July 16th: Kapana at the Single Quarter

July 16th, 2011

Today we drove out to the Single Quarter. The Single Quarter is what many in the States would refer to as a ghetto. Oddly enough it is also what the locals here in Namibia refer to as the ghetto. Another startling coincidence is that, just like in the States, people here hate having their pictures taken by dumb, white Americans. Who knew? 

The best way to imagine what driving through the Single Quarter is like is to imagine yourself as Kevin Flynn, and instead of being sucked into a world of grids and wicked crazy light bike races, you are sucked into one of those commercials where the silver-tongued fox of a man is trying to coerce you into donating "just 25 cents a day".

We made two noteworthy stops in the Single Quarter. First was Penduka. A while back all of the women of the Single Quarter gathered together to brainstorm ways to bring more money into their community. What they ultimately developed was Penduka. Penduka is a small development of houses and shops where the woman of the Single Quarter sell different crafts that they have made. Pillowcases, quilts, dolls, trinkets, are just some of the items the women of the Single Quarter have created, and sell at Penduka. What is really great about this place is that the items being sold in Penduka are beautiful! The pillowcases in particular are worth the trip alone.

The second stop was at the Kapana grill. Kapana is either a type of meat or the style in which one cooks meat. I can't seem to get a straight translation It may have something to do with me not being able to speak a lick of Afrikaans or Oshiwambo. The Kapana is cooked at a large outdoor market. At the end of this market is a long series of grills with hundreds of people gathering around chatting, eating, and laughing.

Our driver walks us to the front of one of these lines and I see a thin man chopping slivers of beef off of a 50 pound raw carcass. Another man gathers the slices of raw beef and tosses them onto the grill. Once the cook believes the beef is done, he tosses it to the side and our escort tells us to eat away. He instructs us to grab whichever slice we like, dab it in a dirty cardboard box full of salt, and then into an even dirtier cardboard box full of Cayenne pepper. 

Simply put it was easily one of the most gruesome dinners I have ever seen, and simultaneously one of the most delicious dinners I have ever had. After filling ourselves with this "unsanitary" meal, we ventured through the market of juicy fruit, fresh peppers, and dried caterpillars. After a few minutes of shopping our driver seemed to be getting rather eager and asked us if we could go now. We later learned that our driver is not a Namibian and must have been rather turned off by the idea of being in the ghetto for so long.

 It is eye opening to see the way these people are living, and how happily they are doing so. The streets are lined with smiles and friendly greetings. Every other shop is either a bar or a car wash. An odd combination I know, but they seem to make it work. Every other yard seems to be filled with jubilant kids playing with friends, chickens or both. 

I wanted to get some pictures of how happy these kids were, but unfortunately every picture I seem to have been off by just a fraction of a second. Just enough time to give a total different impression of how life in the Single Quarter is lived. I took about 30 pictures, and after about the 25th picture I was finally able to get what I was looking for. A picture which captured what I saw. Children smiling, joking, and enjoying a beautiful sunny day.