Highlights of Monday (January 10th)--Rain, Shane, Katutura.

     Rain: Last night and today we witnessed our first Namibian rainfall. Although us Washingtonians are use to the rain, it is nothing like the rain here. It hits suddenly, dumping buckets upon buckets of rain, then leaves just as quickly. Both rain falls we have seen have been about 10 minutes long; just quick little downpours from the sky above. There is some thunder and lightning mixed in with the rainfall, however the sky all around the rain cloud is blue and clear as can be; nothing like Washington rain.

     Shane: We have a taxi company that we use consistenly, and therefore get the same taxi drivers. The driver of the van that nicely fits all 9 of us students is driven by Shane. At first, Shane seemed to be slightly overwhelmed by all of us girls. However, he now seems to enjoy our company. Joking with us, calling himself a 'baller', teaching us some Afrikan, and nicely showing us all around town with great commentary and history lessons. He is fabulous and we are so blessed to have such a patient, nice man as our driver. He drove us around to overlook the city, where we got some great shots of the main city of Windhoek. (This is also where we found the huge centipedes as seen on Kari and I below)

overlooking Windhoek

crazy Namibian Lizards running away

Shane being a 'Baller'

Decorative rocks at Moses Garoeb

Bri, me and Jill

      Katutura: Although we have not yet started student teaching (our teacher training days are Thursday and Friday this week, and first day of school is next Monday), we were able to visit the area that our schools are located--Katutura. This town exists all along the outskirts of Windhoek. As we were touring this area, it was just area after area of houses made out of scraps and metal. All along the streets were similar structures with barber shops, small markets, car washes and bars. Along the tour, we got a lot of information about the apartheid and how Katutura came to be. Currently, the population of Windhoek is about 300,000 people; Katutura is the home of over half of them. Although this area appears to be low income, and is for some, it is also an area that values family and community. Several of the people living in Katutura have the finances to live elsewhere, but choose not to. For those cannot afford other housing, many of them have jobs, either within Katutura or within the city, and are working towards creating a better life for them and their families. Many of the houses also hold large families, which include immediate and extended family, all under one roof. Once I begin my student teaching, I will have the opportunity of doing several home visits and will get the chance to see what the homes are like first-hand. The following pictures show you a glimpse of what the area looked like, and the video clip has more information about this town.