Getting Caught in the Rain

Yesterday some colleagues and I went to the bridge that crosses Fish River about 20km from the village. We were hoping there would be some water to swim in since there has been some rain lately, but sadly, once we arrived, there was still not much water under the bridge. But we parked and enjoyed our food and drinks under the bridge anyway. It provided some nice shade and it was cool with the breeze. We then decided to walk down river some where there was about thigh deep water. This part of the river is really beautiful. On one side there are cliffs and it was really nice to walk around on the river bed. Then it started raining - and not just a little rain, but a downpour! But it was fun getting caught in the rain. We climbed up on the cliff side a little to try to block some of the rain, and I found a little spot where at least my head was covered from the rain. It was nice being in the rain. Then rocks started falling from the top of the cliff side! I was a little nervous, but they were mostly just small stones. Also, a small water fall started right beside me. It was a little bit of dirty water, but it still was really cool. After the rain let up some, we walked a little further down river and started seeing all kinds of water falls. It was so beautiful. I love water falls, so it made my day! Afterwards we walked back to the bridge, but on the way there were two large water falls. I was a little nervous having to pass them, but although the water was moving fast, it wasn't very deep, so it was okay to pass. At the spot closes to the bridge we all decided to play under the water fall for a bit. It was so much fun! I'm so glad we planned this trip and I hope that more are planned throughout the year!

Selling Grapes

This first week back in Tses, the power and water were shut off at the hostel. Thankfully I have a wonderful colleague Cooper who let me stay at his house. I’ve been able to cook some American dishes for everyone such as chicken salad and egg salad. And then I attempted my first Namibian meal consisting of goat meat in a sauce served with pasta. I was very pleased with how it turned out.

This past weekend I got to be an assistant in selling grapes around the village. Cooper’s father brought grapes from Noordeower (at the border of South Africa) and we went around selling them. It gave me an opportunity to see Soutputz which is the location across the main highway where many of my learners’ families live. Even though it’s close to the main highway, this area is remote and very rural. Most people live in metal shack type homes. I don’t know how they survive with this heat! But as we drove around, you could see how everyone just sits outside in the shade. Many were very happy to have fruit being sold and asked that we please bring sweet melons (cantaloupes) and watermelon next time. I practice all my greetings at each place and met so many new people. I wish I would have brought my camera with me because it would have been nice to document this experience…but sometimes it’s nice to just be in the moment too.

Swakopmund Marathon

The last weekend in September of 2011 there was a marathon that starts in Walvis Bay and goes along the coast to finish in Swakopmund. I was able to chaperon four of my learners who participated in the school age relay marathon race. We traveled on a government bus with all the Karas region runners and chaperones. It was a full bus! We arrived late in Walvis Bay and registered the runners and ate some dinner provided by the sponsors. Then we all went to a school where we would be sleeping for the next two nights. Our whole bus load – plus another school group or two – were all put into the auditorium of a school. They gave us mattresses and we all found our space in room. The next morning we woke up early to get ready for the race. At the start line I ran into many other volunteers that were running the marathon, half marathon, or were supporting other runners. The race for the school learners is each learner runs about 10km each. When the race started, our first runner Jesaya was pushing his way to the front right at the beginning! These boys were determined to win!

I was able to take the bus with all the learners that were at the halfway point of the race. I couldn’t believe that some of the people running the whole marathon alone were already crossing the finish line at about an hour into the race! They are fast! We waited and then the third learner to come into this point was Ricky – our second runner on our team! I was so excited to see the exchange between him and Johannes and to know that we were in third place at the halfway point. They really are fast – even running with bare feet! I saw a few more volunteers cross and switch at the half way point and then was lucky to find someone who gave a lift to the finish line. It was perfect timing because I was able to see Gregorius crossing the finish line! We came in second overall finishing in 2:26:39. The boys received metals and backpacks and the school received N$3000 to go towards school activities.

After the race we had some fun taking photos around Swakopmund. And then I took them to KFC for lunch. I had heard that the year before they complained about being hungry so I tried my best to keep them fed! The next day we loaded the bus and went back to Tses. We stopped in Windhoek for a few errands for others and had more fun with the camera. Below are some of my favorite pictures from all the photos:

Happy New Year - CAPE TOWN

This has been a very wonderful holiday – I was able to visit Texas and see all my family and friends. It was a long journey home – it took over 36 hrs of airport and airplane time! And a scare that I wasn’t going to get on a flight when Delta overbooked my flight and didn’t give me a seat. But all worked out and they gave me money compensation for my troubles. I arrived safely, but my luggage stayed behind for a few days. It was an early Christmas present when it arrived a few days later! It was wonderful to spend Christmas with my family. A couple of funny coming back to America things that happened – I went to use the toilet at a restaurant and when I finished and stood up, I was surprised by the automatic flush! Another funny – and sometimes scary moments were when I wasn’t sure the car was on the right side of the road…this did not happen when I was driving, but when others were driving.
On my way back to Namibia, I decided to make a stop in Cape Town to celebrate New Year’s. I made it to Cape Town after only 24 hrs of airport and airplane time this time around. It was a relaxing few days in Cape Town and I had a lot of fun. Thankfully a lot of other volunteers were there too so it was fun catching up. The only downside was I had so much luggage returning that it was a pain to get from the airport and to the backpackers and from the backpackers to the bus stop and from the bus stop to the taxi and from the taxi to Becky’s flat and from Becky’s flat to another taxi that finally got me back to Tses!
While I was in Cape Town I visited Table Mountain. I did not climb because, 1) I’m not the most experience hiker and 2) I’m really out of shape – not to mention all the weight I gained eating all my favorite foods in America! A group of us planned to take the cable car up to the top, but because the winds were so high, they closed it down. So we just looked around and took some pictures and then went to hike around Signal Hill – a much easier hike. There were a few times during my visit that I was reminded of Rio de Janeiro and being up at the base of Table Mountain was one of those times.

31 Dec was two volunteers birthday so we went out to celebrate by eating family style at an Ethiopian restaurant. The food was soo good! The meal included an appetizer, meal (shown below) with eight different dishes, dessert and coffee (traditional style). It was all very delicious and a really fun time.

After dinner we went out for New Year’s celebration and brought in the New Year at this place called Bob’s on Longstreet. Longstreet was packed! I was expecting it to be a mess the next day, but the city did a great job of quickly cleaning everything up.
On New Year’s Day a group of us went to Camp’s Bay – one of the many beaches in Cape Town. Again, I was reminded of Rio. It seems like everyone goes to the beach on New Year’s Day because it was packed with families! The water was FREEZING! And the waves were really large some of the time. It was a nice relaxing day.

The next day we went on a wine tour through Wine Flys. It was a really fun tour and the owner was on our tour making a video for their facebook page. We had a great tour guide and having the owner on board was a bonus. We went to four vineyards and a restaurant. One of the vineyards also specialized in cheese and had a cheese tasting section. These cheeses were amazing! My favorite was a cheese that was 70% goats milk and 30% cows. They served it with a balsamic glaze and it was just amazing. All the wines were so good too. The whole day was so much fun. During the tour they gave us a question paper to fill out to try to win a special prize. We almost won, but ended up in second! The prize was a bottle of wine that was bottled like a bottle of beer…I’ll just have to look for one myself and purchase it some other time! There are so many vineyards in Stellenbosch – hectares and hectares. It’s so beautiful, all these valleys with green vines of grapes and mountains coming up everywhere. If you ever go to Cape Town – take time to go on a wine tour!

The last full day was spent at the Waterfront. There are multiple malls and shops. It was a beautiful day so it was great just walking around and people watching. At the Craft and Wellness Center I found a really cool booth. There is an organization that takes used tea bags and makes art out of them. They take the bags and open them to empty the tea leaves and then iron the bags flat. Next they paint different designs on the tea bags and then use those painted bags to make different crafts such as stationary, wall hangings, etc. I bought a pair of wall hangings – it was nice to find something unique to remind me of my time in Cape Town.

The next day we started our 16 hr bus ride back to Keetmanshoop. It was a long ride, but I was happy to be back in Namibia and was excited to get back to site the next day.

Now I’m back in Tses and have had a few days to rest before the school year starts.