Hello everyone and Happy Friday. For all the DC/Bmore Sports fans Go Nats/O’s. I’ve been following closely, and the late
games have been concluding while I eat breakfast every morning. While, I don’t have TV I’ve been able to see what’s
going on via gamecast. Game 5’s tomorrow,
should be exciting.
As for things over here, today is the last day of exams for
the Kids which means tomorrow is the beginning of holiday. That means that the kids will be off for the
next month, which means lots of fun for the kids and lots of needed energy for
the volunteers. I think all of the
volunteers agree that we love the kids dearly, however, the reality of having
to entertain and keep them busy all day every day for the next month is a
daunting thought. We’ve already begun
brainstorming, and every volunteer has decided to come up with four ideas. So far we have skit day, a talent show,
singing contest, a day at the lake, and some other activities planned, however,
if any of you have any great ideas please send me an email or leave a
comment! As for exams, it appears that
they are running smoothly, I mentioned in a previous post that the principal
was a general. During exam time, that
side of him comes out and it has been made quite clear that cheating will not
be tolerated. Further, it sounds like
the majority of kids I’ve talked to are confident in how they’ve done which is
great news.
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| Drying laundry on the roof |
In addition to exams, this week has had it ups and
downs. While I thought I was fully
recovered from the bites and the allergies, they came back with a vengeance and
I’ve faced another slew of sleepless nights.
I don’t know what it is but the bugs here Love me and if I don’t coat
myself in bug spray I get obliterated…The weather is cooling down though, which
hopefully will lead to less mosquito…On the note of bugs we went out to the
site of the school yesterday, and it was beautiful, nestled up in the hillside
about 20 minutes from the school and house.
We explored the new grounds, and saw some amazing sites, including some
of the biggest spiders I’ve ever seen in my life. It did not take long for the other fellows
and some of the staff to realize, how uncomfortable I was around these GIANT
spiders. I think the final 30 minutes of
the trip, entailed one of the Aunties chasing me with one of the spiders, as I
sprinted away. I think fun was had by
all…except for me, who had one of the more traumatic experiences of my grown up
years. Beyond that yesterday was
actually my best day in about a week, with regards to how I was feeling. The cooler weather led to one of my best
night sleep yet over the past month, and honestly I think probably my soundest
night of sleep since being in Dubai. I
think restless nights are one of the worst things, and have been my least
favorite thing about the trip. In all
honesty, before coming here I thought I would be feeling great. Between eating healthy all the time, barely
drinking, and having such an active lifestyle I really felt that I would be
operating on all cylinders. Unfortunately,
that has not been the case, and the adjustment period has been longer and more uncomfortable
than I expected it to be. I’m really
crossing my fingers that I’m finally out of the woods, but by now I’ve become
accustomed to taking two steps back after every step forward…
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| Giant Spiders... |
As for LOVE…we’ve been teaching the kids the song L.O.V.E
by Nat King Cole over the past week which has been one of the most amusing and
cutest things ever. Every night before
bed, you can hear kids practicing their words, and just the other night I wrote
out the lyrics for one of the guys. Next
thing I know, he was making copies of it for all the boys in his room. That night, I just sat that for an hour, as
each kid took turns singing it for me, as I corrected them here and there. Slowly but surely they’ve been catching on
and last night was their best performance yet.
One final thought for the day…is the answer I gave to my
little brother when he asked “what do you miss about your life in DC so far”
here was my response:
“I
enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city, and always being able to do things at
a moment’s notice. That is not so much the case here, as every day is
essentially the same with regards to what I do, what I eat, etc. For
food, we tend to have some sort of potato and veggie for breakfast, then
everyday lunch is the same with Rice, Potato, Veggie, and Beans, and then dinner
is the wildcard, but tends to be potato, Roti (like a toritilla), and some
veggie. We have meat once a week on Saturday night, which has been tough
for me and I think the lack of protein in my diet is part of the reason why
I've been run down. I'd say what I miss most about DC is 1) the people
and 2) just the busy lifestyle. I'm not really used to free time, and we
have almost too much of that here. I've tried to keep busy, whether that
means reading or writing, but it can be tough.”
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| #1 thing I miss...The people |
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