Let me start by saying that I'm sorry I haven't posted any pictures. I retardedly didn't bring the cord for uploading pictures from my camera but I promise to get them up ASAP when I get back.
Also, shout out to my Hellions! Amazing job getting 4th at Sean Ryan and 2nd at SoCal Warmup! I'm super proud of you guys. And thanks to Sonic for the update. Miss you all so much! :)
Last two weeks in the vill were amazing. We had a testing in Mpakani which was like right by our house with the Endodash clan and we tested 90 people which was awesome! We also had a second testing in the main part of Qash that was actually run by our peer educators and we got 80 people which was the most out of all the second testings other than the Mpakani testing which was a combined effort. In the end we tested over 1200 people and taught over 6000 so we're pretty happy. I don't have the exact numbers with me right now but I'll be sure to let you guys know later.
Peer educators ended up getting a lot better as well. We had them do some mock teachings to us that went very well and some of them came out to the testing to help walk around with us and advertise. It was so great to see them finally seem to be motivated. I hope that they actually keep up with teaching and testing now that we're gone because they have all the resources they need and a lot of potential. We're going to try to go out and check up on them but I'm not sure if we'll have time.
So 3 Saturdays ago we said goodbye to our homestay family and Qash village. It was sadder than I thought it was going to be although I think a big part of that was just knowing that the SIC program is coming to its final leg and I really don't want to go. I've gotten to be really comfortable here. It doesn't even feel like I'm in another country anymore. Every time I think ahead to when I'm going to have to say goodbye I just know I'm gonna lose it.
On a happier note, last week was our week off. 13/16 of us spent the first half of the week in Jinja, Uganda, rafting the Nile. It was AMAZING!!! It's like a 20 hour bus ride over crappy roads with a stop in Nairobi to switch buses in the middle of the night but it was SO worth it!!! We got there Monday morning and just chilled at the campsite of the program we went with called Adrift, which had a bar/couch area that overlooked the Nile. It was gorgeous! That day, a big chunk of the group went bungee jumping. I wasn't interested. I would skydive in a second but bungee jumping has just never appealed to me. Two of the girls went tandem and one was topless and one was completely naked. It was hilarious!
The next two days were full of rafting and it was SO much fun! We were all pretty nervous cuz it's class 5 rapids which is as high as it gets but once we flipped the first time we realized it wasn't that bad and just went with it. We went in two rafts and our raft ended up flipping 4 times over the two days. Our guide said that when we flipped he was the one flipping us though so I dunno. The highlight of day one was going down a 10 foot waterfall backwards and the highlight of day two was when the other raft flipped right in front of us so we lost all of our momentum and everyone fell off except for me, Jen, and our guide Lee. We ended up holding on for a couple extra waves "surfing" and then Lee flipped us. It was so frigging fun! And the food on the trip was amazing. Sandwiches, beef skewers, lasagna...it completely made up for the repetativeness of the African food.
The second half of the week 10/16 of us went on Safari. Day One was at Manyara Lake and Day Two was at the Ngorogoro Crater. Over the course of the two days we saw EVERYTHING...except leopards but they're hard to spot cuz they live in the trees. We even had a lion literally right outside our car that had just tried to get into a new pride and lost so it was hurt. It was crazy. The break was not much of a break since we were pretty rushed and didn't have much time to relax but it was SOOO fun!!!
Now we're back in Babati where we'll be working for the next 3 weeks. The groups got split up :( :( :( so now I'm in a group with Jen, this guy Robert, and this chick Vikki, a female teaching partner Stella and a new male teaching partner Yona (two of our teaching partners had to go back to school so we got new ones). This group is fine but it will never be the family that our last group was. Joseph and Gerald were pretty much devastated when they heard we were getting split up cuz them, Jen, and I are super close. I still got to have lunch and dinner with Gerald yesterday though and Joseph isn't back from Arusha yet cuz his mom's having surgery but I'm sure we'll all hang out tons once he's back. At least I hope so.
On Sunday, everyone was supposed to move into their homestays and I was supposed to be living with Stella at this one house but Stella wasn't back yet so it was going to be just me. But then there was some sort of mixup and the Mama wasn't there and no one else there knew anything about us staying there so I was homeless! haha It was cool though cuz I just stayed with the coordinators at the SIC office and had a slumber party for two nights til they found me a home. They finally found one last night and Stella and I moved in this morning. It seems nice. Although I'm going to miss living with the coordinators. It was really fun! :)
So our group has been put in charge of educating and testing all of the restaurants, bars, and guest houses. I think that'll definitely keep us busy plus we just have to do a bunch of testings and World AIDS day is a week from today so we're planning something big for that.
So that's pretty much all that's going on here. I can't believe I'm going to be back in less than a month but I'm so excited to see all of you. Thanks for all the shoutouts on facebook and such. I have a feeling some changes have been made to facebook again that I'm not gonna like but I guess we'll see. I'm so out of the loop! I don't know any of the new music and I haven't seen any of the new movies. Has anyone seen New Moon and if so how was it?!?! hahaha
Love and miss you all!
Ilana
PS for all you lion king lovers out there:
simba= lion
rafiki= friend
mufasa= courage
pumba= warthog (kind of; it's not the real swahili word but everyone calls it that)
Scar= bad guy (just kidding haha)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Your week off sounds SOOO TIGHT! I am super jealous of the rafting and going down a waterfall! Heck yeah!
ReplyDeleteQuestion, how do you actually do the HIV testing?
Also, I know that change is hard (in fact, for me change is SO ridiculously hard), but as the band Supersonic says "every new beginning coems from some other beginning's end." You have to keep a good attitude and although it may be hard, try not to compare your new group/life/experiences to your old ones and instead just find qualities about your new group/life/experiences that are so great and focus on those.
I have to say that I am just so proud of you for completely immersing yourself into anothe culture. It is absolutely amazing that you feel at home there now and I say "כל הכבוד לך"
It's OK about the pictures, I will just have to hang out with you right-ish when you get back. Which is when? Mid december? Let me know!
-Sonic
That sounds amazing!!! And I knew there was a reason we were friends; I wouldn't go bungee jumping either... unless to see topless/naked girls :) Does Courtney read this? Not sure..
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed you on gchat!! I think I had left my computer on over night or something because when I woke up I had all these messages from you. Either way, when do you return to the states? Sometime in December, right? Can't wait!