Kayanga Characters

If my life in Kayanga were made into a TV show I am sure of which people would get the most air time. The best part is that these ridiculous and wonderful people who I have met here have become such a normal part of my life that the bizarre interactions and conversations don’t faze me anymore.

First we have Stephanus, he is the good village crazy (yes, there is a bad one). He is also nicknamed "nam water" because he is constantly fetching water for anyone that will give him 2 Namibian dollars  that he then can go spend on traditional beer. He will come visit me to say hi, talk about something random, not let me speak, and walk away while screaming "you are my sister, Jackie. You are my family, we are Mbukushu!" Then once he is gone I can go back to what I was doing 20 minutes before he barged in. He can also be extremely helpful; offering to weed my yard to keep the snakes away, helping me fix my reed fence because goats are always scratching themselves against it or parading through, and on a couple occasions coming over just to demand I eat the cow tongue he is offering me or try to sell me "piggy meat". He walks around the village like he is a military Sargent, yelling random orders at people so you would think he was very angry, even the way he yells my name sounds like he is furious with me, but that is just how his voice is.

Another well known Kayangian is my host grandmother, Letesia. I knew when I first met her several months ago when I first got to my site, that would get along. It's sort of impossible for me to ever converse with her because her Thimbukushu is so old school/traditional that I can't grasp it. At any point in the day you will see her sitting under her tree, which can only be known as Letesia's Tree, sometimes selling the traditional beer or the occasional cow meat, but most times just sitting with chickens all around her. She will do random activities like swat bushes or rake the same spot over and over again. If I get bored I go and sit with her and she doesn't mind that we never talk much.

Entertainment is hard to come by. I get to spend countless hours hanging around the local shop after work while I sip a cool drink and people laugh at my Thimbukushu or even I just sit there and listen to their banter that I understand only 30% of. If I get tired of that I go and play with the group of kids always lingering around the shop. We play with the soccer ball they made out of plastic bags and a mere elastic band. Things are pretty simple here.

Letisia, at her tree obviously