Yesterday we learned who our host family was going to be for the next 7 weeks and what language we'll be learning, so it was definitely an exciting and overwhelming day. I'll be learning Otjiherero, which is a Bantu language of the Herero tribe. The only thing I really know about that tribe and the language, the Herero women wear headwraps like cattle horns. Only one other volunteer in my group is learning that language with me. About 12 people are learning Afrikaans, which is a language spoken throughout Namibia and is a mesh between German, English, Dutch and some other languages. I'm pretty excited by the language I'm going to learn because of where the language is spoken. Since I'll be learning Otjiherero (pronounced Oshi-herero), I'm probably going to be placed outside the capital city of Windhoek or in the North. In the north, there's less of an issue with the apartheid and racism, so I'm really hoping I'm in the north. As long as I'm in a somewhat mid-size village with a grocery store, I'm happy. And the other Volunteer that's learning the language with me and probably going to be living near me seems really nice.
As for my host family, I'm really hoping it turns out to be a good experience. I'm going to be living with this family for the next 7 weeks and until my swearing-in ceremony, where I'll officially be called a Peace Corps Volunteer. My host family consists of a single mother who teaches primary school and her 10 year old son. I've met the single mother and she seems nice, but just quiet and I haven't met the son yet. I move into her house tomorrow afternoon....so here's to hoping!
Other than that, I'm just spending all my free time bonding with other volunteers and relaxing....although there's not much time for relaxing. To give you a timeline of my day, I have breakfast at 6:30am and we start training at 7:30am and finally finish training around 4:30pm. Then sometimes we have things to do at night. It's a long day, but at least we're struggling together! Everyone seems so nice so far, and we're really getting along well. This weekend we're going into Windhoek (the capital) which is about an hour or so from where we are. It'll just be nice to see a different city and get out of the training site for a little bit. When we were driving from the Windhoek airport to the training site, we saw a bunch of animals, so I'm hoping we can see some more this weekend! More updates to come :)
As for my host family, I'm really hoping it turns out to be a good experience. I'm going to be living with this family for the next 7 weeks and until my swearing-in ceremony, where I'll officially be called a Peace Corps Volunteer. My host family consists of a single mother who teaches primary school and her 10 year old son. I've met the single mother and she seems nice, but just quiet and I haven't met the son yet. I move into her house tomorrow afternoon....so here's to hoping!
Other than that, I'm just spending all my free time bonding with other volunteers and relaxing....although there's not much time for relaxing. To give you a timeline of my day, I have breakfast at 6:30am and we start training at 7:30am and finally finish training around 4:30pm. Then sometimes we have things to do at night. It's a long day, but at least we're struggling together! Everyone seems so nice so far, and we're really getting along well. This weekend we're going into Windhoek (the capital) which is about an hour or so from where we are. It'll just be nice to see a different city and get out of the training site for a little bit. When we were driving from the Windhoek airport to the training site, we saw a bunch of animals, so I'm hoping we can see some more this weekend! More updates to come :)
And you thought our roads were bad......... http://www.namibian.org/travel/namibia/pictures/opuwo/fullsize/Rocky_road_fs.jpg
ReplyDeleteNo painting needed! http://www.namibian.org/travel/namibia/pictures/opuwo/fullsize/Kraal_fs.jpg