I decided to go to the bakery today to get bread as it’s a little closer than OK. Now I just want to punch my face. They have this great selection of fresh breads: hoagie buns, peasant rolls, dinner rolls, buns, cinnamon rolls. I’m just sad. I guess there’s always next time and at least I had a delicious tuna sandwich today.
So it appears that I’ll be in Opuwo for a few more days than previously thought. I’ll be leaving on Tuesday of next week. This is good as I won’t have to spend as much time Windhoek. I’ll find some things to write about between now and then.
I was riding my bike through Opuwo today on the way back from OK and dodge this crazed goat. He had this look in his eye and luckily my brakes were sufficient. Unlucky for the goat, he ran in front of me and right into the front of on-coming traffic. Sammy the taxi driver gave him a nice wack, but miraculously the goat ran off…i think. Normal day in Opuwo though.
Gotta pee? Just go man…just go. In Opuwo it’s fine to just stop on the side of the road and go for it….in the middle of town. This may not be legal but there certainly isn’t any enforcement. 
Fun little fact.
Clearly no one had any guesses for my earlier post regarding how much time I have left….except my wise acre brother…so I thought I’d give it away. This week is officially my final week of work in Opuwo. Yep…that was fast. Granted, I won’t be leaving the African continent for another month, but this will be the last week in Opuwo. It’s a bittersweet feeling as most moves are in life. I’ve enjoyed the people, the climate, the daily interactions, the work, the fun, the relaxing, the sports and most of all the simplicity of life here. I can honestly say that I am sad to go, but I have much more to do in my life that would not be possible if I stayed here. I hope that it retains it’s small town charm and ambiance, but like everything it will change. I feel fortunate to have experienced it as it is today in 2008. No definites, but I’d like to return to Opuwo.
The time changed this weekend by moving an hour ahead so the result is that it is now a 6 hour time difference between Eastern Standard Time and Opuwo time. Plan accordingly.
I can’t disclose too much information, images or videos, but let’s just say I got to go on a little helicopter ride today. This was awesome. Thank you to the guys who set this up.
Self Explanatory
It’s 6am and I’ve been awoken by lovely Otjiherero music pervading my room. I’m going to fight someone. If you are unaware of what type of music this is consider yourself blessed and don’t go looking for it.
Someone turned on the dusty, windy and hot and forgot to ask me if this was ok. The past few days we have been without blue skies due to what apparently is pretty much just dust and hot. You’d think the windy would help with this, but I think it is the cause. My plan…leave the windy and turn off the dusty and hot? I think this makes perfect sense. Below is a picture of yesterday’s sunset. The sun disappeared before it dropped below the horizon and no, these are not clouds of moisture…these are clouds of pure evil.
This was no ordinary tractor though. Head over to http://www.tractortractor.org/ and check it out. I think I’m going to try to find this lady after work as I think she might have a story or two to tell…at least I’ll try to get a picture with her or something.
Click the Photo to Enter the Album: 2008.8.31 – Opuwo Sunday Bike Ride
Headed east of Opuwo and decided to just go off the road. This ended up being an excellent idea. I stumbled upon a Himba village…oops. They were nice though and told me which path to take to get back to Opuwo…this path was great fun. I’m convinced that someone here needs to start offering mountain biking trips.
That’s right folks. At the junction of C41 and C43 there is a telephone pole down for some repairs. Watch out for those big trucks with high clearance requirements as you can expect some delays. Sure…you could always just drive through the market and go around the OK, but what fun would that be? Actually…probably a lot of fun. Goats for sale, second hand Superbowl 89 tshirts (I wish), beer drinking, the Opuwo termite mound. Forget this blog..i’m going to the market today.
Click the Photo to Enter the Album: 2008.8.30 – Opuwo On The Hill
Opuwo bread does not have preservatives. What does this mean? Day one…this is the best bread you’ve ever had, it’s warm, soft and tasty. Day two…still pretty darn good. Day three…marginally edible. Day four…didn’t I buy bread because this has a slight taste of terrible and dry. Day five…I have created a science experiment. Day six…I think I have something living in my kitchen that comes out only at night. Day seven…this is a scary day indeed that will not be talked about…please avoid if possible.
A NY Times article here talks about Opuwo. This is where I live and work and may provide an alternative and perhaps socially more reputable point of view. But I ask you, what is more reputable that my point of view exactly?
That’s right. If you feel that you want something to magically disappear all you have to do is put it outside. Shirt, shoes, pans, bikes…whatever…just put it outside. This is the secret code message for please take me away as fast as possible for the owner clearly does not want me anymore. I’m pretty fortunate in this area…for the only thing I have had taken was a tupperware bin. Ed had his bike taken. Richard and Mark had their shoes taken. One advantage…don’t want something that has been sitting in your fridge for weeks, but might be edible? Put it outside.
Apparently it’s that time of year in Opuwo where things start to get warmer…mark it on your calendars. Clouds have returned for an almost daily appearance since last Friday. Personally, I kind of liked the cold nights, warm days and cloudlessness that was my Opuwo. It’s even a little warm in my place as I write this around 11pm…sure, I could open a window, but that would be too easy.
