Between my trekking holidays in Utah and Italy, I returned to Namibia to take training hikes out in the bush and catch up with friends and former colleagues.
Continue reading “Namibia 2023 – A brief visit to my second home”Tag: #peacecorpsnamibia
Chris-on-the-Trail
Let’s call it a rebranding of this weblog…
Hello, all – I hope you are well! Thanks for visiting again.
I’ve been delinquent in keeping up this blog during the pandemic, although I was fortunate that the virus didn’t keep me from visiting Namibia a few times – it is always nice to see my friends and former colleagues there in my second home. Throughout the period, I’ve mostly kept busy with some local volunteer activities (elections, census, food bank, and mentoring several foreign small businesses through MicroMentor) as well as enjoying some self-improvement (online courses, lectures, webinars, and gardening).
While I expect (and hope) to spend a lot of my future in Namibia again, and possibly even with the Peace Corps, I’ve spent most of my recent months preparing for some long distance hikes this year. In order to share these adventures with all of you, I thought I would borrow this “Chris-in-Namibia” site and temporarily rename it “Chris-on-the-Trail.” I hope you don’t mind.
Continue reading “Chris-on-the-Trail”This makes my heart soar!
A Towering Task: A Peace Corps Documentary
Hi, everyone! Wherever you are in the world, I hope you and yours are doing well, staying safe, and helping those around you. In these sad, discouraging, and frustrating times, I find it helpful to remember people who put others before themselves, and who recognize the advantages they enjoy because of their birth, ancestry, time, and place. To that end, you might appreciate this new documentary describing the history of the Peace Corps, available now for a virtual screening.
Continue reading “A Towering Task: A Peace Corps Documentary”
My next adventure…
Three years ago today I left California to begin the journey with Peace Corps Namibia that I have enjoyed chronicling on this blog.
Since closing my service and returning to the US in December, I have been searching for my next adventure – an opportunity that would give me the same level of fulfillment that I enjoyed in Arandis.
I considered a return to the corporate world, buying another company, moving into non-profit organization management and even retirement. I only knew for sure that I wanted to be here in San Jose with my love – relocation wasn’t an option. I’m happy to share with you today that I found it…
A very special Owambo wedding day!
Heralia and Simeon, good friends from Arandis, were recently married at her village in the north of Namibia. I was fortunate to attend and photograph the event. This is a long post with a lot of photos. I hope they give you a sense of the colorful sights, festive ceremonies, joyous music, smiling faces and delicious food we all enjoyed.
Continue reading “A very special Owambo wedding day!”Back safely to my “other” home…
Since people have been asking… I made the four long, uneventful flights to return safely to California, my “other” home, where I am slowly adjusting to the colder weather. I want to express my appreciation to all of you for following along this journey with me. My posts focused mostly on the recreation and entertainment I enjoyed for the past 2 3/4 years – without a lot said about the work I did. Now that I am a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV), free of certain restrictions, I intend to write more about some of the things I experienced and learned in the work I did. I hope you’ll tag along!
Goodbye, Arandis! P.S. I love you!
Today is my last day at the office where I have worked at the Arandis Town Council for the past 2 1/2 years. It hasn’t always been easy – but it has always been rewarding. Above my desk, every day, I used this poem for inspiration. Attributed to the philosopher Laozi in the 6th Century BC, it encapsulates for me the primary objective of Peace Corps around the world. Continue reading “Goodbye, Arandis! P.S. I love you!”
An abundance of gratitude…
This past weekend was most special! Bringing together so many of my favorite people in Namibia! Colleagues from work, clients, Namibian friends and fellow PCVs joined me Friday night to celebrate my farewell – an experience I will never forget! Some of them agreed to be caught in these photos and many others graciously made entries in my Memory Book. (I can’t bring myself to go through that one until I’m on the airplane in 10 days’ time.)
Another Namibian travelogue…
It’s always interesting to come across travelogues about Namibia, the place I’ve called home for nearly 3 years. While I don’t particularly like the commercial aspects of the embedded video, it’s still nice to share this beautiful land.
Photo Credit: 123 RF