And the Adventures Begin

After we got settled in on Sunday, we piled into a bus and headed off with our wonderful tour guide Uuanee (pronounced Wan-ay) to tour the city of Windhoek and the surrounding area of Katatura. We went through downtown Windhoek and up to the Parliament building. It was quite interesting listening to Uuanee's perspectives about the current Namibian government and the control of the SWAPO party. From listening to his stories, the United States is not the only country who has issues with the structure of government.

This is our Tour Guide Uuanee.

This is the Parliament Building in Windhoek.

This is the garden across the street from the Parliament Building.

After exploring the heart of Windhoek, Uuanee took us to Katatura. I was immediately struck by the homes that I saw and was equally struck by the stories that Uuanee told us about how lively the area was. Although the majority of the houses are made from sheet metal and/or cinder blocks, this is the place that all the locals go when they want a good time.


Uuanee also took us to an open-air market where locals sell everything from dried fish and garlic to meat and everything in between.

Dried Catfish, spinach cakes, chili peppers, and garlic.

While we were at the market. I experienced something that I had never experienced before. A man yelled at us from across the market saying that he hates white people. He said that "white Europeans are all communists and we don't need them here." This is the first time, to my knowledge, that I have had someone "hate" me based on my skin color. I cannot imagine living with that discrimination every day like many minorities in America have had to. It was quite an eye opening experience.