Windhoek

So, I arrived in Windhoek on Wednesday. This is the capital city of Namibia, which was started by the Germans who colonized here in the late 1800s. They lost control of Namibia during WWI, but it’s amazing how the German influence has survived. Many of the buildings are chalet-style, and there are plenty of German restaurants and German-named businesses. So far, my only glimpse of the countryside has been on the 24 mile ride into Windhoek from the airport. Looks a lot like South Dakota! Some rolling hillside, fairly barren with some scrub brush and few trees. Beautiful. In the city there are lots of palm trees – landscaping is definitely a part of life in this capital city.

The picture is of some local dancers who came to our hostel last night. They are actually Tswana, so very similar to what Jeff and I saw in Botswana. Very talented singers as well, with three part harmony. They also explained the meanings of some of their folksongs and encouraged participation. I’m sorry to say I was so tired after two days in airports and on planes that I didn’t participate as much as I should have. Had a good night’s sleep – but it’s COLD here – down in the 40s and no heat. All but my feet managed to stay fairly comfortable, though.

Haven’t had much time to explore, however, because I’ve been kept fairly busy with training. A lot of it has been cultural expectations, how the teachers and students at our schools will react to us, etc. Then we got more into the technical aspects – such as how much and what kind of equipment we can expect when we get to our schools and how we can train teachers not only to use the equipment, but to integrate technology into their lessons. The Deputy Minister of Education spoke to us about Namibia’s fantastic “roadmap” in which  education will be used to become an industrialized nation by 2030 and what part we are playing in this plan. I say “we” because there are other volunteers who are here. We are training together, but in a few days will be sent to our respective schools on our own. Most of the other volunteers are Harvard students. Even though there are a few teachers like me, I am definitely the old lady of the group – but they’re very accepting and many of them have traveled and had other amazing experiences – in other words, they are very mature for their age and I don’t feel like I’m a fish out of water…. Plus I know my age and experience will be an advantage when I arrive at my school. 

Training later in the week will be about AIDS education and what we can do in our villages to help, and some basic classes in learning the predominant language of our region. 

Later.... So, tonight the training coordinator took us to a Herero restaurant outside of town. Well, I say it’s a restaurant, but actually it was like a house with tables set up outside in tents. The woman proprietress – something like Wamamboomelba greeted us in full Herero dress…. The Herero people still dress the way the German missionaries imposed upon them during their colonial days of the late 1800s; therefore, they wear long dresses with puffed sleeves and high necklines. We were served delicious bread – all the bread I’ve had here is awesome – then some traditional rice and chicken dishes and something called “pap” (?) – which was kind of grit-like. I think it's porridge made out of ground millet. Just when we thought the meal was done, the cooks brought out four entire sheep heads! Yes. The sheep’s head, cut off at the neck, roasted in its entirety. So we ate parts of the head that we could cut off of the skull (taste just like any other mutton) and we’re thinking we’re pretty cool and adventuresome for doing so. Then, “Melba” comes out and asks if we’ve eaten the best part – the tongue! Well, I thought, “WWJD?” (what would Jeff do) and I reached in with my fork and pried the sheep’s tongue right out of its mouth. Yes, I had to pry the jaws open to do so, and yes, the mouth was full of some nasty looking teeth, but I ate it. I offered the tip to one of the students, Elias, who ate it and then I ate my piece. (tastes like rubbery mutton). Well, after awhile she comes by and says “Did anyone eat the eyeballs?” So, this time Elias scooped out one eyeball and ate it, and then scooped out the other one and offered it to me (tastes like mutton – but a little slimier). There were about 6 other volunteers sitting around marveling at our nerve – and possibly jealous that there weren’t enough eyeballs to go around. Well, after awhile we notice some activity going on at another table and we walk over to see Melba scooping out the brains and offering spoonfuls to those willing. Brains do NOT taste like mutton…. But I did have a spoonful. It was a fantastic night and I know my husband is going to be green with envy when he calls me tonight and I tell him about it. (By the way, I did buy a Namibian cell phone… mine won’t work here, but I can use the Namibian one to call home and text messages and they can call me).