Orientation Over and First week in Omungwelume

Sunday 1/24

Hello all! It's been about 2 weeks since the last post and so much has happened. Last week we finished Orientation on the 15the with final sessions on a past volunteers perspective on the classroom, teaching speaking, basic language instruction on the tribal languages of our region (mine is Oshikwaynama, oshi-qwan-yama, a dialect of Oshivambo), our syllabuses, continuous assessment, a security brief from the U.S. Embassy, testing/grading/assessment, health and safety, hand-washing clothes tutorial, our Emergency Action Plan if we have to evacuate, challenging situations, first day tips, fears/expectations/hopes, logistics/evaluations, and an amazing dinner at a local restaurant called Fusion (the food was modern takes on traditional African dishes and was one of the best meals I've had anywhere). Overall, it was great to be done with Orientation. Although it was very informative and a great few weeks getting to know the staff, their husbands, and the other volunteers, I had been ready to get to my placement, unpack/settle in, and start at the my school.

Keeping Busy. Tsumeb, my first teaching experience, and Etosha National Park

It's been a week since I last wrote. Sorry for the long breaks in posts. I hope to write more often once I'm settled. It's been a bit crazy with all the sessions, my first teaching experience (!) and traveling back to Windhoek from Tsumeb. Tomorrow is the mark for being here two weeks and I can hardly believe more time hasn't passed. I think because we have covered so much it seems like we have been here longer. Since I last wrote, we have began and finished our teaching practicum, and had sessions on teaching listening, the Namibian culture of indirectness, international development, teaching pronunciation, teaching reading, Namibian views of westerners, teaching writing, assessing learners, challenging school/community situations, teaching large/multilevel classes, teaching new vocabulary, teaching new vocabulary, and have begun basic language instruction. Again, quite a lot, but it does make the days go by pretty quick.

First update from Namibia!

The following is a compilation of a few journal entries I made since arriving in Namibia.  At first I did not have any internet access so I just wrote a little on the computer.  Now that I have access to the internet I hope to make more regular updates to the blog, but we'll see.  Anyway, enjoy and talk to you all again soon.

Thursday, December 30, 2010, Windhoek, Namibia

I have arrived in Namibia! After an overnight flight to D.C. through Atlanta, I left the U.S.A. the evening of the 28^th. The flight had a short stop in Dakar, Senegal and then made its way to Johannesburg, South Africa where we (WorldTeach group of 12) switched planes for a 2 hour flight to Windhoek. We landed around 9 pm on December 29th, disembarked the plane on the tarmac and walked through a slight drizzle into the airport. After getting my passport stamped, I continued on into the baggage claim area only to find that my bag did not make it. I'm not sure how this happened because we all checked our luggage at the same time, but two other members of the group are also missing baggage. I have been told this happens all the time and that it should arrive today. I hope this is true!