A Cool Day in Omuthiya

By cool, i mean literally cool, its fabulous outside today. Apparently this season is really not supposed to be as scorching hot as it is outside here, and today we got the weather we're supposed to have yess! so sorry i have not updated in a while, but I have been settling in to my permanent site in omuthiya. our new years was kind of anti-climactic, but we did have brunch on the day of made by some of the ladies in our group. It was nice...but anyways, we swore in on January 7 and then most of the health volunteers (excluding myself) left right after the ceremony, which was pretty depressing for me as I am very close to them. We were also on national television! Apparently they had a shot of me, but only people who were looking for me saw it. I looked pretty different anyways, as I was wearing indian clothes and looked nice. Other people took pictures which I am going to try to steal and put up... its just that most ppl dont' have the same internet access i do, so they can't exactly update it on a regular basis. Another vol, chris, put some pictures up, but none of them are of me, although you can look if you want at www.sundaymorningblues.com. Well he doesn't know that i am giving out that link or anything, so don't link it anywhere.

Anyways, i got to site and after some obsessive cleaning, my place is fairly nice. I have electricty and sort of running water... no faucets in my part of the house but an outdoor shower and a sink in the kitchen on the other side of the house.

Oh my god it started raining... so exciting. Clearly i am turning into a Namibian, but we've been waiting for the rain forever, and I am pretty sure all their crops depend on it. Anyways, I can't leave so this entry may be a little longer, yess. So Omuthiya is an interesting little place. I realized last night when hanging out with one of my friends here that there are little "town", "location", and village sections of Omuthiya. Its supposed to expand to become the center of the Oshikoto region, but currently much of the stuff that is the center of the Oshikoto region is located in Tsumeb, so i'm pretty sure officials there must be dragging their feet to get it started b/c Tsumeb is so beautiful i doubt anyone wants to leave it. Omuthiya is pretty nice too though, its just neither as green nor as developed (which is the thing i think really gets people). Its located really close to a spring and Etosha National Park, both of which I am going to try to see this week when Gisella arrives (she is visiting me for the weekend!), should be very exciting. Anyways, I am still trying to figure out my job although now I am working to start a peer health education program b/c my future is my choice, the existing UNICEF program, does not have the funding to provide more trainings. I am using it as a basic template though, and hopefully getting in touch with planned parenthood of namibia b/c they fund some PHEs up in the Ohangwena region. There used to be a volunteer there, but she got into a car accident! I think she wants to come back, but she's in the US/South Africa (not sure which) in physical therapy. aaaaaaah. It sucks to lose members of the group! Anyways, I am also working with the Community Development Coordinator to organise a youth meeting and possibly a work shop based on youth needs. We'll see what happens. Apparently in a few months I will have more work than I can handle, and I can't wait! I have so much downtime here its ridiculous. If only i could hook up my comp to the internet i would respond to all emails, but... yeah. I'm working on it. Anyways, keep me posted!