July Came and Went...

Tuesday, July 1 - Tuesday, July 8:

Last week I had hoped would be the first week back on track with everything. When I say everything, I mean continual work on all the projects - garden, building, etc. The Thursday before at the meeting that only a few showed up to, they gave me all the days and times for when they would be around for work. Wednesday, we were supposed to start working on the garden again. Wednesday came and no one showed up. I did what I always do and went up to the garden and put in some time. Still…no one else showed up. I made the decision that unless at least one other person shows, I am not going to work in the garden alone. The garden is supposed to be for them…they need to take some ownership.
Thursday morning came and went without anyone showing up for the project meeting and then only 3 showed up to English. Few showing up for that doesn’t bother me all that much because teaching English isn’t a priority like the other things. After English and some lunch and then Lyambezi wanting to use my computer to write an accident report, I headed to the hike point to make it to Nkurenkuru. I waited about 3 hours and just (of course) when I had given up and was going to head home, my ride came. This time, with an Evangelical pastor who proceeded to try and ‘save’ me for the next hour.
At Sarah’s I had a package waiting from Craig. Craig is someone I don’t know at all. We just ran into each other online and he was kind enough to send me some stuff. He had no idea Dove chocolates are my favorite in the world - and they made it here without melting!
Friday morning I waited for Janne (Suvi’s husband) to pick me up around 7:30 and we headed to Rundu. We had a great conversation about Namibia on the way there. He dropped me off at the TRC. I ran into Justin and we caught up a bit, then I headed into town to run a bunch of errands. I met Juice at the carwash for lunch then as I was heading back to the TRC to see Mary, I got a text from my hetero life partner Kennedy (in Caprivi). Come to find out he was in Rundu for the big party! I grabbed a taxi and headed to Patrick’s to see him. He’s my bud, what can I say. He and I and Thea headed into town to get them something to eat. We ended up going to the Omashari for pizza - okay, twice in a 2 week period, I know I’m really splurging. We returned to Patrick’s and crashed. While we were there, most of the 26ers were at Maggie’s. That night, Alex got burned accidentally by a firecracker and the next day he was flown to Windhoek. He’s freaked out that he might be sent home because of the incident.
Saturday I found out Rachel we in town. She had caught the best hike ever. She flew in with Gaspar (the American Embassy guy) in his private plane. Talk about luck. She was meeting Ash and Juice at the Omashari for pizza but since I had just partaken the night before, I passed on lunch but stopped to say hi. Come to find out, she might be transferred to Rundu because she was attached in her flat at her site. She’s okay and nothing too horrible happened, but she’s on PEP and Hannah B. wants her out of her current place as soon as possible. I’m excited about the possibility of her coming up north, but feel badly about the circumstances.
We then went shopping for stuff to braii at the Bavaria later, headed back to Patrick’s to catch an episode of Lost Season 4. Yes, I FINALLY got it! Around 4:30 we all headed to the lodge and the festivities. It was fantastic. Many 26ers I hadn’t seen since shadowing and initial site visit. It was GREAT catching up with Mary from Andara. The entire evening was great. Everyone chilling out, yeah, there was some alcohol involved, but no one got crazy. I discovered I enjoy Absolut Kurrant with 7-Up - my drink of choice keeps changing. Jeff and I headed back to papa bear’s around 10:30 and went right to bed.
Sunday I was waiting on SNL to text me so we could all hike back together. I went and got some groceries and met them at Engin. While we were waiting on our combi to leave, I ran into Lyambezi. That man is very funny and I’m going to have to talk to him. He KNEW I was in Rundu and would be needing a ride back. What is so hard about sending me a text and telling me when he is heading to Mpungu. This happens quite a lot. He did say if I couldn’t get out of Nkurenkuru that I could catch a ride with him.
When I got to Sarah’s, I decided to do just that. So I texted him and waited. Waiting long enough that I was there when Sarah got home!!! YEAH!!! It’s hard to believe it’s been a month! We caught up a bit, but Michael from BEN Bikes was with her and his assistant (they came up for a meeting the next day). Lyambezi never called so I just slept there. Monday, I waited 3 hours for a hike back to the village and took it easy. I unpacked, caught up on some stuff here, hung with Efuta, then watched back to back episodes of Lost until I fell asleep. I had promised myself I was going to only watch one a week and stretch it out…so much for that.
Today, I worked ALL day in the pharmacy. Organizing and labeling. I also told Lyambezi that I wanted to work as the pharmacy assistant on Mondays. This will give me something to do AND help out the nursing staff. I have a feeling in the next month all the down time I’ve been complaining about having is going to come to a screeching halt and you will begin to hear me complain about having NO time to myself, lol. If it isn’t one extreme it’s the other.

Wednesday, July 9 - Thursday, July 10:

A few of the women from the support group showed up so we worked in the garden for a bit. Digging up tree roots is NOT easy, lol. I have the blisters to prove it. We worked for about 2 hours then I came back and just chilled a bit before lunch. I then prepared for English, cooked dinner and watched some Scrubs. Today, no one showed up for the 9 am meeting (I’m not surprised by things like this any more yet still annoyed). English club went really well and was fun. I then met with the 4 learners who are going to help me with the OVC project to discuss some ideas and make plans for the first meeting. We scheduled it for the first week of the 2nd term. I’m looking very forward to it.
I just returned from the VSOs for dinner which was nice. Dinah gave me a large bottle of Amarula which is similar to Bailey’s Irish Cream. Now, if I only had some eggnog, lol. Tomorrow I am headed to Nkurenkuru for the weekend to hang with Sarah. We have a LOT to catch up with!

Friday, July 11 - Sunday, July 13:

I waited for people to show up to work on the building to no avail, so I called it quits, worked on some things at the house and headed to Rundu. Fortunately there was a car at the clinic heading that way so I didn’t have to hike. Sarah and Lindsey were at her school working on preparations for Saturday’s Talent Show for her AIDS club. I met them there, then Sarah and headed to her house. The rest of the day was low key and we made chili for dinner. We stayed up late watching LOST - too late, and then crashed.
Saturday I ran to the post to find 2 packages waiting for me - thanks again Patti and mom! A little after noon we headed to the school with the supplies. Some of the boys were setting up the tent already. Why they needed a tent I’m not sure. I played with some younger kids who were just hanging around. About 5 I headed back to Sarah’s because I needed to go grocery shopping before the store closed. Also, Stephanie and her boyfriend had stopped by for the day so we hung out a bit. I shopped, waited for Lindsey to shower, then we headed back to the school.
The show was supposed to start around 5, but didn’t get going until around 7:30. Sarah and I were in charge of the door. Selling tickets and letting people in. It was fun but a lot of work. People claiming they had paid for tickets but didn’t have it on them. Older, drunk guys wanting to force their way in because of who they were. I was in charge of trying to keep the event alcohol free. I turned many a drunk man away, lol. The power was nice…I felt like Vin Diesel (he used to be a bouncer before he was an actor ya know!). After a few hours, we wanted to see some of the show and so at that point, we dis-manned the doors and forced our way to the front of the crowd. They were in the dance portion of the show. It was AMAZING! These kids could KRUMP like nobody’s business. On top of that, they were doing it on a stage made from the desks of the library, lol. Many were not wearing shoes or were wearing badly worn flip flops. This did NOT deter them one bit. It’s amazing what people will accept as just part of their lives and work with it. While in the states, we tend to bitch and moan about the silliest shit.
This morning I left around 11, waited a few hours or a ride, snagged a free one, got back here, now I am settling back in. I’m gonna practice the guitar here in a bit then read.

Monday, July 14 - Thursday, July 17:

If I don’t write in this thing every day, the time tends to get blurred and I forget what has occurred. Monday I worked in the pharmacy all day. I have taken on the task of being the pharmacy assistant on Mondays. This helps the clinic staff out and gives me a day of having something concrete to do. I spent the day alphabetizing and labeling the medicine and supplies. I will actually be dispensing medication for patients starting next week.
Tuesday I continued to work in the pharmacy to finish up the organization and that took all day. Wednesday, 3 people showed up to work in the garden so we cranked out a few hours. That afternoon, I checked email to discover that one of the NGOs I submitted the proposal for the garden to, is not going to be able to help me. It’s also not going to be able to help me with 3 of the other ones I submitted. That was a big let down. Ya see, with it going on 6 months that I’ve been at site…I really need to feel like or see something accomplished. It’s really hard for me to accept that I’m doing some good here when I don’t see anything directly. I know that’s the ‘immediate gratification’ need within myself…but honestly, it’s hard to be here day after day, working towards things that seem to get farther and farther away.
How does one keep the faith when there doesn’t seem to be evidence of anything? It’s very frustrating and ends up circling back to my insecurities about being here in the first place. I talked with Sarah about it - who is amazing at all this community work because she’s had MUCH more experience in it. She seemed to think that I haven’t really laid the ground work for getting the people who I need to be involved in the projects…INVOLVED. I feel like I have done my best but I also know that my shy side has kept me from spending time just talking with people. When I hold meetings - the ones where people actually attend - I usually take control of them in order for there to be organization. I think this is one of the first problems. I should let the meetings run themselves and not try to control them. Maybe it IS my fault that things are going as well as I’d hoped. Now the question arises…do I have time to ‘start over’? And do I really need to start completely over or just find some common ground.
I realize that I came into the Peace Corps just wanting to go to another country and ‘work’. To do some good and make a difference. PC doesn’t really work that way though. You have to do ‘community development’ and that involves working with what? The community. I guess I just don’t have the patience to sit around and wait for them to come to me and to spend 5 hours in a meeting and have nothing accomplished. The problem with my lack of patience and desire to get a lot accomplished though, clashes with this particular culture.
Is this entire experience about me learning to slow down and see the bigger picture? I do know on some level that months from now…even a year from now…I will look back and see that everything happened the way it was supposed to. I guess there is just a part of me that wants to see results cause I want the people I am working with to see that I’m actually doing something. But when you filter that down…it’s about ME needing to see that I am doing something here. Is that a bad thing though? If I was working at a job in the states and not accomplishing anything and not finding passion in it…wouldn’t I quit? Why would anyone stay in that place. This is a slightly different situation, so I guess I need to step back and re-evaluate once again.
I have also discovered that I compare my resources to those of others…especially Sarah. It’s the simple things like a fax machine, printer, copier, etc. I don’t have immediate access to those and I sometimes blame that for why I am not more productive. That’s a lousy excuse. THAT filters down to me playing the victim role which I do from time to time.
During all of this emotional shit…my sister called Tuesday night, very upset, to tell me that my dad was having an outpatient procedure done on Thursday morning to see if there is a blockage in his heart. I felt bad that she was so distraught and that I wasn’t there to do anything. I comforted her the best I could. She tends to worry about things much more than I do…she definitely gets that from mom.
I talked to my dad today (Thursday) after the procedure and he was fine and they didn’t find any blockages. Now he will go on medication for about 6 months and he should be fine. One of my biggest fears about being in Africa has nothing to do with ME being in Africa. It’s that something will happen to one of my ‘rents while I am here. I try not to think about it, but it creeps up from time to time - ESPECIALLY when I get news like this. I wanted to grow didn’t I?
Today I got up early to hike to Nkurenkuru for a CACOC meeting. I waited about an hour before landing a ride. I then was in his vehicle for about an hour while he drove around picking people up and then back to Mpungu because he forgot someone. He then proceeded to stop in Nepara (1/2 way to Nkurenkuru) and tell me he decided NOT to go there. So here I was, already late and stuck in a place where there is VERY little traffic. I was cursing this country for about 30 minutes, lol. I finally got a ride, got to Sarah’s, to find out they cancelled the meeting THIS morning! F’N FRUSTRATING!
Sarah and I caught up, ran some errands, walked to the fish farm for some onions and carrots, cooked lunch, played some Phase 10,checked the post, watched some Scrubs, made Gadi-Gadi for dinner and now she’s on the phone with her sister. It’s time for bed!

Friday, July 18 - Sunday, July 20:

It’s a bittersweet irony that the person I’m closest to in the PC (emotionally and physically) has so much experience with community development. All of Sarah’s projects and people seem to be going full-strength ahead with lots of motivation while mine have come to a standstill. On one side, for me, I can bounce things off her to figure out what I’m doing wrong. On the other hand, it infuriates my ego to have to lean on her for support. AND the whole comparison thing that I do so well.
I haven’t been sitting on my ass at site but I haven’t been doing things the way should have probably been done in order to keep the motivation going. This is just going to require me to ‘re-focus’ which is a word I keep throwing around. The problem I have with doing that, is that I feel like I am running out of time. It’s funny how when I first got to site and was so freaked out about being in the village that I wanted time to go by quickly. I kept counting down the days til I got to leave site or got to leave the country. Now I fear that I don’t have enough time to complete the projects I’ve started in the next 16 months! It’s already the end of July (practically) and then there’s August which will go by quickly cause I’ve planned a week’s vacation at the end of the month. Then it’s September and I start my OVC program.
ADHD - back to the garden project. Maybe if I have a meeting and the people decide that we don’t need the extensive fence that initially they asked for and the water tank and such. Maybe if we fenced in a smaller portion of the garden area with thornbush, got NamWater to install the pump, that we could round up the money in a smaller proposal for the garden implements and seeds. THAT way we could get planting very soon and then I could try and get money for a fence during the rest of my time here. Maybe there is even a way to build a cheaper fence…one that would keep the animals out and we would have to hope and pray people wouldn’t steal the food. Sarah has had no problem with theft….yet. But in the next few weeks her stuff will be ready to harvest, so we’ll see what happens.
As far as the building goes. I should have a large community meeting and get more people on board with the project. Also, maybe we are shooting too high to get an actual Community Hall type structure built. I mean, Mpungu isn’t even a town yet and it’s years from becoming one. Also, when that happens, the Ministry of Urban Development will come in and build one. I should just focus on getting a structure built that can be utilized sooner than later. One that won’t cost N$150,000. I could probably get built for closer to N$30,000. We don’t need a super nice roof or electricity or anything like that. It just needs to be a structure with a window and a door and something to keep the rain out. We can enclose it completely to keep out ‘skidders’ (mosquitoes - no, it’s not a Rukwangali word, it’s a hillbilly word).
I know things will work out and this is one of those HUGE lessons in me learning to be patient. It’s also teaching me other things about community development that I’ve realized I just don’t have a passion for. Can I do it while I’m here and find some joy in my accomplishments…I believe so. It’s funny, I knew coming into the PC that I would be challenged…how can one not, right? But the things that I’m having the most difficulty with are not things I thought would come up. I’ll say it again…it’s all about growth, right?
So now that I’ve vented about all of that, I’ll fill ya in about the weekend. Friday we hung out, cooked good food, went to the salon (Sarah got buzzed and I got micro-corn rolls - not quite Bo Derek but I think they are pretty sexy, lol), then we played Phase 10 and Pictionary with Ben, Scot, Lindsey and Christine. It was fun. Saturday we went to the Cultural Dancing Contest at Lindsey’s school. THIS was awesome and it made me wish we didn’t see this kind of stuff more often. Kids from various grades competed against one another in traditional clothing and dances that they put together with current messages - like safer sex, etc. The dancing was amazing! As I sat and watched, I realized that this was a part of their culture that is weeding it’s way out. I mean, people don’t do these types of dances for specific reasons anymore. They used to be done in order to have good harvests, get rain to come, bless the birth of a child, etc. Now they are only brought out during events like this or to satisfy the curiosity of tourists. Some PCVs have told me that when tourists travel through their village, the kids are required to leave class and dance for them. The kids are supposed to benefit financially from this but they never see the money. Most principals or higher-ups pocket it for themselves. If they were getting it, I wouldn’t feel quite as bad but it’s kind of gross that these children are forced to ‘dance for the white man for change’. It’s really sickening.
So, with each new generation, these dances and other cultural parts of their history are lost. I wonder how many years it will take before they are completely forgotten. Probably not as long as I would think.
Later that day Sarah and I watched a movie, she made amazing lentil burgers, then we played Monopoly with the gang. I was the first to lose and usually I’m a VERY bad loser…but I handled it with dignity, lol. We came back and watched some Scrubs and fell asleep. I will be heading home after lunch and just chill the rest of the day. Pick up the guitar a bit and possibly do some yoga. I need to find the strength to somewhat ‘start-over’ and see if I can still make some progress with the things I’m doing at site. If I could get past the ‘comparing’ thing and rely strictly on the praise I get from my supervisor and others, I would realize that I’m doing fine as I am. But is it wrong to expect more from yourself and if not, what is the difference or line per se between having high expectations and never feeling like what you are doing is good enough?

Monday, July 21 - Friday, July 25:

Spank me! I’m a bad ‘journal keeper-upper’. As I said last time, I came back to site with a new found focus and mission. I met with Lyambezi to discuss the changes in our initial plan for things and he was on board. So yesterday morning I sat and waited for people to show up for the meeting. A handful actually did, so things were accomplished. They were actually excited about starting the garden at the clinic and understood what was going on with the funding for the larger one. We also got into a discussion about the theater project - with a lot of arguing about who should be the recipients of the income from it - we left it open for much more discussion.
As I knew it would, when I mentioned that the funding for Veronica and Berta’s sewing business had come through and that I was picking up the machines this coming week, people were full of ideas of their own businesses. I just laughed and rolled my eyes - thinking that I’ve only been here 6 months..where were all these ideas before? Lol.
I also met with both principals this week for them to make announcements about the after school OVC program for the beginning of next term. When I was at the primary school, a couple of the teachers (who I guess live very close to me at the clinic) said they wanted to start exercising and wanted some tips from me. I told them to stop by my house any time and I’d show them some things. Well alas, last night when I was right in the middle of making carrot curry for Christine, Dinah and John, they showed up. This is one of the things I find funny about Namibians. Any American would see that they have walked in on me being very busy and getting ready for dinner. It was rather obvious - things on the stove, candles on the table (yes, candles..you can take the gay boy out of the city but that doesn’t mean I can entertain to the best of my ability in the village!)…so they came in and I’m stirring the potatoes and explaining to the what is going on and can I talk to them tomorrow or the week I get back. ‘NO’ would not be accepted, as an answer. They kept insisting on me showing them some things RIGHT THEN so they could start exercising. I turned the food down and showed them how to do crunches, knee to elbow sit-ups and leg lifts for the lower abs. It was just funny.
Dinner ended up being a great success - ya see, it’s the first time I’ve cooked on Thursday night. I have no excuse but fear for why I hadn’t participated yet. Guess I feel I am not a good cook and was worried they would show up for a good meal and be disappointed - they were not! Dinah was going off on how much space I had because her and John’s is so small. Overall, a fantastic night of food and conversation and I’m excited about the next time I get to have them down.
Today I begin my trek to Windhoek for my medical and dental check up. I’m not taking my computer, so journaling will be by hand until I return. I’m going to make it to Rundu today, Okahandja on Sat and then Wind by Sun. It’s funny timing-wise because just this past week I was flossing and had some pain between two back teeth. That was when I noticed that one tooth is loose. I would not want to be here in the village with a serious toothache, so hopefully the dentist can nip this in the bud. Unfortunately that probably means I will have to stay a few extra days. We’ll see.

Saturday, July 26 - Sunday, August 3:

So Friday I got a hike with Dinah and john to rundu. I was planning on staying at Patricks and had ‘booked’ a night with him a week before. He told me he was going to be away but he would tell Molly, the new crisis corp volunteer would be there so no problem. I arrived early, dropped off my bags (she wasn’t around so I hid them) and went to meet Rachel for dinner. She was transferred from her site to our area because she was attacked at hers.
After dinner I started texting molly to find out if she was home before I walked the 30 minutes back to patricks. At 830 when I hadn’t heard, I assumed something was wrong with the phone so I headed there anyways. I arrived to a dark house, knocked, no answer and got in the hammock to chill while I waited for her. I fell asleep and woke up around midnight. Knocked again, still no response. So what is a pc volunteer to do??? Sleep on the ground outside. That’s what I did.
The next morning, I was awakened to the flushing of the toilet INSIDE the house. I knocked and low and behold, Molly answered. She ahd been there the whole night but never heard me knock or speak her name, lol. TIN!
Saturday morning, after waiting 3 hours, I ended up getting a free hike all the way to okahandja to Ruth’s front door. I hung out with her which was awesome. She is our ‘grandmother’ of the group – she is 70. Sunday, I got up to catch a hike to Windhoek. I found one right away but they were going to a house first then would pick me up in town. They drove right by me the bastards and left me hanging – it’s very typical. So I headed to the road and caught a free hike with the regional counselor from Mariental who had just left Swakopmund.
The first thing I did was drop my bag and head to the mall where I walked to the theater and discovered Sex and The City was playing in 10 minutes!!! The movie was cute but a tad over the top. When finished, I began texting some of the gay guys I had met via my blog who had offered me dinner and places to crash. I connected with roelof a 55 year old spanierd who has lived here for 26 years. We had a great dinner and conversation and then I crashed at his place. MISTAKE!!! Lol, he has this old chiming clock that is broken and LOUD and every hour goes off like 15 times!!!! Unfortunately I left my ear plugs at ruths and so I didn’t get much sleep that night.
So on Monday I started catching up with other volunteers as they arrived for their medical. I also had planned on meeting up with Chico, another guy who lives in Windhoek that I had met online. I went to see The Dark Knight, the new Batman movie with Jeff and Lily and it rocked. It is by far the best thing I’ve seen all year - American standards, not Namibia, lol. Spent some of the day just wandering around and doing a little shopping - I bought a wok! That night I met up with Chico, had a quick bite and then crashed at his place - since I still wasn’t checked into the lodge. I have to say, after 9 months of no sex, it was really nice to lay in bed next to someone. It’s amazing how good that simple gesture feels and how much I have missed it. Course, it made me miss Mark that much more. One of my most favorite things was curling up next to him - especially on a cold winter’s night and falling to sleep with his scent in my face.
Tuesday I hung around the PC office and lounge. I gave Linda a copy of the Rukwangali text book that I’ve been working on and she and Edward were very impressed. It felt good to see all my hard work printed out and in my hand. I still have to get a few copies to Magreth and Anna Marie for some last minute proofing but otherwise, it looks damn good.
Later that day I checked into my room and then a bunch of us went to Jeff’s and ordered Taal and had it delivered. It of course was good, but I think I’m actually preferring Ben’s curry more. Chico was actually going to come over and spend the night with me, but our wires got crossed and it didn’t happen. Just as well.
Wednesday I reported to the med office to start all of that business. They whisked me off to the dentist only to discover my appt. was the next day, so they brought me back. Let me backtrack by saying that I was suppose to meet with the PCMO before my dentist but she moved my appt. til after. So upon returning from the dentist, I had a few hours to kill. I went and purchased the sewing machine for the Veronica and Berta. I then returned to the office only to find they decided to push my appt. til the next day. Such is PC life. BE FLEXIBLE! Lol.
That night, Chico came over and yes, well, um…I had sex. Sex for the first time in 9 months. It was very weird. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy sex. A lot actually. But there was something different about this. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s been so long. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve gone through so much in the past 9 months, but…I didn’t enjoy it. It felt vacant and weird. I felt like I was going through motions but not experiencing any sensation. It dawned on me when it was all over that I’ve what was missing was the emotional component. Now…I’ve had a lot of sex and a lot of the time I left that part out on purpose. Basically I was just getting off and I always thought that was okay with me. I’ve realized now though that without it, I feel empty. Oddly enough, there was also a little guilt. I kept trying to figure out where that was coming from. I mean, Mark and I are not together. There is no commitment there currently cause frankly, I wouldn’t ask that of him…not with me 9000 miles away. It’s just not fair. But yes, I felt like I had ‘cheated’ on him. In the 5 years that we were together, during the times that we had split up and I was with other guys, I never felt that. This time I did. It was strange.
I’ve struggled my entire adult life with the concept of monogamy. Wondering whether it was something that really worked for me or whether it was some archaic religious concept. I’m starting to believe that maybe I am built that way after all. That I do want to find that one person to connect with. That one person who understands me. Accepts me. Challenges, loves, supports and excites me. Yeah…I think I do want that. I wonder sometimes if that person is Mark. Our relationship was never perfect but it had some really wonderful stuff in it. I know the part I played in not allowing it to be better than it was. In our conversations since I’ve been here, he has shared his feelings about his role in it as well. A huge part of me hopes that when I return to Cincy, we can address the ‘us’ again and see what happens. Is that selfish of me? Or romantic? Lol
Thursday I had all my medical appts. No cavities and the teeth are fine but I kinda have high blood pressure. It’s nothing to be worried about. The doc just wants me to cut out salt from my diet and then retest me in a few months. I never really paid attention to my intake of it. I think I ingest MUCH more than I should be. God I feel old. That night we all went out for all you can eat pizza and then I crashed. Thursday was also my father’s 80th birthday but I was unable to get ahold of him. My uncle Von had to have a triple bypass so my dad had travelled to Kentucky to see him. 80, damn. He’s like the energizer bunny - he just keeps going and going and going. I was able to email him a little birthday video so I hope he got to at least see that.
Friday, after breakfast, I began the daunting task of hiking back to site. I stood on the side of the highway for 3 hours before someone picked me up. They gave me a ride as far as Grootfontein. It was in a BMW so it never dawned on me that I was going to be charged. When he asked for money, I just shrugged, showed him my empty wallet and said I was sorry, lol. I tried for 6 hours to get a hike out of there to get to Rundu and nothing was working out. I then started to get worried wondering where I was going to lay my head that night. The ‘victim’ mentality sprung up and I was cursing PC, lol. I then called Peter, the nephew of my host father when I lived in Groot. He was not home, but called me back to say that he had made arrangements with his neighbor to have them let me in his flat so I could sleep safely tonight AND he had a taxi on their way to pick me up. Damn, the people of this country are amazingly generous! I went into the petrol station to pick up something to eat for dinner and on the way out, ran into someone going to Rundu, so I caught a ride with them. A very COLD ride in the back of a truck. The trade off was that it was a gorgeous night and I got to stare at the stars for a few hours.
I went straight to Patrick’s and crashed.
Yesterday, I waited a good 3 hours before catching a ride to Nkurenkuru. A rough ride at that. The driver was morbidly obese - which, trust me, it’s very difficult to find that in Namibia culture, I mean, hell, most people don’t eat that much. He drank tumbo (the traditional alcohol) the entire drive and stopped so frequently that I felt I could have walked faster. I arrived and it was nice to see Sarah and sort of be back home. Actually, I couldn’t WAIT to get back to my site. My bed, etc. This place really is beginning to feel like home to me. What a change from when I first arrived, eh?
It was Ben’s birthday, so he was cooking curry. Sarah made an amazing chocolate cake and I made pea and potato samosas. So much food went into my belly it was ridiculous. We then played Moosopoly. Not Monopoly. Moosopoly. Scot, Lindsey and Sarah had spent an entire day make a Namibia version of Monopoly on the back of a reg. monopoly board! It was fantastic and included MY HOUSE!!!! It was an awesome night of music, laughter and fellowship.
Today, I began watching the second season of Heroes (I snagged a lot of movies while in Windhoek), and then headed home. God it was good to arrive in Mpungu in one piece. How nice to walk into my house, take a shower, put my stuff away and just sit. I’m home….I’m home.