Back in Windhoek

A lot of this week was spent in classes but here are some of the highlights from the past week (Dad, I think you will be very jealous of some of these things):

- We started language lessons on Monday. Since I'll be up in the central

north, the dialect I've been learning is called Oshikwanyama. Our wonderful teacher was Meekulu Ida Maria. It was very much a crash course in the basics, but here are some of the things we learned:

wa lele po - good morning

wa uhala po - good afternoon

wa tokelwa po - good evening

okatoileta oke li peni? - Where is the toilet?

oshebeen oi li peni? - Where is the bar?

oxuxwa oi naingapi? - How much is the chicken?

ondi ku hole unene - I love you very much

Here's a sample dialogue:

Wa lele po meekulu (Good morning ma'am)

Ehee (yes, good)

Nawa tuu? (are you sure?)

Ehee, ove, wa lele po yo? (yes, and how is your morning?)

And so it goes on. This is your standard greeting and it is considered very rude if you don't greet people properly. You have to greet everyone with a hello, how are you.

- On Tuesday night we went to eat at a traditional restaurant called Xwama. They actually forgot that we were coming, but it ended up working out okay in the end. We ate oxuxwa (chicken, and I mean the whole chicken), oshifima (a porridge that is like a cross between grits and polenta) some tripe (not a fan) and then finished off the meal with this drink called oshikundu that was strangely delicious, sort of like drinking salad dressing. The after-dinner entertainment was supposed to be a dance group performance, but they were never booked due to the mix-up so we had to finish up with our own dance circle. It involved dancing solo in the middle of the circle while singing a song that translated to "take it, take it, give it, give it" and then you got out of the circle by going up to someone else and basically thrusting your hips at them.

- Wednesday night was the eve of my friend Kristen's birthday and we celebrated with a lot of South African wine. We rocked an amazing game of pictionary, followed by some thumper, and then evening culminated in an impromptu swim in the pool. Unfortunately, I was nudged into the pool with my cell phone on me...it is now dead. I tried to dry it out the next day, but to no avail. So I ended up giving it to one of the ladies that works at the hostel, not totally sure what she plans to do with it. I got a new phone though, with the same number so all is well.

- Tonight we learned how to play the drums from Moses. Dad, I'll see if I can get him to teach you when you come for a visit! I'll post some pictures tomorrow after I get them off Kyle and Jena's cameras.

Tomorrow we have a celebratory dinner at a local restaurant and then we're throwing a big party at the hostel with all our Windhoek friends.