PHEW!

So since I haven't been able to update this for 2 weeks, i'm cutting out a lot because I have 12 minutes of internet left. So last week we went to climb Langai, the active volcano. Well, me being the avid hiker I am, I turned around about 1/4 the way up because it was such a ridiculous hike and we still had another 5 hours (which ended up being 7, by the way). I think that i'm pretty satisfied with my decision because everyone that finished it said it was the hardest thing they have ever done in their life. At least half of our group was crying at some point. Apparently at the top, it was essentially rock-climbing, only it was nothing but loose rocks. A girl actually got hit in the head with one. Our coordinators are never doing that trip again because they thought someone was going to get seriously injured or killed. Soooo yeah I guess I made the right decision?

We also went into Kisongo market last week to buy food for our mamas and fabric for skirts and such. While we were there, someone got caught stealing. All we could see what a giant swarm of screaming men. James explained to me what happened and said that usually they're killed when the police do not get there in time. Fortunately, police arrived quickly, but I definitely had a few nightmares from that situation.

Teaching is going well at Musa Primary, i'm teaching standard 6 which is around 12-15 years old. Amber and I were placed in the same teaching group (go figure) so we have a lot of fun being silly with all the kids. We also started a girl's club after school just so we can get all the girls talking about their feelings and what they think about their role in society. There's still so much discrimination here that just gets passed off as culture and therefore there's nothing wrong. A lot of girls are stuck fetching water or washing clothes while their brothers are playing soccer. A lot of massai do not allow their daughters to move past primary school because it's time for them to get their dowry, get married and start having children. Even female circumcision is pretty commonly practiced in the Massai tribe. We're really trying to get them to talk about this stuff and seriously consider what they want to do with their life and what they're willing to do to get there, because they have a LOT of obstacles in their way.

Things are great at the homestay, I absolutely love my family. My mama is hilarious and reminds me quite a bit of my mama back home, only it's harder for me to get her jokes since they're in swahili. Sayuni, the young one, is adorable as all hell and I want to take her home with me. Andrew is still pretty quiet, but we recently discovered that he's very good at english and simply won't speak english with us. Zawadi is completely brilliant, she is the top student of her class amongst 4 schools in her village, and yet she's stuck going to the worst secondary school in the village next year. We're talking with John this week about it to see if there's a way we can get her sponsored or get her a scholarship. Anyways, 1 minute, gotta go! Love you all, can't wait to see you all when I get back!

Week 2

Hello again everyone

Sooooo, end of week 2. Let's review. We spent a lot of time at our school, Mateves Secondary. After spending time here, I will never again complain about our educational system. The classes are crammed, there's only 1 textbook per class, I still have yet to see a mwalimu (teacher) anywhere. We have 3-5 kids at our homestay every night and they want to learn so badly, but they simply don't have anyone to teach them. There are kids that are in upper grades in high school that still do not know how to solve X+3 = 4. Nobody explains anything and they are the ones that suffer and get sent back in school to fail over and over again. This country needs a total overhaul of its educational system. Anyways, enough of my rant. In addition, we started tutoring at the OHS site. I am tutoring a girl named Miriam in math. She is incredibly smart and excited about subjects that she knows, but she's also very hard on herself and I find myself just trying to get her not to shut down at problems she doesn't know how to solve. Hopefully i'll be able to improve her self-confidence a little bit over the next few weeks. Anyways, it has been a pretty quiet week. We're doing a hike tomorrow and then next weekend we're going to Lingai (sp?), an active volcano. We're gonna spend the night in a campsite nearby, spend the next day exploring, and then we'll do an 8-9 night hike so we can watch the sun rise in the morning. It's supposed to be incredible so i'm really looking forward to it. It's kind of strange that time moves slowly and quickly at the same time here. It feels like i've been here for such a long time, but it also feels like i've done so little and I know there's so much more left for me to do over the next 6 weeks. So that's my story, I won't be able to check in for another two weeks as I will be in Lingai, so I will have TONS of stories for you all when I return! Hope everyone's having a great time back in the states!

Love,

Nicole