The rainy season is completely upon us. It rains almost every day, sometimes a downpour and sometimes just a drizzle- but it is both a blessing and a curse. My nana has a needlepoint that always hangs somewhere in her house that says "If you pray for rain, be prepared to deal with some mud!". We aren't so much dealing with mud here as we are small lakes forming in inconvenient places- namely, the road I have to walk on to get home. I stopped about a week ago and put some big stones in the middle of the dry road so that when it's covered in a few inches of water, I still have a way to hop across. The roads on the bus route home are sometimes completely covered, sometimes just dotted with big puddles, and sometimes we can see the effects of the rain off to the side of the road. There is a space the size of a large parking lot on our way home that is completely covered in water- I've seen little kids up to their shins in it. The drainage ditches on the sides of the road are full of it too- it looks exactly like milk chocolate sometimes. Makes me hungry.
With the rain, there are more bugs. Mosquitos, flies, and fun anonymous bugs that might look friendly but somewhere hide a large stinger or set of fangs or both. With the bugs, there are more bats. After dinner I like to walk around the compound at night, and listen to the frogs (their chirps sound like little bendy straws being stretched out for the first time). Usually if I stand by the pool long enough, I can see the enormous fruit bats swoop down from the trees and skim the surface of the pool, gathering water or water-loving bugs in their mouths, I'm not sure which. Even swimming at night sometimes, they come and skate across the water, something that used to really scare me but now is comforting, like a friend I only get to see on occasion. Their wingspan is the length of one arm, like a cat flying through the air.
I've been slowly working my way outwards from the house. When I first came to the Kawishes, I was nervous to walk the hundred yards down the road to the voucher stand to buy more minutes for my internet. Eventually I walked around and found a small grocery store just a bit further, and when the bakery opened back up down the street I started walking there too (they make incredible samosas- not to be confused with mimosa).
I am now better in Swahili than I ever was in French. I can go to the voucher stand and the bakery and the grocery store in one trip, also greeting others along the way, and never have to use a word of English, an accomplishment I'm very proud of. The locals say that I have a very good accent for a mzungu- some of them assume I know much more Swahili than I actually do. I hope that with 3 more months, I'll be close to fluent. The hardest part is learning individual words. In English, you can usually use the Latin roots for words that you don't know to figure out what they mean. There isn't any way to do this in Kiswahili- it's just a matter of reading and talking a lot and asking when you don't know what a word means. It's difficult, and even some of the elder Africans don't know what all the words mean.
As far as working at the school goes, I'm having a blast. Those kids are the sweetest. Here are a few pictures, for those of you who haven't seen them on my Facebook page:
This is Sylvia.
And this is Elias. He and Sylvia sit in the front of the bus on my and Mr. Mchome's laps on the way home in the evening. They like to hold hands.
Myself and some of the kids from class 6Yellow.
Catching raindrops!
On my birthday, the kids in 6 Yellow stood up and sang Happy Birthday for me in Swahili, and gave me little hand-drawn cards and flowers they found in the field. I could've come home to a Lamborghini in the driveway and not have been so happy. This class also got the highest English grades in the school- I was very proud of them, and it felt really good to know that I've taught them even just a little.
This coming Monday, I'm going with the 6th and 7th grade classes to Tanga, a coastal town about 8 hours north of here. It should be exciting- I will get to see monkeys, baboons, chameleons, a zillion birds, some ancient caves, more bats, and I'm crossing my fingers for a lion or giraffe, even though the teachers say I probably won't see one. Never bad to hope!
I want to thank everyone who sent me birthday wishes- it means a lot to have so many of you supporting me back home! A few shout-outs before I sign off:
Clay, Lydia, and your wonderful family- thank you so much for the birthday blessings! I hope to get to see you all in August!
Clevenger clan- (Aunt Helen, Uncle Adam, Peyton & Patterson, Nana & Papaw, and of course my parents) It means the world to hear from you, and I love you so much.
Aunt Judy & Uncle Gary- Thanks for the card! It is adorable, and made my day :)
GCPC Session and Friends- Your card was incredibly sweet; had me in tears! Thank you so much for the heartfelt blessings, it really does mean a lot!!!
Richard, for sending me all these fantastic books. Thirteen Moons was wonderful- it was so nice to read such a beautifully written novel about the mountains, and it certainly helps the homesickness!
And last but definitely not least, Evie, for being the best friend ever. If I'm not crazy by the time I'm 90 it will be completely your doing.
Everyone else I haven't mentioned here, just know that you all mean so much to me, even if I haven't said it here. Also, if anyone has sent a letter or package and I haven't thanked you for it yet, that means I haven't received it- an issue I'm going to be resolving this week.
Next time I'll put up some pictures from Tanga- should be the best ones yet, if you want to see some monkeys and rainforest!
Love you all,
Mimi ninapenda wewe, tutaonana badai,
Emily
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