Tjike?!?!

Written on September 1st

Tjike?!! (How are you?) Things are going OK here in Namibia. The Peace Corps does everything they can to prepare you for the ups and downs that we will all experience during this service, but honestly nothing can really prepare you. I’ve definitely had some ups and downs lately but am trying to just take it one day at a time and focus on the small victories like being able to say my name in Otjiherero (Owami Amy) or finally understanding what my host brothers and sister are asking me (still working on this one). But let me just say, this is hard. Learning a completely new language that isn’t based off of anything you’ve ever learned before in your life is a bit intimidating and quite frustrating at times. French actually seems easy to me now. Otjiherero is another story all to itself. Add moving in with a Namibian family that you don’t know at all and you’ve got yourself one constantly awkward situation.

We endure four hours of language training every morning starting at 8:15 and if you let this get you down it can impact your entire day – so it went on Monday for me. A bit of homesickness, frustration with the language and reading emails from home left me sobbing like a loony person at the internet café in front of my computer. But I had a good night with my host family, got a good night’s rest and today was much better.
Now that I have moved in with my host family – The Kamajovas – I have a bit of a different schedule than before when all of the trainees were living together dorm style. Here’s what a typical day looks like for now:

7:00am – Alarm goes off and almost simultaneously Menthos (brother, 8) knocks on my door to wake me up. Get ready for training.
7:20am – Eat a bowl of cornflakes with the kids.
7:30am – Menthos and Ujama (sister, 7) walk me half way to the training center.
7:50am – I arrive at the training center to meet all of the other trainees to begin our day.
8:00am – Announcements/Assembly/National Anthems (I’m a pro at the Namibian National Anthem now – small victory to celebrate)
8:15am – Language Class
10:30am – Break time
11:00-1:00pm – Language Class continues
1:00-2:30pm – Lunch/walk to town/internet café/post office/Spar (the local grocery store)
2:30pm – 4:00 – Medical/Cultural/Technical Training
4:00pm – Break
4:30-5:30pm – More Medical/Cultural/Technical Training
5:30pm or 6pm – Walk home
6:00pm – Study, hang out with the family
7:00pm – Dinner (in front of the TV, usually watching Lorenzo’s Wife, a soap opera)
8:00pm – Watch the local news
8:30pm – Take a bath, get ready for bed
9:00pm – Read, journal, study
9:30pm – Lights out. I’m tired.

A few more things to share…..

Food
Now that I am living with the Kamajovas I am being exposed to more typical Namibian dishes, specifically from the Otjiherero culture since that’s the language I’m learning and that is the Kamayova’s culture. For the most part, I have enjoyed everything. Meat and porridge is a big part of their diet. Their porridge is very similar to our grits without any taste. It is very inexpensive here and is very filling so it’s included in a lot of meals. If we don’t have porridge, we’ll have macaroni or rice. Last night we had spinach over porridge and tonight we had fish mixed with white beans in a red sauce served over rice. For lunch, I introduced them to the good ole American style PB&J. It’s easy to pack to training everyday and never spoils which is essential since we don’t have a refrigerator (we only have a freezer – so everything including the milk goes in the freezer). The first day she made me a PB&J she actually included butter on the bread as well which made for an especially fatty sandwich but it was fine. They put butter on EVERYTHING here. And not the lowfat low salt kind either. Everything is full fat, full cream. I’ve since made sure that butter doesn’t go on those sandwiches anymore. So as far as my lunches go during the week, usually a PB&J or tomato and cheese sandwich coupled with an apple and a few lemon crème cookies.

Big Brother Africa
I thought some of you might think this was funny. On September 7th Big Brother Africa returns to the TV here. Apparently this will be season 4. It’s almost exactly like the one in the States, but here they chose 14 people from 14 different African countries (Namibia being one of them) to participate. Everyone here is really excited so I’m sure I’ll get a chance to watch at home.

Michael Jackson, KFC, and the E! Network
On the first night I moved in with the Kamajovas several things happened that made me question whether or not I really was in Namibia.

1. First question from a visiting family member – “So what do you think about Michael Jackson? Do you think that doctor killed him?” These people LOVE their MJ and since I’ve been here I’ve watched the E! True Hollywood Story and the “Man in the Mirror” movie. They just can’t get enough.

2. As my host “mom” Karii (who I now call Sister, because we realized we are the same age) was showing me around the kitchen, she opened up the cabinet where the cups and mugs live and what stared at me – three KFC coffee mugs. Her sister was also wearing a KFC polo shirt. Congratulations Yum! Brands – you’ve made it in Namibia and it made me feel right at home.

3. So my host family rocks and they have Dish tv which means they get A LOT of channels – and one of them is E! network. Yay! I don’t watch it a lot because I’m so busy – but it does come in handy when I need a dose of home. Never in a million years did I think I would be watching “Kendra” on a lazy Sunday afternoon in Namibia.

Washing My Clothes
Well, it happened. And the back of my wrists were sore the next day but I have clean clothes! In case you ever find yourself without a washing machine or a laundry mat here’s how you can survive:
Fill a large basin with water from the hose outside.
Dump in laundry detergent – apparently you can never have enough.
Wash your “whites” first.
Take the fabric, pull it tight between your hands with your fingers in a fist towards the sky. Rub your fabric over the lower part of your wrist and knuckles until they are red and raw. Repeat with the rest of your clothes. (Karii laughed at me most of the way through, telling me I wasn’t doing it right. At least my clothes smell good)
Fill another basin with water and add fabric softener.
Take the clean clothes, wring out and place in the second basin.
Let them soak, wring out and hang ‘em up on the line to dry in the Namibian sun for everyone to see.

I guess that about sums up what’s been going on here. On Friday, we’ll go to Windhoek (the capital) for a tour and visit the Peace Corps Office. It will be nice to get out of Okahandja for a bit. On Saturday, all of the trainees and our host families will get together for a Namibian cooking extravaganza. Each language group and their families will be cooking dishes native to their culture. Will be sure to write and share some pictures from that event when I can!