I love Rundu. Love love love it. Although it's blazing hot, I love walking everywhere, greeting strangers, running into colleagues, and eating fresh fruit off the tree.
I'm spending this off week in town, running errands and relaxing before a crazy festive week in Swakop, holiday capital of southern Africa.
I went to my village last week to fetch a few things for the trip and to drop off my dressier clothes from reconnect. Although I wasn't looking forward to paying for transport then spending the night in an empty house in an empty village, it turned out to be a worthwhile trip. The village was more bustling than I anticipated. Now that it's rainy season (aka harvest time!!), many of my colleagues have left to work their own farms, but at the same time, the families that stay in my village are now out and about, working and celebrating weddings and the holidays.
While over 95% of the Nam population classifies as Christian, Christmas is not so much in the air. While rich Afrikaaners in Windhoek ran about in Santa and elf costumes, up here in the north, there is hardly a sign that we are approaching the end of December. I have come to embrace this fact, because it fends off the homesickness to be hot and sweating in floral tank tops and shitenges (bright swatches of beautifully patterned fabric that women wrap around their waists) rather than wrapping up in red sweaters that remind me how far I am from my family. But, I am told that on holidays (Xmas and New Year's Eves), the riverside beach fills up with party-goers, and in the village people will eat macaroni and rice, which is somewhat of a rare commodity for many families. When I visited site last week, there was a large yellow tent set up near the river, and my principal told me that there will be holiday celebrations there. I guess I live in a big village after all!
All-in-all, I am very happy to be here. I am saddened by the fact that I will not be with my family and friends around the holidays, but experiencing a hot Christmas void of materialistic gifts is a nice change of pace and, at the risk of sounding corny, a reminder of what is important in life. Life isn't about shiny wrapping papers and time-saving electronics. It's about greeting strangers and spending time with those who are important to us, celebrating traditions and creating new ones, reflection of past good times and anticipation of what's to come.
Happy holidays everyone!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Reconnect
This week I am at reconnect, which is supposed to be an additional training after we've been to our sites for a significant amount of time (6 weeks) and before we start full-time teaching, but it's really just an excuse for us to all party together and laugh a lot in a controlled environment.
On that note, we're staying at a conference center in the mountains outside of Windhoek, and I literally don't know if I could be happier. They were very right about the ups and downs of service-- a couple of weeks ago I was in my village all alone and crying because I was missing Thanksgiving for the first time and no one seemed to care, and now I am relishing in beautiful weather, tons of great food, hot coffee, hot showers, and spectacular views, sunrises, sunsets, and even a downpour that left a double rainbow as the sun was setting.
Saturday I went to town to do some shopping and eat some good food. It was exactly what I needed. It absolutely gave me a burst of reverse culture shock that I've been needing. The mall here is nicer than many malls in the States, and being there on a weekend of holiday shopping season was more than overwhelming after being at site for so long. There were multiple Santas that didn't pull the look off very well, not to mention slutty helper elves and SO MANY white people. I was extremely uncomfortable being a minority, mostly b/c this country has the largest income gap of any, so I knew that the packed mall was filled with the wealthy 5% of the population while something like 80% of the rural population lacks sanitary latrines and literally has to poop in the bush. It was a huge reminder as to why our work here can be so difficult to accomplish with the racial tensions that are still operating.
Anyway, highlight was a ham and cheese panini paired with a greek salad with feta (!) cheese. Also, was able to pick up a few things that for site, and on Sunday a group went to see Harry Potter (yes, there is a movie theater in Nam...) I stayed back and nursed a cold and soaked up free internet. It was maybe one of my favorite weekends ever.
Next weekend I'm going to a diversity committee meeting in the city. The goal is to organize a nationwide tour for learners who never get to leave their villages in the bush. I'm really excited at the prospect.
More soon!
On that note, we're staying at a conference center in the mountains outside of Windhoek, and I literally don't know if I could be happier. They were very right about the ups and downs of service-- a couple of weeks ago I was in my village all alone and crying because I was missing Thanksgiving for the first time and no one seemed to care, and now I am relishing in beautiful weather, tons of great food, hot coffee, hot showers, and spectacular views, sunrises, sunsets, and even a downpour that left a double rainbow as the sun was setting.
Saturday I went to town to do some shopping and eat some good food. It was exactly what I needed. It absolutely gave me a burst of reverse culture shock that I've been needing. The mall here is nicer than many malls in the States, and being there on a weekend of holiday shopping season was more than overwhelming after being at site for so long. There were multiple Santas that didn't pull the look off very well, not to mention slutty helper elves and SO MANY white people. I was extremely uncomfortable being a minority, mostly b/c this country has the largest income gap of any, so I knew that the packed mall was filled with the wealthy 5% of the population while something like 80% of the rural population lacks sanitary latrines and literally has to poop in the bush. It was a huge reminder as to why our work here can be so difficult to accomplish with the racial tensions that are still operating.
Anyway, highlight was a ham and cheese panini paired with a greek salad with feta (!) cheese. Also, was able to pick up a few things that for site, and on Sunday a group went to see Harry Potter (yes, there is a movie theater in Nam...) I stayed back and nursed a cold and soaked up free internet. It was maybe one of my favorite weekends ever.
Next weekend I'm going to a diversity committee meeting in the city. The goal is to organize a nationwide tour for learners who never get to leave their villages in the bush. I'm really excited at the prospect.
More soon!
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