Namibia!

Namibia began with little African girls singing to us all. They were wearing little dresses that all matched, and some had bright green shoes. We watched them dance from the seventh deck, and once the ship was cleared (meaning we were allowed to leave), we rushed down and were greeted by them with hugs and huge toothy smiles. After two minutes of being outside, the heat really hit us all pretty hard. We were glad to have water with us, as well as sunscreen. It’s difficult to explain the extremes of going from northern Africa to southern. They are very different, not only climate-wise but also culture, people, language, currency, and acceptance of westernized civilization (like clothing styles and such). Namibians are made up of approximately 90% blacks, 6% whites, and the leftover 4% is a mixture. The country is very literate, women included, reaching up to 85% of the population that can read and write. The main spoken language is English, but people also use German and Afrikaans (pronounced Africons). Windhoek is the capital city, and they brew a nice lager there. People only live to an average of 50 years old, and just under 20% of the population has AIDS, which is the first place I’ve been to in the world that is that high. Its one thing to hear the number, and another to walk and talk with the locals and have it in your mind that one out of the five people standing in front of you has the disease, including the dancing and singing girls. You just really can’t say you know and understand the African AIDS epidemic until you come here and truly wrap your mind around that fact. The country was freed from South African hold in 1990 – so the country is vey very young, including its people. And like I mentioned, everyone dresses pretty much like Americans and it was nice to not have to worry about how I was dressed as to not offend, which gave me a possibly false sense of comfort.



After finding an ATM and receiving Namibian dollars ($9.90 Namibian = $1 US), we caught a cab and soon found ourselves in the sleepy German town of Swakopmund (correctly pronounced schwa-kop-mundt). After walking around the hot town, we started hearing drums and found ourselves heading towards it. Luckily, it was a café right outside of the tourism centre, and we obtained a map and directions to the best local restaurant on the beach. There we had some drinks and food – most of which was American-like. (Unfortunately, they did not serve zebra there, and I was disappointed that I could not find it during my entire stay. I’m hoping to get some in South Africa though!) We walked around and found the Crystal Gallery museum and decided to go inside. In there, we walked through a man-made cave with quartz specimens that grew on the rocks and then at the end, were able to touch (as well as get a photo with) the largest quartz sample in the world. And let me tell you, it was HUGE! Namibia harvests several unique stones which is why the gallery was so interesting. That, and I’m a geek when it comes to rocks! We shopped around in the store there, and bought some very cool souvenirs.

We then all went to a park where there was maybe fifty vendors trying to sell us traditional African things like wooden bowls, carved animals, bracelets and rings made out of horn, necklaces made from ostrich eggs, carved plaques, and so many other things. Everything there was something that I was interested in, and it was completely overwhelming to have the vendors pick up things and tell you how much you wanted it for, even if you didn’t want it at all! I ended up getting quite a bit there, and was very satisfied with how much I paid for it all. All the vendors (who were very dark black) would yell out “Sister, sister!” to get our attention. It was pretty funny. Around the area there were also people from the Ovahimba Tribe who were in traditional dress. They paint their skin a burnt red color and the women don’t wear any tops. It is the customary dress of people from thousands of years ago when people first inhabited Namibia, and there are still hundreds that follow the tribal customs to this day. Talk about dedication to your history! We weren’t allowed to take pictures without giving them money, so I’ll need to steal some from my roommate.



Soon after, we wandered down the beach and got some photos of locals flipping off old docks and spent some time at the end of the bay. It was a beautiful area with the waves splashing up on the rocks. Then we went to a bar called Rafters Action where there was a rugby game just starting! We got some drinks and met a few locals who were incredibly fun to chat with. They were just like Americans – but they spoke German. We spent a good hour or so there and then decided to catch a cab back to the ship.



That night, we got directions from a security guard outside of our pier telling us directions to the nearest bar. When we got there, we saw that it had three rooms all decorated in Valentines Day attire and in the back was a beer garden. After more locals showed up, everyone was dancing and we joined in with them, and it was so much fun! The DJ gave a shout-out to all of us saying that we are the best American customers they have had in a long time. It is always great to hear that, especially with how much of a bad reputation Americans have.

The next morning, I walked around with my new friend Megan Veloz and we saw more of Walvis Bay and got some soda from a grocery store. The cans of coke were larger than regular, and called Afri-cans. Vey clever! Then we went back to the ship for some lunch, and that’s when I met up with my camping and stargazing group. We got together in the Union and waited for directions before getting in 4x4 vehicles and driving out past Dune 7 (a huge sand dune in the Namib Desert, but by far not the largest), and then into an area called The Moonlands. They are strange rock structures that look so strange that the only way to describe them is that everyone kept saying, “Now I know where they filmed Star Wars.” The Moonlands changed so suddenly from a dry and rocky area to a green tropical-like setting with water flowing, and then back into rocky desert. It’s strange how fast it went from one to the other. We finally got to camp and were let loose to discover the area. We climbed up tall mountains with tons of fracture shale which made it hard to climb because when you step on it, it breaks off and slides right out from under you. But of course, that didn’t deter any of us from climbing as high as we possibly could and seeing incredible sights! Throughout the hike, I kept thinking “I could possibly be the only person to ever step foot right here.” The desert is so vast, just like the oceans. Its curious how such opposite things (ocean and desert) could be so eerily similar. After climbing back down the mountains, we walked along the driest riverbed I have ever seen. The clay was cracked and curled like dried rose petals and when you walked on them, you could feel them fracturing below your shoes. It was just as pleasing as popping packaging bubbles! We went a little further and saw a few beetles that we had learned about in global studies. To get water, they climb to the highest point they can find on the desert floor and stick their butts high up in the air and sit like that all night. And when the fog comes down at night, the moisture collects on their bodies and drips to their mouths. Pretty clever buggers if you ask me.




A Namibian band came and played music for us at camp before and while we were eating. For dinner they provided us with slow cooked lamb (still on the bone), beans, rice, bread, and Namibian tea. It was all really good, and of course I had seconds. For dessert, they made us African Pudding which really isn’t pudding at all. It’s more of a soggy brownie-like cake that tastes like cinnamon and you pour warm buttermilk over the top of it. That was really tasty as well.



During dinner though, it rained. And it rained hard. Everyone made a mad dash to close up the tent windows and while they were doing that, I stopped and let myself get soaked in African rain. It was so refreshing after such a hot day full of exercise and 90+ temperatures. Within five minutes, the rain had stopped and I was soaked, as well as my bed. But, the good news was that the clouds had moved, and were given a good twenty minutes of star-gazing. Our guide walked us out away from the campfires so we could see the night sky properly. With some strange green laser, she pointed out Saturn and Venus, the Southern Cross, Orion and Betelgeuse, and Sirius and its Canus Major constellation. The Milky Way Galaxy wasn’t easy to spot with the patchy cloud cover, but the sky was still really beautiful. We headed back when no more stars were visible, and sat around the fire enjoying Savanna Dry’s (a South African cider beer) and deep conversation before going to bed.



The next morning we awoke around 6am (yes, I easily get up early now!) and had tea with fruit and granola. I started playing with the white embers from the fire from last night and was challenged to make it into a new one. So, I took it upon myself to find kindling and paper, and was able to birth new flames to the campsite. A lot of people were pretty impressed with me, as was I. :) Upon hearing that we weren’t going to be picked up until 11am, a few of us head out for another walk in the desert. But this time, it was different. We walked back to the dry river bed, and saw that it was a little damper than the day before. We walked across it and noticed a small trickle of water beginning as we were walking but thought nothing of it. After crossing more of the desert, we found a rushing river that we hung out by for ten minutes or so. It was chocolate brown and going very, very fast. Then walking back, we noticed that the river bed that we crossed was now moving faster than the one we had just been at, and we were literally trapped between two rivers and in order to get back, we had to wade across which was a lot more difficult than it sounds. Since the water moved so fast into this river bed, it didn’t have enough time to really soak into the ground so it just made the clay on top of it extremely slick, and sticky. We had to take baby steps to get anywhere, and had to fight the strong current. We all made it across and back to camp with our legs covered with mud. After talking to the guide, we discovered that the riverbed hasn’t had water in it since 1989! And I got to walk through it. Very exciting stuff!

I attempted washing my legs off and climbed into the 4x4 to go back to the ship. Our vehicle was forced to go through the rushing water, which was very fun and very muddy. At one point we were nervous that we wouldn’t make it across because the car started to turn, but we did and made it to the ship safely. I showered and slept until the ship disembarked, and spent the next day catching up on sleep and writing the blog.

Marrakesh, Morocco!

After sitting in the pre-port lecture and learning that women should wear looser fitting clothing, pull their hair back or cover it in some way, and not look men in the eyes, I was curious what I was getting myself into. “The culture must just be different there.” But that thought is stronger than the words sound.

As we got ourselves fixed on the busses in the early morning of that first day, it still had not set in that I was in Morocco – in Africa. My feet had officially touched the rough concrete and my nose was tickled with the strong scent of fish and gasoline. This pier looked like a construction zone, with bent and rusted rebar poking out of the ground as well as cranes swinging far above my head. I searched for the comfort of a seatbelt on the automobile, but there was none. Safety is such a requirement in America where the rest of the world sees it as a hassle (although, I do tend to agree with them).

The tour guide whose name was never pronounceable for me or anyone else on the bus was dressed in typical Berber clothing which apparently looks like a dress with a KKK-pointy type hood made out of thick insulated brown canvas. Looking out the windows, it was somewhat barren. The ground was flat with spurts of green grassland that met with dust. Sheep were scattered about, and small boys who must have been shepherds waved towards the tour bus. Before drifting off to sleep, I learned that kus-kus is only served on Fridays or Saturdays as a special occasion ending the week. We however, were going to be lucky enough to have it prepared for us that afternoon. In addition to speaking Arabian, Moroccans speak perfect French. They must go to school and perfect it, and if they make a mistake during their final examination, they must take the language all over again until they get it right.

We stopped at a small café halfway to Marrakesh to stretch our legs, and that is where I got my first taste of the Arabian language. It sounds partly like a backwards song, and partly like they are trying to clear something from the back of their throat without coughing. It is definitely something I have never heard before, and I was wide-eyed when thinking of how I was going to get around in this place without speaking or understanding a lick of it.

For lunch, we stopped at a restaurant that had typical Moroccan food. First we were served a large platter of several small portions. There were lentils, sweet potatoes, spiced cauliflower, some sort of orange kidney bean, sliced potatoes, tomato salsa, and bread. Naturally, everyone was very skeptical of what we were about to eat. I dug in first to start it all off, and to not be rude to our hosts. All the flavors were things that I had tasted before, so it was not too much of a surprise. Then, we were served some sort of eggroll-taquito type food (I’m sure the Moroccans would hate me for comparing their delicacies to Asian food!) They were rolled up vegetables and meat with rice with a crispy buttery breading on the outside, and they were DELICIOUS! Then, for the main course we had beef or lamb still on the bone, with kus-kus and steamed potatoes and carrots. The meat was outrageously tender, as if they had been cooking it slowly all night long! Then for dessert, we were given a heaping plate full of oranges and mint-green tea. The oranges were huge, but super flavorful and juicy with no seeds, and the tea was a murky yellow color, but definitely had a hint of mint in it. It was the perfect way to end the meal.



Next, we stopped at an area of Morocco called Palm Groves to ride camels! Half of my group rode camels while the other half sat down to olives, more of the delicious mint-green tea, and consumed some sort of flatbread with honey while listening to three men play drums and guitar-like instruments while singing together. (Nope dad, no dates.) The floor was covered in cushions and pillows like something you would see straight out of Indiana Jones. After relaxing with the snacks, we had a local tie turbans on our heads (I watched and learned how to do it!) and set off to the camels.



My camel’s name was Victoria. And I’m not sure where people get this idea that camels spit all the time, because I didn’t see a single one spit. If anything, they growl – and like to go on their own paths. Quite independent creatures, really – somewhat like cats. Anyway, getting on the camel was fun because when they stand up, they shoot you forward at a steep angle and if you aren’t holding on, you will fall right off the front. Then they even themselves out, and before you know it, you are six feet up on a one-humped mammal. Luckily, they have a padded seat for you to sit (although my tailbone still didn’t feel all that wonderful the next day).



Our camels were tied together in groups of four or five, and strolled around an area that was very humbling. It was some sort of neighborhood where the locals carried out their daily lives. Men were working, and many women were washing clothing or simply standing in their doorway holding onto a child. Small kids would smile and wave, delighted to get the same in return. It was a dry area, and the homes were made out of red clay, with no front yards. There were palm trees scattered about the area, but they did not seem to fit in. Unfortunately, I was unable to take any photos atop the camel to show you how poor the people that live here must have been.

After leaving Palm Groves, we got to our hotel to settle in. Dinner was served shortly after with the same type of foods that we had for lunch. For dessert, we were served an array of chocolate cream creations which were welcomed since finding chocolate on the ship has proven nearly impossible. We went to bed fairly early that night. Ghost Ship (of all movies) was playing on the TV on the only English-speaking network they provided to our hotel, so a few girls and I watched it and called it a night.

Breakfast was served in sticky bun and pastry form, along with an orange juice substitute. We set out in the rain to an Arabian palace where I got a lot of gorgeous pictures of the intricate architecture and hand carved walls. The tile work in Morocco is magnificent, and you can tell how much they care about how their structures look. A kitty found me in the third wives room in the palace (Arabian kings were allowed up to eight wives, as long as each wife granted him permission to marry another), and soon after that I began noticing cats all around Morocco. Seems to me that cats in Marrakesh are like birds in Spokane. Next we went to the Arabian Kings Tombs and then found ourselves in the medina (city center) where the maze of markets are located, and this (of all places) is where we were allowed free time.

Shops in the medina had everything from tea pots to jewelry, to shoes and steak. And if you let the sellers see your eyes wander onto something in their shop, they will grab you by the arm and literally pull you inside, which was an awakening thing to a blond haired girl like me in a continent full of brunettes. Getting more comfortable with being around aggressive men, I bought a few nice things and was proud of myself. At the end of the day, we were walking out of the medina and into the main square (where they have monkeys that jump onto you and snake charmers that place snakes around your neck with no warning at all), I kept hearing men offer 10 to 1000 camels for girls in our group. Next thing I know, there are Arabian men offering me 10,000 camels, and apparently my new name to them was Shakira! What a day in Marrakesh! Soon it was time to go back, and after one last dinner, I let myself relax and drift off to sleep with my thoughts of Morocco.

Spain!

Right now I can see Gibraltar from my window. The word literally means mountain, and mountain is it. We are fueling up here. I got back on the ship yesterday afternoon and we left around 8pm. We've been going super super super slow so that we have this whole day to learn up on Morocco, and also since Morocco is only about 200 miles from Cadiz. And when I say slow, I mean 2 knots. I think we're going to go the fastest tonight. Last night it was really rocky and everything from the tables in our room fell on the floor and all of our drawers kept opening and slamming shut with every wave which startled us, as I bet you can imagine. Rumor has it that it will be just as rocky tonight.

Spain was incredible! And I surprised myself on how quickly I remembered, as well as picked up on the Spanish language. In my group of seven, I was the one who translated what locals were saying. I am also hearing the Rosetta Stone’s from school call my name.

The first day we got to Cadiz (pronounced kah-dith), we went and bought train tickets to get from Cadiz to Sevilla (pronounced suh-vee-ya) and then got to Sevilla around 2:30. Then we took buses and walked around for about three hours trying to find hostels that had enough room for everyone and finally found one for 20 euro a night right in el centro (the center of town). We had tinto (red wine) and tapas (snacks) at a bar (bars are family places to eat opposed to places just to drink in Spain) which was delicious as well as relaxing after the long day of travel on train and by foot. We went to dinner at 9 or 10 that night (meals are different here and are at different times. Breakfast is served at 7am-8am, lunch is at 1:30-2:30pm, tapas at 4-8pm, and dinner at 10pm-12pm), and then retired to our beds around 1am. Spanish wine is SO good, and averages 1.50 euro for a generous glass.


In the photo: Bubber, Caitlin, and Me

The next day was filled with walking around Sevilla and lots of cafe con leche (coffee with hot milk) which is deliciously creamy and incredibly delicious. We also went to the main cathedral in town, but didn't go in because of the time. We shopped for awhile, and then went to a futbol (soccer) game! It was the most truly cultural thing I have ever done! The game was Sevilla vs. Vallencia, with Sevilla scoring the winning goal with 40 seconds to go! Everyone went crazy and were singing, and we made some amigos locales (local friends) while having a Spanish cervesa (their most popular beer is called Cruzcampo) after to celebrate.






The next day was filled with walking around and then a train back to Cadiz where we showered and ate on the boat to save some money. Then we went out and looked at the local shops and went to an Irish pub called O'Connels where a lot of locals hang out as well. We made friends with the bartender Franco, who gave us free tinto solo en una copa (red wine by itself in a glass), and red bull to stay awake and took us at 4am to a secret discoteca (place of dancing) and didn't get back to the ship until 7am! Ahh the life in Spain!



Then yesterday was filled with toasted croissants and cafe con leche and finding food in markets. Then it was back to the ship to sleep!

I really really enjoyed Spain to its fullest potential and hope to do the same in all my other places. Today in global studies we discussed how women should always wear sleeves and long shorts or pants and cover their hips and either cover our hair or put it up. I guess long wavy curly hair like mine is seen as a sexual thing, as well as looking men in the eyes. So I'm going to have to cover up the ol' hair and try to train myself not to look at men in the eyes when I'm talking to them. Also, it is considered rude to eat with your left hand because it is the 'dirty hang' where the right hand is the clean one. I'm just glad I'm not left handed. I can't wait for the food! Tomorrow I have an FDP (faculty directed program) for Marketing where we go to a coke factory, and then the next day I head by bus to a place outside of Morocco and go camel riding and get a tour of the city. I'm happy that I will be in a large group this time because it sounds like Marrakesh can be a very dangerous area for women to roam alone.

Tonight we gain an hour by moving our clocks back, which is a much welcomed change from the 23 hour days we lived on the way across the Atlantic. The first port is over, which leaves everyone with a bitter sweet point. But we have so much to look forward to!