Ongombe.....

Ongombe is the Otjiherero word for cow. The cow has great significance in Herero and Himba cultures; it is simultaneously a measure of wealth, a integral part of the marriage ceremony, a source of fashion, and a source of food.

Turns out cows are so important that they have somehow found their way into my dreams...twice. My first cow dream happened in training. In this dream my host family had given me a herd of 25 cattle (that's a LOT of cattle by the way). The problem was that I had to find a way to transport said cattle over the countless kilometers from Okahandja up to my permanent site, Opuwo. I was able to find a truck that would accommodate half of my herd, but I was really stressed about how I would move the others. In fact I was so stressed that it almost felt like a nightmare and I woke up without coming to any type of resolution. Yet when I shared this dream with my Namibian trainers, the consensus was that it was a great dream! A woman with 25 cows is rich and powerful here, and their interpretation was that in the future I am going to find myself in a very happy, rich, and productive marriage. This definitely made me giggle.

Yet not too long ago the cow revisited my dream world. In this most recent dream, I was flying back to the US and, for whatever reason, felt it necessary to bring a very large bull along with me. For obvious reasons, this became a problem when I was going through customs. Expecting a fair amount of corruption among the customs officers at the Namibian airport, I attempted to bribe the chief so that he would let my bull on board. No dice; apparently there was some worry about the length of his horns and the overall awkwardness a cow would lend to the distribution of cargo. Major bummer. Eventually I was able to talk them into allowing my bull to come along, on the promise that he would lay down the entire flight. Crazy right?

I have not yet had the most recent dream interpreted, but I'm sure when I do the explanation will be interesting. :)

One last thing while we are on the subject of cows: They are also great natural roadblocks!