November 22, 2007
Thanksgiving started out a little rocky. The night before, some stray dogs got in a west-side story brawl outside my flat. And then the roosters… oh, the roosters… The roosters and I are at war. Every home owns at least one. They start at 4:30am and continue until 7:00 or longer. This is to say, I have not gotten a complete night of sleep for a few days. When I arrived at school, my colleague who met me in Okahanja was joking about the culture shock the Peace Corps informed us of before we headed to our site. When she asked me how I was, I told her it was a major holiday in America and that I was a little sad. The word spread and I got happy thanksgiving wishes all day. Then, at the end of the day the teachers sang to me and gave me a thanksgiving/going away/see you next year card with $50 Namibian dollars. It was too much already… then, I got a hug from nearly every one of them.
I had a wonderful thanksgiving dinner at the tourist rest stop about 3km west of here. I had chicken, French fries, carrots, REAL coffee and guava juice. Real coffee was the kicker. They have a variety of instant coffee (all of which I am convinced do not have caffeine) and, maybe, if the grocery store is nice and wind is blowing the right direction they have one pack of ground coffee on the bottom self. I am still ok though because I’ve been rationing the pound of Stumptown I brought. I did not bring any for my two weeks of traveling around though. All that to say, I really enjoyed the coffee. The other Nam 27 trainee, our Norwegian SCORE friend and I celebrated Thanksgiving with about 8 black cats begging. Also, our VSO UK friend showed up later and offered us a ride home… Yes! My achin’ feet
Which smoothly brings me to my next point. I think I have redefined a “walk-able distance”. I have been staying on the far side of the location. It is about a 10-minute (maybe less) walk to town. My colleagues at the school are convinced I am crazy to walk this at any time of day, let alone in the heat… and to walk it everyday… for fun… unheard of. Today, I walked to town to refill my phone minutes, walked back to my flat, walked to the hospital, walked to town for internet, back to the hospital then 2-3k out of town for dinner. Oh, the comments I got. What can I say? “Miss Jessica must like the walking.”
I am a little wary to tell you of the flat that I am in as it is not mine. My coworker has been very generous to let me stay here and to put up with my American-ness. I will tell you about the other PCT’s flat though. She is staying in a dorm on the hospital grounds. Her flat used to be nurses’ housing. The ‘waiting room’ area is very nice-ish. The toilet room has a working toilet (amazing!) but the sink is filled with potpourri (it has not worked for awhile). The shower and bathtub work. The ‘kitchen’ does not have a sink… so they wash dishes, hands and teeth in the bathtub… but all this is perfectly fine with the mouse that lives in the corner.
There are many things that are going to take some patience. For instance, the water has gone out for the night… as well as the electricity. They go at unplanned intervals. Usually, it is not too much of a nuisance… unless, as in my case, the nalgene has gone dry, my teeth are dirty and I have to pack up to leave before sunrise tomorrow… All I have to say is, Thank God for headlamps and the fact that the PC will pay for all of my cavities for the next two years.
November 25, 2007
Drumroll, Please…And my permanent site: Khorixas (pronounced Core-e-haws). It is seriously the American old west. I expect there to be a cowboy walking by with spurs at any moment. Don’t be fooled though, the people are very African. It is the heart of Damara-land. There are many different tribes in Namibia… different races, some say. Tribal issues are raging in some cities. Windhoek has a different location for each tribe. They will not mix. Khorixas, though is mainly Damara. Which means two thing 1) There are not as many tribal conflicts and 2) they speak KhoeKhoe and LOTS of it. I am sure they would love for me to be fluent it their language. I only know because they told me… many times.
Town is two roads wide. They have a “Multi-Save” grocery store, a “PEP” everything store, a couple of bottle stores (alcohol), a post office (I have a box, I’ll get you that number soon), two tourist camps with pools, a private clinic, a bakery and approximately four Afrikaaner families (I only know from gossip). The location is huge… in my opinion. Three of the four primary schools are in the location. The hospital, small stores, soft serve ice cream, many bars, and a couple of take-away restaurants are in the location also. As I said before, I live on the far edge of the location, just before the squatter’s camp. The Donkerhoek is about 50 years old. A German volunteer came after independence and built a beautiful building to serve as a kindergarten. Land of contrast I am living in, it is placed right in the middle of the Donkerhoek. Are you kidding me? I suppose it goes with the beautiful youth center that no one really uses…
On Friday, Jill (the other NAM27 PCT in Khorixas. Her blog is called “sand in my shoes” But I don’t know the address) and I got a free ride from the hospital where she volunteers. They were picking up a nurse in Okahanja. The funny thing about rides here is that they are uncommon. So, when someone is driving a far distance they must have a full car… Jill and I were the second to be picked up. There was already a patient, I think, in the car. They we picked up three kids from the location and their electric piano. We ran a few errands in Khorixas before we headed out of town. We picked up another trainee in Outjo (the gateway to Etosha National Park) and dropped off one passenger. Then we traveled to Okahanja. We got a room at our retreat center. Oh, how amazing that retreat center was! Hot water! Flushing toilets! Pizza within a short walk!
Saturday morning we slept in… until 7. Sometime between 5 and 6 is the norm. We went to the bakery across from the taxi park for breakfast and another cup of real coffee. We all sat and stared with awe and fear at the taxi park. We couldn’t really figure out what was happening. Some taxis would pull up and honk and then the other drivers would swarm. We went back to the retreat center, got our bags, swallowed the lumps in our throats and walked out to the taxi stop. I was sure that three white girls with huge backpacks would cause some sort of swarm thinking they would be able to rip us off. When we walked around the corner, an older man said “Windhoek?” We said, “yup.” He said “hop in.” We said, “how much?” He said, “35.” The correct price is between N$35 and 45. It was so easy! We’ll see how often that happens again.
In Windhoek, I was getting dropped off at the Peace Corps office. I was there to meet a teacher from the NAM25 group. There is a lounge for the volunteers. It has fast free internet and a self full of books for us to borrow. Right now the selection is really good because group 25 is getting ready to go back to the states. There is also a self of stuff that wouldn’t fit in their suitcases. I got a lock for free. I also got a copy of the book Eclipse… Erin. The teacher I was meeting and I went to the mall to pass some time before the other trainee we were meeting arrived from her site. I got some Haviennas (sp?) flip flops and nail clippers. Sweet! There were a few other NAM25/27 groups getting together for a week of shadowing. We all went out to lunch together. It was a lot of fun.
I am currently at a school southwest of Windhoek. It is only a school. There’s literally nothing else here. The kids all stay in the hostel. There is a “college” across the street with 47 students. There they learn business skills mostly. It is beautiful here. The sunset and moon-rise last night were national geographic worthy. I can tell I would get a lot of reading done if this were my actual site. This is her last week here and all the kids are in national exams so I’m not really sure why I’m here to job shadow. It is a really nice time to chill and read though.
November 26, 2007
My “job shadow” has been going really well. Mostly we have been cooking (pizza, pancakes, apple pie) and watching season one of Lost. I had never watched consecutive episodes before but everyone is right, it is really addicting. We wanted to IMBD some questions we had about Hobbits and Polar Bears on tropical islands but, alas, it is luxury that is long gone.
The learners here are really great. We got to help some third graders with a Christmas craft project today. It was a lot of fun. During the reading of the Nativity story, it felt like I had just recently been sitting in a schoolhouse doing the same thing… Then it hit me! Christmas in July! Camp! Oh, gosh…
Yesterday, we walked about 7K to a “ghost” house. It was built by a rich German man before the World Wars. He lost his fortune in Germany and could never return. The furniture was looted and all the windows are gone but it is huge… and creepy. It reminded me of the Adam’s family.
That’s all for now. I am sure I will write later when I have actually done something note-worthy… unlike this post
:)
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
"Miss Jessica"...from everyone
November 16, 2007
I woke up really homesick this morning. Luckily it is a beautiful morning with a nice breeze and strawberry jam with breakfast. During training we are staying at a retreat center associated with a church. I laughed when we first got here because I traveled so far and ended up at another retreat center… Tilikum, anyone? It is very nice here. They have a hibiscus garden and all of the rooms open into the central courtyard. We eat every meal outside in the courtyard. It’s also kind of like our living room (at night it reminds me of the Penn lobby). At first, we were convinced they were making and feeding us American food with a few variations to get us used to the country’s food. Since then we found out that we are getting average fare for the Namibian: Eggs, bread and peanut butter for every breakfast. The peanut butter they use it a brand called “Yum Yum” and quickly became one of our favorite phrases. Lunch and dinner are any combinations of meat (not white or lean), pasta, mayonnaise and, if we’re lucky, vegetables. It was hard to switch between a simple sugar diet (sweets, fruits, coffee drinks) to a complex carbs and fat diet. I’ve gotten over the worst of the sugar cravings… maybe…
Today, we have language training and classroom management sessions in the mornings. Then, after lunch, we find out sites for the next two years and have a session on transportation. Site announcements are the nervous energy this morning.
November 17, 2007
Well, I found out my site yesterday. After a long (bitter)(unorganized) day of lecture and language training we got to the good stuff. They took us out into the parking lot where they had made a huge map of Namibia. Each township or village had a brick in its spot on the map. They called our names one by one as we walked to our bricks. By the time they got to my name most of the map was full and people were wandering all over Namibia to see where their friends had ended up… No one told me not to tell where my site is… and I haven’t heard it was against any PC policy… but I’ll hold off on it for now.
When I got to my brick I was handed a letter. It was from the previous volunteer in the city. As I was reading my letter another current PCV offered a few tips about the area and the people there. It was so great to finally get some real information! I am in the same area as another volunteer who is working in health. She is very nice and I am looking forward to getting to know her a little better. Some of my “really good friends” (if that possible after two and a half weeks) are about three hours away or less. Three hours is relatively close in this country. The country is so vast and only has 2 million people. I have heard you can drive for hours and not see a soul.
I will be teaching grade 5-7 natural science at a primary school (1-7). The school has 600+ learners and 20 teachers. It is a hostel school but I still find it difficult to believe they put grade 1-3 in the hostel. It’s just so young! I was brushing my teeth this morning in the bathroom and was wearing a teal skirt with a ruffle at the bottom. The ruffle made me giggle seeing how I am not a ruffle person… then it came to me… I am an elementary school teacher! I can wear ruffles, and sweaters with apples on it, and sensible shoes and it’s all perfectly acceptable! This is the life! Graduate and, job.
Today supervisors traveled from all over the country to attend a workshop. We all met in the main hall at the training center. They called out areas and the supervisor and trainee would spot each other from across the room. My supervisor is very nice. It was really good to talk to her about the area and the school. Tomorrow, she is picking me up at the training center and we will travel to the city. Then, I get to spend a week at my site. More later.
November 19, 2007
I arrived at my site yesterday. It was about a four hour drive but we did stop at the Super Spar for groceries. There are groceries at my site but they are more expensive and have fewer options. When I got dropped off at my site all of the girls from the hostel were standing out side to sing “Welcome Jessica Welcome.” It was very cute but also very awkward so I started greeting every one of them. Greeting is very very very very important here. Hey you, at GFU, if you’re coming to visit, you need to get over not wanting to ask, “how are you?” without meaning it. “How are you?” “I am fine. Thank you. And how are you?” “I am fine, thank you.” Is unarguably required for every conversation. It has taken a lot of getting used to and I am sure that I have offended some already. Anyway, my colleagues asked if I would greet every child at the school. I said “Maybe…”
I am currently staying in a flat with one of my colleagues who teacher grade one. She is very nice and very relaxed so I feel at home. She leaves her door open all the time and there is a constant stream of little girls meandering through…. Sometimes stopping to stare at me.
Today, I met with the staff at the school. They also sang for me. Every morning there is an assembly out front of the school with all of the learners (Namlish (Namibian English) for student). They sang the Namibian national anthem (Check. I knew it.) and then introduced me. I had to say a few words so that they could hear my voice. It is so hard to speak to anyone here because I have to talk sooo slowly. My accent is very funny so I have to pronounce each word with a pause in front and behind it. It is very tiring sometimes even just to speak. I told the students hello and that I was very excited to be at their school.
I met the acting principal after that. The school’s principal passed away this September and my supervisor has been acting as principal since. She is very nice and it is a relief to talk with her. Her husband runs a tourist camp and her daughter lived in America for a while so she understands me a little faster. It sounds like they also have my best interest in mind – another huge relief at this point. They are really excited for me to be here also. It is nice but also a little intimidating. They are asking for a lot of help and I am not sure if I can do all of it in two years.
There is a donkerhoek (squatters camp) a stones throw away from the school. A lot of the learners come from the camp. This makes it very difficult because they do not have light or good roofs to do homework at night or in the rain. The school has a program that feeds the students at tea break though (funded by a foreign organization). The dynamic will prove interesting I am sure.
More later on my site. I am missing home very much right now. That said, I am loving what I am doing here. There have been many questions about home. They do not understand the everything is green concept. I have a phone. If you want the number you can ask my parents for it. I have an internet café in my town. So email is relatively accessible - though it is slow and more expensive than normal.
Alright, the other trainee in my town is waiting for me to finish this so we can go to the café. Lots and lots of love, J
I woke up really homesick this morning. Luckily it is a beautiful morning with a nice breeze and strawberry jam with breakfast. During training we are staying at a retreat center associated with a church. I laughed when we first got here because I traveled so far and ended up at another retreat center… Tilikum, anyone? It is very nice here. They have a hibiscus garden and all of the rooms open into the central courtyard. We eat every meal outside in the courtyard. It’s also kind of like our living room (at night it reminds me of the Penn lobby). At first, we were convinced they were making and feeding us American food with a few variations to get us used to the country’s food. Since then we found out that we are getting average fare for the Namibian: Eggs, bread and peanut butter for every breakfast. The peanut butter they use it a brand called “Yum Yum” and quickly became one of our favorite phrases. Lunch and dinner are any combinations of meat (not white or lean), pasta, mayonnaise and, if we’re lucky, vegetables. It was hard to switch between a simple sugar diet (sweets, fruits, coffee drinks) to a complex carbs and fat diet. I’ve gotten over the worst of the sugar cravings… maybe…
Today, we have language training and classroom management sessions in the mornings. Then, after lunch, we find out sites for the next two years and have a session on transportation. Site announcements are the nervous energy this morning.
November 17, 2007
Well, I found out my site yesterday. After a long (bitter)(unorganized) day of lecture and language training we got to the good stuff. They took us out into the parking lot where they had made a huge map of Namibia. Each township or village had a brick in its spot on the map. They called our names one by one as we walked to our bricks. By the time they got to my name most of the map was full and people were wandering all over Namibia to see where their friends had ended up… No one told me not to tell where my site is… and I haven’t heard it was against any PC policy… but I’ll hold off on it for now.
When I got to my brick I was handed a letter. It was from the previous volunteer in the city. As I was reading my letter another current PCV offered a few tips about the area and the people there. It was so great to finally get some real information! I am in the same area as another volunteer who is working in health. She is very nice and I am looking forward to getting to know her a little better. Some of my “really good friends” (if that possible after two and a half weeks) are about three hours away or less. Three hours is relatively close in this country. The country is so vast and only has 2 million people. I have heard you can drive for hours and not see a soul.
I will be teaching grade 5-7 natural science at a primary school (1-7). The school has 600+ learners and 20 teachers. It is a hostel school but I still find it difficult to believe they put grade 1-3 in the hostel. It’s just so young! I was brushing my teeth this morning in the bathroom and was wearing a teal skirt with a ruffle at the bottom. The ruffle made me giggle seeing how I am not a ruffle person… then it came to me… I am an elementary school teacher! I can wear ruffles, and sweaters with apples on it, and sensible shoes and it’s all perfectly acceptable! This is the life! Graduate and, job.
Today supervisors traveled from all over the country to attend a workshop. We all met in the main hall at the training center. They called out areas and the supervisor and trainee would spot each other from across the room. My supervisor is very nice. It was really good to talk to her about the area and the school. Tomorrow, she is picking me up at the training center and we will travel to the city. Then, I get to spend a week at my site. More later.
November 19, 2007
I arrived at my site yesterday. It was about a four hour drive but we did stop at the Super Spar for groceries. There are groceries at my site but they are more expensive and have fewer options. When I got dropped off at my site all of the girls from the hostel were standing out side to sing “Welcome Jessica Welcome.” It was very cute but also very awkward so I started greeting every one of them. Greeting is very very very very important here. Hey you, at GFU, if you’re coming to visit, you need to get over not wanting to ask, “how are you?” without meaning it. “How are you?” “I am fine. Thank you. And how are you?” “I am fine, thank you.” Is unarguably required for every conversation. It has taken a lot of getting used to and I am sure that I have offended some already. Anyway, my colleagues asked if I would greet every child at the school. I said “Maybe…”
I am currently staying in a flat with one of my colleagues who teacher grade one. She is very nice and very relaxed so I feel at home. She leaves her door open all the time and there is a constant stream of little girls meandering through…. Sometimes stopping to stare at me.
Today, I met with the staff at the school. They also sang for me. Every morning there is an assembly out front of the school with all of the learners (Namlish (Namibian English) for student). They sang the Namibian national anthem (Check. I knew it.) and then introduced me. I had to say a few words so that they could hear my voice. It is so hard to speak to anyone here because I have to talk sooo slowly. My accent is very funny so I have to pronounce each word with a pause in front and behind it. It is very tiring sometimes even just to speak. I told the students hello and that I was very excited to be at their school.
I met the acting principal after that. The school’s principal passed away this September and my supervisor has been acting as principal since. She is very nice and it is a relief to talk with her. Her husband runs a tourist camp and her daughter lived in America for a while so she understands me a little faster. It sounds like they also have my best interest in mind – another huge relief at this point. They are really excited for me to be here also. It is nice but also a little intimidating. They are asking for a lot of help and I am not sure if I can do all of it in two years.
There is a donkerhoek (squatters camp) a stones throw away from the school. A lot of the learners come from the camp. This makes it very difficult because they do not have light or good roofs to do homework at night or in the rain. The school has a program that feeds the students at tea break though (funded by a foreign organization). The dynamic will prove interesting I am sure.
More later on my site. I am missing home very much right now. That said, I am loving what I am doing here. There have been many questions about home. They do not understand the everything is green concept. I have a phone. If you want the number you can ask my parents for it. I have an internet café in my town. So email is relatively accessible - though it is slow and more expensive than normal.
Alright, the other trainee in my town is waiting for me to finish this so we can go to the café. Lots and lots of love, J
Monday, November 12, 2007
Ek es Skol Jevrou
They opened the cafe late for us tonight! More thoughts from me below (I didn't spell check them). And in response to the comments: chump change is a common phrase meaning no big deal. The lab is a pretty exciting place also - I had a conversation about fractional distillation with a science teacher here yesterday (they are missing labs here). And I miss sugar so much I eat it any time I can - I think I will not give up a chance if one presents itself in december... sorry.
November 8, 2007
Yesterday I found out that I was going to be learning Khoe Khoe Gowab (sounds like koi koi go baa). It is a clicking language. There are four different clicks. Then, on top of the clicks, each vowel has a low, high and nasal pronunciation. Today was my first language lesson. It was so fun to click, cluck and tsk. I can only make three out of four of the clicks right now but I find myself practicing them everywhere. Not all of the words in the language have clicks, however, those that do are meaningless without a click. Our trainer says that the conjugation is similar to Spanish. I do not know if I will make it as far as conjugating something, though.
November 9, 2007
Second lessons of KhoeKhoe today! It didn’t go as well as the first. Apparently, clicking is a skill you can loose overnight. It is just such a different noise you have to completely retrain your mouth. Honestly, I got a little frustrated today. Our lesson was on the various different combinations of goats that were possible. You may ask, “How many different combinations could there be?” Well, since you asked… I will just let you know that there are separate words for the following combination of goats: one male goat, one female goat, two male goats, two female goats, three or more male goats, three or more female goats, one baby goat, two baby goats and three or more baby goats. Obviously, this raises the question “what if we don’t know the sex of a goat when it hops over our fence? What do you call it then?” As it turns out, you can just remember the word for one male goat and get by in everyday life. This is where I discovered my silly American need to accomplish something in a class. All was solved a little later when I got to practice my KK conversation. Everyone around town, especially the little kids, love to listen us try. Mostly, the kids get a kick out of it but its fun to see them laugh.
Not everyone in my training group is learning KhoeKhoe. On Wednesday, we found out which language we would be learning. Each language is spoken in certain regions of Namibia. This gives us all clues to our final site assignment. However, we do not know our assignments until next week Friday. KK is spoken in many regions that are south of the Red Line (the area north of the line is the area Namibians fled while SA was in control). Other languages provide more clues than mine. For instance, those learning Silozi will be in the Caprivi Strip. Silozi has some similarities to Swahili so I like to eavesdrop in their group. Other trainees are learning one of the following languages: Oshiwambo, Otjiherero, Rukwangali, Thibukushu and Afrikaans. We all got basic Afrikaans lessons as well because it is the “second official language after English.”
Last night, I had the opportunity to hear a church choir practice. They sang in KK. It was beautiful! They insisted that we dance and sing with them. After we danced, they all sat down and it was our turn to perform. There were only about 10 of us there but finding a song to sing between us was difficult. I suggested “You ain’t nothin but a hound dog” but it was shot down in lieu of “Tula Pele” (a Namibian song we’ve been learning – those are the only two words in it). Thinking we were safe, they surprised us with a request for our national anthem. Oh gosh, ten people was not enough for those high notes but we made it through. Then, they insisted that we sing their national anthem as well. So, we sang the Namibian anthem also. Seeing how we have spent a week in this country, have learned two songs, their anthem and have spent time working on two of their languages, I thought that we had done a fair job. However, the choir had to stifle some laughs at us. I think that is something I will have to get used to. I know that I laugh at cultural misunderstandings but I think they are funnier when I actually know what was funny…
The church choir was in the location. The location can be found on the outside edges of the township. It is where the black people live. The middle of a township is know as “town” and it is where the whites live/lived. This is the way it was way back when but those expectations still exist. Some townships are only locations and some have many locations with a town in the center. It is an interesting idea and really different from our inner-city/suburb dynamic in America.
There is not much else to report these days. We have one more week this school type setting before we can experience more of the country through site visits, job shadows and host families.
I loved receiving some emails the last time I was at the Internet café. The line was so long I only had time to post a blog and download the emails onto a USB drive. Next week I will post this and send out my replies.
I hope that November rain is beautiful and cold. I hope that some of you are wearing fake Target Uhgs and I hope that you had a great cup of coffee today.
Very much love, Jessica
November 12, 2007
Yesterday, I got a chance to go to a church in the location. The service had started at least an hour before we got there. The church had huge windows in the back and as we pulled up it was almost a face off between the 15 volunteers and this huge congregation. The entire service was stopped for the MC to come out and greet us. Then he had us follow him to the front of the church. They cleared out the front two rows of pews for us to sit in. The old women who were sitting there were banished to the steps of the stage. This was done to keyboard music with a canned beat. The whole process was vaguely reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch. The service was held in four languages. English was the least used. Lucky one of our trainers was present and translated the message. The rest of the service we were on our own. The MC paused the service half way through to address us in English. He told us that even though we didn’t understand everything we belonged. He said that we were brothers and sisters simply because we shared a roof. Then, as becoming our custom, we all introduced ourselves and sang the Star Spangled Banner (just the PC group… on stage… for everyone). Why does our anthem have to be so hard to sing?
Saturday was also an interesting day. Lunch was all traditionally cooked. We killed chickens, ate goat face and liver, roasted peanuts, and made fat cakes. It would have been fun but I could only handle being outside for little bits at a time. The increasing summer heat has been getting to me these past few days. I can do what I normally do but lingering in the sun causes a lot of nausea. You may think it was the goat face but it wasn’t… it was the heat. Despite the heat, I did get to discover that fat cakes are where it’s at. The name may make you shy away but I am sure they have less fat in them than donuts.
Khoe Khoe lessons today were really fun. First, we accidentally learned a bad word. We were practicing a two-syllable word and kept pausing on the second syllable. Our teacher was obviously agitated about it. He finally educated us to the meaning of the second syllable on its own. Now I say that word as quickly as I can. Then, we learned how to say “Where are you from?” This phrase it fun for two reasons: One, because it doesn’t have any clicks and, two, because it sounds like an evil laugh. “Maba xu du ra ta ha?” Also, we got to learn yes and no. Yes is “i” (put it in the nose and say e) (I can’t find the nasal symbol on the computer). No is “hi-i” (put it in the nose and say e-e). The squeaking was making me laugh so much that I started crying.
This afternoon I need to work on getting a cell phone. Cell phones are very common in Namibia. Hopefully my cell phone will also act as a modem for my computer. I do not expect to have service and internet access totally set up for awhile. I will make sure to let you all know as soon as I have a number though.
I think that this will be my last post for about three weeks. I am leaving our training town to visit my permanent site next week. Then, straight from there, I am going to shadow another volunteer. I am unsure of internet access for those two weeks. If I get a chance to write I will. Otherwise, I will not be back in this town until the end of my shadow.
I love hearing stories from home! Please send them! I know it requires patience to get a reply but they make the world smaller. I heard a story about my cat yesterday from my dad and it was great.
Ok. I’ve got to go break the Namibian banking secret code to buy this phone. Wish me luck!
November 8, 2007
Yesterday I found out that I was going to be learning Khoe Khoe Gowab (sounds like koi koi go baa). It is a clicking language. There are four different clicks. Then, on top of the clicks, each vowel has a low, high and nasal pronunciation. Today was my first language lesson. It was so fun to click, cluck and tsk. I can only make three out of four of the clicks right now but I find myself practicing them everywhere. Not all of the words in the language have clicks, however, those that do are meaningless without a click. Our trainer says that the conjugation is similar to Spanish. I do not know if I will make it as far as conjugating something, though.
November 9, 2007
Second lessons of KhoeKhoe today! It didn’t go as well as the first. Apparently, clicking is a skill you can loose overnight. It is just such a different noise you have to completely retrain your mouth. Honestly, I got a little frustrated today. Our lesson was on the various different combinations of goats that were possible. You may ask, “How many different combinations could there be?” Well, since you asked… I will just let you know that there are separate words for the following combination of goats: one male goat, one female goat, two male goats, two female goats, three or more male goats, three or more female goats, one baby goat, two baby goats and three or more baby goats. Obviously, this raises the question “what if we don’t know the sex of a goat when it hops over our fence? What do you call it then?” As it turns out, you can just remember the word for one male goat and get by in everyday life. This is where I discovered my silly American need to accomplish something in a class. All was solved a little later when I got to practice my KK conversation. Everyone around town, especially the little kids, love to listen us try. Mostly, the kids get a kick out of it but its fun to see them laugh.
Not everyone in my training group is learning KhoeKhoe. On Wednesday, we found out which language we would be learning. Each language is spoken in certain regions of Namibia. This gives us all clues to our final site assignment. However, we do not know our assignments until next week Friday. KK is spoken in many regions that are south of the Red Line (the area north of the line is the area Namibians fled while SA was in control). Other languages provide more clues than mine. For instance, those learning Silozi will be in the Caprivi Strip. Silozi has some similarities to Swahili so I like to eavesdrop in their group. Other trainees are learning one of the following languages: Oshiwambo, Otjiherero, Rukwangali, Thibukushu and Afrikaans. We all got basic Afrikaans lessons as well because it is the “second official language after English.”
Last night, I had the opportunity to hear a church choir practice. They sang in KK. It was beautiful! They insisted that we dance and sing with them. After we danced, they all sat down and it was our turn to perform. There were only about 10 of us there but finding a song to sing between us was difficult. I suggested “You ain’t nothin but a hound dog” but it was shot down in lieu of “Tula Pele” (a Namibian song we’ve been learning – those are the only two words in it). Thinking we were safe, they surprised us with a request for our national anthem. Oh gosh, ten people was not enough for those high notes but we made it through. Then, they insisted that we sing their national anthem as well. So, we sang the Namibian anthem also. Seeing how we have spent a week in this country, have learned two songs, their anthem and have spent time working on two of their languages, I thought that we had done a fair job. However, the choir had to stifle some laughs at us. I think that is something I will have to get used to. I know that I laugh at cultural misunderstandings but I think they are funnier when I actually know what was funny…
The church choir was in the location. The location can be found on the outside edges of the township. It is where the black people live. The middle of a township is know as “town” and it is where the whites live/lived. This is the way it was way back when but those expectations still exist. Some townships are only locations and some have many locations with a town in the center. It is an interesting idea and really different from our inner-city/suburb dynamic in America.
There is not much else to report these days. We have one more week this school type setting before we can experience more of the country through site visits, job shadows and host families.
I loved receiving some emails the last time I was at the Internet café. The line was so long I only had time to post a blog and download the emails onto a USB drive. Next week I will post this and send out my replies.
I hope that November rain is beautiful and cold. I hope that some of you are wearing fake Target Uhgs and I hope that you had a great cup of coffee today.
Very much love, Jessica
November 12, 2007
Yesterday, I got a chance to go to a church in the location. The service had started at least an hour before we got there. The church had huge windows in the back and as we pulled up it was almost a face off between the 15 volunteers and this huge congregation. The entire service was stopped for the MC to come out and greet us. Then he had us follow him to the front of the church. They cleared out the front two rows of pews for us to sit in. The old women who were sitting there were banished to the steps of the stage. This was done to keyboard music with a canned beat. The whole process was vaguely reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch. The service was held in four languages. English was the least used. Lucky one of our trainers was present and translated the message. The rest of the service we were on our own. The MC paused the service half way through to address us in English. He told us that even though we didn’t understand everything we belonged. He said that we were brothers and sisters simply because we shared a roof. Then, as becoming our custom, we all introduced ourselves and sang the Star Spangled Banner (just the PC group… on stage… for everyone). Why does our anthem have to be so hard to sing?
Saturday was also an interesting day. Lunch was all traditionally cooked. We killed chickens, ate goat face and liver, roasted peanuts, and made fat cakes. It would have been fun but I could only handle being outside for little bits at a time. The increasing summer heat has been getting to me these past few days. I can do what I normally do but lingering in the sun causes a lot of nausea. You may think it was the goat face but it wasn’t… it was the heat. Despite the heat, I did get to discover that fat cakes are where it’s at. The name may make you shy away but I am sure they have less fat in them than donuts.
Khoe Khoe lessons today were really fun. First, we accidentally learned a bad word. We were practicing a two-syllable word and kept pausing on the second syllable. Our teacher was obviously agitated about it. He finally educated us to the meaning of the second syllable on its own. Now I say that word as quickly as I can. Then, we learned how to say “Where are you from?” This phrase it fun for two reasons: One, because it doesn’t have any clicks and, two, because it sounds like an evil laugh. “Maba xu du ra ta ha?” Also, we got to learn yes and no. Yes is “i” (put it in the nose and say e) (I can’t find the nasal symbol on the computer). No is “hi-i” (put it in the nose and say e-e). The squeaking was making me laugh so much that I started crying.
This afternoon I need to work on getting a cell phone. Cell phones are very common in Namibia. Hopefully my cell phone will also act as a modem for my computer. I do not expect to have service and internet access totally set up for awhile. I will make sure to let you all know as soon as I have a number though.
I think that this will be my last post for about three weeks. I am leaving our training town to visit my permanent site next week. Then, straight from there, I am going to shadow another volunteer. I am unsure of internet access for those two weeks. If I get a chance to write I will. Otherwise, I will not be back in this town until the end of my shadow.
I love hearing stories from home! Please send them! I know it requires patience to get a reply but they make the world smaller. I heard a story about my cat yesterday from my dad and it was great.
Ok. I’ve got to go break the Namibian banking secret code to buy this phone. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
I Found It!
I found the internet cafe! I found Namibia! It is hard to get time on the computers but here are some of my thoughts for the past few days:
October 29, 2007
Today was the first official day of “Staging” in Washington DC. This is a time for the Peace Corps to collect our final paper work and prepare us physically and mentally to go to Namibia. For such a monumental task they allot two days. The information is mostly common sense but it is really nice to be able to talk through a lot of things. We compared anxieties, aspirations and the most common goodbye line. It is a great mix of people though. We come from all over the country (70 total with 4 from Oregon and 3 from Washington!) and various backgrounds. For instance, we had to order Aloha pizza tonight instead of Hawaiian. I find it intriguing though that all this will be ‘chump change’ in a few days and we will find more in common in Namibia than we would in the States.
I did take the opportunity to check out the memorials and Smithsonian this morning during my free time. It was great to get to see some of the sights. Though, Dad, they do look just like the pictures. But now I have my own… J
I am missing everyone back home very much. Every so often I have to swallow a huge lump in my throat. The only solution is to think about getting to Africa. I am so excited for this opportunity! All of the pictures, videos and stories from Namibia they’re using for preparation are only making me more excited!
Another update to come!
11-3-07
Last night we made it to Namibia. We left our hotel in Washington D.C. at 5:30 on Wednesday morning. After a few inoculations (none for me, thanks to junior’s abroad), we headed to the airport. The flight to “Jo’burg” was 15 hours and 30 minutes. It was intense! But, thankfully, there were a lot of people to get to know and visit with. We spent Thursday night in Joburg. The hotel was very nice and very welcome sight for some smelly, jet-lagged Americans. Also, in South Africa we met our Associated PC Country Director. He was very nice and, as I was soon to find out, the most informative person in the PC thus far.
The flight to Windhoek (Vind-hook, for the natives, and Wind-hook for us) was only 2 hours long. Sitting in the window seat was a great opportunity to take in some incredible views. It was mostly bush (imagine Arizona-ish) but there were some great “mountains” (Oregonians would call them hills). When we landed in the airport, about 20 of us discovered that the airline just simply didn’t send our bags with us. There were only two who didn’t receive either of their two bags. I was lucky to get one of my bags. It was the bag with coffee, sharpies, sweatpants, one shirt, a sleeping bag, host gifts, and shoes. The other bag has all of my other clothes. The airline assured us that the bags would arrive that night or Saturday. I was a little skeptical. Those doubts of mine were reaffirmed today, when we got a second assurance that they would arrive today or Sunday. Despite the downer, I found myself and most of the other trainees in up-beat moods about the whole situation.
After filling out papers in the airport for our luggage, I walked around the corner to the bus to find a huge Namibian flag and about 20 white people shouting at me. They were representatives of all the volunteers currently serving in Namibia. Just talking to them briefly, I was a little jealous. They had already gone through all the hard things that I still have to figure out.
We boarded the buses and drove 45 minutes into Windhoek and 45 minutes out of town to our training site. When we arrived our trainers were standing out front singing loudly in all the different languages of Namibia. They continued to sing as we all got off the buses and walked behind us, singing us into the training center. It was an awesome reception. They ended their singing by singing the Namibian national anthem. Then they requested our group to sing our national anthem. There are 70 of us but I was sure that would not be enough to hide my voice. Luckily, our trainers hummed along with us. It could have been the hours of flying, being on the wrong side of the world or the Mefloquine but I got a little teary. We had a quick dinner, a few impromptu “goodnight” language lessons, washed some clothes (my only clothes) and hopped in bed for a long night of staring at the ceiling.
Today has felt like we have been in country for at least a week. The day was a little hard. The trainers gave us a lot of logistic information for our post. We also got a chance to learn about the school system. It was very very interesting considering we had little to no information through the whole process thus far. Nam 27 is the largest group. This is because we are implementing a new plan by the ministry of education. Also, the Caprivi Strip is now a safe place to send volunteers and about eight of our group will be heading to that tiny piece of land. Also, we learned that our group will be teaching mostly upper primary, grades 5-7. We met with a 2nd year PCV science teacher who alleviated some of our fears and may have created a few more. Overall, it seems like every situation will have it’s own challenges and reward. As we were reminded several times today, “this is the toughest job you’ll ever love”!
Tomorrow, the science teacher trainees are meeting to discuss site situations. I have to make a lot of decisions about what I would prefer in the way of town size, grade level and location of my future site. I know I can’t post this until a little later, but I could use some prayer. I have a lot of choices in the next 24 hours.
Much love, Jessica
November 6, 2007
Well, I flew out of Portland a week and two days ago but it might as well have been a month or so. I just want to give you a few quotes from our past few days of training that made me giggle:
“Don’t buy that fish … you might be buying yourself a coffin” –during a lecture on cooking and proper food preparation
“If you don’t lay down the rules from the beginning two years will be long time” –briefing on future classroom conduct. It’s really only funny with an African accent, I guess…
“We like to call shots candy. Please, report to room two for your rabies candy.” –trainer (I’m not immune to rabies yet. I need two more shots… ahem, candies. But being one-third immune makes you way more aware of stray dogs.)
“You say Quesha quesha quesha quesha and you send out a compliment” – trainer
“Wasn’t it wok-a wok-a wok-a wok-a…?” – us, later in town.
The Peace Corps is very good at allowing us time to adjust to the country. We have many Namibian trainers who were hired to teach us language, provide medical care and take care of logistics in general. They have spent a lot of time introducing us to the culture, politics, money, health information, songs, jokes, games and the many languages of Namibia. It has been so much fun to talk with them and learn about their country.
For instance, I spent a long time talking with Entertaining Ed (we all had to attach adjectives to our names to make them easier to remember. I was “Just”). I heard all about growing up in Namibia during the fight for independence. For those of you who don’t know (IFY), Namibia was occupied by South Africa. Namibia formed the South West Africa Peoples Organization (SWAPO). SWAPO and most of the population fled to the North and a little into Angola. SWAPO fought down from the North and eventually won their independence in 1990. I also got to learn about business in Namibia, Fishing, mining (Namdeb – for Namibia DeBere’s. I am unsure of spelling), and cattle are all big. We talked a bit about the fishing towns Swakopmund (Swa - coop – moon – d) and Oranjamund (Or – aun – g – moon – d). Oranjamund is in Namibia but you can only access it from South Africa. The government is working on building a road right now. “Mund” means “mouth of…” so Swakopmund means “the mouth of the Swakop River.”
They also have different words for river. One means a year ‘round river and the other refers to one that only runs for part of the year. Anyway, all that to say it has been really fun to learn about a new country. So far, the things I have heard make me very excited to see more of the country.
In fact, we were getting antsy about seeing more so a group of us climbed up a rocky hill nearby. It was really great to get some exercise after a long time in the training center. It was so beautiful at the top… and huge! It went on forever. The sky was awesome.
Overall, training has been very educational, a little too much at times (see: AIDS video), but mostly fun. Nam 27 has its quirks… but overall, they are a great group. They are so supportive of each other. When we had lost our bags (mine came late Saturday night) everyone was willing to share. It’s amazing what being on the other side of the world will do to strangers.
So, basically, all this means it that you all are going to have to visit me!
1) Because I miss you all very much and think of you often:
Mom: I saw tear art in the hills
Dad: The whole river conversation
Dan: I met and African Razor back that gave me some medicinal doggy slobber
Tilikum staff: I got Nam 27 trying to snap their fingers the “correct way”
… who am I kidding, too many to list here
and 2) because Namibia sounding pretty amazing!
Much love, Jessica
October 29, 2007
Today was the first official day of “Staging” in Washington DC. This is a time for the Peace Corps to collect our final paper work and prepare us physically and mentally to go to Namibia. For such a monumental task they allot two days. The information is mostly common sense but it is really nice to be able to talk through a lot of things. We compared anxieties, aspirations and the most common goodbye line. It is a great mix of people though. We come from all over the country (70 total with 4 from Oregon and 3 from Washington!) and various backgrounds. For instance, we had to order Aloha pizza tonight instead of Hawaiian. I find it intriguing though that all this will be ‘chump change’ in a few days and we will find more in common in Namibia than we would in the States.
I did take the opportunity to check out the memorials and Smithsonian this morning during my free time. It was great to get to see some of the sights. Though, Dad, they do look just like the pictures. But now I have my own… J
I am missing everyone back home very much. Every so often I have to swallow a huge lump in my throat. The only solution is to think about getting to Africa. I am so excited for this opportunity! All of the pictures, videos and stories from Namibia they’re using for preparation are only making me more excited!
Another update to come!
11-3-07
Last night we made it to Namibia. We left our hotel in Washington D.C. at 5:30 on Wednesday morning. After a few inoculations (none for me, thanks to junior’s abroad), we headed to the airport. The flight to “Jo’burg” was 15 hours and 30 minutes. It was intense! But, thankfully, there were a lot of people to get to know and visit with. We spent Thursday night in Joburg. The hotel was very nice and very welcome sight for some smelly, jet-lagged Americans. Also, in South Africa we met our Associated PC Country Director. He was very nice and, as I was soon to find out, the most informative person in the PC thus far.
The flight to Windhoek (Vind-hook, for the natives, and Wind-hook for us) was only 2 hours long. Sitting in the window seat was a great opportunity to take in some incredible views. It was mostly bush (imagine Arizona-ish) but there were some great “mountains” (Oregonians would call them hills). When we landed in the airport, about 20 of us discovered that the airline just simply didn’t send our bags with us. There were only two who didn’t receive either of their two bags. I was lucky to get one of my bags. It was the bag with coffee, sharpies, sweatpants, one shirt, a sleeping bag, host gifts, and shoes. The other bag has all of my other clothes. The airline assured us that the bags would arrive that night or Saturday. I was a little skeptical. Those doubts of mine were reaffirmed today, when we got a second assurance that they would arrive today or Sunday. Despite the downer, I found myself and most of the other trainees in up-beat moods about the whole situation.
After filling out papers in the airport for our luggage, I walked around the corner to the bus to find a huge Namibian flag and about 20 white people shouting at me. They were representatives of all the volunteers currently serving in Namibia. Just talking to them briefly, I was a little jealous. They had already gone through all the hard things that I still have to figure out.
We boarded the buses and drove 45 minutes into Windhoek and 45 minutes out of town to our training site. When we arrived our trainers were standing out front singing loudly in all the different languages of Namibia. They continued to sing as we all got off the buses and walked behind us, singing us into the training center. It was an awesome reception. They ended their singing by singing the Namibian national anthem. Then they requested our group to sing our national anthem. There are 70 of us but I was sure that would not be enough to hide my voice. Luckily, our trainers hummed along with us. It could have been the hours of flying, being on the wrong side of the world or the Mefloquine but I got a little teary. We had a quick dinner, a few impromptu “goodnight” language lessons, washed some clothes (my only clothes) and hopped in bed for a long night of staring at the ceiling.
Today has felt like we have been in country for at least a week. The day was a little hard. The trainers gave us a lot of logistic information for our post. We also got a chance to learn about the school system. It was very very interesting considering we had little to no information through the whole process thus far. Nam 27 is the largest group. This is because we are implementing a new plan by the ministry of education. Also, the Caprivi Strip is now a safe place to send volunteers and about eight of our group will be heading to that tiny piece of land. Also, we learned that our group will be teaching mostly upper primary, grades 5-7. We met with a 2nd year PCV science teacher who alleviated some of our fears and may have created a few more. Overall, it seems like every situation will have it’s own challenges and reward. As we were reminded several times today, “this is the toughest job you’ll ever love”!
Tomorrow, the science teacher trainees are meeting to discuss site situations. I have to make a lot of decisions about what I would prefer in the way of town size, grade level and location of my future site. I know I can’t post this until a little later, but I could use some prayer. I have a lot of choices in the next 24 hours.
Much love, Jessica
November 6, 2007
Well, I flew out of Portland a week and two days ago but it might as well have been a month or so. I just want to give you a few quotes from our past few days of training that made me giggle:
“Don’t buy that fish … you might be buying yourself a coffin” –during a lecture on cooking and proper food preparation
“If you don’t lay down the rules from the beginning two years will be long time” –briefing on future classroom conduct. It’s really only funny with an African accent, I guess…
“We like to call shots candy. Please, report to room two for your rabies candy.” –trainer (I’m not immune to rabies yet. I need two more shots… ahem, candies. But being one-third immune makes you way more aware of stray dogs.)
“You say Quesha quesha quesha quesha and you send out a compliment” – trainer
“Wasn’t it wok-a wok-a wok-a wok-a…?” – us, later in town.
The Peace Corps is very good at allowing us time to adjust to the country. We have many Namibian trainers who were hired to teach us language, provide medical care and take care of logistics in general. They have spent a lot of time introducing us to the culture, politics, money, health information, songs, jokes, games and the many languages of Namibia. It has been so much fun to talk with them and learn about their country.
For instance, I spent a long time talking with Entertaining Ed (we all had to attach adjectives to our names to make them easier to remember. I was “Just”). I heard all about growing up in Namibia during the fight for independence. For those of you who don’t know (IFY), Namibia was occupied by South Africa. Namibia formed the South West Africa Peoples Organization (SWAPO). SWAPO and most of the population fled to the North and a little into Angola. SWAPO fought down from the North and eventually won their independence in 1990. I also got to learn about business in Namibia, Fishing, mining (Namdeb – for Namibia DeBere’s. I am unsure of spelling), and cattle are all big. We talked a bit about the fishing towns Swakopmund (Swa - coop – moon – d) and Oranjamund (Or – aun – g – moon – d). Oranjamund is in Namibia but you can only access it from South Africa. The government is working on building a road right now. “Mund” means “mouth of…” so Swakopmund means “the mouth of the Swakop River.”
They also have different words for river. One means a year ‘round river and the other refers to one that only runs for part of the year. Anyway, all that to say it has been really fun to learn about a new country. So far, the things I have heard make me very excited to see more of the country.
In fact, we were getting antsy about seeing more so a group of us climbed up a rocky hill nearby. It was really great to get some exercise after a long time in the training center. It was so beautiful at the top… and huge! It went on forever. The sky was awesome.
Overall, training has been very educational, a little too much at times (see: AIDS video), but mostly fun. Nam 27 has its quirks… but overall, they are a great group. They are so supportive of each other. When we had lost our bags (mine came late Saturday night) everyone was willing to share. It’s amazing what being on the other side of the world will do to strangers.
So, basically, all this means it that you all are going to have to visit me!
1) Because I miss you all very much and think of you often:
Mom: I saw tear art in the hills
Dad: The whole river conversation
Dan: I met and African Razor back that gave me some medicinal doggy slobber
Tilikum staff: I got Nam 27 trying to snap their fingers the “correct way”
… who am I kidding, too many to list here
and 2) because Namibia sounding pretty amazing!
Much love, Jessica
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Almost
Everything is packed! Well, at least there are two suitcases sitting there waiting to go to Africa. They are 1lb above the 80lb limit and 1 inch over the 107-inch limit. My plan you may ask? Tighten the compression straps on my backpack and hope my dazzling smile distracts the airline attendant. As far as what is in the suitcase, we will see. I don’t think at this point I can really predict what I will actually need or want. I think it will be fun to see what the other volunteers couldn’t live without. I am sure my travel-sized Rubik’s cube and lack of a pillow may confuse some of them.
I received an email from the Peace Corps. They modified the training address I posted last time. It is basically the same but with an added street name and number. I’m fairly sure they’ll both work but you should probably use this one. My philosophy on the African postal system is the more information the better!
Jessica Royer, PCT
Peace Corps Office
PO Box 6862
20 Nachtigal St.
Ausspannplatz
Windhoek
Namibia
Whew, that’s a mouthful!
I want to thank you all for the messages, phone calls, gifts and encouragement these past few days. It really has been overwhelming! Really overwhelming! I didn’t know it was possible to feel this loved! Thank you!
Much love, Jes
I received an email from the Peace Corps. They modified the training address I posted last time. It is basically the same but with an added street name and number. I’m fairly sure they’ll both work but you should probably use this one. My philosophy on the African postal system is the more information the better!
Jessica Royer, PCT
Peace Corps Office
PO Box 6862
20 Nachtigal St.
Ausspannplatz
Windhoek
Namibia
Whew, that’s a mouthful!
I want to thank you all for the messages, phone calls, gifts and encouragement these past few days. It really has been overwhelming! Really overwhelming! I didn’t know it was possible to feel this loved! Thank you!
Much love, Jes
Thursday, October 18, 2007
The Travel Bug
Dear Friends and Family,
On October 28th, I am going abroad with the Peace Corps to work as a science teacher in Namibia, Africa. The job is 27 months long with about two months of in country training. After training, I will find out which school, town and grade level I will be teaching.
I know that emails, letters and reading/commenting on my blog will be really encouraging as I start this new job (All information below). So please write!
Patience is a virtue I will be learning these next two years. For example, the Namibian postal system mostly trustworthy, however, It will take about two weeks for something to reach me and about two months for me to mail a letter back to the states. Internet access is slow dial-up and rare, by US standards. I am planning on being able to check email and post blog entries about once a week, at first, and once a month as a move to a more remote location. But don't let this discourage you from writing!
Some of you have been dealing with the packing and panic attacks and others didn't know when I was leaving, or that I was even traveling abroad. Either way, your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.
email: Jeroyer@gmail.com
Web page: http://jessicalynnroyer.blogspot.com/
Address for first two months:
Jessica Royer, PCT
Peace Corps
PO Box 6862
Ausspannplatz,
Windhoek, Namibia
Thanks! Much love,
Jessica
On October 28th, I am going abroad with the Peace Corps to work as a science teacher in Namibia, Africa. The job is 27 months long with about two months of in country training. After training, I will find out which school, town and grade level I will be teaching.
I know that emails, letters and reading/commenting on my blog will be really encouraging as I start this new job (All information below). So please write!
Patience is a virtue I will be learning these next two years. For example, the Namibian postal system mostly trustworthy, however, It will take about two weeks for something to reach me and about two months for me to mail a letter back to the states. Internet access is slow dial-up and rare, by US standards. I am planning on being able to check email and post blog entries about once a week, at first, and once a month as a move to a more remote location. But don't let this discourage you from writing!
Some of you have been dealing with the packing and panic attacks and others didn't know when I was leaving, or that I was even traveling abroad. Either way, your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.
email: Jeroyer@gmail.com
Web page: http://jessicalynnroyer.blogspot.com/
Address for first two months:
Jessica Royer, PCT
Peace Corps
PO Box 6862
Ausspannplatz,
Windhoek, Namibia
Thanks! Much love,
Jessica
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