Swearing In

On January 5, I took the oath of service and pledged to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Namibia for two years. Our Swearing-In Ceremony was presided over by the Peace Corps Country Director, US Ambassador to Namibia, and the first published female Namibian author. A news crew came to film us and made our faces famous throughout the country by broadcasting our ceremony that very evening; there are only three television channels in Namibia so believe me when I say that we were seen by a good portion of the population.

Although Pre-Service Training was an exasperating experience overall, I was still tremendously sad to reach its end as I realized I would face separation from my fellow Trainees. Although I have only known them for a few months, we have seen each other through some very difficult times and have bonded over our shared frustrations and joys. Without the constant support of these people, training could not possibly have been bearable. The array of experiences we have had together and as individuals has transformed the dynamic of our group into something powerfully unique and remarkable. I know that these sixty-two people are truly the only ones on this planet who are fully capable of understanding and empathizing with my experiences as a PCV in Namibia. So I was admittedly quite sad to say farewell to these individuals and to head off to my site.

It will be three months before I see the vast majority of my fellow Volunteers (at that time we have a conference called Reconnect). There are only two other PCVs in my region, and only five others in the South. Those of us in the South are very much isolated from the rest of the group so I will have to wait patiently over the next few months before I will be able to converse with everyone.

Now that I have finally arrived at my permanent site, I have a permanent address. Should anyone wish to send me correspondence, you can do it at this address:

Kate McLaughlin
P.O. Box 1022
Gobabis, Namibia
AFRICA

The Talent Show

I have never really possessed gifts worthy of being showcased on stage in a talent show. So when I noticed on our training schedule that the Trainees were to put on a talent show for one another, I became slightly alarmed. I don’t consider myself much of singer, I’m certainly not a dancer, I don’t know any magic tricks, and I doubt I’d be any good at stand-up comedy. So what on earth was I supposed to do in the talent show?

The answer came to me suddenly one day as I was practicing Afrikaans on the bus with another Trainee, Lucy. I was so tired of having my butt glued to bus bench that I decided to alter the lyrics for the Hokey Pokey, and wrote “Sit jou linker boud in, sit jou linker boud uit. Sit jou linker boud in en skud dit al rond” (it’s a rough translation of “Sit your left butt cheek in, sit your left butt cheek out…). Not a particularly refined song, but nonetheless I was quite proud of myself for having composed something in Afrikaans. So I gradually convinced my fellow Afrikaans speakers to perform the Hokey Pokey with me for the talent show.

We had been challenged by the four Education PCTs who were learning Afrikaans so we could not back down from entering even though none of seriously believed the Hokey Pokey would secure our place as the winners of the Talent Show. We tried to throw people off and spice up the act by adding a little dance number and striptease to the beginning but I have to say that we were outdone by a number of more talented performers. As for the Education PCTs, they choreographed a dance number to Toto’s “Africa” which was highly humorous and very entertaining. In my opinion, they very much surpassed our Hokey Pokey.

The Holiday Season

It does not seem quite real to me that we have now entered the year of 2007. Spending the holiday season away from home was a surreal experience. If someone had asked me a year ago what I thought I would likely be doing on Christmas Eve 2006, I certainly would not have known that I’d be hiking aimlessly through the rocky mountains of Okahandja and fearing attack from the nearby and somewhat violent baboon clan. As for Christmas dinner, I would never have guessed that I would be enjoying a braai (which is like a barbeque) in a riverbed during the middle of the summer season. Back in the States, I would have received well wishes on my birthday from the moment I rose out of bed but here, nobody knew it was my birthday until the afternoon rolled around; it’s the closest I’ve ever come to completely not celebrating the occasion (which for those who know me well, know its never been an affair I’ve much enjoyed making a big fanfare out of). So my birthday was largely uneventful, as it always has been (aside from that fateful day in 1983 when my presence first graced this earth) and which very much suites me. And as for New Years Eve, I certainly would not have anticipated that I would be celebrating the coming of 2007 many hours before my family in friends back in the states would.

I’m so accustomed to sleeping through that final countdown; I’ve never been much of a night owl. However, I know that 2007 will present many more challenges and rewards than most of my previous years on this earth have. So I certainly could not let the chance to celebrate all that is to come slip me by! I’m not entirely sure what this next year will hold; I suppose we never are but there are more uncertainties this year than I have grown accustomed to over the years. On the flip side of that though is the reality that this year holds greater promise of surprise and suspense. I’m anxious and slightly nervous to discover what 2007 holds for me.