Rule #16: Always have an up-to-date family tree.

The past two weekends have been very nice low-key weekends in the village. Two weeks ago I went to Town for one day to go out to dinner with Jen and have a much-needed Rundu day, and then returned on Saturday to have a lovely evening with Mita. We were going to just relax and watch a movie when Ms. Gases, a member of Kanjimi Management, invited us over for her birthday celebration. We ate Dahmara porridge and another teacher attempted to teach Mita and I traditional African dance. Though the steps were pretty basic, I don’t think I mastered them that well. It was great to hang out with some of the teachers on a more social setting and enjoy everything that our little villages have to offer.

This past weekend, however, was much more exciting. During the last period on Friday I stepped out of my store room to see all of the chair outside of the classrooms. Befuddled by this, I asked Mr Gabriel (the principle), what was going on, and he informed me that the daughter Mr. Katewa (another teacher at Sitopogo CS) was getting married this weekend in the village, the chairs were all for the wedding. That’s a lot of chairs for a wedding, but Mr Gabriel said that there would be tons of people coming, and though I didn’t get a straight out invitation, I knew I would be crashing this wedding. How often do you get the opportunity to crash a village wedding? Plus Mita and I decided it was truly “Namibian” of us to invite ourselves.

On Saturday afternoon Mita and I dressed in our wedding party attire and headed across the almost tarred road (that’s right the tar road is now 5K away from Sitopogo!!) to the wedding. Friday afternoon I had seen everyone pitching a huge tent in the homestead* across the street, and figured that’s probably the place. When we entered everyone was there. I mean EVERYONE. The homestead was packed. The entire village was crammed in, whether they were sitting around the outskirts on the ground or packed into the chairs around the MC. My teachers were everywhere. Mr Katewa and Mr Sivera were at the head table with the bride and groom. Ms Nangola was a brides maid; Mr Gabriel and Mr Sivera were at another table, and Mr Hamusira was the DJ. I sat with Mita and Ms Mujohn in the “audience” while the MC did his business. (side note: the night before I met the MC and he told me I was his first pick. Though it was a lame pick up line it made me really miss oc rhinos, because hell I am first pick!!) Eventually the reception really got underway and we were served a real Namibian meal (meat, rice, pasta, and potato salad with lots of ketchup). After dinner each church performed a different dance, and then we all got to dance. I didn’t stay a horribly long time, but it was quite a night!

*For those of you who aren’t familiar with African housing styles, a homestead in Kavango refers to a group of huts that are grouped together. Usually a very extended family will live in one homestead: mother, father, aunts, uncles, cousins etc. It was my first time in a homestead, and I am very lucky to have had that experience.