Little Ramblings

Greetings Everyone:

I do not have much to report on from last week. My weekend consisted of sitting around the pool with my new friends and roommates, drinking lots of tea and coffee, filling out grad school applications, reading, and taking long naps in the sun. The weather here is absolutely gorgeous and we're slowly tilting our way to summer on this end!

I'm working away on grad applications for schools in New York City, Wisconsin, and California. Quite the mix of locations, but I'd be happy in pretty much any program.

Its nerve racking though making these kind of plans due to GRE, finding funding, and thinking about forming committees . But the professors I've been contacting are all VERY interested in my research and background. I'm going to meet with a fellow friend/colleague Larkin Powell [UNL Fullbright Professor herein Namibia] this Friday at the craft center cafe to discuss my plans and gather insight into the process concerning essays and ect and talk about networking with our research projects.

There is a world of volunteer opportunities here in Windhoek and I'm working on plans to volunteer in Katutura and tutor and teach math or English. I'll be busy with surveys and other things, but this is something I really want to do. I'm meeting with a WWF friend/colleague Maxine tomorrow to finalize plans. I'm so excited for what awaits me.

The best part about traveling is learning more about yourself through all the interesting people and places you encounter -and a place like Katutura would be a wealth of opportunity for me to reflect even more. As stated earlier, I'm so fortunate to be able to stay in one place for a period of time and not just visit -but know people and places. My experiences alone in the communal lands with Chris, Larkin, and Uapii has been moving and I can only imagine what kids from Katutura can show me.

Other Details From Last Week:

Somehow I managed to eat at Joe's Beer House three times this week! On Monday, my roommates and I joined about 20 other people from Germany for a night out [lovely time and met so many great people], Wednesday we celebrated Peter's birthday after doing a few surveys out east, and Saturday Keith and I were both craving a nice big hardy meal.

The survey is off to a roaring success though. Peter informed me today in an email our group has already conducted well over 100 surveys in a week and a half on the commercial private lands. We're trying to finalize things soon on WWF's end so I can be out in the field in the coming two weeks interviewing farmers also. It seems at this point we're going to have more issues crunching data vs. finding interviewees.

Last Wed., we [Peter, Robin, and myself] did make it out to some farms east of Windhoek and north some and conducted a few interviews. It was a beautiful drive and I should never question anymore if its worth bringing the camera... this farm was stunning and the cactus gardens around the house were quite nice!

The farmers meeting we attended is what I dream of seeing back in the states. The neighbors were gathering to discuss conservancy issues -mainly how to handle poaching on this conservancy. The head of the Namibian Professional Hunters Association was also present and a conservancy member at this farm. The meetings are largely in German and Afrikaans, so its a trial by fire for me to learn these two languages quickly, but one can still follow along with emotions and certain words. I have the perfect situation to learn these two languages!

But imagine 22 individuals gathered outside on hand carved wooden chairs, with cigarette smoke filling the air, and homemade deserts, cookies, and coffee sitting on a table in the living room. German and Afrikaans fills the air and a group of birds sing in the avery sitting near the meeting. Surrounding you is amazing artwork ranging from paintings to carvings. And just beyond the yard you hear cattle grazing and coming in for water during the noon hour [which is normally a nap time here in Namibia and a future survey challenge]

One wouldn't have guessed that this house was a typical ranch house like back in the states given all wildlife artwork. I didn't see anything resembling cattle culture, though its still alive and well in this area.

Once I conduct a few more surveys and gather more perceptions on poaching and land reform, I'll blog about the issues I'm hearing about. It doesn't surprise me how poaching is a serious problem with the systems already in place and the linkages to land reform.

I'm also highly motivated now to learn German and Afrikaans for various reasons, but it would be nice to carry the basic conversation during surveys.

........

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

A.E. Price