"Shit Mouth"

2/15 Swakopmund

So we got back to the ship, showered (much needed) and took a cab to Swakopmund, a German town just like 30 minutes away. It was adorable. It was right on the coast and was a beach town but with areas of cobblestone and cute buildings. We walked around and found a market with vendors selling all kinds of things made out of wood- like masks and statues and bowls- and tons of jewelry. They were so friendly but extremely aggressive- even worse than Morocco, which I didn’t think possible. Got some presents and then we walked down to the beach and walked along until we found this bar/restaurant where we were meeting friends – The Tiger Reef. So beautiful and so cool, it was right next to the water and the ground was all sand so everyone walked around barefoot. Only parts of it were covered and it was all thatched roof style and just had a bunch of picnic benches all around, it was such a great place. And we had the BEST chicken burgers with this awesome sauce and fries like none other that were covered in this Cajun seasoning. I want one so bad right now, my mouth just started watering. And the best draft beer I have ever had for 12 Namibian dollars – that’s $1.20 for a huge mug. And a classic Namibian drink is vodka and crème soda, which is bright green and so strange, but so good.

Basically, we started drinking at 6 and didn’t leave until around 1 so you can imagine how that was. The place was full of locals early on and we were able to talk with a lot of them. Plus, the girls we met up with had met some guys from South African so we talked to them for a really long time. It’s one thing to learn about the culture and the things going on while in class, but to be able to sit and ask them questions about it and see their perspective and reactions to it all was so fascinating. And the South Africans were some of the most racist people I’ve ever met- one of them hands down THE MOST racist person I’ve ever met. It was ridiculous. But we had a really long talk with them about the apartheid and the crisis in Zimbabwe and it was so interesting. The racist guy- Jeff- would tell us how he will just shoot at black people for no reason, it was insane. And we met a man that had grown up in the bush and had never seen sunglasses before. It’s those little things that really ground you.

A few of them taught me some words in Afrikaans and in Zulu, but sadly and not surprisingly I don’t remember any of them. Plus they were making fun of me because apparently I’m awful at the clicking. It was so cool to sit and talk to the locals though, they were so friendly and had the most fascinating things to say. But as it got later, more SAS people showed up and the whole dynamic changed, but still so so much fun-it was a really great night.

Albert
We met this man Albert who wanted to buy us shots and we sat and talked with him for a little while. He was from Walvis Bay and was such a nice guy. He has crippled arms and he kept saying to us how grateful he was that foreigners actually looked at him like he was a normal person, which wasn’t the case with people in Namibia. He was so passionate about how nice we were and how much we smiled and how we longed for a romantic man who will treat us right. We kept responding with of course, how could we not want that and be like that and he kept responding with the that’s not the case here- the woman here aren’t like that. And he repeated over and over that he could never find a woman that loved him for who he was and he couldn’t leave because he didn’t have the money to do so. I think this sounds like he was hitting on us, but he wasn’t at all. I can’t explain well enough the things he was saying and the passion behind it all. It was really sad but really made me appreciate the freedom and the love I have. I don’t really have anything that holds me back, I can love anyone I want to, I can love period. I will marry a man who loves me for who I am, not for what I look like. I can leave at any point, yet I don’t even have the need to. I live a very blessed life. I have no restrictions and I have hope for my future. Albert had no hope. He knew this was his life and it could never change. We take so much for granted and we complain about our lives in the silliest ways- we have no reason to complain or to be unsatisfied with life. Albert made a really big impression on me.

Basically, I love Swakopmund and cannot wait to go back! It was the cutest town and we definitely did not have enough time there.