zambia!!

okay, so zambia was a while ago, but I cannot possibly leave it out, it was absolutely incredible.
we start by taking a miserable 17-hr bus ride to Livingstone, Zambia. A very touristy but nice town. 15 of us were on the trip and we all stay at a fun backpackers lodge.
a few things about zambia:
it is beautiful - very different landscape than Namibia, it is very wet and lush and green, and while I still think Namibia is breathtaking, it was nice to get a little change of scenery and see some greenery.
it is definitely less developed than Namibia, overall, certain parts are better or worse in both countries but overall Zambia is a few steps behind Namibia. for example, the roads were horrible, to get somewhere 20km away takes 45 minutes.
the city is quite touristy and strange. men are everywhere, I hardly saw any women out, and they all try to get you to come over and "talk" with them which means let me sucker you in so I can try to sell you something. sometimes it was really overwhelming, we went to a couple markets a few times and all these men try and tell you stories about their products and make you feel really guilty for not buying anything, I'm not sure if they were really desperate or it was the scheme to sell more.
despite that, the people are very friendly and kind, I am continuously blown away by how people are so welcoming everywhere I go, Zambia as well.

So some highlights of the trip:

Crossing from Namibia into Zambia over the mighty Zambezi River - one of the most powerful and large rivers in Africa, and the world. It is the only place in the world where 4 countries meet - Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana, we were only in the spot where 3 met though.
Here is the Zambezi again, we took a sunset dinner cruise, lots of fun, beautiful sunset and good company.
Victoria Falls!!!! the main reason we went to Zambia - it is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world - I've now been to 2. There was lots of places to hike around and see the falls from different areas. It was impossible to really see all of it, no matter where you see them from you can't see it all. and if you are close the mist is so strong that it is hard to see, but if you stand and watch every so often the mist is blow away and you can see them and it is spectacular. standing that close to something so powerful is quite an experience.
This is us hiking down to the boiling pot - we hiked through water and mud and climbed over rocks and it was the "african jungle" - it was a lot of fun - at the bottom we were next to the river and it was spectacular
here are the falls from one angle - I wish I could have captured the true beauty of the falls. we went the first day and the last day because it was so amazing. you walk across a bridge fairly close to the falls and get completely soaked - completely - not a dry inch on the whole body.

well hello mr. monkey! we saw a lot of monkeys at the falls - they were quite used so humans and the second time I went I even got in a little fight with one about the trash. another monkey experience was on the canoe trip and I fed a wild monkey from my hand - pretty cool.
The next day we went to a village (not putting pics on here) which was strange but interesting - felt a little exploitative but talked to some locals about it and they said it was strange at first but then they saw the benefits of it and were happy about it, it was still awkward though. anyways, then we did some extreme spots (above). 6 of us did a fully day of repelling (frontwards and backwards), zip lining, and gorge swinging (below). it was incredible, a lot of fun.
here is my doing the gorge swing, you jump off and free fall for a few seconds then it catches you into a swing - I went 3 times and it was extremely scary each time but then when you start swinging and look at the view it was amazing.
so then 7 of us took a 2 day canoe trip on the Zambezi. we left early one morning and came back in the evening the next day. the whole trip we are cameoing between Zambia and Zimbabwe which was cool - close to another country but not quite there. It was an absolute blast though. I of course was the person who fell out during the rapids the most, but it was fun. Sometimes it was relaxing and other times it was hard work. Our 2 guides were a lot of fun and took care of us. It was a little exciting and scary because there are a lot of crocodiles and hippos in the river so we could only jump out during the rapids and we had to constantly do hippo checks and bang on the side of the canoes (inflatable canoes). It was a great trip.
here is where we got off from our canoe trip - those are the falls.
Overall Zambia was amazing and I am so glad I went. met some nice people, saw amazing things and saw another part of the world - I'm a happy person.
Was sad to leave but when we entered Windhoek I was joyful to be home again for a while and enjoy everything Namibia.

let's have a little reconciliation

hello again, long time. internet here is very sketchy and I haven't been able to log in very often and when I do I try to upload pics and then it dies again so I'll just have to wait and do Zambia and Luderitz another time.
So for now this past week...
It was a really nice week actually, ups and downs as usual but it all came together in the end with this amazing church service I went to.
Monday was a nice day at my internship followed by some quality time with some friends and then quality homework time. Tuesday we went to the prime minister's office to speak with one of his special directors. The director is currently working on projects for the betterment of the Saan people, the oldest group of people in the world but also the most marginalized. It was interesting to hear how they are approaching the situation, trying to fit people into the society who live so radically different than anyone else, but it does seem they are making a real effort to do it in a culturally acceptable way.
On Thursday we had a women come speak to us about her experiences during apartheid and how SWAPO, the leading liberation and political party, put her in a dungeon for a couple years because she was a suspected spy. SWAPO has unjustly hurt a lot of people with this and she and others are just trying to bring the truth out. From there we went to a seminary and spoke with a pastor about reconciliation. Namibia did not have much of a reconciliation process, partly because of SWAPO's history with the spy camps, and they didn't see it necessary. This is an area that I think South Africa has really done well with in comparison to Namibia, it had a reconciliation program that I believe really made a difference.
After that some of us went to Katutura to get tested for HIV. No, I have no reason to believe I need to get tested but I thought it would be a good experience, see what people go through. Also, as Americans we look at people here and wonder why they don't get tested ever but when we look at ourselves, neither do we. However, we could not get tested. And this is actually very frustrating, because testing is only available during the week and it starts at 8 am and finishes when they meet the quota each day, and generally that does not last very long. How do people get tested? It is free but people are at work during the week and most cannot afford to take work off, even if their work let them. Anyways we went by the community radio station where a couple of our friends work and visited them and then went with them to a market and got some fat cakes :)
After that a few of us went to parliament gardens to read and talk. It was cool because a lot of graduates of the University of Namibia were there taking pictures. I was just thinking of how proud the parents must be to have their kids graduate from university. There were not universities in Namibia before independence. So to graduate must mean a lot. Also just the fact that they were on the parliament lawn with people of different races is a huge deal when you stop and think about how that would have been illegal less that 20 years ago.
On friday we had a wonderful woman, Patricia, come speak to us, the first woman we've had so far. She directs Hope Initiative which has helped so many children and people in the informal settlements of Katutura. Her heart and passion was radiant and it was so nice to see someone making true progress and a difference in Namibia. As I have mentioned before, I sometimes get frustrated with how impossible everything seems here and no matter what you do little gets done, but this lady gives me reason to believe otherwise.

Moving on, the weekend was really really nice, just stayed in Windhoek and spent time with a friend.
Sunday comes and I go to the church down the street that I have been to a few times and it was an exciting day because the three separate Lutheran churches are coming together to work as one church. This is a big deal regardless, but even bigger because 60% of Namibians are Lutheran, so this event is helping unify 60% of the country. There are two black Namibian churches and one German church that joined to make a council that will help unify the three churches so they can begin to work as one. It was an incredible event that incorporated so much of my experience in Namibia. There were people from all over the world, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, USA, and then South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia, and Zimbabwe. A band played conducted by the composer of the National Anthem. I saw the former prime minister there along with a few speakers we've had. People of different races, languages, nationalities, and cultures all came to celebrate the event. That was reconciliation at its heart that morning; four hours of coming together as a church to serve God and to help Namibia come together as nation. It was so amazing to experience the apologies and forgiveness between peoples for the harsh history of colonization and apartheid. So many speakers mentioned their desires to work towards healing and helping Namibia by creating social and economic justice in the country. As frustrating and unhopeful it can be here at times when I experience things like this and meet all these people who are passionately working to help this country I know that the country will make it and grow beautifully.

mooving on to the next place

Rural homestay: amazing
So we drove from swakupmund to Omaruru, a town a few more hours north. From there we met with Mayor Mike who hooked us all up with homestay families. From there we drove an hour or so to a tiny town - one person stayed there - from there we drove another hour (all dirt roads with nothing around) to some farm communities/villages/towns/whatever pc way you want to call them. I stayed in Otjiarango, a town made up of a primary school, 2 or 3 shops, and probably a few hundred people and a few hundred cows. I ended up staying with another student b/c my "should have been sister" was supposedly out of town at the beginning and I was to join her the second day - she didn't leave town until the third day and by the time they found me a new family it was towards the end and I wanted to stay with my family that I grew to love. so that was a little disappointing - I wanted to experience my own family but C'est la vie, and I had a great time. My family consisted of my sister, Jubilene (28), her daughter (6), and Jubilene's grandmother. Jubilene was the only one who spoke english. The town is all Herero people and only those who had completed a decent amount of education (and it had to be in the later part of apartheid) spoke english. I met amazing people and learned a lot. The community was very strong there. Everyone knows each other, and almost everyone is related, and everyone seemed to take care of each other. I got to know a lot of people by the end of the week and felt really comfortable walking around and could see people I knew all over. Everyone was very friendly towards us (there were 5 of us in the town) and were really appreciative that we came to see how they live and get to know them.
Here's a few highlights:

Me milking our cow - it is more difficult than you think - I probably only got a cup's worth
View from our house - it was really beautiful there - dry but beautiful - you can't even imagine all the stars at night - trees and mountains and the most incredible sunsets
my sister jubilene and her daughter ngoumme (goo-may)
where we slept and one of the cows - our family only had a few cows and goats but everyone's wandered everywhere, and I mean everywhere - it is a communal farming area so all the land is shared

donkey cart time - main mode of transportation (though a few people have cars) - it was so much fun to ride, even when we ran into a tree - just an example of life there - we just asked random people to give us a ride and they said yes - then he turned out to be my sister's uncle
a couple guys took some of us and our families on an incredible hike - a mountain basically made of rock - great view from the top
cool area of the hike that had old Saan people paintings on the walls
my grandmother and ngumme and one of the many cats - she was a super sweet lady who couldn't speak english and just laughed and laughed when we tried our Otjihereo on her

What I learned during my homestay:

how to live without running water or electricity (and it was kinda nice after a while), how to trust, how to share everything, about Herero culture and people, a few Otjihereo words, that I love people, a few dance moves, how to milk a cow, how to be comfortable with myself, about the affects of colonialism and apartheid, how to communicate without words, how kids are the best way to find out what's going on, to cook outside over a fire, how to "see" in the dark, about community, about the struggles of living in a rural area in Namibia, about love

and the lesson that I learn on a daily basis living over here that just was strengthened during this experience is that we are all people - we are all human beings worthy of life and respect, no matter where we live, what language we speak, what our culture is, what our skin color is - we are all people - we all laugh, cry, get angry, feel pain, we all dream, hope, smile, learn, love, and we are people, all images of God


So after that we packed up our things, said our goodbyes and went a few more hours north to ethosha - biggest game park in namibia and one of the best in africa supposedly - lots of animals - zebras galore, kudu, springbok, a few lions, giraffes, and a lot more



Namibia has the best clouds and some of the bluest skies - and I just thought this was a cool pic
Next time - Zambia! I'm almost caught up!

and it continues...

So after my homestay we have a "normal week" of classes and internship. I went to intern on wendesday and afterwards stopped by to visit my host sisters - nice to see them. That weekend was a lot of fun. some good girl time. then an amazing hike in a park near windhoek.
then we went to swakamund - town on the coast of namibia - beautiful. the first day we took a tour and saw the town. It is a crazy german touristy looking town. we learned how it was set up during apartheid - we went to the DRC settlements - little shacks in the middle of nothingness desert then took a five minute drive to mansions on the beach - strange. so how do I cope with it? I decide to jump out of a plane :)

ok so pictures are out of order but you'll figure it out

here is kesem, jess and me about to head up

view from the plan - inbetween walvish bay and swakupmund
landis this one is for you!
dunes - some of the largest in the world - from the plane


during our hike back in windhoek - there are wild zebras if you look closely flying through the namib sky!!!
hiking the most incredible dunes - it was spectacular - definitly one of the coolest things I've ever done
hiking again - namibia is a beautiful country
we got a flat tire on the way to swakup in the middle of the desert and had some good times while passat fixed the car

swakup beaches makes my heart joyful - well any beaches does - but it was really nice

wow

So it's been quite some time and I'm going to have to back track quite a bit because there are just some things I cannot leave out - but the last three weeks are what I'm most excited to share - and hopefully in the next few days I will be posting a lot.
So here is pre-3 amazing weeks trip around southern africa.
I had a 10 day homestay in Katutura, a township of Windhoek with a nice family consisting of Trudy, my mom, Sam, my dad, and two girls, Oli (16) and Mweneni (17) who aren't the daughters (they don't have any kids) but are relatives living with them for a while. My family was quite nice. I didn't really have an amazing bond with the parents or anything and at times it was kind of rough, but they were still nice and the girls were wonderful and I am so thankful to have met them and spent time getting to know them. The first weekend we went to a funeral, went swimming at a park, went to church, saw some family and just sat around and relaxed a lot. Then during the week I still had classes and internship like normal. It was really nice in some ways because I lived close to my internship and could walk there. Walking to work and living in the community in which you work to me is one of the most gratifying things. It was also nice coming home to an actual family after being at work or school, even though I felt awkward at time, I still felt welcome and at home which is nice. The thing I missed the most during this homestay, as opposed to the soweto one, was the sense of community. My family doesn't associate much with their neighbors or community so I didn' t have that experience. However I met a lot of their extended family so that was cool. I talked to some interesting people and learned a lot. The second weekend was the best part. We went to their farm, about an hour away from windhoek. It is a communal farm, so it is essentially free and everyone shares land and everything. They had some goats and want to expand eventually. It was just nice being away in nature, no electricity or running water, and it was very peacefull and relaxing there. Two other girls joined us, ages 12 and 14, and they were wonderful. I had a lot of time hanging out with all the girls and getting to know them. One night we played Idols (like american idol but africa version) which was a blast. Trudy and I were the judges and everyone else sang 4 songs. Nothing like singing and making fools of ourselves to bring people together. It was really nice and I felt much closer to my family after that weekend, too bad that is when it ended.
Unfortunatly, I got incredibly sick after that, I mean more sick than I have felt in a really long long time. I think it was the water from the farm or some food they fed me. oh well, it's over and done with now.
The next week we just had classes and such like normal. We met the former prime minister which was interesting and I had some good times at my homestay.
now for the pics


Here is my homestay house - don't be fooled - the neighborhood didn't look anything like this - it kind of stuck out. it was a very nice house











here is my sister Oli





















here is my cousin - cutest little girl ever



heck yeah I can make fat cakes













on the farm - beautiful !