Week One

Trip Highlights (If that is what you call them):
1. I got my first mosquito bite so I now probably have malaria.
2. Any thoughts I ever had of teaching are LONG gone.
3. Dad to answer your question about the air conditioning, I guess I can say that we are thankful when our electricity works which is about half the time.
4. I now have a new name, Muzungu, which means foreigner or white person. As we walk down the street everyone just calls out Muzungu.
5. I can now take pills without having to break them in half.
6. A couple of us laid in the sun today with a machete to our left and a pig running around to our right.

So far the past four days have been more of an adventure than you could ever imagine. I am teaching English and math to a class of about 20 kids that range in age from 2 to 6. The kids sit in plastic chairs, similar to our cheap lawn chairs, and there are only about 12 chairs so the kids fight and hit each other to get a chair. They have no desks so instead they put their papers on a bench that is in front of their chairs. All of the children can count to 20 in order but when you point to a number and ask what it is they don't understand. They know the alphabet but only when it is in order. The teaching isn't going well for me at all but I am good at the break time. I have been taking bubbles for the children and they love them. But they eventually get bored and decide that it would be more fun to dump dirt into my shoes. I am currently trying to learn the names of the students and it is alittle difficult because they all look alike. They all have buzzed hair and uniforms that they wear everyday, I am pretty sure they each only own one uniform that they wear everyday. Some of the kids are really sweet but some of them not so much. They kick and hit each other a lot and all the teacher says is stop which does not seem to work. Most of the children here really want to hold your hand and hang all over you, which grosses me out since they use their hand to wipe when they go to the restroom. Everyday when we get back from placement we all share stories and there are some really good ones. One of the volunteers is teaching at prison and one of his students dad works as a guard there and over the weekend he shot a monkey; it was all of the prison gossip. Another volunteer DJ was teaching in his classroom the other day when a chicken just walked in through the door. He said the students just sat there as if it was no big deal while he tried to get the chicken out. Kandice was walking to her placement and on the way she passed a machete sitting in the middle of the road as all the children walked by. Apparently leaving machetes around is just a common thing.

This weekend we are taking a hike through the rainforest to a coffee plantation and some waterfalls, which should be fun. But the following weekend we have planned a three day safari. We got a really great itenerary which includes a sunrise and sunset game drive so I am really excited. I am safe and taking care of myself. Miss you all!