Forward: I prepared this post Sunday pm. But our internet has been down for a week, so the events in the blog end Sunday.
Whew! What a day! After two days of bed rest, I am finally able to be up and about. I had a great day until I decided to do my laundry… So, please, kiss your washing machines for me, because that was the most laborious activity I’ve done so far. To those of you that got a kick out of the image of me hoeing earth, imagine once more: me bent over three buckets scrubbing t-shirts for three hours. Furthermore, imagine my disappointment as I made my way back from dinner only to find seven or eight articles of clothing blown off the laundry line, posing in the mud. I don’t know if I really got all the soap out of my shirts and some of my white tees are definitely browner than they were before I started, but c’est la vie of an African woman. Geez, I don’t know how they do it, and have five or six babies. But it did feel good to be active after two days of an upset stomach and a fever, which I believe I contracted through salmonella due to the pig slaughtering that occurred Thursday night. Wha?? Don’t worry... I’ll come full circle.
I apologize for my lack of diligent effort to update this blog more often, but I’ve been wrapped up in adjusting to life out here. Since I last updated, a few exciting events have transpired, mainly the arrivals of our two Swedish interns, Elleonor and Cait, our English teacher, Kelsey (from Wisconsin- great Midwestern accent), and Jessica, our six-week volunteer from Washington/Hawaii. Plus, Ashley returned last weekend from her trip to Zanzibar, so we’re a full house. It kind of feels like we’re counselors in summer camp, especially when we eat in the “mess hall” with the girls.
We’ve spent the past week trying to make enough time with the girls, learn Swahili, and tend to the livestock (yea, right). I’ve been busy planning the academic schedule for the interns: assigning articles, conducting literature discussions, supervisions, etc, but we’ve still have a surprising amount of free time during the day. The girls are in school all day and when they get home, there’s very little time to play before dinner and then bed. But, we spent Tuesday and Wednesday at their school observing classes. It was a total mess. There are barely enough teachers, and the teachers barely know the material. The “English” teachers can’t speak English, and are thus teaching the kids completely useless lessons. We guest taught in one class, Form 7: the highest grade, and they were supposed to be learning prepositions that day. However, they couldn’t even say “my name is…” or “I am … years old.” It was so sad. Luckily, Kelsey jumped right in (I’m like.. “uhh, what is a preposition?”) and taught a great lesson. Thank goodness our girls are starting school with her tomorrow. But, I couldn’t complain about being around so many cute kids! On the second day, as Jackie and I approached the school, fifty little bodies started sprinting down the hill to grab our hands and lead us to their classrooms. So fun.
On Thursday, Jackie and I finally unpacked and decorated our room. Since we can’t nail into the wall, we resorted to using the nails in the molding to hang kongas by thread. Confused? Well, it worked. We have konga tapestries on the wall and we hung up some paintings I bought in town the other day. We moved the creepy baby crib that has been sitting in our room (and that totally freaked us out one night as it randomly started to play creepy music) to the creepy attic and the piles of left-behind donations from visitors past. It looks fabulous- very colorful.
Also, we slaughtered a pig. Well, not “we” as I certainly took no part in that, but I watched, and it was actually not as gross as I had predicted. It didn’t become gross until the pig parts sat in our kitchen for 24 hours and started to stink. The girls made sausages, and one girl played with me afterward. It was after she touched my food and my markers (yes, I was coloring) that I realized that she hadn’t washed her hands—so I assume that’s why I got sick. Regardless, the pig made for a great party with all the staff and their families. I got to play with some cute babies- always a plus.
My Swahili has been coming along really well. I’ve been meeting with Dada Rachel as often as possible and I spend a few hours a day conversing with her and learning new vocabulary. I also spend that time sneakily asking her personal questions- I’m trying to figure out how conservative or open-minded people are in this area. We’ve had some interesting discussions about sex, HIV/AIDS, education, and homosexuality, all of which have proven her to be extremely open and well educated. I absolutely adore her.
Lastly, we went to church today, which I always enjoy since the girls sing for everyone. But, after the pleasantries and the donations, four women volunteered to have evil spirits excised from their bodies. It was the most unpleasant and shocking thing I had ever seen- like black magic or something. I actually started crying. One woman felt the spirits and began seizing on the ground and all four ministers stood over her shouting and strapping down her legs and arms. I couldn’t watch the rest, but I hope I don’t have to see that again for a while.
Some closing thoughts:
- One of the stinking Mastiffs ate one of my new shoes, so they are NOT allowed in our room ever again.
- We went to town, and a gentleman exposed his genitals to us at the gas station. Super gross.
- I love tea now. To those of you that know me well, you know that’s a big change.
- The girls call me Jasmini. Or Jas.
- I have befriended one of the cutest (baby-cute) of the little boys in the village- William. He is so so cute, couldn’t be older than two and a half, and lets me hold him every week in church.
- In town, I bought a bunch of Michael Jackson kongas- or cloths. Peter- this is one of your presents. Jackie got an entire dress made out of the fabric, so, needless to say, we are planning an MJ dance party with the girls. Duh.
- After four and a half years of vegetarianism, the sweet flavors of meat have proven to be so satisfying. It’s been a lovely transition.
- Every Friday, we have staff movie night, or rather, we watch the show 24 (not a fan). But the other night, we introduced some staff to “Stomp the Yard”. Ehh, I’m still trying to figure out if the film offended their culture…
- That’s all for now. My computer is dying.
Love, Jasmini
I apologize for my lack of diligent effort to update this blog more often, but I’ve been wrapped up in adjusting to life out here. Since I last updated, a few exciting events have transpired, mainly the arrivals of our two Swedish interns, Elleonor and Cait, our English teacher, Kelsey (from Wisconsin- great Midwestern accent), and Jessica, our six-week volunteer from Washington/Hawaii. Plus, Ashley returned last weekend from her trip to Zanzibar, so we’re a full house. It kind of feels like we’re counselors in summer camp, especially when we eat in the “mess hall” with the girls.
We’ve spent the past week trying to make enough time with the girls, learn Swahili, and tend to the livestock (yea, right). I’ve been busy planning the academic schedule for the interns: assigning articles, conducting literature discussions, supervisions, etc, but we’ve still have a surprising amount of free time during the day. The girls are in school all day and when they get home, there’s very little time to play before dinner and then bed. But, we spent Tuesday and Wednesday at their school observing classes. It was a total mess. There are barely enough teachers, and the teachers barely know the material. The “English” teachers can’t speak English, and are thus teaching the kids completely useless lessons. We guest taught in one class, Form 7: the highest grade, and they were supposed to be learning prepositions that day. However, they couldn’t even say “my name is…” or “I am … years old.” It was so sad. Luckily, Kelsey jumped right in (I’m like.. “uhh, what is a preposition?”) and taught a great lesson. Thank goodness our girls are starting school with her tomorrow. But, I couldn’t complain about being around so many cute kids! On the second day, as Jackie and I approached the school, fifty little bodies started sprinting down the hill to grab our hands and lead us to their classrooms. So fun.
On Thursday, Jackie and I finally unpacked and decorated our room. Since we can’t nail into the wall, we resorted to using the nails in the molding to hang kongas by thread. Confused? Well, it worked. We have konga tapestries on the wall and we hung up some paintings I bought in town the other day. We moved the creepy baby crib that has been sitting in our room (and that totally freaked us out one night as it randomly started to play creepy music) to the creepy attic and the piles of left-behind donations from visitors past. It looks fabulous- very colorful.
Also, we slaughtered a pig. Well, not “we” as I certainly took no part in that, but I watched, and it was actually not as gross as I had predicted. It didn’t become gross until the pig parts sat in our kitchen for 24 hours and started to stink. The girls made sausages, and one girl played with me afterward. It was after she touched my food and my markers (yes, I was coloring) that I realized that she hadn’t washed her hands—so I assume that’s why I got sick. Regardless, the pig made for a great party with all the staff and their families. I got to play with some cute babies- always a plus.
My Swahili has been coming along really well. I’ve been meeting with Dada Rachel as often as possible and I spend a few hours a day conversing with her and learning new vocabulary. I also spend that time sneakily asking her personal questions- I’m trying to figure out how conservative or open-minded people are in this area. We’ve had some interesting discussions about sex, HIV/AIDS, education, and homosexuality, all of which have proven her to be extremely open and well educated. I absolutely adore her.
Lastly, we went to church today, which I always enjoy since the girls sing for everyone. But, after the pleasantries and the donations, four women volunteered to have evil spirits excised from their bodies. It was the most unpleasant and shocking thing I had ever seen- like black magic or something. I actually started crying. One woman felt the spirits and began seizing on the ground and all four ministers stood over her shouting and strapping down her legs and arms. I couldn’t watch the rest, but I hope I don’t have to see that again for a while.
Some closing thoughts:
- One of the stinking Mastiffs ate one of my new shoes, so they are NOT allowed in our room ever again.
- We went to town, and a gentleman exposed his genitals to us at the gas station. Super gross.
- I love tea now. To those of you that know me well, you know that’s a big change.
- The girls call me Jasmini. Or Jas.
- I have befriended one of the cutest (baby-cute) of the little boys in the village- William. He is so so cute, couldn’t be older than two and a half, and lets me hold him every week in church.
- In town, I bought a bunch of Michael Jackson kongas- or cloths. Peter- this is one of your presents. Jackie got an entire dress made out of the fabric, so, needless to say, we are planning an MJ dance party with the girls. Duh.
- After four and a half years of vegetarianism, the sweet flavors of meat have proven to be so satisfying. It’s been a lovely transition.
- Every Friday, we have staff movie night, or rather, we watch the show 24 (not a fan). But the other night, we introduced some staff to “Stomp the Yard”. Ehh, I’m still trying to figure out if the film offended their culture…
- That’s all for now. My computer is dying.
Love, Jasmini
