April 1st mass mailer
Hello my dear family and friends!

How are you? How's life treating you? Things are going pretty good here. I have ups and downs in my battles with the roaches. This week there is a new bug too! They are these little black grasshopper things. They are small, thankfully, but they are everywhere! I have to sweep my house every day (many of you know what a housekeeper I am know how much this thrills me) to get all these bugs out! They come in at night when I open the door to come in or out and they fly around the living room light for a while then I either kill them or they die on their own. Either way my floor is full by morning!

This week has been fairly quiet as far as the chickens go. We are down to five though, one died last week. I have no idea why, it seemed ok the day before but that morning was gone. Rob was kind enough to come remove it for me. What would I do without him & Alisa?! After a long discussion Melissa has decided to have a friend of hers adopt the chickens. I am waiting for them to be picked up sometime this weekend. The idea eases my stress some but I still have to deal with them for the time being!

Language learning is going well. It is much harder than I would have ever imagined. Just the learning part isn't bad, it's the long walk into town to practice on the unsuspecting locals that is the difficult part! Part of it may be that it is such a long walk into town. I meet a lot of people along the way though, so it is worth it. Having lived in a place where you don't walk anywhere it is a little bit of a shock to my system. The long walks combined with the heat are definitely not what I am used to! I have listed a few of the things I have learned how to say so far. Have fun trying to say it out loud. Don't go for each sound that I have given individually but remember to say them a little fast... Good luck pronouncing it!
hello- morokeni (morro-kennee)
how are you- ngapi (nn-gop-ee)
fine- nawa (nah-wah)
I am learning to speak Rukwangali- Ame kuna kulironga kuhuyunga Rukwangali (ah-meh coona cool-ee-rrong-ah coo-who-yoonga roo-kwang-all-ee)
But I still don't know it well- Nye simpe kapi narudiva nawa (nn-ye sim-peh cappee nah-ru-diva nah-wah)
bye- baa (ba-ah)

Again I have added a few new pictures to the yahoo site. This album is 'a little familiar and a little foreign'. They are mostly pictures of some of the food items that I have here. Some of the brands are the same and some are not. Let me tell you, the long life milk is not my favorite. It doesn't taste quite right. I am thankful for the Nestle Quick though! The thing you have to worry about here is flavor. Just because something has the same name doesn't mean that it has the same flavor. This means that even things that look like home must be approached with a cautious tastebud at first. :-) I am a little sad to tell you that the Oreo cookies fit into this category! They look ok but the taste just isn't there. One of the new brands that I have fun buying is 'Simba' chips. Although some of the available flavors are a little bit out of my taste. I have actually had the 'Fried Chicken' and 'Smoked Beef'. Though tolerable they were not what my tastebuds really appreciated! I am really excited though about the sour cream and onion. They are really tasty!

There are some other pictures in this album as well. There is one of the Okavango River which is the border with Angola. You may remember me telling you that it was the river that is infested with crocodiles. This picture is as close as I have gotten! The other two pictures are of the Christian school. I was asked to speak at Chapel on Friday. Little did I know that it was 'Freaky Friday' and that all the kids would be dressed up! It was a good time of sharing with the kids about obedience to God's Word. I enjoyed it and Pastor Saul said that I would probably be invited again (so I guess they enjoyed it too)!

I guess you are all wondering about the subject of this email. Please let me explain! As I was walking around town this week I was parroting out the three sentences that I knew in my new language to anyone that would even begin to look my way. I got many different reactions. Some school children in their uniforms laughed at me and followed me for a ways just so they could listen to me talk to strangers and giggle at me. Some old women cheered for me (at least that's what I am choosing to think they were saying). Many were very surprised to hear Rukwangali out of the mouth of a white person. And one man in particular was quite pleased.

Let me recount a little of how the conversation went. I said 'Morokeni' or hello. He looked at me, smiled, then walked over and took my hand (they don't let go immediately like they do in the states when you shake someone's hand, you tend to stand there holding hands with the person while talking to them). He said hello (in English) then asked me if I was ready to marry a Namibian man. I could tell by his tone that he was volunteering for the job. It was all I could do not to laugh out loud at the poor man. (If I only knew how easy it was to get proposed to maybe I would have learned how to say 'morokeni' while still in the states! Ha! Ha!) We talked for a little bit while I tried to convince him that I had a boyfriend back in America (a lie, I know but one I was willing to tell! Know anyone that will volunteer? Ha! Ha!) and that I wasn't ready to marry anyone, Namibian, American or otherwise. It was after only a short conversation that the man's friend saw us and came over to join us. He spoke some words to his friend that of course I couldn't uncerstand, then looked at me and said to his friend 'Where did you get such a beautiful planet?' I have been called many things in my life but never a planet! I guess I should feel blessed that he didn't choose other words! Anyway, the conversation went on for just a bit more. I was finally able to tell them goodbye and keep going with my walk, but it was definitely an experience that I won't forget! What a way to be greeted!

I hope this finds you all blessed. Please feel free to send me updates about how you are doing. This is a two way street you know! :-)

much love,
kimmie


Praises:
Language learning is going well.
I am meeting several people that are my regular cheerleaders in helping me practice my new language.
Rob & Alisa continue to be a major blessing to me.

Prayer needs:
Please pray that God will continue to open my ears to the new sounds I am hearing and loosen my tongue to be able to repeat them! Please also pray that I would begin to build friendships as I go into the community to practice what I have learned each day. Ask that God would guide my steps.
Rob starts at the hospital on Monday! They have placed him in the OB/GYN floor which is one of his specialties. Please pray for him as he starts his work that he would have an easy transition into the hospital, that he would make a good first impression and that he would be able to minister effectively.
Alisa will be home with the kids this week by herself. Pray for God's strength, help and encouragement as she adjusts to this.
My friend Thomasine that I went to orientation with will be in Angola for a month working with some missionaries there. Please pray for her safety during this time and that she will be a blessing to the missionaries and the people she meets up there.

Kimmie Tibbetts
Serving the people of Namibia at the Rundu State Hospital
http://thekimmieconnection..tripod.com
http://photos.yahoo.com/thekimmieconnection