I think I ate spaghetti in ketchup for dinner last night.Haha :/My mom had found this package that said tomato sauce at the grocery store.She used that and tried to make spaghetti sauce without half of her normal ingredients last night.I was excited to not eat meet for a night, but I think we determined it tasted more like ketchup with vegetables in it.LolMost of the people here say tomato sauce instead of ketchup…she didn't realize.Haha It was a good try though!

We went to Okahandja today!Hopson's friend Naita was going to take us so he left us her phone number, but when we called yesterday, Naita and her one year old were in the hospital with pneumonia.Even when she was sick, she called someone else and they offered to take us.So, Mandela picked us up this morning around 10am.

Mandela owns his own company selling cement and other construction equipment in many African countries.He spoke 5 languages when he started: Portuguese (because he is Angolan), English, French, Dutch, and German.Now he can also speak Spanish, Afrikaans, and some other tribal languages.My mom and Mandela discussed the economy and the differences between Angola, Namibia, and America the whole way there, which is about an hour drive and on the way back.Mandela's father was one of the first commercial pilots in Angola, but became a pilot for the Angolan government during their civil war and was killed in action when Mandela was little. Because of his father and his love of traveling (he travels a lot for his current job as well), he dreams of becoming a pilot.He is hoping to convince his wife to go to America with him for 16 months so that he can go to pilot school.Apparently, America has the cheapest and best pilot schools.Mandela was just in America for Obama's inauguration.When we asked him if he went to the aeronautics museum or any of the other places in DC, he said it was too cold to leave the house.He basically only left to go to the inauguration.HahaHowever, he did spend time touring in NYC, Philly, and New Jersey as well.Angola is Africa's major exporter of oil and he is extremely proud of his country.However, the standard of living is unrealistically high in most parts of Angola…many houses costing millions of US dollars and all they have are 3 bedrooms and a bathroom.However, they pay nothing for their oil.Mandela was extremely nice and helpful during our trip to Okahandja.

First we stopped in the street markets.The market is basically 3 rows of tents set up along the street with nothing else, but a coffee shop and a shell petrol station in sight.LolI am not good at bartering…I'm too scared of ripping them off.HahaAnd apparently we went on the right day, because all of them kept saying that they would give me a special Sunday price.I'm thinking that if I went on Tuesday it would've been a special Tuesday price.LolVery few of them had calculators to name their prices like the venders in China.Most of them had a special piece of wood that wrote on their skin.

Most of the tents have the same type of goods…bowls, miniature wood animals, tribal masks, jewelry, and stone carvings.A few had drums, tables, and wooden carvings to hang on the wall.One tent even had wooden canoes.Unfortunately, I let on that I was looking for a pair of giraffes like I saw in Daan Voljoen…for the next 20 minutes every vender in the market must have brought their giraffes to me.I gave up looking for it there, because it became too overwhelming.I think I'll have to get it at the Windhoek market.It was fun, but I spent a little too much money.O well…I guess it's not too much if you think about it in US dollars and I don't think I'll be back in Africa for awhile.

Afterwards, we went to Gross Barmen where there are natural hot springs.It is still in Okahandja.I think it was the first time since I've been here that my entire body was warm!!! It was so nice.The water was about 35 degrees Celsius.It felt like I was swimming in a hot tub.LolThey also had an outdoor pool to cool off, but I couldn't bring myself to get out.It was in the mid 70's (F) here today, which was really nice!I think probably the warmest since we've been here…of course we had to go to Gross Barmen on the warmest day.LolI also got to take a hot shower there AND I didn't have to hold the shower head…another plus of Gross Barmen.

We ate a late lunch there, but had not brought anything for Mandela so my mom offered to buy him lunch.He asked for two hot dogs thinking that my mom would eat one too.When they came, he didn't want the second one and neither did my mom, so my sandwich got taken away for my mom to eat and I ate half of the second hot dog.You'd think that with a German influence they would have better hot dogs…one bite made me sick to my stomach.That was the first time I've felt sick since I've been here.We relaxed there for about an hour and a half and then Mandela drove us home.His wife started to call him every 30 minutes…haha.

It's about 6 pm now…I'm still trying to settle my stomach.We will probably relax the rest of the night.I miss everyone at home!Have a good week!

Love,

Shannon