The Past Week

This week is been very fun and at the same time very informative. I guess I will begin with the classes I had this week. In Poli Sci, we heard about the education system in Namibia. It was good to hear about the problems that exist in the education system, especially what is occurring the North. It is really relevant to what I am during as part of my internship here in Windhoek. I havent learned that much about education here thus far and I think it is important to understand. Our speaker worked as a teacher in the North for like 30 or so years and is from the North.

Then in History class, we learned about the Herero Genocide. This was the first genocide of the 20th century and Germany's first genocide that NO ONE learns about. Not even Namibians. It is disgusting and so surprising. I knew nothing of it before this class. The genocide began in 1904 and went until 1908. The Germans wanted to clear the land that the Herero people lived on. They wanted the land to build for the settlers. They killed about 75,000 Hereros in 4 years. They also created many concentration camps for Hereros to live and work and be used as slaves to build up the city of Swakopmund and Windhoek. There are many buildings in Windhoek that were built by the Herero slaves. We visited the Alte Feste, which was a fort built for the Germans living in Windhoek during this time. It is now a museum. Museums here are completely different than ones in the States. Not much money is put into them so they are not so inviting. Also there is no official marker anyone where in Namibia to remember the genocide. In Swakopmund, there is an unofficial graveyard for Hereros that died but it is not national recognized so people ride ATVs all over it. It is so sad to here. This genocide completely changed the ethnic tribe makeup of Namibia. Hereros use to be the majority but now the Ovambo people control Namibia. We are visiting Swakopmund Wednesday so we will have a chance to go to the unofficial graveyard and see it for ourselves.

Also this week, we went to this restaurant called Xhama for our friend Hannah's birthday. It is this restaurant in Wanaheda, Katutura, which is the Black township outside Windhoek. They serve traditional foods, like chicken and pap. We ordered two whole chickens and pap for 5 people and it was so much food and kinda of pricey for a place in a low-class area. I even got to try chicken feet...yummy! It wasnt that bad but I wouldnt choose it. Then we were taught how to sing happy birthday in Oshivambo, the language of the Ovambo people but I cant remember it all.

Then Thursday night, a bunch of us went to a free showing of the movie/documentary Good Hair by Chris Rock at the American cultural center in downtown Windhoek. It was a movie about the role of hair plays for African American women. There is so much that goes into the hair business. It was a good movie to see after going to the salon and watching women get weaves done here in Katutura. I learned a lot from the documentary. African women have struggled with the concept of wearing your hair "natural" which means to keep it kinky or nappy. A lot of women choose to wear their hair relaxed which means combing through relaxer in their hair which is just a bunch of chemicals that can completely burn your skin. There was a really good discussion afterwards about image vs. identity and the role the media plays.  Race was a huge part of the discussion because it is not just black women change the way they look because society tells them too. Plastic surgery, waxing/shaving, extensions are all things that white women do too.

Friday night we went to a concert at the Franco Namibian Cultural Center. This place is really cool and I want to go back to explore it. They have a lot of art hanging up. The concert was really good. It was this acoustic band I think that were from South Africa. It was a cool atmosphere with a lot of hip people from Namibia.

Then last night went to this hotel called Roof of Africa and saw a free concert by this group called Penilane, they were more soft rock than the concert from Friday night. It was okay.. I was really tired from the past week so we didnt stay long. When we came back to the house a bunch of us skinny dipped in our pool and was a lot of fun. The sky was completely clear so we could see the almost full moon and all the stars. It is so cool that now I am in the Southern Hemisphere so the constellations we see are completely different than home. It was beautiful. I love it here.

Nawa!

Hello again everyone! This past week I was on my urban homestay. I was staying in Katutura, one of the black townships right outside Windhoek. Katutura is also where my internship is as well. My family included my host mom, her grandson, her brother and his girlfriend, and her two kids. The kids were 4, 4, and 11. The house was pretty small so you could hear everything in the house all the time and very run down. I was lucky enough to have house that has a bathroom inside the house. Many houses in Katutura and in the informal settlements just have outhouses. I just felt so privileged that I only had to live like this for 10 days and that I have the choice to leave this lifestyle whenever. This family and many thousands more have to live this way everyday. My family spoke Oshiherero as they are Herero, which is similar to the most spoken language in Namibia, Oshivambo, spoken by the Ovambo people. Most Ovambo people are in the North. This past week was very trying on me. It was hard to spend time with my family and get to know them and still go back to the Center for classes and for internship. I had to find a balance of getting my work done but still getting everything I could out of my experience at my homestay. The family had very traditional gender roles, my host niece, I guess that is what you can call her, the 11 year old, had to do most of the house work. She had to clean the dishes, wash the floor, wash the laundry. I tried to help her out but they would push me away so I always felt like a guest in the house, never a family member. Also personal space does not exist so the kids would just follow me around and try to read what I was reading or sit on my bed and just watch me. That was really hard to get use to.

I never really got a sense of community as I did on my homestay in South Africa. My host mom here in Namibia has host CGE kids since 1999 so I think that she was use to showing off these "white people" before and that is why I didnt meet her family. I finally got to meet her actual daughter and we hung on both on Saturday and Sunday. I went to a salon, which here means a small room inside an open air market to get my nails done. I got to watch African women get their hair done. That was a whole new experience for me too. My nails are really cool they have this whole intricate design and it lasts for 4 months so when I come back to the States, I will have some really nice nails.

This week is really our only "normal" week. I have my internship tomorrow and wednesday and classes every other day. We also have our first free weekend so hopefully some of us will figure out some fun things to do around here. We just dont have a routine and that is really hard to get used to.

So I will check in some time soon again.

Inda po nawa! (meaning go well in Oshivambo)

The Past 2 Weeks

Hello, Wow how long has it been since I last posted? So much has been done in the past 2 weeks. So last time I posted, I was just about to go on my first homestay out of three. So my homestay was in Voorslorus, which actually was not in Soweto but very close to it. I had a really amazing family of a mother, father, and sister, Ngoluli, who is 16 and Ayanda who is 6. They had a nice house, each kid had their own room and they spare room for me and Kristin, the girl I had my homestay with from CGE. The mother worked as a teacher assistant at school for mental and physically disabled children from kindergarten to 12th grade. We got to go into to her work with her on that Monday, after the weekend spending time with them. So that friday night, my first night with them, I was dropped off at my host mother's mother's house. I was very confused and didnt understand where I was at first. We were waiting there to be picked up by my host father. He ended up picking Kristin, my host mother, and I up at the closest mall, where we got dinner at 9 at night. Then we were brought to our actual house. I ended up just talking to my host sister for a few hours and went to sleep. We woke up around 9, couldnt sleep much longer than that. I havent been able to sleep much since being here. We wake up so early and I am not a morning person. Kristin and I hung outside with my host sister and 2 of her friends and all the neighborhood kids. It was a lot of fun. We walked around the neighborhood and of course everyone was staring at us because no white people ever enter these areas so we were a sight to see. We were waiting for our host father to come back from work but he ended up not coming back until 3 hours after he said he would so we just went out for dinner in a mall. Then on Sunday, we went to church really early in the morning and then came back to our house. There was a wedding taking place across the street on Sunday so I was really excited about going to that. This family had 2 weddings, one which was the white wedding in a church and the other one which we got to go to was the more traditional wedding. The wedding began by having the bride and groom walk down the street to their house doing the step dance with everyone in the wedding party following them. It was just amazing to see. The family set up a tent in the middle of the street so everyone could sit at tables and eat. They have to provide food for everyone there no matter if you were invited or not. People from all over just come. I got to see traditional dress of zulu women, sotho women and many other tribes. I even got to dance behind the bride and groom and learn the step dance.

Then after our homestay we went to Pretoria for two days. We stayed in this really nice guesthouse with a pool so we had some nice pool parties. We toured the Voortrekkers museum about the great trekkers which were the afrikaners expanding their control in South Africa after landing the Cape of Good Hope. Then we went to freedom park and had a nice picnic and toured the park. It is a place of remembrance for all the events that occurred related to South Africa. There are walls covered with names of people that had past. The place was huge and very peaceful.

We then left for Namibia, flying at 9 in morning and then we had to wait in the tiny tiny airport for an hour because our visas werent ready but finally it worked out and got our luggage. The drive from the airport to our house was amazing. Windhoek is surrounded by mountains, giant mountains and they are covered with green trees. Right now everything is really green because it is the rainy season so it rains everyday. I am glad I got to see it as green and lush instead of dry and sandy. We even saw baboons too. We moved into our house and tried to settle in as well as we could since all the girls are sharing rooms with 5 other people. The house is really nice, we have a nice pool in the back and a balcony that overlooks the street. We also have a nice lounge with couchs and our own kitchen and dining room. The only problem is that we only have 3 bathrooms for 23 people so that is hard to deal with.

I started my internship. I am working at Family of Hope Services. It is a very cool place, a one room schoolhouse that has 3 classes and 3 teachers teaching 100 students. Most of the students are part of the enrichment program which are students that go to school either in the morning or afternoon and then come to this center for extra help and homework time. The other program is the remedial program for kids who cant go to school at all because they dont have money or dont have birth certificates. I have been helping a teacher who teaches the enrichment learners. I helped teach basic math to them and I also taught the teachers how to make friendship bracelets so they can teach it to the kids. Also for my internship I have to come up with a project I work on throughout the semester so I think I am going to run some sport activity for all the kids. The kids are super cute and I really like helping them. They even taught me some Oshivambo, the most spoken tribal language in Namibia.

We also started classes this week. I had History and Development this week. Classes are from 9-1 and then we have lunch at 1 and the afternoon is free. I do my internship on Mondays and Wednesdays.

This week is my second homestay, which I started last night. I am in Katutura, which used to be an all black township during apartheid. Katutura is also where my internship is as well. I am living with my host mother, and her brother and his girlfriend and their 3 or 4 kids, i dont really know who is who, and then my host mom's grandson. It is a pretty small house but I do have my own room to sleep in. We are in our urban homestays for 10 days but still have to go to class and to our internships. I have to take taxis to every location because my family does not have a car. My host mom has been hosting since 1999 so hopefully she knows how to deal. She is very nice but quiet. The kids are crazy climbing all over me. Hopefully they will calm down. So I dont have internet in my homestay so i can only get on when I am in the CGE center.

I will try to post again soon.