I made it to Namibia!

I’m sitting on Emily’s back patio, looking out into her back yard, sitting in the shade of a tall Mulberry tree with slender branches covered in large, heart-shaped green leaves. The yard is mostly well-manicured sand, with a few scattered trees, Nathan’s vegetable garden, Emily’s potted plants, an outdoor kitchen and some out buildings. We’re in the town of Rehoboth, in a colorful neighborhood, an hour’s drive from the capital. Young people walk by as I listen to the sounds of Emily’s outdoor washing machine. Her friend, Charmaine and son Uripuete, are just inside, talking and cleaning up in the kitchen. It’s a beautiful morning. Rich blue skies, a gentle breeze and radiant sunshine. It’s my first day to relax and to reflect on my time here in Namibia so far.

The trip has been a magical, crazy busy, whirlwind of an experience. I am sure there is no way I can sum up what I’ve done, whom I’ve met and all the wonders I’ve enjoyed this past week in one single blog post. I’ll summarize as best I can, or perhaps write a “Part 2” to my first week sometime in the next couple of days. The only problem with that plan is that during those couple of days I’m sure I’ll be experiencing many more things that I’ll wish to write about.

Where to begin…?

 

Brett and I arrived to Windhoek, Namibia the morning of Tuesday, April 4^th. We arranged for SIM cards, got some cash, then took a cab to the comfortable, sprawling Safari Court Hotel in the city, where we finally met up with Nathan. It was a great reunion, and a very nice place to start the trip – a bar with cold beers, a nice outdoor restaurant, a large outdoor pool and clean rooms. This was a great place to ease into Namibian life, have some good quality time with Nathan prior to the frenetic wedding weekend, and just relax and begin to become acculturated with my new surroundings and the 7-hour time change.

Wednesday morning gave us more time to relax. Nathan time to take care of business in Windhoek. And Brett time to have lunch with an old friend. Part of what Nathan had to do, in the Herero (Emily’s culture) tradition, was to give payment to Emily’s family in order to take her as his bride. This involves a cash payment along with payment in the form of cattle. Men from Emily’s family and local village representatives (friends) appointed by Nathan got together months ago to negotiate the price. Emily is well educated and quite a catch, so Nathan’s payment for her was higher than it might be for other women in the culture. I say this, and as I’m writing this, I’m realizing this process and ritual might be coming off as antiquated, patriarchal, not keeping with modern times or perhaps even misogynistic. But it’s the way of the Herero people and it is what they agree is custom and tradition in their culture. It’s very normal and important and sacred to the Herero. Emily’s price, in cattle, was three cows. In money, I don’t know, but Nathan had to go to a Windhoek bank to secure the cash that would be handed over to Emily’s representatives during part of the wedding weekend. He was actually unsuccessful in this pursuit, unfortunately, as he didn’t have the proper paperwork to withdraw the amount of cash he needed.

 

That afternoon we drove to Emily’s house in Rehoboth, about an hour’s drive south of Windhoek. Emily wasn’t there because as another part of the tradition, Nathan and Emily had to separate from one another a week prior to the wedding weekend. Therefore, Emily was already on the family farm by the time Nathan, Brett and I arrived to her home. One person we did get to meet in Rehoboth was Emily’s oldest son Uripuete. He’s 23 and divides his time between Rehoboth and his father’s place in another town. The four of us hung out, toured Emily’s place and grabbed some takeaway food at a market close to the house. We also drank some beers and brandy, but as I was still quite jetlagged and tired from the 33-hour flight, I turned in early and welcomed the comfort of one of Emily’s soft beds.

Thursday was a day of shopping. Lots and lots and lots of shopping. It was basically Nathan’s duty and responsibility to buy drinks and food for all the wedding guests he was specifically responsible for – all the guests that would be sharing camp with Brett and me and eventually Chad and Claire. The main course of all the meals at Herero weddings is meat. Cattle, sheep and goat. It was Nathan’s job to purchase all the extras – pasta, potatoes, snacks, bread, vegetables, etc… And all the drinks. Tons and tons of drinks. We shopped at a place that I would characterize as a mashup of Costco and Walmart. Food and drinks in bulk, but also pretty much everything a person could need to enjoy and survive a weekend of camping and wedding festivities in the Namibian bush. We bought lots of Windhoek Lager and Windhoek Draft, Nathan’s favorite Klipdrift brandy, a bunch of non-alcoholic beverages that here they refer to as “cool drinks,” and some specialty items for a few of us like Jack Daniels and Corona. Accompanying us on our shopping adventures were Emily’s cousin, Lady, and her friend Lucy. They had a long list, and they took charge. We stood back, but also wandered the aisles for some “emergency” rations should we desire food other than that being provided – nuts, raisins, fruit, chips, candy, and such. It was an exhausting several hours, but we capped it off at the end with some tasty “street” food in the form of large wieners referred to as “Russians” and chips (fries). I also tried a “pancake” that was more the consistency of a crepe – sprinkled liberally with cinnamon and sugar and twisted into a roll. A lovely, finger food that set me back a whole 60 cents.

 

From there we set off for Otjinene, the village in which Nathan began his Peace Corps teaching adventures and in which he still has many, many friends and acquaintances. We had our choice of routes – a long, roundabout paved road that would take close to 4 hours or a gravel road that cut through the bush that would get us there 60-90 minutes faster. We chose the gravel, even though just days earlier it was on this same road that Emily and her brother slammed into and killed a very large warthog. They were traveling at night. We’d be doing the journey in the bright sunshine of the day. It would be worth the time savings.

 

We arrived in Otjinene and almost immediately Nathan was greeted by locals who remember the legend of Mr. Kreie. Most often Nathan could place the face, but sometimes, because much time has passed since he has seen many of his former students, it took him a little longer to find the 15-year-old face in a now 40-something man or woman. It was fun to witness. It took some time for us to locate our “lodge” outside of the village. It was a nice clean place but less a lodge and more a series of rustic cabins on the side of the road in the middle of the bush. Not complaining because they offered what we needed – good beds and hot showers. After checking in, we set off to find Paul, a student Nathan was close with and had maintained contact with all these years. Paul had been influenced by Nathan so much when he was Nathan’s student that he actually had the name “Kreie” legally added to his last name many years ago. We arrived at Paul’s house and were also joined by Michael, another former student, Hatonda, a former fellow teacher of Nathan’s and Tjipetekera, a member of the chain of negotiators who helped with wedding arrangements. It was a great reunion as we sat together, enjoyed beers and cool drinks and a spread of bread, meat, cheese and snacks. I’ve heard stories for years about the life-changing two years Nathan spent in Otjinene, and here I was, finally living it and seeing it for myself. The people couldn’t have been more gracious, and I just sat back and bathed myself in a feeling of gratitude as I sat in Paul’s living room, talking, drinking and listening to laughter and stories of another time.

 

I’m going to have to end it there… The day has gone by today, and I’ve not had enough time to continue my blogging. Consider this “Part 1” of our Namibian adventure and stay tuned for future entries. Thanks for reading!