My New Life in Khorixas

Sunday, June 29th
I have now lived at my new residence for over a month now! I even have a PO Box! The country is so small that there is not even a zip code. So, if you want to mail me a letter, you can send it to:
Taylor Whittaker
PO Box 268
Khorixas, Namibia
Africa

In addition to there be no zip codes, everyone has the same (081) phone area code in the country to my knowledge. The capital, Windhoek, is larger so they might have a have a zip code. Just a little bit of information that I have found interesting. I hope I did not concern anyone too much by not updating this blog, but I am doing well.

The town I live in (Khorixas) has a population of around 18,000 which includes surrounding farms and smaller towns. I think I am still grasping for similarities back home to here, but this aspect of the town reminds me of my hometown as it is the main shopping town with surrounding farms. The land is not as luscious green as in Washington County. It reminds me more of the dry Texas Hill Country. There is even a residing village called Braunfels Area which has one of the hospitals clinics. I learned from a nurse that “Braunfels” means “burning fire” or something like that. The scenery makes me feel not that far from family. There is one main grocery store, post office, hardware store, PEP store, and a gas station in town. PEP is similar maybe to JC Penny or something; the store is mainly filled with clothes, but there is also dishes and household supplies.

I am placed with the Ministry of Health at the Khorixas District Hospital. My supervisor is the Social Worker at the hospital. He is blind, from Zimbabwe, and was previously a lecturer which I think he must have been very good at because he is intelligent, but that man also can talk! He is very hardworking and has a lot of great plans and ideas. We are still figuring out the way we can collaborate best. I am replacing a previous volunteer, so I must also overcome the challenge that I am not the same person and work differently than her.

There is another Peace Corps health volunteer who has served a year, he is better at updating his blog than I, so you can also follow him at……………….. There is also a Japanese volunteer that teaches math and science at one school. I am aware of 8 schools so far. There are also plans of placing an education volunteer from Peace Corps in September. So there will be three Americans in Khorixas for a period of time. I am one of the few volunteers from my group that has another American in the same town and soon there will be 3! My group started with 19 volunteers, but for various reasons 3 have returned back to the US.

I stay in a very large flat with a bedroom, kitchen, dining area, living room, bathroom, shower/restroom and a storage area. The kitchen has an oven, stove, and full-size refrigerator. I have a dining room table with chairs and hot water in the shower! This place is actually nicer than some of my apartments in America, I am just lacking some furniture as there is a lot of open spaces. I have received a move-in allowance  to buy some bedding and kitchen supplies. I also get a monthly allowance for groceries. So, I am living  the comfortable life in Africa! The only amenity I don't have at my place is internet and air conditioning/heater.

My HUGE Kitchen for Little Oh Me

My Back Patio View