This week I was finally able to move in with my host family. Monica is a widow with 3 children. She is one busy lady, working for a government funded organization that helps underprivileged children and families in Windhoek. Tuley is 30 and is currently living here at the house. After studying in the UK for 8 years, she returned to Namibia as a businesswoman promoting Namibian exports. She left this morning for a 10 day business trip to China. Micki is 25 and lives in Los Angeles with her husband. She is pursuing a career in entertainment and sings at venues in LA. Natti is in 10th grade and he is full of life. He’s a great soccer and Monopoly player. His cousin Ana is also living in the house with us. She is around Natti’s age and is a very sweet and super helpful young lady. It is a very lively place with people coming in and out.

Last night I was coerced into staying up until midnight to play Monopoly with Natti, his friend Martin, and Ana. The last time I remember playing Monopoly was when I was a child. I was convinced that I would be bankrupt within an hour. The board was set up and as I looked it over I realized that it was the South African version. No familiar streets would be found on this board. You don’t pass “Go” to collect $200, you pass “Begin” to collect 20,000 Rand. The board was in English and Afrikaans. None of that really matters, however, because the rules of the game are all the same. Even in the U.S. as you know there are so many variations of the game. I received a “Volopoly” game for Christmas one year as a child. Go Vols! :) Speaking of, their season opener is this weekend, neh? (Neh = a typical alternative here to “no” or “isn’t it?” It has easily slid into my vocabulary.) So Monopoly… it was great fun! Now that I know how to play, I hope we play again soon. We had to go across town to borrow the game from their friends. Maybe we can get our own board soon. Natti ended up winning, but I gave him a good run for his money and came in second. I finally went to bed around 12:45am.

Dinner last night was probably the most traditional Namibian meal that I’ve had since I’ve been here. We had pap with sheep meat and gravy. Pap is a traditional Namibian dish. It is like a sticky, thick porridge. It may not appear or sound good to everyone, but even as she was showing me how to cook it the smell of it made my mouth water. I told her that I would like to take some pap, pour in some milk and add butter and brown sugar. She confirmed my cravings by saying that people do fix pap in that way as a breakfast dish. I’ll have to try it soon! :) As she handed me my plate she informed me that we would not be using utensils. Pap is eaten with your fingers. You grab a bit of pap between your fingers, and dip it in whatever meat dish or gravy you have on your plate. Because the pap is so thick and even a bit sticky, this works quite nicely. The meat was tough, but tasty enough. That is how I’ve found most of the meat here.

Needless to say, I am settling in just fine. I’ve added a few personal touches to my bedroom and it already feels like home. Monica is so hospitable and I’m so grateful to her and her family for inviting me in. I’ll be here for at least a few months and I trust they will be very enriching months indeed!

(I bought an USB device that connects me to the internet. It was not cheap, and I'm not sure how long it lasts before I have to reload it. Depending on how much it costs to maintain, I may cut my internet usage in half if not more than that. But I should be able to keep my blog up just as regularly as I've been doing.)