This is getting interesting

Thursday Sept 23rd I leave Okahandja with my Head of Department Harry. We first travel to Windhoek to pick up his mother in law and then drive on to Rehoboth. Once in Rehoboth a Braai (BBQ) is waiting for me (complete with beer) thrown by some of my colleagues. I practice the little Afrikaans I can speak only to find out that the school I will be teaching at (Vooruitsig junior secondary school) mostly speaks Khoekhoegowab (KKG) better known as the African click language. I am suppose to stay with a fellow teacher near the school but it is determined that there is not sufficient bedding for me and I am taken back to Harry’s house. There is now debate over where I will live, more to come on that later.

Friday I leave for school with Harry and his wife. Upon arrival we go to the staff meeting where I am introduced to the people I didn’t meet the previous night. My surname is changed to “Nieberger” because Neiberger literally translates to “Fuck Mountain(eer)” in Afrikaans. I attend the Friday morning assembly where I am introduced to the students. They stare at me. I am taken to every class to personally speak to each teacher. It becomes apparent that five teachers are absent and another three (and the principal) left early for the day. A fight breaks out among the unruly children with no supervision. It is broken up by one of the teachers. School closes early due to the lack of teachers. I go back to Harry’s house and nothing of an excitement happens there.

Saturday I meet with the two other PCVs in Rehoboth, Ricky and Maureen, who are really nice and show me around town. I buy a few things for the family and head back. I meet the rest of the immediate family, Janice (15), Jaime (19) and Harry (who goes by Jodie 22). There is a Braai waiting for Jaime and Jodie because they are home from Windhoek where they both attend the University of Namibia. I meet an exceptionally drunk white Angolan who attempts to speak Portuguese to me, it fails. He speaks Afrikaans, it too fails. Finally English, it fails as well. I gave up trying to speak with him. I then shoot pool with Harry, Ricky, and some of the other people whom I hardly know. I go to bed around 10pm; I’m exhausted because I get up around 4am.

Sunday everyone sleeps late and relaxes. I talk a little with the family but mostly read and watch rugby and cricket. Coincidentally cricket is the most ungodly boring creation I have ever watched. Jodie and Jaime go back to Windhoek.

Monday I wake and go to school with Harry. At the morning staff meeting I see several new faces that I have never seen before. The staff sings a few hymns in KKG. I never knew clicks could be sung. I observe mathematics and physical science classes on my first day. The learners stare at me. They are noticeably distracted. I speak with my vice principal about the states and the difference in culture between the States and Namibia. I also tell him I’m from Miami because no one knows where Gainesville or Jacksonville is, but everyone knows Miami. I have a meeting with my Inspector over my permanent housing, a two bedroom flat. She argues that I am only one person and only need a one bedroom flat. Harry and I argue that I need two bedrooms for the other volunteers who do their shopping in Rehoboth and need a place to stay. It is later discovered she lives in the two bedroom flat and doesn’t want to leave. She is not supposed to be living there. I show my Peace Corps papers saying I get the two bedroom flat and potentially make my first enemy in Rehoboth.

Tuesday repeats similarly to Monday. I observed some classes and this time I talked to the principal. The main exception was Caitlin (PCV) and her principal Ivan came so we could hike out to Okahandja. Hike out is Namblish for getting a ride in a taxi, combi (van), or someone’s private car. Caitlin and I tried stories about our experiences and what we think of our bosses.

Wednesday we hike out and I write this blog.

Best week yet

This has been, by far, the best week in Africa. On Wednesday several of us played softball with a group of local kids. It was so much fun seeing the faces of the children, happy just to be playing against another team. It reminded so much of when I was young and played baseball for the pure fun of the game. Later that was ruined and I only played because of the friends I had playing, not for love of the game anymore. We received our results from our language evaluation and I passed. I didn’t do as well as I had hoped but I’m going to start working on language and actually studying instead of mostly goofing off and playing guitar. On Friday (Sept 17th) we found out our sites and I will be heading to Rehoboth. It’s roughly the same size as Okahandja and only about an hour away from Windhoek. The only problem with this site is I can’t wear my Indiana Jones hat for several months. Because Rehoboth is in the south there is a larger problem with racism and the apartheid mindset. Being of German descent, and wearing that style of hat, I look too much like a Boer. A Boer is a white farmer, typically, but it has a very negative connotation in the southern regions of Namibia. It would be very counterproductive of me to look like a Boer in the first few months because people would go out of their way to avoid me. After 6 months or so of integrating into my community I will once again be able to wear my awesome hat. Integration shouldn’t be too difficult because there is a health volunteer already in Rehoboth. His name is Ricky. Only one member from my group (group 32) is within 80km of me and that is Caitlin. Most of my group is located in the north, near Etosha and in the Caprivi region. I will spend a fair amount of time going to planning in the north with my other science and math teachers.
Yesterday was an amazing day. We went to a hot springs, and by hot springs I mean algae covered urine colored pool. It was actually a lot of fun and everyone was able to kick back and relax. It’s good seeing all of the trainees without the thought of language and education sessions in their minds.

Sept 13th

I had my host father shave my head this past Sunday. With the goatee I grew, I’m vaguely reminiscent of Edward Norton in American History X, where he plays a Neo-Nazi. I decided to shave my goatee. I cooked for my family today, spaghetti, and served them. It was a little strange when I went to hand my sister some food and she tried to get up so I could sit down. She’s not use to being served especially by a male. I asked her to sit and eat while I ate my food and cleaned up after everyone. They all seemed pleased with the meal but I’m never entirely sure. I fed some of my sister’s leftovers to Lion. I’m working on my relationship with the dog so I don’t get barked at in the morning. It seems to be working. I have my language proficiency test coming up, the midterm one is not very important, only the ending evaluation. I’m not worried about it though. Afrikaans is pretty easy to understand and speak.

Rob

Sept 8th

Today, a bird crapped on me. I am told it is good luck but somehow I do not feel very lucky. My host mom prepared spaghetti for dinner and kool-aid to drink. I was excited! I haven’t had kool-aid in at least 10 years. Also for the first time since coming to Africa we got to see clouds. I know it may seem like a little thing but the sun is killer on my pasty whiteness. I enjoy my host family with one minor exception. They’re very conservative and seem to believe highly in gender roles. This is not really a problem because I’m a man and get out of doing housework, but I feel I cannot connect as well with my sister and mother because they don’t eat in the same room as I do. I have been trying to make a special effort to talk to my sister, though she doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak Afrikaans, and it seems to be paying off. She now greets me in the morning and I try to help her with chores, though I’m often not allowed to. Anyhow, all is well today.

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.