Hujambo!

I have been a busy bee! I will try my best to recap the last 5 days :) Last Friday I had another volunteer come to my placement with me. Thank goodness!!!!! Instead of all of them on me, it was split between the both of us. I finally got peed on..haha.....I handled it pretty well considering....Helga, she is 4, was sooo embarrassed. Apparently I am only supposed to be assisting the teachers, but instead, they have given me the entire class, which is extremely frustrating to me. I am unable to communicate effectively to them, as I do not speak there language and have a hard time getting my point across. The teachers are not much help at all. I really want to have a talk with them and ask if they will split the day with me, but am feeling a bit intimidated. The sick children have not been to class for the last few days...let's hope that they have been taken to the doctor and are home resting. :) After placement on Friday, 10 of us left for a safari to Ngoro goro and Manyari park. It was absolutely amazing. We camped in an awesome area...even had showers and a pool. In each car we had a driver, a guide, and a cook. We were well taken care of! Friday night we went to to the Maasai village.....it was insanity how these people actually live. This particular village had about 8 huts, made of sticks and cow dung. The women sleep with the children on one side, and the man sleeps alone on the other side. Their baby cows also sleep in the huts with them. When I walked inside, I could hardly breathe. There is a corral in the middle of the village and cow pooh everywhere, with leads to the billions of flies. I was a bit disturbed as the children were infested, but I had to keep reminding myself that these people choose to live this way and know nothing else. I later met a guy who had left his village because he understood through his schooling that there was a better way to live, without disease and filth. He will never be aloud back to his village. After the Maasai village we went back to the campsite for an awesome dinner, wine, and a scary conversation with our guides. My guide, Joseph, was telling me his safari horror stories. I was extremely disturbed, which pushed me to be ridiculously paranoid.....only natural. The other guide, Abas, spoke about his childhood in a polygamist family. His mother was the 2nd wife and he absolutely hated it. It was very sad....couldn't help thinking about Big Love....I love that show! Saturday, we were in the crater all day long looking for the big 5. We managed to see them all except for the leopard. I can't wait to send pictures. INCREDIBLE!!! Nothing like the zoo..haha. After the safari we went back to camp, and again...ate great food, nice wine, and talked with Joseph about his relationships and how he deals with HIV/AIDS. He is 27 and will not even kiss someone randomly because that would eventually lead to sex, and the risk of HIV/AIDS is too high to even go there. They must be tested every 3 months for 9 months to know if they are infected. It was very interesting to hear his views on this subject. Sunday, we went to Mangora Park and saw more animals. I think our favorite was the giraffes...beautiful animals. On our way home on Sunday night, we managed to fit in a short camel ride....camels are gross animals..and very uncomfortable.

Monday, I went to placement and after my English lesson, one of the teachers came into the classroom and handed me a 6 month old baby....her name is Filbert :) The other teacher took over my class, so I then assumed that I would be babysitting for the day. I finally asked who she was...apparently one of the teachers' housekeepers quit, so she needs time to find another one. Thank goodness I am there. :) She is the cutest little girl! At 10am, one of the students brought me a cup of milk and a spoon....so I sucked it up...leaned her back, and spooned the breast milk in her mouth...I can't believe they don't have bottles!!!!! I then burped her and rocked her to sleep. I absolutely love babies!!!! I want to take her home with me! After class we had Swahili lesson, which I hate, and then had a talk about traditional healers and spirits with one our our staff members. They still believe in witchcraft here! It was insane to hear him talking about the witches flying around at night, with total belief!

Michele is having a rough time at her placement. One of her kids came to school without a pen, backpack or socks. The headmaster was very angry, so he completely embarrassed him in front of the other kids. The kid didn't have any money to buy these things, so after the headmaster embarrassed him, he gave him money to run to town to buy socks and a pen. It is so sad how they treat these children. If they are late, they all get whipped...many times, it is not even their fault. It is so frustrating.

Isaac, one of our local volunteers, who is 19, is adopting one of the orphans. He is an amazing human being....don't worry...I won't be bringing one home with me this time....you must live here for at least a year before adopting :)

Today was a rough day. I taught all morning and ran out of things to do. I can only teach in English for so long before the kids get ancy and annoyed. I did the hokie polie with them, which they loved, but they can't sing it with me. God forbid the teachers translate for me. I think I am going to have to make some changes. The teacher actually fell asleep in class yesterday while I was holding the baby..I couldn't believe it! After placement, Michele and I skipped out of our political discussion and went to Upendo Orphanage. This was tough for the both of us. The children clung to us and would not let go. Most of them have wet bottoms and some dirty with their feces. We fell in love with Gabriel. He was just taken out of the nursery, so he was only 1. We wanted to take him home!!! Rosemary was absolutely adorable. She has some time of disability, but she smiles and laughs and can only walk if you hold her hand. She probably went down the slide 100 times....I hugged and hugged her, but I couldn't bring myself to pick her up as she was absolutely filthy. There were a few children who were severely disabled who were left alone...one in a dark room, naked, in a crib, in the corner, and the other by himself, in a different room, in a crib. They just don't have enough hands. I realize they are doing the best they can, but it is disheartening. I have a feeling that Michele and I will be spending many of our afternoons their.

Overall, everything is good. We are a bit annoyed with all of the CCS activities everyday as we would love to have more free time to send emails and pictures, and to just walk around town, but they really want us to understand their culture and everything about it. We are trying to be patient. I am happy to be here and will definitely be sad to leave in 4 weeks. Some of us are headed to Zanzibar this weekend.....I am ecstatic for the beach and a bit of rest. Michele and I are trying to make some decisions about our last week of travel. We have 1 week in Africa open at the end and are contemplating hiking Kilimanjaro, going to Mauritius, or South Africa. Everything is sooooo expensive, so we have some big decisions to make.

Tomorrow we have the day off of placement for a hike to a waterfall...we are soo excited to get some exercise...I thought I would be coming home weighing much less, but that is definitely not going to happen....they keep us well fed and God forbid I turn anything down :)

My new scent has become deet. We are all getting many bites, so fingers are crossed that we don't get malaria...apparently many volunteers get it regardless of the malaria medication. YIKES!!! I am constantly dirty....my feet have a nice tint of brown on then..not from a tan..haha. I also made the mistake of not bringing comfy flats for school, so I had to buy some Tanzanian sandals, which have given me about 100 blisters. NOT PRETTY!!!

One of the teachers mentioned bringing me to her house. If you are invited, you must go as it is a compliment, but it still makes me quite nervous. You must eat and drink what they give you, and we have a strict eating regimin here, as many things can make us sick. Most of the volunteers have had issues with their stomachs, I am still going strong though..thank goodness. Though, one of the volunteers has been having severe pains in her side. We were sure it was appendicitis, but the doctors diagnosed her as having an ovarian cyst....we were so worried that she would have to be evacuated out to a good hospital, so we are grateful it is not too serious.

I could write for hours, but I have to get back to the house as it is getting dark. I hope everything is well for you all. I will write soon...and I promise I will get some pictures out asap. Much love....xoxoxoxo