Random Notes and Commentary

We have officially reached the mid-point of my Fulbright grant. We try not to think about how fast time is passing as we are not looking forward to our adventure ending as we have grown attached to Namibia and its people. Lots of varied thoughts on how we might want the last decade or so of my career to unfold. The world is full of opportunities if one has the courage to take the risk. All I know for sure is the Lord will reveal his plan for us in His own due time and place.

Enough of waxing philosophical, it is now winter in Windhoek. That means high temperatures around 70 degrees with low temperatures around 40 degrees. Our apartment has stayed surprisingly warm considering how poorly the windows and doors seal. I believe we benefit from all of the solar radiation - although we do have to put on our light jackets or sweaters at times. Winter is also the dry season and it has been at least six weeks since we have had any rain (and most of that time there haven't been any clouds either). So, things have started to turn brown. Probably won't see any rain for three or four more months. There have been a few windy days, some smoggy days (couldn't even see the mountains), and days with lots of desert dust in the air (not so good for the sinuses or lungs). It will be nice to get some more daylight so that it will stop getting dark so early (currently it gets dark around 5:30 pm).

Winter in Windhoek

I was walking home from work and found this camel thorn tree branch on the walkway. The thorns are about 3-inches long. Everything has thorns so you have to be careful. In any case, we now have an interesting decoration piece for our apartment shelf.

Camel Thorn Tree Branch

On Saturday, I took the young men from the church out for burgers and a movie. There were six young men. We saw Transformers - The Last Knight. Not a movie I would recommend but the boys enjoyed it. Here is a picture of Billy, Kaye and George (from left to right). George cleaned off everybody's plate so there were no leftovers. I think he could have eaten another full plate or two. I kept teasing them because I thought Billy, Kaye and George would make a good name for a band.

Billy, Kaye and George at YM Activity

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July and we have been invited to the U.S. Ambassador's home for festivities. The invite comes with a formal, printed invitation. I am not sure how Karen and I will adjust to just being common folks when we return to the States. President Trump's antics are testing the diplomatic skills of the embassy personnel. The phrase "if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all" comes to mind. President Trump is not held in high esteem by most Namibians.

Another poaching incident in Etosha National Park. Seven rhinos were killed last week. Hopefully, they weren't ones that Cindy, Aubrey, Kimee and Molly saw while they were here. N$60,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.

Zimbabwe has had a policy of forcibly removing white farmers/landowners from their land and giving the land to blacks in an effort to address past colonialism. The land is suppose to go to tribal communities but it usually ends up in the hands of elite politicians and military personnel. The policy has devastated their economy and the country's unemployment rate is now approaching 80%. There has been some talk that Namibia might implement a similar program. Let's hope not. Currently, Namibia has a "willing seller, willing buyer" system where the land can only be bought by the government at fair market value.

We are looking forward to Kelda's arrival in a week. We will be taking a big loop through the traditional tribal areas in northern Namibia. So, we should be able to start posting more pictures of interesting things. In preparation for the trip, took the car in to have the two rear tires replaced. I think we bought the only two tires of this particular size in all of Windhoek. Let's just say tires are expensive here. But we should have a little more peace of mind when driving on some of back roads.

Well, I have plenty of other random thoughts but I think I will end here before the blog becomes too long...