Good Morning!

“Wa lele po meme/tate?” “Nawa tuu?” [Direct translation: Have you laid down, mother/father? Rather well?] I hear these words and speak them about 20 times each day. If you know your interlocutor well, the greetings will go far beyond the aforementioned two phrases and will many times include, “Opo ou li?” and “Ou li nawa?” [Direct translation: You are there? You are well?]. Since learning this lingo during language training in Okahandja, I scarcely go a day without uttering these words and it’s safe to say I will never get used to it!

In America, we can so easily walk past someone without saying a word, but that act in Namibia is surprising disrespectful. Some regard greeting someone as acknowledging their presence, so walking by without saying hello essentially means you don’t see them as a person. It’s a totally different dynamic and one that is particularly difficult for someone like me (who goes out of his way to avoid empty conversation) to live in accordance with. But no matter how uncomfortable greeting makes me, I put a smile on my face and chant those magic words each morning. Why? Well, because I’d hate to not acknowledge someone as a person, but also because I recognize the clear link between greeting and community here.

Community means something entirely different in Namibia. If you live in a village and interact appropriately with everyone in the village, you are essentially family members. That’s why every woman is “meme” [mother] and every man is “tate” [father]. Not greeting would mean you are not part of the community and hence not part of the family, making you an outcast. And no one wants to be an outcast, so we greet and greet and greet and greet.

That’s just life in Namibia…
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