The first days in Namibia

Hey everyone! Greetings from Namibia

Yes you read this right, I am finally finally in Namibia. A moment that has been a long time coming and that I have been really excited for.

The weeks building up to the departure last Wednesday were filled with prep work and, of course, goodbyes, packing and re-packing trying to keep all within allowable limits - one last push and all closed and was ready.

Then the day of depature finally came and the big advernture could begin. I left Berlin shortly after midday via train to Frankfurt and onwards on direct route to Windhoek. Apprantely my home scale was not up to scratch compared to airport calibrations and I ended up having to take my swimming fins - of all things - out and pass them to a fellow flyer. 🤣 After waving my suitcases goodbye down the conveyer belt, praying that they would make it with me to Africa, all the volunteers waited for one another to be done before walking as a team towards the gate. Eventually, boading commenced and we all settled in for this 11-hour journey down the West Coast of Africa.

The night of my depature was a full moon night - a blue moon night even - and the play of moon and clouds with the special effects of the blue moon were absolutely magical. Combined with the beautiful sunrise over Africa just a few hours before landing wiped away any tiredness from being up all night. I was going to be back on African soil soon. What more energy does one really need?

We were greeted by friendly immigration officers, grabbed our luggage, took in the first breaths of crisp Windhoek morning air and headed out for the city. I will not mention my personal moment of panic as I thought I had lost my telephone only to find out that I had been overly efficient in my packing and put it was exactly where I should have been - my backpack! On our drive to town, we passed a Waldorf School, so old memories of my times in Kenya and Berlin came up. I may have to pay them a visit at some point. As the airport is quite a way from town one could soak in a lot of the smells, feels, tastes of what this next year will be like - all will be good here.

We checked into a small guesthouse in which we stayed for two days. The day of arrival was marked by a visit to Home Affairs to obtain the correct visa stamps in our passports, talks on safety and security, purchase of local SIM cards and the usual DOs and DONTs as part of our upcoming cultural and social assimilation. Even on that first day, we had two seminars right away with dinner in between - at the end our group looked more like an assembly of the walking dead and sleep could not come fast enough.

The next day started bright and early at 07h30 with a yummy breakfast moving straight into more seminars focussing on practical tips on daily living, behaviour at school, cultural adjustment, customs and habits, etc. After lunch, we had a fantastic presentation on the history of Namibia, its people, tribal realities and current politics. After the presentation we headed to town for a final dinner before everyone started his or her journey to their respective volunteer sites across the country - some heading to the coast, others further North and, like I, some spread across the greater Windhoek area.

Yesterday, we spent our day with previous volunteers, who are still in town for a few days to help with the transition. We also got a quick glimpse of Windhoek with places to go to, not to go to, and an overall what to get where, if needed. We also got a quick tour of our living quarters at the school and just ended up chatting and asking questions.

We ended the eventful day with some good food and the anticipation of beginning our volunteer projects on Monday.

Hugs from Namibia,

Zoë