Here goes nothing

August 28, 2010
I just was looking at the Milky way and for once I knew that it was not clouds, but the Milky Way. There are no clouds here during the Winter. Just bright blue skies. I looked in the distance and saw the shapes of the trees and it looks like a you-tube video that I saw of Africa in the States.
Today was a crazy day. I went to the Pentecostal Church with Ndahafa and my little brother Itana. We walked along trails that were hidden and I had no idea where I was going. The trails are all within the brush and I would only go with my host family because otherwise I would get lost. There is trash and glass all along the trails. We don’t have a garbage man or anything like that. People just dump their in the brush in piles. The church was really a house with about 15 people. I was the only Bua or white person (derogatory) there. We sang songs (without any instruments) and then there was a part were there were testimonies. Ndahafa told me that I need to do a testimony, which is just to sing or talk about something you need to talk about. I told her that I was embarrassed and that I didn’t really feel comfortable and then she said, “I know you can sing. Don’t be embarrassed. Sing to the Lord.” So there I was. Stuck in between my comfort zone and what Ndahafa wanted me to do. I felt like if I did sing, then it would help me integrate more into the church community and if I did not then I would be letting my host mother down. (It feels weird to call her mother because she is only 35 but she calls me her daughter.) So I was like, okay here goes nothing.
I stood up in front of 15 people I have not even met, in a black African Pentecostal church, and sang my little heart out haha. I rustled up some gospel choir song and just decided to run with it. “I just can’t give up now. I’ve come too far from where I started from. Nobody told me the road would be easy and I don’t believe He brought me this far to leave me.” Then I pulled out some “The storm is passing over,” and forced the others to join me. It wasn’t a major hit but at least I faced a fear and confronted a cultural predicament head on. So then they decided to have me read every that the Pastor was calling upon out loud in English, and then to top it all off, I was asked to say the closing prayer. And what I mean by that is make it up on the spot. It was a bit of a disaster but I tried. Onda Pandula. *I am thankful*
Today I also bought a soccer ball that was N$25 (25 Namibian dollars and it is N$7 to $1 USD.) I actually earn N$25 walk-around allowance a day here, so it was a day’s wage. I brought it back so that Itana (little brother) will hang out with me. Within a half hour, the ball popped. So if anyone wants to send a deflated soccer ball to me, be my guest! It seemed like a good idea at the time. Another back-up plan to connect with Itana was to buy a pack of cards. So far I have been trying to get him to think I am cool by showing him my computer and it works for an hour or so. He does not like to talk much. But today I saw him the happiest I have seen him. I showed Ndahafa my ipod so that she could listen to “Miss Independent” by Ne-Yo, because she got her own thing. She was really interested b/c she had never seen an ipod and she liked it. Then she showed Itana and played that song for him. I went over and showed him that there are many more songs on the ipod. When he saw the list of artists, how to scroll, how to click, his eyes lit up. He had a friend over and they shared the earphones. He kept scrolling and I asked if he had heard of any of the artists and he was smiling so big and said ,“A lot.” He listened to it for like 30 minutes and then we went to church, but for that 30 minutes he was the happiest I had seen him.
Yesterday we went into Windhoek for the first time and went to the mall. It was a really large mall and I was impressed. It felt like it was just as big as Crossgates. Then we went to a place called Heroes’ Acre and it was a beautiful monument. We climbed to the top to a viewing point which revealed the beauty and vastness of Namibia. We also went to a graveyard of many heroes. When will I put up pictures!? How? I got a new cell phone with internet but it is very strange because you have to buy minutes and somehow having my email sucks all the minutes out. I have to get it straightened out. Our language lessons have been going well but the days are long. From 7:30 to 5:30 we have language sessions and cultural sessions. We will start technical training this week which will help me learn more skills for teaching.
I love all the other Peace Corps trainees (PCT’s) and home-life is great too. The food has been very good. The sand porridge is the weirdest thing that I have had to adapt to, and I love eating with my hands. Today she made a feast of cheesy potatoes, pumpkin, spinach, rice, chicken and sauce. It was so delicious. Ndahafa asked me, “How does your mother prepare pumpkin?” and I was like… in a pie at Thanksgiving? They eat it as a side dish and it is so good, I don’t know why we don’t do so more often. I have to do laundry and she has a washing machine, but she is going to teach me how to do so by hand. I told her that most of it is underwear and she was like, “Why haven’t you been cleaning your underwear in the sink every time you shower?” I had no good answer to that. I guess all Namibians wash their undies when they shower and she thought it was so strange that we didn’t. I cant wait to embarrass myself tomorrow. I washed to dishes today with laundry detergent, and will proceed to do so again in a few minutes.