The First Report From Namibia

Ah...my first blog post. WELCOME...and thanks for reading. I'll try to keep it brief, light and interesting (okay, I only said TRY). So, I'd like to begin with a joke about the British brought to you by my dear friend Chris (who reminds me of Reid BTW) (and I would also like to add the disclaimer that I love my British friends, the Queen and the Brits in general, but this joke was too good to pass up!):

Q: How come the sun never sets on the British Empire?
A: Because God doesn't trust them in the dark.

Good one, right? I know all the historians out there are secretly cracking up inside. Okay, all jokes aside, a little bit about Namibia (furthermore abbreviated Nam). First, I'm loving it here so far. It is very different from home, especially the weather, but I think I'll adjust. It is very chilly here in the evening, over night and in the morning (sweatshirt, jeans and socks needed) and warm during the day (tshirt and shorts - or here, a skirt). I don't think the landscape can quite be described as desert but I'd definitely call it arid. It hasn't rained since May, but to be fair, it is also winter at the moment and we're just moving into the rainy season (please note: rainy seasons does not equal monsoon season).

There are 44 (soon to be 45) people in our group. Although we come from many different education backgrounds we'll all be teaching (English, science, math or IT) or helping with small business. The group is great - we have a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. Since we don't have TV or internet and are busy during the daylight hours, we spend a lot of evenings playing cards.

We're still in training, in central Nam. Tomorrow we will be moving in with our host families. I met the family today and am very excited to move in. I will be living with a mom, auntie and little sister (16), who will be leaving in two weeks for boarding school about an hour from home. We will be staying with our host families for 6 weeks, learning language, culture and life skills (i.e. how to [hand] wash clothes, how to make Nam dishes). I've been put in the group that will be learning Oshindonga, but my host family speaks a Khoesan (click) language (as well as English) so I, unfortunately, will not be able to practice with them. Hopefully I'll be able to impress you all with my clicks, though!

The internet is hard to come by, especially since we are in session all day and the internet cafe is closed in the evenings and on the weekends. So if I don't write, I'm not neglecting you, I'm just "disconnected."

And finally, if you write me I promise to write back (as long as it is successfully delivered - the mail is generally reliable but not completely perfect) and if you are in the area, please come visit: Nam is gorgeous! My address can be found on my Facebook or email me at kjbeckman AT gmail.

And since I haven't quite figured out how best to post pictures, I'm just going to narrate what these are of...these are part of an album called Conquering Pride Rock. During the first week of training we decided to take a little hike through the bush up that (below) hill. Despite the thorn bushes, it was a wonderful time and the views were fantastic. Thanks bunches to Matt (our official photographer) for taking all these wonderful pictures.