During this training period I have been living with a host family. They have taken me as one of their own and have really made my initial Namibian experiences enriching. I have been living with the Mbinda family, which is made up of father Franz, mother Ingrid, and three brothers, Guillermo (also known as Body Boy...I have no idea where the name comes from) who is 6, Emmanuel who is 10, and Henson who is 23. Like I previously mentioned, the family speaks Khoe Khoe and Afrikaans, both of which I have picked up very few words (or clicks) of unfortunately. As much as I would love to learn how to click, I find it very difficult to learn two languages simultaneously.
Despite being in Africa, living with the Mbindas hasn't seemed too different than living at home in the States, which of course has made for an easy transition into Namibian life. The house is a simple western style home in a nice neighborhood on the outskirts of Okahandja. Franz is a teacher at the local school and Ingrid mostly works from home sewing wedding dresses. When it comes to meals, nothing too out of the ordinary. Here, a meal is not a meal without meat. Meat is an important part of the Namibian diet and to eat a meal without it is unfathomable. The freezer is full of goat and mutton, which in my opinion, is not much of a culinary delight. Every time I open the freezer I am ominously reminded of the goat head waiting to be cooked. My host mother keeps telling (or maybe threatening) me that she is going to cook the goat head before I leave. I have been adamantly insisting that she should not go through the trouble. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the goat head is still frozen when I walk out of here.
The boys and I have a lot of fun together. We often hang around outside in the evenings playing tag with the neighbor kids, playing with strange insects, or looking for snakes. When we are not doing that we are sitting inside concentrating on an intense game of chess. I amazed at how well Emanuel can play and am even more amazed at how quickly Body Boy has been picking it up. The homestay experience would not be the same without them and they have provided me with as much entertainment as I have to them.
Body Boy and Emmanuel...always coming alive
when the camera is out
Calm streets of my fairly
western neighborhood
Hanging out with the kids
My simple Namibian home
3 comments:
Sounds like a great home to make your transition into African life. Does Afrikaans have clicks in it? Is Afrikaans widely spoken in the region?
So cool to hear about your interactions with the youth. I have a feeling those skills will serve you well in your placement.
Have any of the local girls taken an interest in you?
Thanks SO much for the postings G. They are an absolute pleasure to read.
Don't fear the goat head. (sung in tune with "don't fear the reaper...")
Wow GC! I can't believe you have already been gone for a couple of months! Time is going too quickly...
It sounds like you have made a good first adjustment!
The journalist in me has lots of questions:
So what are some of your favorite things about your time there so far?
What is the temperature like?
Is there a season when snakes settle down?
What is the most common form of transportation for folks in your new site?
What is the most common "job" or source of income for your site?
I guess, mostly, what do you think your life will entail? :)
Do you think you will return to the US during any of your breaks there?
And I always love to see more photos!
Wishing you all the best GC!!!!
Thanks for the comments and questions GH and Krista!
So Afrikaans does not have any clicks in it. It is languages of the Damara/Nama families (like KhoeKhoe)that have the clicks. Afrikaans is actually a spin-off of Dutch and German I believe. It sounds very much like German to me. It was Namibia's official language before independence. It is widely spoken here by just about everyone. It is also not uncommon to hear German being spoken by the older generation. The headman in my village is actually a fluent German speaker. Namibia has quite the colonization history.
Local girls...no more interest than usual GH.
Krista...yeah the two months has flown by. The next two years will go by quickly.
My favorite things so far have been learning the language and playing with the kids in the neighborhood. I have an amazing language instructor who has been a joy to learn from (and super patient) and it has been pretty exciting to progress in the language. The kids in any country are always a highlight. There is so much valuable energy that the kids have.
Temperatures have been very pleasant. Okahandja is above 5,000 feet so it stays comfortable. It can get cold during the night, enough so that I can see my breath in the morning. During the day it is probably in the 80's and sometimes in the 90's. I won't be so lucky at my site though...the forecast last week was predicting 110!
The snakes settle down during the winter (your summer). Once it warms up and the rains come they supposedly become more active.
Most common transport at my site is hitching a ride in the back of a truck. Vehicles pass few and far between so I think hitching a ride involves a lot of standing around in the sand and waiting for a truck to come. Hitchhiking is a common way to get around in Namibia, even on the highways.
Most common job at my site...tough to say, there are 13 teachers at my school, so that is a good chunk of the village. There are several shops selling basic goods and alcohol. There is a lot of cattle and goats as well...if people use them for income, I am not sure yet.
What will my life entail...I am not sure. I have a lot of ideas on what I will be doing and how I will be living, but those are only my ideas. A lot of what my life will entail will be shaped by the community and the school.
And it is not likely that I will be returning to the states during my service. It is a long and expensive journey back and there is a lot of stuff to see here in Namibia and in other Southern Africa countries. As much as I would love to see friends and family, it would be too difficult to come home.
Thanks again for great comments and questions...keep them coming. In Oshindonga, Tangi unene!
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