrikaans. Basically my day begins at 7 when I shower then eat breakfast. We go straight to language classes from 8-10 followed by sessions on culture and education throughout the day. Our Afrikaans teacher, Liz, doesn’t like to sit in a classroom, so we head into town and speak with the people directly. It is quite hilarious to see a group of Americans march into town and introduce ourselves to random people “My name is Pam. I come from America. I am learning Afrikaans. I am in the Peace Corps.” Oh, and “This is my friend Caitlin. She is a teacher.” We have a ball laughing at ourselves!

The town of Omaruru is really cute. I haven’t seen it in its entirety, but the people are friendly and it has everything we could want. There is a nice coffee shop called the Sand Dragon which is owned by Americans, so many of us PCT’s drop by every now and then for some good coffee.

We found out our permanent sites!!!!

I will be living in……..Swakopmund!

You are probably thinking right now…where is that?? WELL, it is on the coast right in the middle of the country. I think I won the lottery of permanent sites, because it is about 20 degrees cooler than the rest of the country and seems to be quite a happening place! I received a letter from my predecessor, and she said there is a movie theater, coffee shop, and a GYM. Was this what you thought I’d find in Africa? I certainly didn’t! However, I am still a little torn between the Africa I envisioned and the Africa where I will now live. It seems like I will have everything and more in this place. The great thing to comfort my mixed emotions is that my job will bring me out to rural areas. I will visit the schools in my district and meet with teachers to determine which resources the Teacher Resource Center (TRC) can provide. I hope that through my collaboration with other TRC’s, I will make it out to see most of the country. My group Nam 25 is pretty much covering the entire country of Namibia. Some are isolated, others in suburban areas, and others in cities. We leave on Tuesday for our site visit. I will be there for a week then come back only to begin my stay with a host family.

I want to share a few funny things that have happened yesterday. First, there was a group of ostriches in our back yard!!! So funny! Then, after enduring the desert heat for a week, there was a downpour in the afternoon! Last night was great: one side of the camp we had a full on dance party and the other side was movie night. Our tech people are awesome because they hooked up a projector to a laptop and we all watched Office Space. Today is our first full day off, and we pretty much don’t know what to do with ourselves!

I’m working on my cell phone situation at the moment. I’m trying to find a way to unlock my phone from the states. If anyone has any idea on how to do this, please email me and let me know. I’m looking for a “restriction code” for a nokia 3120b phone. Hopefully I can use the one I have from home. Unfortunately, I won’t be calling many people because it is so expensive for me on my tiny tiny budget. But, incoming calls and texts for me are FREE!

I think that covers everything going on here. I want to say hello to all the parents and friends of people in my group who are reading my blog for updates. (Patrick Riley’s dad, Elissa's mom from VA, and Wendie’s friends!) We are all doing well here and are safe. Just the occasional spider and now apparently ostriches!!

I hope everyone is doing well stateside!

Much love,
Pam

Training in Namibia

Hello Everyone!
I am here in Namibia, Africa. These past few days have been very busy, so I will do my best to let you all know what is happening on my end. We arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday night (I think!) It was a very long flight on Wed from JFK. We were greeted at the airport by our Associate Peace Corps Director (APCD) and were off to our fancy hotel. It was nice to relax and hang around a bit in South Africa, however we didn't see much beyond the airport and hotel :( The next morning we were off on a plane to Windhoek, Namibia. As we were flying in, all we could see for miles and miles was well....NOTHING!! I heard some girl jokingly say on the plane "Um, where's the mall??" haha!

We were greeted by Peace Corps volunteers and a few staff and were on our way to a rest camp for the night. Again, it was a nice relaxing time (accept we now had to carry all our luggage with us!). The following day began with meetings and more information sessions. Looking around the room, I saw some very wide-eyes as the staff told us things that "might happen." However, once we met with our own APCD's, I felt much better about my job and what I will possibly be doing. We moved again from the rest camp to our training site in Omaruru. Our bus temporarily broke down in the middle of nowhere, but we weren't delayed too long. Upon arrival, we were very warmly greeted by the local choir...it was very emotional. Then we had another round of shots and talked about our medical stuff. Then we had to put up our mosquito net. I don't know why, but I think lack of sleep and too many people in our room made it really frustrating for me, but after an HOUR, it was finally up and ready to use!

Today we have been interviewing with the education people about placement to our permanent site. We should know by Friday where we will live for the next 2 years. I am very excited!!!

Everything is going pretty well here. Oh, and the woman who is in charge of our valuable belongings is from RICHMOND, VIRGINIA! That makes 4 of us from Richmond!

Thank you for reading and leaving me comments!! I really appreciate hearing from you all :)

much love,
Pam

I'm in Phily!

Hi Everyone!
Just wanted to drop a line and let you know I made it safely to Philadelphia. My bags are SUPER heavy, but I made it to the hotel without any problems. Staging is going very well...we are learning about the basics of the Peace Corps. Not too much talk about Namibia yet. We learn about country specifics once we arrive. I just found out we are spending the night in Johannesburg and fly to Windhoek the next morning.

Everyone here is really nice and very interesting. I'm looking forward to getting to know them more!

I met up with 2 old friends of mine last night....Jessica (Gina's friend!) and Andrew Lipke. I was really glad to catch up with them while I'm in town. Oh, and Tom Douglas (Stephanie Douglas's husband) was sitting behind me on the flight to Phily!!! Small world!

Peace Corps told us to let you all know not to expect to hear from us until at least after Nov. 12th. Hopefully I will have internet or even a cell phone!

That's all for now.....the next post will be from Namibia!!!!!

all the best,
Pam