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.
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