Though I have truly loved all of my experiences here so far, I think I finally have an answer to the “favorite part” question… Spring Break! Our Spring Break trip to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe was one of the most amazingly fun experiences I have had in my life.  Seeing God’s creation in such a magnificent form, meeting so many interesting people, and getting the chance to encounter another part of the world made the trip so great and I wish I had time to go back before I left Africa.

When I got back from my rural homestay, we had the next ten days for spring break.  Ironically everyone in the program decided to spring break at Victoria Falls, but some stayed in Livingstone on the Zambia side, while four others and I stayed on the Zimbabwe side.  We endured a twenty hour bus ride from Windhoek, a ridiculously unorganized border post in Zambia, and our friend being attacked by a baboon before we finally made it to Shoestrings backpackers lodge in Vic Falls, Zimbabwe.  The lodge was great; it had a pool, a little outdoor restaurant called the Garden of Eat’n, a huge bar, lots of space to relax outside, and so many awesome people to talk to.

Shoestrings!

During the days we tried to fill our time up with your typical fun tourist activities.  The first day we woke up early to go elephant riding which was amazing!  The elephants were huge, way larger than I had anticipated in my head.  The trail was about an hour long and it was so cool to be riding though nature on an elephant.  We then spent the afternoon at the falls.  Remembering a family vacation to Niagara Falls several years ago, this did not even compare.  It was the most vast display of natural beauty I had ever seen in my life.  Neither words nor pictures, can adequately describe it. The clouds, the blue sky, the trees, the wildlife, the rainbows, and the mist – everything just pointed to God’s incredible power and magnificence.  Seeing the falls also made me realize how truly small I am in this universe, but that God still cared enough about me to send Christ to die and save me from my sins.  I’m not small; I’m not unimportant to him.

Victoria Falls!

The next day we went white water rafting on the Zambezi River.  The rapids were so crazy and for only having 6 of us in the raft (including the guide). I was surprised we never flipped, although we came close multiple times!  Besides having to climb all the way down and all the way up the gorge, the trip was really fun and well worth the asthma attack.  Later in the week we also went fox flying, which is basically like zip-lining except on your stomach.  While it was a little nerve wracking, it really did feel like you were flying over the gorge, and the adrenaline rush was awesome!  After that, we took a sunset cruise down the river and the colors were stunning!  The sky is so clear and unpolluted that the sunset was more breathtaking than any sunset in the United States.  Little did we know that this was a fan favorite among the senior citizens.

About to jump across the gorge!

Thursday, we took a day trip to Botswana to visit Chobe National Park.  In the morning we went on a river tour down the Chobe River and saw so many cool animals.  We saw lots of hippos in the water, a crocodile, so many beautiful birds, some springbok, and impala. Then, in the afternoon we went on a game drive through the park and I saw more elephants than I have ever seen in my life! There were at least 50 in the river. They were playing, bathing, eating and doing whatever else elephants do.   One came right up to our truck and almost sprayed us with mud.  It was so neat to just sit and watch them live their lives, how they interact with each other, how they clean themselves, how they take care of their babies.  And again, the scenery was beautiful – the sky especially.  It went on for miles and miles.  I could have sat and stared for hours.

Elephants on the Chobe River

While all those events were the main things that took place over spring break, our other days were spend relaxing by the pool, walking around town, and meeting so many cool people.  Every night at Shoestrings new people would come in and it was so great to talk to them and hear their stories.  We met people from Norway, India, Germany, Canada, Tanzania, South Africa, Finland, the US, and lots of locals from Zimbabwe.  Hearing new thoughts and perspectives about life and travel was so interesting and definitely one of my highlights from the trip.  Its one thing to go somewhere and see new things, but getting a chance to talk to the people is when I really was able to learn and grow and better understand myself as well as people different than me.

All in all, my spring break was amazing.  I wish it were longer. I wish I had more opportunities to meet new people and go more places. But I’m really thankful for the experiences I did have and the people I did meet.  Seeing God in such amazing ways was also really refreshing for me and just proved even more how incredibly powerful and loving he is.  Hopefully, I will have the chance to make it back one day, but until then, I have great memories to last me a lifetime.

After a little over three weeks of traveling to various parts of Southern Africa, learning and seeing and experiencing many things, I am finally back to Windhoek about to start my last month in Africa.  While time has gone by so fast and I don’t doubt that April will bring many great things as well, the past three weeks have definitely been my favorite part of my experience here.  From the rural homestay in northern Namibia, to game drives in Etosha National Park, to Spring Break in Victoria Falls, It has all been a wonderfully enlightening few weeks and I’m blessed to be able to have had opportunities so great.

Because I’ve been so busy the past month, I’ll split up some of my experiences into different posts, but I’ll start with our rural homestay and trip to the North.

Tuesday, March 6 we left for Outapi, which is a town in the very northern part of Namibia, almost to the Angolan border.  When we arrived that evening we met our host families right away.  My host mother’s name was Albertina and she was basically the mother of the community.  I called her Meme (mother). She was 76 years old, had about 10 teeth and was one of the most joyful, loving people I have ever met. She spoke no English, only Oshiwambo, which made communicating quite difficult, but luckily some of her grandkids spoke some broken English which really helped a lot.

When we got back to the house, I met everyone I would be living with during the week.  Somehow they were all related, but I could never keep track of who actually lived at the house and who was in Albertina’s immediate family.  Everyone was wonderful though.  I lived with Sacky, who was about 30, Ndategako and Paulus who were both in high school, Albertina and Johnny who were both in primary school and two little ones, Saara and Ephraim.  They gave me Sacky’s room to sleep in which was really the only room with four walls; everyone else slept in huts, which were beautifully crafted of sticks and straw. At first I thought my room was lovely, until I woke up to a snake crawling on my pillow and I then wished I was sharing a hut with someone.

The kiddies and I!

Despite the snake incident, I loved spending time with my family.  While during the day I traveled around with the program, I would arrive back with my family around 3 every day.  When I got home, I would either work in the fields with the kids, (They were impressed with my skills, said my mother had good hands and raised me right. Props ma!) or we would play soccer.  I brought them a soccer ball and they absolutely loved it.  They could play for hours and it was so neat to see them get so excited over one thing.  I let Ndategako braid my whole head one day.  It looked….nice.  I also taught the kids how to play the card game UNO.  They loved it and we would play for hours until the point that our candle burned down to about an inch. They never let me help cook dinner or anything because I was their guest, but I wished they would have because I wanted to act as part of the family.

Johnny playing soccer!

One of the last days we had a cookout with all of the other students and families.  It was so fun to get together and see everyone and eat lot of delicious food.  Each family gave us a traditional Oshiwambo skirt or dress to wear and we all looked so great.  During the party there was dancing and singing and it was such a nice time.  Our host families wanted us all to sing a song, so naturally we chose the National Anthem.  Not the best idea on our part, but nevertheless they loved our discordant voices.

The group!

Staying with my host family really made me think about a lot of things.  It made me think about the idea of poverty, and that although they had no electricity or running water they were perfectly content with their lives and didn’t really see the need for those things.  So in my American mind, I considered them to be living in poverty, but in their community, they were perfectly blessed and happy with their life.  Its really all a matter of perspective and I learned it is so important to keep an open mind when going into situations like this.

It also made me really think about the importance of non-verbal communication and how impactful it can be. Because my Meme didn’t know any English and the kids only knew a little, at first it was difficult to communicate, but by the end of the week I had learned some of their language and we had found a way to communicate. Also, even though I could never really understand my Meme’s words, I could always understand her actions.  She was always so kind and generous, loving and joyful to me that I was so grateful to be living with her.  She would always give me the biggest smiles and hugs and I could tell she loved that I was there and that I was trying my best to engage with her and her family.  She really touched my heart when she gave me a special necklace at the end of the week and really showed me the meaning of the phrase, “Actions speak louder than words,” through her enthusiastic love.  I will never forget my Meme and this experience with my host family.

MEME!

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The past ten days have been filled with many adventures for me that it is crazy to think that February is almost over!  Though I’ve been enjoying (mostly) all of my experiences here, it is hard to believe that Spring Break is just around the corner.  Hopefully I will get the opportunity for many more exciting trips during my ten days off, but until then, I’m still reminiscing on my adventures of late.

Two weekends ago some of my friends and I took a little camping excursion to a campsite about an hour outside of Windhoek.  We were so excited to get out of the house for a bit.  After loading up on lots of food and water and grabbing our trusty, rusty tent, we were ready to go.  When we got there, we set up our tent and got everything situated.  The campsite was beautiful and sat right in the valley of some small mountains.  The weather was perfect and so we decided to take the hiking trail up the mountain.

I hadn’t been feeling too well in the morning, but I figured it would pass with time and water.  Well, as we started climbing up the mountain, I started to feel sicker with each step.  At about the half-way point I could hardly take 10 steps without having to stop.  It was awful.  My poor friend Helena waited and walked with me the whole way.  This supposed thirty-minute hike to the top ended up taking two hours.  When I finally got to the top, well, I actually did get sick, but after I let it all out, my stomach felt a whole lot better.  The view was beautiful and I was happy to be at the top.  When we finally made it down, everyone else was waiting for us and we were able to enjoy the res of our weekend cooking out and sleeping under the stars.

View from the top!

The following week we only had three days of classes because Thursday morning we left for the coast! Shortened weeks are always wonderful and when you top if off with a trip to Swakopmund, you can’t get much better than that!  We arrived in Swakop Thursday afternoon and spend the day touring the cities and the surrounding townships.  Friday we did the same in Walvis Bay all while soaking up the beautiful African sun.  During those two days we visited a Kindergarten, an informal settlement, met with a small business owner, watched a male singing group perform, ate dinner on a pier, toured NAMPORT, went to a halfway house for orphans and vulnerable children, saw pelicans in a lagoon, climbed Dune 7 (the third largest dune in the world!) picnicked on the beach, and swam in the ocean!!  It was one of the most fun “learning experiences” I’d ever had.

Climbing Dune 7!

Saturday was a free day and we were able to do whatever we wanted to during the day.  While skydiving was my first choice, I was quickly outvoted and had no one to go with.  So, I decided to go dune quading in the Namib Desert with everyone else.  I was not disappointed for long; IT WAS INCREDIBLE! We were out on the dunes for about 3 hours – half was spent 4-wheeling at up to 60 mph and the other half was spent sand boarding, basically sledding down the dunes.   Though it was not fun climbing up all the time, the view and the experience was so worth it.

Even though my past few weekends have been full of adventures, I am still so looking forward to the rural homestay in the north next week, our time in Etosha State Park, and spring break!  Then I only have one more month in this beautiful continent!  Time sure flies when you’re having fun!

X-TREME SPORTS! right before 4-wheeling on the dunes!

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Throughout this study program in South Africa and Namibia, I get to experience three homestays.  My first one was in Soweto, outside of Johannesburg, South Africa.  It was only for a weekend and my family was really boring, so was not that interesting of an experience.  My second homestay, however, was last week and it was one of the best weeks I have had since I have been in Namibia!

During this homestay, I lived with the Kadinda family in Katutura, a black township outside of Windhoek.  Though the parents had eight children and many grandchildren, I only lived in the house with the parents and their 16 and 18 year old daughters.  When I pulled up to the house, I was greeted with so many excited and smiling faces. Even though the house was small, the bathroom was outside, and the family didn’t have much, I really didn’t care.  Their joy for my arrival let me know that it was going to be a great week.

My House!

Our days were still spent at the house where we normally live because our classes are there as well. So, we would get dropped off in the morning and then picked up by our families after classes.  In my case, however, no one from my family could ever pick me up so I got very familiar with the taxi system.  I’ve become quite the pro – ready to take on NYC.  Anyway, every night when I came home my family would always cook a DELICIOUS meal for me.   Chicken, beef, noodles, rice, vegetables,  “pop,” everything! I was always served way before everyone else and so I never knew if I should start eating, but eventually I learned that they were always waiting for me to start eating before they got their food!

In the evenings, I would spend time talking to the family about their life, what they enjoy doing, how they like living in Namibia, their and it was really neat to get a broader picture then just what I would be experiencing in my week long stay there.  They were so open with me and loved talking to me about America as well.  However, also at night the daughters and I would have some dance sessions – probably my favorite part of the week. They were under the impression that white people can’t dance (don’t know where that comes from….).  But when we started dancing, they were quite impressed with my repertoire of moves and were awed that I actually could “shake it.”  I felt proud to represent my light skinned people.  Nonetheless, they laughed at me a lot attempting some of their crazy moves, but loved that I was trying.  It was so much fun and miss dancing with them!

My beautiful family!

My family was really religious and so the majority of our weekend was spent going to some type of church related function.  Friday night, I went with my two host sisters to their youth service.   It was at GTM (Gospel Tent Ministries) and it was basically a big party under a tent.  There was singing, dancing, rapping, clapping, and it was crazy! I was the only white person there so naturally I was called up to the front, had to introduce myself, and give a HALLELUJAH TO JESUS! Everyone cheered. It was one of most awkwardly wonderful things I’d ever felt in my life.

Then Sunday, my last day with the family, was basically spent entirely at church.  When they asked me if I wanted to go to church with them, I responded with an eager “yes!” However, I was assuming that church would be an hour, maybe two if I’m lucky.  Nope.  I got me four hours of Jesus.  It was, again, another big party, but it was so great to see how church was enjoyable to these people.  They love going because they get to sing and dance and rejoice.  The best part about going to church, however, was the fact that I got to wear a traditional Nama dress that my host mother made me.  All the ladies from her tribe wear them and I felt so special being apart of that group!

My host mom and I before church!

After living with my family for a week, I learned so much from them and was so thankful that they welcomed me as joyfully as they did.  It was such an enjoyable week for me and I will definitely never forget this experience. I cannot wait to stay with my next family when we travel to the North!

Last Wednesday evening I had the opportunity to go to a poetry reading at the Playhouse Theater in downtown Windhoek.  The theme for the night was “In the Beginning there was the Word, ” and it was such a neat experience.  I, being the emotional, expressive, free-spirited, dramatic person that I am, naturally enjoy doing things like that on a daily basis and knew that I could not miss this opportunity…NOT.  But I figured that hey, I’m in Africa; why not expand my cultural horizons even more?  One of the other girls volunteering at my internship was doing a piece and she invited me so I at least wanted to go support her.

I trudged over to the theater with my friend Cara not really wanting to be there, but by golly, by the end of it I was so happy that I went and it really got me thinking about some things.  When we got there the venue had all these neat lights and the place was packed.  There were probably 30 poets that stood up in front and performed their work.  Some were funny, while many were passionate, emotional stories.  Because the theme was “In the Beginning There was the Word” many of the pieces had to deal with birth, life, and the power of our words in everyday life for building others up or tearing others down, loving others or hating them.  All the poets did an amazing job and they really made me stop and think about how I use my words and how the people around me use words.

So often I am quick to judge people, insult people, or make ignorant comments, not even thinking about what I am saying.  My words are often full of egotistic comments and selfish wants and I rarely even realize it.  However, going to this poetry reading and being in Namibia in general has really made me see how I should be using my words.  Everyone here has been so loving and gracious to me.  The people here are so much more kind, so much more interested in who you are and what you have to say.  They are not in a rush all the time and they don’t snap at you.  It has really made me realize the harshness in my what I say and how I should instead strive to fill my words with kindness and patience and love.

I’ve especially noticed this as I am living with my homestay family this week.  The first time I met them they greeted me with such joy and excitement and they have constantly been full of kind, encouraging words.  Everyday they have told me how beautiful I am and they even gave me a new name that means “gift of God” in their native Damara language.  They always ask how my day is and if there is anything they can do to make me feel at home.  They always speak with such gentle, genuine words and it encourages me to do the same.

Having the Bible knowledge that I do, the first thing that came to my mind when I heard the theme for this poetry reading was obviously John 1:1. And how that although in this night’s context “word” is being used literally, we can tie it all back to Christ as well.  The whole night I kept thinking that in the beginning was the Word, Christ.  He came down to die for us so that we might live and use OUR words to glorify him.  His words were perfect.  They were gentle and full of compassion.  Ours are not.   But thanks be to God that the Word did become flesh and gave us new life and a chance to change our words and our hearts and use them for good – to love others and glorify Him.

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I finally arrived in Namibia on Wednesday from South Africa and I love every minute of being here.  When our flight landed, we exited the plane and it smelled like summer, felt like summer, and looked like summer!  From the airport it seemed like we could see for miles.  Beautiful mountains and a bright blue sky greeted us we arrived and I couldn’t wait to get to the city!

After our drive from the airport we made it to the white Center for Global Education house on Simpson Street.  I was surprised to discover how big and lovely it was! I share a room with four other girls and we get the luxury of having our own bathroom and showers.   The house has a kitchen and dining room in which we are served all of our delicious meals.  The living room is relaxing as well but the best part of the house is the pool in the backyard!  Upon arriving to the house, my friend Helena and I jumped right into the pool.  It felt so good to finally be at our home.

The rest of the week was relaxing as we just walked around the city trying to find our way around.  Thursday we took a walking tour and saw all of the cute shops and places to go around the city.  It has great theaters as well as lots of clubs and things to do at night.  Walking around made me very excited for the rest of the semester; I highly doubt I will ever be bored….

Friday we toured Katutura, the mostly black township of Windhoek.  Our group was divided into smaller groups and we were each instructed to visit different parts.  My group got to see the art school there and we learned about all the opportunities they have for students if they want to go into digital media, fashion design, painting or anything like that.  Though it is a very small school and only graduates about thirty students a year, it provides so many opportunities for kids to succeed and is gaining more and more popularity.

The Office, anyone??

The weekend brought more sun and pool time, as we had no commitments to go anywhere or do anything.  Friday evening some of the other students and I had a bonfire by the pool and danced to Coldplay all night.  It was perfect.  Saturday, I spent some serious time working on my tan and later went shopping around town.  I’m finally getting that summer glow (that I will hopefully have for eight months out of my year J).

Internships start Monday so stay tuned to see what I get to do with Vision Life Namibia!  Until then, life is good, Windhoek is great, and people are crazy.

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Life is good.  After enduring the seventeen hour plane ride from Washington D.C., I finally arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa with the fifteen other students from around the country last Monday evening.  Since my arrival its has been a long week filled with touring and traveling Johannesburg and the surrounding areas but nevertheless I’ve been learning and experiencing so many new things and I am loving it.  Due to my lack of internet connection at the place we are staying, I haven’t been able to write yet, but here is the brief lowdown on what I did during our first week.

Our first two days were spent touring Soweto.   This stands for SOuth WEstern TOwnships and is most commonly known for the student uprisings that took place there in June of 1976 to fight against the apartheid regime.  The first day we visited the Hector Pieterson Museum.  This museum is named after one of the first students to be killed in the uprisings and is not only a tribute to him, but to the many, many other students who lost their lives.  We were able to meet Antoinette Sithole, Hector Pieterson’s sister, as she recalled the day her brother died and gave us a more personal, emotional, and real picture of what happened during the uprisings.

Later that day, we visited Nelson Mandela’s house and were given a brief history of his life, his philosophies, his rise to presidency in 1994, and his great influence in ending apartheid, which was very inspiring as well.

The next day in Soweto we visited the Regina Mundi Catholic Church.  Latin for “Queen of the World,” it is known as the “people’s church” and can seat 2000 worshipers while having space for an additional 3000 to stand! It is the biggest Catholic church in Soweto and played an important role in ending apartheid, especially during the Soweto uprisings.  Many people took refuge there, but there is still evidence of police storming in and chasing people out (bullet holes, broken altar, etc.) (Fun fact: after apartheid had been done away with, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hosted their hearings at this church.)

After touring Soweto and learning about its history, I was so surprised how a township, though very large, can be so impacted and shaped by a single event in history.  The 1976 uprisings had such a huge effect on the places and people of the township that almost everything in someway can relate itself back to that time in history.

We also visited Kliptown, a town outside of Soweto.  We saw the Freedom Charter monument there, but the thing that was most impressionable to me was when we toured the slums.  The houses were basically shacks without toilets, showers, running water or anything like that.  Almost all of the people there were unemployed and after talking to the people and getting a little taste of their lives, I learned that the South African government has not really done anything positive to help them.  It is basically always trying to do what they think will help solve the people’s problems, but they fail to assist the people in what they really need or what would most benefit them and end up wasting a lot of money.

Later in the week we had sessions with the African National Party (ANC) as well as the Democratic Alliance (DA) and were introduced to the politics of South Africa and heard ideas of their plans to boost the economy and continue to positively rebuild the nation.  Though I’m not that into that sort of stuff too much, it was still interesting to see differing perspectives.  We also met with the South African Council of Churches and learned of their efforts in ending apartheid and trying to bring peace to South Africa.

I spent the weekend with my host family and that was quite the experience. (more to come on that later)

Finally, during our last two days we went to the U.S. Embassy where we learned about some of the workings of international relations, the Voortrekker Monument where we got a better understanding of the Dutch Afrikaaner history in South Africa, and the Apartheid Museum.  The apartheid museum was especially moving and took us from the very roots of the problem to the current state.  Pictures and videos played were graphic, but gave a better understanding of how truly horrible blacks were treated during that time.  They also had a special Nelson Mandela exhibit which highlighted his efforts as well.

Though the week was busy, it was lots of fun and I’m glad I got to experience the things I did.  I’m really enjoying spending time with the other students on the trip as well and I cannot wait to finally head to Namibia later this week!

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