Cape Town

Ok so it's been a little while.  Sorry for that.  I've been keeping myself busy with dental problems, grad school apps, and general business.

I've had to be in Windhoek to go to the Dentist.  I was having problems with my teeth and it turns out it was more serious than I thought.  What had originally been a weekend for dental turned into a week and a half of dental.  I had to replace all my previous fillings that i had filled in May because they were leaking...leaking!  how does that even happen??  well none the less I went to a new Nam dentist and he's pretty decent.  He fixed all those problems and then he found...(Dramatic Pause)...a root canal!  So I've had my first root canal at the ripe age of 24 because the filling was leaking and the cavity went into the root.  So as I'm writing this with a sore mouth i have finished all the work.

I'm also applying for grad schools at the moment.  I decided that I wanted to go to get a Masters in Public Health.  Working hands on for the past year and a half really sold me on working in public health and I'm looking forward to any new opportunities that will come my way.

Now a update about my travels: I recently took a trip to Cape Town, South Africa.  I went with two of my fellow Peace Corps friends and we had an awesome time.  Driving in felt like i was a kid seeing a big city for the first time.  It's very american city looking with huge multi-story buildings and a theme park with a roller coaster.
















Food: GREAT FOOD!  This one place called the Royal Eatery and it was AMAZING! I finally got to eat a burger with blue cheese! my favorite thing! We also got to eat real Mexican Food and Thai Food.  It was so nice to be able to eat all these different kinds of foods!

 
 

Activities: Wine Tour.  South Africa is known around the world for their wines and we finally got to taste some (granted we drink enough SA wine at home in Namibia but this is from the source)  At one we paired wine with chocolate and one we paired wine with cheese!  we had an amazing host G-man as his friends call him.  We decided to get classy for the wine and we all wore dresses (which i had to go to the store and buy) and I also thought I would freak out my mom by sending her a photo of a temporary tattoo!

 
 

 

Robben Island:  By far my favorite activity!  The boat ride there was a little dicey when the waves were so large.  One the way back we sat at the front of the boat and the guy said 'are you sure you want to sit there you might get some mist?'  and we stayed put thinking we could handle some mist.  but by mist the man meant massive water splashing you in the face soaking you from head to toe.

The tour was really cool!  We started with a bus tour of the island and saw where the prisoners worked, the guards lived and where they sent prisoners for solitary.  Then we went into the prison where our guide gave us a first-hand look at what went on in the prison.  The coolest part it that the guide for the prison was ACTUALLY a prisoner.  In the photo below he slept in the bottom bunk on the right.  This was by far the best part.  He told us how the prisoners tried to keep the prison unmanageable.  It's interesting because he takes the same boat to work everyday that took him there the first time.  We rode on the same boat.It was amazing and I would recommend it to anyone.

 

To add some more excitement we went SHARK DIVING!  It was so fun.  We travelled down the coast a little and set out to find some sharks.  While you're in the water it is amazing how large and creepy looking the sharks are.  They would bait the shark with a fish head and when the shark came close they would tell you to go down and look left or right so you could see the sharks.  And then we almost capsized:  The shark bit onto the fish head and the hook got snagged in the sharks mouth.  The shark swam deeper into the water dragging the boat inch by inch.  Then it came back around and jumped out of the water and spun around, which caused the rope to twist around the shark. At this point the side of the boat is almost level with the water and the guide cuts the rope just in time.  It was definitely an adventure that was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

We also got to see a mercy ship.  I took this excerpt from www.mercyships.org to better explain what they do! Currently the are based out of Madagascar, taking a stop in Cape Town!

'a floating hospital.  Nearly 50% of all people in Africa have no access to a hospital or doctor. So the Africa Mercy brings volunteer medical teams and sterile operating rooms directly to people who would otherwise go without care.  It’s the world’s largest civilian hospital ship providing state-of-the-art care to those in desperate need—free of charge.'

If you are interested in volunteering or giving money to help keep this project going just visit http://www.mercyships.org/

That's all for now!  Hope you all are enjoying your lives and enjoying your day!

Alert: Family Visits and Camp GLOW happens!

Hello!  I know what you're all thinking...'oh Kaitlynn still has this blog??'  Yes I do!  I dusted off some cobwebs just to write this post but it's still here!  A lot has been going on in my world and I'm finally having (namlish) the time to write it all down.

Ok first SUPER exciting thing:  I finally after a year and a half got to see my family!! Not on skype not through pictures but IN PERSON!  I finally got to show my family all that I love about Namibia.  They saw the coast and the desert, my village, all the exotic animals we've only seen in Zoos, and they got to climb rocks and look at sunsets, but they also got to meet the people who have made this experience so great (Even getting to experience putting my brother on the roof to get a wooden airplane!). And it included riding in a Combi!  Much more spacious than the ones I take but still everyone together for long car trips!

 

Literally right after my parents left I went back to the village for a week and then it was off to Windhoek again for Camp GLOW with the theme of Dinosaurs!  Camp this year was AMAZING!  We had 75 learners from all around Namibia come and we did a bunch of different activities for the whole week.  Two of my learners from my village went and my team, the Golden Eggs, got second place in the Race against Extinction! We did a stereotype wall, which is boxes with phrases like All owanbos are... all town people are..., and the kids had to write all the stereotypes. and then we form a wall of the boxes and it shows home stereotypes distance us form each other even though you may not know it.  My favorite stereotype? One learner wrote All Damaras like fighting with materials.  materials meaning beer bottles etc.  I laughed for a little while on that one since it hits close to home!

I ran the whole health day which was SUPER exhausting but I really felt like the kids were engaged and learned a lot.  It was cool to take a subject like HIV/AIDS that can be boring to learners and turn it into something that they really were interested in.  we did a bunch of different activities to show how HIV/AIDS is transmitted.  One of my favorite activities was one called My Partner My Choice where the learners all had a card on their back that no one could read: like 'biggest player in Namibia' or 'faithful father of 2' 'HIV Positive' etc.  The learners, without knowing what the cards said, picked a partner.  Once they had a partner we looked at the cards and I asked them if the cards made them feel better or worse about their choice. It was an activity to show that you should get to know a person before deciding to have sex or get into a relationship.
 
 
 
 
 
 


Until next time!