it is hard to sum up all of my experiences from the past few weeks into a simple blog entry, but i will try my darndest to do the best i can.
rural homestay top 10:
10. DREAMS. One of the 50 million potential side effects of my anti-malaria medicine Malorone was messed up dreams/nightmares. I pretty much dreamt about the most random events, including people that I have not seen/thought about for years. I usually woke up laughing. Sometimes crying because 1. it was so dark with no electricity and only 1 candle and 2. because I would dream of deaths or the like. Most of the time it was laughing though. I would recount all of my dreams in detail but I tend to not remember them at all, even though I wake up and remember them initially and pledge to not forget them...
9. VALVUCA AND !OTHEMA. My older sisters. They were a riot. They were such trouble makers together and reminded me alot of Jenny and my's shennanigans. I feel like the resident BA's on the farm. !Othema had alot of attitude and was very outspoken, it was usually really funny! Valvuca was a saving grace because before we met I only had a 15 year old boy on the farm who spoke English. She had a good sense of humor and loved reading trashy magazines. She was awesome.
8. the HOSS. After walking to the watering hole with my older sister Valvuca, we stopped at a little shop to get some cold drinks. There was a precious not quite kitten not quite cat sitting on the floor, and I asked the worker if I could hold it. He picked it up by its face and practically threw it at me!!! I was VERY angry by this. Poor cat! Then my sister said we should take it home, so we did! We kept her! I fed her milk, petted her, loved her. I named her the Hoss because the city we were staying in was called "Khorixas" (pronounced corey-hoss). She was so much fun- then the dogs scared her away and she skidaddled when I wasn't around. Sad state of affairs!
rural homestay top 10:
10. DREAMS. One of the 50 million potential side effects of my anti-malaria medicine Malorone was messed up dreams/nightmares. I pretty much dreamt about the most random events, including people that I have not seen/thought about for years. I usually woke up laughing. Sometimes crying because 1. it was so dark with no electricity and only 1 candle and 2. because I would dream of deaths or the like. Most of the time it was laughing though. I would recount all of my dreams in detail but I tend to not remember them at all, even though I wake up and remember them initially and pledge to not forget them...
9. VALVUCA AND !OTHEMA. My older sisters. They were a riot. They were such trouble makers together and reminded me alot of Jenny and my's shennanigans. I feel like the resident BA's on the farm. !Othema had alot of attitude and was very outspoken, it was usually really funny! Valvuca was a saving grace because before we met I only had a 15 year old boy on the farm who spoke English. She had a good sense of humor and loved reading trashy magazines. She was awesome.
8. the HOSS. After walking to the watering hole with my older sister Valvuca, we stopped at a little shop to get some cold drinks. There was a precious not quite kitten not quite cat sitting on the floor, and I asked the worker if I could hold it. He picked it up by its face and practically threw it at me!!! I was VERY angry by this. Poor cat! Then my sister said we should take it home, so we did! We kept her! I fed her milk, petted her, loved her. I named her the Hoss because the city we were staying in was called "Khorixas" (pronounced corey-hoss). She was so much fun- then the dogs scared her away and she skidaddled when I wasn't around. Sad state of affairs!
7. BRAIDING. I got my hair braided. I looked like a bonafide African woman! (Especially after the donkey cart ride in the high sun, my tan was ridiculous!). Valvuca did it for me, and it took over an hour. Later, Maizy (little sister) changed her hair to match mine. We were quite a pair. I kept my hair like that for 5 days and felt disgusting (my sister said Maizy only changes hers about once a month!)
6. FAT CAKES AND ELEPHANT EARS. Fat cakes are a traditional bread made here in Africa, the best way I can describe it is a condensed elephant ear - very greasy (but delicious) soft bread. Here, instead of being flat like elephant ears, its more of a roll, and the people eat them with EVERYTHING. My Ma was teaching me how to make these fat cakes over the fire, and I decided I needed to introduce them to the glory that is elephant ears (it was very katie keilman of me). I mixed some cinnamon and sugar on a plate and gave them each one, and they loved it! I never saw my Ma smile so big. They continued to make elephant ears for the rest of the time I was there. It was so cool. (It definitely proved a positive of globalization - the exchange of ideas. Even if it was for just a treat.)
5. MAIZY AND ETHAN. My little brother and sister on the farm. They were aged 5 and 7 and were so much fun. We swung from the trees in the yard, threw goat poop in the arm and danced under it, chased the cows and goats. Maizy did not know any English but Ethan knew a little bit, we often practiced writing numbers and letters in the sand. I taught them how to play hot hands and rock, paper, scissors. We had so much fun. I really enjoy the company of children.
4. DONKEY CART RIDE. The only form of transportation that is available in the north for most rural families is a donkey cart. They hitch up 2-3 donkeys, hop in, grab the reins, and go. It makes for a very long trip, I felt so bad for the donkeys because it is so hot out, and the gravel roads cannot be very soft on their feet. We took about a 13 kilometer ride to visit an agricultural school for boys. Thats like 6 miles each way! In the hot afternoon sun. Poor donkeys.
I later got over this pity for the donkeys when they decided to "ee-ah" all night long. I wanted to punch a donkey.
Even so, the donkey cart ride was so cool. I kept thinking along the way, "I wonder what my friends back home are doing," and then I wondered if they ever thought the same about me, and if the thought of me riding in a cart pulled by donkeys ever crossed their minds.
3. FAREWELL PARTY. On the last Sunday of my homestay, the other students from my program who were staying on the same farm and I all got together to prepare a traditional meal over the open fire for all of our families. We all got dressed up for the occasion in authentic handmade Damara/Nama dresses (which made the heat all the more a pleasant experience) including traditional headdresses. We looked very... little house on the prairie. I loved my dress, it was pink with blue and purple flowers on it, and was so thankful because my family decided to give it to me to keep! It is a wonderful souvenir. We cooked chicken and rice and potato salad and all the food was gone before we even got a helping ourselves. It was so much better that way. We even had a church service at our house which was really informal and cool, basically everyone sings and dances in circles and truly enjoys their praise and worship. It was fun!
2. GOATS. I love goats now. Who knew they were such entertaining animals? When I got bored with my family, I usually wandered out to where all the goats hung out, and named them (oftentimes after friends and family from back home). I named my favorite goat of all time FUNNY GOAT because well, he was funny. He would run really really fast and then jump into this rusting bathtub that was randomly in our yard. And then just hang out in the bathtub. It cracked me up. My family slaughtered a goat in my "honor" before I arrived (they didn't make me watch since I am a veggie...) Still, the goat hide was lying around in the yard and the saw that they used to hack off its head hung in the kitchen with dried blood on it. Awesome. But its okay, because I also saw a goat being born when I was there!! So really, its the circle of life (cue first of many references to the Lion King). We had a few baby goats on the farm and they were all very precious, I particularly loved Newborn because I got to see her first steps :)
1. LIFE ON THE FARM. I really loved the low key, laid-back ness of it all. Fall asleep after sunset, wake up at sunrise - work only in the morning and then stop because it gets too hot. It literally was SO hot, a heat only a Trock could love. I loved all the sounds of the farm, the moo's and the cock a doodle doo's and the quiet of the twilight bonfire. The ground covered in different animal prints and different animal poops. Bathing in the animals' water troughs and drinking water from a big tin can (with random things floating in it). Only candle light! It all was very surreal and very slow. I enjoyed it so much. I think I could get down on the farm for a long time.
Hope this summed up my last homestay in a not-too-boring way!
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