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...