Ah-ha

I did have this picture, taken from the plane from Johannesburg to Windhoek (by Sinead) available. So that is what Namibia looks like from above- its about as dry and empty as it looks, though we have had a lot of thunderstorms lately. Hopefully I'll have some pictures from the ground on here soon.

First few days in Windhoek

So Sinead and I have been here for about three days now, and though I'm not sure we are settling in, we are slowly getting more used to Namibia. On arriving I was mostly just amazed by how quiet and beautiful it was at the airport- it really is just landing in the middle of the desert as the airport is 40 km away from the city. It was espcially nice because we landed at sunset, and it was pleasantly warm, and practically no one was at the airport. Windhoek is slightly less quiet, actually its a pretty busy place, but its only about the size of Boise so it still feels pretty low key. We've had three days of orientation now, learning about how to survive and teach in Namibia- its been kind of a whirlwind, but I think I'll really appreciate it when I get up north to my assignment (in Oluvango, near Outapi, which is kind of near Oshakati- look it up on a map). We went to the US embassy and heard lots of scary stories, but so far everyone has seemed really friendly and happy to see Americans here. We went to a traditional restaurant last night and had goats head and sour milk, among other things, it was kind of like Mongolian food (for the few of you who know what that is like).

Sorry there are no photos yet, Namibian internet cafes aren't into USB ports yet, so I'm not sure how I'll get photos onto the blog, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. For anyone who hasn't already, you should check out sinead's blog at www.teaching-in-namibia.blogspot.com- its even better.

Not much else to report- tonight we will hopefully have a fun new year's eve, though it will probably be a little quiet, and then tomorrow we have off from orientation, but I'm not sure how much there will be to do since it is a holiday. In a few days we will go to Rehoboth, which is south of Windhoek, to spend a few days teaching a kind of summer school, and then we'll go relax at a reservoir in the desert somewhere. We head up North in two weeks, and I'm kind of nervous about that (I think Windhoek is a lot more familiar to me than anything up there will be) but I'm hoping for the best.

Peace,

Pete

6 days and counting

I just shaved my head in honor of this crazy thing Sinead and I are about to do. She was going to do the same, but decided against it at the last minute. It doesn't seem real that I am going to leave cold Atlanta on Monday (the day after christmas) and end up very shortly in the hot, savannah of Oluvango, Namibia. Maybe it will seem more real when I get there.