a few pics

this past october we had our 7th grade graduation. thats rights, school here ends at the 7th grade. i was on the cooking committee this year. it was AWESOME. a whole day hanging out with the women just cooking and gossiping. we cooking for about 300-400 people. i was the official taste tester (though i am still unsure if this was an honor or one of those things where they were waiting to see if i died) :)

at the graduation, the 7th grade class did an AMAZING play showing the dangers of how excessive drinking can lead to bad judgment and therefore can increase your chances of getting HIV/AIDS. this particular scene they are showing how witchdocters (who are publicly criticized but secretly deeply respected) cannot help you if you are sick with HIV/AIDS.

my village doesn't need me. they rock! i got a notice that we were having a meeting and that visitors where coming from dar and thought, "wow, i better go, dar is big time" so turns out my village received a grant that is paying to start a school lunch program to feed orphans. there is currently no school lunch what so ever. but with the new grant, many of the orphaned students are finding a hot hot meal everyday. this angelista and she volunteered her time to cook everyday and refers to the students as "her angels". this days lunch: ugali (corn meal) and cabbage.

so as i mentioned in the last blog, i am helping to establish a seamstress school. these are the current four students (who will finish school this december and have agreed to volunteer to help with the opening of the larger facility). We are using the same teacher in this photo, who has been amazing so far in helping as i have NO IDEA what materials are needed in starting a sewing school (eg they use old newspaper as practice materials for cutting patterns as opposed to using expensive cloth..brilliant!)

the man with the land (and therefore money and power) in my village goes by the name of jua kali... or fierce sun. he is about 75 years old and cute as a button! he wears a floppy gilligan's hat and rubber boots everywhere he goes. every year at harvest season he rents a tractor and trailer and the whole village helps in harvesting his fields.


so i went to the school and sat down the headmaster. i told him that i was tired of being left out of village activities and that i wanted to start being included in the activities of the school. he responded, "good. we need help carrying bricks from the valley to the new secondary school at the top of the hill at five am tomorrow morning, i look forward to seeing you there." no need to tell you why i have made a life choice to stop complaining.

a group of us decided it would be a good time to climb a mountain...why is it always a good idea at the bottom and not so good half way up? actually it was beautiful. so many different plants i had never seen before and there where tons of wild blackberries and raspberries toward the top!

so my friend amanda decided it was time for a bit of vacation and invited me to hang with her at the best hotel in this country. i take lounging seriously!