Weekly update

I’ve been in Namibia for about a week and a half now and I feel like I’ve been here for months. Pre-Service Training (PST) has been overwhelming at times, mainly due to the amount of sessions we have everyday. Classes start at 8am and finish at 4:30pm, so some days can be very draining. During the past week, we have started our language and technical classes, as well as adjusting to our new host families, so I’ll try to break down this post into a few sections.

Language

If you saw my last blog post, you’ll know that I have started learning Oshindonga. It is one of the dialects of the Oshiwambo language and is spoken in northern Namibia and southern Angola (so although I haven’t been told where I’ll be posted for the next two years, I’m pretty certain it will be in northern Namibia). It’s been difficult learning the language so far because the phrases that we have learned don;y always have direct English translations, which makes learning vocab particularly hard. On the other hand, the phonetics of the language seems Indonesianesque, so I think I’ve been handling that aspect of the language pretty well.

Even though learning this new, exotic language has been challenging, it has only been one week and I’m sure it’ll start to make more sense in the coming weeks. I’ve also really enjoyed the classes because there are only three of us in the class and there has been a lot to learn. Learning Oshindonga has definitely been entertaining.

Technical

So far, we’ve only had a couple of technical training sessions. The first one was about the Economic Environment in Namibia and the other one was about the Workplace Culture and Professional Expectations. I feel like I haven’t learned too much in terms of learning new business skills, but I know that PC are just trying to get us prepared about what to expect while working in a completely different and unique country. I’ll definitely have a busy schedule with lots of technical classes next week.

The other day, we went on a small field trip to observe some of the local businesses that are operating in Okahandja. I talked to an owner of a small crafts shop that primarily sold wooden artifacts made out of wood from the Kavango region. Although the shop had a lot of interesting products, it was located on a strip with about 15 identical little shops, so it’s hard to see how all of these small businesses can remain functional. I also spoke to a lady who works at an electronics repair shop. It was difficult to get an understanding about how their business operates because her English wasn’t great and she seemed generally reluctant to talk about her shop.

Next week, we will be meeting more NGOs/businesses and a Small Business Partner that I will be helping out during PST.

Homestay

So far, my Homestay experience has been very… interesting. I am living with my Homestay Mom and her 15 year old daughter in a little town called Veddersdal. They have both been very accommodating and the meals have been delicious too. When I’m at my homestay, I spend most of the time watching predominantly US TV shows with my family. This includes E! News, WWF Wrestling, various Disney shows and some South African Idol. I’ve got a nice, big bed here so I’ve been having better sleeps compared to my first week. Every morning, I’ve been taking a bucket bath. For those of you who don’t know what a bucket bath is, it’s basically what is sounds like. It’s washing yourself out of a bucket. I struggled with the ways of thy bucket bath during my first attempt. However, I’m starting to get the hang of it and I’ll be a pro in no time. Also, I just did my laundry for the first time at my homestay. It took ages and it was all done bucket-style. Now my forearm is killing me due to the constant wringing of my clothes.

The one thing that I have really disliked about my Homestay experience so far are the dogs in Veddersdal, which is strange because I’m usually a fan of the canine companion. But these dogs are mean. The first morning, I had to walk to the bus stop so I could get a ride to the training centre in Okahandja, but during my walk, three dogs (two of them were big, nasty things) ran up to me and started barking. I kept walking and they kept following me and continued to bark and got very close. Eventually, they backed off, but it definitely was not a pleasant experience. I’ve had other minor mishaps with barking dogs here, but I’m just hoping they’ll get used to me and leave me alone.

Other than that, the homestay experience has been fine. My Homestay Dad is a police, like my Homestay Mom, however, he works in Windhoek during the week so he has not been around very often but he I met him the other day and he seemed very nice.

Windhoek

Yesterday, we all went on a trip to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. We saw the Heroes’ Acre, which is a monument to honour the heroes and heroines and opened after Namibia’s 10^th year of independence in 2002 . Then, we went to the mall so we could all get our phones sorted out, so now I finally have a phone number. After that, we saw the Old Location Cemetery. Finally, we went to see Eveline Street, which was a small district filled with shebeens (small bars), barber shops and meat cutting shops. Strange combination, I know.

The inequality amongst Namibians was extremely prevalent during our brief trip to Windhoek. We were able to see both the upper and lower class. The alcoholism issue was definitely at full effect during our visit to the capital, since it was recently the end of the month (Namibian pay day). It seemed like the entire city was out drinking.

I would like to include more in this post but time and access to internet is generally limited, but hopefully I'll have time to add more soon. Sorry if there are a bunch of spelling/grammar errors. I'm rushing to get back to class and I don't have time to proofread!