First day at the school

Sopa!!!

                Marianna and Ycar here. . .today was our first official day on the worksite. We were woken up by the gentle “Good morning!” of one of the men who works at our camp, and sitting up in our beds we could see the sun beginning to tip over the mountains. After a hearty breakfast of eggs, cereal, fruit, toast, and plenty of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate, we shouldered our bags and walked through town to the school

                The first thing we did on the worksite, after introductions to the masonry team from Edward (the site coordinator), was mix mortar for the walls of the library we’re building. We shoveled four wheelbarrows of sand and one pack of cement mix into a pile, dry and then wet mixed it, and began laying the mortar down on the edges of the building floor. Shortly after, the students from Rusinga School in Nairobi arrived on the scene. This school has been sending teams of students to Oloika for three years now, and we’ll be sharing the worksite with them this week. Their English was spectacular, and it was amazing to see how similar our two groups of teenagers were. We fell easily into conversation about Justin Bieber, the Fast and the Furious film series, classes at school, the dry heat in Oloika (it’s much cooler in Nairobi), and we played fun games to break the ice. Working side by side with them was effortless, considering how much of a relief it was to lower the language and age barrier by a lot.

                While most of us worked on the site, some Groton students went to tutor Oloika students in their study sessions in the school before lunch. Connections and friendships were made and have become a frequent topic of conversation on our own campground. What are some new things or who are some new people we’ve met today?

                After a very filling lunch and a refreshing quiet time during the hottest hours of the day, we returned to the worksite to meet the other half of the group of students from Rusinga, finish the second row of bricks making the wall, play more games, and visit the classrooms.

                Ycar here. Dinner consisted of a wonderful potato and leek soup and spaghetti and meatballs and after filling ourselves to carrying capacity we went outside to talk about our day under a very beautiful night sky. There we chatted about the differences between our culture back in the United States and that of the one we encountered in the Oloika village. You cannot imagine how different some aspects of our cultures were, even something as small as speaking and listening to one another. We cannot wait to see what tomorrow holds for us, but what we do know is that whatever happens will still be fun and enjoyable. Ycar out.

                Marianna here. . .hi mom. . .it’s been quite surreal to say the least about being back in Oloika after two years. I felt the excitement building as soon as I finally caught sight of the mountains that dominate the skyline east of our tents. Their image has honestly been burned onto my brain, an iconic fixture in an otherwise barren landscape. Barren but full. Thea said something extremely profound at check-in today, about the empty vastness of Lake Magadi. She said it reminded her of Oloika, in that in a space that seems so useless and lifeless, there are spots of color still (provided by the occasional pink flamingo in a throng of white). In a brief break from reading Ovid’s Metamorphoses, I picked up a book that we were going to read in Natural History class but never got to: Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. I’ve only read the introduction and a couple of chapters, but Abbey’s memoir of a season in the Arches Natural Park in Moab, Utah so brilliantly captures the texture of the place. He even talks about how his main goal in venturing into the wilderness is to accept all aspects of his environment at face value, without romanticizing and anthropomorphizing the landscape and the creatures in it. To see and to accept. To listen without necessarily needing to respond (like an exercise Laurie ran tonight at check-in). Though he was speaking about a desert in Utah and not a savannah in Kenya, his mission spoke to me. One of my goals in returning to Oloika a third time is to clarify and codify some of my core values. To think about what I think, to not judge myself, and to begin to strategize and plan how I want to use this accumulated self-knowledge in my journey away from Oloika, away from Groton, and into the greater world. I mentioned this to a couple of people several times throughout the trip, but I fear that since we, as young people, care so deeply about so many different things, it’s far easier to just stop at caring about them because picking two or three to act upon is just too hard. I’ve realized I need to choose now. That time is upon me whether I want it or not.

                Abbey begins his book with the line, “This is the most beautiful place in the world.” I’m here, I think. . .Marianna out. P.S. Remember to send the Moby Dick package to Mr. Goodrich with my letters in it. It’s on my desk. If you haven’t already. THANK YOU!!!!

Catch ya on the flipside,

Love Ycar and Marianna (the most love from Ycar. Hugs and kisses).