Hi there!
First off I want to thank everyone who has sent me an e-mail. I'm sorry I
don't always respond to all of them personally. For now mass mailing will have
to do. But I really do appreciate receiving e-mails, and hopefully I will have
access to free interent soon. Peter, your oshindonga dictionary page was
great! that's exactly what I'm learning. It's a funny little language.
This is my last day in okahandja. Tomorrow we hop on a bus for an 8 hour drive up to oshakati. We'll be there for 4 days and then we'll go off indvidually to our new permanent sites, but just to visit them and see what they'll be like. At the same time I will meet with the principal of my school (my new boss!) and discuss my teaching responsibilities. This trip will be the scariest for me, because it will by myself, and I'll have to find my own way back to Oshakati. After that it's back to Oshakati for 2 days, and then I will depart to Oshatayi for 3 weeks for community based training (CBT). I will be living with a host family there and continuing training in this little village along with 4 other PCTs (Acquila, Jon, Mike N., and Mike C.) and our Oshindonga trainer, Saltiel.
As you can probably guess, I have found out my permanent site: I will be in Okankolo teaching at a combined school (grades 1-10), but I'll only be teaching grades 8-10. The info sheet confirmed that I'll be teaching science, but the principal might ask me to pick up an additional class, such as english or art on the side. we'll see. I'll be living with a host family on a traditional homestead where I will have my own room and own kitchen. There is running water, but no electricity. I will let you guys know more about this after my permanent site visit next week. Also I'll be getting a new address, which you'll get next e-mail.
Cool stuff that happened since I e-mailed last:
1. we had traditional cooking day, and we learened how to kill chickens and
cook such interesting items as a goat's head (sweetly nicknamed a "smiley" here
because it looks like it is smiling) and goat's intestines, but also less
brutal dishes like oshimbolo, a traditional porridge made out of millet. We
cooked over open fires in potje (three legged pots). It would be near
impossible to be vegetarian here, but there are a few brave souls that are
trying it.
2. I got a cell phone!!!!
check rates before you call could be expensive. also, it
seems like people have a hard time getting through to Namibia. but I'd love to
hear from anyone who wants to call.
So I think that's enough e-mailing for today.
Hope you are all well, and keep those e-mails coming! BTW, Mike, yes, mah-jong is the same game your mom used to play!
Ciao, Siggi