Life in the city

Last Wednesday, Elizabeth, Chad and I made our way on the patient bus to Windhoek for All-Volunteer Conference and Reconnect. When we got to Outjo, we were a little nervous to see if we’d be kicked off since there are usually a lot of hospital patients getting on at Outjo and getting off in Windhoek, but luck was on our side that day. So after arriving at the state hospital in Windhoek, we grabbed a taxi and made our way to Safari Hotel for the All-Volunteer Conference.

Now, in the history of Peace Corps Namibia, there hasn’t been very many times that Peace Corps has done an All-Volunteer Conference, so we were pretty lucky to have one. The All-Volunteer Conference is just what is written....all the Peace Corps Namibia volunteers come together for two days to talk about stress management, resiliency and also to celebrate Peace Corps’ 50th Anniversary. Plus it’s just a time to meet up together and meet volunteers that I normally wouldn’t be able to see because of the distance. And it being the 50th Anniversary, we watched different Peace Corps public service announcements (PSAs) from over the years. Pretty cool. And even saw some recent ones that I haven’t seen before! Also with the 50th Anniversary celebration came an invitation by the US Ambassador to Namibia to her house to have a little celebration....and free pizza, beer and wine. Who could pass that up?! Definitely a good night.

The rest of the conference was spent participating in a resiliency workshop. When Americans serve in Peace Corps there tends to be some situations that cause stress during our service. Between living with a host family, eating different kinds of foods, and just being completely submerged into a new culture, it’s definitely going to amount to some stress. One of the stress scales that we were given during training showed that stress of a divorce was about 50 points on the scale whereas a two year Peace Corps service was 350! Ridiculous! So you can see why we needed a resiliency workshop.

After our time at Safari Hotel and with the conference (and a hot shower...wahoo!), we made our way to the city to do some shopping and see the latest Harry Potter movie. I have missed the city so much and just being back in the hustle and bustle of it all was really nice. Yes, believe it or not I miss the traffic noises and the craziness of the city. Although after not being in a real mall for 5 months, I was sooo overwhelmed with all the shops and variety of everything. I mean, having a sports store or a shoe store at my disposal??? Weird! But oh so nice at the same time....and so refreshing.

Then that night we made our way to Greiter’s Conference Center for the next 2.5 weeks. Although Greiter’s was no luxury palace (like Safari Hotel) it does have real mattresses and hot water, so I’m a happy girl. So for these next few weeks I’ll be with other group 33ers at Reconnect, and having workshops on topics such as male engagement and project design. It might not sound like the most interesting of topics, but hopefully I’ll be able to bring some ideas back to Opuwo with me.

So far, we’ve been able to catch up and I’ve been able to hear more about everyone’s sites and what they’ve been up to these last couple of months which has been really nice. I’ve also been able to go hiking up one of the mountains where I was able to see a view of the entire city. Although the hike up there (and the high altitude) made for a very exhausting hike, it definitely made me feel better. So good to just be outside and experience the outdoors....without people questioning why I’m running in gym clothes in the middle of town.

While reading the PC Namibia health program goals during one of our sessions, it really helped me to get a better understanding of what the health program was trying to accomplish but also gave me a breath of fresh air of what I hope to accomplish during my time here.

Then today, we began a three day workshop on male engagement. So far, many of the topics that we covered today have already been covered either during our Peace Corps training back in February or through my social work classes at Champlain....including gender roles, feelings and “I” statements. It made me feel like I was transported back to high school or college. Seemed like such simple topics, but for some of the participants it was the first time that they’ve covered this material. Interesting. I only wish that it was a trainer of trainers workshop so that we’d be able to bring resources back to our sites. Well, we’ll see.

So far, that’s about it! It’s just been so nice catching up with friends and meeting new ones.....and not having to cook! Wahoo!

Where in the world is.....

These next couple of months are going to be crazy, so I figured I’d give you the run down now before everything starts to get insanely busy.

July 20 Head down to Windhoek for the All Volunteer Conference

July 21 & 22 All Volunteer Conference

We’ll spend these days talking about issues affecting volunteers like how to manage stress and personal resiliency. Plus having all the current Peace Corps Namibia volunteers in one place? Heck yeah!!

July 23-August 10 Reconnect

Believe it or not, I’ve already been at my site for almost three months, which means it’s time for Reconnect. And for me, it couldn’t have come at a better time. It’s time to recharge my emotional batteries, get answers to the many questions I still have lingering in my head and just hang out with other 33ers.

As for the actual training, we’ll be talking about topics like male engagement, project design management, and of course having some language classes.

August 12 Head back to Opuwo

August 22-September 2 Victoria Falls trip!!

Monday Aug. 22^nd

Pick up our rental car in Windhoek and drive to Rundu & stay with PCVs there for the night.

Tuesday Aug. 23

Go to Botswana & visit Chobe National Park.

Stay for 2 nights, with one full day of driving through the park.

Thursday August 25

Depart to Livingston, Zambia

Stay in Victoria Falls area for 5 nights.

And while at Victoria Falls, I plan on doing a half day white water rafting trip, the zipline and a sunset/booze cruise. Check out more information at: Activities at Victoria Falls

Tues August 30

Check out of the backpacker’s lodge and stay in Caprivi area

Wed August 31

Depart Caprivi area and stay somewhere near Rundu or Grootfontein

Thursday September 1

Drive to Windhoek or Okahandja

Friday September 2^nd

Drop off rental car back in Windhoek


Let the fun begin!!

Rollercoasters

They say that the life of a Peace Corps volunteer is like a rollercoaster. There are plenty of ups, downs and even times when you feel like you’re upside down and ready to cry or throw up. While waiting in line for your turn to experience the thrill, you might have sweaty palms and be a little nervous because you have no idea what to expect. But you take the anxiety in stride, because really, it’s all worth it in the end. I mean, why else would you wait minutes upon minutes for your chance at the rollercoaster? Or maybe in the case of Peace Corps, months upon months waiting for that invitation letter and package to come your way. But through it all, there’s also excitement. Excitement of the thrill of going through this crazy ride. Excitement for the anticipation of what’s around the next corner. And at the end of the ride as you’re pulling back into the station where you started, you think, “man, that was fun! Let’s do it again!” Even after all that anxiety and waiting, you’re willing to do it again, because for just that short amount of time, it was all worth it.

Right now, I guess you could say I’ve just hit a “down” in the rollercoaster but am slowly  inching my way, trying to ascend up to the top, for where the view is always incredible. If you ask me how my day was today, I might reply that it was fine, but ask me a few days or even just a few hours from now and I might tell you differently. I think the one thing keeping me here and letting myself feel these downs is because I’m stubborn. Yup, I admitted it, I’m stubborn. I’m stubborn because deep down I can see the big picture in all of this, or at least I hope the big picture will come into view when I’m at the top and everything looks beautiful.

Since I have been on other types of rollercoaster rides in my life, I know that with downs also come ups. I know that if there were never low moments in life, I wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate the happy ones.

But for the next couple minutes, just let me wallow in my down, okay? Since I stepped off that plane and walked through customs in the Windhoek airport back in February, I wondered what I’d actually be doing the next two years--heck, I’ve wondered that since I was in the middle of my application process! And now that I’m here, now that I know where I’m going to be living for the next two years, I still wonder. Me being the go-getter American that I am, I have such an urge to just get up and do something. I want to be busy! But with entering a new culture and country comes different cultural norms. So even almost three months of being at my permanent site I still have no freaking clue what I’m doing. And it’s frustrating beyond belief. To know that I could just not show up to work one day or just take off on a vacation and no one would bat an eye where I was is frustrating. You would think that after three months of being here in Opuwo, I would have a better understanding of what it is that I’m supposed to do. There’s more going on than what I’m writing, but for my sake, that’s all I’m sharing here.

My APCD (Peace Corps program director) gave me a job description of what I should be doing at my office but also in the community and it was very helpful. So far though, I haven’t done very much at all in my primary assignment at the regional office. What I have been doing though is doing more community work than anything. I’ve been helping out and planning lessons for the OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) class at the Red Cross every Friday. And I have to say, those kids light up my life. After meeting them and seeing the joy in their eyes, it has made me want to come back week after week. And with my enthusiasm and experience of working with kids, I have soooo many ideas up my sleeve.

But one of the recent highlights in my life has been the planning of my upcoming trip to Victoria Falls. I’m excited beyond belief about this one. I’ll talk more about it in another blog entry, but for right now I’ll tell you that there’s white water rafting and so many animals involved. This makes for a very happy Alison.

And as I said, with the “downs” also come the “ups” so bring ‘em on!