Namibia is a land of extremes. The Namib Desert with its extreme dunes runs next to the Atlantic Ocean, Namibia’s western border. The Kalahari Desert runs through much of Namibia’s eastern border. Most of Namibia is arid and dry but there can be extreme flooding when the rains come. Even without flooding, locals say that when the rains come, everything turns green overnight. I have not witnessed the rains and I have not seen the desert dunes yet, but I have witnessed other extremes.
Included are a couple photos of the lush entrance to my school and some trees from my hostel grounds. Juxta-positioned to both are the dry grounds on the side and back of the hostel and the church property across from the school.
Claudia, the German teacher, invited me to help her bake Stollen (German breakfast bread) and gingerbread cookies and to swim in their pool. She graduated from our school and now she is married with a 3yr old daughter and a 5yr old son. It was a fun day with a fellow teacher and the pool felt wonderful!
Claudia’s mother tongue is German, her husband’s is Afrikaans. They both speak to their children in their mother tongue, and in English. Ursula, the 3yr old, has a unique language of her own creation. Her father describes it as the inflection, accent, and pacing of English TV but the words are a mix of German and Afrikaans. I find it amazing!
Another interesting thing I’ve learned is that some blacks know and understand Afrikaans, but they will not speak it. They will speak English. It doesn’t take much sensitivity to understand this. Afrikaans was the national language under South African rule and apartheid. After independence in 1990, English became the national language, but Afrikaans is still spoken throughout the country. Coloreds and Basters don’t seem to have the same aversion to Afrikaans. Surprisingly to me, even though the young nation has come a long way since independence there are racial tensions between the diverse ethnicities, not just between the whites and everyone else.
All for now, with all my love
Where's GranEllen? 