We arrived in Mariental on Friday only to find out that the National Braai Competition was going on. That is so perfect for our time here, as Mariental is a center of meat production and consumption. Farmer organizations from around the country descended on the municipal sports field Friday night to set up their stalls. Many of them were quite elaborately decorated in some kind of African theme. Early Saturday morning, each team was given specific ingredients to create a main dish, two sides, and a dessert. This was a real boere dag (white farmer day), and felt much like a country fair in the US Midwest with live country western music, farm machinery demonstrations, and fair type food. We went over in the early morning and then later in the day when the event was just getting its’ second wind, winding up for the steak braai and langarm dance. We skipped the evening event for obvious reasons – Russ doesn’t dance and we have eaten way too much meat in the past two weeks. We walked back to the house, had a salad, and watched satellite television in an air-conditioned room.
We stayed with my friends Marita and Radie and had our own braii of springbok fillets and lamb chops Friday night. They left on Saturday afternoon to go to Cape Town, but left us more meat (cooked and uncooked) to last us a month (we only stayed four days). We were happy to house sit for them and feed their cat, dog, and bird. It also gave us a great opportunity to visit more friends.
We met some people at the braai competition and others at the supermarket. But there are a lot of people that I don’t recognize anymore. We spent time with my former co-worker Paul and his wife Petronella, and met their one-year-old Olivia. Paul is such a good dad, and was always my go-to reference for politics, sports, and news. It was great to catch up.
Before Marita left, we had time to drink copious cups of tea. She is one who introduced me to putting sweetened condensed milk in my tea many years ago, which was aa real treat. She must have a dozen tins in her pantry. She filled me in on a lot of the news about town, but also broke the news that our friends Zack and Elaine’s son died a few weeks ago. Having seen them at the beginning of our trip in Bloemfontein, we were stunned at the news and totally saddened.
A warm wind stirred up the sand over the weekend and we were quickly reminded of why the Nama name for Mariental is “dusty faces”. It was not long before my allergies kicked in (they seem worse then I remember). The air temperature was pleasantly warm, but the sun remained quite intense, a signature feature in southern Namibia. Even in wintertime, the sun can often be too much.
There are new buildings and others falling apart. There must be at least a dozen new guesthouses and restaurants just in town, and many more in the surrounding area. Still not sure what the big attraction is, but it sounds like the Kalahari side of the desert is experiencing a tourism boom.
The Women and Child Protection Unit that I helped start is no longer in the same location, but still operating, so that's good. The Bridge, a long-standing German NGO affiliated with the prison, recently closed. There is a brand new HIV center and human rights office. There are two new funeral parlors and a coffin shop, so that says something. And there are three volunteers here - at one time they had six!
Our time has been low-key in Mariental, not so different from when I lived here. Things seem to move slowly, and that’s ok.
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