Here comes the rain!

The clouds have officially returned, and with them the rain! In the last few weeks the temperatures have climbed rapidly and the sky, which has been a startling shade of royal blue for the last few months, is now adorned with huge storm clouds. IT'S GLORIOUS.

Hungira....

Hungira means "speak" in Otjiherero, and it is used as a both a command and a request. So I'm going to speak on it. Here goes....

1. Namibia is rad. Its true. I have been here close to 7 months and I still get a kick out of passing goats, pigs, and cows on my walk to the grocery store.

2. I love street meat. One of my favorite treats is going down to the open air market and buying a few hunks of delicious cow. Most of the ladies who cook in the market know me, and I have become such good friends with one of them that she usually gives me an extra piece of meat for free :) They cook sirloin because it is one of the cheapest and least desirable cuts of beef (its not considered a "good" piece of meat here unless there are bones and gristle attached). After grilling the beef, it is seasoned and mixed with grilled onions and sliced tomatoes. When you buy some, they wrap it in torn pieces of old newspaper and top it off with some chili sauce...its AWESOME.

3. Conditions at our grocery store vary. For instance, now that tourist season has gotten underway, we have been getting an incredible selection of fruits and veggies. Last week the store even had feta cheese! Crazy! In general, our produce selection is decent...we get cabbage, tomatoes (usually better from the street vendors), onions, apples, pears, bananas, avocados, beets, potato's, oranges, broccoli....its enough to live off of. Sometimes the quality is poor, and sometimes things from South Africa are quite expensive, but overall I consider myself very lucky to have access to fresh produce!

4. On tourists: as grateful as I am for the influx of tourist friendly food-stuffs, by and large tourists are terrible. I know its awful to generalize like that, but I'll explain why...its not the "khaki nightmare" phenomenon which I find repulsive. In a weird way I almost appreciate the people who climb off the tour buses clothed head to toe in various shades of khaki (especially when they come complete with a floppy had and a gigantic camera) because they never fail to give me a good laugh. What really gets to me is the general sense of entitlement which people seem to feel over the local people. Walking to the store the other day, a shiny vehicle stopped in the middle of the main road and the smiling white faces inside quickly grabbed their cameras and started shooting photos of the local mama's sitting under a tree selling their herbs. It made me want to scream! Not only had they stopped the cars behind them, but it was a tremendously rude thing to do. Local traditional Himba and Herero people are often happy to pose for photos...they simply request that you get their permission first, and that you pay a few cents as a sign of good faith. I KNOW most tourists read that in their handy-dandy guidebooks, and yet they still take pictures and video of the Himba while driving by in giant air-conditioned buses. Arrrgg...is it too much to ask for just a little cultural sensitivity?

5. Summer is coming! Winter is now coming to a close and not a moment too soon. I am looking forward to the increasingly longer daylight hours (we actually "spring forward" this weekend), but along with more daytime comes the incredible HEAT. It is already starting to warm up a little more every day. Even the nights are getting warmer--i haven't needed a sweatshirt for rara's nightly walk this past week :)

6. My pupster is growing up. She got fixed a couple of weeks ago and recovered just fine! Most of the dogs in Opuwo are semi-wild and it seemed responsible parenting to have her spayed. No need to add to the uncared for population of local dogs (thanks Bob Barker). Everyone wants puppies but no one really seems to care much about the scrawny, malnourished dogs they turn into. Plus she will be happier and healthier in the long run!

7. On that note Rara went on her first long hike this past weekend!

Hiking the plateau

We hiked the plateau with some volunteers who were in town visiting, and it was a lot of fun. She definitely tired out at the end, but overall she did excellent! This weekend I think I will take her on a hike in some of the nearby hills.

8. I miss my (American) family so much! Its no secret that I am head over heels in love with each and every one of them...i love getting updates on what everyone is up to and how things are going. I'm super proud of my sister Keri for starting her second year of college soon, and my sister Bayli starting fourth grade! I'm glad my brother Owen is recovering well and that my parents (all of them) are somehow finding their way through the nightmare that is the US economy. I love you guys and I cant wait for all of the future adventures we will have together....

That's all for now!

keande nawa, matu hakeanea....

(go well, we shall meet again)