I woke up at 5:30 and wanted to go running with the guys at 6 but I heard a little rain and figured the boys would duck out. It turns out I was right, but I went down to the beach to do a litle pilates on the shore.
The rain came and went but I stayed out for a while and listened to a little A Fine Frenzy doing some pilates and taking amazing sunrise photos while lightly getting rained on. I love rain like this: warm and light.
One of the security guards came by to chat with me. After the formalities we began talking about my iPhone. I played some music for him and showed him how to take a picture. He was really fascinated by it. He also took my camera and began to take pictures including one of me. I thanked him for chatting and went back up to get ready for breakfast and our first day of teaching.
We had our usual tea and bread breakfast and began te long walk to the school in the village where we'd be teaching. I got about a mile out and realized I had forgotten the posters and had to run all the way back and get them. I saw another security gard on the way back and said he should wait for me. I ran to the posters and back and he was there where I left him grinning with a "Jambo" when I arrived. We talked and I found out he was also 22 years old and his name wa julius. He lived in kilamonjaro but worked here half the year. His English was very good and we talked in both kiingreza (English) and kiswahili. We finally caught back up with the group and made it to the school prepared for teaching.
My group was first and we'd be presenting the introduction to the program and HIV and AIDS as well as the progression of HIV and AIDS in the body. We found out after we got there that the teachers thought that it wa just a meeting for us to meet them for 2 hours so we all had to cut our presentations down to one section and for us we did the introduction.
We did really well. It was smoothsnd concrete and the teachers asked us so many questions! They were reallythankful to learn this stuff from us despite all the questions they gave. After my group was done I went to the prep room where I found the rest of the group and two litle girls playing with them. One was 5 years old and the other one was 3. They were playing with Estella and mary when I got there so I went to say hi. "jambo!" I said. The littlest one went screaming and crying and running away and I felt terrible! I figured she wasn't used to seeing someone as white as me.
Just as quickly as I was out, I was back in her good graces again and before I knew it she was sleeping in my arms. I almost cried at the cuteness but held it together just in time for her to jump down to go grab food somewhere.
Once they went to play the rest of the teachig partners and all of us not teaching began to let loose and dance around. Tabit said he dances like Michael Jackson and I went in and got my phone and played a little "Bad" for him. He didn't seem to recognize that one but once I put on thriller, he began to dance like crazy along with david.
Soon we were all in a circle, dancing and messing around. Tabit and Tatu climbed a tree and we all took photos with our groups and began bonding. The teachers thanked us all at the end and said they were reallyexcited for us to teach their students. It was hot and humid and every part of our bodies were drenche in sweat, but we walked further into town to go to a Duka to pick up some food and calling cards. The walk was blazing and we were walking up this huge paved road. To our left a boy no older than 14 was walking triumphantly dragging somethig behind him. I couldn't figure out what it was until he was right next to me and everyone was shrieking in disgust. It was a dead monkey!!!! I didn't believe it until I saw the little monkey like hands dragging behind the boy. Our Swahili partners told us that they use monkey meat for dog food.
When we got to the village we were surrounded by hundreds of children it seemed. All about 2 years old to 5, they saw us walkig and immediately walked with us grabbing out hands as we walked. They wanted to take pictures and would scream with glee when we showed them the reflection. They've hardly ever seen themselves on camera before so it was a really new and exciting experience for them! They were adorable. There was one crazy little boy who kept showing everyone his penis ( he had to be no older than 3) and was trying to throw huge rocks in his pants.
We got our contraband and were drenched through our clothes on the walk back. Me, Marnee, Mary and David hauled ass so we could get back as fast as possible.We chatted about a lot of things; drugs, sex, and rock and roll. I'm only sort of kidding. It was interestig to see the different things people have done compared to myself. We talked about our boyfriends and David told us he feels uncomfortable talking openly about his sexuality in this culture because is so forbidden to be gay here, but he seems to really know himself and how to handle it which is really great.
We got home and crashed on the couches to regain some composure. After a quick lunch we put our suits on and jumped in the ocean. The tide was so high that we kept losing our shoes as we walked on the beach and the wind was crazy too. The waves were big for the first time since Id been here and it was so fun to just feel cool and hang out.
Aliviana and I were swimming when a huge wave knocked me into her and I smacked her right in the head, causing her to lose her glasses. I felt terrible but promised Id buy her new ones in stonetown. We got out showered and hung out in my room for a while. Pretty soon aliviana came in and we chatted until dinner.
Dinner was once again rice with soupy sauce this time with really gross little fish that looked like anchovys. I headed back to the room and talked to Tony. I was so excited to hear from him! I found out we lost our kickball game (surprise surprise!) and that his and lis' soccer team sound good! We chatted until we were caught up and I headed to bed.
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