My time in Namibia is coming to an end. I leave on Saturday for Cape Town, which is the last travel seminar of the semester. After a week in Cape Town, I will be heading home, forever changed by my 4 months in southern Africa.
The last few weeks have been pretty uneventful. After our trip to the South all my time has been spent in Windhoek. Classes wrapped up last week with reflections on all we have learned and what we still have questions about after our semester. Brief highlights:
· Debate in religion class about whether or not religion is essential to the structure of society
· Further discussion about the legacies of apartheid and segregation in Namibia and the U.S. How can I fight institutionalized racism at home?
· Recognizing in development class that there is always more to the story, and that no one can start a development project and think they know all sides of the story or how everyone is going to be impacted. Amanda also brought up that sometimes during these discussions she feels hopeless, like there is nothing that can be done to actually change anything. But it’s times like these when it can be helpful to look at the smaller picture, and remember that good IS being done, even if it is on a small scale. You can change the world in some small way, as long as you have the courage to get up everyday and do something.
· Final days of the internship! Followed by internship presentations, which was accompanied by delicious snacks. I feel like I learned a lot about how CCN is run, and what they are doing in Namibia, but I felt like my time was wasted a lot of the time.
· I turned in my last paper for the semester over 2 weeks ago! It’s a good feeling, knowing that the only “work” I have left for the semester is my integrative project, while everyone at PLU still has a few weeks of class left, and then all the stress of finals.
I have also been spending some time on my summer research, attempting to interview Lutheran church leaders as part of my Kelmer Roe fellowship. I have learned the hard way the difficulties that come with trying to get hold of people here. I have called the same leaders over and over, attempting to set up interview times. It’s difficult to figure out where people want to meet when they give directions like, “go straight down the road by the church, go straight through the first two 4 way stops, turn right at the roundabout, turn left at the next 4 way stop.” It has also been tricky because it’s Easter weekend, and Good Friday and Easter Monday are both public holidays, so absolutely nothing is open and people don’t want to meet or are busy with Easter celebrations.
I’ve also been spending time walking around Windhoek when the weather permits. These walks of course include time shopping at the different craft markets, and stops for gelato or pastries at my favorite bakery. Who knows when I’ll be back in Windhoek, so I need to eat all the pastries I can, right? We’ve also had lots of movie parties in the CGE house. We watched Pride and Prejudice last week, and I think someone has watched it every single day since then. I feel some people are getting a little obsessed…
One night we went out to dinner at a restaurant in Post Street Mall. Four of us split a large pizza, devoured it, and ordered a second one. It was delicious! I have missed pizza here. Last night we went out for dinner at a Cameroonian restaurant to celebrate Siobhan’s birthday. Tamara and I split a vegetarian peanut dish, and it was a great change from the CGE food. After dinner we all headed to Zanzibar for some dancing in celebration. Six of us walked there, and it was good to be able to walk through Windhoek at night, and to know the city well enough that we didn’t get lost. It was an entertaining night, but I have definitely never started an Easter Sunday that way before.
This morning some of us went to church at the Inner City Lutheran Congregation. It was an interesting experience for me. Some of the liturgies were very similar to ones I grew up with, and some of the hymns were similar to Easter ones I’m used to, but it was not the same as being at home for Easter. I miss eating brunch with my family at church, and the great music that my church always has at Easter. I miss celebrating Easter at home. It was a beautiful day today, but it was a lazy day for the most part.
This week is my final week in Namibia. We have integrative project presentations on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, and on Thursday we are cleaning the house and having a going away party. The rest of the week is pretty open. I’m trying to have a couple more interviews for my fellowship, and will hopefully have time to go on a few more long walks around Windhoek. It’s bittersweet, to think of leaving on Saturday. I’m excited for Cape Town, and to go home and see my family and have my exciting summer start. But at the same time, I have changed so much here, and have made so many new friends. I’m going to miss everyone, and it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to this beautiful country, especially when I don’t know if I’m ever going to be back.
Some random pictures from around Windhoek:
in honor of Earth Day
my favorite bakery!
crafts at an outdoor market
No comments:
Post a Comment