First Berayn'a from Lwala

Everything is wonderful here. The scenery is beautiful and so lush! I am so sorry I haven't been able to write or call but this is the first time we have gotten into Kisii (where the internet is). We are doing so many different projects really...I don't know where to begin. We are trying to get the ball rolling to build the protection for a spring and we have the ideas, plans, and money but everything is ten times slower here. I have made many new friends and I am slowly learning the language, Dholuo. The people we live with are from the Luo tribe which is the same one as Kanye West and Barak Obama families. haha. One of my favorite things to say is Berayn'a which is like very good or how are you (its pronounced Bear Ainia). A little boy named Harrison is basically my buddy and translator. He is 14 and is so smart and curious and speaks very good english. I have carried two buckets of water on my head every day from the spring in order to bathe and wash dishes...kinda crazy but its getting easier. When we want to go to town we walk 5 mi then take a Matatu (taxi) for 45 min to an hour on these awful roads. Then 5 mi home...so in two days I have walked 20 mi. I am not saying I am going to lose weight though because they feed us so well. We eat tons of beans and cabbage and kale and beef and some chicken. Eggs, and tons of mango and bananas! And most of the meat and rice is soaked in grease or butter. They have these amazing chapati (like a cross between tortillas/pie crust/ and pita). Everything is okay if it is boiled, peeled, or fried. Those are the rules. In the mornings we drink masala tea with milk and fresh ginger and eat peanut butter on bread with some boiled sweet potatoes (soo delicious). I have helped some in the clinic as well. There are just lines after lines every day it is crazy! I take temps and BP and calm the children, but most are way to scared by the Mzungo!!! There is a myth that children tell that Mzungos eat people. They are so limited in what they can do. But we are starting the bed net project and doing some public health things at the primary school in Lwala. Three weeks is such a short time here because the world moves so slowly in comparison to home. I have felt good until today I have a little tummy trouble, but not too bad at all. Lwala is so safe...basically fields and cows and goats for miles. Our ot is mud walls and floors with a tin roof...the bed net (or as I call the it impenetrable fortress) is kind of cozy.And bucket showers are on the most exhilarating things! I can't spell still. We are leaving in two weeks for our safari so it feels like it just flies by! We lose track of days like crazy. Some of our favorite phrases in Dholuo: "kiki wondre" which means, "don't cheat yourself." You say this jokingly to someone at meal time when they're too full for a second helping.- "nang'o" which means, "whaddup"- "owimore" which means, "the sky is closing (goodnight)"- "lik lik mamit" which means, "sweet dreams"- "awacho Dholuo matin" which means "I only speak a little Dholuo!"- and finally, "akia" which means, "I don't know" (its really useful). Last night, the Lwala choir came to our ot (house) to sing. There was only one kerosene lamp in the room, giving the performance an amazingly mystic feel. The women in the choir wore beautiful headscarves and kangas (a colored fabric) wrapped around their long, lean bodies. Their voices were rich and deep and sent chills down my back. Fred and Grace got up and sang and danced and Fred has a beautifully deep rich bass voice. Most of the music was in swahili and some in dhouo. I recorded some on my camera and hopefully will be bringing that back with me! The quality is decent but good enough to get the point across. At one point the choir began to dance rhythmically around the room, and we definitely got up and danced as well as we could along with them. Most of our conversation is centered around what it means to serve and the purpose and how to serve in an international capacity. It is hard that when Kat ( my roommate in our ot) stop and think that 1 out of almost every two women that we meet is HIV positive. And trust me...just walking somewhere everyone wants to talk to the MZUNGO!!!! We shake so many hands and speak the little conversation we can speak. They laugh when we answer them in "the mother tongue."This is all I can really write right now, but I have so much more to say! I wish you all could be here to see all of this. It is amazing but a constant reminder of how little we can do for what they really need. I don't know when I can write again but hopefully it will be soon. Love you all. Oriti,Natalie