How are you all doing? Things here are going as well as they can when you live in rural Africa! The only exciting thing is that it's Daryl's 30th birthday today! And I must say that he is handling his much better than I handled mine! :-) We have a surprise planned for him that I am getting very excited about! I will try to post some pictures afterwards of the evening's events. The only thing that Shelley and I haven't figured out is what present to get him! Why are guys so hard to shop for?!?!?! Yes, we are a little last minute... I am ok with that!
8 months
Time is fun when your having flies! Oops... I mean time flies when you're having fun! :-) Though many days I have felt the strain of living and working in another culture, it is hard to believe that I have been in Namibia for 2 1/2 years already! WOW! The time in many ways has just flown by! It must be in the air or the water because everyone keeps asking when I am coming home. The answer that I have given to all who have asked is the same. Not yet! :-) Part of the reason that I am a little vague is that it depends on my work permit. Yes, after all these months I still haven't heard anything (nor do I really expect to yet). My main plan is to leave sometime in May, which is only 8 months away! However, should my work permit expire before then, I probably won't bother renewing it and I'll just head home. It is very strange realizing that I am on the downhill stretch. It has made me a lot more tolerant of the things in this culture that I don't really care for. I am now questioning if I have actually accomplished anything! Rationally I know I have, but there is something about knowing you are leaving that grips you and makes you question yourself. I am also looking forward at the next few months and wondering what I want to do with the time that I have left...
The other question people ask is where am I going to live. The answer is I am not sure, though I am leaning towards heading back to Atlanta. I still want to get my Master's in nursing education, but think that being home for a year first will be wiser than starting right away. The school that I am interested in is in Texas and I don't think that coming home from being gone for 3 years and trying to settle in a new place is a good idea! I want to be around people I know at least for a while before I strike out on my own again.
7 weeks
It's been 7 1/2 weeks now that my car has been sitting in the shop. While most of the parts have come in, the rubber seal for the gear box has been elusive! Here's what's been going on. After the promises of '3 days' stopped I have had to make multiple phone calls to harass the mechanic to find out information. Neither he nor his wife are very happy to hear my voice at this point and if I call with my cell phone I think he ignores it sometimes then later just claims to have not had his phone with him! Before we went to conference he did receive a seal, however it was the wrong one. He sent it back along with the old one for the guy in Windhoek to know exactly what was needed. After we came back from conference I called the mechanic but he said nothing had happened, so I put pressure on him to find out what was going on. He finally got the guy in Windhoek to say that the old part had never arrived so they didn't know what to order! My mechanic had to call the post office and figure out what went wrong. The story given was something about the parcel being small and set aside somewhere. After that it finally made it's way to Windhoek. That was a week ago. This week they are saying that there isn't a part like it in all of Namibia so they are having to contact South Africa to try to find it. It is all very frustrating and I can't wait to get home and buy a new car that I won't have to do anything to but change the oil and wash!!!!
1 hour
HOORAY! YIPPEE! HURRAH! YEE-HAW! WAHOO! In case you haven't figured it out, we are all very happy to announce that the time has changed again! Why are we so excited? Because we no longer have to take Shelley to work at 5:30 in the morning! :-) YAY! With the time change, the hours for the nurses working also changes from 6-6 to 7-7. Now, since Mary leaves to go to the college at 6:30 anyways, Shelley just rides in with her and Daryl, Sabrina and I make our way to work at 8. Since we are in spring, our time moved up an hour, so now we are currently 6 hours ahead of my friends in GA (and Joy & JD in NC), 7 hours ahead of my friends in OK, and 8 hours ahead of my family in NM. When the time changes there in October it will be different again, but this is it for these next few weeks.
A few pounds?
After being told for some years that I am at risk for diabetes (my own health problems related to my tumor as well as a family history), I have finally started taking the doctors seriously. It is not an effort to lose weight, but rather to become a healthier person. Of course, in this process if I lose a few pounds I won't be sad about it! So, I have cut out almost all refined sugar from my diet! YIKES! After having done some research, Shelley and I have also started eating a much more balanced diet and are only buying foods that have a low glycemic index (GI). Sabrina and Daryl have been very supportive and are cooking healthier meals when we join them for dinner! Because it is a lifestyle change and not a diet, I am allowing some 'slip-ups'... so don't worry, I won't deprive myself of any of Daryl's birthday cake tonight! :-)
Prepaid Electricity
As some of you may remember from when I first arrived, our electricity here is prepaid. It is an interesting way to do it, but pretty wise since most people are very poor and would constantly have it turned off and then wouldn't be able to pay the reconnection fee... it would be a serious downward cycle. However, for those of us that could pay, it is sometimes a bad thing. Take the case of a few Sundays ago when our power went out. Sunday is when the power tends to go out because they are working in the lines, so at first I didn't think anything of it. However, a little bit later I noticed that the electricity meter was flashing red. If the power is out then there is nothing that is on. I went over to look at it.... that's when I realized that the power for the town hadn't gone out, we had just run out of power credits! I felt so embarrassed! To make matters worse, when we went to get more electricity credit, the machine was down and the line had over 30 people in it! OOPS!!! I went back several times that afternoon and it was always the same story. Finally in the early evening I was able to get more credit and we were back in business. Thankfully it wasn't too hot that day! (I pay much more attention to the meter now too!)
Missing life
One of the hardest things about being here is missing all the big life events that are happening in people's lives. Missing weddings and births make me the saddest. The latest wedding that I have missed is Sally's. She was here as a short-termer from Canada last year. Amy and Sarah, who were both here at the same time, were able to go. I am still waiting for some pictures. (hint hint) It is always good news to hear about my friend's happiness, but it's also sad because I hate missing it. I am also happy/sad to announce that my friends Joy & JD are expecting their first child, due in early February! I can't wait to meet him/her when I return next year! Congratulations Sally & David and Joy & JD!
I hope this finds you all enjoying the new school year and the fun colors and weather of fall.
love and hugs to all,
kapande
Kimmie Tibbetts
Serving the people of Namibia at the Rundu State Hospital
http://thekimmieconnection.blogspot.com
http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/bb136/thekimmieconnection/
http://thekimmieconnection.blogspot.com
http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/bb136/thekimmieconnection/
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