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