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“Edan” was a general name for a device too old for anyone to know it functions, so old that they were now just art.
I took my anklets off, except for two on each ankle. Enough to jingle with each step.
We prefer to explore the universe by traveling inward, as opposed to outward. No Himba has ever gone to Oomza Uni. So me being the only one on the ship was not that surprising. However, just because something isn’t surprising doesn’t mean it’s easy to deal with.
The people on the ship weren’t Himba, but I soon understood that they were still my people. I stood out as a Himba, but the commonalities shined brighter. I made friends quickly. And by the second week in space, they were good friends.
“Tribal”: that’s what they called humans from ethnic groups too remote and “uncivilized” to regularly send students to attend Oomza Uni.
Back home, we called people like Haifa eanda oruzo, but they weren’t so open about it. And we didn’t say “transition”, we said “align” and once they align, it was never mentioned again. Amongst the Himba, you “were what you knew you were once you knew what you were and that was that”, to quote my village’s chief Kapika.
My sacred fire will be this desert, I thought. It never stops burning, even at night the sand is warm beneath the surface. I can always come here when I need to. And my community will be my friends. Who else would come into the desert with me? That is love.
“When you face your deepest fears, when you are ready,” she’d said. “Don’t turn away. Stand tall, endure, face them. If you get through it, they will never harm you again.”
The three days passed, as time always does when you are alive, whether happy or tortured.
“I will wash this off soon,” it said. “It’s not good to feel this pleased with life.”
The gods are many things.
“Having curiosity is the only way to learn,”
“Don’t you know how to go with the flow yet?” she asked. “Adjust.” “I just didn’t think that . . .” “You saw the Night Masquerade,” she said. “That’s no small thing. Why expect what you expect?” Before I could answer, she said, “Come and sit down.”
When I should have reveled in this gift, instead, I’d seen myself as broken. But couldn’t you be broken and still bring change?
