Arriving in Windhoek!

Before we knew it we were packing up our things and heading back to the airport. It was finally time to go to Namibia! For those of you who know me, you know how long I have waited for this moment. I have been talking about going to Namibia since the beginning of my freshmen year and have had my heart set on this trip for so long. It was a strange and exhilarating moment to finally feel the plane land, look outside, and realize I was finally here. This is real life!

We had to walk off the airplane on the runway and immediately the sun was beating down onto us. I could legitimately feel it just burning onto my arms and I walked along the hard concrete. We went through customs and got our visas which was a little stressful! Grumpy airport workers are no fun. I was the first to make it through though and I was basically jumping for joy. When will it actually hit me that I am living here for the next 4 months?

We loaded our luggage onto our van and were all silent as we gazed out the windows at the amazing scenery around us. I can't even explain how beautiful it was. Miles and miles of just green grass and blue skies and perfect clouds and huge mountains surrounding us as we drove to our house. It started to rain and it just smelled so good. I love the smell of rain and mixed with the fresh air and the trees it was a perfect moment.

Some of my first views of Namibia!

When we arrived at the house we were all giddy with excitement and immediately grabbed our luggage and ran to our rooms. I am living in a room with 4 other girls and we have awesome bunk beds and bright pink sheets (except mine which are an uncomfortable greenish yellow...). Our housing situation is that all 14 of us live in a huge house together. Its about 4 or 5 people to a bedroom and we have a huge living room, dining room, and a kitchen. Outside has a wonderful balcony and also an awesome patio and pool! We are so lucky and I immediately started to feel comfortable in this house. We unpacked and I finally began to feel a little more settled in which I definitely needed. We then took a driving tour around Windhoek which was very interesting. I was still just in awe that we were here and this was real.

The next day we did walking tours in smaller groups and I had the best day ever. My group had an awesome tour where we walked downtown into the craft center district. It was so perfect for me! It was an area of downtown with tons of craft stores and vendors selling hand made and fair trade jewelry and other beautiful crafts and things. I already bought a pair of earrings...whoops! We talked to the local store owners and discovered some places to hang out. We ate lunch at a cute cafe where I got an asparagus quiche and salad, so delicious. We also walked to somewhere called "Fruit and Veg City" which was basically a big grocery store but only with fresh fruits and veggies! They even had a delicious looking pastry shop too in the back so I will definitely be going back there. After the tour I really felt so many good vibes from this place and realized again how excited I really am to be living here. There is so much to see and I can't wait to explore more! The next day we took some tours of Katatura, the old Apartheid township of Windhoek, with a local tour group made up of all teenagers who live in the area. They took us to some of their favorite places around the township and my group visited the local radio station. We learned about some popular Namibian musical artists which I can post later and once I hear more of their music. It was really cool to meet some local people our age and share stories about our lives in different countries.

This morning I slept late and woke up to a quiet house. When a house with 14 people living in it is quiet it's such a strange feeling! I put my laundry in the washer and then took a shower. It is always so hot here you feel disgusting all the time. Showers aren't even worth it really because then you sweat the minute you get out. It is currently 95 degrees outside! Once my laundry was done, I hung it out on the clothes line. There is something so relaxing to me about doing laundry and hanging it on the line on a Sunday morning. For some reason I felt really peaceful then. I sat on the balcony and journaled for a little while eating my breakfast. Once more people came home/woke up we all packed picnic lunches and went down to a local park for our "Community Meeting" and lunch. We meet as a house once a week to discuss any problems we are having or just to hang out. It was a really nice park except for the fact that I got swarmed by bees. It was really unpleasant but I didn't get stung. They were kinda attacking our whole group which wasn't cool but we still had an enjoyable meeting. I really like this group and can't wait to grow closer with them. We played frisbee after until we couldn't take the heat anymore and trudged back home. We do so much walking here and it legitimately kills us because the heat. I got my first bad burn yesterday but have been very careful about sunscreen. I immediately jumped in the pool when we got back and have spent the rest of the day swimming and reading outside. I could definitely get used to this.

Sunday morning laundry

Our wonderful pool that seriously saves me from the heat

Tomorrow we go to our internships which I am super excited and nervous for! I am interning at the Namibian Women's Health Network and will write a post more about then soon too. School is starting now and then maybe I will stop feeling like I'm on vacation...