Swakopmund

Today we returned from a 4-day trip to the coastal town of Swakopmund. It is a German colonial-style town, and also a big tourist destination (also were Angelina Jolie had one of her children, apparently). Our trip was a combination of lectures and seminars with vacation-y free time and some minor tourist stuff. We got a glimpse into the local economy of Arandis, a small mining town adjacent to the 3rd largest uranium mine in the world. We saw how the mine provides vital employment, but also saw how people are worried about the environmental and economic sustainability of the mine in the long run. We were also able to visit a local elementary school there, which happens to be named after one of our professors, Urbanus Dax. He was the principal there for many years, so it was fun to see his school and hear his opinions on the education system there.

    Outside of the more academic stuff, we spent an afternoon climbing Dune 7, a big old dune formation just a few kilometers from the Atlantic ocean. For those Coloradans out there, it was comparable to the Sand Dunes of the Sangre de Christos, if not just a little smaller. We all had a lot of fun, and I'm still picking sand out of my ears and eyes as a result! 

    Saturday was a free day, and my friend Cameron and I decided to take it easy. We walked around the town of Swakopmund and did a little shopping, but mostly just took in the town and walked along the beach. Swakopmund was a nice break from the heat of Windhoek, and the sea breezes were wonderful, though the water was pretty chilly. I did manage to find a yarn shop in town, aptly named "Heidi's Craft Shop" but I must say the selection wasn't the best. Still, I was amazed to find a yarn shop at all, so I still count it as a success! 

    Well, now we have just one week here in Windhoek until we head off for 3 weeks of travel to the Northern region for our rural home stays,  visit to Etosha National Park and our Fall break. Until then, I hope all is well. Drop me an email or letter and let me know what you're up to!

On the Farm (again)

As I mentioned a few posts back, I decided to stay an extra week with my host family, the Geisebs. I was really enjoying all the kids in the family and interacting with all the relatives that would come over multiple times day. In Katatura, everyone lives in such close community with one another, and family is no exception. The Geiseb's entire immediate family and much of their extended family all lived within just a few blocks from them, and they all depended on one another on a daily basis to watch the kids, cook meals, pick up groceries and any number of other things. We're learning about the philosophy and practice of Ubuntu in our classes here, and I really got a sense of it in action during my home stay. Ubuntu is the idea that "I am because you are", or that an individual requires interaction and mutual dependence on those around him/her in order to exist and flourish. It's a really prominent philosophy here and is very apparent in those that I've met. 

   Anyway, during my last weekend with the Geiseb's, we went to their farm again, but this time we spent the night there. We left Saturday afternoon and took two carloads of people (mostly children), 3 Americans (I got to bring two friends along), food, blankets, supplies and 4 piglets. The Geiseb's were adding the piglets to their livestock on their farm, so it was both an exciting and pungent endeavor! While on the farm, we cleaned and cooked and hiked around with the kids and got very familiar with mother nature (no plumbing on this farm)! We had a barbecue (called a braai here) and made s'mores and watched the stars come out. It was a tremendous night, and I felt so lucky to have been paired with such a nice host family. 

    My home stay is over now, but I already have plans with the Geiseb's for dinner so I'll be sure to see them again during the remainder of the semester! 

A little catch-up

Hello, sorry I've neglected to update this blog in so long! Between homework, my internship, and my home stay family, I've had very little time to devote to my new hobby of blogging. Anyway, I'll do my best to cover the highlights of the past 3 weeks. right. now. 

     On September 14th, so exactly 3 weeks ago, I got to go to a wildlife conservation reserve with my host mom and 6 Finnish librarians. That's right. Wildlife reserve. 6 Finnish librarians. My host mom works for the city of Windhoek, and she was in charge of taking care of this delegation of Finnish folks who were here setting up a library in a poverty-stricken informal settlement near Windhoek. So, on the 14th she took them (and me) to this conservation place to do a "game drive" which entailed riding around in a big vehicle to various fenced-off sites, where our guide would call the animals and feed them over the fence. All of the animals had been at the reserve for most of their lives, so they were essentially raised in captivity. We got to see young baboons, cheetahs, leopards, wild dogs and lions. The lions were absolutely terrifying because they growled and charged at the fence for about 5 minutes until our guide fed them lunch. It was a tremendous experience to be so close to these amazing animals! It was also great to spend time with all the Finnish librarians, who were an excited and friendly bunch. One of them gave me a keychain and another gave me her contact information in case I ever made it to Finland again and needed a place to stay! 

Katatura Homestay

For the past week, we've been staying with host families in the Katatura area of Windhoek. I have a wonderful family, the Geiseb's, who have a 10-year-old son, Ndeapo, and a whole slew of nieces, nephews and cousins that come to visit at their house frequently. This past weekend, they took me to their farm which is about an hour from Windhoek. They built the farm themselves, and it consists of a little house/cabin, a chicken coop, goat pen, pig pen and water tower. Ndeapo, some of his cousins and I spent the afternoon chasing around baby goats and running after chickens and singing songs and so forth. It was a blast. My study abroad program has given us the option of staying longer with our host families beyond the original 10 days, so I've decided to stay a week longer in order to spend more time with the family (outside of the fairly crowded CGE house where we normally live) and visit the farm again. They're planning on spending the night there next weekend, so I'm hoping to go with them! 

!Gai tse

!Gai tse, everyone. 

   For those of you who don't speak Damara, that means "good day," and the exclamation point means that you have to click your tongue a certain way. Damara is the clicking language, and we started weekly language classes this week to prepare for our rural homestay which will happen in October. Damara has no fewer than 4 kinds of clicks, including one called the "devil click" and is absolutely impossible for a foreigner to perform without inducing gales of laughter from any Damara speaker in the vicinity. 

   Aside from practicing my clicks, I also started working at my Internship this week. I'm working with an organization called The Big Issue, which is a street newspaper organization that employs homeless and impoverished people, or "vendors" as they're called, to sell The Big Issue Magazine for profit. They also have activities and events for vendors to keep them off the streets when they're not selling papers. I found out that my job this semester as the intern is to set up a Women's Craft Program for women vendors. As of now there are no events or activities specifically for the women vendors, so they wind up back on the streets. I have been drafting a proposal and putting together funding ideas that I will apparently have to present to some higher ups in the community later on. I'm really excited, and hopefully I can make it happen! 

       Well, I've got some homework to do-- we started our real classes today, and we've got loads of readings. I'd love to hear what any and all of you lovely people back home are up to-- feel free to email me at jamesh@stolaf.edu if you get the urge!