Hello All!
So it has been some time since I last wrote but lots has been going on. I cannot believe I have been here for a month already! Time is flying by and it is both exhilarating and scary. I want to make sure I am taking in every moment and doing everything I can because before I know it I will be back on that plane to the US....
Recently, we did another homestay but this time it was with a family in Windhoek and we were there for a whole week. I stayed with the Katjivena family in Pioneers Park, a very nice neighborhood in Windhoek. My family consisted of my dad Festus, my mom Hilda, my 23 year old brother Rejah, 21 year old sister Virua, and my 17 year old sister Etjo. When I pulled up to the house I was immediately greeted by a big friendly dog that jumped right into my arms as I stepped out of the car. I was already happy because I had really been missing my cats back home and wanted some animals at my homestay. When I walked through the gates to my surprise there was an adorable orange cat waiting for me! Obviously I was the happiest girl ever because if you know me, you know my love for cats. I was completely surprised yet again when the tiniest little puppy I have ever seen came running towards me. It was the most lovable little thing ever and I spent a lot of the week playing with this puppy.
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| The adorable little puppy who I lived with :) |
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| Having a cat made me feel less homesick :) |
Immediately, my host mom brought my right into the kitchen and made me help her fry the fish and cook the rice for dinner. While we cooked she talked to me about her background and life in Namibia where she has been her whole life. My homestay family is part of the Herero people, an ethnic group residing in Southern Africa with the majority living in Namibia today. In 1904, the Herero underwent a major genocide led by the Germans. Not many people know about this genocide but it is actually considered the first genocide of the 20th century. The German government did not recognize this as a genocide or even recognize it until 2004 but still did nothing to compensate the families of the victims who underwent this horrible event in history. In total about 100,000 Herero died during the years 1904 and 1907 because of the systematic resources of the German army. This all happened during what many people call the "Scramble for Africa" which was when major European countries all rushed into Africa trying to take over as much land as possible. My host mom talked to me about the effect the genocide has had on the Herero people and her family as well. She explained to me why she was lighter skinned than the rest of most Herero because her grandmother was raped by a German soldier. Her mother even had blue eyes because of this. During the genocide, most of the men were killed and the women were left to be raped by the soldiers or even killed. Hearing about a historical event from the mouth of a person whose own family had been through it was very powerful and I will always remember her telling me the stories. Everyone in my house spoke Otjiherero, the traditional Herero language, and were very connected to their Herero culture.
It was my job in the house every night to help cook and serve the meals to the family along with cleaning up after everyone ate. I would usually cook with my mom or younger sister and they both taught me a lot about cooking. Namibians eat a lot of meat, which is normally not my favorite, but I have been trying to taste everything to be polite. To my surprise I have actually been enjoying most of the meat! During the week I ate fish, chicken, kudo, oryx, mince meat, lamb, and beef. It was A LOT of meat but I learned to cook, season, and prepare them all. I am not the biggest fan of touching raw meat but I sucked it up and even made meat balls! By the end of this week I definitely learned how much Namibians like their meat! Below are pictures of a kudo and an oryx which I ate (sorry cute animals)! Throughout Namibia there are lots of these deer like animals and you distinguish which is which by the shapes of their horns.
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| A kudo |
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| An oryx |
After dinner we would all sit around the house either talking with neighbors or watching soccer. Soccer is a huge part of the culture here and I watched lots of soccer games with my siblings, family members, and neighbors. One thing I noticed and really loved about the community I was in was that every night there were new people at the house. They would either be family members or neighbors who would come over and sit outside talking with my parents or come inside to watch soccer. Everyone I met was so welcoming and interesting and I loved hearing about everyone's stories pertaining to their lives in Namibia. Another thing my host sister told me about the Herero people was the huge emphasis they put on family here. They have very large families with lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins. They even call people family who aren't technically family and welcome anyone into their home. She said that if you are a Herero, you call and accept all other Herero as family. I admired this aspect of their culture because everyone was so welcoming and kind to one another. With no question, my mom and I would prepare whoever was in the house that night a plate of food and make sure everyone was fed. My host dad always made sure I ate the most food saying, "you will never starve in this house." Family is a big deal and they all welcomed me with open arms which made me feel right at home. It is hard being away from my family for this long but knowing I have a family to go to in Windhoek is extremely comforting.
Every morning my host dad would drive me back to the CGE house for classes on his way to work. In the car we would listen to morning talk shows (sometimes in Afrikaans, which I did not understand) and catch up on the daily news. I would ask him questions and he would tell me all about the political and economic state of Namibia and his opinions on it. He also had lots of opinions and questions about the United States so I always found our conversations to and from school and work to be very interesting and engaging. My dad works for First National Bank here in Namibia and my mom worked for the Ministry of Education as a 2nd grade teacher. They both taught me a lot about these sectors of the economy and always answered any questions I had. We would all sit together and play card games at night for hours just laughing and talking which made me extremely happy. I even learned some pretty fun card games which I wasn't too horrible at! It was times like that that I cherished the most and learned the most about family dynamics here. Other time around the house was spent talking with my 17 year old host sister, Etjo, about life in high school, which I found really interesting because I too have a 17 year old sister back home. I found there were lots of similarities between the school she went to and our high school back home and teenage girls seem to enjoy the same things. We talked about boys, music, shopping, and even watched some pretty bad reality TV together. Etjo and I had lots of fun during the week and I really was grateful she was there to talk to me, make me laugh, and teach me to cook! My 21 year old sister Virua is a medical student at the University of Namibia and we visited her dorm which was really nice! I liked to see the campus and make comparisons to universities back home. We ended the night by looking up at the beautiful sky from my brothers truck. The skies in Namibia are absolutely gorgeous and that night you could see almost every single star in the sky. It is truly amazing.
When I was packing up and getting ready to leave after a wonderful week, my host mom wanted to dress me up in traditional Herero clothing which most Herero women wear. She said in the past they used to have to wear these outfits all the time but in modern days the women mostly wear these outfits during weddings or funerals. She had about 20 different colors of the dress and my sister and her chose one for me that they thought would go with my skin and hair color. These outfits are regarded as proper dress for traditional married women (I'm not married!!) and by wearing this long dress a woman shows her in laws that she is willing to take up the responsibilities of a Herero home and will raise her children according to their culture. The dress was super heavy and there were four layers of petticoats under the dress! With the Namibian heat I am not sure how these women survive in so many clothes but I give them lots of credit. Once I had it on they made me have a photo shoot all around the house so here is what resulted:
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| With the puppy |
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| All dressed up complete with a gourd of some sorts |
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| My host mom, Hilda! |
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| My host sister, Etjo! |
While I was leaving my host mom kept saying how much she wants me to come back to Namibia one day with my family and we can stay in their house whenever we want. I hope that I will get the opportunity to come back and visit this beautiful family someday and I cannot thank them enough for the hospitality and support they gave me. It was a valuable week in Windhoek and I will never forget the Katjivena family!
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