Monday

Sopa!

After a restful Sunday, our group got back to work.  With Rusinga gone and Marianna, Thea, and Jessie on their home-stay, it was quite lonely.  However, we managed to get a lot done.  I got to work very closely with James our mason today as we constructed the final corners of the building.  I had not done that much work with James, but by the end of the day, we were buds.  Whenever the Groton group decided to take a water break, James would yell at us, “Work is not happening!”  He also had a lot more faith in me than I had in myself.  By the end of the day, he told me to try making corners on my own, but I refused for the library’s sake.  We also bonded over not knowing Masai since he is from a different tribe.  I think he knows even less than I do which is always comforting.  By the end of the day, we finished all 9 courses of one full wall and all the corners.  We probably will finish the rest of the walls by the end of tomorrow.

Today also involved a lot of fun activities with the people around the worksite.  We brought a few books along with us today which provided endless entertainment for the day.  At tea time, every single person on the worksite was looking at a book.  I looked at an animal book with James and one of the Masai men who helps on the worksite.  As we worked through, we went over the names of the animals in English, Swahili, and Masai and where they all lived.  Once we got to the underwater section, the men had a difficult time understanding what exactly whales and dolphins were.  James also kept asking me how one would catch a narwhal, “Do you grab it by the horn?”  It was so amazing to see how much joy a book can bring.  Books are such a simple thing for us, but here they are the greatest thing in the world.  It was really cool to see.

In the afternoon, Brandt performed a little science demonstration for all of us.  This experiment involved heating a Coke can with a little bit of water in the bottom until the can was full of water vapor.  Then he turned the can over into a bucket of water and it was crushed by the air pressure.  The students and adults alike were amazed at the sight.  James let me take a break to go see it and he himself was dumbfounded.  He kept asking, “How can we make it go back?”

To end the day at the worksite, we played a game of “Wah” with some kids.  It was a little confusing to explain, but by the end, most people got really into it.  Tomorrow we are planning to play the more universal game of soccer with some Oloika kids.  After that, Varsha, Brooke, and I are headed off on our home-stay!  It should be really fun to experience boma living.  Shani (who says hi) has reported that the other group loves their home-stay and is having the greatest time.  Hopefully we will have a similar experience!

Now it is time for bed to prepare for another full day!

Xoxo,

Charlotte

P.S. Mom and Popi- I hope you are surviving without me and Syd! Miss you guys!