Welcome to Windhoek!

After about 20 hours of traveling, we arrived safely in Windhoek (pronounced "vin-took"), Namibia late last night. The flights were long but presented a great opportunity to bond with the 11 other volunteers starting WorldTeach in Namibia this year. Most of us received our bags - untampered. It's been a busy past 24 hours, but I couldn't be happier to be back in Africa!

We will spend the next three weeks as a group doing orientation in Windhoek and Tsumeb before we head to our permanent sites. Tomorrow night (New Years Eve already?!) we will have a traditional Braai (Namibian barbecue). We're currently staying at a guest house in town and are lucky to have very comfortable beds, hot showers, and I've only seen one spider that was the size of my hand so far (the flat ones are fine, so I've heard).

I am blessed beyond measure to be surrounded by so many kind, ambitious, and passionate colleagues and welcoming field directors and can't wait to get to know Namibia and all the people better. Thank you for your prayers and support as I begin to adjust to life across the world!

Lastly, a few good things to know:

- right now, Namibia is 8 hours ahead of central time in the US. So, I'm posting at 6:30ish pm and you're reading it at 10:30ish am. 

- I will post my mailing address in a few weeks when I arrive at my school. Mail generally takes 2-4 weeks to get here. I've been told that the cheapest package option is to get an International Priority Mail box at the post office, pay the flat rate, and stuff it as full as you can.

- it you are interested in receiving my Namibian cell phone number or Skype name, email me and I'll send it to you.

- you can come visit anytime!!

Rejoicing in change!

Almost Home

for all you doubters out there, i did fit my whole life into just two bags. great success.

this song and this video exemplify today.

eta wednesday @ 8:50pm nam time. i'll do my best to update y'all as soon as i get there. in the meantime, the best ways to stay in touch with me are through blog comments and email. see you all in namibia!

Goodbye, Nashville!

On Saturday morning, I said goodbye to the happiest place on earth: Nashville, TN. The last time I left this city, it literally brought me to my knees and left me inconsolable for a good 48 hours. This time has been different. Perhaps it's because there is concrete hope in the future ahead of me, perhaps it's because I've realized that relationships last even when you're not in the same place, or maybe it's because it has never been more crystal clear that Namibia is where I'm supposed to be come December 28.

After an epic car ride back to Chicago that lasted ten hours and included a ferry, the best roadside bbq, and a full re-enactment of the Nashville Garth Brooks concerts, I arrived to the sweetest of send-offs in Glenview on Sunday night. It was a funny experience to have people from so many areas of my life under one roof - high school friends, college friends, neighbors, church family, real family, and more.

I am so very grateful for each and every one of you. I continued to be humbled on a daily basis by your support, encouragement, and prayers. Look forward to your first Namibian update on the 29th!

I'll leave you with some photos from these precious last few weeks in TN:

Happy Thanksgiving...and an announcement!

Current location: home in Glenview!

Happiest Thanksgiving to all you readers out there! We love Thanksgiving at our house and have the great opportunity to host my mom's side this year. I'm on the Cooking Committee...grocery shopping, brining the 23-pound bird, baking pies, mmm...perfect job for my food-loving soul. In recent years, my family has come to love themed family get-togethers. Last year, we celebrated a Flannel Thanksgiving followed by Tacky Sweater Christmas. This year, with dad and Jen serving on the Party Planning Committee, we are hosting a Murder Mystery Thanksgiving. I've never done one of these parties before, but we're all pretty pumped for it. With all the knives I'll be wielding, I sure hope I'm the culprit...hah.

How are you celebrating Thanksgiving this year? What are your favorite holiday recipes? Jenny and I have recently fallen in looooove with all things pumpkin, as was evident today with pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin-spiced hot chocolate, and pumpkin pie in the oven.

Sunday will mark one month until Namibia...wow! So soon. So exciting. Last week, I finally received my placement and have been itching to tell you about it. Here's part of the email I received from our wonderful field director:

Greetings from Windhoek!  After much consideration, We have decided to place you at [PSSS] in the recently pronounced town of Helao Nafidi.  PSSS is a secondary school teaching grades 8-12 and has about 900 learners and about 30 teachers. PSSS is located in north-central Namibia, just off the main tar road that goes north to Angola, and is in the Ohangwena Region.  The local people there come from the Owambo tribe and speak Oshiwambo...PSSS is interested in having a volunteer teach English Grades 8-12 and help in the library...Your school is eager for your arrival and I am confident that you will excel in your new living and teaching environment. 

Helao Nafidi is located right on the border of Namibia and Angola:

Teaching high school English is a dream come true, in an odd way. It's something I've clearly never done before and have little experience in, but I can already feel enthusiasm coursing through my veins and can't wait for the great adventure that being a high school English teacher is sure to be! I can't wait to meet my students (or "learners," as they're called in Namibia) and dive into this adventure that will be the 2011 school year. I know I will learn just as much from them as they'll hopefully learn from me.

And seriously, what's more perfect than being the school librarian? Love organizing, love wearing glasses. Perfect.

I am nothing short of thankful for the great challenges and tremendous joys that I've been brought through this past year. Rejoicing in anticipation and gratefulness.

My GCCs

Current location: Frothy Monkey, coffee with a friend and doing work (and sitting by Matt Wertz, nbd)

Introducing Glenview Community Church - GCC#1. Located just three blocks from my house, I spent my first eighteen years of life growing up there. I was pleasantly surprised this week when they ran an article I had written for our weekly newsletter on the front page - complete with photos and very kind words from our pastor. Check it out here!

GCC#1, I am so grateful for your consistent support, prayer, and encouragement! Thank you for the ways you have loved me in every season of my life.

When I moved to Nashville four years ago, I realized I couldn't escape life at GCC when I began attending Grace Community Church. Welcome GCC#2. Since becoming a member soon thereafter, God has repeatedly surprised me in the ways that I have encountered authentic Christian community, scripture-centered sermons and studies, and genuine adult friends. It has been a source of constant support and encouragement through many difficult periods of growth over the years and I'm so grateful for their support as I head north-left (shout out!) in...46 days!!!

I look forward to seeing all you Glenviewites (Glenviewans? Glenviewers? What are we, anyway?) soon at Thanksgiving!!  

It's Official: 55 Days Away...

Current location: my couch, watching "The Holiday" because it's cold and rainy outside. If the stores are allowed to start celebrating Christmas, so can I.

This morning, while having my quiet time & tea, I was led to a devotional called "Submitting to God's Purpose," which then led me to this awesome verse in John 15 that reads, "you did not choose me; I chose you. And I gave you this work: to go and produce fruit, fruit that will last." I haven't been able to let go of it all day. How radical is that? That I didn't choose to be God's; He chose me. That I didn't choose to go to Namibia; He sent me. I don't know what it means to produce fruit - and especially don't know what kind of fruit lasts (other than plastic fruit) - but I'm ready to discover more.

It's update time! Our official departure date has been set for December 28. For those of you keeping track, that means we're only 55 days away. Six more weeks in Nashville; less than eight weeks to Namibs. I'm grateful to have a couple extra days at home than I initially anticipated. And this totally justifies me staying in Nashville an extra day to see Garth Brooks perform for flood relief...yesssss.

Prayers for this week: that more support will come in soon, that I find the motivation to begin a packing list, for relationships among the 13 of us heading over in December, and for my students and colleagues.

Dream BIG!

Current location: Frothy Monkey in Nashville, TN (sweet coffeehouse vibe, terrible drinks)

I have several really exciting announcements for this third blog post.  First of all, I'm just about done with all my paperwork!  At the beginning of this week, I sent in all my important documents, Visa application materials, and physician's health form.  I'm ready to go (hah)!  Secondly, today I had a consult at the Vanderbilt Travel Clinic.  I only had to update my meningitis vaccine, for which they gave me a bandaid with a picture of a cartoon rock 'n' roll cat (told you I was growing up).

But the most exciting update of all?  I'm already halfway to raising all of my program costs.  Halfway; you read that correctly.  I am so humbled by this outpouring of support by family and friends.  This is in no way a call to slow down on giving.  The really exciting part of this is that once I raise my $5,990 in program costs, all funds donated above and beyond that can be used by me for programming for my kiddos in Namibia.  I took it as a sign when "Dream Big" came on my iTunes shuffle yesterday.  There are SO MANY possibilities for what I could do.  HIV/AIDS programming, a new library, a girls' club, something musical, a school newspaper, something...!  How exhilarating is that??

So this is a call to keep on giving and keep on praying that the Lord provides me with the funds and direction to do something great in His Kingdom in Namibs.

Also - please click on "contact information" on the right to be added to my email list.  No donation required - I just want to keep in touch with y'all while I'm away.

Rejoicing in HOPE!

(and welcoming the heartwarmth that is sure to come out of reunions with dear old friends this weekend in Nashville.  To think that we will be reuniting like this for the rest of our lives is better than I could have ever dreamed!)

To-Do Lists

Things for ME to do this week:
- send out more letters!
- make an appointment at the Vanderbilt Travel Clinic ( I only need one more shot!)
- obtain a "report of good conduct" from the police (hope I'm in good standing after 22 years...)
- start my packing list
- send in my placement preferences
- soak up Nashville autumn (if it ever gets below 90 degrees)

Things for YOU to do this week:
- follow my blog! (click "follow" on the right panel)
- make that donation you're planning on making
- breathe, relax, and enjoy fall wherever you are!

Invitation to the Journey

Who: Karen - not Nan, but you can ask me about her later.
What: moving to Namibia in late December to serve as a teacher through a sweet organization called WorldTeach
Where: Namibia, which is in southern Africa - it borders South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Angola
When: late December 2010 to December 2011
Why: "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms" 1 Peter 4:10.  The good Lord has called and I'm ready to go, whatever it takes!

More to come in the next few months...if you are able to support me on this journey, please let me know so I can send you more information.  Or click on the "WorldTeach" link in the right panel to donate now!

Rejoicing in adventure,
Karen