Joe's BeerHouse and MaryBeth

After all this time I’ve spent with Marybeth, I realized I haven’t given her a proper introduction! I also realized I haven’t written about Joe’s Beerhouse, so here’s a longer-than-intended update on these two Windhoek institutions.

First: How I met Marybeth. My first weekend in Windhoek was a fairly quiet one, and I was very excited when I heard an American accent in the common room Sunday afternoon. I introduced myself to Jim (I actually don’t remember his name, but think it might be Jim so that’s what I’m going to call him), a middle-aged man originally from Boston but currently working in Indonesia. He was in Windhoek on business and pleasure, a meeting for one day and a safari to Soussevlei for three. When he was doing some research before his trip, he read about Marybeth’s charity work online. Impressed with all she was doing in Katutura, the old apartheid neighborhood north of the city, Jim contacted her to see what type of help she needed. His company donated a bunch of soccer equipment to her community center, and he had plans to meet her and some of her interns for dinner at Joe’s Beerhouse that night. Thinking it’d be fun for me to meet some other “young kids” and Marybeth, Jim invited me along. I was thrilled – at this point, I was still afraid of the stove in the kitchen, so the prospect of eating something other than the yogurt and raisins made me very happy.

At dinner, I was absolutely blown away by Marybeth. Marybeth has been working in Katutura for the past three years. At her center, she does education programs for special needs children in the morning, has after-school programs for kids in the afternoon, and coaches or referees community sport teams on the weekend. She also seems to be in contact with every soup kitchen and charity organization in the city, know everyone in Katutura, and never stop working. She’s been doing international charity work for most of her life – before coming to Windhoek, she spent several years in Bangladesh and El Salvador doing similar work in humanitarian aid and community-building initiatives.

Though my “needs” do not compare to those she spends here days with, Marybeth has been a tremendous help to me since I arrived, researching potential apartments and even driving me to another hostel that had a cheaper rate than what I was paying at Puccini House. When I mentioned I didn’t pack many warm clothes, she picked out several second-hand sweaters for me to use while I’m here. She invited me out to dinner the following Sunday, and took me up on my offer to lend a hand at her center on the weekends. She’s an extremely passionate, generous, and hard-working woman – I feel incredibly lucky to know her.

Second: About Joe’s Beerhouse. Joe’s is a heavily advertised restaurant / tourist destination in Windhoek. They specialize in game meat and good beer. It’s totally touristy but worth going. The first time I went, I had a springbok (type of deer) kebab, the second time I was a bit braver, and tried the Bushman Sosastie (see picture). The Sosastie is a skewer with five different types of meat: chicken, kudu, zebra, crocodile, and ostrich. The kudu (another type of deer) was my favorite – the zebra was less flavorful and a little tough to chew, the crocodile had the taste of chicken but the texture of fish, and I think I was full by the time I got to the ostrich. Only the tourists order it, I’ve been told about twenty times since. The meals came with corn fritters (yum) and some veggies, and everything was washed down with some good Windhoek lager. Yum.

Food and beer aside, the décor and ambiance make the trip worth it even for locals. The place is huge, with several bars, a fish pool, tons of antlers and animals heads covering the walls, and even an outdoor fire pit to stay warm after dinner.