Wednesday, September 27, 2006

comfortable

Life is good. Very good. I like it here. I feel like its home now. I feel comfortable and accustomed. I like walking down the road and having people call out my name to say hello. I like walking the 30 min walk home at dusk feeling the warm air and looking at the huge fireball of a red sun drooping down on the horizon with a few wispy clouds floating around in the sky. I like looking at pictures from rainy season and getting excited for that time again – crazy thunderstorms and dark black skies. And I like being familiar with that. I like being familiar with two languages that aren’t my mother tongue and looking forward to the day when I’m fluent. Things are good. Come visit.

Monday, September 11, 2006

a much belated post about the Herero festival

A few weeks ago Okahandja was invaded by Hereros from all over Namibia. They all converged on Otjiserandu (which is the area around the Multi Purpose Center) camping, braaing, drinking, marching, dancing, celebrating the "holy fire", and consulting their ancestors. It began on friday with everyone coming into town and setting up camp ,then continued through Sunday afternoon. I went to watch the festivities on saturday with Maveja and Walter. Here are some of the shots I like from the weekend:

Herero ladies in tradional dress:

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the Generals on horseback

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marching

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the "holy fire" ceremony

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a little explaination: the Cheif takes a gulp of water, swishes it around inside his mouth, then spits it out in the face of the person kneeling in front of him for a blessing from the ancestors. the water is supposed to dry on its own, not be wiped off. The ancestors are consulted through "holy fire" anytime there is a big decision being made, or a large purchase (like a car) to seek the ancestors approval.


Maveja and I in traditional dress

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(the little girl in the picture with us is Hitjiverwe, Maveja's little sister. what she is wearing is traditional dress for young Herero girls. It is made out of leather and has a flap in the front, but is open in the back. Girls may wear this outfit until they are 12 years old. Oh, and that is Maveja's house in the background.)

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Tuesday, September 05, 2006

well, well, well

Sorry for not updating on this sooner, but last week was a BUSY week! where to begin? Well, for starters, I have moved. I don’t live in Nau-Aib anymore. I have known for some time now that I was going to have to move from the Christ’s Hope staffhouse, but there was never a specific date given, and with finding no other options in Location, I was remaining there. Well, on Wednesday the call came. Moving day would be Saturday. Add that to the fact that Sammy was leaving for Russia on Thursday, Friday consisted of Team Meeting, time with Maveja, and attempting to bake cookies for coffeebar…and packing up my house came as a footnote to all that. But surprisingly, by 8:30am Saturday after a late night of boxing things, I was on the stoop and ready to go. Praise God. Who knew that I would ever be able to pack up my entire house in just a few hours? It is a definite plus to have a simple lifestyle and comparatively few material possessions to a typical American house. By 5pm Saturday evening, I was moved, unpacked and organized, and was being invited by my new neighbor to a braai next door. Unfortunately for this time I had to decline, because I was headed off to the MPMC for the PTG. The new place is in town, (past Spar, for those of you who know Okahandja) which takes me far away from my ministry area, my beloved “Is-it-come kids”, and my little buddy Shaddy, but I am being challenged to see what God has in store for me here. I will be doing a lot of bike riding to Location to continue on in ministry there. I will have to actually schedule things much more now because of the distance, whereas before it was easy for things to just happen. It will take some adjustment, but I am more up for the challenge now, then I was a few days ago. It was a hard couple of days – saying goodbye to Sam and my home and neighborhood all in the span of 2 days, but God has never let me down and has taught me all the way through it.

The pluses of the new flat are:
the fact that Spar is only a 3 minute bike ride away
the plot is on a lot near the riverbed and is surrounded by tall grass and trees on two sides
its so quiet and is much less likely to have things stolen if left outside
new little friends who live next door – 4 and 5 yrs old, who only speak Afrikaans (a good chance to practice my language skills)
bigger house = more space
opportunity to build new relationships

the minuses (and therefore things you can pray about) are:
separated from the team and ministry area, previously built relationships
SNAKES!
Beginning all over again, now learning “town culture”
Getting all the taxi drivers used to the fact that I don’t live at my old house anymore!

My new place (picture to come later)

The other side (picture to come later)

Sitting room

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The view from the sitting room

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yard

Kitchen

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The view from the kitchen

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Bathroom

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Sleeping room

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The Office picture didn't come out. not sure why.

Porch

porch

Yard

yard

yard

yard

I can post pics of the outside later. enjoy!