Monday, September 19, 2011

yoh!

My grandmother has the most impressive memory EVER! She has spent the last two days telling stories non-stop. I have custody of my dad's video camera in the back seat and occasionally I record some but mostly I just listen.It's kinda scary just how little I actually knew of my own family history!

Anyway, today we hung out in Windhoek, visited my granny's primary school (for the record, I loved it and if I ever have kids they're getting shipped straight over the border to a place that has hiking on the curriculum), did some museum-ing and found soup for lunch between going to see my great-grandmother's grave (she died very suddenly in 1945) and then settling down for tea and cake at a castle.

Things I have learned:

  • Well an entire family history in great detail. I knew vague details but coming back here has kicked my grandmother into memory lane and she hasn't even begin to run out of steam. For an 88-year-old she remembers details, names, stories, relationships between random people, the colours of the flowers on the mantelpiece.... EVERYTHING. 
  • That my grandmother who has always been incredibly neat and tidy and gentle and conservative etc etc can giggle like a little kid when telling stories of childhood mischief. 
  • There was childhood mischief. Who knew/
  • Windhoek is really pretty. There are flowers everywhere, it is clean and well maintained, the people have AWESOME accents and call everything 'beautiful'
  • There is free wifi all over the place. 
  • It is really expensive, I think the big European tourist industry has pushed the pricing up. For a simple pub-style meal (something that would be R40-R50 in Joburg) you can expect to pay at least N$70-80
  • Namibian currency is... well to be honest I don't have any. 1R=1N$ and they accept south african money. Just make sure you get change in your own currency or you'll be stuck with something you can't spend.
  • The girls wear the most awesome skirts. I want one. Everything is light and airy because it's so flippin' hot. 
  • they have WEIRD shops
  • pretending you can speak German to get into the Lutheran gingerbread church because you think its pretty might just lead to you being stuck in the back row during a history-of-namibia lesson. which would be cool if you actually spoke German.
  • There are German tourists everywhere. You can also eat German food everywhere
  • The lizards are totally adorable!


Anyway off to the dunes tomorrow! i can't wait to see real real REAL desert! Namib here we come!

9 comments:

Tamara said...

Sounds awesome. I love hearing about the family history fro my granddad. He has fantastic long-term memory, but very little short-term.

Enjoy Namibia. Looks like a wonderful break.

Nes said...

Wow! That is so cool. I love family history. There is something so special feeling the link to past generations.

And finding out about the childhood mischief :)

I want to see the Namib!

Please get me a skirt. I love skirts. Also we should have tea at the secret garden when you get back. :)

Kath Lockett said...

Love the lizard - wonder if he speaks German.....

Anonymous said...

Miss you chicken licken, come back soon :)

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Fiona said...

It sounds like you are having a fabulous time in Namibia. Enjoy :)

Spear The Mighty said...

Nam is awesome. I'm planning to take the family there maybe next year on holiday.

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