Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Visiting In Otjiwarango

Vanessa and I are on our way to the Namibia Synod meeting in Windhoek, Namibia.  Our first stop was Auntie Nora's house where we stayed over night Thursday.


We went to Ingrid and Warren's house for a braai (BBQ) that evening .  Here is Ingrid and daughter Hopie.

Here is Nora watching over my favorite part of the braai in the back yard- the Roosterbrood. (grilled bread)

We all gathered to watch her and visit.
From the left is Warren, then Nora, then Ingrid and finally Vanessa.  Nora is turning the bread, it has to be watched and turned to make sure it cooks through and toasts a perfect golden brown on all sides!

The joke was in Afrikaans so I can't tell you what it was but it was funny!

"Our" cows


This is the herd of 10 that belongs to Om(Uncle) Garrett, whose house I  live in.  (You can see the green water tower on the right which is in my side yard.)  There are 10 of them but I can never get them all in one place to pose.  Om Garrett stores some hay in the yard for them because it is so dry.  They think I should give it to them and stand at the gate and moooooo.  They also do the stare down thing when I walk by.  I tell them I am no cowgirl and don't know nothing.  I don't think they believe me.


This is the new baby of the herd who got separated one night and cried MMMMAAAAOOOO outside the gate until I texted (they call it SMSing here) Om Garrett to come and reunify the family.

Next day's walk- a little bit for the bug people


The next day we walked- the same road from the church property where we all live to the center of Kalkfeld.  The children (William, Geraldo and Sharifa) decided to play king of the mountain, or the termite hill.  (I hope the signs they are making are peace- that is what they think they are and they see this stuff on TV with the music videos so I hope the musicians know how much influence they have on young children and their parent's too.)



Some guinea fowl tracks.

 A closer look at the termite hill which the children decided to open so I could see inside (even if I didn't want to).

And a closer look at a termite larva- which I could have lived without- on Geraldo's hand (why he got picked to be the one I am not sure as they were discussing it in Afrikaans).  William is holding his hand and the larva is just above Williams's thumb nail.  The larva is actually biting him.  Yuck.  I feel so educated but I wonder if there are some things I just don't need to know.

Lest you think...

Lest you think I am a slave driver and the children do nothing but garden, dig compost holes, and do dishes and laundry for me... We do play games!  This was on a Sunday following Sunday School.  On the right is Lulu, on the left Jaydine and in the middle Geraldo.


I also try to walk with them every day at 3:00 (after school, after the hottest sun.  Today we found what I think I remember them calling a "Witch's Wheel." Sharifa, William her older brother and Geraldo.
 William decided it was a crown.
 Sharifa decided to really model with it.

Geraldo seemed to think it should be camoflage- he goes between class clown and shy depending on the moment.

For the Birds-(ers)

It wasn't just the children, Pastor and the Sunday School teachers interested in the developments in the garden.  This brightly colored friend came to check things out. I think he was disappointed to see that no seeds had been sown, but he kept looking.  And getting closer to the porch and the open door.  I kept trying to get a good picture of the flashing florescent orange color but the Namibian sun is what makes it really stand out and the camera just can't quite do it justice.  (By the way, all the photos are courtesy of my dear friends and angels!  Linda and Gordon who got me this lovely camera that is easy to use, easy to charge, easy to download and takes VERY nice pictures!





Finally got a a picture of that amazing head plumage when he got closest to the porch. Or maybe it is another bird?.

Either way, I am no birder but this one is the female version I think.


Okay, so I know that this may seem goofy to some of you.  (Perhaps those who have gone to college will have an idea, and I am sure it is only a portion of what the folks who have been in the military service have felt.)  But I finally was able to take time (and I was savoring it), to open one of the boxes that Gordon insisted, and Gordon and Linda paid a small fortune to ship here, because it just wouldn't fit in the three suitcases I was allowed (and that Linda spent HOURS carefully packing for me to fit in as much as possible, get the weight JUST right - nothing broke and nothing was even wrinkled!!).  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU LINDA AND GORDON!!

The boxes were shipped on January 27, arrived in Windhoek, Namibia sometime around April 20- they had to go through South Africa and there was a postal strike on!)  And although all five boxes were a treasure (the sixth box went back to  CA for some reason and arrived there around May 20!)  The very first box was so wonderful it literally mad me cry. 

 Here is a representation of what means a little bit of home- My God is Still Speaking travel coffee mug- can't go anywhere without it and it reminds me of the many cups of coffee I have shared with my mom and sister.  My UCC New Century Hymnal that will give many possibilities for new music for the church here, my clothespins so that I can finally do a
REAL washing and hang things OUTSIDE instead of having a dripping bathroom, magnesium that I need for my back (and which it took months to find here), a roll of VERY soft toilet paper (I have found some here!), and my softball mitt and ball to play and to remind me of my Dad especially, as well as my brothers and one of the twenty or so of my precious books I included!!  I brought all the Marcus Borg and Gregory Riley I had plus a bunch of other progressive and wonderful scholars as well as prayerful peacemakers.  I am happy to have them to keep me company, spur me on to ministry in the Way of Jesus the LOVING, JUSTICE seeking and PEACE bringing, and to share them with the congregations and ministers here.

Here is the start to unpacking the box with lot of other things on the bed- including card games!  And there are still four boxes to go. (You can see the box on the right was re-packaged by the postal service for some reason!) Thank you Linda and Gordon!!

Digging the Compost Hole

Those of you who know about these things will probably be laughing but this girl from the suburbs with a black thumb does at least know that compost helps a garden.  So the children and I set out to prepare a compost heap, which became a compost hole.  (They like digging like all children!)  We dug, and got grass and more cow manure and  mixed it all together and go the hose and made it all wet.  Subsequently I have discovered HOW hard the ground turns when it is wet with the water of Kalkfeld (chalk field), lime.  But we shall deal with that later somehow!  

Sharifa, Cyril and Jaydine with bags of grass (or cow dung?)

Finishing touches on the garden wall.
Sharifa with backside to camera, Cyril, Jaydine, Geraldo in back, William with schovel.

 Jaydine is a good worker but I think she would be even more talented with a baton don't you?

Let the digging begin- Sharifa with shovel, William with his back to the camera, Cyril talking to Geraldo and Geraldo holding up the pitch fork.

Cyril got tired of waiting on the shovel or pitch fork and used an old mop to break up the manure in the garden with Jaydine's help.


We gave  up on the bags and found a wheelbarrow for the grass.  Geraldo, William, Sharifa

Think the guys know there is a camera?  Sharifa is all business however.  Note the sandal- the children run barefoot more often than not unless it is really cold and then they might have shoes but seldom socks.  Socks and shoes are for school.

This is actually the next week.  They came back and wanted to dig some more.  Note the rock wall they built.  Sharifa is getting ready for church with her hair in curlers and she and Geraldo are doing the digging with Jaydine looking on


Vanessa, who lives across the "street" came over to see the activity.  She has become a wonderful Sunday School teacher.  And you can see the children like her a lot.




Although I think this was one occasion when Cyril was getting instructions from her and big sister Sharifa he wasn't sure he particularly cared for!