Goin' to Africa!!! woooo

Hi all,
Well I’m almost to Africa!!! So I thought I’d just write a bit today before I get there...I’m done with classes until we leave Namibia, yay! And I’m definitely ready to get off the ship again...For one thing, the food on the ship is definitely not bad but it’s repetitive. It’s a lot of pasta and salads over and over again. So I’m hoping for something new at least in Africa! Then again, I hear they have McDonalds in Namibia so there’s always that, haha. But they do always have PB&J and desserts and toast as options on the ship so that’s nice.

Anyways...For those of you who are asking yourselves “Namibia??” Here are some fun facts I’ve learned about Namibia so far:

1.      No one on the ship (not the captain, crew, staff, faculty, or students) has ever been there!
2.      It’s the first time Semester at Sea has ever gone there
3.      The official language is English (other languages include German due to German colonization earlier on, and the bushmen language which has a “glottal stop” as part of the speech, which sounds like a clicking noise)

4.      Even though English is the official language, English is the first language of only 7% of Namibians
5.      It is one of the least populated countries in Africa
6.       It gained its independence in 1990 after colonization and rule by Germany and then by South Africa (they saw some of the effects of apartheid in Namibia)

7.      It’s very desert-y! (yay sand...)
8.      Their current president is only the 2nd president Namibia has ever had.
9.      The high temperatures while we will be there are going to be around 68 degrees F. Kind of chilly compared to the Bahamas and Brazil!

10.     The actor from the movie ‘The Gods Must be Crazy’ is from Namibia
11.     They have a McDonalds (What?! No Starbucks and Wal-Mart? Psh)
12.     There’s an asparagus farm near Walvis Bay, where we will be docking. Haha...anyone want me to bring them back some asparagus?

So there you go...a few things I’ve learned so far. I’ll get back to you with more when I find out. And I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures! I’m pretty excited to be going to a place that very few people have been to. I hadn’t heard of it until I found out I would be going there with SAS!

So we’re arriving in Walvis Bay, Namibia tomorrow morning. We can tell we’re getting closer to land because there are birds flying around our ship! Yay, land is near!!! Either that or we’re in the movie The Birds. Hopefully it’s just land though.

No one on the ship really knows what to do in Namibia. We know it’s cooler weather, windy, and sandy...but we’ve read in guide books that there are things like sandboarding (not sure what that is but it sounds fun!), camel rides, skydiving, camping, and wandering around the desert. Haha. I think it will be very fun actually, even if I don’t know what I’m doing there yet! I’m sure we’ll find something!

Then we leave Namibia on the 23rd, spend 2 days at sea, and then we get to Cape Town, South Africa!

Oh, by the way, I’ve found out that some of my emails I’ve sent from my SAS account haven’t gone through so if you’ve been expecting an email from me let me know and I’ll try again. And even if you haven’t been expecting an email from me, please send me one anyways because I need something to read!!! I’ll write back I promise! ? Thanks!

(Reminder, my address is jmturcios@semesteratsea.net)
Love, Jennie

*peace*