My first thought was, Wow!  Namibia is beautiful!  It’s dry here, and was technically still winter when we first arrived, but the shades of grey and brown were surprisingly very pretty. On the drive to Windhoek, there were mountains in the distance, different types of trees everywhere, and we were out in the country so the sky was open and a gorgeous blue. The windy roads reminded me of home and it felt so nice to relax and stare out the window.

When we got to the house, things got even better. The house is really big for our small group of eight, but having the space is nice. There’s a pool, barbecue, and balcony outside.  The neighborhood is nice and view is decent.  There’s a lot of bushes and trees that have been blooming as we transition into summer and you can see the mountains far behind the houses.  It’s within walking distance of downtown and we have already done some exploring. There are a lot of great cafes, restaurants, and craft markets. I ate at a German cultural center and it was delicious, then, met up with some other group members who were having Nutella crepes! We checked out some art studios, theaters  parks and local malls too. There’s a backpackers hostile right across the street with a bar, pool, and fast internet (its best selling point). We met some fun locals there and I think it’s going to be a regular hang out of ours.

One of our professors, Linda Raven, gave us an broad tour of Windhoek and described its subdivisions to us.  It’s directly comparable to Johannesburg and Soweto—there are clearly areas that are mostly wealthy whites and poor areas that are entirely black, specifically a township called Katutura.

We were shown around this by a group of students our age (The Young Achievers) that run a program called the Kasie Tours. The group is awesome. It is solely student run and they aim to empower youth through setting educational and professional goals. They have several branches around Namibia, set up conferences, have done international visits, and even show around U.S. senators and ambassadors. All of this is organized, funded, and implemented by student volunteers—it’s amazing!  They took different students to an art studio, a local church, and a radio station.  We also hit up the local market for some kapana, meat that’s butchered and grilled as you order it.

There is still so much to see but I think it is going to be quite easy to call this place home for the next couple months.