Hello again, my lovely friends and family!
Sorry it’s been a while since my last post. I think I’ll
post twice this week to make up for it :)
I realized that I never posted about our Swearing-In
Ceremony where we became official Peace Corps Volunteers, so I’ll do a quick
paragraph on that day. We swore in on October 15th in the dining
hall at the retreat center where we stayed for our first two weeks in Namibia—the
location made it all come full circle! The hall was decorated beautifully and
transformed into a formal venue. We were fortunate enough to have many special
guests, including a high ranking official from the Ministry of Education, the
Peace Corps Namibia Country Director, and the United States Ambassador to
Namibia. It was an emotional day where we all took our formal oath of service
and collectively made all of our dreams of becoming Peace Corps Volunteers a
reality. Many of the language groups dressed up in traditional attire from
their tribal region; I dressed up in a pink Wambo dress and head wrap! See the
photo below. (These dresses are now typically just worn by the older
women—younger people just wear a skirt in this pattern, as it’s more fashionable.
I decided to go all-out old lady Wambo for this event though!) The picture is
with my wonderful language group from training, who have grown to become
fantastic friends and an amazing support system. I don’t know what I’d do
without these guys!
My fellow PCV friends and I have grown close very quickly as
a result of this crazy shared experience. We can send each other texts,
completely out of context, like “my kuku wouldn’t let me leave without a
chicken,” which means “I went to visit my Wambo host grandmother’s homestead,
and due to Namibian hospitality norms, she wouldn’t let me leave without taking
a live chicken with me, since she didn’t serve me one while I was there.” The
ease with which we can communicate, due to shared cultural knowledge, is really
comforting. We’ve started to develop a bit of our own vocabulary, too. For
example, “tippy toe,” through a long and unimportant series of events, has come
to mean “my butt/legs are so sweaty that it has soaked through my pants so I
can’t get out of my chair since I’m in public.” That’s how hot it is here.
Every. Damn. Day.
As you can see, I clearly haven’t lost my sense of humor in
all of this! In fact, I think I’m learning very well to laugh at the unexpected
and roll with the punches. For example, while sick and lightheaded at the end
of last week, I moved my large suitcase to get my medical kit out of it. What
did I find underneath my luggage? Why a scorpion, of course. My first encounter
with one was, of course, inside of my apartment while I was lightheaded! I did
my best to react quickly, kill it, panic for a few minutes, and then laugh it
off after a few minutes of “THE UNIVERSE IS NOT ON MY SIDE TODAY” anger. All in
an average Thursday here in Omusati.
On the subject of killing scary/harmful intruders, I’m
starting to think that I’m generating a lot of negative karma due to the amount
of insect and other small creatures’ lives I’ve taken! In the past week alone,
I’ve killed a scorpion, dozens of ants, 5-6 cockroaches, a spider about the
size of my palm (legs included in size), about 7 of that spider’s babies, and a
small gecko. I felt particular remorse about the gecko, but my coworkers told
me I needed to kill it because it chews holes in your clothes… and lord knows a
PCV’s budget doesn’t allow for replacing an entire wardrobe! Fingers crossed
that the whole volunteering thing balances out the karmic scales.
Another topic that I’ve been thinking about a lot is waste
generation. In the US, you throw your garbage in a big bag, bring it to the can
outside, and bring it to the street. A truck comes by to take it and boom, it
magically disappears! No longer your problem; its final destination not even
something you have to consider. On the other hand, here in the village, you
must burn all of your trash. I collect my trash in a small grocery bag and take
it out to the designated burning spot every few days to burn my trash. I often
feel guilty about the plastic containers from products I’ve consumed and how
it’s harmful to be burning these and putting the chemicals into the air. When
the industrial distance is removed and you have to conduct these processes
yourself, it makes you think twice about your consumption.
For a final note, here’s another concept that I’ve come to
know differently in Namibia: sharing. I’ve always thought of myself as someone
who is generous and always offers to share with others. However, since being
here, I’ve learned that I’m a lot more selfish than every Namibian I’ve met.
There’s a common saying here that is “in Africa, we share.” And people take it
very seriously! Here, it’s impolite to eat or drink anything in the company of
others without offering it to them as well. Never mind that you are only
planning to eat a small hard candy… you better make sure you have enough for
everyone before you bust yours out! Or if you buy a small bottle of juice or
coke (what I would consider an “individual sized” bottle or can), you should
expect to share it with 1-10 people. It’s very much a culture of sharing what
little you may have. I think it’s really beautiful. I’m doing my best to adapt
and also remember to buy a bigger bag or bottle than I want, so I have enough
to share an satisfy my wants, too!
That’s all for now, folks. Keep an eye out for a post with
pictures of my awesome flat this week!
Best wishes for health and happiness to you all!
Love,
Christy
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