We have class here?

Yesterday was the first of our internships and mine was intense. (hence why i'm procrasting by writing this blog). My internship is with the Labor research and resource institute. It does research for trade unions and the government on labor practices and what needs to be done to change them. Essentially it is a lobbyist firm and unfortunately they use Stata here.....bummer. Most of the people in the office are Dr's and got their PhD's from all over the world it's really impressive and they treat me as an equal! I'm by no means as smart as they are, but i guess I can try....I was sent home with homework and i'm meeting with one of the researchers tomorrow to go over plans for how to apply for grants it's crazy AND I'm writing executive summaries for them to synthesize their work NUTS. Besides that Namibia is a blast and so much sun!

Later

Only in Namibia

First let me start by saying I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to go on a diet after being in Africa. All they do is eat any type of carb and lots and lots of meat. For dinner we had sweet potatoes, rice, chicken, veggies, and rolls, SO MUCH FOOD! I don’t think I can eat much more meat. I’ve probably have had several chickens and cows since being here! Also Namibia has some intense hills! Denison’s got nothing on the city of Windhoek. (Hopefully this means I will be in some killer shape when I get home, but as of right now I can only go for about twenty-five minute). I better up that amount if I want to keep eating the way that I have.  This weekend was an adventure to say the least. On Friday we took a walking tour of katatura (the black township outside the city).  It’s a lot different then Soweto, comparatively it seems like Johannesburg/ Soweto are way more developed then Windhoek. I learned my lesson that there are definitely varying levels of third world and I have seen it first hand. The township is pretty impoverished because 52% of the country is unemployed, and Americans complain about unemployment rates rising. A lot of kids are also orphaned for many different reasons and are left in the care of a grandparent or sibling. A lot of houses in the township have outhouses where people poop in a hole and shower right next to it. Needless to say the home stay next week will be an experience. It also appears that katatura is not as friendly as Soweto.  There is A LOT more catcalling at women, but Windhoek feels a lot safer than jo’burg.  Despite their poverty the civil society is what keeps the country going. We visited so many non-profits the past couple days that make sure people get basic necessities. One of the places we visited on our tour was a church that has a community center attached to provide support groups for people living with aids and it also provides other social services.  The people giving us the tour were from young achievers; Young Achievers helps young kids stay motivated to eventually get out of poverty. With the President we talked about some of the problems they face running a non-profit.  Today we had our first house meeting (like a floor meeting) at the parliamentary gardens and on the way home we were in a rap video. White Americans are kind of an oddity, in the township we were asked to take pictures with people’s babies and today a relatively well-known rapper asked us to be in his music video! (CRAZY) I’m really excited to start work at my internship Monday which I believe is a non-profit it sounds like it will be a good fit and I will get to learn about the economic policies in the country and where the funding from the MDG’s is going. I really think this semester is going to be great and I’m going to learn so much!

Later,

Mary

The real world Namibia

16 strangers picked to live in a house………but really this is like the real world African style. We arrived in Windhoek yesterday and our house is INCREDIBLE. It’s more then anything I could have ever expected. All the staff members in the house are so nice and the women who cook our meals are so impressive. FRESH baked bread everyday! When we arrived the view was breathtaking will hills everywhere, no wonder the altitude is the same as Colorado and I saw baboons chilling on the side of the road, yes BABOONS! It was everything I could have ever wanted. Today we took a driving and walking tour of the city. Went to the white, coloured, and black parts of the city, including the informal settlements. Like in South Africa the people in the informal settlements do not have running water or electricity unlike the South Africans Namibians in informal settlements are isolated from the city. They are within the hills outside the city and taxis do not go close to their houses. Most kids wont see a computer until they are an adult and even then some never do. There are men who sit on the side of the road and are picked up if someone needs them to do work. Many of these men are illiterate and from the northern villages, they walk 50km every morning and every night and only make 2 dollars a day on a good day! This brings me to the real point of my blog today; the idea of poverty and what do people need instead of what they want?  In the past two days I have seen the poverty at its extremes, here in katatura (the township outside the city) they have an outhouse where they go to the bathroom in a hole(I will be staying here next week). Meanwhile I get to come back to this beautiful house in the city, have every form of technology imaginable, and not just one house but a summer house too. How is this fair? Are all these things necessary and what can I do to have an impact not only here but in the states too? These are the questions I have been asking myself all week and politicians/other members of civil society do everyday. Sadly I have not come up with an answer yet and only have a few ideas about the small impact I can make.  The internship I’m doing with the Labor research and resource institute should be helpful here. I will really get a chance to work within the community. At home I want to work towards policy action or work with a non-profit. Most importantly I want to make people(aka the people reading this) that no one should have to live the way some of the people I met live and people should develop a sense of an international community. Everyone should look at each other and not see a stranger but a brother or a sister because at the end of the day we all deserve the same basic necessities. It’s a little food for thought. Anyhoo on a lighter note, I’m pretty sure this experience will make me into a vegetarian I saw cows brains today and all the meat being chopped up also all we do is eat meat! Vegetarians do not survive in Africa! Also, I’m having to accept third world life even with internet no watching t.v. online, very little chance for video chat, and everything else moves very slow. Looks like I will be disconnected for awhile rough outing….. It will make me appreciate life in the states so much more, but if you have an iphone I can text you yay!

Later,

Mary

Last pumpkin spice latte and life in Soweto

I am going to try and update all of you on my first week in South Africa, but I only have 45 minutes and there is so much! First the flight was seventeen hours (I was impressed I survived). Before we left I had a pumpkin spice latte in the airport of course then once we landed it was just nice to be able to smell fresh air again. We left the airport for saint peter’s place to stay. Fun fact both Oliver Tambo and Desmond Tutu studied here. The first wee has been filled with museum visiting and listening to speakers. (I’m just going to talk about my favorites).  We visited Kliptown, which is the area of Soweto where the freedom charter was adopted and it is also one of the poorest areas of Soweto. The freedom charter states all citizens of South Africa should have basic necessities including education, water, and electricity, it also claims other things like how all South Africans deserve a right to own land and etc. In kliptown the government does not provide water, education, or electricity because it is privatized in this country. The people in kliptown do not have access to resources to get them out of poverty and all of them live in tin huts with open sewage surrounding their house. These are conditions that the poorest of Americans would not live in. South Africa is known for having one of the largest wealth disparities in the world and it becomes clear when in one part a person can see huge mansions and beamers and then travel forty five minutes and find people living in absolute squalor. After our tour of kliptown we talked to a scholar who studies South Africa’s political economy and he explained the problems within the ANC and how in a lot of ways the people have become hopeless and discouraged by their high unemployment rates, insufficient education, and government  corruption. He was my favorite speaker. The next day we met with members of the different political parties, no surprise the ANC could not answer our questions about how little they have done for the people. This day was my favorite because regardless of the country I could talk about political parties and elections in any country. The member of the DA explained to us the problems within the ANC and how they are trying to change things it was fascinating. It still amazes me how many large problems the country has that America does not or has worked to change because so much of the time we discuss how terrible things are in our country.  There are so many problems between race and wealth and after being here it is not surprising why blacks still hate whites and think they are rude. It appears as though whites have everything in this country and apartheid is not over. They have the nicer towns, malls, school system, and neighborhoods. Whites still refuse to go to the townships. This weekend we did a homestay in Soweto and I loved my family. We went to all different parts of Johannasburg and everywhere we went Elyse and I (who I did my stay with) were looked at funny for being in the townships and being with our family. Regardless, I loved them! The first night we were there we were given African names hers was Mpopo and mine was Neo both mean gift in Zulu. Our sister leoso knew English, Zulu, and Afrikaans. Most people here know four or five languages, here little brother Sandilla is learning English and he is only three! The primary language spoken in South Africa is Zulu because it is the largest ethnic group in the country. Our family was a Zulu family so we learned lots of new words and new names. Saturday morning we tried fat cakes that are kind of like doughnuts and they are delicious! We went to Naatal-Sprate, which is another township. We met our host mom’s extended family and everyone was surprised to see white Americans in the township we took pictures with everyone and when we went to the grocery store people were dared to say hi to me. In America seeing white and black people together would never be as big of a deal as it is here. While we were there I tried a chicken foot and had to bite off the nails. It didn’t taste that bad but it was a little too much for me to handle because it was mostly cartilage. After we went home we watched T.V (they watch a lot of American T.V.) Sunday we went to a funeral and it was HUGE! And they eat a lot, lots of meat and spicy food. They celebrate the person’s life with lots of songs. The girl who’s funeral we were attending died of HIV. Today we visited a school and  ours are much nicer and the kids had lots of questions for us. The biggest surprises have been how bad the race relations are. The second surprise is that their lives are very similar to ours and despite popular belief it is hard to get a gun and the crime is just as bad as any other city. When I told them I was from Chicago they said I hear its black dominated, there is lots of crime, and lots of drugs. Proving we all have misconceptions. The entire time I felt safe and the family and friends we met we so welcoming. Here everyone greets anyone that includes strangers. Random sidenote I’m getting a sweet tan already

Later

off to camp!

It's the night before I leave and it feels like I'm heading off to camp(again). I have the pre camp jitters because I'm not sure if I will have friends or contact with the outside world. After careful internet and facebook stalking it seems like everyone in my program is way cooler than me! Rough outing..... I'm a little nervous they may find my starbucks obsession and my two bags a little high maintenance. I'm hoping the green feather in my hair will throw them off. I can at least hope right? I'll have to mask my personality a bit at first introducing them to all of it at once is a bit much for anyone to handle. Just like the first day of camp I plan to go with my hair straightened, a semi presentable outfit on, and make-up despite the fact that a 17 hour plane ride will make me look disheveled, for the same reason  why I would go to camp the same way even though we took a swim test right away: First appearances are everything. Oh how I miss the days when going to Camp Edwards was like going a world away. I'm glad I've been in D.C going to ambassadors houses, monuments, and museums with kelly to distract me up until this point, I wish I could be distracted for a bit longer. I've made a list of the top ten things I will miss

1. pumpkin spice lattes 2. Facebook (all the time) 3. People understanding Thanksgiving 4. Chi town pizza (oh lou's how I love you) 5.Words with Friends 6. Bu crew bonding time 7. Eating food and not having diarrhea 8. Only sharing a room with one other person 9. Of course the Schaefer fam 10. All my denison friends. However, for those ten things there are a BIZILLION things I'm looking forward to! I was born ready to decolonize my mind.  speaking of decolonizing the mind check out this funny clip thirty seeconds in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWJGQQF6aCk

Sex and the City, Milkshakes, and bacon poptarts!

I’m finally in D.C, which is stop number one, with seven more to go over the next six months. I learned a lesson about traveling, which is I should probably screen the movies I decide to watch in the airport/ on the plane. I brought Sex and the City, and needless to say, although a great T.V. show, not a great traveling show. I’m pretty sure the older man sitting behind me at the gate was quite disturbed, and I felt embarrassed and put the screen down for the raunchier scenes. As I was walking to the gate I noticed a Johnny Rockets, I was so pleased! I don’t think I’ve had a Johnny Rockets shakes since I was little and would go to the mall with my dad for our daddy daughter dates. It was a great last milkshake to have before leaving the states, but unfortunately because it was an airport there was no jukebox playing to fully bring me into the fifties atmosphere.

            My first day in D.C. was a culinary event! First, we went to the Eastern Market neighborhood, which is really trendy, kind of like Lincoln Park in Chicago. We toured the market where there were lots of cool goodies and went to a local coffee shop for a cappuccino. After that we saw some really cool little boutiques, which had some great stuff, but unfortunately I couldn’t buy them because I’m saving the room in my suitcase for African souvenirs. We went to a place called the Tortilla Café for lunch and I had a yummy burrito and yucca (I didn’t know what that was either). It is like a sweet potato/regular french fry and was delicious. I felt really cool eating lunch there because after walking in we found out it was a local hotspot that was featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. Later we went to Ted’s bulletin, which is a cute little restaurant that has a fiftiesque/college dive kind of feel. They had BACON, yes, bacon, poptarts and are known for all their homemade poptarts. To be honest the bacon poptarts tasted a little funny. It was just too much for one bite. After the fabulous food it was time to head to the Smithsonian where we went to the American History Museum and the African Art Museum to get me ready for what I will see in Southern Africa. The American history museum was pretty cool it was interesting to look at the recent part of the “fighting for freedom” exhibit, which ends with the war with 9/11 and Afghanistan. One I can’t believe it’s been ten year since the day that young americans will remember as the first time they experienced a truly historical event (when the face of war and the idea of war changed forever.) and two it is difficult for any American to remember the horrific events that took place on that day. I also got to touch a peace of the Berlin wall and saw the American version of the end of the Cold War, little do most Americans know it was actually good old gorbey who ended the Cold War. At the African Art museum I made friends with one of the security guards who told me I had to move to D.C. and asked me how I felt about the current presidential race, only in D.C. would this happen. I ended my day perfectly with a trip to GEORGETOWN CUPCAKES where I had a SMORE cupcake (not surprising at all)  I loved it and wish I could eat them everyday. Needless to say I think I could live here in the future

Later, Mary

Packing!

I leave for D.C on Tuesday meaning this weekend I had to do all my packing this weekend! I can't believe all the things I had to leave behind, and all the "things" that make me feel at home. I don't know how I'm going to survive without all the little things that are usually on my desk or on my wall. More importantly how am I going to survive without all of my t-shirts! I realized I have an go. It's just so crazy and different. I just want to be there, but I'm excited to make a pit stop in D.C.
Later,
Mary