A puppy named GAN GANS

Monday I went to my internship at Friendly Haven and a puppy squirmed through the gate, a little itsy bitsy guy. He was all messy and covered in dirt and so so cute, so we named him Gan Gans which is Damara Nama for Thank you. He is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen, and clearly too little to take care of himself, and the shelter couldn't keep him... So, naturally I went against CGE house rules, and brought him home! We snuck him in and took care of him for the night (after I had a colleague who has veterinary training give him a once over.)

He was so fun, and cute, and everyone had so much fun playing with him. But we knew we couldn't keep him, so we took him to the SPCA yesterday, where they told us he had worms, and ticks, and needed to stay there to get medical treatment. So, we left him with them to get better and hopefully to get adopted! I was sad to leave him, but they promised to call when he gets adopted, and they said we could visit him too!!

It was fun while it lasted!

Me vs Africa take two...

It seems that I always lose. We went to the South of Namibia last weekend, to meet with different NGOs and campsite managers- We stayed at a government, private, and community campsite. The weekend was really fun, we pitched our own tents, cooked our food over the fire, ad slept on the rock hard ground. It was nice to be traveling again, but by the end of the weekend I aged about 25 years, sleeping on the ground did not do good things for me. Nothing too exciting happened-then we returned back north, (in the meantime I did read the Kite Runner which was amazing) Anyway on our first dat back it was business as usual, back to my internship. On the way home the taxi I was in got pulled over by a cop and refused to show him his license. Then the cop called for reinforcements and told the driver he was going to arrest him. I was literally cracking up, watching the guy argue with the cop and the cop was losing it, it was insane. Then after several minutes of their bantering all the passengers decided to jump ship, so my friend and I did the same. We spent the rest of the day cutting quilt squares without any of the proper tools, and making christmas cards which is clearly my specialty. 

Then tuesday was the hour of power- Which is an hour spent in the pool swimming, to raise awareness and funds for Sarcoma research, in honor of Ted Mullin. My friend Catherine's family started the hour of power after losing her brother Ted to Sarcoma. So, we had a CGE Namibian Amphibian hour of power team. Almost all of us were there and it was really nice, everyone had a lot of fun, until I began throwing up about halfway through. `Little did I know that was only the beginning. Within an hour I was literally doing nothing but throwing up.  Fast forward to that night, can't keep water down, take a trip to the hospital. We went to a really nice private hospital in a nice part of windhoek and they saw me right away (and charged me an arm and a leg too). Anyway, I was sick from tuesday until today, and now finally I can eat real food, and get dressed and do something other than just watching movies. 

So that was my crazy week, where Africa definitely kicked my butt. 

Adventures in Zambia and Zimbabwe

After leaving the Refugee camp we went a bit further up north (like an hour or so) to where the nearest paved road was - I have a new appreciation for tar- and ten of us were dropped off at a gas station, around 4 o'clock to wait for our 10 pm bus to Zambia. After killing an inordinate amount of time we finally boarded our 16 hour bus to Victoria Falls Zambia. It was a very rough start, involving a truly Namibian queue, which is a total mass of people pushing and shoving. Once we did finally get onto the bus there were almost no seats. I ended up next to a mom with a small child (or large baby) on her lap, which is code word for... a mother taking up her seat and part of mine, with a baby kicking me, and bottles being stored in the small of my back, bags piled up so my chin and knees were abnormally close- and the general feeling of misery that would accompany this inhuman position I was in for 4 hours. Finally the bus cleared out and I switched to sit with a friend- while the seats were still insanely small, it was slightly more comfortable having no personal space with a friend over a stranger, and at least friends can be used as pillows!!!

Eventually (what seemed like eons later) we arrived in Zambia, went through customs, got our visas and stamps in our passports, and within a few hours we were in the town of Victoria Falls. Our hostel was absolutely gorgeous, the nicest backpacker's I have ever stayed at! There were mango trees, and a pool, a bar, two separate comfy pillow areas, some hammocks, and many extremely well built kayakers from all over the world.

The first day we just hung around the hostel and walked around town. I went to the ATM and i was a millionaire- I took out 1 million kwachas (zambian currency) and still had millions left in the bank- It was a great feeling!!!! The next day we went to see Victoria Falls, hiked on top of the falls where water covers during rainy season but since it is dry season we were literally at the top of the falls walking along the edge. I even climbed down the falls a bit and took some pictures with a small water fall!! (Probably not the safest-sorry mom- but I survived!)

The next day we went to Zimbabwe to see the falls from the other side. The Zimbabwe side has much more water this time of year, so we got to see the larger falls and get soaking wet from all the mist. In addition, we got to see the rain-forest that exists only immediately across from the falls, because of the amount of mist. With the rain-forest came baboons. This was quite exciting at first, until one went ape shit- literally- and attacked a woman, try to steal her bag, and then ran around and charged at us!! After hiking around the falls we walked around the town of Livingstone. There were a lot of craft shops and at one I found a ceramic mezuzah with a giraffe on it. But because Zim switched to the US dollar and we were in a tourist town everything was pretty expensive. 

After a day in Zim we headed back to Zambia and made plans for the rest of our trip. Most of the group left on Wednesday but I stayed with a couple others to do more activities. We took micro-light flights over the falls, which were essentially hang-gliders with engines, that hold two people. It was so amazing, and slightly terrifying, but it was the best view of the falls you could possibly have. We also saw hippos, a heard of elephants, crocodiles, and a giraffe. Then we went to a crocodile farm, and on the way we literally drove past a heard of elephants. Later that day I went with a friend to the Devil's armchair, which is a pool at the top of the waterfall where the water is rushing down, but there is a ledge that prevents you from being washed over- this was possibly the coolest thing I have ever done in my life. The next day we went horse back riding along the Zambezi River which was lots of fun and pretty relaxing until my horse went crazy and almost fell off a steep ledge into the water and I jumped off to save myself and landed directly on my tailbone, which is still killing me a week later!!! Not to mention I jumped off, landed ungracefully on my butt, and then was in so much pain I was crying hysterically and rolling around in the elephant poop I fell into. Not my finest moment, that is for sure. But on a happier note I was within ten feet of a baby giraffe and a heard of water buffalo. To make this insane day that much better, after horseback riding we went on a safari cruise with free alcohol. We saw lots of animals, and had a a little bit of wine. There must have been something wrong with the South African wine we consumed because within twenty minutes of returning from the cruise everyone that had wine (1 glass-4 glasses) was throwing up. I guess I was extra sensitive, because I didn't have any more than I normally have on passover and yet I threw up about twenty times in 6 hours. This was clearly the only way to perfect my already ridiculous day of pain!! I spent the next day recovering, and hanging around the hostel with other travelers. Then spent saturday shopping for gifts at the marketplace and walking around Livingstone. By Sunday I was ready to come back to Windhoek but I would have done just about anything not to board that awful bus again. However, there was no choice, so we got on the bus for 20 hours of semi paved, unlit roads, crammed with people, that went from excruciatingly hot to ridiculously cold. I survived, despite the remnants of my horse injury, and at 7:30 am on monday morning we arrived in Windhoek. By 10 I was at my internship for a full day of work-needless to say it was brutal!

The miserable 36 hours total spent on the bus were totally worth it because Victoria Falls is the most amazing place I have ever seen, I enjoyed it almost as much as I love visiting Israel! Which is obviously saying something. Now that I'm back in Windhoek though it is time to get to work, we have about 8 assignments at least in the next 4 weeks!! 

The North

After a week at the rural homestay we left to drive further North. We did two days of Game Drives through Etosha- where essentially we drive in our busses through the park and stop a lot to take a million pictures. We saw lions, giraffes, elephants, two rhinos (one was dead), zebras, peacocks, warthogs, water buffalo, basically almost everything.  We even saw a dead giraffe and the lions that had eaten it were resting under a tree right next to it- it was crazy, disgusting, and smelly. While staying in Etosha we also got to visit a snake farm for a short demonstration on poisonous snakes- Then we drove further North, near the Angolan Border. We met with a few non-profit organizations like the red cross, and had a bunch of free time. We also went to visit a Dam on the border of Angola, where we got to hop over the border for a few minutes (I peed in Angola) and then we spent the rest of the morning rock climbing and hanging out at the Dam. We also visited an official border crossing as well, but we didn't have visas so we stayed in Namibia and looked at Angola. While we didn't really do much in the North it was pretty great because we stayed in gorgeous guesthouses with TV and air conditioning-so we were all happy!!! 

On the drive back down we stopped at a refugee camp, which I was very excited about. I requested at the beginning of the semester to arrange a visit for myself and any of my interested classmates to go to a camp, but in the end the director arranged for all of us to visit one in the north. We went to Osire which is a camp predominantly for Angolan refugees, but it also houses refugees from the DRC, Sierra Leone, Liberia etc. In terms of refugee camps it is relatively well established and has been around since the 90's- the school has been around since early 2000. We met with teachers at the school there who are all refugees and they talked to us about their lives there. They told us that being a teacher was one of the few jobs available for refugees within the camp and that refugees are restricted from leaving the camp regularly and can mostly only leave on day permits that can be difficult to obtain frequently. The teachers expressed a general sense of hopelessness about the lack of opportunity in the camps. We were also informed that their food rations had been cut in half and the UNHCR has been talking about shutting down the camp.

I was particularly taken aback by the dis-empowerment that took place by being preventing from making a living and relying solely on handouts from the UN and the government. It was so frustrating to talk to people who want to work and make a living and just have no way of doing so.  As sad as I was from this trip I was really happy that I had the opportunity to see firsthand such a controversial establishment that I have spent so much time learning and caring about.

Rural Homestay

The past three weeks have been so busy I can barely remember where to start... I'll go in order, but three weeks ago feels like a VERY long time since so much has happened. We left for the north and after a delayed start (CGE runs on a different time zone, its late even compared to Africa time...which is even later than Jewish time!) we were dropped off with our homestay families on their farms. They threw me out of the car with a first aid kit, a malaria net, and some food and before I knew what had happened I was alone with a new family, no electricity, or running water, staying for a week with them in their dung hut. Needless to say I was totally freaked out-not to mention the language difference. After four crash courses in Damara (a click language) I felt entirely unprepared for even saying hello nonetheless having a meaningful conversation.But by the end of the week I became fluent enough for
-Hello
-Hi How are you
-I'm good, you?
-Good, thank you!
haha, But to say fluent even for this would be a stretch because Iwould often respond to hello with "I'm fine, and you?" I guess clicklanguages are just not my forte-which isn not surprising considering Spanish is difficult for me. So, anyway life in rural Namibia was quite different than anything I expected. My host family shared their one bedroom hut with me- The mom and youngest son in one cot, me in the other- the other two kids were at school in town all week and did not come home until my last night there.The farm I stayed on is a government (communal) farm, so there were several other farm houses in walking distance that were housing my classmates. Most of the families had vegetable gardens, and livestock and or relatives working in the city. My hosts didn't have livestock on their immediate property but they did have some staying elsewhere on the farm. As for the gardens, those who don't already have them are reluctant to start them because their farm has been frequented by a herd of elephants recently and they have been destroying the gardens as well as property (and killing
people!). This tidbit was kindly shared with me before I ventured out to the "toilet" for the first time (as in before I left to take a walk, hop the fence, and pee in the bush as it is called here).
However, no elephants while I was visiting. Anyway, Life on the Farm: We woke up and started a fire, while water was boiling for tea and coffee I went out back to the tap and washed up. Then we had breakfast sitting around the fire. After breakfast we hung around a bit, then visited with other families on the farm and relatives. One day we got to go milk the cows, another I got to go play with baby goats. Then we would cook lunch over the fire and eat outside. After lunch is nap time til about 4 because it is too hot to think, and its practically too hot to breathe. So we just sit around in the shade and nap (it is also too hot to be inside the house because the roof is tin which makes it hotter) Then after the heat lessens a bit back to hanging out with the others, taking donkey cart rides, and walking around the farm. Then its dinner around the fire again, a bit of chatting til dark, and then to bed around 8- reading by the candle til 9 and going to sleep (or for me: Covering myself in bug spray and wrestling with my mosquito net for hours on end)
Clearly, life on the farm was very different from anything I've ever experienced before. It was much slower and more relaxed. I really had no sense of time at all, everyone just walks over and meets up instead of picking definite times for getting together. I enjoyed having the free time, and had some interesting political discussions with my mostly Herero and Damara hosts about the predominantly Oshivambo government and upcoming elections. It was difficult to adjust to the different pace of life as well as different culture and attitudes towards parenting and care for animals. But in the end I had a lot of fun, and learned a lot!

1 first aid kit, 1 needle set, 1 snake bite kit, and loads of medicine

That is what it takes for me to be ready for 5 days on a farm in rural Northern Namibia. That, and as much clothing as I could possibly fit into my hiking back pack!

In an hour we are driving 5 hours to damaraland, where we will be going separately to stay with families. After a week there we will travel to Etosha Game park, and an environmental center up north, and have several educational lectures for another week. Then after stopping in at a refugee camp (I wonder who was pushing that one...) I'll be headed off to Victoria Falls in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Hopefully I can post between now and then- But if not, I'll return the last week in October- And HAPPY BIRTHDAY Tess, and Shira (in chronological order) Love you both and wish I was around to call... but this will have to do.

Can't wait to hear from everyone when I get back, and catch up on everything I missed!

Yom Kippur in Namibia

Yesterday after we returned from Swakop we had about 4 hours until Yom Kippur began. Naturally as soon as we arrived I bolted for the washing machine (only about 3 loads fit on the line outside, so you gotta get there before there is no space to dry your clothes) after that I needed to swim because I was so hot and sweaty from the 4 hour bus ride in sweltering heat all smushed together and asleep. Before I even knew what happened it was time for dinner, and then we found out dinner was soup. Well, soup just would not do, not to fill us up for over 24 hours. So, Me lizzy and leigh (the other two jews) decided to go out to eat on a sunday evening in a 95% christian country...clearly that was leading to disappointment. The only place opened was SPUR. Spur is a really tacky tex-mex/american food joint- it's logo is an Indian (Native American) CHIEF in full headdress... the whole place is so cheesy, and a bit gross, and I legitimately freaked out when we realized it was the only place open. I yelled at god... literally. I Said "If I have to eat my freaking dinner here I am going to eat a cheese burger before services!!!!!" and then we turned the corner to find a little cafe that was closed, but the owner offered to open it for us, and the cook reopened the kitchen for us! And they were so sweet and rushed around to feed us before sunset, they were amazing... So, even though eggs and cheese on toast are not ideal for starting the fast, it was better than the alternative. 

Then we went to services, which were the same as always, filled with secular and reform jews in jeans, with two orthodox guys leading, no singing, no kavannah/ruach, but everyone is very sweet and friendly which makes up for it. 

We met this very cool american lady who founded Catholic Aids Action, and does really interesting non-profit work in Namibia. She drove us home in her classic volkswagen BEATLE, with hand painted green and blue swirls all around the border... coolest car EVER and a super interesting woman. She also drove us home today and told us about the revolution she staged at shul where all the women sat downstairs during services, in the mens section, one time. We had an interesting discussion about how to make services more bareable, she told me  to be as defiant as possible and to stage my own revolution... I may just try to get a women's service together to sing carlebach tunes instead of chanting!!!

Now the fast is over, I broke at the shul and again when I came back to the house! I still mss bagels (preferably salt) and lox with cream cheese, but I'll survive.

All my friends here were super supportive and helpful throughout the day, and when I returned from services my roommate made me a card for the new year with candy!!!!! It was so sweet. So, as difficult as it may be to be away for the holidays it was an overall positive experience, and I'm glad I got to see the holidays in another part of the world!

Swakopmund

On Wednesday after internships we drove to swakop- on the west coast of Namibia. It was a LONG drive, like 3 and a half hours! I slept the entire drive with my head in anna's lap, and my feet up in the air against the wall of the bus. By the time we got there it was late so we went straight to dinner at this fancy lighthouse restaurant place, and CGE covered our meals! Then we went to where we were staying, these cute little pink A frame bungalows with 6 people per bungalow (we nicknamed ours the fungalow)! Then on thursday we drove to Walvis Bay which is the main port in Namibia and was ranked the safest port in Africa. We had a speaker explain the economic importance of Walvis Bay, we went to a fish factory and got a tour, and we toured an Export Processing Zone and had a speaker about EPZs. 

Export Processing Zones exist around the world and are also quite controversial. Essentially, in attempts to attract foreign investment and transnational corporations to a country the government will allow for EPZs: this means traditionally that there is a barbed wire/fenced in area that is considered an entity unto itself, apart from the country, therefore the company does not need to pay taxes and can avoid minimum wages. In addition, some EPZs have noted  only been known to be sweatshops, with poor working conditions, low wages, and banned unions, they have also imported foreign workers to EPZs to work for even lower wages. The EPZs in Namibia are not quite the same as the image I had painted. There are no fences or barbed wire, they are EPZs on paper only and not physically separated from the rest of the country. EPZs are all over Namibia, depending on where they get their materials from or where they send their final products. Because of the Harbor there are many EPZs in Walvis Bay. EPZs in Namibia are also forced to hire Namibian workers, so Namibia can benefit from their presence. They are still tax exempt, and there is no minimum wage for EPZs to avoid because Namibia does not have one- however the wages are considered before the EPZ is accepted and allowed to set up shop in Namibia. The EPZs are also Unionized. 

However this is still controversial because these large tax free corporations are saving money in their large scale operations and perhaps preventing local businesses from flourishing. On the other hand they are training locals who have in the past branched off and started their own smaller businesses in the same field. 

So after the discussion about EPZs we went to a granite manufacturer, which was pretty cool and full of beautiful huge slabs of granite (which is essentially tie dyed rock!)

Then we climbed up dune 7 which is 100 Kilometers and insanely steep. 

On Saturday I went paragliding, but the wind only cooperated for a few minutes, so I only got to fly for 45 seconds- but it was really fun while it lasted!

Now it's back to Windhoek for a week before our next trip!

Rosh Hashanah in Namibia

On Friday Saturday and Sunday I attended services at the Windhoek hebrew congregation. Friday night was "packed" between 25-30 women and around 20 men. I got to see the Israeli families I had shabbos dinner with two weeks ago, and exchanged contact information with them. There was a dinner after services and we ate with this cute older couple and their mother who is 85 and quite the character. After dinner they drove us home because they said it was not safe for two beautiful young girls like us to take a cab home. Then they invited us to a braai (BBQ) and told me they would get kosher chops! HaHaHa they were beyond adorable. Then saturday services ended around 12:30 and the lunch after was MEAT. I mean, no kosher brisket or anything, and nothing that compares to grandmas sweet potato pie with marshmallows!! Also, the matzoh balls were hard and sticky, not light and fluffy... pretty disappointing. On Sunday I brought a few of the non-jews I live with to services as well, to hear the shofar and sort of just see what we do. They were quite confused to say the least. Not to mention there were two chabad yeshiva students (not rabbis) there to lead services, which TOTALLY added to the experience!

Also this weekend I went to a braai at this dam outside of the city. It was gorgeous and super fun. Everyone started drinking around 10 AM (not me I was at services!) and basically kept at it into the night (I left after sunset). But, it was really cool, there were tons of people and food and all sorts of random stuff going on in addition to the amazing water/mountain scenery.

At my internship this week we worked on banners to hang up at the windhoek show booth where we will be selling the sewing projects of the women at the shelter. And we dyed towels, which means my hands are crazy bright blue.

Then today I wrote a paper at 6 am, and then went to parliament and took pictures in the prime ministers seat. 

Tomorrow we leave for Swakop, where I'll be para-gliding and sand-boarding !!!

First Full Week Living at the house

So this week was the first week where we had classes and were all living in the house together, and boy was it busy. I had to do a power point presentation in my internship class about my organization, a paper in history class about the urban home stay experience, and I have a paper  due tomorrow on my goals for my internship. 

I wrote my history paper on pre colonial, colonial, and post colonial tribal relations, essentially using German divide and rule tactics and South African apartheid policies to explain on going ethnic tensions, and tribal intolerance. There are several tribes in Namibia, the San, Oshivambo, Herero, Damara, Nama, Tswana, and a few others I can't remember. (As a side note we are learning Damara for our rural home stay, which is a super difficult click language!) So I talked a lot about how my encounters with Namibians of different backgrounds showed a gap in the tolerance and understanding  between people from different tribes. 

 Tomorrow I'll be going in an extra day for my internship because they want to have a meeting with me about helping ad creativity to a craft show they are participating in. After that Synagogue for the entire weekend! Can't wait...

Mural!

Yesterday we returned from our homestays and had a pizza party, went out to celebrate moving back into the house again, and then had a bonfire (where I was lifted up, carried over, and thrown into the pool)! I really enjoyed my homestay and loved the family I stayed with, but I missed all my housemates, and needed to get home to do some (actually very little) work. Then today I had my internship, and my friend and I started the murals we have been designing! I posted the pictures on facebook- Not only do the murals look great, but the kids actually helped us paint them, which was so fun! They really enjoyed it, and it made me so happy to see how excited and creative they were! We did 4 or the 5 murals we had already planned, and have one new mural that my supervisor just asked us to do. I'm very excited to finish the last mural, and see the entire finished garden, and move on to fixing the swing set and building a toy shelf! In other news I have two papers and a presentation due this week, but I've been putting off work thus far and really wish I didn't actually need to start. Plus, every time I try to work another bug flies in to the dungeon (my room, thats what we call it) and the bugs here are HUGE! Like ants on steroids, spiders the size of a silver dollar, mosquitoes the size of your fist! EWWWWW. Anyway that gets to be quite distracting... Clearly I'm roughing it here, living in the great outdoors, sort of not really (my bedroom opens to the outside so all the buggies get in) But the internet situation has proven to be unfortunate, seeing as whenever I try to skype it goes on the fritz. But to be honest, I'm not complaining, I still love the house, my housemates, and my roommate! 

Coming up: I'll be searching for a place to spend Rosh Hashanah, and trying to cope with going to services three days in a row without knowing anyone!!!! HaHa, It'll be an adventure, that's for sure! Wish me luck! 

Homestay in Windhoek

On Thursday I left for my homestay with a family in Windhoek. So far I've been having a great time, both parents work for the government, their daughter is 14 and their son is my age. They are super nice, and have been trying their very best to cook vegetarian food for me. Saturday the son took me all over town. We ran errands in town center, at the mall, then went to a football game (soccer) and then to a 21sy birthday party (still a big deal here, but not the same kind of 21st you are thinking of!) Then we went to the informal settlements to chexk out the bar he just started with a friend. Essentially its amidst a bunch of shacks, and there isn't running water or sanitation or anything. It is made of the same tin roofing material as the shacks but built slightly better, and is just a tiny one room bar. It was cute and nicer than I expected. I was the only woman there, and the only white person too. But I'm actually starting to get more used to that!
Then sunday we all slept in, did some homework, and went backto the CGE house to go swimming and hang out. Another girl brought her host family for a swim so we all hung out. And one of her host brothers is a 7th day adventist, so we talked about that- turns out they go to church on sundays!! He was thrilled when I told him I'm Jewish, and we talked a lot about it.
Then today I have my internship, I had a friend come to help with the mural but there still were no supplies so we just drew rough drafts for the 5 small murals we will do, and then hung out with the kids!

Leaving for the urban homestay

So tuesday we spent the day outside the city, by the gorgeous mountains, which we can see from the city! It was beautiful, and we spent the day playing silly group games and races and doing team building activities. It was super fun until we did the backwards egg races and I fell backwards into a pile of rocks. I was fine at the time, but later on I realized my neck was really hurting. To make a long story short it kept feeling worse so today I went to the doctor. I just pulled a muscle in my back and he gave me anti-inflammatory medicine to make it feel better until it heals. So, thats goods news I guess, nothing too serious other than my own stupidity. 

As for my internship, I went back yesterday and we had a meeting where I had a chance to propose the projects I'm interested in pursuing while I work there. They really appreciate my initiative, and the shelter manager told me I took what was in their hearts and put them into a plan of action. Anyway I so excited! I proposed to fix the swing set, organize all the toys, paint a huge mural in the garden, start composting, and involving clients in the sewing (income generating) projects. For example let kids decorate cloth and then have adults sew place-mats or quilts! Basically I can start with whatever I want and just get moving with it on Monday. So Monday I'm bringing one staff member from the house to consult with the shelter about composting, and I'm bringing another one of the students- he'll be helping me to design the mural and drawing it since I can't draw.

Today was the first day of class- History of racism and resistance in US and Namibia- It was ok, I think it will get more interesting, but to be honest I'm just not in the right mindset for school. And tonight is the start of our homestay in Katatura, which is a township, where we'll be staying for the next ten days! I'll fill you in on the family tomorrow when I get back to the house for class!

First day of Interning

Today I woke up at 6:45, thinking I would be up before most of my roommates.... Boy was I wrong! Every shower and toilet (and there are 6) was taken! After waiting OUTSIDE in my PJs, in the freezing morning air I had a FREEZING cold shower. Great way to start the day. A fridge full of whole milk (which doesn't do much for me seeing as I'm lactose intolerant), and only peanut butter and toast as an alternative to cereal. Again totally starting off on the right foot here. Then it is time to leave and the lunch foods are nowhere to be found. As we get out the door one of the cooks ran after us to tell us that the lunch packing station is set up. Same as yesterday, cheese sandwich. yum! Anyway I clearly had a terrible morning, but my internship is beyond awesome. It is a shelter for female victims of domestic abuse and their children, as well as for abused children. So obviously domestic abuse=not awesome at all. But the people that work there are great, and the kids living there are super sweet. Plus I'm going to be doing all these projects that I'm super excited about. They are starting a garden to cut down food costs so I want to see if I can start compost there, and I want to paint a mural on the walls around the garden. I will also be doing work on their income generating projects, and doing art with the kids, which I'm so looking forward to. I wish I could describe how intense this place is, the situations of those who come there seeking a haven, and the warmness of those who work there. But explaining just wouldn't do it justice. Anyway, I am really excited for all the amazing things I'm going to get to do while working there!!!

First Shabbos!

This past friday I went to the Windhoek Hebrew Congregation for Shabbat services. It is a short ten minute walk from my house, and is a cute little sort of hidden building that I walked past (on my way to the mall) several times without ever noticing it. Two friends from the house (one who is not jewish and one who identifies with Judaism on some levels) borrowed some frummy clothes, and came with me. We had no clue just HOW orthodox it would be so we prepared for the most, which was unnecessary. It seems to be a pretty modern orthodox shul, with about 40 members, 30 of which are Israelis here temporarily for the diamond industry mostly. There were 9 guys and 2 women (in addition to us) that came to services, so we didn't manage to make a minyan. the services were lead by an Israeli man filling in for the Hazzan who was out of town. Services were disappointingly short and to the point with almost no singing and definitely no Carlebach tunes!! Anyway that was sort of a let down, but maybe when the hazzan returns it will be better, or at least I really hope so! But the people were super nice, after services there was a mini oneg, and everyone was super nice to us! Two of the Israeli guys that were attending services invited the 3 of us to go back to one of their homes for dinner. The other two girls declined, and another of the men we met drove them to the house so they could meet up with our housemates to go out. I decided that shabbos dinner with real families would be fun, so I went! (Everyone at the shul new eachother, and the leader gave them directions as to how to get me back to where I live!) so it was totally fine. So, I went back to his beautiful home with an amazing view of the city, and met his family, and had a lovely dinner. They were so wonderful and kind! They fed me so much, and told me all the things I should do on my visit to Namibia, and they gave me a ride home. They were even nice enough to offer their phone numbers in case I needed anything, and the 15 year old daughter offered to give me her pink pepper spray! It was so nice! But, we managed to get lost on the way home, luckily a we were driving around we saw a group of kids standing outside of a bar, and I realized it was my friends, and I knew where we were! So, they dropped me there and I went out with my friends. We went out dancing, and had a blast! It was the most fun I've had in a while. So, all in all, a very fun and exciting first shabbos in Namibia!

NAMIBIA!!!

So we arrived in Namibia on Wednesday. The flight was only 2 hours, and again South African Air had amazing Kosher food, but they accidentally brought out too many so I had people from the group bringing me kosher meat! haha it was ridiculously good! Then on the way from the airport we saw baboons, it was very exciting!!! The house is pretty big, there are two girls rooms with 6 girls each, one with 5 girls, and mine with 2, and there are two boys rooms with 3 guys each. So I lucked out, and only have one roommate who I love and think is amazing! The room itself is an ok size, an L shape so we have separate spaces. The only downside is that it is attached to the house but not in the house, basically like a shed or closet that has a door to the outside but no door into the house. So I need to go outside to get into the house or to go to the bathroom, which is annoying but worth it for the extra space and privacy. We did a bit of sightseeing around windhoek and the township Katatura and the informal settlements. We had local kids our age take us around and it was really fun! We went to a local orphanage that receives no funding from the government and it is literally just a husband and wife taking care of orphaned children. I hope that throughout the semester I'll be able to go over and help out with things like writing grants, painting and hanging out with the kids! 

Pretoria

We went to the Mandela Museum in the morning before leaving jo'burg. The museum was his old matchbox house turned into a museum. Afterwards we went to Shaft 17, an old mine converted into a conference center/job training center. We then left for a long drive to pretoria, even though it isn't that far from Jo'burg, there is so much construction for the World cup, that rush hour traffic quadruples the time it takes to travel between the two main cities. In pretoria we went to the US embassy, and had a speaker- he told us about his job at the embassy and how it relates to the affairs of South Africa. It was super interesting and made me want to apply for an embassy internship for next summer maybe... We also wen to the Vortrekker museum, and had a speaker about afrikaaner identity. It was interesting to hear the white perspective of apartheid, and hear about the effects the post apartheid era has had on the afrikaaner community. 

SOWETO homestay

Friday August 21st

Today was the day we began our homestays in SOWETO (The south west township outside jo'burg, formerly where blacks were forced to live). The host mom for the weekens was Ntuntun and her son, age 13, was Mpumilelo. She was very much a free spirited, strong woman, raising her son on her own. They had a sort of small but nice home, and they cooked traditional foods from different backgrounds for us, such as spinach mashed potatoes, steamed pumpkin, and acha (a spicy mango dish). Although they are Zulu not all of their traditional foods were taken from the Zulu traditions. After dinner (where Ntuntun freaked out slightly because she did not have advanced warning that we were vegetarians, and she had no clue what to feed us--until we told her we would just stick to the veggie side dishes!) we sat around and talked for a while. Her friend who is a history teacher came over and grilled us on certain issues, such as Obama, racism in the US-why blacks (as they say here) are called African American, but whites are not called European Americans. The best I came up with was, I don't know I have nothing to do with it. Also, everyone was very curious to hear more about Judaism and Kashrut. After explaining a lot about it I was then grilled on the issues in Israel. Great. haha actually it was crazy and I was super uncomfortable but the other girl I was with and I just plugged along doing the best we could. Then we talked a lot about HIV/AIDS, the stigma surrounding being infected, and the importance of sex education. She proceeded to discuss condom usage with her son, and explain to us how guys are a big part of the HIV issue, because they have multiple partners (polygamy is legal here- The current President Zuma, who was accused of raping a woman also has four wives!- there are also many double standards about women being monogamous, and men being free to sleep around). Anyway talking to her was enlightening, and so was talking to her 25 year old brother (his Zulu name means example so everyone calls him E.G.) Anyway, he is a  police officer and has a child with the same woman he has been with for 7 years- but he told us that men are pigs, they cannot be trusted, that our boyfriends back home had probably all cheated on us, because that was just their nature, and we shouldn't get married or ever trust a man. This was surprising to hear, but it was reiterated throughout the weekend by men and women alike. After this conversation we talked a bit about Zulu culture and tradition and learned about parties with goat offerings to the ancestors and traditional African beer. 

Then on Saturday we went to one such house party and were able to try the African beer (which is brewed at home, has the texture of a smoothie and a bitter olive ish taste!) However most f the food was meat, so we stuck to the yummy biscuits and tea cookies which our host family just kept feeding to us!! Because we did not eat a "proper" meal one of her friends brought over a pasta and fish dish for us (since she really was at a loss as to what to cook for vegetarians!). The dish was amazing, and later on when we thanked her cooking for us she told is the ingredients, one of which was chicken broth, oooops. However this was pretty common, when we asked if something had meat in it, unless it was physically chunks of meat the answer was always no (for example gravy). So that was interesting. But this was the meal that was prepared especially for us, as our main course for the rest of the weekend, to be put with the veggie sides she made, so we just kept eating it and didn't say anything at all. Oh Well. I tried my best, which was hard because people bri (barbecue) a lot, and it always smells amazing. So, after the party we went to this cultural village place, where this traditional medicine man/artist/historian lived, and healed people, and made art to represent history. At least that's what I think it was. The pictures are really awesome. So, that was cool. Then we went home to rest a bit- we hung out with Mpumi, and I taught him how to make hemp bracelets, and we walked with him to the store, and helped him with the dishes. Then later we went out to a pub in SOWETO. We met up with another host group, so there four of us from the trip, our host mom and her niece plus one of her students who was hanging out with us. We did have fun, but I felt super awkward because people were staring at us, because we were the ONLY white people there!!! Oy. So that was a new experience for us. It was uncomfortable but not a huge deal. 

Then Sunday we were supposed to go to church, but we slept in til noon instead. Then Zen (the student/family friend) took us over to this big bri with a lot of the kids in the group and their host families. It was ok, nice to see everyone, but we decided to leave early to go do things around town. So we went to the mall to run errands. Here, at one of the stores I found a baby, just just learned to walk, still waddling, can barely say mama, little baby, ALL ALONE screaming and crying for her mother who was nowhere to be found. Eventually we found her mother who was too busy shopping to care for her kid, and then we left after zen scolded her for being irresponsible. In general there were lots of kids running around, unsupervised. When I asked her about it she said that maybe it is because there are so many teen pregnancies and young parents, that they are too busy worrying about going out and having fun, to really watch their kids- but that is just one opinion- So, after the mall we went to Pinyaza- a club - at around 5 on a sunday.... There were 3 new DJs playing so the place was packed, and they were charging 50 rand to get in, so we did what everyone else did and tailgated in the parking lot. There were hundreds of cars, and people just turned on their own music, drank their own beer, and danced in the field. It was super fun, and I had a great time- though again we were the only white people... So, some people would shout stuff at us like white girl, others would shout at our black friends/hosts why are you with white people, and others would come over to talk/shake hands/hug us, specifically because we were white. It was interesting, though at times uncomfortable, or hosts did a great job at shooing away creepy guys. In the end we found this group of guys dancing and they invited to come dance with them, so we hung out and danced for a while- also have a video to post of that, it was really a blast.  We got home for dinner and then said goodbye to zen. After hanging a bit more with mpumi we said our goodbyes because they were leaving early-before us- the next morning. They were very appreciative of our gifts and mpumi thanked us so many times, it was so sweet!!!! 

Basically that was three days in SOWETO.

Visiting the Democratic Alliance

Friday August 21st 

We met with a representative of the Democratic Alliance, the opposition party to the ANC (the party in power). She made many of us angry with her attitude towards the poor, she essentially said poor people should get jobs (disregarding root causes of the 40% unemployment rate) She also was extremely condescending towards traditional African beliefs and culture, and made it seem as if "they" (because she distinctly separated herself from africans) were part of the problem with the poor healthcare system, because they get ill as a result of not using modern medicine and relying on traditional healing. She also said that they need to break traditional culture in order to improve overall help. In all she was extremely offensive and patronizing, and made many of us upset and angry. It is easy to see why the ANC has remained in power so long, despite the fact that they haven't followed through with many of their promises, because their opposition is culturally insensitive and seen mostly as a white party, that would not represent the interests of the majority of black Africans.  

Catching up Jo'burg

Wow! It’s been a while! Basically, I didn’t have an adapter to charge my computer, and it died, then by the time I got an adapter we moved and I no longer had Internet. So, I'm in Namibia now, and will hopefully update about that later today after I finish catching up on South Africa!!

Wednesday August 19th
After the apartheid museum we had a speaker come talk to us about the economy of South Africa, and the difficulties SA faces. I learned a lot about the problems in SA such as high unemployment (over 40%) environmental degradation (from mining especially) and the economic segregation that still exists as a legacy of apartheid. We then went to a play called Ma Raven, and it was a very artistic representation of slavery in the French colonies. There were essentially four men doing modern and interpretive dance to different chants and music, in their underwear. It was very interesting, and very artsy, but not really my thing.

Thursday August 20th
We went to the office of the Anti-Privatization Forum. They spoke to us about their organization’s attempts to both lobby the government and mobilize grass roots campaigns to prevent and undo the privatization of previously government owned services such as water, electricity, transportation etc. They also work with women’s issues, and are branching out all over the country to provide support for likeminded nonprofit organizations.
Later we went to the Bruma Market. This is a local marketplace where people sell everything from food to crafts to electronics to soccer jerseys. After a yummy Indian curry lunch I bought a pair of earrings made out of banana leaves, and a few cool hand made dishes. The sales people were super aggressive, one even chased me about a block into another store to try to get me to buy a doll I was looking at. On the one hand I knew I should try to bargain because the prices were set high for tourists, but on the other hand I felt pretty guilty trying to get cheaper prices by 3-5$ (which is 20-40 Rand) when I know that amount of money would mean a lot more to them then it does to me.

Jo'burg day 3

Today we went to the apartheid museum, had two speakers, and saw a play called Ma Raven.

The museum was amazing, so beautiful, and artistically done! I think I heard that it was designed by the same guy who made the holocaust museum in DC.  Then the first speaker spoke about his part in the ANC throughout the end of apartheid til today! The next speaker talked about economic development in South Africa, the poverty in relation to apartheid, what has and for the most part has not changed, what needs to change, and what will happen in the future if South Africa does not become more equal. I will post notes about it tomorrow! And hopefully I'll upload pictures soon!

Jo'burg day 2/SOWETO day 2

Today we went to a semi-private catholic school in SOWETO. We would have been extremely disruptive to the classes, however it seemed that they weren't in the middle of classes when we arrived because there were very few teachers to be found. The kids were in their classes with workbooks but very noisy and not really doing much work. We broke off into groups and went from room to room and introduced ourselves and let the kids ask us questions, and we got to ask them questions as well. Talking with them about the US was really fun and it was interesting to see what they were interested in. 

They wanted to know...

-What we think of Obama

-If NY is really the city that never sleeps

-What the weather is like

-What we study at University

-What we thought of Michael Jackson dying

-At what age people normally get married

-What we thought of South Africa etc etc etc

It was amazing to talk to them, as they all live in SOWETO, and to find out their opinions on the South African Government, the 2010 World Cup,the education system, housing problems, and poverty. 

After hanging out and having fun at school we went to the Hector Peterson Museum. As I said yesterday he was killed in the 76 student uprising. His sister spoke with us and told us the story about how she saw her brother die. It was so hard to listen to, and so painful to hear her heartfelt story.  We then walked around the museum which had amazing photos of the uprising and information about the end of apartheid. I knew a lot of the things we discussed already, but to hear the stories first hand and to see the pictures was so disturbing. It was really eye opening and so sad, but I'm glad I was able to have that experience.

photos

http://picasaweb.google.com/Raroundtheworld/HomeAndJoburgDay1?authkey=Gv1sRgCLiAjOC6yOnBMA# 

Not sure this will work... but try... let me know!

Flight and Jo'burg day 1

Well the trip started off unfortunately eventful!!

We managed to get to the airport in good time, but the luggage line was crazy slow and I needed to go through it twice because my big bag was 16 pounds too heavy. So, I unpacked and repacked my bags in the middle of the restaurant we were eating lunch in. It was really great! HaHa but it worked out ok, and in the end I checked a 51 pound bag (I was one pound over but they didn't charge me!) and another 40 pound bag!

After that things went smoothly, my parents left and I went through security and met up with the rest of the group. We all hung out until we boarded the plane, and then we all went to sleep. I slept for the first six hours and last six hours, so I was only awake for the middle four hours and an hour stopover in Senegal (which was cool until we got sprayed with smelly anti-swine flu stuff)!! Also, the kosher food on the airplane was the best kosher food I've ever eaten on a plane!! And they accidentally ordered kosher food for the whole group, whoops!

Other than that, uneventful 16 hour ride to Jo'burg, and then I was jet lagged wide awake all night last night! 

But I somehow managed to get through the day today, where we had a brief overview of the history of apartheid South Africa, a tour of SOWETO (south western township of Jo'burg), Regina Mundi Church, Kliptown, and a mall!!

So, if you want a little history lesson I'll give a quick explanation of what I saw (promise to post pictures soon!) and what we learned!

Basically in 1652 a dutch guy came to capetown and really liked it, so he stayed and brought more friends along for a vacation, and then they stayed to make money in the good weather. And they liked it so much they never left. Then britain and the afrikaaners fought over South Africa (they realized there was gold in jo'burg)- so in the end, in 1910 they reached an agreement and they jointly controlled the Union of South Africa- Until 1948 when power was given to Afrikaaners. Then the National party took power and formed a system of institutionalized racism, apartheid. 

They required Africans to carry passbooks, get stamps to prove they were employed, enforced a curfew, and required them to live in randomly pre-designated "tribal homelands" that they often times had little or no connection to. The "tribal homelands" and passbook laws enabled he police force to separate families, as only males with jobs in the cities were allowed to reside in or around the cities in designated areas. In the 1950's the government increased the forceful removal of Africans from their homes, which enraged them enough to organize and protest. Then in 1960 there was a marched organized by women in sharpeville, and as a result the government banned organizations such as the African National Congress. 

Then in 1973 a law was passed that would force all schools to teach their students in Afrikaans rather than in their Tribal langauges. This was the cause of 1976 SOWETO student uprisings. During this uprising a boy named Hector Peterson was killed (will write more tomorrow when we meet his sister at the Hector Petersand on Museum) It was his death that helped to spread the student uprisings to other townships accross South Africa. The struggle between Africans and the apartheid system continued, and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu campaigned for sanctions against South Africa to help abolish Apartheid. 

In 1990 negotiations took place between the National Party and the ANC, and the first free and fair elections were held, and the ANC representative Nelson Mandela was elected as President. To try to create a new peaceful and just society the Truth and Reconciliation Committee was created. Essentially those who committed crimes during apartheid were granted amnesty if they admitted the full extent of their crimes to give closure to those who were effected.

After this history lesson we went to SOWETO - the south west township of Jo'burg- where Africans were allowed to live during apartheid, and is still predominantly african. Here, and in the Kliptown settlement we saw the reality of the post apartheid era. Our tour was guided by two residence of Kliptown, and they showed us the unfulfilled promises of the ANC. There are many shacks made of corrugated tin roofing materials, and they were not connected to sewage, running water, or electricity.

Then we went to Regina Mundi (Queen of The World)- a Catholic church where many ANC uprisings were planned. 

Going to Kliptown was an amazing experience. It was eye opening to see the way people live there, and how long they have been trying to get better living conditions from the government to no avail- Especially since there were power lines running around the settlement that provides power to other areas. 

Everyone was so friendly and nice to us, they let us take pictures of them, their houses, stores, stalls, taverns etc. I learned a lot about Black South Africans views of white South Africans, and how they perceive white South Africans views of them. 

Anyway I'll add photos either tonight or tomorrow tonight! Sorry this was so long, hope it wasn't too boring! 

 

Duduza dolls/Leaving in 9.5 hours

Hey!

So Josh and I are just finishing zipping up the last of my bags, which seemed to have multiplied since my last post! We also managed to squeeze in a bag of duduza dolls, to bring along with me. Check out the links, its a really cute idea and wonderful project which I am very happy to be helping with!

I will post pictures of the ones I bring and their ultimate owners!

Leaving on Saturday

Hey everyone (whoever may actually read this!)
As you all know I'm leaving for Africa- for the next four months- this Saturday!!!
So I've just been packing and unpacking and re-packing like crazy! I have one bag that weighs 43 pounds, and is beyond huge, and another which is so far un-weighed, but full of only toiletries and medicine.

So- typical of my life- this week has been spent not only doing last minute shopping- but going to the dentist four times, because I got a cavity filled (that was not hurting at ALL) and after getting it filled I was rendered unable to chew! So now that that is finally sorted out my CD drive in my computer breaks!!!

Hopefully the trip to Johannesburg, where we have a one week orientation and SOWETO home stay(http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/920/159/) will be slightly less eventful!
I hope you all have a great rest of summer and enjoy this coming fall, and continue to check out my blog, as I promise it will get more exciting once I'm actually in Africa!!