Homestay...

So I’ve officially been with my host family for about seven days. It has been quite an adventure so far! Going in, I thought that this homestay would be so similar to my one in Soweto, but it has been quite different…
This past weekend, let me start with Saturday… I actually did not leave the house the entire day! Unlike in Soweto where Thandi, my mom took me all over town, I stayed at home with my family. Saturday is typically a day for cleaning the house and relaxing. From talking to other friends in the program, many of them experienced a similar kind of Saturday without too much happening. For someone like me who is often too busy for her own good, just sitting at home was a bit of a challenge. By the end of the day, I became more at peace with it, and enjoyed the opportunity to play a lot of cards with my brother and sister! Also, lots of television is watched during weekends, which is an adjustment because as a busy college student, I never have time to watch TV!
During Saturday afternoon, I was able to help my 17 year old sister with some math work, which was actually quite fun. In Namibia, at the end of 12th grade, all students take a really large test. The results are posted in the newspaper, so many students feel extremely pressured to do well. Even though the test is not until the end of school year (which in Namibia is in November), my sister is already starting her preparations. The sad reality is that each year less and less students pass the test. There is a strong need for an education reform in Namibia!
We did leave the house on Sunday morning for church at a large Catholic church in town (the service started at 7:30am!). The service was in English, and lasted only an hour (unlike the 3.5 hour service at the Lutheran church earlier in the month!) It was interesting because the congregation is quite a diverse group and the church actually has three different services on Sunday mornings, one in English, one in German, and one in Portuguese! Even though I am unfamiliar with all of the aspects of a Catholic mass, I found so many similarities to my Lutheran church experience. We even sang the hymn “How Great Thou Art” which was exciting to sing with a pretty large congregation without any instruments except our voices.
After church I got to sit in during choir rehearsal since my dad, brother, and sister are a part of the church choir. I actually sang along with the song they were singing. This may have been one of my highlights from the weekend!
I have enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about Namibian culture from my family. One thing I am still getting used to is the extremely patriarchal family structure. When in South Africa, my host mom was a single mother, so I didn’t see this side that is part of some of the culture. When at home, my dad is often waited on by his children, wife, and the maid to meet all of his needs… definantly interesting
On Sunday, I spoke with my parents for quite a while about the similarities and differences between Namibia and the USA. Even though it would seem like the two countries are quite different, both are struggling similar problems regarding inadequate housing and discrepancies within the education system. I was also able to learn about the courage and strength of my host mom who left Namibia when she was about 14 to be a refugee in the northern part of Africa. She ultimately ended up in Sierra-Leone to receive her education before getting married, and returning back to Namibia with her husband. I cannot even begin to imagine leaving at such a young age to an unknown place. Yet life in Namibia was pretty crazy prior to its independence, as military people from South Africa were killing many people involved in SWAPO (which stands for South West Africa People’s Organization and was a huge anti-apartheid organization that also worked towards achieving independence for Namibia) throughout Namibia. According to my mom, she did not feel safe staying in Namibia, so she and her younger sister took off for the north. They spent some time in a refugee camp in Angola before continuing their journey north.
This week, I spend my days at the CGE house (the Center for Global Education house where I normally am living) because we are still taking classes during this homestay. I am also becoming more accustomed to taking taxis to get around town. I often rely on a taxi to take me from the center back to my host family!
Additionally, yesterday Courtney, a friend from Valpo, and I visited a friend we made earlier in the month at the University of Namibia (UNAM). Yolekeni, our friend, took us on an extensive tour of UNAM and we met a lot of her friends. College life in Namibia seems pretty similar to college life back in the states. The highlight of the visit was when we visited the university radio station. We talked with the DJ for a while and before we knew it, he was interviewing us on-air! This was the Namibian radio debut for both Courtney and me!!!
Well, that’s about all for now! More to come next week!