No, you didn't read the title incorrectly. And, to make things more interesting, those are two things that I ate yesterday. We went to an open marketplace in Katatoura, a poverty-stricken black settlement area in Windhoek. Katatoura literally means "the place we don't want to live", as it was the area that the whites forced the blacks to move to.
At the open market, we saw how Namibians sell and consume basic staples of traditional food and goods. Because of gas prices and general economic woes, prices of food in Namibia are sky high. At these open market, the cheapest prices are to be found, as are the most filling and basic food staples. These food staples included fried tree worms, which have a lot of protein in them. They tatsted a lot like eating tree bark, and weren't bad except for the aftertaste. Fat Cakes were actually quite delicious, as they're basically a giant donut of thick, greasy friend dough. I only ate half of one, but was full for hours.
Anyway, that's about it for now. I'll have more updates after my internship begins on Monday!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Our Week in South Africa
Hello! I apologize that it has taken me so long to update this blog with a first real post. For our first week in South Africa, we only had brief moments of paid internet access at local malls-- just long enough inform family that I was still alive.
We just arrived and settled into our house in Windhoek (pronounced Win-took), Namibia yesterday, so I should have more reliable and frequent internet access now. But not much has happened in Namibia yet, so instead I'll backtrack to highlight from our whirldwind 10 days in Johannesburg.
- A walk through Kliptown, an informal black settlement just outside of Johannesburg. There is an 80% unemployment rate among Kliptown residents, their houses are two-room shacks made from tin siding and spare metal, and raw sewage runs through the streets. As we entered the settlement, children came running from every direction and grabbed onto our hands. They held our hands for the entire 15 minute walk, and rubbed our palms and knuckles to feel how our skin felt.
- The Aparthide Museum: an incredible look at of the fledgling history of freedom that South Africa is experiencing as a nation, and a solemn reminder of the sheer brutality that humans are capable of inflicting on one another.
- Our 3-day homestay: We stayed with families in Soweto, the largest black township in South Africa and a place where whites are rarely seen. We stayed with a kind windowed woman and her four nearly-grown children. The two youngest were 19 and 21, and took it upon themselves to teach us as much of the Zulu language as possible. I can now speak some basic Zulu phrases, and was even given a Zulu name by my host sister: Togo-zili, which means "Happiness".
We did and and saw and learned and experienced so many things this past week, it's a lot to process and remember all at once, so I'll leave it at that for the time being. I miss you all, and hope you're doing well! Much love, Togo-zili
We just arrived and settled into our house in Windhoek (pronounced Win-took), Namibia yesterday, so I should have more reliable and frequent internet access now. But not much has happened in Namibia yet, so instead I'll backtrack to highlight from our whirldwind 10 days in Johannesburg.
- A walk through Kliptown, an informal black settlement just outside of Johannesburg. There is an 80% unemployment rate among Kliptown residents, their houses are two-room shacks made from tin siding and spare metal, and raw sewage runs through the streets. As we entered the settlement, children came running from every direction and grabbed onto our hands. They held our hands for the entire 15 minute walk, and rubbed our palms and knuckles to feel how our skin felt.
- The Aparthide Museum: an incredible look at of the fledgling history of freedom that South Africa is experiencing as a nation, and a solemn reminder of the sheer brutality that humans are capable of inflicting on one another.
- Our 3-day homestay: We stayed with families in Soweto, the largest black township in South Africa and a place where whites are rarely seen. We stayed with a kind windowed woman and her four nearly-grown children. The two youngest were 19 and 21, and took it upon themselves to teach us as much of the Zulu language as possible. I can now speak some basic Zulu phrases, and was even given a Zulu name by my host sister: Togo-zili, which means "Happiness".
We did and and saw and learned and experienced so many things this past week, it's a lot to process and remember all at once, so I'll leave it at that for the time being. I miss you all, and hope you're doing well! Much love, Togo-zili
Monday, August 4, 2008
Greetings from a Fledgling Blogger
Hello! Welcome to this blog-- a decidedly clumsy attempt on my behalf to utilize some available cyberspace in order to keep anyone interested updated about my experiences. After some entirely nonessential internal debate over the pros and cons of mass-emailing versus a blog site, I decided on the blog. Why? Because blogs don't usually get lost in email inboxes, and most importantly, they're prettier.
Anyway.
I will be departing for South Africa in roughly 11 days. I have yet to find a good sunscreen or pick up my anti-malarial meds or find that one pair of pants. But you are inevitably busy wrestling with similar issues that tend to plague the human existence.
So I wish you good luck with whatever is pressing you, and I wish you happy reading of this blog, whenever you happen to pause and take a look at it. I don't really have any idea of what my free time will be while in Africa, but I will do my best to update this as often and as engagingly as possible.
- Heidi
Anyway.
I will be departing for South Africa in roughly 11 days. I have yet to find a good sunscreen or pick up my anti-malarial meds or find that one pair of pants. But you are inevitably busy wrestling with similar issues that tend to plague the human existence.
So I wish you good luck with whatever is pressing you, and I wish you happy reading of this blog, whenever you happen to pause and take a look at it. I don't really have any idea of what my free time will be while in Africa, but I will do my best to update this as often and as engagingly as possible.
- Heidi
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