Hello!

Wow, it has been some time since I've been on here, but now I have access to the internet, a comfortable bed, indoor plumbing, and so on. These are nice things to have, but it was also a nice experience being away from all of these luxuries. Well, I have lots of photos and lots to say, but I'm not quite sure how to organize it all.

Here is a map of Namibia (I don't really know what that side bar action is, but this map had all of the cities I drove through to get to Caitlin's village). Right, so I arrived in Windhoek sporting two lovely back packs that looked like bumble bees. Caitlin was there to collect me, she was wearing one of the backpacks, I had the other. And we were off! I felt like I was on the Amazing Race what with our matching gear and semi matching outfits and being in a foreign place and all that. Anways, we got in a taxi and drove through Okahandja to Otjiwarongo were we spent the night. At the time I didn't realize it, but Caitlin made the off hand comment about how German the city looked, having been to Germany I was all like, "Umm, no. It looks pretty dang African to me." Later I would understand what she meant. It was in Otjwarongo that we saw the crocodiles tear through some dead chickens. It was awesome! Next we kept on our path north through Otavi and Tsumeb (home of the Copper Festival!). These were the last of the "German" looking cities before we crossed the Red Line into the "Real Africa" as the Afrikkaner man in short shorts put it when we were in Otjiwarongo. Within Namibia there's a border crossing called the Red Line, I don't know a whole lot about why it exists but once you cross over it is a totally different place. Now you are seeing goats, cows, and donkeys wandering all over even in the road. Here is were you see the Shebeens or bars with names like the Y2K bar. Homesteads are everywhere and access to resources is not what it's like in the south. It's harder to find Cadbury chocolate. Ok, so then it we went through Ondongwa and Oshakati. From Oshakati we headed west towards Tsandi which is the last town on the map before going to Elando, which is definitely not on any map and in the middle of nowhere. Caitlin and I got there by pick up truck. We were in the back with 7-9 ladies in their traditional get up, we were all crammed up on each other for the bumpy ride to Elando. So, that was our journey from Windhoek to Elando.

Then for the next two weeks I helped Caitlin with teaching English at the Nambula Combined School. While I was there we taught the Learners about antonyms, synonyms, and adjectives. I believe they are having a test on this material right now. The only other touristy thing I did while I was there was to visit the beautiful town of Racauna which is right on the border of Angola. They have an awesome waterfall that we saw, only it was all dried up and we also got the chance to tour a Himba village. And of course we got to stay in a fancy hotel with real beds, running water, TV, and food that had no sand in it!