It's back to the village ...

Tomorrow morning bright and early it's out the
door and time to head back to the village.
It has been about 10 days out of site and
it's been a quick ten days but it was a good
little break. I actually had a chance to watch TV,
go for breakfast a few times and catch up on
the soapies (soap operas / telenovelas) that
they show here in Namibia.

I've stayed in contact with some of the people
I work with in the village and there are a few things
lined up so it will be some things to do upon return.

I was able to do a little more playing around with
my netbook computer since here there is 24/7
electricity. So, I converted another one of the
Young San Cultural Group's songs.

This one I really like and the name of the song is
... people from the oil tree.

It isn't exactly a traditional song but it is one that the
kids put together themselves.

To listen to it and if you want or download just

click here 

when you arrive at the page you will see the player
and to the right an option to download.

Send me a comment if you like the song.

Time to go start packing my things for the 11 hour
journey back.

What I like about ...

Africa is that at any time, any where, you may see something that you've never seen before. Despite having almost 6 years of living on the continent, there is still a good chance that something unique will appear out of the blue. This morning I walked into town ( I am spending a few days in Okahandja. A city. ) as you can see there is water jetting out of somewhere due to some work mishap. You can also see a car under the water flow. The great thing is the guy drove through then stopped, backed up and basically washed his car in the middle of the street. Can't say I've seen that before and maybe others have but this was a first for me. I just love things like this. Freedom to just do these things without worrying about what people think. Things like this I'll miss when my time is up in 6 months. But it ain't over yet.

A new view ...

I am out of the village at this moment and
took a few days to visit the host family that
I stayed with in Okahandja.

I had been in the village almost full time
since returning from my 1 month vacation
at the end of June. I didn't have to stay there
all the time but I did because there always
seemed something going on that I didn't
want to miss being a part of.

But I feel that I was due to just relax a bit. Here
I can catch up on some of the things that I
wanted to work on. In the village the electricity
was basically limited to 1 hour a day and when
they fixed the big generator and it was on for
about 9 hours per, I ran out of airtime for going
on the internet to look up information.
With the 3G connection we have it costs about
1 USD for 7 megabytes of download/upload.
So by being in the city I can get access to buying
airtime by just going to the center of town. In
the village it is hit or miss with airtime so there
are limitations.

In the title it says 'A new view' which basically means
that I am in another place. In the picture is a
part of the new view. On the left is Helvy and on
the right is Helena. They are a part of the host
family that I stayed with during my first three months in
Namibia. It is part of the Peace Corps' program
to have trainees live with host families at the
beginning. It is actually a very good thing as it
gives one a chance to get immersed while making
the transition.

This family in particular has been very good to me
during training and ever since. I visit them every
so often when I get a chance to pass by this side
of the country.

Back to Helvy and Helena ... Helvy is in her last year
at the University of Namibia and she is finishing
her studies in economy. Also she is from the Ovambo
people, one of the many different peoples/tribes in
Namibia. In her language to say hello to
anyone who visits this blog one would say
... ongeipi ... which means 'how are you'.
the reply if things are going well is ... nawa.
Helena is still in high school and will be entering
the 11th grade.
They are both good girls and I am sure that they
will do well with their lives.

Now it is time to end this blog entry and take
advantage of the electricity. Maybe we'll watch a
movie or listen to the radio and even crazier, watch
TV.

Going without those things isn't a real problem and
when I get the chance to use these every so often, it
really is a treat. I really like how this experience helps
keep life into a perspective. I am hoping and am
almost sure that from here on in, I will never take
any of these things for granted.

What a way to enjoy all the things life has to offer ...
but it starts by learning to never take them for granted.