This past weekend I stepped outside of my comfort zone and
attended the birthday party of my housemate and homestead family’s
grandmother. Around 4, we headed
to another one of the family’s homesteads where we were greeted by a big circus
type tent and many, many people.
Starting the party off we headed to the tent where the
bishop, deacon, and family members were speaking about grandma. I’m no sure what was said since only
one person spoke in English, but from time to time, Doc and his cousin,
Tangeni, would explain bits and pieces about what was being said. Basically, she’s an awesome lady. Born in Angola, she moved to Namibia at
a young age. She is the mother of
13 children, and has been living a nice, long life. Her age is a little uncertain due to lack of documents and
the move to Namibia, but on this day, they were celebrating her 83rd
birthday.
Following this portion of the party we moved back into the
homestead. I helped some of the
memes to set up some of the food, but then switched to helping Doc and the boys
with passing out drinks. By
putting myself in charge of something I was able to distract others and myself
from the fact that I had no idea what was going on. Luckily, in many ways this made me feel like I was a part of
family. As we passed stuff out I
was introduced to many family members, neighbors, and friends. I saw students, my principal, and
another teacher. Everyone was so
welcoming, asking me questions, holding my hand, giving me hugs.
Once the party was well underway the fun really began to
start. Namibians know how to throw
a party. Slaughter a cow. Turn on some PDK and Gazza. Do traditional dances. Enjoy the company of others. Just an FYI to all you Americans back
home, I expect all of these things for my 24th birthday…cow included. Go big or go home!
The rest of the night was filled with talking, talking,
talking. Again, I was not really
sure what was happening since people were switching between Oshikwanyama and
English, but from what I got I could at least make a comment here and
there. It was nice to be included
in such an event, and to also see how Namibians celebrate birthdays. Since being here, I have attended a funeral (greeting of the family) and a birthday party. In October, I will have the opportunity
to attend a wedding, which I am incredibly excited about. That will complete my list of big
events to attend before returning back home.
No comments:
Post a Comment