Reconnect

The school term in long gone. I feel like I haven't done any real work since Independence day (March 21) so it will be a bit of a shock when the next term starts partway through May. Two weeks of my vacation from school are occupied by Peace Corps mid-service training, otherwise known as Reconnect. Before that though a few of my friends here met up on the coast for some fun. We spent some time on the beach but the water is extraordinarily cold so the best time was spent at the dunes sand boarding. Imagine flying down a big pile of sand head first on a small, thin piece of waxed up particle board at speeds exceeding 40 mph. I might have to go again. You do have to climb back up the dunes after every run, but it is well worth the effort. The only drawback was afterwards when I painfully realized how much sand I had in my eyes. I had to get help with my contacts because once I got the sand coated lens out of my eye I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to put the contacts in their case. Goggles might have been helpful, but no matter what sand is going to find its way in.

 

Reconnect has been fine so far. We are staying at a pretty nice hotel/conference center outside of Windhoek on the side of a mountain (oversized hill for you Coloradoans, think Falls Creek type topography for you Oklahomans, and there aren't really any hills like this in Kansas, sorry). The area is very beautiful, lots of hills in the distance and there is a nice view of Windhoek at night. Other than the nice views there isn't much to do there though. Several people visited China town last week so I have now seen Syriana, Brokeback Mountain, and Munich and plan to watch several more movies next week. Tomorrow I'm hoping to go wandering through the surrounding hills, probably on the roads though because the tall grass looks like snake country. By the beginning of May I should be back to site and have plenty of time on the Internet but until then I probably won't touch a computer.

 

I did get a chance to buy a new book. Some of you have heard about Tsotsi, the movie out of South Africa that won the Oscar for best foreign film. Well, I haven't seen the movie yet but the book was very good. I only have two minutes left so I can't go into it, and a would rather not ruin the story before you have a chance to see the movie.