One of the many things that I have learned while being here in Namibia is realizing how skewed my perceptions of Africa were and how people at home still have a skewed view. Growing up my two ideas of Africa came from The Lion King and those infomercials with starving African babies. However, that is not the case at all. While there are children who are hungry here, there also children that go hungry in the United States. There are lions here, but they don’t roam the continent as I once assumed they did. I can’t even begin to count the times that friends and family back home have asked me if I’ve seen a lion yet. I am staying in the capital city, Windhoek, so the only way that I can see a lion is if I go to the zoo just like at home.

However all of that aside I finally got a chance to see the side of Africa that so many think of. I went and camped out at Etosha a Namibian National Game park. It was one of the most surreal experiences I have ever had. As a kid, I used to love to go to the zoo, yet it always made me a little sad to see all of the animals in cages, when I felt that they should be able to roam free. Well in Etosha, the animals get to.

The moment we drove into the park, we saw a herd of wildebeests (that’s the animal that killed Mufasa for any of you Lion Kind gurus). That day I got to see Lions, Elephants, Zebra, Giraffes, Cheetah, and some rhinos. We camped on the grounds of the park and as I drifted off to sleep at night I could hear the elephants blowing their trunks in the distance. The next morning we went on an early game drive and got see a group of lions feeding on the remains of an elephant. While the whole dead elephant thing was a little gross, it was still so cool to see the lions. There is so much more to Africa than lions and the like, but I think is something that everyone should be able to see in their lifetime.

These past two weeks have been such a blur for me, I have done so much and seen so much that I feel like I can’t get my mind to sit still for a minute! But I can’t wait because tomorrow I am heading to raft down the Orange River and I know it will be so relaxing and just the break that I need. Until next time!!

One of the things that drew me to this program was the homestay aspect. I have already told you that I have stayed with two families, one in Johannesburg, South Africa and another in Windhoek. While I was excited for both of those experiences I was most excited for my homestay with a family in Northern Namibia in a rural setting. For a week we stayed with families in the town of Outapi, which is close to the Angolan border. I was a little nervous and didn’t really know what to expect because I knew that it would be such a different experience for me. And now looking back, it has been one of the greatest experiences in my life. My host family consisted of my Meme (mom), my sister, Secilia, and my four brothers, Ignatius, Titus, Lucas, and John. The moment that I meant my Meme she ran over to me and hugged me and picked me up… mind you this is a woman in her mid sixties!

The moment I got to their home I was made to feel like one of the family. Our house was very far in the brush and it took about 40 minutes to walk to the nearest road every morning. My family has a large herd of goats, numerous chickens, a pig and four dogs. We don’t have electricity so once the sun goes down; you have to rely on the stars and the moon for light. The bathroom consisted of the good ole outdoors, because there was no plumbing. And bathing was done with a bucket of water. Now you might be saying all of those things do not sound to fun… but I actually loved it. You never realize how much water you waste with the flush of a toilet or a ten minute shower.

A normal day with my family consists of getting up at dawn and starting chores, such as letting the goats out to pasture, feeding the chickens, waking up the small children, starting a fire for breakfast, along with many other things. At 7:00 I would then walk about 40 minutes with my brothers and they would go to school and I would meet up with the other students and we would go to our scheduled activities for the day. I would then head back to be with my family around four each day. Every night I would help start the fire and then my sister and I would cook dinner… the most memorable dinner was when I killed a chicken, plucked its feathers, cooked it and then ate it. It was one of the craziest things I have ever done. But I figured it would pretty hypocritical of me to eat meat that other people have killed but be willing to kill it myself. So the choices were kill and eat a chicken or become a vegetarian… I chose meat 🙂

Over the weekend, my family and I just hung out at home. My meme and I wove a basket, I played soccer with my brothers, and made jewelry with neighbors. It was such an amazing time! On Sunday morning I went to church with my sister. It was very interesting, but very long… it lasted for 4 hours. Then that afternoon all the host families and students came together for a party. My meme dressed me in traditional Oshiwambo dress and made sure I looked just right before we left.

As the weekend came to a close I couldn’t help but think that this family had really claimed me as one of their own. Meme called me daughter, Secilia and my brothers all called me sister. I was living with a family that hardly spoke English yet I felt so loved and so welcome. On my last night we all layed out under the stars holding hands, singing, and even were crying because our family had to part. I will forever remember my Oshiwambo family because they have a piece of my heart.