A few questions answered - Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope everyone had a wonderful time with family and friends. Me? I am baking a pie tomorrow to celebrate. Also gives me something to do to wait out the elections. Not that there is an expectation for anything to go wrong, just playing it safe. It is weird being in a place that does not have thanksgiving. It does not even feel like that time of year with it being 107 degrees outside. All I am holding out for is the rainy season. There have been storm clouds in the horizon for the past 3 days but no rain fall. Apparently when it comes it is not going to let up. School is wrapping up here for the holiday season. We actually close on December 4th. There has been nothing but exams however for the students for the past two weeks. And people in the states think standardized testing is bad. There are cluster wide tests three times a year in every subject. These tests lasts and hour or two each! I have to admit I feel for the learners. Anyway I am also corresponding with some lovely students in MN through a exchange program that is set up. Below are some questions that they have asked.
Sorry but how old are you?
- I am 22 years old and considered past my prime in Namibian standards. The median age of the country is only 20-21!
What kind of food do you like to eat?
- I generally love Mexican food but that is in rather short supply here in Namibia. I am learning how to make tortillas and salsa. No easy Ortega mixes here. In Namibia I have grown to love the rusks here. Think of them like a gram cracker cube. They are absolutely delicious but terrible for you. I am not a big fan of their spoiled milk but some other members swear by it.
Are there any cool animals their?
- There are some pretty sweet animals here. Lizards are everywhere in my town. While driving I have seen warthogs and kudo (imagine a an exotic deer). Both which are quite tasty. I run on a baboon-infested road but I have yet to see any. I hear them howling however. There is a cheetah conservatory that I hope to check out an hour north of here where you can pet cheetahs. The largest concentration of cheetahs is located in Namibia. There are also the big 5 African animal here but they tend to be found in the game parks. They include rhinos, elephants, leopards, lions and cape buffalo. There supposedly have been sightings of leopards on the mountain I hike so I am a little leery of that now. I figure there are goats in the same vicinity that are a little easier prey. Some of my colleagues have seen giraffes on their trips as well as flamingos. I will see more as I am allowed to travel. There are also snakes! One of my friends here had a dangerous spitting one in her hut that awoke her one night. She was very lucky.
What kind of words did you learned?
- I have learned parts of two tanguages here, Khoekhoegowab which is a language using 4 clicks and Afrikaans, a variation of Dutch. I can speak more Afrikaans just because it is a lot easier but KKG is fun to listen too. “Matisa?” means “Whats up?” in KKG. You would then respond !Gaia. The ! is a click. Hou gan dit? Is the Afrikaans version of the above.
What are the main sports?
- The main two sports here are soccer and rugby. Everyone here has their favorite soccer team, though a lot seem to favor Manchester United. There is a lot of excitement surrounding the 2010 world cup in South Africa. A lot of commercialism geared up for it. At school there are also leagues in place for netball, a variation of basketball that generally girls play, and volleyball. There is some softball with funds from the USA supporting it.
Do you have any body wash there?
- Yeah there is body wash here. A little expensive though. The weird thing though is the deodorant. There is no stick deodorant. It is this roll on gel thing. Kind of hard to explain but it is very necessary here with the heat.
Is there any Honda cars up there?
- There are Hondas and Chevys and Toyotas, BMWs, Fiats, Tatas, Hundai, and Volkswagens. The 5 door coupe though reigns supreme. You see them everywhere. There is also a general trend of smaller cars. People tend to not buy as big here. Definitely opposite of Texans. If you have ever driven through there trucks are huge!
How hot is Nambia?
- It is currently 107 degrees and supposed to get hotter but not that much. It cools off at night though because there are no bodies of water acting as an insulator to moderate the temperature. Sorry I am a science teacher. Is it ever a little cold in Nambia? - They do have winter here, which happens during what would be summer in the states. I can get below freezing during those times but no snow. It is cooler by the cost all year.
What happens when the lights go off?
- The lights do go off here whenever there is a thunderstorm. This occurs for seemingly one month straight during the rainy season. During that time people just use there gas stoves and use fires. Although a lot of Namibia does not have electricity at all or at least reliably. I live where in town, but in the location the electricity is a little more sporadic and people there are reliant on the daily schedule of the sun and candles. We hold study hours at the school to give students who do not have access to electricity a place to study but it is a pretty long walk for them, twenty minutes there and back. They make this round trip journey at least twice a day.
Is there any lakes or rivers near Nambia?
- There are some lakes and rivers but they are few and far between. They are mainly to the north. There is a cool river called the Kunene River, on the northern border, that flows into the middle of Africa instead of an ocean and just evaporates into the Okavango Delta in Botswana. You can see this highlighted in the Planet Earth Series. Wildlife flourish around here during select times of the year.
Is there a lot of people living where you are living?
- There are very few people in Karibib, around 2,000, and in Namibia in general. There are only around 2 million people here total. Most are in the capital city and in the northern regions. That is 2 million people for an area roughly twice the size of California. That is 6.8 people per square mile. There is a lot of open space here.
What weapons do the military in namibia carry?
- Well as a member of Peace Corps I do not have much dealings with the military here but during one of my runs I ran past some guards carrying AK 47s. I made a memo to myself to come home arrive home sooner after that.
Please feel free to send any questions you may have. Happy Holidays.
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