Safe and Sound

Hello Everyone!

Ok, so a lot has happened in the last week, I don't even know where to begin. I suppose I will start with what is now being referred to as the "incident." I will spare all the creepy details, but I will give you a general idea. I awoke last Tuesday morning at 4am to 2 men in my house. It was scary as hell, but fortunately my roommate and I are both safe and nothing serious happened. Waldo, my Associate Peace Corps Director (APCD) was in Swakopmund by 10:30 that morning all the way from Windhoek. He arrived along with the Safety and Security Officer, Blanche. It's Peace Corps policy to remove the volunteer from the scene and back to W'hoek for medical follow up. I was glad to be out of that house and away from anything familiar that reminded me of that night.

I arrived in W'hoek on Tuesday afternoon, with a small bag of clothes and things, thinking I would be back by Friday. Yes, I am writing 1 week and 1 day later....I JUST GOT BACK TO SWAKOPMUND!

This past week was crazy, I mean W'hoek is crazy in itself. It's dirty, loud, lots of people. I love it. Of course, I am a city person......However, there is only so much money PC will give in order for one to survive. I was out of money by Saturday. It's very easy to spend money in the capitol simply because everything you see you say "I can't find that anywhere in Swakop!"

I forgot to mention my house was broken into a second time since we moved out of the house. At this point, Peace Corps drove me back to pack up everything and get it out. What a whirlwind! (Did I mention it takes 3 hours each way from W'hoek to Swakop?)

I am grateful for my time in Windhoek. I was able to see many of my friends from Nam25....I'm not mentioning who, because we are technically not allowed to be in W'hoek without permission. But we did have a fabulous Indian dinner Sat. night. YUM!

The Ministry of Education is now going to put me up in a Hostel at Namib High School. Hostels are very common here in Namibia, and all of Africa I believe, simply because the land is so vast. The learners live at the school and return home (many live on farms) during breaks. I am happy with this arrangement, because I know it will be safe. I haven't yet seen my new flat, but I've lived in a closet before in Boston. I can live anywhere!

Thank you to all my friends and family for your thoughts and well wishes. I'm sure now that this traumatic experience is over, I can move on and really have a great time being a volunteer. I look forward to all the great things ahead!