New friends

Wednesday 10/20/2010

I started my day once again at the preschool. It was my day to water the garden. Mind you, I had to pump the water from a well. It was a fantastic workout and when I began to tire, all the children helped out. It felt a bit like child labor, but they enjoyed it.

This afternoon was charity hand-out day for all the donations that African Impact has been given. It was like “What Not to Wear” (show), watching the kids get new clothes that fit. We also put together vitamin packets, and bags of beans and rice for their families. The kids appreciate it so, but the parents are quite subdued. Some parents didn’t even bother to show up to receive their family donations, which is quite sad. The women amazed me though; as they left, they would put their 25-kilo (which is equal to 55 lbs) of rice, maybe two depending on the family size, on their heads, and walk the trek home whereever it may be.

The crew here is unbelievable. I couldn’t have asked for a better group. I am the only American with a Portuguese married couple, an Australian, two Norwegians, a Dutch, a Canadian, and a Brit along with our two British leaders. Everyone has a great sense of humor, is easy going and hard working. We all really enjoy learning about the others' cultures and get good laughs and good ideas from one another. We compare everything from the food we eat, things we have, hobbies we do to things we say (which we rapidly pick up). The best example of the day is Americans say “period (.)” Everyone else says “full stop” at the end of a sentence.

Our accommodations are better than I could ever have expected. Our living area is very clean and tidy (thank god). We have running water in our hut (hot and cold), and the opportunity to shower daily if we want. For those that know me well, I don’t really need to or choose to shower daily anywhere, and I had been practicing up for days before I left. ;) But it is nice to know that it is there.

So far the only thing I can say that I don’t like about Africa is that I hate sand in my shoes--I always have. The sand is never going away, so I think it’s time I get used to it! Then chalk up way more goods than bads at the end of the day.