New friends and nicknames!

So we had finally arrived in Tses, our home for the next twelve months. Eager to explore the place we would be calling 'home' Daisy and I entered our new house. Going through the door we entered a large, and practically empty room. On the left hand side was a wooden table and a number of rickety looking chairs - however we soon learnt that despite looking like they could collapse at any moment these chairs are, in fact, incredibly comfy! On the right hand side of the room...a single chair and a guitar missing a string. The walls were decorated with numerous pieces of paper. On one wall, funny (and bizarre) quotes from the previous volunteers, for example... 'do I look like I've had a threesome?' (which is, in fact, a reference to a Namibian chocolate bar). Another wall displayed 'useless information' (a wall which I am sure I have a lot to contribute to) and the other displays facts about Namibia.

For those who have ever been to Bradfield College (or know about it), the best way to describe the house is to imagine Faulkners (this is the year nine house at my previous school for those who have no idea what I'm talking about). The room I have just described is like the foyer. The kitchen is where Matrons study is - directly ahead of our front door. It is small with even smaller windows (Daisy compared it to a prison cell!) but it serves it purpose - and we don't really need a bigger one. With a freezer, a small fridge, two stoves and a microwave cooker it is absolutely fine for us to cook food in (and so far we've somehow managed not to burn anything/ have any culinary disasters! Something i'm sure my Mother will be shocked by)

The house then splits into two sections - basically, left and right. Again, for those who know Bradfield this is basically like the girls side and the boys side of Faulkners. To the right of the house there is a small loo, a shower room and two bedrooms (one for both Daisy and I). The left side of the house is the mirror opposite of the right, except this is where our housemate Sachi lives. So that's the grand tour!

(We did make a video showing the tour of the house but unfortunately it won't load. But hopefully at some point we can get it up and running!)

Walking into the house for the first time we were immediately introduced to Sachi. An American Peace Corps volunteer she's already been in Namibia (and Tses) for 14 months. She soon proved to be an invaluable source of information, explaining how the kitchen works, showing us how to hitchhike, introducing us to everyone around the area and generally just answering every weird and random question the two of us could possibly come up with.

So the first night was spent relaxing and beginning to settle into our new home. We were also visited by the two German volunteers, Anne and Ruben. Helping out in the Primary School hostel they had already been in Tses for three weeks and so Daisy and I were truly the 'new' volunteers. So the first evening was spent getting to know each other...

It was only a few days later that Sachi revealed our nicknames to us... Along with the two previous Project Trust volunteers, Sachi had had a chance to look at our private personal profiles. Seeing that I come from Windsor the three instantly nicknamed me 'princess' (a nickname which I have unfortunately been unable to shift!). Daisy's nickname became 'Ducky' - due to Daisy and Donald Duck. Our nickname for Sachi was admittedly less original, we have simply started calling her 'America' or sometimes just 'Merica'. But Anne and Ruben should not be forgotten - or should I call them Hansel and Gretel (a nickname which I take full credit for). And so the madness began!