Questions You Might Have Asked Me If You Were In Namibia

What has been the most obnoxious thing about living with so many
people for the last 7 weeks? Well, it has to be the fact that I have
no space to put anything, so not only have I been living out of a bag
the whole time, there hasn't been any room to organize things. CBT
alleviated the situation because I had a room to myself with a bed and
about 12 square feet of living space including a recliner that I never
sat in because I had to use it as my closet.

What is it like to live with 57 of your closest friends you met 7
weeks ago? The group is so large that there are several people that I
have never had a long conversation with, but that also means that when
any individual is grating on my nerves, it is easy to avoid any
confrontation. The beauty of this situation is that we all joined the
Peace Corps so we are all the same brand of crazy. Thus we all seem
normal to each other, so I have enjoyed rather deep and stimulating
conversations with a large number of my fellow trainees ranging an
extreme breadth of topics. We have only been in Namibia for 7 weeks,
but I feel like I have developed a number a good friendships. The
unfortunate thing is that we are all scattered across the entire
country of Namibia, so some of my closer friends live relatively close
to me and and some live at least a full days travel away.

What foods have you eaten? Namibian food generally tastes good, but
the country lacks culinary diversity. If you ask a Namibian what they
want to eat for dinner, they will probably be confused at why you
would even ask such a question. Namibians eat meat (typically off the
bone) and porridge (maize meal and water). Since we are used to eating
fruits and vegetables some provision has been made to preserve a
balanced diet. I have eaten plenty of beef, goat, and other game as
well as chicken and some fish although neither is actually meat.
Vegetables can be obtained but are limited to potato, carrot,
cucumber, cabbage, tomato, bell peppers (available but expensive),
avocado, and other seasonal options. Fruit is limited to apples,
sketchy bananas and canned options.

What animals have you seen? Although Namibia has Africa's Big 5 they
do not roam free. I have mostly seen goats, sheep, donkeys, cats,
dogs, cows, chickens, warthogs, baboons, birds and lots of insects and
arachnids. I also have seen other game including springbok, kudu,
wildebeest, etc.

How has your experience been different than the traditional perception
of Peace Corps Africa? Some people refer to Namibia as Africa Easy,
and the term Posh Corps has been thrown around in various contexts. We
have clean water from the tap which not only simplifies daily
activities, but also removes one common source of illness. Really the
answer to this question comes down to the pool party that we had
yesterday that included a chocolate cake and a mocha flavored
milkshake. I have listened to the BBC on my shortwave radio, but I
have also watched college football on ESPN.

What are you most looking forward to at your permanent site?
Unpacking and hanging clothes in a closet.

How do you feel about chocolate fudge? (selected responses from those
lucky individuals who got to sample the fudge that was in my package
from Mom and Dad)
Let me just sit in heaven for a minute. How did you get this? You just
made my entire day. That was the best thing I've had since I got here.
Thank you so much. Oh, my gosh this is so good. It made it here cold?
Two thumbs up to your mom. It's good, I can tell your mom makes good
fudge. Its still cold! Amazing. Tell your mom I love her. Please tell
her thank you. That was so tasty. This is freaking awesome. This is so
wonderful! Is this from home? I can't believe it made it here. Ooo,
thats good. I will love you forever. See this drool.