Host Families - Meet Your New Mommy

I must first put out a disclaimer that access to the internet has been available but having to think about something that has been a normal part of your life for so long is hard to do.  For example, if I would actually think to go to the internet café and update everyone with what is going on, I would be able to. However I most of the time end up half way there at the training center, with no computer, and hungry the next meal. I promise you though, I will be on more now that I am living with a host family.

I keep having weird bouts of anxiety about writing in this blog or keeping up with a journal because I keep feeling like I have so much to tell yet not a lot at the same time. I am constantly forgetting that I have only been here a little over a week because our days have been jam packed with so many sessions, room lock outs, card games, meals, and trips to establishments outside the hostel that I feel like I have been here for weeks. Its really just surreal and I know it is just going to get worse as I begin my life with a host family and have daily language training in Afrikaans. I think a lot of this awkward feeling comes from past People to People experiences where your life is changed in 5 or 10 days and boom you go home.

Well my life here has definitely changed and will continue changing but I will not be going home soon. That is unless you call my new hot pink room in a neighborhood called “Smarties” home. A lovely teacher couple and their three kids have opened up their home to house this blonde chick from Detroit. My host mother is a teacher by profession but is currently working in the national capital Windhoek at the ministry of education on curriculum development and my host father is a teacher at a vocational school. They speak English, a little bit of Afrikaans, and their native language, which has escaped my mind at the moment.  They have 3 kids who are 11 (boy), 6 (girl), and 7 months (girl) and they have a luxurious house. Now when you think of the Peace Corps you probably think dirty, unshowered, tree hugger who has a full homeless man beard or dead ends down to her behind. Let me tell you though, I am not nearly there (yet…) They live in a beautiful little house which is very compact, running water, electricity, wifi next week, and cable. The brand new car was parked in the garage with an electrical door, I walked into the house in the laundry room, the nanny was in the living room watching the baby, and the son was watching the Disney Channel and iCarly. I told the dad that I was prepared to live on a farm taking bucket baths and washing my clothes by hand with pre-boiled water... He just laughed and assured me I would not be doing that unless I wanted to.

I don’t really know how to describe the rest of the neighborhood though. To start, its called Smarties because all the houses look alike and are painted different bright colors like a bunch of Smarties. Adorable. While all the houses may look the same on the outside, I begin to wonder just how different they are on the inside. The road in this neighborhood is dirty, unpaved, unkept, Broken alcohol bottles litter the sides of the street where litter collects and children play. Dogs are everywhere and you cannot tell a stray one from one that has a home, they are all dirty from the sandy environment and most are pregnant. The people though are wonderful, welcoming, and friendly. Just last night as the sun was setting a few of us Peace Corps Trainees held a small yoga session on a front porch as the African sun set in the distance. Sounds like quite a Peace Corps thing, I know but there were about 10 or so kids from the surrounding houses that joined us and a few other neighbors. People stopped by to watch and laugh but then started to try it out themselves in the middle of the sandy road.  Look at us diving right into our communities.

Here is a picture of the sunset from my neighborhood and a picture of a few "Smarties" houses. 

Just a few notes about the host family situation in the Peace Crops. First of all being a host family is completely voluntary however they must have a private room with a lock on it. Most of the time this displaces other members of the family so for example I am in the little girl’s room while she bunks with her brother for the next 2 months. We were told not to feel like we were intruding if we were in a situation where there were multiple kids that shared a room now without one and sleeping in the living room.  Aside from the room with a locking door, the Peace Corps does not allow a single father to host because “we will end up doing all the work around the house.” These are the trainers’ words not mine. The family must also be a respected member of the community (i.e. a pastor, a principal, etc.) Our Peace Corps trainers told us that people in Okahandja commonly see and host many visitors because of its proximity to the capital. Many times if someone is coming from the north to go to the capital they will stop here to rest before continuing on to their duties in the capital.  While hosting is voluntary each family is compensated with gift cards and vouchers to use to purchase groceries and supplies for their Americans. Our trainers also told us that Namibians are very welcoming and so they are eager to host us because they are not able to give money to support us in their communities.

On a slightly more humorous note there was one training session where we talked about our fears and anxieties in moving in with a host family. Many people agreed that food, language, privacy, personal space, and having too many or no kids were anxieties we all shared. We didn’t know how we were going to acclimate to different food outside the hostel (which we were told we were being spoiled with. This was a surprise to many), a different living situation, and worst of all not being able to communicate any concerns we would have due to language barriers. It was s requirement that at least one member in each household had a basic understanding of conversational English however, we were still nervous. When it came to the time to meet our families, the training staff shared the fears us volunteers has as well as a compiled list of the fears that the host families had. Among their greatest fears was swearing, “wearing half naked”, bringing lovers to the house, alcohol, smoking, and my favorite anti-Christ worship. They weren’t scared that we would be lazy, closed off, quiet, they were more worried we were going to walk around with no clothes on worshiping the anti-Christ. Needless to say this made many of us feel better because it seemed like the host families were expecting a batch from the looney bin.