March and April Update

Once again, this will be a long blog post… March and April were very eventful months where President Krise and Patty came to visit us in Namibia, we got to witness the 25th anniversary of Namibian Independence and see the third president be sworn in, went on our second study tour during Easter break, discovered the Franco-Namibian Cultural Center, and had many more crazy adventures!

March

            The first major event that happened in March was attending the 25th anniversary of Namibia's Independence. We got to go to the Independence Stadium and sit with all the dignitaries and diplomats (We met an American in line who had an official invite. She said we were all with her so we got to sit with the important people.) We sat a row in front of the king of Damaraland! What?! The third president, Hage Geingob, was sworn in and they had many different celebrations and speeches to commemorate the occasion.

            Two days after Independence Day, President Krise and Patty came over from PLU to visit us in Namibia and see how the program was doing. It was great to tell them all about Windhoek and show what a great study abroad program this is. We were invited to many dinners and events in honor of the relationship between Namibia and PLU. Hopefully, in the future, more Namibian students can come over to the States and attend PLU. On their last night in Windhoek, we had a fabulous dinner at the restaurant Nice, (Namibian Institute of Culinary Education), where everyone who helped make this program happen was honored and we all celebrated this program and international relationship. Just as quickly as the President and Ms. Krise came, they left for Cape Town and we all packed up our bags for our Easter Break study tour to southern Namibia and the coast.

            For our study tour, we traveled to Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, and Damaraland. On one of our first days, we got to climb up Big Daddy in Sossusvei, one of the biggest sand dunes in the world. It was one of the best experiences of my life! The climb was incredible, but definitely one of the hardest hikes of my life. We kept slipping down the sand, but thankfully, it had rained the day before so the sand was packed down which made it easier. The views from the top of the dune were insane. We could see in all directions and dunes surrounded us for as far as we could see. Although it took us about 45 minutes to hike up the dune, it only took about 5 minutes to RUN down. It felt like we were walking on the moon as we launched ourselves into the sand. The momentum we got while running down made our bodies keep leaning forward and we had to basically fall back to keep us from falling all the way down. When we reached the bottom, we were in Deadvlei, a basin with trees that have been dead for about 400 years. Overall, this hike was such an amazing experience and I can't wait to do it again someday.

At the top of Big Daddy

In Deadvlei

            In Swakopmund, we went sand dune quadding (it was my first time!) and got to explore tons of sand dunes surrounding the area. After quadding, we got to meet the parrots that lived at the quadding headquarters. We all got to hold them and one even kissed me! haha For our next stop, we went to Damaraland and learned about the culture, saw herds of elephants, camped a lot, and experienced even more of Namibia. We hiked and saw so many incredible rock paintings and engravings that were created so many hundreds of years ago. We saw the "White Lady" painting--which actually is a man, but the name of the White Lady already stuck--and many other engravings with lions, ostriches, giraffes, and other animals. We also went on a game drive where we saw a huge herd of elephants! It was incredible seeing so many of them in one little area. On one of our last days in Damaraland, we went to the Damara Living Museum where we were able to witness the traditional lives of the Damara people. The actors talked to us about the chief of the tribes, different medicinal practices, practices for men and women, and how to play a traditional game (kind of like mancola). They also sang and danced for us which was amazing! It looked like they were having so much fun! One practice that women do is make beads made of ostrich shells. Once a woman is able to drill a hole through the ostrich shell bead, she is then eligible to marry. I drilled a hole in the bead so I got to marry one of the Damara guys. So… I got married in Namibia! Sorry mom! ;) This study tour was a lot of fun and taught us many, many things about the Namibian and Damara cultures.

A huge herd of desert elephants

At the Damara Living Museum

April

            April was definitely a month where we got to explore Windhoek more and get to experience all sorts of its culture and hidden gems. Since we only had about two months left (and we knew they would FLY by), we wanted to make sure we made the most of our time here. After we got back to Emona from our second study tour, we had the opportunity to go to an Easter service in Windhoek. It was incredible! We went to InnerCity Lutheran Church which was so full that it was standing room only and they also had to set up chairs in the lobby area. The singing in that service absolutely blew my mind: the congregation sang in four-part harmony just because they wanted to and they did it a cappella because the accompanist didn't show up for church that day (rumor has it he was too hungover or just overslept lol). Hearing over a hundred people sing so joyfully truly made this one of the best Easter celebrations yet. After the service, we went to Jan's house for an Easter brunch with our "Namibian family." These girls, Jan, and Tony have all become my family away from home and I could not be more thankful to have them in my life. We had a couple of the girls' favorite dishes and celebrated throughout the afternoon.

            The next week, Alice, Kerry, and I went to the FNCC--the Franco Namibian Cultural Center where we had a lovely dinner and saw a Namibian dance troupe do a show portraying gay and lesbians in Namibia and how they are treated. The show was set up in three different stories: the first being about a gay man with AIDS being discriminated on by his community and the nurses at the local hospital, the second about corrective rape where a girl was raped and married off because she was lesbian, and the final one being about a man who contracts AIDS while in prison from a rape. In the two beginning stories, both main characters commit suicide because their suffering is too much for them, whereas in the third story, the man finds peace with what happened in prison and his AIDS status and finds his partner who accepts him for who he is. These stories discussed very deep material, but it is a subject that is current in Namibia and needs to be talked about. The concept of LGBT is not fully accepted in Namibia so I was surprised that this dance company would do a performance on the topic. However, this company's performance was incredible and captured the emotions of the characters in the stories very well. The next Friday, all of the girls including Jan went back to the FNCC to watch Freedom Songs, a concert with many different musical artists from all around Namibia. The music ranged from jazz to singer-songwriter to many more. I loved the jazz music and watching the artists perform because you could instantly tell that they were having so much fun with what they were doing.

            So many more things happened during these two months, including solo teaching my first day of school, going to a Foam Party (so crazy!) and meeting some amazing people, teaching at an after-school program in Katatura, and watching a German Carnival parade with tons of drunk Germans, just to name a few! I can't wait to keep exploring this beautiful city, and I am so sad to be going home soon, but I am also excited to see my family and friends back in the States!