Hello! I’m here! In Namibia! It is now Day 3 (when I wrote this entry) in Namibia, and things are actually going pretty swell thus far.

Needless to say, we’ve all been pretty exhausted with the moving around. But alas, we’re here! And language training starts next week!

Yesterday, we had our placement, medical, and training interviews, that’ll ultimately decide where are service is for the next two years. Monday, we’ll find out what language we’ll be learning, Tuesday, we’ll meet our host families, and Wednesday, we’ll move in with said families.

I’m not sure it’s hit me that I’ll be living in this country for the next two years yet. I know I have a lot of training ahead, and that’s great, and I’m excited about it, but I think what I’m looking forward to most is settling down with a community.

I’ll be in Okahandja until end of June, then I’ll be moving to my permanent site, but until then, I still technically won’t be settled.

I’ve decided that beyond making micro impacts, I want to make my Peace Corps experience about forming good habits – practical habits, like running every day, waking up at a certain hour every day, or meditating every day, but also mental habits, like being more kind, patient, and open-minded.

I’m excited to be really entrenched in my community, and I’m sure it’ll be very challenging, or as our training officer, Patrick said, “sure to break me”, but I’m positive it’ll be worth it, and I’ll emerge someone I’m even more proud of.

But for now, learning the language, hunting for wifi, and avoiding malaria (lol) will be at the top of my priority list. Something tells me my hunt for pho won’t be so fruitful, so I’ll put that one on backburner for a while.

For those who are interested, or who are part of Group 44 or 45 wondering about I got to Okahandja, here’s how my journey unfolded:

4/12 (Tuesday):
7a – 8:30a flight Boston to Philly
10a to 1:30p repacking at my friend Enrique’s apartment (thanks, Enrique!)
2p – 730p: Staging! Which was really just making sure we read the website, and what it means to be a Peace Corps Volunteer
7:30p – 12a: Dinner, repacking (there was a lot of this)

4/13 (Wednesday):
12am – 1:30a: nap
2a – 2:30a: check out of hotel
3a – 5a: Bus ride to JFK
5a – 8a: wait around JFK airport until check in opens
8:30a – 10:30a: wait around gate until boarding
11:15a – 3a: Flight to Johannesburg

4/14 (Thursday):
8a: Arrive in Johannesburg
8a – 12:30p: Wait around Joburg airport for connecting flight to Windhoek
1:15p – 3p: Flight to Windhoek
3:30p – 5:30p: Bus ride to Okahandja
6p – 7p: Dinner
8p – 6a: KTFO

4/15 (Friday):
6:15a – 7:15a: Breakfast
7:30a – 5p: PST (Pre-service training) starts!

tl;dr: Took forever to get here, but I’m here now, kinda still exhausted, excited, and (somewhat) ready for training.