the countdown continues....

Practices are all finished at Walvis Bay now! We're taking a break for tonight and then going hard all day tomorrow!
Gina just left this morning which was sad cuz she was so much fun and great to hang out with! It's too bad she just missed seeing Kokopelli with Mascato! She came to the Mascato rehearsal with me in Walvis Bay though on Wednesday. We went early so we could go check out the lagoon/bird sanctuary. We saw tons of flamingos! And then it only took us like 45 minutes to grab a taxi! Good thing we left really early! We just made it to rehearsal in time (well..in time to grab a chip roll first and then hit rehearsal!)

Everyone in Mascato is doing really well with the mass choir music! Everyone in Walvis Bay has it by memory now...I'm not sure how the Swakopmunders are doing because Mrs.Venter has been working with them all week. She's not letting them have a break tonight because she still thinks they still need more work! hahaha...I hope on Saturday she thinks the Walvis Bay people are okay! I think she has MUCH higher and stricter standards than me!

The mascato guys who are coming on tour are getting so pumped too! We're going to have a big rehearsal on Sunday and hopefully get through everything! They're all pretty good readers though and have been listening to the CD's I made like crazy to learn all these other languages and stuff!

In other news...last night I got down to the lowest amount of money I've had since I got here! I had like $4 left! (which can't even buy another chip roll!!) scary...and of course this morning when I went to the bank, I forgot it's the last friday of the month and everyone gets paid! So there's line ups EVERYWHERE for every ATM! meh...

Scott phoned this morning and told me about the Kokopelli Farewell concert last night! I'm SO excited to here how everything is sounding! I heard that "It Takes A Village" is the coolest song out of them all! I can't wait to hear Pakkanen as well!!! That's going to be wicked!

alright...so my mind is all over the place right now and this posting has become pretty random! I'm getting so excited to see everyone and so is the rest of Mascato! Mrs.Venter has been talking Kokopelli up like crazy and keeps telling Mascato that they have to be at the top of their game because she doesn't want them to embarrass us! I feel bad for the people who haven't seen Kokopelli because they have such a grand image of us right now! I keep telling them that we're just like them! Nothing special - we just love what we do!

I can't wait to see you all!! Only 3 more days!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

taxis

tax-i [noun]
a car, usually with a taximeter, whose driver is paid to transport passengers, typically for short distances.
Also called taxicab
Also called cab

Unfortunately definitions don’t specify when you want to leave and how fast they should travel. In Africa the taxis are an experience all on their own.

Marcelino has been accompanying me to Walvis Bay for the practices that we’re holding there this week. Mrs.Venter drops us off at the taxi rink in Mondesa and from there we’re on our own. As soon as you walk up someone quickly ushers you into a car as they try to fill them completely and as fast as they can so you can take off for your destination.
On Monday we lucked out. We got in a car that was already half full so we just went on our merry way.
Yesterday was another story as we circled the taxi rink for a good 20 minutes waiting for one last person to make our car full.

Walvis Bay is about 40 km from Swakopmund so it should take about a half hour to get there or so. It’s a beautiful road to take because it goes right along the coast with the sun setting on the ocean on one side and dunes on the other. Unfortunately that’s not something you can enjoy as the car is vibrating around you from going so incredibly fast.
The car on Monday didn’t have a working speedometer but the RMP gage was working. I’ve been in other taxis on that road that so anywhere from 120 – 140km/h and the RPM gage reads between 3 ½ and 4. The car on Monday without the speedometer had his RPM gage at 5 and he was in 5th gear. I don’t even want to know how fast that is because I was just thinking the entire time that I was going to die on that road that day anyways!

Only 2 more practices out there this week!

In other news, we had a Potjiekos at Pam’s house after our rehearsal last night. Basically it’s like a stew but it’s prepared in a very special way. First you need to get a nice little fire going with nice hot coals. Then you have a big black cast iron pot that you sit over the fire. Then you just start adding things meat and veggies! Mervyn was our wonderful chef last night and prepared the potjiekos for us. Marcelino made the maize meal to go with it.
It was REALLY good! Mervyn said he’d like to make one for Kokopelli but I think he’d need a much bigger pot! Maybe he could during our desert adventure day!

Well...I think I’m going to go head over to the Lighthouse restaurant now and confirm our reservation for next week. ONLY A WEEK!!! CRAZY!!!

Here's some random photos for you to enjoy!

Spitzkoppe photos

ENJOY!

I DROVE!!!

I DROVE!
That’s right! I drove and it was SO MUCH FUN!

I’ll get back to that though! Let’s first start at the beginning of the weekend... We had a looong rehearsal on Saturday for Mascato. From 10-5! They mostly have 4 out of the 7 mass choir pieces by memory now. Some of them even have more!!
Mrs.Venter decided she wants to have rehearsals every day this week but all the Walvis Bay people can’t come that often (just because it takes about 45 minutes to get to Swakop from there!)
So, instead I’m going to Walvis Bay every evening this week to work with the choristers there while Mrs.Venter works with the ones here in Swakop! Personally I don’t think they need that many rehearsals but Mrs.Venter sets VERY high standards for Mascato!

After our marathon rehearsal Lex and I got together at her house. Pam just got back from a little holiday in Cape Town with one of her friends from the States. We were planning on meeting them a little later at Fagins.
I don’t know why but Lex and I got started listening to old choir music – everything from Form to ‘Nuf Sed to Kokopelli! We had a little moment of homesickness as we listened to a bunch of songs! (Like Lindsey and Rob in Soon As I Get Home and Kokopelli singing When David Heard and John singing I’ll Cover You)
It was fun but we ended up going over an hour late to the bar! Hahahaha…we’re such choir nerds! I love it!
Anyhoo, we still beat Pam and her friend to Fagins so Lex and I killed time by taking Shakey Face Pictures and meeting randoms who are working on the Vin Diesel movie. Finally Pam and her friend, Gina, showed up. They had met a guy in Cape Town, Alex, who was just traveling on his own so they brought him along too! He’s from Seattle and great fun!! We had a super fun time with them and learned some new dance moves from Gina and other local people! Lex and I started doing the Cadillac Ranch and amazingly people wanted to learn the steps! It was so funny!! This past week Lex took over Pam’s music classes at MYO and taught the kids Cadillac Ranch so that’s where we got the idea to bring some Alberta into the bar! Much fun!!

On Sunday all five of us decided to go on a road trip to Spitzkoppe. I rented a car and drove!! I even stayed on the right side of the road the entire time!! It was so fun.... I even got upgraded for free! We got to what we thought we Spitzkoppe at about noon. It took about 2 hours from Swakopmund to drive and it’s a little scary because most of the roads are gravel or sand.
So, we get to this mountain and find some sand roads leading to it. We start driving around trying to find the main entrance and come across some donkey’s pulling some carts. (or as Alex referred to them as horse-drawn donkey carts) We figured we must be going the right way since we finally saw some life out there other than us but then we came to sort o a rock quarry mining thing and figured after all the weird looks we were getting that we were in the wrong place.
So we headed back to the main road and drove maybe 3 minutes further and came to a sign that said “Spitzkoppe”. We were just a little too impatient before I guess….oh well, it was a nice little adventure.
So…we finally found the main entrance where we pay the park fee and then continued on our way. It was SO gorgeous there!! If you have a Mascato DVD, this is where they filmed it! We drove along these crappy little rocky and sandy roads trying not to get to much undercarriage damage to the car but saw some AMAZING sites! We saw some cave paintings at the “Bushman Paradise”. We went climbing in the mountains a bit next to all these HUGE boulders. We found a little campsite area where we had a little picnic lunch that I packed for us. We went to this one place called the “Ladder” which is basically a chain that’s bolted into the mountain and you have to pull yourself up to the top of the mountain. It was fun, but very tiring and a little scary! The view at the top was just spectacular though. There were some more cave paintings at the top. We found an area that at first we thought was a cave but as we got closer we discovered that it was more like a big amphitheatre right in the mountainside. We’re all such choir nerds and put on a little concert for ourselves right there! We sang some traditionals, American and Namibian Anthems and some random pop songs. The echo around there was crazy and lasted like 4 seconds long. (I took a video of us screaming and waiting for the echo! You can actually hear it!! Haha)

There’s a little restaurant there but it was closed so we decided to just go home instead. It was a super fun day and I wish we could all visit there! It’s amazing! I'll post pictures as soon as I can for it! The internet's going a little slow today!

This morning was sad because I had to return the car. Oh well, maybe I’ll rent one again sometime!
I should probably run. I only have a few more hours before I have to leave for Walvis Bay!!

8 more days till you’re in Swakopmund!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

bbbbrrrrrrr

well....winter is officially back.
dang...that really didn't last long at all! It's really cold today!

anyhoo...yesterday I went down to the beach to visit Godfrey. I think I've talked about him before...he was going to make a painting for me.
Anyhoo...he finished it and I bought it.
....it wasn't really what I was expecting but it's still cool that he made it just for me. At least I'll have neat story.

I was watching TV the other night and they had a big program on Etosha and also about the Okaukuejo camp (where we're staying!) It was really cool! We are going to see SSOOO many animals!! I'm so excited!

um....I don't really have much more to say....short post! meh... I'm gonna go looking for instruments that we can bring along on the tour! Hopefully renting won't be too expensive!!

Good day!

Springbok!

I went for a walk yesterday and saw some springbok! Yay!!

In other news...it's SO hot today!! The east weather is here which means it's about as hot as when I first arrives (like high 20s) and it's SO windy!! What a day not to tie my hair back!!

I can bet you a million bucks it won't stick around so pack warm clothing everyone!

only 12 days, 3 hours, 4 minutes and 54 seconds till you arrive in Swakopmund!! (I didn't count that by myself... I have a countdown on my laptop!)

that's exciting too...I just found out I can use my lap top at the internet cafe so I'm on it now! YAY!

alrighty...I'm off! Can't wait to see all of you!

oh, tourists

I remember reading in Lex’s blog last time she was here that it was so exciting the first time someone asked her directions to somewhere and she knew where it was.
Well, that happened to me yesterday! I was just walking along to the internet café in my own little world listening to some tunes on my iPod when suddenly someone grabbed my arm. At first it scared the crap outta me but then I saw it was just two little old ladies. They asked me if I spoke German in German so unfortunately I couldn’t understand them and they couldn’t really understand me! They just pointed to the ‘Kristall Galerie’ in their little tourist book and I tried to just point out where they should walk. They were still pretty far from it so I imagine they got lost with my very vague pointing directions.
But it still felt good that I actually knew where and what they were talking about!! YAY!

I’ve realized lately though that I’m starting to get frustrated with people here. Well, maybe it’s actually more that I’m frustrated with myself because I can’t say no. I feel rude not talking to someone when they talk to me so I am constantly getting stopped in stores and on the street by people either selling something, wanting money or just wanting to be my ‘friend’. I already have three guys labeled in my phone as ‘don’t answer’ because I keep giving out my number! I don’t mean to though!
For instance...I was in Pick and Pay the other day buying light bulbs. Now seriously, what kind of tourist buys light bulbs? They always seem to seek me out though! Anyhoo...I was looking at the wall of light bulbs with my iPod on in my own little world again when I hear someone by me saying “Hello. Hellooooo”
I thought he was talking to someone else but then I turned and he’s staring right at me. So I take my headphones off and we start talking and he asks about Canada and stuff.
We literally talked for like 3 minutes and then he says he wants to take me out for dinner to talk about Canada more just as ‘friends’. I think I’m all clever by saying “I just got my phone and don’t know the number yet. Sorry.” But then he says “Just give me a missed call”. In my head “damn...what do I say to that?”
So he was ‘don’t answer’ number 1.

I’m starting to get better though! I just keep walking now when people ask me questions. I answer them quickly and just keep walking. Often times they’ll still follow but at least I’m starting to get rid of them sooner!

So Kokopelli people – this is something for all of us to learn. Don’t worry about being your lovely Canadian selves.... You just have to be rude sometimes! Oh – and don’t give your name to the guys who sell these little nut things that they carve pictures into. As soon as they know it they carve your name into it and expect you to buy it. I learned that quickly!!

So many lessons for us all to learn! :P

Hollywood has hit Namibia!

Really! Vin Diesel is here filming an army movie! Beau was scouted out to be an extra! Hahaha
Random!
In other news...I had a fun weekend!
Saturday morning Lex and I went to this cute little Italian café to meet Jeremy and Lindsey (a married couple who sing in Mascato and are also here teaching)
Lex is possibly trying to get Lindsey to come and work for MYO. We had a big long talk about the school system here and especially about how the teachers beat the kids here. It’s just so crazy to me to think that’s how they discipline but it sounds like that might be the only way they can control the kids and make them sit down and learn. Jeremy’s class knows he won’t hit them so he said no one respects or listens to him. But the second another teacher walks in they all stop and listen. He has almost 50 kids in his class and said it’s just not fair for the kids that truly do want to learn. They actually ask him to beat the other kids just so they can learn!
I shouldn’t get on this topic...I could write way more but it’s just so frustrating!
So...after we finished at the café Lex and I walked around town for a bit. We went to a bookstore to find out about the new Harry Potter book! Hopefully it won’t be too expensive here! In the afternoon we had a Mascato rehearsal. We have now finally gotten through all the mass choir pieces. We only have 2 more Saturday rehearsals left so they have a LOT of work to do memorizing!
On Sunday Mrs. Venter and I went to Walvis Bay to visit Vera (the accompanist for Mascato) Vera, her husband and her mom put together a braai for us. She has an amazing house! It was really neat...we had kabobs, gemsbok steaks, and kudu sausage. (that’s Namibia for ya...meat and more meat! Hahaha)
Vera wants me to come and workshop some of her piano students so I’m going to be doing that in August!
After that Mrs.Venter dropped me off at Lindsey’s house in Narraville. (not the Lindsey I was talking about before, this is one of the guys in choir! His real name is Feliciano but he goes by Lindsey)
Anyhoo...he has a little studio set up in his house and it actually really successful with producing and stuff like that. He produces lots of rappers and hip hop artists from Walvis Bay and the surrounding area. Lots of those songs are played on the radio here! It’s crazy! He’s even been nominated for Africa’s version of the Grammy’s (not quite as big though....)
He wanted to re-do one of my songs that I wrote at Grant MacEwan. It was so much fun!! He said he really enjoyed it too because usually every day he just deals with the “Namibian beat” (that you hear everywhere) and he was excited to do a ‘rock’ song instead!
He knows someone at the local rock radio station so he said he’s going to bring the CD over there and see if it can get some radio play. Could you imagine??? Me on African radio?? Hahahahah!! That would be SO weird!
Sunday evening we hung out with some of his friends in Kiusebmond. I stayed overnight at Lindsey’s house and we finished my song the next morning. He conducts the choir at Da Duine Secondary School so he wanted me to come and workshop them a bit. They’ve only been together for not even 2 weeks and they sounds incredible!! They only know two songs but they are really great! It was really fun watching and working with them!

I should be off! Lots of errands to do today!! And guess what? It’s exactly two weeks from today that Kokopelli come to Swakopmund!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

another new friend?

So I just decided to take Mrs.Venter's dog for a walk. I thought it would be nice to go down to the dunes again so we headed off in that direction.
It was a path that I've taken many times before without any incident so I figured it would be the same.
I was just rounding the last corner before you hit the road to the dunes when - BAM - out of nowhere there's a friggin huge ostrich literally 10 feet in front of me.
I don't think I've even been that scared of a bird in my entire life!

So...we just sort of stared at each other for a little bit and then it just went on its merry little way like it owned the place or something.

I just stood there in shock and watched it leave.

why, oh why didn't I bring my camera??

the past few days...

Wow…I’m starting to get bad at updated this! Meh…I’m also starting to get busier, which suits me just fine! Haha

Sunday was pretty mellow. We had a nice relaxing morning….and I started practicing some music for the tour. Just after 1:00, Desiree, Helia and Ingrid from Mascato came over to practice a piece that we hadn’t learned yet. (Laudate Dominum) We had a concert that evening that we were going to perform this song.
We headed over to Namib High for the concert at 3:00 to practice a bit. It was a really fun concert – I love small towns! The hall was set up beautifully with little tables and candles on each one in kind of a cabaret-type feel. It was called “An Hour of Music” and featured a bunch of different groups from around Swakopmund, including the Swakop Strings, a flute ensemble and a few piano players. Mascato closed the concert with 3 pieces but the audience wanted more. So we ended up doing 3 more pieces as an encore! Haha…it was much fun! I love how much energy everyone has! After we finished and headed back to the classroom where we kept our stuff everyone started singing old songs from the tour last year, like All Too Soon, In Remembrance and Sweet Spirit! That was the first time I think I felt just a little homesick….that tugged at the heart strings a little!

Monday I just worked on making example CD’s for Mascato. It just sunk in that we only have 3 more Saturday rehearsals until Kokopelli is here! That’s a little scary and I really need to crack down on the music!! So, the CD’s I’m making will hopefully help a lot – I’ve been singing and playing every voice part so they can just listen to their own part and really lock it in!

That’s basically what I finished doing yesterday. I’ve just been burning them since then.
I had a nice break in the afternoon yesterday though… Mrs.Venter and I went to MYO to see Pam’s grade 6 and 7 music class. The German Ambassador was visiting and he donated all the recorders they use in the program. So they had their very first recorder concert! Check out the pictures! It was SO cute!! They only played the notes A and B but there’s a funky track that backs them up during the songs. They even made choreography to a couple of the songs! The kids are so great there! They all remembered me from Saturday afternoon from when we went to Wimpy’s and all ran up to me saying “Hi Miss Jen!”

I’ve been getting a few phone calls from home, which is really nice! I’ve heard that the rehearsals for the tour are going fantabulously! I’m so excited to hear how everything is coming together! (especially Pakkanen!!!)
AND most importantly – CONGRATULATIONS DEAN AND LINDSEY!!! I just found out last night and I’m SO excited for you!! I think you should NOT go the Philippines before I get home so I can congratulate you in person! (plus see the ring!!!! Haha)

Only 19 more days till you’re all in Swakop!! On one hand I can barely wait…but on the other hand I feel like I still need more time to get the choir ready…as well as myself! (I don’t even know all the music yet! Molly Mag-who? Haha)

*mwah*

Great food day!

Yesterday was great fun. One of the more busy days I've had in a while.
It all started with me going over to Lex's house and waking her up. We chatted for a while and tried to figure out what we were going to do for the day. We were talking outside and suddenly a whole bunch of girls from her grade 6 class at MYO showed up.
One of the girls got $50 US from her sponsor for her birthday and was aloud to spend it however she wanted!! She decided to bring 10 of her friends to Wimpy's for burgers. Lex was going along later to take pictures to send to the sponsor.
The girls came over to say that their tennis lessons were cancelled and they wanted to go earlier for lunch. So Lex and I met them at the restaurant a little later after she finished getting ready.
They are such cute kids!! I can definitely see why Lex has falling in love teaching here! They're so great...and call me Miss.Jen. hahaha...I love it!

So after a great and very filling lunch we had rehearsal with Mascato. It was a different group though...which kind of surprised me. I guess Mrs.Venter has just recently chosen some new members and this was a rehearsal mostly for them to see if they will be ready to sing with Kokopelli or not. There was quite a few old members though too. We did Tre Cantos (they sound awesome on this! I got them to do the bright tone and everything! woot!), Sanctuary, Baba Yetu and It Takes A Whole Village. I realized as we were doing It Takes A Whole Village that I don't remember at all how we did the middle section last year!! Scott - I need help!! What did we do??

Anyhoo...after that very productive rehearsal I went over to Linus' house in Mondesa for a traditional Ovambo dinner. It was awesome! His mom made it for us but unfortunately I didn't get to meet her because she had to leave before I got there!
It was really neat though...check out my pictures We had a traditional porridge called Oshifima with sort of a dried spinach dish called Eevanda. There's a traditional drink that we had to called Oshikundu.

After that we went to a little place in Mondesa to play pool. It was busy though and I think Linus was a little worried having me there. (He's very protective..hahaha) We went into town instead with his friend and brother and played pool at a place called Laundry. It's basically a place where you can do your laundry, play pool, play arcade games and I think there's even a bar upstairs. Pretty fancy place!

I should probably get running though. I only have a bit of time left on my internet here!! 3 weeks till you guys leave!! YAY!!

New friends!

This morning I decided I was going to go for a walk. I stuck a little bit of money in my pocket just in case, turned on my iPod and hit the road.
I really didn’t have anywhere in mind, but it was beginning to become a beautiful day so I thought I’d just go wherever my feet take me.

I passed by a car rental place so I thought I’d just go investigate a little bit about renting one (Lex and I might go to for a day trip near the end of June...and then a few of us who are staying behind are also needed a car for a while). Anyhoo…I found out there’s no age limit (I can drive Scott!! Yay!!)

I continued on my way and realized I was heading towards the beach. I decided to go there and pass through the wood market area on the way. On my 2nd or 3rd day, Lex and I had gone down there and she introduced me to one of her friends working there, O.B.
I found O.B. and chatted with him for a bit. I love how when I’m alone everyone suddenly comes up and says “hey sistah, come check out my stuff”. But yesterday when I walked through with Linus, barely anyone approached me at all.
Anyhoo, I ended up buying a mask for my sister from O.B. I noticed he had a game that he was selling. He asked me if I had time to learn it and I said yes. We went over to the grass area and he taught me to play “Solo” (I don’t know if that’s actually how you spell it…but that’s how it sounds) It was actually a pretty neat game! By the end we had quite a crowd... and I even won! (with the help of a few bystanders)
I met a few more guys who all wanted to sell me more stuff but I told them I was out of money and wanted to continue on my walk.

I went down to the beach and found an amazing spot where we should do a group photo!! It’s very close to the Lighthouse Restaurant!
As I was heading back I came across another guy, Godfrey, selling some stuff and we started chatting a bit. He was asking me about Canada and said his friend just finished studying in Toronto. He loved all the pictures he saw from there and was hoping that I brought some postcards along…
I was asking Godfrey about himself and he ended up telling me that he also paints. (like oil paintings and stuff) I wanted to get a painting before I left for home…. So, I basically commissioned him to do a painting for me! I told him I wanted animals (mostly a zebra) so he said he might do a mother and baby zebra. I’m so excited! It will be so much neater to get a painting from someone I actually know rather than just from a shop!
So after I finished with Godfrey I started to head back home (after getting a bunch more people trying to sell me stuff in the wood market!)

I was walking home in my own little world when suddenly someone else called out my name… it was Fonie (he’s sort of the conductor of the Marimbas.) We chatted for a little bit too and I told him the marimbas should play with us in Baba Yetu when Kokopelli comes. He seemed pretty excited about it! I gave him my phone number so I might go out later with him and his girlfriend…. Yay!

I’m so glad my walk turned into so much more this morning…It’ll definitely keep the days interesting if I can keep it up like this. All the guys in the wood market said to come down anytime to chat with them. I think they just like talking to someone new…One guy, Richard, kept telling me all about the Caprivi area where he’s from.

So yay for adventures! Maybe tomorrow I’ll head in the other direction and see who I meet!

foggy day...

Wow…June 5th already. As we were driving to the expo last Thursday it just clicked that I had arrived exactly 3 weeks ago! Time has flown by!! Only 27 more days till Kokopelli arrives in Swakop! The time is going to just zoom by then!!!
Oh, and Michelle sent me some questions about stuff here on facebook – feel free to ask away everyone! I might not know the answer to everything but Michelle was just wondering about the weather and what would be good to pack…stuff like that! So yeah… email or facebook me if you have any questions!

In other news, I headed down to the Lighthouse restaurant this morning to make some reservations for Kokopelli. It’s going to be so much fun there! They only looked a little scared when I said 87 people where coming July 4th! Haha… (oh, and Scott…on the itinerary you wrote we’re going there at 5:30 for supper…they only open at 6pm so I made it for then!)

Not too much other stuff to report about right now…it’s been pretty mellow since we came home from Windhoek. We have another performance coming up on Friday and then on Sunday as well. Our next rehearsal is on Saturday and we’re going to start cracking down on all the music we’re doing with Kokopelli.
Speaking of music…I think I finished arranging another song for either Kokopelli or Oran yesterday. (‘Your Wish is My Wish’ – Sarah Slean….I love this song!!) Well, it’s just for women’s voices so really, it could be for both Koko and Oran!

Anyhoo…I’m posting some pictures from Mrs.Venter’s house just cuz some people have wanted to see what it looks like! Enjoy…

Expo pictures

here's some pictures from the expo...

enjoy!

Expo in Windhoek

First off I’d just like to say Happy Birthday Mom!

This past weekend Mascato went to Windhoek for the big tourism expo. It was lots of fun and very tiring! It’s funny being in Windhoek though…I know Kokopelli stayed there last time we were here (at the Roof of Africa Inn) but I didn’t remember Windhoek being that big! Maybe we were more on the outskirts or something last time.
But yeah, it definitely has a big city feel…and the drivers are insane!! Even if the light is green for you to walk you still need to be careful (the drivers just lay on their horn and don’t slow down! Scary!!)
Well, we left bright and early on Thursday morning and arrived in Windhoek around noon. We first went to the hostel we were staying at (the boys hostel for Windhoek high school) and got changed into our uniform. That was pretty neat – my first new choir uniform since I joined Kokopelli 7 years ago!
We went over to the expo grounds just after that to do our first performance. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. It was actually pretty neat…it kind of reminded me of K-days but without all the rides and games. There were a bunch of different halls you could walk through with tons of displays to get information about all these different African safaris, hotels, festivals, spas…basically anything you would want to do as a tourist. It was mostly all African places but there was a display for Finland as well (that was a little random). Some of the displays were very elaborate with sand, rocks, trees, fountains, animal skins…and more! I learned the different between the Ovambo sand and the Damara sand.
A few girls in choir and I went to the India display and got henna done on our hands. There were also bigger displays outside from just Windhoek that you could buy (cars/hot tubs/tents and other camping gear…stuff like that)
One of my favorite displays was a clothing designer from Windhoek. She makes clothes that all have different functions (like a skirt that turns into a pair of shorts, which then turns into a handbag. She even had a winter coat that turned into a tent!!! Crazy!)
Anyhoo…Mascato’s performance. We did all our performances outside. (I like how you never have to worry about anything ever getting rained out here! Haha)
I stood in the back row thinking that I could just sneak off for the songs that I didn’t know. I was standing next to Desiree who hasn’t been in Mascato for about 5 years or so but just rejoined this past year. She didn’t know lots of the music either but she wouldn’t let me sit down…we just faked our way through stuff together. It was probably the scariest performance I’ve ever done but also the most fun. It’s pretty exhilarating learning movement during a performance ….and also trying to make up words at the same time! Hahaha
We did 3 performances on Thursday and by the 3rd one I was actually getting some of the words that I didn’t know in the first one. That’s pretty exciting! We did all the performances on Thursday and Friday with the marimbas as well. We would do a few songs, then they would do one, and then we would do some together. I really enjoy singing with them! It’s always so groovy ...people seem to let loose a little more too.
So, after we finished at the expo on Thursday we went back to the hostel. There were supposed to be 4 people per room but for some reason there weren’t enough beds for everyone. So the girls in my room decided to push two beds together and they ended up sleeping 4 people in these tiny two beds! Crazy girls…it was pretty funny though!
Mrs.Venter told us that breakfast was going to be 8 in the morning (and that we could come in our pajamas if we wanted) …and then we had free time until 11. Now I figured it would be like Kokopelli…you know, most people waking up at 7:55 …going to breakfast in their pj’s, and only then going back to shower and do whatever. Or even some people skipping breakfast to sleep in till 10:30 and only then getting ready.
But no…everyone got up at 5:30. That’s right… FIVE THIRTY in the morning!!! I thought I was going to die! I have no idea how all of Mascato can function on only like 5 hours sleep. They are crazy!
Most of them wanted to get up early though so they could have warm showers. They didn’t want all the hot water being used up. Oh…and speaking about showers…because we were in a boys hostel, there was only one bathroom for men and women to use. Now I thought Kokopelli was close,(like everyone having to change in the same room or something) but holy Mascato is much closer. I saw way too many male parts while I was just innocently trying to brush my teeth! Hahahahaha…those boys are very proud of their bodies!
Alrighty… so Friday, we had four performances at the Expo. I had to miss one of them though to go across town to the College for the Arts. I was accompanying Linus’ choir (the Swakop Secondary High School) in a competition that was going on. I believe the winner of the competition gets to go to Johannesburg to do a competition there.
That was really neat there…they performed really well. They were a little nervous at the beginning but really opened up by the end. It was great! They were first and then there was only one other choir competing against them. I was going to leave right after we finished so I wouldn’t miss all of Mascato’s performance but their accompanist asked me to page turn for him so we stayed to listen instead. I believe it was another high school from Swakopmund as well. They were really good but a little shouty at times. I left quickly after they finished singing and made it back to Mascato’s performance just in time for the last few songs. I found out later on that both choirs ended up tying for second place (which means neither will go to Jo-burg!)
We finished up at the expo and headed back to the hostel. A few of us went to KFC though before bed…it’s nice to know that the Colonels recipe is pretty much the exact same all across the world! Haha…I had Sprinkle Pops (which are the same as popcorn chicken at home) Very yummy!
The next morning was great… we slept in till 6:30. blech...we had to be at the Expo by 9. We did four more performances yesterday in the hot hot hot sun. My face kinda looks like a tomato today. Afro Shine also got to perform. They are fantastic! They made up a new version of Sweet Spirit…I told them they absolutely have to sing it for Kokopelli when you guys come! You will die! It was incredible!!
We also saw Ponti’s drumming group, Ongoma. They were really great and fun to watch. You can tell they are all so into it! It was really nice to get to see Ponti again (and hear him! He sings in the group as well!!)

So, these past few days have been really fun…and have helped me learn more music, meet more members of the choir, and get a little better at Afrikaans. I also learned that in Damara a word can have a completely different meaning if you have a different tone on your click. I may or may not have sworn at a bunch of members in choir. Haha oops.

Well…my hands are getting tired from typing so I think I’m gonna go!

Only 29 days till you guys are in Swakop! YAY