Hi All!!
My school e-mail account is having trouble here and I am going to start using my google e-mail address as my main account. Please send e-mails to kristinannehubbard@gmail.com from this point forward! Thank you!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Generosity
Nearly a week ago I found out my cousin Kent had passed away very unexpectedly. Its been very difficult to not be home to comfort my family and to mourn with other people who loved him. On Thursday, we had started our urban homestays and I was very excited about the wonderful family I was given for 10 days. It has been difficult to be away from all of my new friends while trying to deal with Kents death. Yet, it has given me a lot of time to contemplate and realize how important generosity is. Kent was the most generous person. Not only with material goods but with something infinitely more important; his time.
He never missed a family holiday, celebration, or a random get together. Kent was always willing to help out in anyway he could and gave so much to all of us especially his mother. I have always said that it is my family that gives me the strength and the courage to try new things and to go to new places. It is their support, belief, and undying love for me that makes it okay to leave home since I know it will always be there when I return. Home is more than my house on Hoyt Way; it is that incredible mix of people I call my family. They have all generously helped to raise me and shape me into the woman I am today.
A few days prior to his death Kent commented on this blog. He wrote for himself and Aunt Helene. For the rest of the day I had a 'warm-fuzzy' feeling picturing Kent patiently showing my Great Aunt how to find my blog and leave me a message. I know they read it together and were thinking of me at that moment--that is something I will cherish.
This week while living with a family in a foreign country, working in a foreign government, and attending a strangers wedding I have realized that the most precious gift you can give someone is the generosity of your time. Take the time to call your best friend, your Mom, or someone else important to you. Take the time to grab a cup of coffee with someone and waste an afternoon just sitting there. Take the time to tell people you love them and find little ways to show them. After all, "Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time".
I apologize for not giving you an update on my trip this time-- I will by Saturday. It was healing to write this post and to know that you will be reading it and will understand who I am and who my family is!
Stay Safe and enjoy the last days of summer!
He never missed a family holiday, celebration, or a random get together. Kent was always willing to help out in anyway he could and gave so much to all of us especially his mother. I have always said that it is my family that gives me the strength and the courage to try new things and to go to new places. It is their support, belief, and undying love for me that makes it okay to leave home since I know it will always be there when I return. Home is more than my house on Hoyt Way; it is that incredible mix of people I call my family. They have all generously helped to raise me and shape me into the woman I am today.
A few days prior to his death Kent commented on this blog. He wrote for himself and Aunt Helene. For the rest of the day I had a 'warm-fuzzy' feeling picturing Kent patiently showing my Great Aunt how to find my blog and leave me a message. I know they read it together and were thinking of me at that moment--that is something I will cherish.
This week while living with a family in a foreign country, working in a foreign government, and attending a strangers wedding I have realized that the most precious gift you can give someone is the generosity of your time. Take the time to call your best friend, your Mom, or someone else important to you. Take the time to grab a cup of coffee with someone and waste an afternoon just sitting there. Take the time to tell people you love them and find little ways to show them. After all, "Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time".
I apologize for not giving you an update on my trip this time-- I will by Saturday. It was healing to write this post and to know that you will be reading it and will understand who I am and who my family is!
Stay Safe and enjoy the last days of summer!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Discovering Windhoek
We have been in Windhoek for a week now and I have truly enjoyed the experience of getting to know the city, my housemates, and the staff at CGE. We have some fantastic people working at the house and they make it feel more like a home each day. We are all still adjusting to the idea of living with 23 other people and sharing 2 toilets. Each morning presents a new challenge of fighting for mirror space, sink time, and just moving about the house. Everyone has made an effort to be respectful and quite in the evenings. I have made my bottom bunk into my own personal 'fort'! I hung a sleeping bag from the top bunk and it has allowed me a semblance of privacy as I am sleeping! Needless to say, others have followed suit!
This weekend we had a student forum at the house and 20 students from the University of Namibia came to meet us. It was a great experience to meet people our own age and hopefully I will be seeing them again. A group of us spent most of our time this weekend walking around Windhoek and trying to figure this city out. We have also made several trips to the local Pick-N-Pay to pick up Coke Light and other necessities that the center does not provide.
On Monday I started my internship at the Electoral Commission of Namibia. My supervisor, Hilda, had been out of the office for 3 weeks training voter education officials around the country. Namibia is also having a very significant by election on October 31st. This election is the result of SWAPO firing its regional councillor and leaving the position open. The office is working diligently to register voters, make information available to the public, and to set up the ballots and actual voting locations. The office was insane on Monday with people coming in and out all day long and speaking in indigenous languages. I was told to sit and observe her daily routine but it was overwhelming to not understand what was being said and to occasionally hear my name mentioned. On the walk home I started getting very homesick, frusturated, and felt very isolated as an American abroad. It was the first day I had struggled being so far away. I think it finally sank in that I am half way around the world!!!
My internship is a full day on Monday and a half day on Wednesday. Today was a lot better at the office. I was able to help my supervisor prepare for an hour long radio show about the upcoming election and sit in on a division meeting were I finally began to understand what is going on. I was also put in charge of narrowing an application pool from 75 people down to 15 for my boss to review! I could not believe I was given that responsibility. Hopefully, I made quality selections but, regardless, I have a new admiration for people who hire others on a daily basis.
Tomorrow we start our urban home stay. We will be living with a family for 10 days and I am super nervous about it. Sadly, I did not have the best experience with my previous home stay but I have decided that anything will be better than my time in Soweto. Also, I will have my own room!! It will be great to have some alone time in the evenings! I have also decided to 'become vegetarian' on my home stays and for most of my time here. The meat that is served in Namibia is mostly lamb, goat, and beef. Many families also prepare certain delicacies for their students including sheep stomach and cow intestine soup!! At the house we always have tons of salad, fruit, peanut butter, cereal and veggies to keep us happy, in addition to ,chicken. So eating meat at home is not such a risk!!
We start classes tomorrow and I am anxious to get started on a more normal routine. Orientation is officially over!! Yesterday was our grand finale. We went to a guest house outside of Windhoek and spent the day doing team building activities and we finished with a brai. A brai is a BBQ with TONS of meat and a few salads. One of my reasons for deciding to not eat meat was that last night we were served Kudu, Namibian game, at our brai. Did I forget to mention that the guest house has a pet Kudu that wondered around all day nuzzling us and eating our homework?!?! So the image of eating him stuck vividly in all our minds when we discovered that our meat was, indeed, Kudu!! With that I am off to do some homework for class tomorrow. I hope you are all doing well and I look forward to hearing from you soon!
This weekend we had a student forum at the house and 20 students from the University of Namibia came to meet us. It was a great experience to meet people our own age and hopefully I will be seeing them again. A group of us spent most of our time this weekend walking around Windhoek and trying to figure this city out. We have also made several trips to the local Pick-N-Pay to pick up Coke Light and other necessities that the center does not provide.
On Monday I started my internship at the Electoral Commission of Namibia. My supervisor, Hilda, had been out of the office for 3 weeks training voter education officials around the country. Namibia is also having a very significant by election on October 31st. This election is the result of SWAPO firing its regional councillor and leaving the position open. The office is working diligently to register voters, make information available to the public, and to set up the ballots and actual voting locations. The office was insane on Monday with people coming in and out all day long and speaking in indigenous languages. I was told to sit and observe her daily routine but it was overwhelming to not understand what was being said and to occasionally hear my name mentioned. On the walk home I started getting very homesick, frusturated, and felt very isolated as an American abroad. It was the first day I had struggled being so far away. I think it finally sank in that I am half way around the world!!!
My internship is a full day on Monday and a half day on Wednesday. Today was a lot better at the office. I was able to help my supervisor prepare for an hour long radio show about the upcoming election and sit in on a division meeting were I finally began to understand what is going on. I was also put in charge of narrowing an application pool from 75 people down to 15 for my boss to review! I could not believe I was given that responsibility. Hopefully, I made quality selections but, regardless, I have a new admiration for people who hire others on a daily basis.
Tomorrow we start our urban home stay. We will be living with a family for 10 days and I am super nervous about it. Sadly, I did not have the best experience with my previous home stay but I have decided that anything will be better than my time in Soweto. Also, I will have my own room!! It will be great to have some alone time in the evenings! I have also decided to 'become vegetarian' on my home stays and for most of my time here. The meat that is served in Namibia is mostly lamb, goat, and beef. Many families also prepare certain delicacies for their students including sheep stomach and cow intestine soup!! At the house we always have tons of salad, fruit, peanut butter, cereal and veggies to keep us happy, in addition to ,chicken. So eating meat at home is not such a risk!!
We start classes tomorrow and I am anxious to get started on a more normal routine. Orientation is officially over!! Yesterday was our grand finale. We went to a guest house outside of Windhoek and spent the day doing team building activities and we finished with a brai. A brai is a BBQ with TONS of meat and a few salads. One of my reasons for deciding to not eat meat was that last night we were served Kudu, Namibian game, at our brai. Did I forget to mention that the guest house has a pet Kudu that wondered around all day nuzzling us and eating our homework?!?! So the image of eating him stuck vividly in all our minds when we discovered that our meat was, indeed, Kudu!! With that I am off to do some homework for class tomorrow. I hope you are all doing well and I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Link to Photos
Hello!!
I have been having serious issues uploading photos to this blog and to facebook because of how slow the Internet is here. But I have created a web that will hopefully work. The website is http://picasaweb.google.com/kristinannehubbard/JoBurg I hope you will be able view my first week in Jo'Burg and to see the people I am spending the semester with.
My first 2 days in Windhoek have been great! It truly is a beautiful city that has a lot to offer. We went to an open market on Thursday and I ATE A WORM!! Yes, I ate a fried/dried worm that tasted like leaves and had the texture of sandpaper. The entire time it was stuck on my tongue all I could think was, "Holy Cow there is a WORM in my mouth!". Needless to say, it was not one of my better moments. The concept of the open markets in Windhoek is to allow vendors a safe, communal, and central location to sell goods. You are able to find much more traditional foods here along with dressmakers and hairdressers. It is a valuable source of income for rural people and allows more local goods to be sold and produced.
The house is a little crazy! With 24 people there is no place you can go for peace and quite. Most people are being very respectful but, as always, with that many people conflicts are bound to arise. The mornings are CRAZY with 24 people trying to get dressed in 2 bathrooms that include only 2 toilets and 4 showers. Today, I laid out by the little pool and enjoyed the gorgeous views of Windhoek. All our meals are prepared for us by Sarah and Eveline. They make amazing food for us, including, homemade bread that could become addicting.
Tomorrow is the first day we have been able to sleep past 7am and I can not wait to sleep in and have a lazy morning! Our classes will start next Thursday but until then we will continue our orientation to Windhoek and start our internships on Monday. My internship is with the Electoral Commission of Namibia. I will know more about what I will be doing after Monday afternoon but I expect to be helping with voter education and polling official training for an election this fall. It was my dream internship and I can not wait to get started!
I hope you enjoy the pictures!!
I have been having serious issues uploading photos to this blog and to facebook because of how slow the Internet is here. But I have created a web that will hopefully work. The website is http://picasaweb.google.com/kristinannehubbard/JoBurg I hope you will be able view my first week in Jo'Burg and to see the people I am spending the semester with.
My first 2 days in Windhoek have been great! It truly is a beautiful city that has a lot to offer. We went to an open market on Thursday and I ATE A WORM!! Yes, I ate a fried/dried worm that tasted like leaves and had the texture of sandpaper. The entire time it was stuck on my tongue all I could think was, "Holy Cow there is a WORM in my mouth!". Needless to say, it was not one of my better moments. The concept of the open markets in Windhoek is to allow vendors a safe, communal, and central location to sell goods. You are able to find much more traditional foods here along with dressmakers and hairdressers. It is a valuable source of income for rural people and allows more local goods to be sold and produced.
The house is a little crazy! With 24 people there is no place you can go for peace and quite. Most people are being very respectful but, as always, with that many people conflicts are bound to arise. The mornings are CRAZY with 24 people trying to get dressed in 2 bathrooms that include only 2 toilets and 4 showers. Today, I laid out by the little pool and enjoyed the gorgeous views of Windhoek. All our meals are prepared for us by Sarah and Eveline. They make amazing food for us, including, homemade bread that could become addicting.
Tomorrow is the first day we have been able to sleep past 7am and I can not wait to sleep in and have a lazy morning! Our classes will start next Thursday but until then we will continue our orientation to Windhoek and start our internships on Monday. My internship is with the Electoral Commission of Namibia. I will know more about what I will be doing after Monday afternoon but I expect to be helping with voter education and polling official training for an election this fall. It was my dream internship and I can not wait to get started!
I hope you enjoy the pictures!!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Finally in Windhoek!
We arrived in Windhoek today!! The city is gorgeous! It is situated in a valley and the mountains surrounding it remind me of Santa Fe. The CGE house is great. It is a lot larger than I was lead to believe and the room I am sharing with 5 (yes 5) other women is not too small. I doubt we have enough closet space but we will cope. Tonight is the first night I have been super tired. We have kept a gruelling schedule the past 10 days in order to see everything in Jo'Burg. I enjoyed Jo'Burg but I was happy to leave today. The city is HUGE and has a ton of pollution. While the educational opportunities are limitless in Johannesburg it is not the tourist hub of South Africa.
This past weekend we all completed a home stay with a family in or around Soweto. My family lived just outside Soweto in a semi-suburb. In South Africa you either live in a township, semi-suburb, the city, or a suburb. My family had 2 little boys who were very laid back and quite. The Mom was ill while we were there and we did not do very much at all. Luckily, the family next door was also hosting and Adela and I played over there a lot. We were able to walk to the stadium where the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be held. The whole city is preparing for those 2 weeks. We also attended church with our family. It was different to be the only white person in a crowd of ~3,000. We also ate a lot of pap this weekend. Pap is a very traditional porridge type dish that is served with sauce. It looks a lot like mashed potatoes.
The people on my trip are great! I am having a blast getting to know them and spending an insane amount of time together. Last night, we went out to dinner at Black. It is a very nice restaurant in downtown Jo'Burg and is currently the only place in downtown open for dinner. Since 1994 very few business owners have moved back into downtown for fear of violence. However, that is rapidly changing. The meal was fabulous and it was great to get dressed up!
I will have more regular access to Internet now and I will hopefully figure out how to post pictures soon. I can not thank you all enough for leaving comments and making me feel connected to home. I am having a great time and I can not wait to start my internship next week and get started exploring Windhoek tomorrow!
This past weekend we all completed a home stay with a family in or around Soweto. My family lived just outside Soweto in a semi-suburb. In South Africa you either live in a township, semi-suburb, the city, or a suburb. My family had 2 little boys who were very laid back and quite. The Mom was ill while we were there and we did not do very much at all. Luckily, the family next door was also hosting and Adela and I played over there a lot. We were able to walk to the stadium where the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be held. The whole city is preparing for those 2 weeks. We also attended church with our family. It was different to be the only white person in a crowd of ~3,000. We also ate a lot of pap this weekend. Pap is a very traditional porridge type dish that is served with sauce. It looks a lot like mashed potatoes.
The people on my trip are great! I am having a blast getting to know them and spending an insane amount of time together. Last night, we went out to dinner at Black. It is a very nice restaurant in downtown Jo'Burg and is currently the only place in downtown open for dinner. Since 1994 very few business owners have moved back into downtown for fear of violence. However, that is rapidly changing. The meal was fabulous and it was great to get dressed up!
I will have more regular access to Internet now and I will hopefully figure out how to post pictures soon. I can not thank you all enough for leaving comments and making me feel connected to home. I am having a great time and I can not wait to start my internship next week and get started exploring Windhoek tomorrow!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Soweto
Good Afternoon!
I am once again writing from an Internet cafe in Jo'Burg! Today is the first nice day we have had and we are relishing the sun. This week has been jam packed with speakers, field trips, and visits to various museums. On Monday we spent the day touring Soweto. Soweto is the largest township in South Africa. It consists of 3-4 million people and is home to a variety of people and classes. We first toured the wealthy part of Soweto. This section was used by the Apartheid government to show the world that blacks were not living poorly during apartheid. However, mere blocks from this area are shacks, hostels, and absolute poverty.
We started our tour of Kliptown ( one of the various neighborhoods that make up Soweto) at the field where the freedom charter was written. This document was written by black activists and demanded equal rights for all South Africans. Many who wrote this document were imprisoned for treason but the ideas of the freedom charter continue to guide the ANC today. The memorial at this field is beautiful and there is a 5 star Holiday Inn surrounding it. However, we were given the opportunity to walk through Kliptown by some residents. The people in Kliptown live in shacks that are built by sheet metal. There is no running water, electricity, or sanitation. Around 50-80 people share one toilet and it is not safe for women to go to the bathroom at night. Approximately, 80% of the population is unemployed. The children's swimming 'pool' is open sewage that spills into the area from a northern white suburb. I can not even begin to describe what I witnessed. I have studied poverty and development theory but until Monday I did not understand what extreme poverty meant. However, the young children represented hope as they swarmed around us and proudly held the hands of the 'loon', or white people.
One child, Teo, became attached to me during our tour. When I told him my name he laughed and just kept shouting it. He played with my hair and sunglasses and truly was awed by my camera. None of the children had ever seen one before and when I sat on the ground to show them pictures of themselves they swarmed me. As we left Kliptown and walked back towards the memorioal ( no more than 100yds away) a few of us needed to use the restrooms. We were given the key by a guard to the tourist bathrooms. These facilities were pristine and very nice. It was very difficult to understand why I deserved the use of this bathroom while not 100 yds away 80 people had to share a single outhouse. It is the stark contrast between wealth and poverty that has really struck me about South Africa so far.
We have also been given the privilege of meeting political acitivists who were imprisioned at Robben Island, the same place as Mandella. It is the living and breathing history of this country that has made the past few days powerful.
My group is wonderful! I truly enjoy the people and I can not wait to experience this semester with them. The food has been average. At breakfast it is not unusual to see fish sticks or hotdogs served!! My only complaint so far is the lack of coffee...they only serve the instant variety! I have yet to see a pixie stick Dave and Ifear I would still not know how to open one since I have no keys with me. Its bizarre to not have a cell phone but I truly appreciate all the responses I recived on my last post.
I hope you are all doing well and I will post pictures soon!
I am once again writing from an Internet cafe in Jo'Burg! Today is the first nice day we have had and we are relishing the sun. This week has been jam packed with speakers, field trips, and visits to various museums. On Monday we spent the day touring Soweto. Soweto is the largest township in South Africa. It consists of 3-4 million people and is home to a variety of people and classes. We first toured the wealthy part of Soweto. This section was used by the Apartheid government to show the world that blacks were not living poorly during apartheid. However, mere blocks from this area are shacks, hostels, and absolute poverty.
We started our tour of Kliptown ( one of the various neighborhoods that make up Soweto) at the field where the freedom charter was written. This document was written by black activists and demanded equal rights for all South Africans. Many who wrote this document were imprisoned for treason but the ideas of the freedom charter continue to guide the ANC today. The memorial at this field is beautiful and there is a 5 star Holiday Inn surrounding it. However, we were given the opportunity to walk through Kliptown by some residents. The people in Kliptown live in shacks that are built by sheet metal. There is no running water, electricity, or sanitation. Around 50-80 people share one toilet and it is not safe for women to go to the bathroom at night. Approximately, 80% of the population is unemployed. The children's swimming 'pool' is open sewage that spills into the area from a northern white suburb. I can not even begin to describe what I witnessed. I have studied poverty and development theory but until Monday I did not understand what extreme poverty meant. However, the young children represented hope as they swarmed around us and proudly held the hands of the 'loon', or white people.
One child, Teo, became attached to me during our tour. When I told him my name he laughed and just kept shouting it. He played with my hair and sunglasses and truly was awed by my camera. None of the children had ever seen one before and when I sat on the ground to show them pictures of themselves they swarmed me. As we left Kliptown and walked back towards the memorioal ( no more than 100yds away) a few of us needed to use the restrooms. We were given the key by a guard to the tourist bathrooms. These facilities were pristine and very nice. It was very difficult to understand why I deserved the use of this bathroom while not 100 yds away 80 people had to share a single outhouse. It is the stark contrast between wealth and poverty that has really struck me about South Africa so far.
We have also been given the privilege of meeting political acitivists who were imprisioned at Robben Island, the same place as Mandella. It is the living and breathing history of this country that has made the past few days powerful.
My group is wonderful! I truly enjoy the people and I can not wait to experience this semester with them. The food has been average. At breakfast it is not unusual to see fish sticks or hotdogs served!! My only complaint so far is the lack of coffee...they only serve the instant variety! I have yet to see a pixie stick Dave and Ifear I would still not know how to open one since I have no keys with me. Its bizarre to not have a cell phone but I truly appreciate all the responses I recived on my last post.
I hope you are all doing well and I will post pictures soon!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Safe and Sound in Jo'Burg
I arrived in Jo'burg late last night. The flight here was uneventful and long but it was much better than I expected! I only have 1 minute left of internet access but I wanted to write to tell you I am safe and enjoying meeting the others in my program. We will spend the next week in Johannessburg studying apartheid and its legacy today. Its quite cold here!!! 40*! The landscape reminds me of the western slope of Colorado. I will write more soon! Have a great day!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
