Okay doei!

Exactly like in Rotterdam 6 weeks ago I'm writing this blog post over a coffee at the airport (except 5AM is a little more painful than 3PM). In 36 hours I'll be touching home ground, picked up with a long awaited cuddle and a kiss then straight home to my local to resume normal life (maybe I'll squeeze a shower in somewhere too). Although I've been away for 6 weeks the world has, believe it or not, kept on turning and whilst the sun set here it rose somewhere else. Slipping back into my routine is going to happen with far more ease than my brain will chose to understand and I'm anticipating a few weeks of awkward adjustment as goats on campus are no longer the norm, when people say let's meet at 4 they really, truly and thankfully mean 15:55 and not 17:30 and most of all, the beer no longer costing 1 euro. The increase in beer price however is a small price to pay to finally return to all the much missed comforts of my own life. The big things like friends, family and time keeping being of upmost importance but also the smaller, more subtle things like commencing a conversation and knowing that the person you're talking to will have some form of understanding of the concept of 'differing opinions'.

Since my last blog post we've spent a night in Windhoek, had our goodbye breakfast with the Friedman's and enjoyed a few days in Swakopmund. The goodbye breakfast was less of a hearty meal and more of a light taster of ignorance with a pinch of cringe. By this I'm referring to the fact that by 'lets reflect upon our knowledge gained throughout this journey' the Friedman's ment 'lets get out a piece of work you did on the first day of the course and see how embarrassing your lack of knowledge was'. I'm sure this sentiment wasn't shared by everyone but as I was handed back my sealed envelope containing my answers to the questions 'what do you know about Africa' and 'what do you know about Namibia' i could feel my cheeks flush. I can remember starting this course with an embarrassing lack of knowledge in regards to both questions and looking into the envelope didn't really do me any favours. As there's a positive to every situation I think I can safely say that this course and the unique hands on experience it provides has enriched my understanding in ways no textbook ever could. Africa is no longer "the continent that's bigger in real life than on any given map" and Namibia is more than "the only ever country to be occupied by SA". These are textbook facts, things anyone can discover with a quick Google or a scan through the Wikipedia profile (definitely not what I did on my way to school that very first day...). Through being here and having the crazy opportunity to personally experience just how big Africa really, really is by attempting to quickly travel from one place to another (thanks Intercape) and by speaking to individuals who have witnessed and been affected first hand by Apartheid and/or the South African occupation I've had the chance to discover another dimension to learning, one I definitely want to do again.

Leaving the trauma of the sealed envelopes behind, Angie, Tsjalline, Taco and I headed off in search of the local bus station. Crammed into a minivan designed for around 5 people (or none at all), 18 of us and a baby headed off in the direction of Swakopmund, our luggage securely stashed in a pully cart behind the van. The "bus" doesn't really have a schedule, it just leaves when it's full so roughly 5 hours later we made it to Swakop. We were dropped at the wrong hostel and instead of just driving back up the road the bus driver called a taxi friend who then drove around in circles looking for our hostel. He kept saying he'd lived in Swakopmund all his life and never heard of the place and after about half an hour we started to doubt it's existence ourselves! Luckily we found it eventually and after an improv dinner we bundled up, slipped on headtorches & headed down to the beach for a midnight stroll. Honestly one of my favourite days so far!

Another Swakop highlight includes sandboarding on Saturday after which Taco and I decided to walk back through the desert. Completely alone surrounded by nothing but sand we meditated within the dunes, practiced headstands and reconstructed a fox corpse. 3 hours later we reached civilization again, quite a strange experience after such a trek through nothingness! Headed back to Windhoek on Sunday where Vincent was waiting to welcome me back to the Cardboard Box hostel for the 3rd time this trip. After dinner (cooked by master chef Vincent, proper treat!) and drinks I had the dilemma of the Monday morning 4am taxi. I could either go to bed and risk sleeping through my alarms or stay up like Alice and I used to do before our early morning flights between Brizzle and Spain. I proved my age and chose the first option of which I'm most thankful now as I'm sat bright eyed and bushy tailed in Windhoek airport.

Et c'est tout! My coffee is done and so is this post. Now time for my flight from Windhoek to Capetown, Capetown to Joburg, Joburg to Turkey and from Turkey to home. For the last time ever from Africa: over and out, Tiger Laylay xo