Helloooo Windhoek!

I am now in the CGE house in Windhoek, Namibia after another full week in South Africa. I did a ton of things and I don’t really know where to start this update.

Friday to Monday I did a homestay in Soweto. My host family (the mom Thandie, 20-year old son Karabo, and 11 year old daughter Carise) were welcoming and open and friendly. Thandie was really concerned about my safety, so she wouldn’t let me do much exploring of the neighborhood. Luckily, Karabo and had a lot in common and stayed up late talking every night. I didn’t get as good a perspective on the township as others did, but I definitely got a good view into this particular family’s life. Another interesting part of the homestay was being a minority. We were in pairs for this first homestay, but my homestay partner, Shakita, is African-American, so she did not stand out as much. For the entire weekend I did not see another white person (except other people from CGE at church) and I got waves, comments, stares constantly. It was an interesting experience being so visibly different and out of place, but it wasn’t particularly uncomfortable.

On Monday, after getting picked up from Soweto, we visited a place called 17 Shaft. This is an organization that does a lot of social and community work but I enjoyed the visit because of the CEO, Steve. Steve can best be described by one word: LEGEND. When we first met him, he introduced himself as “one of the few New Zealanders who is an officer in the Russian army living in South Africa.” He said this while pointing a gun at the group (he was showing off his weapons collection). He’s served with four armies on four continents and was an active part of the military arm of the ANC during the liberatin struggle. He’s currently working on turning over the management of his organization so that he can fight Somalian pirates. He does not believe there is any situation in which violence is unacceptable, and he can’t go back to jail.

From 17 Shaft we went straight to Pretoria. Some of the highlights of the two days I spent there: talking to a foreign service officer at the US Embassy and going to an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant that also served bottomless drinks (an interesting and, for some, nausea inducing combination).

This morning we flew to Windhoek, where we are based for the remainder of the semester. Our house is HUGE and so nice, which it needs to be since there are 25 of us living here. I am sharing a bedroom with 5 other girls which is a little cramped, but the common spaces of the house are incredible. We’ve got a pool and a firepit. The city itself is pretty dangerous – there was a mugging outside of our house at 5:45 this evening – but as long as the standard precautions are taken, the risk should be minimal. And unlike Joburg, the crime here is not particularly violent. Tomorrow we are doing a driving tour to orient ourselves, and I’m really looking forward to getting to know the city better. We also start prepping for our internships --- my first day is Monday, and I am SOOO excited!