This past weekend was Pre-Service Training (PST) cultural food day. Each language group cooked food specific to their region of Namibia and then brought all the food together to be shared in a potluck. Being in the river rich Caprivi group, fish was big on our menu with sides of corn, beans, and a green vegetable that can be described as a cross between spinach and cabbage. The cooking took all morning in true Namibian style over campfires and was highlighted by the chicken beheadings in which several trainees were nominated to do the honors. Happy to say, I was not one of lucky ones. After everything was prepared, our host families joined us for lunch and the feast began. I made a point to try a bit everything from each region had to offer ranging from fat cakes, to porridge, to sausage, to large worms which actually was not my least favorite dish. Overall the food was fantastic. If it was any representation of what I can expect when I get to my site, it is safe to say I won't be going hungry in Namibia.
As for the weekdays, I've pretty much settled into a PST routine. Take a run around the neighborhood before classes, doing the best to avoid the angry dogs. Endure 2 – 4 hours of language training till my head is bursting with new vocab and grammar. Spend lunch in town, shopping for things I may have forgot to bring, or supplementing fruit into my peanut butter and butter sandwich lunch made by the host mom. Followed by 4 hours of culture training of Namibia. Head home, watch the latest sopie with the fam, do some studying and reading, then repeat. Needless to say, I am getting a bit anxious to get out to my site and start teaching, but I'm sure I'll be grateful for all this training once at site.
