Sorry about no posts, but Internet access is VERY problematic. FINALLY got an ability to access WITWIA.   This is from my new cell phone. I’m in a mall in Windhoek on our first field trip, with three more immunization shots first, of course! Six so far.

I will post more, with pix, when the Internet “Thang” is worked out!

I’m fine,very happy and adjusting. Only saw some monkeys and bakke so far! Learning Africans, and living with a local family in Okahandja. 

I’m afraid this will be quick, but I’m DETERMINED to start blogging regularly. Today was the “official” reporting and staging day. 31 of us going to Namibia (was 32, we lost one somewhere) in the CED (Community and Economic Development) and Health specialties. There will be a total of 140 volunteers in Namibia when we arrive in a couple of days. Although the 31 of us will be PSTs (Pre Service Trainees) until we complete the three month training, and are sworn in. Then we’ll be “real” Peace Corps Volunteers.

Staging was quite good. The Washington DC staff members training us covered the three Goals, the Mission Statement, and the 10 Core Expectations. I’ll cover those in a future blog.

It’s 10:06 PM here, and we have to check out at 2:00 AM – less than four hours from now! Yuk. Then we’re on a bus to JFK, sit around for about 5 hours, then board a 15 hour flight for Johannesburg, South Africa, five hour layover, and go to Namibia on a short flight.

We have a varied and interesting group of volunteers, and we just started to get to know each other, today.

So on day ONE of my service I actually managed to get the blog out! More coming, but it will be a few days. Also hope to add photos soon.

Andy

It’s 5:25 AM and I’ve been up since 2:30 taking care of … stuff. My home/boat was hauled out of the water and is “on the hard” in storage with literally all of my possessions on board. I go back for a couple of hours two days from now in the morning to “button it up”, then leave for the East Coast on Saturday morning, April 11.

I noticed driving back from the storage marina this afternoon that the neighborhood and stores along the freeway just before we got to Sausalito kind of looked like I was passing through an area I was visiting, not a place I lived. It was weird. More on that later.

As of right now, I have slightly more stuff than my baggage allowance on my friends’ boat where I’m staying until I depart. What’s left will go on the boat when I go back in two days. Sorting, last minute visits, and a VERY busy schedule for the next four days. I’m exhausted.

Things have “come together” amazingly well for this venture. I have a solid sense that is the right thing to do at the right time.

So, ’nuff for now. I’m going to try to get some more sleep, and feel OK in having at least posted SOMETHING! More to come, I promise. … and better!

Yep – this is WITWIA.com; Andy Garrison’s blog post post for Namibia and Beyond! (Thanks to Buzz Lightyear) The tech details finally came together yesterday, so a real site setup is pending for this weekend (I hope).

The boat/home goes into land-based storage on April 5, I leave the Bay Area early in the morning of April 11, and my Peace Corps Group #41 (32 people) reports to Philadelphia on April 13 and departs the next day for Johannesburg enroute to Windhoek, Namibia. I won’t know where I’ll be in Namibia until about a month after we arrive.

It was great to see everyone who was able to make it to the party last night! Thank you for coming. It was a LOT of fun.

More coming later as I have to turn over control of my (now empty) storage area in San Rafael this morning. One more step in disengaging from life, here. Already I’ve disconnected from my car, cell phone (although the same numbers remain), Netflix, Pandora, subscriptions, Clipper card, Fastrak, etc. All that remains, and that will always remain, are the connections with all of you. What could be more precious than that? My phone numbers and PO box remain the same as always. I’ll post contact information for Namibia in a later post.