Saturday, September 20, 2008

Looking back....

As I was sitting in car on our way back to Outjo from Swakopmund I laughed at how much time can change as I tried to remember my past birthdays (and because I’m bored, I’m sharing with you).

On September 6, 1982 I ruined/made my parent’s second anniversary extra special with a surprise appereance.

20 years ago I turned 6 years old in Mrs. Ruckman’s class. My mom had made cupcakes for the entire first grade class. It was an exciting time as I had just started my first sports team ever, softball.

10 years ago, when I had my “sweet 16”, it wasn’t anything like the parties people have on the MTV show but we had a fun backyard swimming party full of my family and high school and waterpolo friends. Like I would for so many years, I enjoyed Jen’s birthday party and then days later we enjoyed mine.

For my 21st birthday I did the classic idea and went to Las Vegas with Jen, Kevin and roommate. I had quit drinking by the time I turned 21 and I don’t gamble so I made my friends go on the roller coasters and check out the interiors of the different casinos, not the usual 21st birthday. For humor Jen and I went to the “Thunder Down Under” show, yeah that was interesting as the 40-50 year old married women made fools of themselves.

For my 23rd birthday, I threw myself a party in my new apartment as a college grad. I bought tons of pizza and giant cookie cakes from Mrs. Fields and celebrated the day of my birth with my southern California friends. My new co-workers at CBU gave me flower which I killed in a matter of days. Stipp and Toni surprised me with a trip to Vegas to see Kelly Clarkson. She ended up canceling the show at the last minute but on a gondola ride I enjoyed the employee’s opera version of “Since You’ve Been Gone.”

When I turned 24 my closest friends from college had a get together near L.A. where we at Adrian’s delicious Mexican cooking and played cards all night (my favorite things).

Last year I celebrated my 25th birthday with Nikki and my parents, the reality that my next birthdays would be in Namibia, when I was called by Loma Linda School of Public Health saying I had to turn in my last paper by midnight. I left dinner headed home to fight with our home internet to turn it in. What a boring thing to do, but I got it in at 11:55.

And this year I was in Namibia, having a weekend with my co-workers going to coast.

Can't wait to see what next year's birthday holds ;)

Monday, September 15, 2008

dear dear Namibia

Dear co-worker who fed me this Sunday,

THANK YOU!!! It was amazing and I'll seriously trade you my chocolate chip cookies for your pumpkin fritters.

Gotta deal?
Dar

Dear Freezing Cold Water Showers,

I'm starting to appreciate you again. Please forgive me for the months of winter where I tried so hard to avoid you.

Glad to be friends again,
Dar

Dear Time Change,

I hate you. You’ve managed to mess up my sleep and running schedule and now I can't function right.

Cranky,
Dar

Dear Bugs,

Why oh why have you returned. Not only have I put my mosquito net down but you are still getting inside and eating me alive. Can’t we make a deal until Christmas or something?

Getting red and itchy,
Dar

Dear Mom,

I love that when you called yesterday and told me of exciting news you said “Oh, and since you won’t be here Friday….”, yes I won’t be there Friday, just like I wasn’t there last Friday or any of the Fridays for the last 11 months. I think it’s time we deal with the fact that I won’t be there for the next 14 months of Fridays either.

Very humored,
Your loving daughter : )

P.S. I joined the Peace Corps
P.P.S. Oh, but please keep the care packages coming

For those special Namiban men in my life…

Dear Security Guard,

You obviously got the point that I was a little weirded out by you and I know you understood when I asked please don’t watch me but tonight you hit a high note. As I was stretching after my run I heard something in the tree above the parking lot where I hang out and wouldn’t you know who was hanging out in the tree. It may have been late and pitch dark but your bright orange shirt gives you away. Please stop. There are so few places I can stretch and exercise without the old people watching me, why must you take away that one?

Not fooled by the monkey in the tree,
Dar

Dear Damara man who asked if he could test my vagina,

No. No sir sadly you cannot. I would also like to add that I’m really impressed by your English vocabulary but my answer is still no.

Not flattered,
Dar

Dear NamPost Employee,

I’m a little hurt that I was your second choice for a foreigner date. Maybe you could have had a shot had you not asked out the VSO first. True there is a good chance you thought she was me but still.

Never going to the lodge for dinner, doing laundry, talking, going for a cool drink or holiday-ing in Etosha with you,
Dar

Saturday, September 13, 2008

***just a heads up

I want to thank everyone who's sent me letters or packages. I really do appreciate it and I promise I'm pretty good about saying thank you via email right away. If you have sent me a package or letter and never got a response there is a good chance I did not receive it and I'm sorry. NamPost is kinda like a crap shoot with packages you never know what they will deliver. So if you are worried about a package please email me and I can tell you the best way to send it and notify you as soon as I get it. I recently learned that I didn't receive two packages from my friends and it made me think that although I thought I received all packages I guess I would never know if someone never told me they sent it and I didn't receive it. So, if you are still waiting for a thank you, email me. Again apologies, one of the troubles with living in Africa.

starting to love the DRC

One of our doctors in Outjo is from the DRC and has decided to make it his job to educate me on current American news, he has a television and better internet access so I gladly appreciate his updates. His wife and I have hardly spoken to each other except about computers and internet for work purposes (she's also a doctor) but one day she touched my stomach and told me I was getting fat, which I did not appreciate as much as she might have thought I would. Anyways, her husband has totally made up for her fat comments, not only for my American news education but also in compliments. One day he said "We always see you running or walking around Outjo and I tell my wife look at how strong she is" (that is more of a compliment than the fat thing) and then last week I was feeling odd about turning 26 (seems old to me) and he said "Oh, don't worry you are still just a girl", thanks friend for brightening my days!

new job skills?

After work on Thursday I was changing my clothes to get ready for my run when someone tried to walk into my apartment. Luckily my door has a latch like the kind hotels have and so the person was unsuccessful. Worried I tried to dress faster, then someone attempted to come in again, and again. I finally yelled out "yes, who is it?", no response. I finally open my door and find my neighbor, the Cuban doctor and one of the elderly men. They both look at me in surprise, like shocked I'm outside (hello you were just trying to come into my house). I discover that they needed my assistance for communication purposes (what?). I'm a little shocked since I don't speak Afrikaans and my two years of high school Spanish hardly qualify me to say anything other then what time is it and where is the bathroom. For the next ten minutes the Afrikaaner man, soon joined by a women, speak to the Cuban through me. Of course what's so ridiculous about this is the man is speaking to me in English and I'm speaking to the Cuban in English so I'm not sure why I was necessary. I guess I have a new job skill now, translating/communicating for those who are too lazy to try. Seriously, what a weird afternoon.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Some of the things that have changed since arriving in Namibia:

- Walking for four or more hours in one day is no longer exercise but part of the job and a normal day.

- Someone proposing to me is no longer flattering but rather annoying. Also, saying yes is sometimes my only entertainment of the day.

- Snakes are mythical creatures to me, everyone tells stories of them and they tell me to be careful and what not but I still have yet to see one of these many snakes, so I put them in the same class as the boogeyman, unicorns and leprechauns.

- Being asked for money by my co-workers is no longer tolerated since I make way less then they do, which I know for a fact since I helped with the hospital budget.

- Talking about bodily fluids is totally acceptable conversation.

- I’m done being polite or nice, I don’t say “yes” to everything asked of me.

- Sometimes I play spider solitaire for hours to pass the time or to give me a break from work just like my co-workers, I feel it’s integration : )

- Like Namibians, I’m all about the freebies, t-shirts, food, tango (phone credit), hats, umbrellas, if it’s free I’m there!

- I floss my teeth just to have something to do during the night.

- Electronics breaking are no longer life shattering. As long as I still have something that semi-works life will be ok. The drama of them breaking has lost it’s thrill as it’s become an everyday occurrence. Currently I only have a shuffle that works and sometimes a camera.

- Personal hygiene is a thing of the past. I no longer care what I look like, at all. I don’t dress up for work anymore and I wear the same outfit everyday, it cuts down on laundry. Also, wearing things covered in dirt is totally acceptable cause even if I wash something it doesn’t stay clean long enough to make it worth it.

- Bugs and flies on my face doesn’t really get to me, except when a bug gets stuck between my face and my glasses, that’s kinda annoying.

- I’m not a clean freak anymore, I honestly have not cleaned my kitchen since arriving in January.

- Anytime I leave Outjo I consider it a vacation and will act like a tourist.

- I don’t really pay attention to people begging for money in front of the grocery store, I’ve seen this place for what it really is and the really poor people don’t have a way to get to the grocery store to ask for money and they are so food deprived that they don’t have enough strength to sit there all day long and pester tourists.

- I still find it odd when people ask “How long have you been here” my real answer is over 10 months. It totally doesn’t feel like it and were has the time gone.

My Namibian Birthday; with people yet alone

To fully appreciate the “Namibianess” (yes I’m making up words) of my 26th birthday, I must tell of all the events leading up to this weekend, all the good, the bad and the ugly.

My first plans months ago were to travel up north to Rundu to spend the weekend with the Kavango volunteers on the Kavango River looking at hippos and what not. Peace Corps had planned a committee meeting in Windhoek for the 5th and the 6th (my birthday) so I sadly canceled my plans and surrendered to the idea of being in the capital (not a big fan) with other PCVs sitting in a meeting. On the Wednesday just before, I was told via sms that the meeting had indeed been canceled and since it was too late to turn in a request for vacation time I decided staying in my flat laundry, watching movies and cleaning would be my birthday weekend, not much different from any other weekend.

When the VSO heard that I would be in Outjo she decided that we must go somewhere (she has a car). I love stupid touristy type things so I began listing all the places near Outjo I wanted to go but never could since I don’t have a car. I finally decided on Twyfelontein and the Petrified Forest. This is a collection of really old trees and the largest display of African rock art, another benefit is they are less than 200km away so it could easily be done in a day trip! Well the VSO invited some of our co-workers whom we are close with and everyone agreed to go where the birthday girl wanted, Twyf. Over the next few days my Namibian co-workers began talking and decided they wanted to go to Walvis Bay to see our old hospital driver. They began to put the pressure on me and the VSO to change our plans. To settle the dispute fairly I decided to flip a coin, we were going to Twyf.

Friday, September 5th four of us headed to the Craft Show in Outjo, which was hilarious. Many of the locals had booths to display their crafts or treats. The highlight in my opinion was the Afrikaaner men who are about my age. You see most Afrikaaner men wear really really short shorts but today I was lucky enough to not only have that view but many decided to go shirtless, what a birthday present!!!! Also on Friday, Thea (another PCV in Caprivi) was passing through on her way to Etosha with her mom and they stopped by the hospital to chat and to deliver a piece of birthday cake for me, thanks Thea and Thea’s mom, it was delicious and super sweet of you guys to do.

Around 7:15am on Saturday we picked up everyone to head to Walvis Bay : p (somehow the VSO and I just gave in Friday afternoon). By the time we left Otjiwarongo my co-workers were sipping/downing Windhoek Lager (beer) and I chewed on Mopane worms (Kunene classic), it was only 8:30am. The car ride was a mix of listening to American soft rock from the ‘80s and before. Highlights of course were the conversations, the family of baboons (seriously like 50) we almost hit outside of Kalkveld and getting beer splashed on me from time to time. I’m thinking this day can only get better.

When we finally arrived in Swakop I wanted to eat but my co-workers wanted to shop so we split up and I enjoyed a delicious lunch (seriously it was great) with a fellow PCV in Swakop and the VSO. Later we all went to the Swakop Aquarium (the Snake Park was sadly closed) which needless to say is no Monterey Aquarium. The main (only) tank was smaller than my backyard pool but there was tunnel underneath. We went during feeding time which was great to watch since the scuba diver was fighting a turtle who just never got enough to eat. At one point the turtle got the strap of his mask and snapped it off, the diver spent the next 15 minutes pushing/shoving the turtle away from him. This cute little German boy came up to me and asked if I would help him see in the tank so I spent about 10 minutes holding this little stranger on my knee has we shared the diver-turtle fight sequence together.

After the aquarium we went to the house of my co-worker’s aunt who was so sweet and offered a braai or a trip to the farm at a later time but we settled on some juice (I’m totally taking her up on her braai on the top of the mountain at her farm next year for sure). It was nice to see the Swakop location which is AMAZING compared to Outjo’s. My co-workers then decided it was time to get plastered (drunk) in the Walvis Bay location. Um, not really my idea of fun at all so I choose to stay over in Swakop at a fellow PCV’s house rather than traveling to Walvis and not being able to escape my invitation to a drunken night of entertainment.

In Swakop alone, I took advantage of a fast high speed wireless internet (almost forgot what that was like, wow) cafĂ© where I could use my own computer. At 8 o’clock, when they closed I headed to the Lighthouse Pub and Restaurant for some pizza. The hostess gave me a table by myself and I happily sat there alone answering the many birthday smses I had received throughout the day. A few minutes later the hostess brought over a couple and sat them at my table with me, um awkward. They were obviously on a date and I was for sure a third wheel and interrupting the mood. I couldn’t help but laugh (on the inside) the entire time as all three of us sat in silence. It was really a weird date (well what I observed) the man (white) ordered food and beer and ate a bunch while the woman (black) sat there, didn’t say anything or eat or drink anything. I was more uncomfortable for them than I was for my party of one.

After the lighthouse I walked home to the PCV’s house and enjoyed a hot shower (a special treat for me) and watched the office as my cell phone died. Although I loved my conversations with my family, Nikki and a super long chat with Toni I realized that with a dead phone I now had no way to let the VSO know where I was so she can pick me up the next day. I sent out a sms that said “my phone is dead, I’m at the internet place tomorrow” and went to bed praying the message went through before the phone totally died.

Luckily, they found me and the hour time change was not agreeing with their hangovers. Since everyone was so hungover my co-workers slept and I seized the opportunity to put my shuffle in and finally listen to my music (so I had an amazing car ride back in my own world). The VSO was a great sport doing all the driving, and I thank her for the idea of celebrating my birthday. Eventually we made it back to Outjo, everyone sick and tired (combination of drinking, the temperature changes, and the ride itself) including me but definitely a classic Namibian birthday worth remembering.