Single Quarter Market and Panduka

This morning we explored Windhoek more; it was unbelievable.  Our first stop was the Single Quarter Market.  It is an open air market, with some three walled and roofed shops, as well.  They sell traditional Ovambo and Herero dresses, millet, meat (being cut on site), fat cakes (fried dough) and these traditional fried mupane worms.  I wasn't quite brave enough to stomach the worms, but some of the other teachers did! Braver souls than I! We did have some traditional cooked up beef, which was delicious, and some nuts that tasted like figs. 

After the market, we went to a craft co-op called Panduka. This place was absolutely amazing.  First thing that I think made is so great for me, was that it was on a lake.  I didn't really realize how much I had missed water, but it had this profound effect on my mood.  I just felt so relaxed there.  It made me really, really happy about having a school near a river up in Divundu. 

Second of all, this co-op does everything! They have a bunch of crafting buildings, blow their own glass beads and embroider everything you can imagine.  I  will definitely have to go back there before I leave so that I can get souvenirs.  They also have a TB clinic, a child care center, and a tea house that serves pie.  Yum.  Everything there was so delicately beautiful.  They also build sustainably.  For example, they were building walls out of old bottles and cement.  Super cool!  

 

Picture taken from Google

  

After we left Panduka, we drove through Havana, a neighborhood of Windhoek.  This was really powerful.  Right next to downtown Windhoek, with its first world mall, air conditioning and tall buildings, there are miles of tin huts with no electricity or running water. Some families need to walk miles for a pump.  But everyone we saw was smiling and welcoming.  Just so excited to see us, even though we weren't even really stopping the van. Dusty, hot, poor and happy.  The juxtaposition of the two cultures and incomes was shocking.

 The rest of our day was full of sessions on washing laundry, teaching with audio/visual aids, testing and assessments, and working within the bureaucratic system.  The morning was distinctly more exciting than the afternoon.