Egumbo Lyandje (My House)

6 weeks now at site and I am finally feeling fully settled in and comfortable in my new house. In Owamboland the typical living arrangement is on a homestead. A homestead is essentially a walled cluster of huts and buildings where a family, and often extended family, will live. A traditional homestead consists of several mud and thatch huts walled in by either logs, sticks, or reeds. From what I understand, the tradition is that the men sleep in the huts nearest the entrance so that if an attack occurs the men can protect the women from being kidnapped. My homestead is instead semi-traditional. The compound is enclosed by a brick wall and instead of mud huts, brick and concrete buildings. However, it is arranged in a similar manner with the male houses nearest the entrance. Also in line with tradition, the homestead has a traditional wood or dung fired cooking area and a small building designed for pounding the millet into flour.

I essentially have my own house. However, there are other rooms in the house that are used by my host mother's grown children when they come and visit. My host mother, Meme Beata Akawa, lives in the main house by herself. I also share the homestead with a revolving line-up of children. There have been three consistent youngsters, Issak, Beata, and Kalinga who are all attending the local school. I am sure that young Issak is my host mother's grandson but I haven't figured out the relationship of the others yet. From time to time, it is not uncommon for other children to stop buy and spend a week or two. So, needless to say, it is an interesting and dynamic living situation, but it has been very enjoyable having the children around and a host mother who treats me like one of her own.

Besides the human inhabitants, there is a variety of animal life at the homestead. There are of course the goats, cows, pigs, chickens, cats, and one dog, which I am told is not ours, but despite that, it spends all of its time around the homestead. And now that the rain has come, our space has to be shared with several clumsy, softball-sized toads. Then there are the snakes... I am learning the art of snake tracking. Every couple of days a snake track has been appearing inside the homestead and thus far we have lost a couple of chickens. This is not taken lightly and each new snake track warrants a thorough investigation. Believe me, when I notice that there is only a single track coming in, with no track going out, I walk around a bit more cautiously. However, we are still to catch the sneaky critter.

Not quite the stereotypical PC mud hut that you might have expected me to be living in. My homestead is considered semi-traditional in that it is arranged in a traditional way but the buildings are not traditional huts. However, it is by no means luxury: there is no running water, no toilet, and when the rain pounds on my tin roof I am reminded of my time spent refueling jet aircraft.

This is my simple kitchen, certainly one of my favorite places to unwind. I am fully equipped with a gas stove and an electric fridge. As you can see, there are two stoves, but only one works, however the other one is being put to good use as a cupboard and counter-top. Cooking is becoming one of my favorite past-times and is a relaxing way to spend my down time.

All Owambo homesteads have a very important meeting place. This area, which is enclosed by logs, is near the entrance and is where any first-time visitor must go directly to after entering. The visitor must sit and wait until the home-owner comes to greet them. I was required to do this my first time visiting the homestead and at every other homestead I have visited since. Even though it may feel a little awkward sitting on a log by yourself in someone else's home, it feels distinctly African, and because if that, it is absolutely wonderful.

The Loo and all its glory. My house may not have indoor plumbing, but who needs indoor plumbing when you have such a charming place to come and take care of business. There are a few tricks to get the most out of the loo experience...despite the nonfunctional looking door, with the right amount of patience and brute strength, one can get the door to hang in such a way to provide a little bit of privacy... at least until the wind kicks up. I have also learned that it is good habit to give the can a couple kicks before sitting down just to make sure the resident gecko knows its time to vacate. I try not to think what else is down the hole.