Wasting No Time

This morning at 1:00, my 16 hour bus trip up the western cape and across the South Africa/Namibia border came to a close. We pulled into the Engen /Wimpy station that I know all too well (from sitting in it for 12 hours waiting for this same bus on my way down to Cape Town seven weeks ago), and I entered the windy, frigid, night air. I'd almost gotten left behind at the border because of stupid passport/visa issues, so I was honestly just happy to have arrived back to this place safe and sound.

I'd thought that we would drive the 4 hours back west to the coast, to our home of Luderitz, from there, but thankfully Giel had arranged for us to stay at a friend's house. After curling up under big thick covers in all my jackets to protect myself from the bitter chill in the air, I finally allowed my body to relax and the adrenaline slowly eased out releasing me into a peaceful, horizontal (thank goodness) sleep.

Learning how to crochet 

Then this morning I again assumed that we would make the trek back to Luderitz. Nope, Giel said he had a surprise for me. Before we arrived, he told me the gist of it-- we were meeting with a group of women who sew clothing-- and that's about it. I'm so thankful that Peace Corps prepared me to act with absolutely no warning and preparation because 5 minutes after arriving in a place where I'd only heard people speaking Afrikaans and Nama (the local clicking language), the floor was handed over to me. I stood in front of six women in a storage room space filled with sewing machines on tables piled high with colorful fabric scraps, sample dresses and skirts, plastic bags filled with orders and spools of thread, and I delivered an introduction to our crocheting with plastic bags project idea. The women were very eager to try to do it themselves, and it ended up that about half of them already knew how to crochet. I peeked over their little huddles and saw them teaching each other, giggling together when making mistakes, and smiling and congratulating each other when another one finally got the hang of it. The whole meeting was wonderfully successful.

Patchwork dress

Following our intro, the women returned to work on their clothing orders, and I had the opportunity to watch them and talk to them while the fabric flew through their nimble fingers and dresses and skirts seemed to appear out of thin air. My favorite designs that I saw them making were traditional Nama patchwork style dresses creating patterns out of squares of bright colors. After about two hours of observing them work, they presented me with a beautiful blue skirt that had been made right before my eyes! It was the same type of fabric that we wear in Malawi--our classic chitenje--but it had gold accents on the pattern similar to ones I'd seen in Zambia (although the fabric was from a China shop despite all my assumptions about it's origin). It was the most amazing way to be welcomed back to Namibia. After a five week wonderful but hectic trip home, an unexpected and extended stay in Cape Town after my Namibian work visa was rejected, the following visa drama and the idea that my whole travel plan could be crumbling beneath my feet, freezing cold weather (which is just never fun regardless of the situation), and a long ass bus trip back up to Namibia, I needed a special moment like this one this morning. Literally my first day back in this country, and I'm given a splendid, welcoming gift from a group of women with whom I cannot wait to work.

This is my skirt being made!

She wanted a picture of just us :)

The group shot!

Such an amazing gem if you look closely!

In addition to the initial surprise of meeting these women, I was also able to talk to and see the work of a gemologist and jeweller who makes incredible pieces out of locally mined stones and gems. He literally had bags upon bags of Namibian gems that he was cutting, polishing, and making pieces with. I wanted to buy like everything.

Beautiful rings

Amazing detail in this ring

We then traveled to the government built, local curios center-- placed far outside of town. Basically this wonderful idea was, like many not well thought out plans, a horrendous waste of money for the Namibian government. It has been sitting idle pretty much, with only two vendors renting space, for YEARS. The construction and idea of it is golden and ideal, but it just goes to show how location matters.

Anyway, so this sums up my first morning back in Namibia! There's been lots of ideas and brainstorming in motion over here ranging from getting these various handicraft groups to work together to setting up an artisan guild to how to sell their work internationally.

IF ANY OF MY FRIENDS READING THIS HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH ANY OF THOSE ABOVE THINGS, I'D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS!


So, that's about all I've got for today! It's great to be back at work, to have a purpose again, and to feel like I'm using my brain after some weeks of feeling stale, confused, and overwhelmed in terms of where my career path is going.

I may not know where this specific path is taking me, but I'm just going to do my best to not worry about the future, to appreciate the experience I'm having/gaining here, and to hope that the universe will send me messages to help me continue to figure things out.