06/19/09

06-19-2009
Well it is another beautiful day here on Senga Bay, a little chilly today and the waters are much more rough, the wind has picked up a little but that's "winter" for you. Last night some texans came to have dinner at cool runnings. they are working at the Baptist clinic in Senga Bay. We all (Jarrod, Jason, Jess, Sam and myself) sat and talked after dinner until very late. Jess and Jason are near the end of there one month stay at the clinic and they were telling us all about their experiences and the different trips that they have made. They had some great pointers for us and it made me feel a little better talking with them and hearing there stories. They are really great people. Jarrod and I have adjusted well to the time difference and feel good in the space we are in. Sam is so sweet and has been so helpful with getting us aquainted with the area. After Jarrod got his coffee this morning we took a walk through the village. Most of the homes in this area are made of brick or stone and some even have doors! The school house is very nice it is painted in a blue and white and stands at the end of the dirt road. As we walked through everyone greeted us with smiles and hellos the children all ran out of there homes or away from their games yelling "mzulu" meaning white person. We greeted them with smiles and hellos and a little conversation but not too much or they will follow you for hours. The kids love to get their pictures taken and love more to see it on the camera. They all laugh and giggle when they see themselves. When we got to the end of the village we were on the main road so we decided to walk up to the Baptist Clinic and see Jason and Jess. It was about a 2 mile walk up to the clinic but we got to see a lot more of the people and the day to day activities. Road side stands line the street with vendors trying to see you anything they can. They can make almost anything you want out of reed; from little helicopters to love seats. As we walked my kids would ask us for money. One child even had money in his plastic bag hat but still asked us for some. We nicley told him no, but he still choose to walk with us for a bit until he found some friends playing. Finally we mad it to the clinic. The grounds are large and very nice. We met Jess and Jason in the back playing with some children (Linda, Lialano, Jr. and Precious). They were having fun with bouncy balls. To see hem laughing and running around and happy over a bouncy ball was just incredible to me. Jess and Jason then introduced us Margret, the woman that runs the clinic and is also very go friends with Sam. She then offerd us a ride back to the village and our tired feet could not turn it down. After she dropped us off we walked down to the local market to buy some bread for breakfast and 2 cokes. A man named henry, that we had meet earleier in the day, saw us and took us to his shop to show us his very nice fabrics. After we finished our cokes and returned the bottles for recycling we made our walk back to Cool Runnings. Once back, Jarrod talked me into taking a swim in the lake. It was acually warm and the waves were fun to try to body surf in. It is funny when the waves hit you but they don't taste like salt water and then you remember you are not in the ocean but a lake: the 9th largest lake in the world, and it is fresh water. Well now we are relaxing and waiting for dinner to be ready.
mzulu in africa,
kate