It doesn't feel like we've been here that long, but I guess we have because it is Monday already. Saturday a bunch of us girls woke up early to walk to the mall (40 mins away) to look at two of the gyms. I decided to join the third, which is the closest. I went to the gym today, which felt great and I am happy with. It is in a plaza with a few cafes and clubs, and the NAMIBIAN CRAFT CENTER. Which will be the place I will spend all my time and money. It is all fair trade and locally made by Namibian women who then have a little section in the center to sell their stuff. There's beautiful artwork and bags and clothes and jewelery.
This weekend was really laid back, and so was today because I don't start my internship until Wednesday. I did get some reading to do for classes this week, and tomorrow we have a team building retreat. So things have been a little more laid back than Johannesburg, and I am enjoying getting to know Windhoek. I hope that the transition into our urban homestay is smooth, because we leave on Thursday and I am not quite ready for living somewhere else for 10 days.
I am working on getting photos up on Picasa, but I do have some on Facebook for those that didn't see!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Ubuntu (Zulu: I am because we are)
Hello...so it is our 3rd day in Windhoek, I like it so far and am excited to get to know the area better. Yesterday we had a tour around the city that was in our vans and led by a local tour guide. A lot of our group was very uncomfortable with the tour, and I felt like it was the first time that I felt like a tourist. Which meant feeling uncomfortable, singled out, like an outsider, and like we were simply showing up, privileged college students, to observe other people's lives. Of course we reflected (a lot of reflection takes place in the CGE house) and talked about all the different sides of why we would feel that way. I had my first internship class, it was definitely a wake up call that school is about to start!! But while most people are starting their internships for a full day Monday, I don't start until Wednesday because the children in the area are out of school. And then last night I just hung out at the house, I did my pilates video and washed my clothes, both things that were very, very necessary!!
Today was very different. We were in the same area of Windhoek, Katatura, which is the former black township (and where I will be doing my internship). But we were broken up into much smaller groups and assigned a tour guide, who was actually a student our age who lived in Katatura. So it was a much more personal, welcoming interaction with the area, and we learnt useful things like how to get a taxi. It was great to talk to a Namibian our age, and we went to an "incubation centre", which is where local businesses can rent a space from the municipality in order to have a place from which to run their business. So I felt a lot more at home today, and less like I could never belong here (even though being a foreigner, particularly a white one, is definitely noticiable). This weekend I have lots of errand type things to do, and am hoping to check out the local gym. So hopefully we can be a little more settled in, even though we move to our Windhoek homestays on Thursday...no staying in one place for too long ;) I will hopefully take photos of the house and neighborhood really soon, so people can see where I am staying!
Today was very different. We were in the same area of Windhoek, Katatura, which is the former black township (and where I will be doing my internship). But we were broken up into much smaller groups and assigned a tour guide, who was actually a student our age who lived in Katatura. So it was a much more personal, welcoming interaction with the area, and we learnt useful things like how to get a taxi. It was great to talk to a Namibian our age, and we went to an "incubation centre", which is where local businesses can rent a space from the municipality in order to have a place from which to run their business. So I felt a lot more at home today, and less like I could never belong here (even though being a foreigner, particularly a white one, is definitely noticiable). This weekend I have lots of errand type things to do, and am hoping to check out the local gym. So hopefully we can be a little more settled in, even though we move to our Windhoek homestays on Thursday...no staying in one place for too long ;) I will hopefully take photos of the house and neighborhood really soon, so people can see where I am staying!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Hello From Namibia!
Hello...
After what has felt like a long hiatus from internet connection, we arrived in Windhoek at the house today and are slowly creeping along online. I had a very busy and enjoyable weekend in Soweto with my host family. I had my host parents, Jean and Mapule, and then host brother Tshepiso (22), and host sisters Nandi (19) and Thato (8). I absolutely loved them, and it was so nice to be in a nice, warm, comfortable house. They fed me and Anna SO MUCH. They had this belief that I was 'afraid of food' and that I needed to get bigger before I left their house. The food was AMAZING, including the braai (bbq) we had on Saturday night, but the quantity was incredible. It got to the point where I was giving Thato my leftovers on the sly because I couldn't eat everything. I want to post a photo of my family but I don't want to push the internet speed to breaking point.
So aside from eating, Friday night when we got there we went to pick up a cousin, Tshidi, who stayed for the weekend, and that translated into visiting lots of different family members in a part of Soweto called White City. We did more visiting on Saturday before the braai, I loved how welcoming and happy to see us everyone was. Mapule kept introducing us as her 'white children.' Sunday we went to Mass at a nice, very diverse church. Later in the day we went to Mandela's house, which was very meaningful to me because neither Mapule or Jean had been there before. Sunday night we had a HUGE meal that Nandi cooked, and I ate everything! (Exercise is very necessary at this point if only for my mental sanity)
Yesterday we went to Pretoria and saw the Vortrekker monument, and met with people from the US embassy and University of Pretoria. The embassy meeting was the most interesting for me, we spoke to a Political Officer that focuses on Domestic Politics. He talked a lot about what his job involved and what the US' involvement in South Africa is. I asked him how he deals with potentially having to promote and carry out US policies that he potentially doesn't agree with...I think that confirmed I can't work for a government agency! He said that he has faith that as elected representatives, those in government are carrying out policies that are in accordance with the wishes of the US people. Which in theory is true, but I don't necessarily think that the US public is always so active to inform and demand that their representatives carry out what they think is best. Also Julia and I had panic attacks at the top of the Vortrekker monument because of the sheer drop from the top...it was really funny we had to crawl back to the stairs.
Ok, so this is a very long post. Other than all those things I got a cold on my homestay and the air is really dry and so my respiratory system isn't happy. Hopefully that improves soon. As for the house, it is bigger than I thought, though I am sharing a room with 5 other girls. I put some Georgia O'Keefe paintings from Vogue on the wall by my bed so it's a little cheerier. I am sure I will be reporting back on life in Windhoek shortly!
xx hannah
After what has felt like a long hiatus from internet connection, we arrived in Windhoek at the house today and are slowly creeping along online. I had a very busy and enjoyable weekend in Soweto with my host family. I had my host parents, Jean and Mapule, and then host brother Tshepiso (22), and host sisters Nandi (19) and Thato (8). I absolutely loved them, and it was so nice to be in a nice, warm, comfortable house. They fed me and Anna SO MUCH. They had this belief that I was 'afraid of food' and that I needed to get bigger before I left their house. The food was AMAZING, including the braai (bbq) we had on Saturday night, but the quantity was incredible. It got to the point where I was giving Thato my leftovers on the sly because I couldn't eat everything. I want to post a photo of my family but I don't want to push the internet speed to breaking point.
So aside from eating, Friday night when we got there we went to pick up a cousin, Tshidi, who stayed for the weekend, and that translated into visiting lots of different family members in a part of Soweto called White City. We did more visiting on Saturday before the braai, I loved how welcoming and happy to see us everyone was. Mapule kept introducing us as her 'white children.' Sunday we went to Mass at a nice, very diverse church. Later in the day we went to Mandela's house, which was very meaningful to me because neither Mapule or Jean had been there before. Sunday night we had a HUGE meal that Nandi cooked, and I ate everything! (Exercise is very necessary at this point if only for my mental sanity)
Yesterday we went to Pretoria and saw the Vortrekker monument, and met with people from the US embassy and University of Pretoria. The embassy meeting was the most interesting for me, we spoke to a Political Officer that focuses on Domestic Politics. He talked a lot about what his job involved and what the US' involvement in South Africa is. I asked him how he deals with potentially having to promote and carry out US policies that he potentially doesn't agree with...I think that confirmed I can't work for a government agency! He said that he has faith that as elected representatives, those in government are carrying out policies that are in accordance with the wishes of the US people. Which in theory is true, but I don't necessarily think that the US public is always so active to inform and demand that their representatives carry out what they think is best. Also Julia and I had panic attacks at the top of the Vortrekker monument because of the sheer drop from the top...it was really funny we had to crawl back to the stairs.
Ok, so this is a very long post. Other than all those things I got a cold on my homestay and the air is really dry and so my respiratory system isn't happy. Hopefully that improves soon. As for the house, it is bigger than I thought, though I am sharing a room with 5 other girls. I put some Georgia O'Keefe paintings from Vogue on the wall by my bed so it's a little cheerier. I am sure I will be reporting back on life in Windhoek shortly!
xx hannah
Thursday, August 20, 2009
First homestay this weekend!
Hello,
Tomorrow we leave for our first homestay, in Soweto! Anna and I (hopefully we don't through them off with the similar names) are staying with a family, not sure of the members yet but I think they have an 8 year old girl so that is exciting. Today and yesterday we have had a lot of speakers, which I have enjoyed, and we also went to the apartheid museum which had SO MUCH information. Aside from that not a whole lot to say this time, the cold isn't much good for my nose because it has been runny but at the same time the air is really dry. Sure that everyone really wanted to hear about my nose. Today I found out that we are missing Joy of Jazz, which is Johannesburg's big jazz festival, which is disappointing! Apparently this semester is 4 months of missing live music. Perhaps I will be able to dig some up in Namibia. I will post after the weekend with photos and everything about my homestay!
xx
Tomorrow we leave for our first homestay, in Soweto! Anna and I (hopefully we don't through them off with the similar names) are staying with a family, not sure of the members yet but I think they have an 8 year old girl so that is exciting. Today and yesterday we have had a lot of speakers, which I have enjoyed, and we also went to the apartheid museum which had SO MUCH information. Aside from that not a whole lot to say this time, the cold isn't much good for my nose because it has been runny but at the same time the air is really dry. Sure that everyone really wanted to hear about my nose. Today I found out that we are missing Joy of Jazz, which is Johannesburg's big jazz festival, which is disappointing! Apparently this semester is 4 months of missing live music. Perhaps I will be able to dig some up in Namibia. I will post after the weekend with photos and everything about my homestay!
xx
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
A few photos
I just thought I'd put up a few photos of the last few days. The first one is me (as you can see) and the girl that showed us around the school yesterday. She would like to be a botanist when she grows up. The second is me in Kliptown, which is a slum area in Soweto, and the last is a monument outside of Kliptown, that is made up of the tin buildings in which they wrote the Freedom Charter. Not sure if the formatting is what I want it to be but never mind. Goodnight all!
xx
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Sanibonani! (hello in Zulu)
Hi all, I am sitting in bed with my sweats under the covers...it is COLD. I got an adapter today so I feel like I can post properly without worrying about tying up someone's adapter. Today was another busy day, we started off at a local semi-private school going classroom to classroom in small groups. As you all can imagine I loved that, the kids (grades 8-12) had so many questions and I had lots for them. The one that was most confusing was why the US has states AND a president...I wasn't sure how to answer that one, it doesn't seem to make sense to me either. Another class requested that we sing the national anthem but I wasn't much help there. The best part was being called the Chinese girl and lots of people wanted photos with me. That was a riot...some things never change. (Several 14 year old boys offered to marry me because they said they like Chinese girls). It was great to see a school, because I am really interested in that area and how it might tie into what I end up doing.
After the school we went to Robby's Place, the first restaurant to open in Soweto (which is a big deal because it was a black-only township). We then went to the Hector Pieterson Museum (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Pieterson), which was meaningful to me because I did my presentation on the '76 Soweto Student Uprisings in my Revolutions and Political Violence class last fall. Hector Peterson's sister spoke to us, she is the one next to him in the famous photo, so that was very powerful. It is exciting to see and experience the places I have learnt about, and talk to people that were there. There was lots of beautiful art outside the museum to buy, but I am waiting til I transfer more money. My most important purchase today was an adapter.
Big news for those that I told about my internship...it has arrived! As you can imagine this is great for me. I'm working for Family Hope Services, whose mission is "to restore hope, joy and dignity and bring socio-economic stability to families affected and infected by HIV/AIDS through empowerment and capacity building programs." It's linked to the Namibia Family of God churches, and they "aim to empower and build capacity for disadvantaged orphans and vulnerable children and their caregivers" (aka particularly women) HOW PERFECT IS THAT. There are a few different projects I could be doing, but I am going to see what it ends up being. Things always change and aren't what you expect but I am happy it's in my interests. I'm so excited about it. By the way I thought I lost my post because I closed the screen...thank God for auto save.
I have been drinking a lot of African red tea, which I drink a lot anyway but I find it very exciting that I am drinking it in Africa. I keep making this comment, it is probably irritating those I am around all the time :) We drove by the main World Cup stadium today, makes me wish I would be there! There are photos I want to post but the internet is slow, probably because all 25 of us are online at once...
Ok that is all for now...wish I could talk to you all individually!
xx
After the school we went to Robby's Place, the first restaurant to open in Soweto (which is a big deal because it was a black-only township). We then went to the Hector Pieterson Museum (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Pieterson), which was meaningful to me because I did my presentation on the '76 Soweto Student Uprisings in my Revolutions and Political Violence class last fall. Hector Peterson's sister spoke to us, she is the one next to him in the famous photo, so that was very powerful. It is exciting to see and experience the places I have learnt about, and talk to people that were there. There was lots of beautiful art outside the museum to buy, but I am waiting til I transfer more money. My most important purchase today was an adapter.
Big news for those that I told about my internship...it has arrived! As you can imagine this is great for me. I'm working for Family Hope Services, whose mission is "to restore hope, joy and dignity and bring socio-economic stability to families affected and infected by HIV/AIDS through empowerment and capacity building programs." It's linked to the Namibia Family of God churches, and they "aim to empower and build capacity for disadvantaged orphans and vulnerable children and their caregivers" (aka particularly women) HOW PERFECT IS THAT. There are a few different projects I could be doing, but I am going to see what it ends up being. Things always change and aren't what you expect but I am happy it's in my interests. I'm so excited about it. By the way I thought I lost my post because I closed the screen...thank God for auto save.
I have been drinking a lot of African red tea, which I drink a lot anyway but I find it very exciting that I am drinking it in Africa. I keep making this comment, it is probably irritating those I am around all the time :) We drove by the main World Cup stadium today, makes me wish I would be there! There are photos I want to post but the internet is slow, probably because all 25 of us are online at once...
Ok that is all for now...wish I could talk to you all individually!
xx
Monday, August 17, 2009
My birthday/I am alive!
Hi all, I made it to Africa! The flight was really long, so it was up for debate whether I would get here in one piece. We stopped off for an hour in Dakar, but I didn't get to see any of it. When I went through immigration the official wished me a very happy birthday. Today was our first full day, it was so busy that I am struggling to remember all that we did! A little things were different about my birthday - first of all it is freezing so I am wearing a coat, second we had our first speaker today so I am in school!
We went around Soweto today, seeing the former male-only dorms, former black-only townships, Regina Mundi (a church that the SA police stormed during the liberation struggle) Kliptown, a house where Nelson Mandela used to hide. It was a memorable birthday, even though I miss everyone at home. We had a guide that experienced the liberation struggle, and that was really moving because he is pretty young and it happened so recently.
Tomorrow we go to the Hector Peterson apartheid museum, which I am very excited about. I have been really tired, which makes it hard to adjust, but everyone is in the same boat and hopefully it will just get easier from here on out. Our group is really nice, and from all over the place. It has also been really nice to have Rachel here with me :)
We are staying at a guest house until Friday, where we go to our homestays with a family in Soweto. We then go up to Pretoria and Alexandra, which are further north from Johannesburg, and then on Wednesday we fly up to Namibia and our homebase.
That is all I have for now - I am missing you all very much!
We went around Soweto today, seeing the former male-only dorms, former black-only townships, Regina Mundi (a church that the SA police stormed during the liberation struggle) Kliptown, a house where Nelson Mandela used to hide. It was a memorable birthday, even though I miss everyone at home. We had a guide that experienced the liberation struggle, and that was really moving because he is pretty young and it happened so recently.
Tomorrow we go to the Hector Peterson apartheid museum, which I am very excited about. I have been really tired, which makes it hard to adjust, but everyone is in the same boat and hopefully it will just get easier from here on out. Our group is really nice, and from all over the place. It has also been really nice to have Rachel here with me :)
We are staying at a guest house until Friday, where we go to our homestays with a family in Soweto. We then go up to Pretoria and Alexandra, which are further north from Johannesburg, and then on Wednesday we fly up to Namibia and our homebase.
That is all I have for now - I am missing you all very much!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Contacting me
(an idea of what my life has looked like this week
)
) I thought I would leave my contact information up here before I leave...
Address:
C/O Center For Global Education
P.O. Box 21377
Windhoek, Namibia
Phone number for the house is (011-264-61) 250-737 for those of you in the US that would like to arrange to call, and of course I'll be checking my email!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Almost there!
I leave in 2 days! I thought that this would be an easy way for people to check up on me while I'm gone, I was going to do an email list, but I realized it would be annoying to send photos that way. Not that I know how to post them on here either...I'll work on that one.
I'm getting ready for the 17/18 hour flight, I have lots to read! I'm looking forward to looking through Rachel's travel guide because she has been giving me daily updates. I have been giving a lot of thought to packing and my room is a mess but nothing is in a bag yet...
Next time I write I'll be in AFRICA....
xx hannah
I'm getting ready for the 17/18 hour flight, I have lots to read! I'm looking forward to looking through Rachel's travel guide because she has been giving me daily updates. I have been giving a lot of thought to packing and my room is a mess but nothing is in a bag yet...
Next time I write I'll be in AFRICA....
xx hannah
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