Windhoeked

Only one and a half weeks left of actual classes, where has this summer gone??
Since we've been back from Swakopmund, I have been struck by two colds,which zapped a lot of my energy and willingness to write.. or run..
My internship has been going relatively well, I haven't always had a lot to work on but I have had the opportunity to edit some very interesting documents, such as the Universal Periodic Review report submitted on behalf of Namibia, and a few legal documents sent to the High Court of Namibia. Only one full week at my internship left!

This Tuesday we are going to visit a conservancy about two hours drive outside of Windhoek, I am excited to be on the road again!

Went to a party in one of the mostly white neighborhoods outside of Windhoek, in the nicest house I have been in in quite some time. Met quite a few people there, danced to a lot of music, and really enjoyed it being summer time (despite the paper I have to work on this weekend!)

A group of students/teachers/profs arrived from the US funded by Fullbright. They are doing a travel seminar so are traveling around Namibia for the next few weeks, and staying here for the next couple of days.

Off to watch Lion King!

Atypical Friday

While I am certainly not going in the correct order in writing these blogs, I'm going to talk a bit about my adventures yesterday (Friday).. and then eventually about my homestay experience.

I went to work at my internship at 8am and worked on calculating some data for the annual human rights report that will be coming out in a few months-- this report is sent to the UN and other organizations as a shadow report. I also went to water the garden, which I have been doing on a daily basis, in hopes that it start growing some more plants (seeds may be required however).

Aside from working a newsletter to be printed in a few weeks, I am also progressively working on a photo project so that the office can have some pictures from Namibia (both landscapes and people) on the walls.

The reason for this blog is that I decided to go take pictures, and a friend of mine has her friend visiting form the states, so they invited me to go outside of Windhoek to see the terrain... We drove in a big 4x4 for about half an hour, partly on paved roads, partly on gravel.

The land is hilly and mountainous, lots of rock and cacti, some other small trees. The wildlife that we saw included 1 donkey, about 8 coys, 1 deer-looking animal, and wasps as large as my pinky finger.

We went to a vacated house which was covered in graffiti and remnants of past visitors, but still gorgeous. We sat on the "porch", really a cement slab, ate our sandwiches, fruit, drank our Windhoek Lagers and peach ice tea, and soaked up the sun.

The house was likely a white farmer's house, judging by the size, location, and architecture. I have never seen a house so empty, broken, or beautiful.

All of the windows were gone, along with the doors, and all furniture.

Stable enough to walk around in, but not enough that you'd want to be there for a long time. After two hours of exchanging stories of learning to ski in the alps (my new Namibian friend) with his florescent colored spandex and foot-long dreads, or about the pornographic writings on the walls of this house, we all climbed back into the car and into reality.

The whole CGE spent our evening at Cafe Sol watching the Spain-Chile football match.

My time in Namibia is already going far too quickly, I have almost been here a MONTH.

Homestay!

Heading off to start my 10-day long homestay with a Namibian family this evening and I am very excited. The family speaks English and Afrikaans, and doesn't live too far away from the Center. They have a daughter, 8 years old, and a cousin who is 19 who apparently lives with them. I don't know any more about them than that, but I am very excited.

I won't have access to my internet/blog for for the next week and a half, so if you need to contact me, I will have my cell phone on me (emergencies only please!), and the Center will also know how to contact me.

Just a picture of me in front of my internship building