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Annie's Blog

About Annie
Major(s): Biology/Psychology Minor
Hometown: Allison

5/30/06
What a feeling - to have culture shock in our own country! Many of us were taken off guard by everyone driving on the right side and the driver being on the left side of the car back in the states! It's funny how soon we began to accept driving on the left as the norm! In Africa, there were countless times that we almost ran into people walking on Jager Walk (walking path) in Fish Hoek by our bed & breakfast. We began to call out "left side!" when we met people so our group would to the 'correct' side of the path! Enough of that - sorry I kind of went off on a tangent! After sleeping like a rock for almost 12 hours, I feel that our blog needs a final entry to wrap things up. It's been a great 5 weeks and I know all of us are excited to share our pictures with you once we've sorted through all 15,000,000 of them.

On our last night (this Tuesday) our group ate together with Solveig & Peter Kjeseth, their son Thor and his two children, Hisashi and Khana, and our cook Nikki at Francois'. After our meal, all of the staff (ALL of the staff, even the chefs) came out and sang a goodbye song to us. It was so unexpected and absolutely beautiful. I think some of us even had a few tears in our eyes. PT treated us to this dinner and he even let us order DESSERT! I had the Cape Brandy Pudding, yum! (Note: I think 'pudding' in every other country but America means bread-pudding or cake) I know this is surprising, but the dessert wasn't the main focus of my meal. It was what came after dessert that impressed me the most. Each of us shared our 3 favorite things and then one thing that impacted us the most on this trip. This was nearly IMPOSSIBLE, but we all did our best. I didn't write them all down but I'll try to relay a few of them:

Fav. things compiled from the group:
* The Wartburg Castle: singing the loyalty song in the Great Hall, learning about Martin Luther and the lutheran heritage, "after being a Wartburg student, it was special to visit the real 'Wait Mountain'" (If my memory serves correctly, it was said to be named Wartburg because Ludwig der Springer who founded the settlement said, "Wait! Mountain" [but in German of course] which eventually came to be Wartburg) http://www.wartburg-eisenach.de/frame_st.htm

* Many times, our group of Wartburg students named "when Buddy died" as one of their favorite moments. Of course they were referring to the day when our truck, named Buddy, tragically decided to have multiple "belt problems" among others and then subsequentially die. This resulted in us spending a day stranded in the Namibian desert (thankfully in an area with some trees!). Many of the group pointed out though that we had a great day in spite of this! We had some extra journaling time, and trust me...I ALWAYS needed more journaling time. Apparently I'm just not disciplined enough for journaling!! Anyway, when Buddy died we made our own instruments out of kitchen utensils and anything else we could find so we could play the rhythm game led by our fearless Katherine Knutsen. Right after the "explosion" of Buddy (or the explosion of Wartburg students FROM Buddy...either way), our cook Nikki, made us chocolate pudding. What beats a bowl of chocolate pudding on the side of the road! I think Emily Harkins even took the opportunity to demonstrate how someone can fall asleep while sitting on a pile of very threatening-looking, sharp and pointy rocks. I am STILL impressed Emily!

*Many of us (and surprisingly, I was included) thought that our entire 'overlanding' experience was one of the best parts of our trip. It allowed us to experience the land and people of Namibia in a way that just isn't possible in hotels. Here is the Nomad website if anyone is interested: http://www.nomadtours.co.za/index.html

* Philippi visit to Otto Kohlstock's Lutheran church and mission. What a day. I used this as one of my favorite things. We were able to visit both the female and male wards of HIV/AIDS (Stages III & IV) patients. And we didn't just 'look' at them, but instead we introduced ourselves, talked to them, smiled at them, and most importantly, TOUCHED them. I still remember how happy a certain man, Cedric, was when I approached his bed. His wife was also there and I met her as well. It was like I'd never seen anyone smile with as much sincerity as he did that day. I am still convinced that our ability and willingness to physically touch others is such an important thing God gave us as human beings. It was a day that confirmed my excitement and commitment to a life of using touch as a physical therapist. I know others were spiritually and emotially touched by this experience as well. I should mention also that Rev. Kohlstock has an active craft project for HIV positive men and women. They are taught to make beautiful bead-work, cards, bags, and other items which are sold locally and also overseas. This is a great program that has provided many people with some employment and often provides their only income. Many of us did purchase some of the work and it is very beautiful! We can all vouch for this wonderful as well if you are interested in donating specifically. Here is the website:

*Relationships. Many people named our relationships as a favorite thing, whether they were being formed, reaffirmed, shaped, improved or whatever while we were on this trip. Many times we would meet in PT's downstairs room in Peter & Solveig's B&B to discuss the events of the day or to be briefed on our upcoming activities. It was during these times when we met as a group that we were able to learn about the Nambian and South African people and discuss just how we felt about everything we were experiencing or learning about. We were challenged, encouraged, impressed, or angered by each other and through these discussions, our group came to understand ourselves and also understand that much of life is yet to "be figured out."

*The MUSIC: Many of us can remember exact times on the trip when music gave us goosebumps from the top of our heads to the bottom of our feet. It was just so beautiful and powerful and different all at the same time. Solveig & Peter would also play different music every morning while we were served breakfast. What a great way to experience more of their musical culture! Ladysmith Black Mambazo was a favorite among some of us! Check it out! http://www.mambazo.com/pages/1/index.htm

*The children. They were always so excited to see us and hold onto us, regardless of the circumstances. Often, our group would stand out quite plainly on our visits to many of the townships (Masiphumelele, Khayelitscha, Guguletu, Philippi, etc). In this area where white people are still sometimes seen as threatening or condescending, it was always a relief to see the children. We could enjoy their excitement and complete trust in us even though we were white strangers to their (almost all black or all colored depending on where we were) community. I still remember when we were in Masiphumelele and we all stepped into a Bed & Breakfast to see the inside. When we walked back out into the street, some of the children who had been tagging along our tour, had formed a cheer or dance/song for us and performed it as soon as we were paying attention. They just wanted our attention and we were more than happy to give it!

I think that's all I can remember. I know that there are many more I am forgetting but maybe this will at least give you an idea of how much this trip meat to all of us. Thank you again for reading this and sending your comments my way. I really appreciate that! I apologize for the lack of proofreading but I guess that's what an online journal is all about. Thank you Pastor Trachte for leading us on this journey! Your continued patience and guidance was always appreciated and never acknowledged enough! I wish everyone could experience Germany with PT...it's educational, fun, non-stop and certainly one-of-a-kind. Thank you again from the group! I hope you didn't mind 'the machine' nickname, but seriously! We were RUNNING after you in Germany, panting to keep up and YOU were the one with a broken fibula!! Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration but it was quite impressive, nonetheless! And thank you to all of my fellow overlanders - Laura Bake, Karen Connelly, Ashley Dietz, Emily Harkins, Heather Harvey, Sabrina Jorpeland, Christy Kelton, Lisa Korby, Ashley Kueker, Josh Lee, Jen Muhl, Emily Pappas, Liz Reedstrom, Amanda Sweet, and Sarah Witte! What a great group and never a dull moment! "See you in Eisenach!" ;o)

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5/23/06
Hello from (finally) sunny Cape Town! We've been gone for 30 days! It's been very chilly and rainy here...basically the entire time we've been here. But we're a hearty group and we've just been trekking around wearing every article of clothing we own. I'll catch you up on our activities since last Saturday.

SATURDAY: We went into Cape Town for the day and did some shopping in the Green Market and Pan Africa Market. At these places, we bartered for crafts. Emily Harkins, Josh Lee, Jen Muhl, and Christy Kelton bought drums! Then we visited the District 6 museum. This museum was a very educational place with exhibits to describe the history of this particular area of Cape Town. District 6 was originally a multi-racial area with many of its residents making up the working class of Cape Town. During apartheid as far back as the 1930's, political leaders planned to "re-develop" this area as an "urban improvement" project. With the Group Areas Act, this area was designated as a white area and thousands of people were forcibly removed from their homes to other designated black or colored areas. This new legislation also allowed the government to destroy or clear all buildings (homes) except for religious buildings under the idea of "slum clearance.
(I took some information from this website if you're interested: http://www.capetown.at/heritage/city/district%206.htm) About 60,000 people were removed from District 6 and it was renamed Zonnebloem after the original Dutch farm, in an effort to attract developers who would transform it into a modern suburb. It was a neat museum that really gave us an idea of just how destructive and frightening life was for many people during apartheid. We had the night off and many of us took the opportunity to relax.

SUNDAY: We attended church at the J.L. Zwane church in Guguletu. The service was approximately 2 hours long and the focus was on HIV/AIDS. All of the music was lead by a choir without any instruments except for a plastic pillow that some of the women would "slap" as a way to keep time. This choir and congregation could basically rattle the windows with their sound. It was so beautiful! Much of the music and service was in the Xhosa language. The JL Zwane social worker and physician gave a lengthy and thorough presentation on their jobs and the work this center does. It was difficult for us to understand because they would go in and out of english and xhosa sometimes 3 times in each sentence. Pretty amazing. After church we changed into our 4 layers of clothing and rain jackets (because it rains almost every day!!) and drove to the Cape Point. There's a great picture on this website: http://www.capepoint.co.za/ It was absolutely beautiful. We ate at the restaurant here. Many of us (myself included) had the delicious grilled kingklip (fish). Yum! By the way...we have been fed VERY well on this trip!! Too well in fact! We rode the funicular up to the top and visited the lighthouse to take some great pictures. On the way back to Fish Hoek and Sunny Cove, we stopped to visit some penguins. (They are actually called jackass penguins because they sound like donkeys) Our group really enjoyed this! At our nightly "debriefing" session with Peter, we talked about the church and its role in South Africa today. Peter (Kjeseth) talked to us about how he and Solveig have been involved in the apartheid and Namibian freedom struggle. He wanted to give us a background for when we visited Robben Island the next day. We also discussed the African National Congress (ANC) and it's role in the apartheid struggle (http://www.anc.org.za/about/anc.html and http://www.anc.org.za/index.html). I continue to be amazed and fascinated by Peter and Solveig and their continued passion for the people of Namibia and South Africa.

MONDAY: Yesterday we took the train to Cape Town at 6:30 am!! And it was quite a day! Once we arrived in Cape Town, we took a taxi (18 people in a minivan) to the waterfront to catch the boat to Robben Island for the morning (try these - http://www.robben-island.org.za/ http://www.freedom.co.za/). After a 30 minute I'm-about-to-lose-my-breakfast-ride to Robben Island, we loaded onto a charter bus for a tour around the island. (I think the circumference is only 11km which is about 6ish miles) Our tour guide was actually a former prisoner of the Robben Island Prison, which added a unique aspect to his explanations and stories. Then we were led on a tour of the prison by another former political prisoner. One of the reasons Robben Island became famous was because of the imprisonment of many political prisoners during apartheid (including Nelson Mandela and Robert Sobukwe). We were shown the individual cells where these people were kept because of their involvement in the anti-apartheid movement. Powerful and fascinating. I'd love to tell you more but I'm running out of time. We spent the afternoon doing some more shopping and then our Nomad Tour cook Nikki (she's still staying with us at Sunny Cove) organized a drum lesson for us in Cape Town. After an hour and a half of drumming (I mean...my hands were so swollen! Katherine even bruised herself!), we ate chicken curry prepared for us by Nikki! We finally arrived at home around 9:30 and I went straight to bed!

Today has been a free day for us. Emily Pappas, Heather Harvey, Amanda Sweet and PT went into Cape Town for some last minute shopping and most of us have just been hanging out in Fish Hoek. Tonight we will have our farewell dinner with Peter, Solveig, their son Thor and his two children Hisashi and Khana. Tomorrow have to be out of our Bed and Breakfast to make room for the Iowa State group that is coming. (Funny huh?) We are going to spend the morning in Kalk Bay (another suberb/town) before heading to the airport early afternoon for our flight to Jo'burg. That's the local lingo for Johannesburg for those of you who were wondering. We will fly overnight Wed. night to Frankfurt, getting into Germany at 5:30ish in the morning. We have a 5 hour layover and we leave from Germany at 10:something am. We are supposed to arrive in Chicago around noon Central time. So for those of you who were planning on meeting me at O'Hare with flowers and chocolates, we'll be coming into Terminal 5. :) Can't wait to see you all!

Goodbye from Cape Town for the last time!

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5/19/06
It has been a busy week! I'll just start where I left off. I told you that we were going to visit the township named Masiphumelele. This is a township with about 24,000 people living there. Charlotte Swartbooi, a resident, gave us a walking tour of her city. This was our first township visit since Katutura in outside of Windhoek. It is always a sobering experience as most of the homes are tin shacks. There were a substantial amount of "real" houses with walls, roofs, floors, windows, doors, etc.

We also saw their schools and then were treated to a performance by a percussion and dancing group named, Buyambo. It was made up of 10 men or so and they performed on drums, marembas, and a kudu horn (from a type of antelope). Two of them did some traditional-like dancing as well. It was AMAZING! I mean...they can MOVE! :) Many of the children (who for some reason were not in school at 2:00 in the afternoon) followed us to the performance hall and attached themselves to our group. They really love it when we take their pictures and then they can see their picture immediately on our digital cameras. It was a nice day. Rodney Ndyalvan, another forward thinking resident of this town, drove us there and back.

As we walked back to our B&B he said, "Tell the world about Masiphumelele." It was something I haven't forgotten.

I should tell you that on Tuesday there was quite a large riot in Cape Town. Here is a link from todays paper http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=269&fArticleId=3252934
(and you may have better luck searching the internet for the May 16 Cape Town Riots). To summarize, there are labor unions that have been striking because of the huge unemployment issues here in South Africa. On Wednesday, we took the train to downtown Cape Town. Because of the riots the day before, we were basically by ourselves in downtown Cape Town.

Many of the vendors were not there as their wares/stands had been destroyed or damaged. We went to the National Museum, which had some neat exhibits on South African tribes, animal (sharks, ocean life, whales, dinosaurs) exhibits and some HUGE blue whale jawbones. We then took
taxis to the waterfront where we were free to eat lunch before we met and went to the Two Oceans Aquarium. This was very cool because we are right in the are where the two oceans meet...obviously. :)

Thursday was another "township" day and our first day in Guguletu. I believe it was founded in 1959 and was a black township during the apartheid times after the creation of the Group Areas Act, which required people to be segregated to specific areas according to their skin color. This means that only black people were allowed to live in Guguletu (not "colored" people or whites). Since black people make up the majority, there was a large population living in a small area.

An interesting side note about colored people during apartheid. About 9 months after the Dutch arrived, the first colored people were born. Since then and during the apartheid years, people were classified as black, colored, or white. Black people (and people originally from India, Turkey, China, etc.) were considered to be the lowest and so received the worst treatment (education, federal funding, rights) followed by the colored people, essentially those who had some white ancestry and then white people were considered to be superior.

Guguletu has about 750,000-1,000,000 people. It is such a wide estimated range because new people come into Cape Town from the rural areas every day looking for work. Inevitalbly they can't find work and so they are usually forced to live in a shack in a township, such as Guguletu. This is the second largest township outside of Cape Town. We visited the J L Zwane Center and Church (affiliated with the Prespyterian Church). (http://www.jlzwane.sun.ac.za) This was an amazing facility that offers many services to the community such as: hospice care, support services for HIV/AIDS patients and their families, after school programs (they have approx. 130 children per day), HIV/AIDS education and training, and outreach and nutrition programs. This facility was built finished in 2003 and has internet access. We will be attending church here on Sunday as well. In the afternoon we visited the Lutheran church in Guguletu. One of the elders of this church was former freedom fighter during the apartheid times. He was absolutely fascinating to listen to. He talked about how they (blacks) weren't allowed to leave Guguletu (or enter) without their passbooks. Guguletu was guarded by South African police that would question anyone attempting to leave or enter the black townships. He also said that he would hide in the Lutheran church during the struggle years. And if he did travel doing work for the struggle, he would change his clothes three or four times to avoid being identified by the South African police. Very interesting history!

In the afternoon we visited a Sangoma, or natural healer. It was in interesting meeting. Thsi man had collected every kind of herb you could imagine. There were also interesting things all over like animal fats and skins, animal hooves, and dried plants hanging all over the ceiling. This man said that he has clients come to him and tell him what their problems are. Then he will make and give a potion to drink or apply. He treats physical and mental ailments. It was an interesting conversation, that's for sure! Colin Sitemela, a resident of Guguletu, was our guide and he returned to Sunny Cove Manor with us for some conversation and dinner. We discussed everything from South African youth to unemployment issues. (Unemployment is approximately 40%) It has been an especially interesting thing following the riots on Tuesday.

Today we traveled to the Simon Estes Music School in the morning where we listened to their students. They are so talented and it was such a great morning! I even tried to learn the maremba! We heard their full choir sing as well as the boys choir. The boys sang the song,"76 trombones" from the music man! We knew that one! Unfortunately, the school has been moved to temporary facilities that aren't as nice because of financial difficulties. And many of their students who live in a township called Khayelitsha weren't there because of the riots. I'm not sure but some of the public transportation (bus, train, or station) was burned on Tuesday, making it hard for those people to get to work or school.

In the afternoon we went to the township called Philippi. Here we visited a Lutheran Church, mission and soup kitchen. This was a very powerful afternoon. It was one of those days when I think my heart was breaking.

After being fed in the soup kitchen, the German pastor, Otto Kohlstock, explained how the mission works and what they are doing to help the HIV/AIDS patients in Philippi, which is one of the poorest areas in Cape Town.

Here are some of the words I jotted down from the Rev. Kohlstock before we met the patients: "Just greet them, touch them, and talk to them." "These people are not very communicative, especially around white people. They are still hesitant."

"Tell them you are from the states and that you're here to pray for them...not just to look at them." We were able to visit both the male and female rooms which had 6 AIDS patients in each room. The Pastor asked us to sing and pray in each room so we sang Sanctuary and Amazing Grace and Pastor Trachte and Peter Kjeseth prayed in each of the rooms. It was such a powerful experience and much of the group couldn't help but openly cry while we were there.

It was a precious thing to meet these people and their families, hold their hands, and experience the reality of HIV/AIDS. It was a big day for everyone and I think it was one of our most influential days. Many of us struggle with these visits because we have to juggle being a tourist, a student and a caring human being. Is it right for us to just come in and see these people? Who are we to complain about anything? What are we gaining by visiting these people and singing amazing grace to them? These are just some of the comments I've heard as we all process today.

Afterward we were able to play with some of the children who were at the mission's playground. Sometimes playing with children is the best healing we will ever find. I think PT said it best as we drove away that this was "the church at its best." Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to learn about South Africa, HIV/AIDS, and ourselves.

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5/16/06
Hello from Cape Town! I'll try to catch you up on our adventures since my last posting! On Thursday morning, we loaded our truck Kilomanjaro and said goodbye to our new Namibian friend, Lot. Lot has been traveling with us throughout Namibia since we left Windhoek, the capital, for 1 1/2 weeks (or something like that...I'm really losing track of time!) It has been really fun traveling with Lot and he has brought a new dynamic to our group. Unfortunately his school holiday ends this week and so he had to go back to school. He wouldn't admit it, but I think he came to like this crazy group of Americans! And I mean...16 females...what more could you ask for! Lot--if you're reading this, we really appreciated you coming along with us! Thanks again!

So...we left Swakopmund and traveled to Sossusvlei where we camped for the night. On ou way to Sossusvlei we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. This area of Namibia is covered in a very fine red sand. It's like walking around in a whole bunch of cinnamon! Once we set up our 'tent city' (which we're practically professionals now...), we left and visited the Sesriem Canyon where we watched the sunset. Our guide Mandla said that this canyon is "not very exciting" but it was pretty and fun nonetheless. We went to bed early because we had to be up and on the bus by 4:30 AM on Friday morning.

Friday was the day that we tackled Dune 45. We climbed a MONSTER sand dune. (All of the dunes are numbered and people are only allowed to climb certain ones.) Our guide Mandla wanted us to be the first group out of the campsite when they opened the campsite gates at 5:15. Our group is very prompt and so we were the first truck to arrive at Dune 45. Somehow Emily Pappas and I were the first ones off the bus and I was the first one to attempt the 150 meter (approx.. 500 ft or 50 stories) climb. It soon became apparent that I was "too slow" and so Ashley Kueker and Heather Harvey were the first to reach the top with some other tourists who were climbing as well. Let me tell you, this was hard! I had to use my inhaler twice! And this is what Ashley Kueker said when we were finally at the top, "I wanted to faint, roll down the dune, and die while climbing this dune--put that in your blog." So of course that was said with sarcasm but I think it's a fairly accurate representation of how pooped we were at the top. It was absolutely breathtaking, physically and visually. We watched the sunrise from the dune and finally came back down around 7:00 and Nikki (our cook) had a hot breakfast (scrambled eggs, beans, cereal, bread) waiting for us! It was a great morning!

We went back to our camp, packed up and headed for the Quiver Tree Forest. It was basically a big travel day. A lot of "Bush toilets"...some of us are getting good at that too. (Again, I apologize if this is a little TOO much information...) On Friday night, Mandla attempted to teach us some of his language. His language is similar to Xhosa (the Xh sound is actually a click with the tounge...have us demonstrate when we get back to the states...we're horrible at it!). We really couldn't do any of it but it was really neat to listen to. Around the campfire we also listened to him talk about marriage, civil and women's rights, homosexuality and the new economica apartheid in Africa. It was an educational evening. On Saturday morning we learned about Quiver trees, (Namibia's national tree), The trees are named that because people used to make Quivers for their arrows out of the branches. They are a very interesting tree(live for 200-300 yrs) but I can't really explain more. Maybe you could google it. :) This campsite had two cheetahs in a pen. We drove around the pen in our truck and took pictures of them. I think it's basically impossible to see them in the wild and I think they might also be endangered. Big cats! Then we traveled to Fish River Canyon (2nd largest in the world, second to the Grand Canyon). We walked along a trail here and ate lunch at the canyon. It is very beautiful. Those who have been to the Grand Canyon say that it is much bigger than this one. We still enjoyed a nice afternoon and traveled further to our Mountain valley campsite at Ai-Ais (meaning hot springs...or something like that). We arrived with some daylight left so almost everyone went swimming in the pool that was like a HUGE hottub (probably 110 degrees). It was a normal pool size. I think it was as big as Waverly's pool. Emily Pappas and I went back after supper for a second swim. Ai-Ais was formerlly an all-white resort. This explains why this was the nicest campsite/resort we've stayed at so far.

Annie's educational "schpeel": I should also mention that in Swakopmund, 80% of the population doesn't live in the beautiful little downtown area, but in the surrounding areas in shantys and shacks. Also, prior to 1990 and Namibia's liberation, "blacks" and "colored's" were not allowed to be at the Swakopmund beaches at all. It has been very interesting to see just how much race is still a HUGE issue here. In South Africa, in all of the towns we passed by, there are the former black areas (small modest homes if they're lucky, often shacks) and then the white areas that look very much like European villages or American towns. It is a very hard thing for us to understand. And while racial apartheid is no longer legal. Many say that economics is the new apartheid. We are starting to learn more and more. These governments went from supporting 20-25% of the population (white people) to supporting 100% after apartheid was abolished. In many ways, the government is doing the best that they can, but they just cannot provide for everyone. Those are my random thoughts...I wish I could write more but I am still learning.

On Saturday night, Mandla (our guide) learned that his grandfather had died and that he would have to leave us the following day (1 day early) to return to Zimbabwe for the funeral. His grandfather had practically raised him and he was pretty upset about it. We asked if his grandfather had been sick and he said, "No, but he was very old--75 or 76." It's interesting how life expectancies and the definition of "old age" is different. So on Sunday we traveled to the South African border where we had to part ways with Mandla. We were all pretty bummed about this because we've come to like him very much. We had a new driver named Fort for our last travel day. (Actually Fort's name is Ngaba I think, which has a clicking noise. He said that since not everyone can click he goes by Fort because that is what his name means.) We traveled to our last campsite and spent our last night camping in COLD weather.) Traveling this distance south has changed the weather dramatically. Also it is fall here and we are approaching winter. Yesterday we traveled to Cape Town and spent the afternoon exploring Fish Hoek, which is a southern suberb where the Sunny Cove Manor Bed & Breakfast is. We had an ENORMOUS amount of Fish & Chips (Hakefish, yumm!) and an ice cream cone. Sunny Cove is a beautiful little B&B and we look out into the water of False Bay. I can't even describe how beautiful it is. I could live here. Today we have the morning free and this afternoon we will travel to Masiphumelele (Mah-sih-pooh-mih-lay-leh...that's my attempt at helping you along phonetically). It is also Josh Lee's birthday and so we will be celebrating that tonight when we eat at a restaurant in Fish Hoek.

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5/10/06
Hello again! I know...I just posted to the blog yesterday! But I was in such a hurry because my internet time was running out and I wanted to tell you a little bit more about "life in the bush." We decided to stay in Swakopmund another night and so we will leave tomorrow morning. We will be heading south towards the Namibia/South Africa border and then we will travel on to Cape Town where we will finish the rest of our trip. Here in Swakopmund we are staying at Ville Weise which is a former church that has been turned into a wonderful dormitory/hostel lodging place. Let me tell you! We are living the life of luxury now that we've been in the city for 3 days! A hot shower! And a bed! It's been great to have a break from camping.

Sadly though, our truck Buddy was just too tired to go on and we now have a replacement truck, Kilomanjaro. This truck is newer and now as rustic as Buddy was. And...there is less space for luggage. Yikes! The packing team (Ashley Kueker, Heather Harvey, Lot (a Namibian student traveling with us), Sabrina Jorpeland, Emily Harkins, Amanda Sweet and our driver Mandla) are going to have to get pretty creative to stuff all of our luggage on the truck tomorrow. But we'll do it! In case you were wondering, my 6 in. bruises are healing nicely. The new truck is even higher off of the ground so hopefully my window jumping days are over.

Yesterday was a nice catch up day for most of us. It mainly consisted of breakfast, some shopping in the open market, the bakkery (yum!), the beach, lunch, napping, supper. You know...it's a tough life. And HOORAY for the Villa Weise having a laundry service! We are no longer smelly overlanders!! :) Today some of the group took a boat tour and saw where Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are staying. (We can't even get away from that here!). They also had seals jump onto the boat and saw dolphins. Some of the group were also going to try paragliding if the wind was right. Ashley Kueker, Emily Pappas and myself opted for another day of the beach and bakkery. I mean...why mess with something that worked so well yesterday! I think that is all for now. I hope all is well back at home. Happy Mother's Day early from all of the students here! We appreciate and love you very much!

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5/9/06
Hello! It's been awhile since I last posted! (Excuse my fast and sometimes confusing entries, unfortunately I don't have time for proofreading!) We have been traveling about Namibia since last Wednesday. We left Etosha Game park on Thursday morning. On our morning game drive out of the park we saw an elephant!! PT (Pastor Trachte) and Emily Pappas almost deafened us by screaming ELEPHANT so loud! It was great! Actually we only saw his/her rear end, but it was fun to see nevertheless! It was making it's way to the waterhole. Then we traveled to Ondangwa where we camped for two nights. We visited a museum right where we were staying of an old Finnish mission. The museum also had artifacts and items from the Ovambo tribe from long ago. Selma, a friend of Solveig's, showed us around because she grew up here. That was pretty special because she is actaully a member of the Ovambo royalty. Then we visited the Ondangwa hospital. It is a primary care hospital with about 470 beds. The main diseases treated here are tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and HIV related conditions. We actually were able to go inside the HIV management unit where pregnant women and children can be tested and treated. Patients can also receive rapid testing (15 minutes) and there is a pharmacy for patients. They average about 70 per day in the HIV unit. Unfortunately the ratio of males to females is approximately 3 to 7. They are struggling to get males to come and get tested.

Then we visited the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia Eastern Headquarters (ELCIN) where Maryn, an American volunteer, spoke to us about her work and HIV/AIDS in this area of the world. It was very informative!

Then we loaded our bus Buddy again and made our way to Oshakati where we had tea with the Lutheran Bishop of the Western Diocese. We traveled further to Ruacana falls which is a beautiful and LARGE waterfall on the Namibia and Angola border. It was absolutely amazing. We had lunch here and then drove further to our campsite. It actually rained and we had to put flytarp (raincover) on our tents! On Sunday we visited the Himba people. This is a tribe that still 'rejects modern society' and continues to live in the traditional way. (Similar to the amish in the United states I suppose). It was absolutely fascinating. Some interesting Himba facts:
1. The women never shower. And I'm not joking. They use smoke to clean themselves. They also rub an ocre substance all over their skin twice a day so that their skin appears red. 5 of us (including me) had the stuff put on our faces. It had an interesting smell and I had to have Christie scrub my face to get it off.

Then we traveled to twyfeltfontain where we camped for the evening. On our way to the campsite we made a stop in a natural spring with a waterfall (our driver said we HAD to stop and see this beautiful site). Almost ALL of the group jumped in WITH their clothes on. It was a fun afternoon...but a wet ride to our campsite. :) In the morning we saw the rock engravings made by Bushman in Twyfeltfontain. THis was a beautiful area of a LOT of sandstone. Then we began to travel to Swakupmund (which is where we are now).

BUT...we didn't actually make it there until almost 9:00 pm, about 5 hours late. Here is where the excitement began. Our poor truck Buddy was trying to make it up a hill in the Namibian wilderness when all of a sudden there was this hissing noise and TONS of white smoke rolling into the truck. Our driver Mandla, the cook Nikki, and PT all screamed at us to get out of the truck. I seriously thought the truck was going to blow up. Apparently I thought this was a life/death situation because I was the ONLY one to jump out of the truck window. Whichi is about 8 feet off the ground. Long story short, everyone got out of the truck safely and I'm the only one with 6 in bruises all over my body from falling out of the truck window. We were stranded on the side of the road for about 4 hours before making it to Swakupmund last night.

I'm running out of time, I'll write more soon. We've decided to stay a bit longer and we'll be here for 3 days. Goodbye!

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5/3/06
We are at this beautiful park in Namibia called Etosha. Yesterday we had a few setbacks and we were unable to leave the capital, Windhoek, until 2:00 pm when we had originally planned on taking off at 8:00 am. So we learned how to pitch our tent in a Windhoek parking lot while our tour guide waited in a 300 people long line to get money from the bank. We made it to Etosha at 8:00 pm, pitched our tents in the dark and visited the nearby waterhole to see some wild game before calling it a night. (Also should say that the stars are AMAZING and we have encountered some monster bugs)

Today we had breakfast at 6:30 am and were on the road by 6:50. We saw lions, zebra, ostridge, springbok (antelopeish animals), giraffe, impalas and much more! It was an all day game drive with lunch, swimming at a neighboring resort and ice cream in the afternoon. It reaches almost 90 degrees during the day and 50ish at night. So we're enjoying a wonderful combination of sunscreen and bugspray. Here's the deal on Malaria: the drugs we are taking will alleviate the symptoms IF we get malaria but they do not PREVENT malaria. So, bugspray is our new motto. Hope all is well back at Wartburg and I'll write again soon!

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5/1/06
Happy May Day! Today is our last day in Windhoek. It is a national holiday as well so there are many places closed. It rained AGAIN on our second day in Namibia! It has been very odd because the people here are so surprised (and overjoyed) to have so much rain, and yet they say that it should not be raining. They say that they have had so much rain here in the desert this year. It will allow them to have enough water for the next two years. Pretty amazing.

Yesterday we worshipped at one of the Lutheran churches. It was formerly a Dutch Reformed (white or afrikaans) church during apartheid. After apartheid, the black people moved into this area of Windhoek and so the church was abandoned by its congregation and sold to a lutheran congregation. Pastor Trachte gave the message and we were introduced as guests from the United States. It was a great worship service. They sing many of the hymns that are sung in the US. We had fellowship and conversation with the youth after church.

This morning after breakfast (which we eat outside on a patio overlooking the city), we met our safari guide and cook. We had a short safari 'briefing' where we were told that there WILL be toilets along the way (YES!). But our guide (Mandla) told us that we will come to find 'the bush' to be a better place than the toilets we may find along the way. Sorry if this is too blunt but it is a concern here. :) Once we leave tomorrow, we may not have as many chances to use the internet for awhile (4-5 or more days). I will write when I can.

Our group also had an opportunity to share our religious backgrounds and current views with each other this morning after breakfast. It was nice to have an opportunity to get to know each other this way. Especially because our class has been focusing on religion. We have had a very interesting day today. PT and Solveig (our American friend and guide) along with two important Namibian activists, Abasai and Selma took us to one of the poorer areas outside of Namibia. We visited the neiboring city, Katutura, which is a 'shanty-town.' Before apartheid was abolished in Namibia, this was where the black Africans were forced to live. Many still live here and there are about 120,000 people living in shacks made of tin. Many people come here from the rural areas seeking work and often there isn't any work to be found. It was a sobering time. Wherever we stopped, the children would run to us. On average, there are 8 people living in each tin shack.

I think seeing this village was the most influential thing we have seen so far. There aren't even words to describe the poverty we saw today. And I really can't even sort through my emotions to explain how it affected me. I can see the same sort of conflict on the faces of all the Wartburg students. I know we will all be eager to show our family and friends what we have seen and experienced today.

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4/30/06
Hello again! We are in Windhoek Namibia! We arrived yesterday after flying through the night from Frankfurt. Kathryn Knutson and Ashley Dietz joined us from their Wartburg Choir Tour in Chicago and so they had a long two days of traveling.

I sent a long message while we were in Berlin but it looks like it didn't make it to the blog. I apologize for that!! I'll have to summarize quickly. We visited the Checkpoint Charlie museum, Pergamon museum, Reichstag (capital building), and many other things. It was really neat to visit the place where the Berlin wall previously stood. There are blocks in the pavement that outline where the wall used to be. It was a very good history lesson for all of us. Sometimes we forget that this was there only 16 years ago. We also stumbled upon a Jewish memorial near the wall. It was a large area that consisted of rows and rows of cement blocks starting with small ones and getting to be twice as tall as me in the middle. It was sort of like a maze, and we were really confused for awhile. It was a little disconcerting to be walking around among the blocks and not know where everyone else was. I think the artist was trying to convey exactly that. A good reminder of how much these people sufferend during WWII. We also took a boat tour on the Spree river which gave us a neat view of the city. We made the most of our short time there before heading back to Frankfurt on Friday. We made a short stop in Wittenburg to see where Martin Luther lived and worked. Our flight to Windhoek left at 10:40 pm. I really liked Germany but the cigarette smoke EVERYWHERE was really getting on our nerves. I always laugh at the "smoking areas" in the airport. PT says that's like 'peeing in one part of a pool.' Haha! (PT = Pastor Trachte)

We have been greeted with such nice people here in Namibia! Solveig Kjeseth is our guide. Her husband was PT's professor at the Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque. They now own a bed and breakfast in Cape Town. We will be staying there later in the month. She will be accompanying us for the rest of the trip and we are very greatful for her help! The landscape here reminds me of Arizona even though it was pouring when we landed! Very odd for this time of year or so the locals tell us. The rainy season should have ended already. Today is much nicer and warmer. We are staying at a very nice place called the Tamboti Guest House. After dropping our stuff there we went to the Lutheran Seminary (Paulinum) where the students were holding a church service. Afterwards we all got to chat for awhile in their common room. They served us sausages. After a week in Germany, many of us weren't exactly excited about that but it was very nice of them!

We will leave the capital, Windhoek, on Tuesday and then travel all over the country to various places. We will be camping for the most part and I will be quite honest and say that I am nervous! I feel better having Solveig along but details of how the safari will be is still a little unknown. We'll survive though! Our first stop will be at the Etosha game park and we're all really excited to see the African Wildlife.

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4/27/06
I am writing to you from a Dunkin` Donuts internet cafe in Berlin! We arrived here yesterday. I`ll try to catch you up on our sightseeing!

I have to say a few more things about the famous Wartburg castle. We toured the entire place and even sang the Loyalty song in the Great Hall at PT´s request. (Note: PT = Pastor Trachte) It was also neat to see many of the historical rooms and things about Saint Elizabeth and her work with the poor. The Wartburg Castle is also unique in that its history is entirely peaceful which isn`t true for most castles. Other fun things from that day: 1. Martin Luther renamed himself "Squire Jorg" while he hid at Wartburg 2. There is a legend that Luther said of this time at Wartburg, "I was fighting the devil with ink." Some people took it literally and so many visitors look for an ink spot on the wall in his room. For a time they would artificially place an ink spot there for tourists. Now there is a dresser in front of the place where there isn`t any wall left. :) 3. Some Germans don`t enjoy small talk very much. I attempted...it was awkward. 4. It has been fun wearing our Wartburg gear around Eisenach.
5. We ran in to the Wartburg Women`s soccer team in Eisenach! 6. The cobblestone is a little rough to walk on all day but if PT can do it in a ankle\foot cast, we can too!!

The last two nights we have eaten some Turkish cuisine. There is a large Turkish population in Germany and so of course, there is Turkish food! We ate döner meat (lamb) in bread pitas. They are delicious!! PT says that döners have almost replaced brats as the favorite streetside food in Germany.

Our 4 hour train ride to Berlin from Eisenach went well and we didn´t lose a single student! It was nice to see so much of the German countryside. PT is such an asset to have because he will point out things of interest along the way. (Wittenburg, the concentration camp Buchenwald (sp?) on a hill, various castles, etc). When we arrived in Berlin we filled 4 taxis and it took our driver 4 tries to get our luggage and us inside the vehicle. I think the packing for this trip will be a learning experience for some of the students. aka...we have too much STUFF!

We did some sightseeing of the area around the Reichstag or capital building. Previously it was the capital building for East Germany. We went up to the top which gave us a great view of Germany. We saw the TV tower, which is just a big ball high in the air. It was built directly behind a large protestant cathedral when it was East and West Germany as a symbol that religion was no longer acceptable.

The best part was viewing where the wall used to be. There is a line of stones in the pavement where the wall previously stood. It was a good history lesson for all of us, especially because we seemed to know so little about this and it happened in our lifetime. There is a new Jewish memorial that we stumbled upon. It is a very unique memorial in that there isn´t a huge sign. It is just rows and rows of cement stone rectangles. Some of the blocks were over twice as high as me. It was like a maze that left you a little confused, fascinated and even a little scared. It was massive and very in-your-face. A perfect reminder of how much the Jewish people suffered in this place. We ate döners again and then walked back to our hostel. Today we will go to the Checkpoint Charlie museum and the Pergemon Museum (turkish). We may do a boat tour and then a cabaret show tonight. It will be a fun day!

Tomorrow will be the second longest day of the trip (coming home will be longer). We will take the train back to Frankfurt (6 hours?) with a stop in Wittenburg. In Frankfurt, our plane leaves at 10:40 pm. The flight to Johannesburg is 10 hours and then another 2 hour flight to Namibia. Hopefully I can write again then! Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day! Auf Wiederschen! That´s probably spelled wrong...my German is horrible!

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4/25/06
We made it!

Hello from Eisenach! We FINALLY made it here after an interesting travel experience! We had a mini crisis when the airline put one of our students, Christy Kelton who joined us from Nashville, on standby. Pastor Trachte pulled some strings and we made it to Frankfurt yesterday at 6:30 a.m. Despite our best efforts, our group wasn`t able to all fit on our right metro train in Frankfurt, splitting us into 3 groups. This became a problem when each train arrived at a different platform at the main station where we were to get on our long-distance train to Eisenach. Long story short, Pastor Trachte had to stay behind to locate 3 missing students (Lisa Korby, Jennifer Muhl, Sarah Witte) while the remaining 12 went on to Eisenach alone. Ahhh! Happily, when the 12 of us arrived in Eisenach, Pastor Trachte was ALREADY there with the 3 `lost` students! They had taken an express train and arrived before us. What a RELIEF!

Once we arrived in Eisenach, we ate at a restaurant named Karlshalle where we had goulash, spatzle, klosen, and a whole bunch of other traditional german foods that I won`t attempt to spell incorrectly. It was wonderful food! Unfortunately, some of us were a little too tired and stressed to eat much. We checked into our hostel which is in a very large and beautiful German house. To avoid falling asleep, many of the group used our afternoon to trek up to the Wartburg Castle for some pictures before our formal visit the next day. The day was gorgeous, which made the first Wartburg Castle experience extra-special. After dessert at a great outdoor restaurant, we walked (a LONG walk; 2 miles) back to the hostel and I think it`s safe to say that most of us were asleep by 8:30 p.m.

Eisenach is one of the prettiest cities I have ever visited. I just wish I knew how to say more than please and thank-you in German! Today we were all fresh and ready to go! Frank, our tour guide, gave us the official tour of the Wartburg castle. We learned a lot about Saint Elizabeth and her work for the pour as well as the history of Martin Luther`s time at Wartburg. Then we toured the Bach house, where Bach lived for 10 years. We even listened to a little mini recital where a man played some of Bach`s work on two organs, a harpsichord and a clavichord. (I thoroughly enjoyed this part!) Lunch was a treat from Pastor Trachte of a german bratwurst from a street vender. Mmmm! Later I will make sure that we visit a few pastry shops. :) Tonight we are on our own and tomorrow we will take a train to Berlin. Thanks for reading and I`ll write again soon!

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4/21/06
Hello! My name is Annie Reiher and I am a 4th year biology major from Allison, Iowa. I can’t believe that there are only two days until our group departs for Germany, Namibia, and South Africa! I am extremely excited to join Pastor Trachte and my classmates on this amazing May term experience! On our trip we will focus on the role of the church in colonialism, the fight for freedom and the challenges being faced today (HIV/AIDS, poverty, hunger, crime).

In preparation for the trip we have had several meetings as a class throughout the semester to learn about the history and culture of Namibia and South Africa. We have watched apartheid documentaries, the apartheid themed film, Cry, the Beloved Country, and listened to Michael Strydom tell of his experiences while growing up in South Africa. It has been fascinating to learn about the struggles in Namibia and South Africa and the current challenges these two nations face today.

We will spend about two weeks camping in Namibia (including the Etosha game park, one of the largest in the world), studying the Lutheran church there, visiting hospitals, native farms/villages, Fish River Canyon, etc. Then we will road-trip down to the Cape Town area for eight days visiting the Simon Estes School, the neighboring townships, Lutheran Community Center, Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela spent 17 of his 27 years in prison), etc. In Cape Town, we will be staying at a bed and breakfast run by a former seminary professor of Pastor Trachte’s, which overlooks the ocean (actually False Bay).

I am especially looking forward to our camping experience in Namibia even though it may be a challenge for a ‘non-camper’ such as myself. I’m sure it will be a wonderful group bonding experience! I am also very excited to learn more about this part of the world with its unique and diverse heritage. I will keep you updated as this wonderful Wartburg group travels across the world!

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
~Nelson Mandela

Photos from Annie:

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