A typical day so far

I wake to the sound of Lion, the meanest dong I have ever met, at 5:30 in the morning. At 6 my host father knocks on my door signaling my start to the day. My host family, who five days ago were complete strangers, has opened their home to me, fed me, tutored my Afrikaans, and taught me basic skills such as cooking and doing laundry. I dress and prepare my backpack for language and cross cultural training sessions. I exit and lock my room (a Peace Corps requirement) to enter the family room where my host mom has prepared a meal of wheat bricks. Not the best food in the world but I will gladly eat it. I leave the house at 6:50am to meet Barbara, Caitlin, Quinn, and Julie so we can walk to the cambie (van) together. The morning is chilly but the sun rises over the mountains in the distance. We walk and talk and meet up with the 15 PCT’s (Peace Corps Trainees) who will squish into the cambie and head to NIED (National Institute for Education Development) for language training. Upon arrival we share all of our stories from the previous night with the other trainees.
Morning session starts with singing Peace Corps songs, followed by the Namibian National Anthem and the Star Spangled Banner. I’m not much of a singer but most of us aren’t. We then have announcements and culture or language training. At 10am we break for tea time, my new passion in life. We return to training at 10:30am, usually the opposite of whatever we did earlier in the day. I usually stop paying attention and lose track of time for a while. Professors Lufaso and Chalk can attest to my general inattentiveness during lectured instruction. At 1pm we break for lunch, packed by our host moms. I have sandwiches with butter, lots of butter, and some type of fruit. We all trade for whatever we want to eat that day. At 2:30pm we reconvene for more training in language, culture, or general I Peace Corps information. The day ends at 5pm and my head swims with new vocabulary to try on my host family. The cambie picks us all up at NIED and drops us back in our neighborhoods. I hurry home with the same group. I greet the family and ask if they need help with the food, they say no. I sit with my host dad and watch “The Soapies.” The soapies are soap operas from around the world. We watch one from South Africa in Afrikaans so I can try and pick up some of the language. When it is over I do my homework with my host father’s help. I’m then served a delicious meal (though not as good as my mom’s cooking) and watch some more TV. By 8pm I head to my all pink, private, bathroom to take a warm bath and relax. After washing I journal and read. I go to sleep around 10pm to wake the next day and repeat.

Now is the time

Here I am, sitting at the cusp of my destiny, in a hotel room, with someone who is barely more than a stranger. I have spent, at best, 24 hours, getting to know the 45 who are leaving in my same group. And yet, these are people who have the same mindset, the same ideals, nearly the same beliefs as I do. When the British surrendered at Charlestown they played “The world is Upside down,” but I am almost certain, that the world has never seemed more, “right side up” than it does now. Here, I know great people, who will do great things. I will never forget the great people who helped me along. But I feel now, now is the time that I live to my full potential, and do not only the things I’ve dreamed of, but do the things that all of my friends believe I am capable of.

Robert Neiberger

Leaving

I have had nearly two months to think and reflect on the adventure I will soon be embarking on. For the most part I have been excited. However sometimes when I lay down trying to sleep, my excitement is punctuated by a moment of extreme panic. What am I doing? Why am I leaving everyone in the states? This moment passes quickly and calm washes over me. The calm is the realization that everything I have done in my life has led me to this moment. The mission trips, volunteer work, education, hiking, and camping have all been in preparation for this new adventure. All I can do is thank everyone for the support and love you have shown me. I would never be able to undertake such as journey without the people who have helped me along the way.