From September 11th-17th, I had my second homestay. This one was a week long with a local family in Windhoek. Since we were near our house/center, we still attended classes and internship. Then at night, our families would pick us up for dinner and the evening. In the morning, they would have to drop us off again on their way to work. It was a busy but wonderful week.
I was blessed to stay with the Kukuri family in their home in Katatura. My mother and father both worked at schools. In the house lived my sister Anita, 29, and brother, Donavan, 24 years old. Anita’s boyfriend, Andrew, also lived there, and Donavan’s girlfriend, Fawn, would come visit. I met various other family members including their other sons and some of the grandchildren. The family has been hosting students from my program for 20+ years! Their kids basically grew up doing the program, which is incredible to me. They also have 2 dogs, Lexi and Roti. Every time we would come home or I would first go outside in the morning, they would run over to say hello. My favorite thing to do was sit on the front step and pet them.
It was nice getting to be a part of their daily lives. I would wake up early every morning and eat breakfast. Then, I would go with my father to drop off my mother at the school. I always liked seeing the sunrise as we rode into town. Then, he would drive me to the center. Car rides with music calm me so my favorite parts of the day were when my father dropped me off and then when my brother, Donavan, would take me back home and teach me about local music like South African house.
When I would get home from classes, we would eat dinner. Everything my mother and/or my sister made was delicious. Then, we would head into the family room to watch their favorite show, Suidooster. It’s a soap opera type show and it’s pretty intense. I was hooked after the first night. Each night Donavan and I would do the dishes. It was a good time to chat and be a part of the house.
Wednesday was a special day because it was my mom’s birthday! Her older son came over to grill for us. We had an amazing dinner with steak, sausage, barbeque chicken, and pap with corn. (Pap is a common dish made from mealie meal. You can also use it to make porridge. It is considered a staple food in Southern Africa) Later, we of course had cake. I love birthdays so I was glad I was able to share this day with them. On Friday, we had a game night with Fawn. I learned about 30 Seconds. It is a partner game where you have to get your teammate to guess the object by giving clues but without saying what it is. The objects are a combination of Southern African things as well as American things. They said I did a pretty good job, which was a relief to know. On Saturday, we went to one of the local picnic places with extended family celebrating my mom’s birthday. I got to meet some of her grandkids who seemed to like me and hugged me when we left. There was another feast and lots of laughs as we spent the day playing spoons and other games. Again, it was nice to spend the day with a family, especially at family gatherings, which are something I’ve missed a lot of recently. On Sunday, my mom made waffles and we chatted until it was time to go. We had a final lunch, which was filled with chicken, pasta salad, potato salad, 3 bean salad, and rice.
Leaving my family was sad, but thankfully they live close and I am going to visit them next weekend for my sister’s birthday.
Side note: The music here is catchy. Some of it is music I recognize from the US, but some is from Namibia, South Africa, and Nigeria. This is the one song I’ve really picked up on because it is quite popular right now. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Iyuym-Gci0
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