Christmas Cheese

(recent sunset on the hill just outside the flat)

(another recent sunset looking back towards town)

Christmas Eve day commenced with the epic search for a marinated Christmas chicken. Yesterday, we spent five hours searching Windhoek for the bagged poultry seasoned in local marinade, but only found a single sorry looking, warm bird in some weird yellow goo. This morning, at the third grocery store, the butcher wheeled out a dozen of the prize birds, and now we are set for:

Starters
Cheese Plate (Brie (Pronounced “Bree”), Blue, Havarti, Cheddar) with Assorted Crackers.
Pear, Apple, Grapes
Wine

Meal
Grilled Veggies on the Braai (Pronounced “Bry”) (Mushrooms and Mini Squash)
Krysta’s Famous 10-Hour Cornbread
Epic Marinated Chicken Dripping Over Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato, and Corn
Wine

Dessert
Cookies and Cakes
Famous Matt Moulis Hot Cocoa and Peppermint Schnapps
Wine

(the finished product)

We also smuggled in Elf, Christmas Vacation, and It’s a Wonderful Life. We are hoping to find a 24-hour marathon of A Christmas Story. We figure this is an international fixture.

Tomorrow morning, we will be baking Christmas Egg Casserole or classic egg casserole with orange juice. We found an English speaking Lutheran Church and hope to attend a morning service.

Last night, driving home from dinner with a friend, we passed through downtown to an extravagant display of Christmas Lights. Ten foot high angels and snowflakes hanging from the lightpoles, animated windmills of light in the central Zoo Park, Santa Clause, all canopied by the grand African stars, similar to the clarity of northern Wisconsin night sky or western Illinois, only backwards.

Christmas day, at 17:30, we load onto the Intercape Mainliner bus and begin our 20+ hour ride to Victoria Falls on the Zambezi river for a week of hiking, white water rafting, sitting in pools over the precipice of the falls, and safari in Botswana.

For certain, we miss our families and friends over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, and long for future Decembers in the snow, but for this year, we will rely on Skype, think of home, and try not to step in the elephant crap.

Happy Holidays!!!!

Recent photos, including my new place

Luke and I as nerds for Halloween - most people thought I was a tourist

A view of Windhoek

Another view of Windhoek

My new porch! (it's pretty much what sold me on the place)

My Braai (BBQ), but don't ask me how to use it

My new kitchen

Living Room

One of the two pumpkin pies I made for Thanksgiving. My new stove is tiny so I used my landlords stove to make the other pie. Sadly, that pie ended up a bit burned. The crust making was a bit of a disaster, but I think the pie was edible!

Fruit Turkey!! (The creative genius of the Thanksgiving host)

Today there was a huge rainstorm in Windhoek. Basically within 5 minutes everything was flooded. There is a little dry riverbed behind my house which started running with water during the storm. (look closely)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, tomorrow that is...

Apologies for the lack of recent blogging. My internet time has been nonexistent, hence the lack of an update. However, I do have some updates, so check it.

I now have a car. A 95 Toyota RAV4 with about 200,000 miles. Two days after I bought it, it broke down. A tube for the power steering broke, and I couldn't turn the wheel. Since it's an import, they said the part would take over two weeks and in turn, would be quite expensive. Seeing as how I just bought the car, I opted to have one of the CDC drivers finagle something with parts from another car. Probably just a band-aid fix, but it appears the fluid is no longer leaking. Sadly, the driver checked out my car again yesterday and informed me the oil is now leaking. I guess I was at a dangerously low level? And... when driving around some friends last weekend I was told my transmission was bad and the car likely has other problems. Essentially, I bought a bad car. Not a good situation... I am hoping to have someone look at it to see what can be fixed for a relatively low price. I hate cars.

Other news is that I moved into my new flat exactly one week ago! I spent my first night unpacking every duffel bag and suitcase. It was ridiculously thrilling. I am happy to do the dishes, because it means I have a sink! I was also quite happy going to the grocery store and stocking up on perishable items - I now have vegetables, cheese, milk, fruit and yogurt in my fridge. There does appear to one problem with the place... cockroaches. I've been killing about 10+/day. I think that means there are secretly 1,000,000+ lurking in my cupboards. I talked to my landlord and I think she is going to have someone spray for them. I don't mind bugs, but to me, cockroaches are like miniature flying rats. Die cockroaches.

This past weekend I went to a Thanksgiving celebration. My friend Meghan, who is a Presidential Management Fellow, left with her boyfriend Todd for 3 weeks of travel through Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana. Since they wouldn't be around for Thanksgiving, Meghan decided to have one early and make everything herself. It was amazing. From scratch, she made the turkey, green bean casserole (meaning, she had to fry the onions herself), sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes are green here), mashed potatoes, and stuffing. She also made cheesecake, apple pie, apple crumb pie, and pumpkin pie (read, made from a pumpkin, not can, who does that?). It was fantastic. There "may" have been a photo taken of my dessert plate. In my defense, I wanted to try all the different pie... isn't that the nice thing to do?

I'll have another Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow with CDC people. There will be about 15 of us, and then my co-workers kids, which I think there are about 7 or so. I am going to try and make some vegetable side dishes and then attempt to make the pumpkin pie that Meghan made. I have a feeling it will end in disaster seeing as how I can't cook, and I am even worse at baking.

Work has been going well. This week I've been managing some data extraction at an area hospital in their ART clinic. One of the Sisters (Nurses) at the hospital told me I should try milking one of her cows over the holidays. I told her I would do it since I have milked cows before - dairy farm family.

Today I'm going to an elementary school to read books to the kids there. It's a program through the Embassy and I've heard good things about it. The next two weeks I'll be traveling to the coast (Swakopmund and Walvis Bay) to work on a Prevention with Positives research study that is taking place in Namibia, Tanzania and Kenya. Other work projects continue to include the SMS project (text messaging) and national prevention strategy writing. I'm hoping to get involved in some various research projects (TB needs assessment, MARPS). There is a lot going on in Namibia - which is great news for a Fellow.

People have asked me about the weather. It's starting to get pretty hot during the day (maybe in the high 80's / low 90's). My place doesn't have air conditioning, but at night it cools off somewhat. I've been told the rainy season will start sometime in January. Supposedly it was already to have started - I guess it's been a pretty dry Spring.

This Friday and Saturday are the Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Namibia. I think the current ruling party will be in place for another 5 years. (SWAPO)

I am surprised by the amount of Christmas decorations. Garland, lights, trees, and santas are everywhere. Christmas music is already being played. I do not associate warm weather with the holidays, so everything seems out of place and out of context. I am confused.

Luke is coming December 14th for about 4 weeks. I'm hoping to jet off to Mozambique for New Years. Have to wait and see what the flights are looking like and what the deal is with my quickly deteriorating car.

I think that's about all my news for now. I hope everyone is doing well. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Lots of Love,
Krysta

p.s. I'll post some pictures soon.

Black-listed from the Bus and Feeding Chameleons in the Namib Desert

This past weekend (Saturday - Sunday) Luke and I made our way to a coastal town called Swakopmund (or Swakop as the locals call it). Since I do not yet have a car, we got bus tickets. The tickets said we needed to be there 30 minutes prior to our 6:30am bus. So, we arrived at 5:45am. The bus ended up leaving a little after 7am. While waiting for the bus we met a guy from Frankfurt, Germany who was headed to Swakop to volunteer for the next month tracking elephants. The bus ride itself was pretty uneventful, we passed through various towns along the way. The landscape slowly transforms from central Namibia in Windhoek to Swakop. The scrubby trees and dusty bushes give way to golden grassy valleys which in turn seem to dry into flat sandy plains. Then its the Indiana Dunes x 1,000,000.

On the bus

We arrived early afternoon, and upon disembarking from the bus the cold temperature struck us. I figured Windhoek is hot, why wouldn't the desert beach be hot? Clearly I was mistaken. We walked around town for awhile; Luke bought a long-sleeve t-shirt due to the temperature mishap. We walked through plaza where artisans peddled their crafts, and along the Namib coast of the Atlantic Ocean on our way to the aquarium. There was a shark/turtle/fish feeding at the area aquarium so we made sure to check that out. There was a group of children watching the feeding, so it was fun to see them in awe of the diver and fish.

Pretty plant

At the aquarium. I loved the turtle!

Atlantic Beach

After the aquarium feeding we went to a little beach bar. We got tipsy there in the beach chairs with the ocean waves crashing beyond our sandy feet until dinner. Later we went to a little German restaurant that had about 12 spots for diners. It was a fantastic meal.

We got up early Sunday morning to go on a "living" desert tour. Our guide picked us up from the hotel and we headed to the Namib Desert. We saw spiders, snakes, geckos, lizards, chameleons, and of course, sand dunes. It was incredible to be looking at a sand dune, and suddenly have our guide pluck a snake right out of the sand - the way these creatures are adapted to their environment is a complete marvel.

The Namib Desert

Gecko (Translucent White Spots are Vertebrae)

A side-winder snake - see the pattern in the sand and the color of the snake. The snake can move uphill on the sand dunes.

Holding and feeding a chameleon. Yes, those are my hands. It was awesome!

(They turn black when they are anxious)

The tour was supposed to run from 8am - 1pm, just enough time to catch our 1:45 bus home. While we were on a roller coaster ride of sand dunes, we realized it was almost 2pm. We had the driver rush us back to the bus stop, where we pulled up saw the bus waiting. Locals we have met have assured us that the pace of life is different in Namibia. People take it easy and enjoy life at a bit of a slower pace. So far, I'd say this has been accurate. Apparently Namibian bus companies have their training in New York City.

We jumped out of the car and proceeded to have the bus driver yell at us about the time, keeping everyone waiting, etc. I was profusely apologizing while Luke ran back to the hotel to grab our backpacks. After we boarded the bus the driver informed everyone that since people were late, and kept everyone waiting, we would not be stopping for refreshments on the way back to Windhoek. We kept out heads down waited for the awkward moment to pass. It is unclear what was being said about us in Afrikaans by our fellow passengers.

When we arrived back in Windhoek, we re-boarded the bus after the main drop off to go to the bus depot because it was by our hotel. When the same bus driver saw us sitting back in side, he about lost it. We explained our plan and were permitted to proceed. This time it was pretty clear what was being said about us in Afrikaans.

One interesting fact about the bus. During our departure and arrival, one of the bus employees would get on the intercom and thank God for our safe travels. She would pray somewhat of a modified Lord's Prayer, changing the words we know from the new testament to cater to our trip and the passengers aboard. It is one example of the evident role Christianity has in every day life in Namibia.

So, even with the bus mishap, it was a great weekend. Swakopmund is a fun, relaxing, and interesting town, that isn't too far away.

Other news, I am officially moving into my new flat November 18th. We test drive 2 cars tomorrow, so will hopefully be driving soon. Luke is headed back to Chicago on Sunday. On Saturday we are going to a Halloween party, and I think we are going to be nerds. We figured it wasn't a far stretch since I grew up with a bug collection, and Luke packed a ruler and graph paper in his carry on. Work continues to go well. Tomorrow I am headed to an ART (antiretroviral therapy) clinic to work on some data extraction for a pilot program. I'm also going to work on writing some HIV/AIDS prevention documents for the Government of Namibia country plan.

That's all our news for now. Hoping by the next update I will have a car! Happy Halloween!!!

Luke's Cheese

Little update on Krysta's husband's travels. I flew from Chicago to Amsterdam next to a big Amsterdamian, who actually seemed very nice, but he could have been saying mean things to me while he smiled at me and talked in his magic language. When in Amsterdam, I took a nap in a little leather lawn chair, which was nice. I then took a puddle jump to Munich. The Munich airport and Amsterdam airport are both huge and modern.



I took the S (El type transit) into Munich. I really want to go back. The train circles through the countryside and stops in little Villages with German architecture and old furry men. I wandered around the wide cobblestone walking boulevards lined with stores, shops, and restaurants to what I think is the main square, where the minaret towers ring with royal figurine dances on the hour. I arrived just in time for the 5:00 pm showing. The square was filled with people with cameras looking up at the clock. I enjoyed a liter of heavy German beer and Goulash soup in a side establishment and was very contented.



Made it back to airport, and flew the final 9.5 hours to Namibia. At that point, the sitting on your butt becomes a little much, so had fitful 3 minute naps all the way there. It was great to see the sun peak out and the desert below. It is strikingly sparse from the air. A sporadic dirt road from nowhere to nowhere else was about all you could see. The Namibia airport reminded me of the Jackson Hole airport, a one strip runway where the plane stops and you walk down the stairs onto the airfield like a movie star. The immigration took a long time, but I finally got through with no problems picked up all my luggage, and found the guy holding a sign with my movie star name.



The ride into town was about 45 minutes and beautiful. Again, it reminded me of the long valleys of the Tetons, populated with scrubby shrubs and stunted trees, back dropped by brown rocky hills. Little farms and Villages were scattered along the speedy drive in. The cars drive fast. I clocked my driver around 140 km/hr, just a bit over the 80 km/hr limit signs.



Krysta was waiting for her ride to work when I got there. It was great to see her for the 1 minute before her driver took her away, and I crashed for about 4 hours. Krysta got home around 6 and had a fever and some type of flu. Her fever peaked at 102.5 and has since fluctuated for 2 days, hovering around 100. She feels bad that she is missing work, despite showing up and being sent home by her director. I tried to explain to her that she should not disregard the advice of the CDC when it comes to flu, but she wants to be working, and she is going in tomorrow, hell or high water.



I ate something called Oryx, which is the official animal of Namibia, and tastes like steak. I very much enjoyed it. I also bought tons of cheese last night and could not finish it so had to pitch some. It was not smart, but my brain can't be trusted when surrounded with cheese. Krysta's first observation when I got back to the hotel was, "You know we don't have a fridge right?"



I walked the city today for about an hour. It is not very pedestrian friendly, and I find myself afraid to cross the multi-channeled high speed intersection where the cars are on a different side of the road. If someone pulled up to me, they would see me whisper talking encouragement to myself and counting down when I should go. It was nice to get out of the hotel room, which has been a quarantine of sorts for Krysta's flu, luggage, and random movies. We are moving hotels tomorrow. Krysta will be finding a permanent residence next month, so we are heading somewhere cheaper and with a kitchen. Hopefully we will have a car by the end of the week, so we can test our driving skills. If people pull up to us, they will see us whispering encouragement to ourselves.

Lions....

Work front: the Country Operating Plan was successfully submitted last Friday. A co-worker of mine, Souleyman, had everyone over for celebratory wine and food. He is from Burkina Faso and the food was incredible. His home overlooked some of the Windhoek mountains and it was a great evening. Since the COP has been submitted I am working on some FAQ sheets for a SMS (text messaging) project. CDC has worked out a deal with a local cell phone company to provide an informational SMS line for youth, MSM, and people living with HIV/AIDS. The project was started in May with just youth, but is now being expanded to MSM and people living with HIV/AIDS.

Home front: I saw a guest house and flat this weekend. The flat would be available beginning immediately, and the guest house November 16. While I am somewhat desperate to unpack my luggage and be more settled, I am leaning towards the guest house. It's in a family from England's backyard and very quiet. There is a little outdoor garden area with a Braai (BBQ). So, if I can figure out what to do for the next month, I think I will take the guest house.

Car: no update. Need one!

Safari: on Sunday I went with a co-worker to a game lodge outside of Windhoek called Okapuka. We went on a game drive and also saw them feed the lions. We saw: giraffe, white rhinos, warthogs, hardebeast, oryx, some big crazy antelope thing but I forgot the name, black wildebeast, a crocodile, gazelle, and of course, the lions. The lodge itself is beautiful with a restaurant all under a thatched roof overlooking the green grass and grazing warthogs. The grounds themselves are what you might imagine, white grasses, oddly shaped green trees, both juxtaposed against the blue sky. Stunning.

Now, the lion feeding... We were told by a co-workers daughter, make sure you look through the viewing area on the far left. So, we quickly positioned ourselves in this spot. The viewing area is not all that high, in fact, when thinking about any zoo I've been to, I thought, I'm pretty sure the lions can jump right over this. A somewhat unsettling feeling. There is a metal contraption that the guide attaches some raw meat to. Upon attaching the meat, the male lion suddenly appeared from the bush. I have never been that close to a lion before and he was huge. He started scratching the ground with his paws, what we told as a sign of dominance. I was amazed by the size and strength. He just bit right through the bone and chewed it up like it was nothing. When the male lion finished eating the antelope leg or whatever it was, two female lions appeared. A man sitting next to me picked up a piece of bone that had fallen into the viewing area, and tossed it to one of the female lions. She charged right at us, locking eyes. I jumped back as my heart was quickly beating. I didn't want to be her dinner. At this point the guide tossed them two pieces and meat and they quickly took off running. He explained that if they are not fast enough, the male lion will take it. The lions at this lodge are quite old and healthy, as they don't have any stress from scavenging for food. On our way back to Windhoek we were able to witness a brilliant sunset. My camera did not even come close to doing it justice. I can't wait to see many, many more.

The flu? So, Luke arrived yesterday morning and I have since fallen sick with the flu. At least that's what I think it is. Welcome to Namibia, Luke. They sent me home from work today, lest I get anyone else sick. Hoping to kick it soon.

Now: It's the beginning of the rainy season. I guess there hasn't been any rain since about June or so. The sky is overcast and it's thundering. I haven't seen any yet, but Namibia has some pretty amazing lightning shows... so I've heard. And now back to bed.

Saturday mid-morning at the mall

It's my first weekend in Windhoek. From what I've been told the city pretty much shuts down on the weekend because most people go home to their villages. Luckily enough for me, my hotel is close to the mall so I am hanging out here. I took a tour of a gym earlier this morning. There is a movie theatre in the mall so I'm thinking about seeing 'UP' later today. I also brought a jump rope and some resistance bands so perhaps they will be utilized at some point.

My first week of work went well. There was an embassy meeting which was rather interesting. All of the various PEPFAR funded agencies were there; USAID, Department of Defense, PeaceCorps, etc. The discussion basically centered on all things COP related. (Country Operating Plan) The rest of my time this week was spent doing COP work. Technically this Monday is a holiday so we are supposed to have off (we observe US and Namibian holidays), but with the COP being due on Friday (10/16) we will be going into work. And, since I don't know my way around yet or really know anyone for that matter, I was quite happy to hear of this. There was a birthday in the office yesterday so we had a lot of cake and sweets in the birthday girls' honor. That was also quite exciting.

It seems that finding an apartment might be slightly more difficult than I had imagined. I contacted about five different realtors in the area. Thus far it seems there is only one apartment available for rent. I am going to see it on Monday morning. The Namibians I work with told me it's a bit out of the way, so I guess I'll see. I have been digging through my duffel bags on a daily basis trying to find various items, so it will be nice once I find something more permanent. On the car front I really haven't done much research. The apartment has been the more pressing matter. The CDC driver's said they would keep an eye out for me. Another girl in the office mentioned that if I learn how to drive stick shift it will make the cost of the car substantially cheaper... so I am debating this.

Right now all the flowers are in bloom so it's an explosion of color. I had better take some pictures before they fall off.

General things people have asked me.... during the day it's about mid-80's with plentiful sunshine. So far all of the food I've had is very good. I usually eat a huge breakfast at the hotel consisting of an omelette with cheese and mushrooms, fruit salad, weird type of granola with yogurt, muffins, coffee, juice and then sometimes cake. Yes, HUGE. Generally, after this, I don't really need much else. If the office orders lunch out I'll get something. There is this meat called biltong which I've had on a salad. I don't know what it is, but it's pretty good. Maybe I don't want to know what it is?

Other exciting news is that Luke will be here in about a week for a two week visit!!

My internet time is just about over. The hotel I'm staying in hasn't had internet vouchers this week so I haven't been able to jump online when in the hotel. Therefore, I haven't been able to be on skype when others would. I will likely be on skype later this afternoon if I come back to the mall. Otherwise, hopefully I'll be able to talk to people soon!

Love you all.

I have arrived in Windhoek

I don't have much time at the internet cafe, but I'll try to write a quick update!


I landed in Munich on Sunday afternoon with an extensive layover so I took the train into the city to check out Oktoberfest. I guess Sunday was the last day of Oktoberfest so it was winding down, but it was still exciting to check out the city and do quite a bit of people watching. I tried to purchase a huge pretzel, but the vendor wouldn't accept visa... so no giant pretzel for me.


I arrived in Windhoek on Monday morning around 7am. It took quite some time getting through Namibian customs. I was held up for a little while because of my 90 day tourist visa, but eventually was let through. I was quite relieved and somewhat surprised to find that all of my luggage had arrived (note: I have very bad luck with delayed and/or missing luggage). One of the CDC drivers was there to pick me up. It's about a 40 minute drive into the city of Windhoek from the airport. My first impressions of the landscape: strikingly beautiful, rugged, and sparse. I didn't have a place to stay at first so I headed to the CDC offices to quickly meet everyone and get the hotel situation figured out. One of the CDC drivers took me around to various hotels and guesthouses until we found one with two weeks availability. We found one close to a mall and grocery store (in perfect walking distance). So, I will be here until I am able to find an apartment.


I had my first day of work today. The Namibia CDC office is extremely busy right now because their Country Operating Plan (COP) is due to headquarters 10/16. The Country Director gave me a brief overview of the office this morning. I was then ushered into a team meeting where the COP was discussed in detail. This afternoon I accompanied other staff members to some meetings regarding a new research project that will hopefully begin in December/January. The research project is aiming to reduce risk behavior associated with alcohol use through a behavioral intervention. Alcoholism is a huge problem in Namibia. The meetings were interesting as I could see the differing government and non-government organizations interact. This afternoon I edited some of the various COP budget narratives. It helped give me an idea as to some of the various work that's being done in Namibia.



Other side notes...
-I am not suffering from jet lag. Pretty exciting.
-I had pizza for lunch from a bakery today that was rather delicious.
-I would like to learn Afrikaans and Oshiwambo.
-I will try and take some photos soon.

Flying Cheese

Well I just got back from O'Hare and Krysta is finding her seat, hopefully next to a happy German who likes ice cream like our friend Wilfred. Getting her to her plane was the opposite of uneventful. Being that the flight is to Munich, Germany, an international city, we started at the international terminal, which was obviously wrong. A nice guy at the tram to the other terminals called someone at Terminal 1 to have a baggage cart ready for our 200 lbs. of luggage. No cart. So we portered the luggage to the United International Baggage check in per the suggestion of the United employees, which again, was obviously wrong. We finally made it to the Lufthansa check in. All bags just under 50 lbs. Krysta was allowed only 1 fully stuffed ripping at the seams carry on, not 2. So we dumped out the backpack, and reshuffled everything in front of a line of annoyed fellow travelers who bothered to read the rules. I was sweaty and smelly by the end of the whole ordeal, and Krysta was a little stressed, but we were able to sit a while and talk about things to come. It was a nice long goodbye, and she is safely off, watching "The Proposal" because her personal flight entertainment system did not have tonight's showing of Svengoolie. She lands around 5:30 am Central Standard Time and has an 8 hour layover so take a peek on Skype tomorrow.

Here's the blog!

Stay tuned. I am supposed to be packing.