Christmas in Namibia

So as I write this I’m sitting in my tent literally a 5 minute walk from the cool Atlantic waters. I am on holiday in Swakopmund with about 30 friends who are also Peace Corps volunteers for both Christmas and New Years. Our campsite looks like a bit of a hoover ville scene littered with what I think the last count was 23 tents.

I think the phrase most often used over the last week has been “Where are we?” because this Namibia is starkly contrasting the one in which the majority of up live. Here there are huge mansions, coffee shops, book stores and even conveyor belts at the registers in the store. Also here it feels that being white I’m in in the majority and no longer the minority. It’s nice to have a break from the constant stares. One thing that I’ve noticed that bothers me is when you go to the grocery store or any place with service industry jobs the people working them are not white, even here where there seems to be a plethora of white people in this city. Quite often too people tend to ignore these people working as security guards or in the store because when I greet them they seem shocked, which is so backwards because that is one of the few things I understand about Namibian culture is that you greet everyone you come across as a sign of respect and in some weird way it works as you acknowledging their presence. The other thing that is alarming is to see all this money that is concentrated to a very small group of people who right now don’t seem to be doing much to assist their fellow citizens who honestly are struggling to get by. I’m not trying to suggest some plot to reallocate individual’s money, but I have yet to see many wealthy people spending any time in the village. I guess coming here has helped me to understand my host mom’s belief that “people of your color (white) have money and people of my color (black) have nothing.” The first time she told me that I was shocked and not quite sure how to reply and after I wanted to say no, it’s not a color thing but more so that I was born in America so my standard of living is different from someone born in Africa. But at first glance after coming here it does seem to provide me with some understanding for why she thinks this. But after spending more time you do see many wealthy black people as well though they are fewer and farther between.

Despite my alarm over the extreme inequality here this trip has been really nice! We have explored some of the Skeleton Coast and seem a ship wreck, seen a huge seal colony of over 2500 seals at Cape Cross, climbed Dune 7, the tallest dune in the world, seen huge salt pans, and seen hundreds of flamingos and spent every day of the last week on the beach. Not at all a bad Christmas!