Namibia, September 19-23
Hey everyone!!! I just got back on the ship yesterday, September 23.
I really enjoyed being in Namibia. This is the first semester that SAS has ever docked in Namibia. Nobody on the ship (besides the hair-dresser) had ever been to Namibia or had any idea of what to expect. It was fun to explore all together. Namibia is coming into their spring now and the weather is still chili. During the afternoon the winds pick up and town becomes less and less busy. I thought it was interesting how, during the weekends, the shops close down by one and town becomes vacant. To paint a picture of most of Namibia, all I need to say is flat desert + sand dunes meets ocean.
All of the locals that I met and that had a chance to talk to were incredibly sincere and humble. There are only two towns that I visited, Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, but they offered an array of activities to experience. Some of the most popular to Semester at Sea students were, sandboarding, 4-wheeling on the dunes, camel riding, horseback riding, camping/stargazing, skydiving, and kayaking. I got a chance to explore the towns, talk to very interesting people, do some super fun camel riding, SKYDIVING and of course some great food tasting! I soaked in every bit of it.
The food in Namibia is amazing. I sampled different types of seafood, such as shrimp, calamari, fish, and muscles. I definitely give their different types of game two thumbs up. Things they might offer in an average restaurant might be zebra, oryx, springbok, ostrich, gazelle, and many more. Something that really surprised me was how much Namibians like their pizza. There are pizzerias everywhere! Its nothing like what they serve in the states. Their pizza usually has a very thin, crispy crust with a ton of different kinds of cheese, topped with fresh veggies, spices and meats.
I was talking to a cab driver about Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. He said that people from the two towns Walvis Bay and Swakopmund don’t mix and if you were to put ten guys from Walvis Bay and ten from Swakopmund in a bar together there would be a fight in about five minutes. It is interesting, and shows how people and their culture can vary drastically from one town to the next, not to mention one country to the next.
Namibia has only been its own country for eighteen years. Since the apartheid ended changes have been made to create a more equal society but there is still much segregation within the country. Those that are white have a much higher standard of living than those who identify with being black, colored, or Indian. Although the people are very friendly, there is still a lot of crime, mostly all instances of pick-pocketing, and ATM fraud. I was happy to not have learned this from experience.
Some pre-conceived notions that I had tuned out to be very wrong. It is not always hot in Africa (duh, not like it’s a big continent or anything). Many, to my surprise, speak German in Namibia. The cloths worn in town are like any you would see back in the states, not some exotic tribal garments. One day, I walked into a music store and asked one of the employees what his favorite music was, expecting him to pick up some African rap of some kind… he picked up Celine Dion, Usher, and an Afrikaans country artist (his top pick being Celine Dion J).
It was an incredibly surreal experience to be in Africa. I kept on having to remind myself of where I was. The people were loads of fun to be with and there were so many fun things to do. In short I loved Namibia!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Salvador, Brazil
Salvador, Brazil
Sept. 07- Sept. 11
Our first day in Salvador, Brazil, I spent the day traveling with five other students. We spent the morning exploring around the part of the city closest to the port that we were docked at. Since it was a Sunday and Brazil’s Independence Day many of the stores were closed and many flocked to the streets to watch the parade. I was somewhat disappointed on our initial tour of the upper city. It was really dirty and there were many beggars on the streets. One man attempted to mug me and one of the other girls so we learned how to be very cautious after that. We did some shopping center near our port and ate some great Brazilian dishes such as these big cast iron bowls filled with seafood, chicken and vegetables cooked in palm oil and spices,
Later that afternoon we discovered Pelorinoh and were pleasantly surprised when we stumbled on a lively street full of music, dance, merchants, colorful colonial architecture and cobble streets. I gained more ease as we found our way around and began witnessing the beauty of the surroundings.
I spent two mornings in the Calabar favela (favela is a word for slum). I took two school trips there to compare international education systems and another to interact with the children within the school. The schools I visited were very simple. They had either a chalkboard or a whiteboard some desks and handmade posters on the walls. All the books for the classrooms were held in the principal’s room/library. Depending on the school children might where uniforms. The ones in less wealthy areas did not require them. The main funding of many public schools relied on donations from outside resources. On the second day that I visited, we brought them a few toys like bubbles, cards, paper and crayons and play-dough. They were so excited! I’m pretty sure we were having as much fun as they were though. I spent at least ten minutes just blowing bubbles with one boy. He just never got tired of it, haha. They also Loved having pictures taken of them and seeing the immediate result on the camera.
On Tuesday nights in the upper city there is live music, dancing and Capoiera, a mix of dance and martial arts. Although the culture was beautiful and fun it was hard to fully enjoy the display with the constant and hassling for money.
On my last day I visited an Afro-Brazilian museum and later walked through a quilombo, where the religion Candomble is practiced. It was a really impressive to see the different little houses for each of the orishas.
I went to few of the tourist parts of town but it is completely different from the way of life that the majority of the Salvador population lives. What was impressive to me was the growth in the schools as well as the favelas that has happened in the past thirty years. Rights have improved, and favelas have been installed with electricity, roofs, and running water. Schools have been improving with the help of the last generation of students who understand how to better entice parents to support their child’s education as well as attract children to come to school. They have learned how to better engage the students throughout the day such as teaching Afro-Brazilian history through dancing Samba and playing Capoiera, and also relating their education in Portuguese, science, math, and history to what they experience in the favelas.
I wish I could have made it to a city outside of Salvador so I could have a more well-rounded understanding of Brazil but I hear lots from others who had ventured to Rio de Janeiro, San Paolo and I heard good things. I can’t wait for Namibia!!!!!!!
Sept. 07- Sept. 11
Our first day in Salvador, Brazil, I spent the day traveling with five other students. We spent the morning exploring around the part of the city closest to the port that we were docked at. Since it was a Sunday and Brazil’s Independence Day many of the stores were closed and many flocked to the streets to watch the parade. I was somewhat disappointed on our initial tour of the upper city. It was really dirty and there were many beggars on the streets. One man attempted to mug me and one of the other girls so we learned how to be very cautious after that. We did some shopping center near our port and ate some great Brazilian dishes such as these big cast iron bowls filled with seafood, chicken and vegetables cooked in palm oil and spices,
Later that afternoon we discovered Pelorinoh and were pleasantly surprised when we stumbled on a lively street full of music, dance, merchants, colorful colonial architecture and cobble streets. I gained more ease as we found our way around and began witnessing the beauty of the surroundings.
I spent two mornings in the Calabar favela (favela is a word for slum). I took two school trips there to compare international education systems and another to interact with the children within the school. The schools I visited were very simple. They had either a chalkboard or a whiteboard some desks and handmade posters on the walls. All the books for the classrooms were held in the principal’s room/library. Depending on the school children might where uniforms. The ones in less wealthy areas did not require them. The main funding of many public schools relied on donations from outside resources. On the second day that I visited, we brought them a few toys like bubbles, cards, paper and crayons and play-dough. They were so excited! I’m pretty sure we were having as much fun as they were though. I spent at least ten minutes just blowing bubbles with one boy. He just never got tired of it, haha. They also Loved having pictures taken of them and seeing the immediate result on the camera.
On Tuesday nights in the upper city there is live music, dancing and Capoiera, a mix of dance and martial arts. Although the culture was beautiful and fun it was hard to fully enjoy the display with the constant and hassling for money.
On my last day I visited an Afro-Brazilian museum and later walked through a quilombo, where the religion Candomble is practiced. It was a really impressive to see the different little houses for each of the orishas.
I went to few of the tourist parts of town but it is completely different from the way of life that the majority of the Salvador population lives. What was impressive to me was the growth in the schools as well as the favelas that has happened in the past thirty years. Rights have improved, and favelas have been installed with electricity, roofs, and running water. Schools have been improving with the help of the last generation of students who understand how to better entice parents to support their child’s education as well as attract children to come to school. They have learned how to better engage the students throughout the day such as teaching Afro-Brazilian history through dancing Samba and playing Capoiera, and also relating their education in Portuguese, science, math, and history to what they experience in the favelas.
I wish I could have made it to a city outside of Salvador so I could have a more well-rounded understanding of Brazil but I hear lots from others who had ventured to Rio de Janeiro, San Paolo and I heard good things. I can’t wait for Namibia!!!!!!!
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