Yes, we know where we're going. And yes, you will have to read through graduation first, because we had to actually go through graduation before we found out!
Yesterday was a big day here! We all piled out of the house before 7am to go to the pyramids for Abby's graduation. The attendees were: Ann, Dan, Dylan, Johnny, me, Mimi (Ann's mom), Granddad (Ann's dad), Arnie (Ann's uncle), Margit (Ann's aunt), Faiza Ibrahim (the Costers' former nanny), Faiza (the Costers' maid for the last 15 years), and Om Ahmed (the Egyptian cook that's been providing us food twice a month for the last few years). We arrived at 7:30 and found our reserved seats (immediate families of grads get to sit up front), then settled in to wait until the ceremony started at 8. The whole thing takes place outside at the seating area usually used for the Sound and Light show, so picture the pyramids and Sphinx in the background. The graduates wear white (girls) and red (guys) robes and many wear sunglasses as they're staring into the sun (which is at our backs - I have the sunburn to prove it!). The ceremony included several student speakers and a couple musical acts as well as a faculty speaker, an Imam, and a pastor. Ann actually got to present Abby with her diploma as a member of the CAC faculty. We took loads of photos after the ceremony and took refuge in the shade of a tent after sitting in the sun for the last few hours.
Congrats to Abby!
Yesterday was a big day here! We all piled out of the house before 7am to go to the pyramids for Abby's graduation. The attendees were: Ann, Dan, Dylan, Johnny, me, Mimi (Ann's mom), Granddad (Ann's dad), Arnie (Ann's uncle), Margit (Ann's aunt), Faiza Ibrahim (the Costers' former nanny), Faiza (the Costers' maid for the last 15 years), and Om Ahmed (the Egyptian cook that's been providing us food twice a month for the last few years). We arrived at 7:30 and found our reserved seats (immediate families of grads get to sit up front), then settled in to wait until the ceremony started at 8. The whole thing takes place outside at the seating area usually used for the Sound and Light show, so picture the pyramids and Sphinx in the background. The graduates wear white (girls) and red (guys) robes and many wear sunglasses as they're staring into the sun (which is at our backs - I have the sunburn to prove it!). The ceremony included several student speakers and a couple musical acts as well as a faculty speaker, an Imam, and a pastor. Ann actually got to present Abby with her diploma as a member of the CAC faculty. We took loads of photos after the ceremony and took refuge in the shade of a tent after sitting in the sun for the last few hours.
Congrats to Abby!
On the way home Dylan let me know that we had an email from my parents titled, "And the next two years of your life will be spent in..." He hadn't had a chance to open the email before we left! Smart of him to wait till after the ceremony to tell me. =) We had known the invitation from Peace Corps was in the mail to Mom and Dad and could arrive any time - and apparently this was the day!
When we got home I immediately grabbed a laptop and went to gmail. Dylan was giving me a hard time, taking forever to get a drink, so I dragged him from the kitchen and we sat down in front of the computer. "And the next two years of your life will be spent in..." We open the email...
Namibia. Huh, well, that wasn't on our short list of possibilities, is not a French speaking country, and where is it anyway? We quickly started googling and found that Namibia is a large country on the West coast of Africa, just above South Africa and below Angola. The official language is English, but the most common language is Afrikaans and the colonial language is German, and the most common tribal language is Oshivambo. It's 80% Christian, mostly Lutheran. The climate is similar to Egypt in most of the country, dry and relatively hot. The seasons are reversed of course because it's in the southern hemisphere so they're just going on winter now.
Armed with this information we announced to the gathered Costers our destination. More googling (group effort now, on several laptops). One of the main industries is mining, especially for diamonds and other precious minerals. Namibia just gained its independence in 1990 (so recent!) from South Africa (so it was part of South Africa during Apartheid). It has the 7th highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world (13% of the adult population is infected), and the highest level of economic inequality in the world (based on the GINI index). Peace Corps programs in Namibia include youth work, education, health, and information technology.
We had a prime opportunity to spread the news an hour later at Abby's graduation party (which she shared with 5 others - lots of guests!). Everyone we talked to who knew anything about Namibia had only good things to say. Some quotes were, "Oh it's beautiful!" "A photographer's dream trip!" "You guys're gonna love it." There is actually even a couple here who lived in Namibia for 5 years and had been rooting for us to go there all along. They were thrilled and have invited us over to learn more about their experience there. I also have a friend from England who did Peace Corps in Namibia a few years ago, so it looks like we have a wealth of information available to us!
We'll be leaving mid-August (around the 18th or 19th) for a two day orientation in the US followed by a two month training period in Namibia. We'll be sworn in and start our service on October 16, 2011, scheduled to finish on October 15, 2013. For now, this is all we know. We'll receive more information after Dylan and I formally accept the invitation, which we can't do until we have personally read through all the materials (which are with my mom and dad in the US). So, expect more details later this summer, but the wait is over. We're going to Namibia!
When we got home I immediately grabbed a laptop and went to gmail. Dylan was giving me a hard time, taking forever to get a drink, so I dragged him from the kitchen and we sat down in front of the computer. "And the next two years of your life will be spent in..." We open the email...
Namibia. Huh, well, that wasn't on our short list of possibilities, is not a French speaking country, and where is it anyway? We quickly started googling and found that Namibia is a large country on the West coast of Africa, just above South Africa and below Angola. The official language is English, but the most common language is Afrikaans and the colonial language is German, and the most common tribal language is Oshivambo. It's 80% Christian, mostly Lutheran. The climate is similar to Egypt in most of the country, dry and relatively hot. The seasons are reversed of course because it's in the southern hemisphere so they're just going on winter now.
Armed with this information we announced to the gathered Costers our destination. More googling (group effort now, on several laptops). One of the main industries is mining, especially for diamonds and other precious minerals. Namibia just gained its independence in 1990 (so recent!) from South Africa (so it was part of South Africa during Apartheid). It has the 7th highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world (13% of the adult population is infected), and the highest level of economic inequality in the world (based on the GINI index). Peace Corps programs in Namibia include youth work, education, health, and information technology.
We had a prime opportunity to spread the news an hour later at Abby's graduation party (which she shared with 5 others - lots of guests!). Everyone we talked to who knew anything about Namibia had only good things to say. Some quotes were, "Oh it's beautiful!" "A photographer's dream trip!" "You guys're gonna love it." There is actually even a couple here who lived in Namibia for 5 years and had been rooting for us to go there all along. They were thrilled and have invited us over to learn more about their experience there. I also have a friend from England who did Peace Corps in Namibia a few years ago, so it looks like we have a wealth of information available to us!
We'll be leaving mid-August (around the 18th or 19th) for a two day orientation in the US followed by a two month training period in Namibia. We'll be sworn in and start our service on October 16, 2011, scheduled to finish on October 15, 2013. For now, this is all we know. We'll receive more information after Dylan and I formally accept the invitation, which we can't do until we have personally read through all the materials (which are with my mom and dad in the US). So, expect more details later this summer, but the wait is over. We're going to Namibia!