Above the red line

So I am out of Windhoek now, and in Rundu for the long weekend. I got to my sight on Friday afternoon after a 8 hour drive to Rundu on Thursday. The drive was amazing. We saw springboks, wild boar, zebras, antelopes, and giraffes hanging out on the side of the road. Mr. Moranga, our driver, was amazing and pulled over whenever there was a cool animal. It was like our own private safari, except we were driving down Namibia's version of I-71 or I-95. INTENSE, and beatuiful. I realized I should clarify. My car was Jen who is going to Divundu, two hours east of Rundu, Megan in Rundu, Mita, who is 2K from myself, and me who is two hours east of Rundu.

About six hours into our drive we passed "The Red Line" a line in Namibia that differnciates between the two agriculture laws. Above the red line cattle have no restrictions, and let me tell you how quickly life changed after the red line. All of a sudden there were cows EVERYWHERE. Crossing the road, walking in the median of the high way, it was hilarious. There were also tons of more people. Women were walking down the roads with large bags of maize on their heads, and I felt like I was suddenly in National Geographic. This was both exhilirating and terrifying.

The history of Namibia is that when Namibia was part of South Africa, many of the indigeounous tribes were pushed up and out of the central region, making the north a very poor but highly populated area in which I will be spending the next 5 and half months. I'm not sure on all the details of the Namibian history, so please don't hold me to anything.

We finally arrived in Rundu too late to grab a ride to our sites so we, mita and I, stayed at a VSO's house in Rundu. It was extremely stressful, however after a good meal we all started to chill out a little bit.

Early Friday morning Mita grabbed a ride with Mr. Moranga to Nankudu and Sitipogo. We were on a paved road for about 45 minutes and then it turned to dirt. A dusty huge dirt road that we drove on for about an hour. We passed tons of mud huts and drove along the kavango river. Occasionally we we would pass a small store or a shebeen (bar), but it became very clear that the small town of Rundu was our "big city". We finally dropped off Mita at her school and then drove the short distance to my school.

Sitipogo is not a town or a village. It is a school with a few mud huts around it and one small concrete house with three rooms. This is my house. I am sharing it with a fellow teacher, a young man who teaches primary school. I only met the other teachers breifly, because of a long weekend, but they all seemed so nice, and very happy to meet me. When I walked into my house I was in for a huge shock. Everyone was so proud to show me the house, however there was no running water, fridge, and my room was completely barren. I tried to keep myself together while another teacher Peter took me on a lovely tour of the school, but eventually I needed some alone time.

After a minor freak out to my field director and a much appreciated visit from Mita, I decided to take a few of my things and head to mita's for the weekend where I would have a bed, a fridge, stove, and running water. Everything was much better once I got a good home cooked meal in my stomach, and we discussed how hard core both Mita and I are.

The rest of the weekend has been actually quite lovely. Mita and I spent Saturday unpacking, cleaning, and indulging in a girly movie, and yesterday we took our first hike to Rundu. I spent the day hanging out with other volunteers, and now I am about to head back to Nankudu/Sitipogo for the week.

There are many times over the past few days that have felt completely surreal. I am often in shock that I am actually in Namibia, and how different it is from America. I have started to get used to my feet being covered with dirt, and the complete darkness that occurs at 6pm. I have realized a lot about what we take for granted everyday, and I am sure that will only increase as my time passes. I am very excited for my first day of teaching on Wednesday...wish me luck!