Physical Status: Lobster-like

1/21/2011

Such an exciting day! We left at 8:00 for The Cape of Good Hope.  It took us about an hour to drive to the national park.  At the park we were allowed out to either climb up to the lighthouse at the top of a hill, or go down to the ocean. Only about 5 of us decided to go play in the ocean- and boy am I glad I did! The stairs to get down to the beach were terrifying; there was no stand and measure for the height of the steps and many were not even straight across. With an app. 200 stairs down it was a tricky affair. But well worth it; cliffs soared above our heads, the sand was soft, and HUGE waves crashed in to the shore. It was gorgeous to say the least.

These guys were fishing way up on the cliff! 

Our next stop was to see the African Penguins.  The area with the penguins had been turned into a national park since the immigration of penguins had increased tourism in the area- and the penguins kept wreaking havoc on the neighborhood’s gardens and such.  There was far more penguins than I thought there would be- they almost outnumbered the Japanese tourists that were looking at them!

Babies! 

We ate lunch on a public beach just outside the penguin park.  After playing in the water for a little bit I realized that I had turned an alarming shade of lobster-red. Oops. Guess that’s my cue to get out of the sun.

After our busy morning we headed back to St. Paul’s guest house to finish packing and do any last minute shopping. 

Finally some sleep!

1/20/2011

For this morning’s speaker we traveled into a township on the boarder of Cape Town to talk to a pastor. The Way of Life Church  had spent the past few years holding services in whatever building they could get; classrooms, school auditoriums etc.  Three years ago they finally were able to buy their own property and start building a church. The church is still in progress and barely has four walls, and it doesn’t even have floors bathroom yet. But you can see how proud of it everyone was.

First we sat through a morning service. This was something new that they were trying to implement since many people in the congregation couldn’t make it to a Sunday service, so now they offer two short ones a day.  Then the Pastor talked to us about how important community and unity is for black and colored people. He discussed how the apartied might be over, but there is still so much segregation and judgment in South Africa. He also talked about how other nations need to stop coming to try and fix South Africa that South Africa needs to figure out how to fix its own problems.

After our speaker we were thankfully allowed a free afternoon. Most people went shopping. However, those of us who were woken up at 3am by the crowd of girls that came home completely drunk, decided we really needed a nap.  Our nap followed by supper, and then back to bed to try and catch up with sleep. Now that is a good way to spend a free afternoon. 

Welcome to Jail

1/19 

*yawn* Busy day, early morning, no sleep= a very tired Anna.

We started the day at District 6 museum. District 6 was an area of Cape town where black, colored, Islamic, Jewish and other non-“white” families live.  During the 1966 it was declared a white area under the Group Areas act of 1950. This was an act that grouped people together based on their skin color, religion etc. It is responsible for ripping people apart during the apartied. By 1982 60,000 people had been forcibly removed from their homes.  At the museum we met Noor Abrahamson. Noor’s family had five generations living in a house in District 6 when they were forcibly removed and their house bulldozed. He told us what it was like to see families torn from their homes, ripped apart (if they were different races) and left with nothing. It was quite haunting.  Noor told us a story of how a family had been given notice that the next day they were required to leave their home.  As they were eating breakfast the next day a bull dozer started tearing apart their house.

Noor also described to us the recontribution that the government gave to these people. In Noor’s family’s case their house was worth, at the time, 32,000 Rand, now it would be worth about 2 million Rand.  Noor was given simply 1500R, and he said he was one of the lucky ones.  Now the government is offering free land for previous residents. While this is great, it is not without its own price;  the people must fund the building of the house themselves, and the waiting list to get land is immense and very slow moving. Noor said that he is on the list and it might be 10-15 years before he ever sees any land again. Of course the land being given won’t be a guarantee of the same land as the land they once owned. In Noors case part of The University of Cape Town was built over his house. 

Our next stop was The Slave Lodge. Here we were greeted by the vibrant Lucy Campbell. She showed us around the second oldest building in Cape Town; the slave lodge. This immense building has a terrible history of human oppression.  I think the most important thing that we all took away from this tour was that not many people nowadays know about the slaves that build the city, and certainly they don’t know about the horrifying conditions that these slaves were kept in. The slave lodge is located in the middle of downtown Cape Town. Yet many people walk past without a clue of the buildings dark history. Lucy Campbell made it very clear that we cannot forget history no matter how dark it might be. We must acknowledge it to learn from past mistakes.

Lunch was on our own again. Alyssa and I took the advice of a parking attendant and went to Mr. Pickwicks House of Food.  There we had massive milkshakes and toasties (mine had smoked salmon and cream cheese on it. Mmmhmmm).  Cape Town definitely knows how to do good food.

After lunch it was on to Robben Island!  It was just a quick 30 minute boat ride across the harbor.  Once there we hopped on a bus and were introduced to the history of the island and all of the different structures on it. We then met our guide for the walking tour; a former prisoner. Though I can’t recall his name, I can tell you he was a political prisoner during the liberation struggle. He had been arrested during the Soweto protest (this was the protest that killed 4,000 school children).  After showing us around the relatively small prison we got to see Nelson Mandela’s cell.  It was tiny. Furnished with a blanket, night stand, and a couple books it was hard to imagine anyone spending years locked in such a small room, much less such an icon as Mandela. 

Robben Island Prison

Nelson Mandela's cell

Table mountain with Cape Town nestled at the bottom

On To Cape Town!

1/18

We spent Thursday morning traveling from Windhoek to Cape Town South Africa. What normally would be a pretty short flight was made four hours long because we had to fly to Walvis Bay first and then down to Cape Town. Oh well, we’ve all gained a lot of patience for flying this trip.

The first thing I noticed about Cape Town was the Cape Flats that surrounded the airport. These informal settlements reminded me a lot of Katatura except that there was a lot more graffiti.  Gangs are a huge problem in Cape Town and that is why there is so much more decorations on the make shift houses.

Some of the cape flats

Coming into Cape Town

We are staying very close to down town Cape Town/ the Harbor at a little place called St. Paul’s Guest house. It’s quite cute, and you can tell it is a very old building with a lot of character….and no AC and not a whole lot of breezes blowing through. Thankfully we’re all used to sleeping in saunas by now.  We settled in and then hit Long Street for a bit of shopping. Long Street is vibrant; full of shops, restaurants, bars, and hostels. It’s colorful, loud, busy and full of people from around the world. We hit up the open market for a while before grabbing burgers and fries at a little Cuban restaurant.  I’ve decided that the problem with Namibian and SA food is that they don’t know how to properly deep fry food.  Fries tend to be very mushy and unappetizing here.  Obviously these cooks just need to hang out at the MN state fair to find out how deep fried food is supposed to be done.

Thursday night we had to watch Cry Freedom. It might be a great movie. However due to our exhausted state of being, and the over whelming heat being crammed into a tiny dining room on hard straight back chairs for 2 hours and 40 minutes we really couldn’t focus  on the movie very well. It was a disaster.  Poor planning by our professors since this movie could have easily been watched during one of our empty evenings in Windhoek- where there is a large room with comfy chairs, and we generally weren't quite so exhausted. 

On the road again

1/15/2012

Today wasn’t a very exciting day. We were in a van from 9-5 driving from Swakopmund to Etosha.  It was very very long drive. I read a book (Sarah’s Key) straight through from start to finish- all before lunch time.  I then had to con a book off of someone else for the rest of the trip. Thank goodness Alyssa had just finished the book she was reading for this class (we got separated into  four groups, each one has a different book. I finished mine the day we landed in Johanessburg). It’s not the most fascinating book ever written, but it kept me entertained.

Our lives picked up once we actually got to Etosha National Park. Suddenly we saw zebras, springbok, baboons, guinea fowl, and giraffes- all before we got to where we are staying!  We are staying at Okaukuejo, which is a resort type place that is in the middle of Etosha. It’s fenced in so that the animals won’t join us in the middle of the night. We get to share a little bungalow with one other person. Oh My Goodness, are these nice bungalows!  It’s definitely the best accommodations we have had yet.  For supper we had the buffet at the restaurant- at which I enjoyed Eland.  Delicious!  We ended the evening watching the sunset over the watering hole.  The watering hole is semi-surrounded by Okaukuejo and has big flood lights that light it up after dark. Alyssa and I are going to try and get up at two in the morning to see what wild life is out. 

Game Drive!

1/16/12

Today was the day that I was looking forward to the most- Safari day!  Alyssa and I got up at 2 am to check the water hole. We didn't see anything, but we did hear what we thought was a baby lion. Oh well, back to bed for us.

We were up at 6:00 to grab breakfast before our early morning game drive. After piling into the vans once again we set off. The first animal we saw came up quickly; a small herd of Springbok. This was followed by more springbok, springbok, and just in case you missed them…Springbok. It’s no wonder that this is the national animal, they’re everywhere! While we were on the plains we also saw a few zebras and two giraffe’s way off in the distance. 

As we moved more into the park we got into more of a bush/small tree area. We saw less springbok and zebras and more small animals and birds. This went on for a few hours. Just when we were all starting to fall asleep Wilfred, our driver extraordinaire, slammed on the brakes. He mumbled something in Namlish(a mix of Afrikaans and English) which we somehow translated to RHINO! AH! Hidden behind some bushes were two black rhinos! We could just barely see them. They only hung out with us for a couple minutes before diving deeper into the bush. It was just enough time to take a couple pictures. 

Now much more awake we had all eyes peeled for more animals- a leopard? Elephant? Lions!? They must be out there somewhere! Sadly we only saw the flooded roads from last night’s thunderstorms.  Because it is currently the rainy season the animals don’t have to go to the waterholes to find water so they’re much harder to spot.

Once we got out to more grassland we were back in the land of springbok, black-backed jackals, black faced impalas, a Damara Dik Dik, Steenbok, and blue wildebeests. We also spotted a flock of ostriches.  As we were heading back to Okaukuejo we came across one more gem- a family of giraffes!  There was a dark male, three lighter females and a little baby! 

After lunch we had a 2 hour break before visiting the Etosha Ecology center. There we learned  about some of the principles and projects that the park does. Apparently Etosha completely allows the animals to live as nature attended. They do not try to control diseases or mess with the dynamics of the habitat. They do use some of the diseases that are prevalent as research to gain further understanding of diseases but they do not vaccinate or treat anything. .  They do track elephants and rhinos to help fend off poachers and track their migratory patterns. They’re also working on reintroducing the wild dog. But they haven’t had much luck since the wild dogs that they’ve tried to introduce didn’t know what to do with the lions…meaning they got eaten. Ooops. 

We had once last game drive after that presentation. We left in high desire of seeing lions or elephants- but with the knowledge that both of these are extremely rare to find during the day time. We first drove to Wolfsnes where the lions typically hang out. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything in sight. Ah well, there went our dreams of seeing lions.

We went back to the search. Kilometer after kilometer passed with only springbok in sight. Maybe a zebra here or there, or a couple wildebeests, but mostly just springbok as far as the eye could see. On we went. At one point the van in front of us stopped but we couldn’t see a single thing out on the plain.. Until we looked down. There a GIANT lizard was hanging out in the sun. It looks like a komodo dragon, but I don’t know if they actually live here.  As we were all taking pictures it started going back in its den. At this point Wilfred leaps out of the van and chucks a rock at the poor lizard. I think Wilfred probably went a little crazy from all of the springbok.   Needless to say the lizard did not take this as an invitation to come back out.

Thankfully Wilfred got back in the van we started off again. Eventually we spotted what looked like ostriches on the horizon and a jeep parked on the side of the road. So Wilfred stopped for us. We quickly realized that the people in the jeep weren’t looking at the ostriches but rather at something under a tree.  Whatever it was was too far to see with the naked eye. But those of us with decent zoom on our cameras quickly turned them towards the tree. There we saw tan haunches, a rounded ear, and just once a tail flicked up…. It couldn’t be! But it was!  We found our lions!  Two females were sleeping in the shade. At first they wouldn’t raise their heads at all. Which was fine; in our pictures we could still tell they were lions. Then Wilfred lost his head again and started throwing rocks at the lions! This might be the worst idea he’s had yet.  Luckily for Wilfred the lionesses were more interested in sleeping and merely raised their heads to look at the crazy man.  The one rolled over  and went back to sleep laying out  with all four feet up in the air while the other stayed awake to keep an eye on the crazy man.

Now thoroughly content with the animals we had spotted (and very happy to have Wilfred get back in the van) we headed back to the resort for dinner. Tonight our meat choices were Lamb or Kudu. I went for the Kudu and it was DELICOUS! 

I have a ton of pictures from today but the internet is dying rather quickly on me so I can't upload anymore. I will make sure to upload them in their entirety once I get home.  

Fish, Fish...and rolled newspaper on my head?

1/13/2011

                Since we were given an allowance to find our own meals in Swakopmund; so Alyssa and I went for a walk early this morning to find a grocery store. After wandering for a bit the wrong way, we eventually got turned around in the right direction.  Swakopmund is very nice in the fact that we felt perfectly safe wandering around in just a group of two. It reminded me a lot of when Kaitlyn and I backpacked through NZ. 

                After breakfast we drove to Walvis Bay to visit the Export Processing Zone. There we were supposed to take a tour of some of the manufacturing plants, but unfortunately everyone is on holiday so we were only able to listen to a speaker.  He told us all about how critical Walvis Bay is to the Namibian economy. Afterward we were standing around the lobby and a bunch of us were looking at the Walvis bay crest which has a couple of Flamingos and, what is very clearly, a blue whale on it.  One of our professors (neither of which is actual teaching this class, merely chaperoning) turns to our speaker and asks if the whale is a dolphin, and then she tried to tell the other professor that  Pelicans and Flamingoes were the same bird.  I might have to go buy them a picture book of animals that live on a coast….

Our next stop was a fish processing plant. We suited up in coats, hairnets, and shoe covers and had a tour through the plant. Unfortunately the machinery was so loud it was very difficult to hear what our guide was saying. Thankfully the actual process was very simple to understand.

After lunch back at our home base we left to take a tour of Swakopmund. We were a little confused by this, since what we have seen of Swakopmund- there isn’t that much too it. It’s very touristy, and easy to get around. However, this tour took us to the non-touristy parts.  Our first stop was in the single courters- which looks a bit like the first Katatura. We walked to a little courtyard   where we met Vocal Galore- a Namibian acapella group.  They sang us four songs, three of which were African songs and the other was their own version of Hakuna Matata. They were very very good.  We then went to DRC- Democratic-something-community.  It was the government’s temporary housing…ten years ago. It’s since grown substantially, and there is no way to build permanent housing for all of the DRC residents.  It’s kind of sad; at one point street lights and street curbs were built in preparation for the 800 houses to be built. But now there is no way that these 800 houses could fit all of these people, and there must not be funding to start this huge project. Now hundreds of streetlights just sit deserted in the desert.

We went into a kindergarten in the DRC. Here 10% of the funds from our tour go to the kids to help them pay for kindergarten. They sang to us, and danced  a traditional Nama dance. It was adorable. Our final stop was the house of a herero(a Namibian tribe) women’s house. Our guide explained a bit of Herero history and culture before asking for three volunteers.  I decided, hey, why not… and quickly found myself dressed in the traditional Herero dress complete with head dress.

To the Desert We Go!

 Just FYI, there might be more errors in these posts. I am posting this in the dark, at a hotel that I'm using to steal internet. I'm posting without proofing this.  

1/12/2011 

After spending the night without power because apparently 20 college girls overwhelm the system far too easily, we woke up to one of the first glorious cool days in Windhoek…On the day that we leave for Swakopmund.  After loading everything and everyone into two vans we left for the coast. We think that the drive was only supposed to be about 3-4 hours, unfortunately it took us about five hours due to tire malfunctions in one of the vans.

The drive itself was gorgeous. We saw a lot of different types of scenery. From dry, craggily mountains around Windhoek, to medium leafy, wide trees, to grass lands full of cattle and boer goats, and finally to the windswept sands of the desert. We had to pause twice to let warthogs and then baboons cross the road. We saw desolate villages, goat herd boys and their herding dogs, bustling towns, and trains snaking their way across the sand.  Finally Africa looks like the Africa I imagined. As much as I enjoyed Windhoek, I will always be a country girl through and through. Take me out to see nature in all of its finery and I will be happy forever.

We got to Swakopmund only after having our passports checked twice by roadside police officers. I’m not sure what their intentions were, or what they were looking for.  I have heard rumors of drug smuggling and illegal immigrants, but I think these are just speculation. I’m going to have to find someone to ask.

We are staying in adorable little condo/houses. Each sleeps seven, but we only have four to a two bedroom w/ loft kitchen and living room. I’m staying with Alyssa (from my home stay) Kristi and Jennifer.  After a quick lunch we drove out to Dune 7. Dune 7 is the tallest dune in this chain of sand dunes.  Now, my only previous experience with sand dunes is from the Great Sand Dunes in the U.S., these dunes make The Great Sand Dunes look like babies….and we were going to climb to the top.  We all started with great intentions- going full tilt for about five steps up. But we quickly realized how physically challenging it is to climb a massive sand dune on steroids. We all slowed to a crawl, literally. On our hands and knees, or two steps at a time we slowly conquered that dune.  We were well rewarded at the top with a gorgeous view, lots of pictures, and a rush of adrenalin. Victory was ours!  Getting down turned out to be a lot easier- most of us simply barrel rolled all the way down the hill!

The first sprint up

Back in Swakopmund we all showered in a futile attempt to rid ourselves of the sand before hitting up the town in search for supper. It was recommended that we had to try a restaurant called The Jetty.  Way out on a Jetty in the ocean, with glass floors and large glass windows sat our restaurant. As we walked up to it we got to watch the sunset over the ocean. Mmm, simply gorgeous!  While the staff was a little overwhelmed having to serve 20 American college girls, they handled us graciously. I had extremely delicious sushi.

Church- the Katatura way

Alyssa and I woke up way to early. We thought it was around ten, but really it was before seven. Hazel had turned on what we imagined to be gospel music around 7:30, and there was no going back to sleep after that. We ate breakfast and assumed we were going to be bumming around the house all day again. Hazel and Alexander were both getting ready for church, but when we had asked Hazel the night before what Alyssa and I were doing she didn't say we were invited to church too. Well, as Hazel was heading out the door she looked at us and asked us if we were planning on going to church without shoes. Whoops! Guess we were supposed to go too!

We got to church just after the service had started. African Methodist Evangelical was quite a unique experience. There was a lot of singing. While they had given us one English hymn book , the songs were sung in Namas. I tried to sing along, but it was just too difficult to know what verse we were on. Plus listening to congregation sing with the clicks and clucks of their language was quite beautiful on its own.  At one point they wanted to acknowledge everyone who had had a birthday. Hazel stood up and loudly said that her daughter had turned 21 the day before. It took me a second to realize that she had meant me, but then I had to stand up and be congratulated by everyone. The rest of the service passed in a blur- it was in Nama so Alyssa and I were both completely lost. Every so often Hazel would translate for us, and during one part of the sermon they had a English translator, but she didn't translate for long. Mostly there was just a lot of singing and dancing. It was a very joyful service.

After lunch I found out that Hazel had made me a carrot cake for my birthday. It was very sweet and made for a lovely ending to my home stay.

Well that's one way to celebrate a birthday

1/7/2012
Hello 21st birthday! I never thought I would be spending in in Windhoek, Namibia, in the home of a strange family in Katatura. I'm going to say that this beats just going out for drinks!

Last night was our first night in Katatura, and the neighborhood is loud; dogs bark, babies cry, people shout all night long. The heat is oppressive, shade only offers minuscule protection, and any rain we get is just a brief reprieve.But the people are proud, joyful, and most are very welcoming.

After bumming around the house all morning (apparently Saturday is sleep-in/lazy day) with nothing to do, Hanne-Lee took Alyssa, me, Alexander, and her your cousins Tirsemia(Mia) and her brother who I didn't catch the name of.  Hanne-Lee wouldn't tell us where we were going, only that it was called "The Spur." When we got there Hanne-Lee turned to us and said we were here for my birthday. We ordered milkshakes all around and some sort of ice cream, chocolate, and liqueur thing for me and her. It was delicious, and great to enjoy a drink on my 21st- even if it was slightly against the rules. I thought we were done after that....but we weren't. After a bit I notice that some of staff was gathering a little ways off. "Uh oh" I thought...but it was oh-so-much-worse. They proceeded to put a plate with smiley face made out of chocolate and a red sauce, and a marshmallow/sparkler as a nose. I had time to think "Oh that's cute" before a waitress picked up the marshmallow and used it to draw all over my face....Wait, what just happen? They then lit the sparkler and sang to me. It was definitely a unique birthday surprise. In the end I got five balloons which Alexander and I both proceeded to accidentally pop.

21st birthday drink 

Any guess as to what this is? It's cream soda! 

My face painting in all of it's glory

After The Spur we walked to Zoo Park where Alexander and Mia played in the fountains and fish ponds. The park was over flowing with people and children. The children in various states of undress (depending on if they had gone swimming or not) were playing to their hearts content. However it seems to be the thing to do for adults just to laze under a shady tree all afternoon, whether or not they actually have children playing. Alyssa and I got a lot of not-quite-friendly stares. It definitely makes you feel even more like an outsider and very conscious of your very pale skin.

Mia playing in the fountains

Mia and me on the way back to the house

We went back home where Hazel was having a barbaque. She had invited a handful of friends over to eat with us. One guy, Ido, was particularly exuberant. He wanted his picture taken, and for me to tell everyone that we met the Great Ido. He told me Happy Birthday about 50 times before teaching us how to count in Afrikaans. He proposed to me at one point and said I was the love of his life... but sadly I had to tell him that the love of my life awaits me back home.

The great Ido! 

Alyssa and I spent a bit of time sitting out on the "porch" listening to Hazel and her friends talk. This part of Katatura is home to a lot of Nama people. The Nama's speak in clicks and clucks. They tried to teach us some of the numbers, but it's like multitasking for your tongue! While listening was fascinating, we eventually gave up since we couldn't understand anything, and they were not very good about including us in the conversation.

After everyone left, we ended the night talking to Hazel. We talked about how important community is. How most American homes do not have fences around them, yet we rarely know our neighbors. But Namibians always have a fence around their houses, and they an incredible sense of community here. Friends are known as uncles, brothers, sisters, grandmothers..as family, even though they are not biologically related. Every house has people coming in and out of it constantly as people just stop in to say hello and ask how you are. It's wonderfully refreshing compared to how cold-shouldered American neighborhoods can seem.

A Busy Busy Day

1/6/2012
We started the day by heading off to Katatura to listening to a speaker. This was my first endeavor into Katatura, and it was shocking. We only went to the first Katatura, so it would be considered middle-class. This probably makes it even more shocking to see some of the houses when compared to the America idea of middle class. While there are a wide variety to the houses, they generally are made of bricks or cement blocks. The better quality ones are painted and/or covered in stucco with clay shingles on the roofs. They might have their tiny front dirt square paved in cobblestones, stones, or cement with an area for a barbaque and maybe some plants. All of this surrounded by a thick brick(or similar)wall.  The really nice ones are gorgeous, even nicer than my house. However, I feel like I saw more of the lesser houses. These might be made out of tin, or unpainted bricks. Their roofs are tin, windows broken, or non- existent. Their dirt patches full of garbage, mangey dogs, and wide-eyed children. Their fences are made out of anything and everything.These houses have dirt floors, and only a couple rooms for large families. But, living in the first Katatura, means that they have the luxury of running water and  electricity- if they can afford it.

In Katatura

We stop at nice house...that had a couch on the roof? This turned out to be the home of our next speaker: Rosa Nimises. Nimises was very very active in the liberation movement, and is now part of a group called Women's Solidarity. And she is AMAZING. She started in SWAPO(South West African People's Organization) because she was working as a nurse at one of the public hospitals and the Matron wouldn't give the black nurses tea for their tea break. Nimises organized the rest of the nurses in a protest. However the Matron confronted the nurses individually, and they all left Nimise to take the blame. Wanting to know where she could go to get help to make a change lead her to SWAPO. SWAPO at that time organizing the liberation movement. During the time Nimises was with SWAPO she was arrested five times for various things connected to the organization. Since then she has served as a member of parliament, and is now works hard against gender-based violence, equality, and women's rights. She told us how women are at a huge disadvantage, and that the women's movement is actually not as strong as it used to be due to lack of unity. She told us that women in parliament has gone down from 30% to 25%. After telling us so many disheartening stories she ended in with "The most important thing Namibia has is Peace." It was a very powerful message. There are so many problems, and there are no important solutions; but there is peace; and therefore hope.

Our second speaker of the morning was Paul Helmuth. Paul was a leader during the liberation movement. Paul was difficult to understand, and while I was able to grasp that he played an very important role in the liberation. However, I couldn't tell you exactly what that role was.

Paul talked  little bit too long, so we were rushed into our next activity- the Katatura Quest. For the quest we split into groups of three and were assigned a local guide. Our guide was named Hilda, she is finishing high school and anxiously waiting to here whether or not she get a scholarship to study veterinary medicine in either Canada or South Africa. We caught a taxi(a rather shady business) to TaniDare Lutheran Church in Katatura. There my group, Brandie and Theresa, spoke to a elder about the church and the community. It is really strange to be in a place you normally only read about in the news. We aren't just reading about the unemployment, orphans, starving families, and HIV; we are here in the middle of it, discussing it with the people living through these things and trying to find solutions. Humbling only begins to describe my feelings. Lisa, the elder, told us about ALL of the different programs that the church puts on for the community. She told us about the youth center that they want need to build to keep the youth away from alcohol  and drugs and involved positively in the community. The center will cost 2 million Namibian dollars, and they aren't quite sure how long it will take for them to raise enough money for it, but they are sure it will happen one day.

Me, Theresa, Hilda, and Brandie

Me, Brandie, Theresa with Lisa

After the church we walked to the grocery store to find prices of certain food objects and grab lunch. We realized that we were running late, so we ate lunch hurriedly and grabbed another taxi back to CGE. Then each group took the prices that we had found in the grocery store and calculated the price in the U.S. dollars, how long it would take a Namibian to pay for that item at $6.25 an hour, and how much an American would earn at minimum wage($7.25) for the same amount of time. This exercise was shocking, horrifying, and humbling.  For example a 5k bag of flour costs $48 Namibian would cost $6.85 USD, take 7.68 work hours for a Namibian to earn enough money for to buy that bag of flour. In that time an American could earn $55.68.

Finally we met our home stay family. Alyssa and I are staying with Hazel, a principal of a school for deaf kids, and her 25 year old daughter, Hanne-Lee,  and 2 year old grandson, Alexander. Hazel lives in Katatura. As she was driving us down her street towards her house, I was a bit nervous; the houses were extremely run down, and I did not feel safe. However, Hazel's house is beautiful. I feel very safe, and welcomed by Hazel's family.

On the way to Hazel's house

Hazel's lovely house

Off to my homestay!

Just a quick update to let you know that I won't write a new post until at least Sunday as I will be at my home stay. But never fear! Today was an immensely powerful, humbling, and thought provoking. This time will be perfect to reflect on everything we have learned and experienced today to be able to write a better post. 

And So the Learning Starts!

I finally feel like I can write a proper blog post about the things we're actually supposed to be doing here-learning! My body decided to be less hateful today so I was able to actually participate in everything.

After falling asleep at 9:30, and waking up at 6 I feel like I'm slowly conquering my jet lag. We started the day with group reflection of yesterday's tour.While I was unable to contribute to the discussion, it was fascinating to hear how everyone felt about Windhoek culture. Apparently they went through Katakura, which is an area of Windhoek where people are living in poverty. Think tin shanty towns without running water and electricity. We spent much of the reflection discussing how Namibians from outer villages move to Windhoek to either find jobs or, more common, have access to schools for their children. Often these people give up having running water and electricity in their home villages just so that their children can go to school. We also talked about how happy people are even though they have so little. Nespect said that this is because they simply do not know of any other life. Many may have lived in the slums of Windhoek for years, but have never even traveled to the richer part of the city.

After our group discussion we had a guest speaker. Jennifer Gatsi who talked about Namibian women's Health Network . She told us about the stereotypes that HIV positive Namibians have to face, and how hard it can be to get the treatment they need- even when the government offers free treatment to everyone.



After a delicious lunch(made more delicious by the ability to keep down the food) we left for the National Museum of Namibia. The Museum is in the oldest building in Windhoek- a fort that Germany built in 1905 during the colonization. The tour was...sad, as much as I dislike saying that. The museum was mostly empty, and the things that were there were things like copies of old photographs, a copy of the Constitution, and flags. It left me feeling like there should be so much more. There was barely anything said about the concentration camps, or the horrors that Germany inflicted on native Namibians,or even more about the indigenous people.  The best section was the part of the fort that had large fake rocks with native drawings/carvings set into them.

Looking out onto Windhoek

Brandi and I checking out an old narrow rail train. 

A mix of the very old fort and the very new skyscrapers

After our tour we convinced Nespect to let us walk back through town/go shopping. It was so great to be out  exploring a new city.  We got a LOT of stares, I guess large groups of extremely pale white girls in colorful sundresses are not the norm here. However, people were quite nice- many stopped us just to say hi and ask where we were from. Eventually the heat got to us(it was supposed to get up to 97F today) so we walked back to CGE(Center for Global Education, our house for the next two weeks) to soak in the pool.

Africa Fights Dirty

Sadly, my run of avoiding jet lag has come to an end. Last night I feel alseep at about 9:30, and then woke up every two hours there after before finally calling it quits about 3:00 in the morning. Talking to some of the other girls it sounds like I was quite lucky in getting that much sleep. We left for the airport at six o’clock, got lost a few times trying to find our terminal, exchanged money, and finally board our plane. Sadly, by the time we boarded the plane my body had decided it hates me again. Maybe it’s something to do with the constant airplane meals, the jet lag, the heat(Windhoek is supposed to get up to 100F today), or a combination of those but my body is the opposite of happy,  

Flying into Windhoek was a little confusing. After the captain annouced that we were beginning our desent we all plastered our faces to catch the first glance of Namibia’s capital…. Only to stare out into a world of dried up rivers and brush- hardly a building in sight, and certainly not a bustling metropolis we were expecting. After landing(still in the middle of nowhere) we walked out onto the blazing hot tarmac at the WindHoek International Airport-Did I mention it was summer here? After clearing costums(a breeze compared to NZ!) we met our guide, Nespect, who will be with us for the next two weeks.  We find out that this is not Windhoek exactly, and that we must drive a bit to get to the city. Windhoek is quite small- only 200,000 people, but what I saw of it it was quite pretty.

Windhoek? Are you out there?

Looking out over the Tarmac at Windhoek International Airport

On the drive to Windhoek

We settled into our rooms, made it through ice breakers, an introduction to winhoek, and were just about to leave to go tour the city when my body violently protested. No tour for Anna. Thankfully the ladies at Ausburg Global Center for Learning are taking amazing care of me. 

Final score as of Wednesday, January 4th: Africa 2 Anna 0 

The Ups and Downs of plane flights

Uffda, what a long two days this has been! Not even  flying to New Zealand can compare to the length of the plane trip to Johannesburg. Monday started out with good omens- another girl and myself got to by pass the body scanners at MSP security!The flights from MSP to Chicago, and then to Washington DC were all successful and pleasant.The only excitement in those two trips was when we were flying in to Chicago a St. Thomas student loudly asked her seatmate if the body of water we were flying over(Lake Michigan) was the ocean. Sometimes I can’t help agree with the stereotype that Americans are stupid.

 After we got to DC we were allowed a brief rest –what we thought was going to be at least a half hour, turned into a 15 minute break. After frantically boarding, getting all settled into our seats…. Our plane was delayed over an hour because of some technical problems. After we finally take off everything goes fairly smoothly. After dozing on and off throughout the night I wake up to an incredibly unhappy body.  It looks like something from supper the night before had given me food poisoning. Note, the LAST thing you want on a 16+ hour flight is food poisoning!  Soon after I woke up we had to stop in Senegal to refuel and change flight attendents. They also spray the cabin with something that kills mosquitoes(and yellow fever)-  not the most pleasant thing to wake up too. The man next to me woke gagging, thinking he was soffocating.  

After another 8 hours in the air we land in Johannesburg. We left costums behind to greet the warm South African sunset- and by warm, I mean warm! It’s gloriously summer here, the grass is green, the flowers are blooming. It is the opposite of poor cold Minnesota. On the bus ride over to where we will stay the night we all threw open the windows to catch every last bit fresh air we could. Breathing in the summery smells of bbqs, wet soil, the tang of motor oil, and for some odd reason, bread dough? Well, whatever the scent, it was a huge relief to breathe in non-airplane air. We are spending the night in Mazenod Retreat Center, a Christian retreat center. We each have our own rooms that over look a pretty little courtyard. Tomorrow we leave at 6 to catch another plane to Windhoek. 

Why Hello Again!

Here we are again; a new year, a new continent, new countries, and a new blog.

As much as I wish I could be going back to my beloved New Zealand, it's not an option at this time. Instead I will be heading out to Namibia and South Africa for three weeks. I am taking this trip as my Global Search for Justice (GSJ) class. GSJ is a class that every graduating St. Kate's student has to take. There are different subtopics for GSJ classes- Environmental justice, Women's Health, and many others. Most people take GSJ on campus, however there are always a couple different study abroad options. My class is titled Dismantling Racism. It will focus on just that- strategies to combat inequalities due to racism.  While in Namibia and South Africa, we will have many different speakers, presentations and experiences about how to effectively dismantle racism. I also hope we have a little bit of fun, and experience some of the vibrant culture in these two countries.

While I will try to keep this blog updated, we have been warned that our internet connection might not be the best.