On the road again...

There I was, being dropped off at  my new boss's home by my host mom to watch an Arsenal game because I've been desperate to get my fix of football since I've been in this country. Upon my arrival, my boss asked my host mom immediately if I could take care of her puppy because she would be heading to Windhoek for a few days. This was all news to me at the time. My host mom said it wouldn't be a great idea since she would be going to Ruacana for a few days to conduct a 3 day financial management training session. It was at that moment that they both decided that I should go on this 3 day trip too, which was a camping trip as well. Although I didn't have much input on the decision, I was excited to go and it really did make sense to go see one of the conservancy that NDT supports, rather than staying in Oshakati for my "official" first day because my boss wouldn't be there to give me a proper orientation.

So, right after finding some comfort in my new home in Ongwediva, which had traces of my western lifestyle from the US, I was once again taken away from my comforts and thrown into the African wild. Literally. After I finished watching my football match (3-1 to the Arsenal :)), I had to quickly pack in 10 minutes for a 3 day camping trip. In hindsight, there are definitely things I wish I had packed (like hand sanitizer) and things that I didn't need to bring (like a towel or shoes). Anyways, my host mom, another NDT employee named Theo and I embarked on a 2+ hour trip to a Mopane Conservancy in Ruacana.

When we arrived at Ruacana, we got to a site that I didn't expect. I was told we were going camping, so I expected an outdoor campsite. Instead, what I had arrived to was one large room (with no electricity, so it was dark) filled with tents. Theo and I did opt to camp outside, which is what I was hoping for. As long as elephants don't trample on me, I've got no problem with staying outside. Also, in case anyone has been wondering, I have not seen any elephants yet. However, on the trip, I did see a lot of cows, goats and donkeys. And I mean A LOT of donkeys.

Me and my donkey friend. He was an ass.

As mentioned earlier, the purpose for this trip was to teach the people working for the Ruancana Conservancy about Financial Management . Before I left Ongwediva, I thought it would be great to see how people conduct these types of sessions. Little did I know, it would all be done in Oshindonga! When will I learn that only a few people on this side of Namibia speak English. However, I managed to introduce myself in Oshindonga to the 25 attendees and they loved it. I think this did create a misconception that I knew the language, because people would constantly speak to me in Oshindonga, which I definitely do not understand. However, during these sessions, I was able to learn some useful business and financial words in Oshindonga, which I hope will prove to be useful in the long run.

The training sessions spanned over 3 days. They were supposed to go from 8am-5pm. In reality, they went from 9:30am-7pm. As you could imagine, I had a lot of time to think about everything happening in my life and what I've gotten myself into. At times, I would think "what am I doing here?", and I mean that in more ways than one. Then again, I thought about how lucky I am to be where I am today and it is exactly where I went to be and I wouldn't have it any other way.

My host mom running the show

The attendees

Unfortunately, I had been held incommunicado during my time in Ruacana because I assumed that I'd be heading to a place without electricity (which was correct to assume) so I decided to turn my phone off. When I turned it back on, my sim card decided to lock itself and the PIN I needed to unlock it was back in Ongwediva. Great. 3 nights in the middle of nowhere and I couldn't even keep in touch with my friends.

So, after 3 looooong days of training sessions (I probably spent about 25 hours sitting in a room without understanding anything), we then hit the road again to get back to Oshakati/Ongwediva. However, the car we were driving decided to fail on us multiple times. Apparently, there was something wrong with the generator and in order for it to start, it would need to be pushed to get the gears going. Then, the car would stop again and would need to cool down. Basically, it took us 3 hours to travel the first 60 km on our way home. Fortunately, another NDT came to us from Oshakati to give us a hand. Lots of funny and extremely frustrating events occurred during this voyage, but I think it's best that I keep them to myself for now ;)

We needed a push to get the car started

All in all, I believe that I had learned a lot during the trip. Here are some of the things:

• I think I've got some great colleagues and I look forward to building a strong relationship with them.
• More oshindonga!
• My host mom is quite amazing and I really admire the work she does. I thought she was a great leader, even though I didn't understand about 95% of the things she was saying.
• I got a better idea of what NDT is all about, but I'm still not too sure what they have in store for me. Hopefully,  I wont be leading financial management training sessions in Oshindonga anytime soon.
• I really value the friendships that I have made over the past few months. I do miss my friends.
• Hygiene is not a priority for me like it used to be, but it probably should be.
• People will laugh at me here, and I won't know why, but I'm OK with that.
• The drought that the Namibia is currently going through is a very serious and prevalent issue and it is taking a toll on the environment, the economy and the standard of living of many Namibians. Let's hope we get some rain this season! 
• PC didn't lie when they said I'm going to have to be flexible and patient.

Most importantly, I learned that taking a hot shower after not being able to wash myself for 4 days feels amazing :)