Well at least this is a week worth reporting on. Finally. No, no…I haven’t discovered what I’ll be doing for the next two years yet…but at the very least there have been reportable events. I guess the first of which should be the package received from my SPECTACULAR grandparents. Here’s why – or rather, what they sent: three different kinds of salami, a sketch pad, a king’s random in cookies and cheese-its, a 9-month aged imported provolone loaf, a bag of delicious chesses, and 2 sticks of Italian sausage. This is of course a God send, because I can guarantee that these are the only two sticks of Italian sausage in this entire country. Go ahead – insert dirty joke here…sigh.

But it’s ok, I can understand why you’d be jealous for not having my grandparents. Hope you’re enjoying Puerto Rico guys!

This week I also took a day trip to Windhoek. Ian and I have been hard-pressed for finding furniture in this country. At the very least we needed the basics – perhaps a desk, some shelves, and a rug. Luckily, Windhoek has what’s called, “Game” – essentially a WalMart. We went for the day to pick up some of the bare necessities, when one of us suggested going to the organization’s head office to pick up some ill forgotten mail. As I’m sure I’ve stated elsewhere, once we moved to Usakos, the mail was no longer delivered since we basically would set up our own mailbox (which we did.) However, during this empty time of receiving mail in Usakos and not receiving any from the main office, we had a plethora of mail to pick up. While most of these were dated from December to January, that didn’t stop me from ripping each open and exclaiming gleefully. Just so you readers know I wasn’t ignoring your mail, I’ll let you know what I received: 2 letters from Mamabear, 2 letters from Shannon, 2 from Karen, 1 from Mr. Kent, 1 from Ms. Werse, 1 from Kristen, 1 from Ms Basta, and packages from both Karen and my Uncle Sam and Aunt Sue. You are all incredibly awesome. Incredibly. Way to almost make me cry. I say almost because men in Namibia don’t cry, no,no - we alienate. Oh, and the rug makes an INSTANT upgrade into daily life – its brand new, so it smells like a dorm room. Its fantastic.

Valentine’s day was awesome for basically the same reasons. My parents had sent three packages over the course of a week and half, all of them arriving on V day. We’re talking toys, watercolor paints, cookies…these care-packages rock. I should have gone to a third world country rather than college. Also a great thing was getting the Greece/Italy Jazz trip underway. It was FINALLY granted to me by the organization, which means this coming May I’ll be sipping on Italian Wine in St. Marks Square in Venice watching my beloved Gettysburg College Jazz Band. Life is / will be good. Also included in this day was a wonderful phone conversation between me and Karen. Trust me – nothing makes you feel more relaxed and laid back than hearing a familiar voice on the other end of a phone call. ‘Specially hers.

Random Entry. Ian and I are thinking of getting a dog. Something big and fun, like a Scottish sheepdog or something. We also decided that when we get one, it should be an African name. So far, ShakaZulu is our favorite. “Dammit Shaka! Not the drapes!”

Finally, yesterday was also interesting. The three of us were invited to a Track meet in Karabib, a town about 30km away. It turned out that once we got there, we became ‘Honored Guests,’ and I was asked to help with the event. Fast forward twenty minutes – I’m in the middle of a field, grading and acting as a Shot Put judge for elementary and middle schools. When everything when said and done, I was invited to come and give a workshop to the students on shot put.

…huh?

I’m going to take this time and state that everything I learned about shot put, I learned while on the Track team in middle school. I’ll give $20 dollars to anyone that can relate my current life to what I’m actually supposed to be here for. Oh, and the $20 isn’t American. It’s Namibian. There’s no way I’d give you 20 American dollars. I know its unfair…but here’s a list of what I could buy with $20 American here:
1. -A week’s worth of groceries
2. -A week’s worth of alcohol
3. -Toilet Paper. Lots of toilet paper.
4. -10+ Gallons of paint.
5. -A Pick-ax to break up that damn boulder impeding our garden
6. -Phone Cards!
7. -Computer Speakers
8. -Ummmm……more food!
9. -About three week’s worth of electricity.
10. -About 35 international stamps.

So there you have it. $20 can get you all that and a cup of coffee. (But not the good kind, they only have that instant-mix crap here. Sorry Andy)

But the day was fun, and we all got sunburned. I look midly entertaining, since my bandana shielded the top of my head, so the result looks like a reverse snowboarder’s burn. Its only burned where the goggles would have been. I also scared a woman half to death because when she commented that I burn easier than she does, I mentioned that Ian is LIKE a vampire since he’s Irish. He burns in like 20 minutes. She thought I meant he literally WAS a vampire. She was seriously afraid of being bleed dry by the neck. I swear, you can’t make this stuff up. It took about 20 minutes of Broken English / Namblish to calm her down.

Afterthoughts: Please please please, what I want more than anything right now are your photos and drawings. I’ve found they make me the happiest over anything that can be sent. Any photos of us, or you and how you’re doing, your new environment, or any place that would make me smile. Anything. Kristen, I absolutely LOVE the Calvin and Hobbes you drew – They’re both on my wall. Best Strip Ever. Best Moment Ever. Amanda, the Pastel of Cemetery Ridge was beautiful as well – that too is on the wall. Think you could do a pastel of Andy and I sliding down the Rice stairwell on his mattress, or a pastel of Nelson shooting a blowdart through the door and shattering his monitor? No? Oh well, I’m hopeful.

Just finished reading Barack Obama’s The Audacity of Hope. I think I’m going to vote for him.

…when you think about it, I’ve already been here for 4 months, going into my 5^th. I’m a little more than a 1/5 done. Wow.

I want to take a minute and say that during the time it took to the following paragraph, a downpour started that took of all 1min10secs and that I think it flooded our backyard. Here, when it rains, it frickin pours.

It’s really amazing when you realize how you’re being tested. They always tell you here that if you’re impatient, you become patient. And if you were patient, you become more patient. What amazes me isn’t the dealings with everyday life here – one quickly assumes the Namibian lifestyle of expecting almost nothing getting done. As I’m sure you’re aware, I’ve been saying that Usakos has been expecting high-speed internet any time this week for the past month or two… What really gets to me more than the shove-offs and put-downs of everyday living are the thoughts from home. Even when I’m actually doing work (shut up – no jokes,) I don’t think I can make it more than an hour without thinking of sleeping on the dock, having a few beers and playing darts with Cory, hanging out in my PJs with Karen watching movies and eating junk food, “killing shit” with Connacher, laying on the couch with Brando watching movies that he certainly shouldn’t be seeing, working on the boat…all the good’uns.

But at least I can say that the Spamalot soundtrack makes everything better.

Here’s to the brighter side of life!