The George Michael post

My last day in Windhoek was spent looking around the room for receipts, toiletries, socks, etc. When that was sorted, I set off to find souvenirs for my loved ones, which wasn't anywhere near as easy as I expected.

Namibia's tourism industry is visible everywhere. Windhoek alone has 400 travel agencies. And most of them seem to be offering first hand experiences with the "big five." I don't have any desire to have these experiences. I've already seen "Out of Africa" twice.

I also didn't have any interest in bringing home lacquered ostrich eggs, giraffe figurines, elephant tusk earrings, etc. Americans already have a colonial view of Africa: Bushman in loincloths, spears in hand, racing alongside cheetahs. I'm certain that some of that exists, but I never encountered it. Animal replicas wouldn't have been souvenirs.

Next time, if there is one, I'll find another way to contribute to the local economy.

Derek, speaker of at least 4 languages, health worker and a driver for the organization, picked me up at 12:30pm to take me to the airport. It's a 25-minute trip, with nothing but "lodge" signs every few miles.

Derek is an aficionado of pop music. Earlier in the week he praised me for appreciating Stevie Wonder, instead of the usual "country music" that our other "American colleagues prefer." I told him that it was easy to love Stevie. He agreed, but still lamented the disregard for great artists like George Benson (!???!).

Speaking of great artists, George Michael came on the radio during our ride. He turned it up a bit, and then I turned it up a bit more. During our head-bopping session, he said that George was great, but that it was too bad about the "other stuff." I played coy.

"What other stuff?"

"You know...He's half man and half woman."

I laughed loudly, for his benefit. Then we had a short conversation about being gay. Without divulging anything, I told him that London (where I was heading) and NYC (where i'd be in a few days) was full of gay people. That it was completely normal to be gay---complete honesty wouldn't have helped anyone. In what felt like a defensive statement, he explained that the president had made clear that Namibians should never accept these disgusting people. That half-men/half-women were wrong.

I told him that I was sorry to hear that because, as he knows, all of our HIV/AIDS work depends upon reducing stigma. If gay men and women felt persecuted, they'd never seek care and treatment. And they'd be more likely to engage in risky practices (e.g. unprotected sex and unsafe drug use). Never mind all of the people who'd continue leading double lives.

He seemed to agree with it all. But he made it a point to remind me of what the president said.

He also wondered what became of George's other half---the other guy in Wham! I told him that he married one of the women from Bananarama, but not the one who went on to have success with Shakespear's Sister (last "e" is purposefully omitted), the group named after The Smiths song of the same name, written by Morrissey (gay), and inspired by Virginia Woolf's (practically gay) "A Room of One's Own."