PCT draws to an end

Things here are wrapping up as our Peace Corps Training comes to an end on Friday, October 15, with Group 32’s swearing in ceremony.  Today we took our LPIs (Language Proficiency tests), and I don’t know what I scored, but I am happy because this LPI went much better than our mid-LPI back in September.  I know my tester spoke slow and used really basic vocabulary, but I understood Oshindonga, which alone in itself is a feat (I am notorious for telling my language trainer “no,” whenever he turned to me to ask me a question)!  It’s remarkable that I can say what I can considering I have been here 8 weeks tomorrow and only had language 6 of the 8 weeks.  I know though that once I get to site and people are speaking Oshindonga I will again be lost, but I know I am improving for now, and who knows in two years I might actually be conversational in Oshindonga, fluent is probably pushing it knowing my ability with languages, but I am excited.  One of my goals to accomplish over the next 2 years is to actually have a basic conversation with the King.  Last time my Principal did all the talking and I took care of the smiling and nodding in response to just about everything he said to me in Oshindonga.  But before I leave I will say more to him than Hi, My name is Lindsey, Thank-you, and Stay well!

So I know I talk about food a lot, but that’s really nothing new and I just wanted to mention how excited I am about possibly having control of what I eat as soon as this weekend.  I appreciate everything that has been cooked for me, but it’s hard to go from preparing every one of your meals to preparing not a single one of my meals.  For those of you who know me, I think you would be shocked by the quantities of meat I have consumed in the last two months.  It is almost sacrilegious to have a meal here without meat, with the exception of breakfast (thank goodness for WheatBix, it is my savior).  Typically a meal here is half starch (rice, pasta, porridge) and half meat.  This week I have treated myself to dried figs, which has been wonderful because fruit and veggies have been missing from my diet (though my host mom did do a wonderful job incorporating more veggies into the meals when I explained that I missed eating veggies).  It’s crazy because my 10 or so dried figs cost over N$10, which seems outrageously expensive for only a snack, but it’s not even $1.50 (American).  I thinking coming back to the States is going to be a shock in 2 years because everything is going to be so expensive.  (Just a side note, some things actually are expensive here, I spent nearly $5 (American) on apple sauce and also nearly $5 (American) on cheese, it just becomes expensive when you try to replicate you American diet here, some adjustments are required so it becomes more feasible financially.)

Speaking of cooking American food, last weekend we had a Host Family Appreciation Day where we cooked for our Host Families in one big group.  We did for cooking purposes divide into regions, I was in the Texas region (duh) who made fajitas and chili.  We only made meat and tortillas though for the fajitas because we were encouraged to make them appear not so scary to Namibians, so no guacamole (I did make some for my host family to try, and my host mom said that she liked it), no cheese (for some reason they are weirded out by combining cheese and meat), and no veggies (for the obvious reason, Namibians like meat and not veggies).  Some of the other regions made things like Brownies, Rice Crispies, Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Pumpkin Pie, Mashed potatoes, New York Pizza, Macaroni and Cheese, baked beans and Fried Chicken.  We also made some traditional Namibian food, like Pap (porridge), braai meat, fat cakes, and cabbage.  For the most part it was a success and the food disappeared pretty quickly.  When I asked my host mom what she liked, her response was, “the meat.”

My host mom also gave me my first set of Wambo beads and my first basket!  I am so excited because they are both so pretty.  I still need to figure out the importance of the beads, but you see Wambo women wearing them all the time and it’s essentially a set of yellow seed bead necklaces.  Another one of my goals is to learn how to make the baskets when I move to the North, which I think is a reasonable goal because my host mom up north makes her own baskets.  When I come back to the States eventually I am going to come bearing so many baskets, bracelets, shatanges (pieces of African fabric that can be fastened into anything from a skirt, to curtains, to a table cloth, to a blanket, to a towel).

Another side note regarding Christmas cards/packages: If you are going to send something, do it ASAP because mail gets stuck in South Africa during the month of December.  For future Mail my new address is:

Lindsey Knapton

Ilyateko Combined School

P.O. Box 164

Uukwaluudhi

Namibia

I leave for site Saturday morning and I still have so much to do.  I haven’t even begun to pack and I have so much stuff coming along with me, I have 3 bags plus they gave us a big metal trunk, so getting to site is going to be crazy, but I am so excited!