Wednesday October 29, 2008

Wednesday October 29

Only woke up three times - once at 2 when a big noisy car or truck pulled in, again at 4 when someone came into the volunteer house and made quite a lot of noise and then once when I heard one lone rat shuffling about above for a quick minute.

Breakfast was at 7:30 - but at 7, there was no way I could peel myself out of bed And I could tell Jack was fast asleep as well. The next thing I knew it was 8:50 and we were on the schedule for Preschool from 9-10. We had to scramble!

We colored, played with the building blocks, made floor puzzles and tried to get them to sit down and write a bit. There was a lot of energy in there - especially Rehema and Vinente! We are trying our best to get all the names straight - but itís hard and there are so many of them.

At 10:30 they went for Ugi - a porridge snack - and back outside to play with us at 11. We played a bit of baseball with Joshua and  Yusufu using a broom stick as a bat. Lots of laughs and more stealing of bases than Jack and I had seen in a long time!

After baseball we headed over to play some soccer. Jack brought a soccer ball and a pump so we were all set. They would take turns being the goal keeper as a way to take a break from running around in the heat.

12:30 was lunch - Elias cooks us all our meals and today we had breakfast for lunch - pancakes, sausages, pineapple, papaya and maple syrup! Yes!

We are taking a small break before we have to go play again with the kids. This time we went for a walk, which with little ones means that you donít get very far. We only got as far as the soccer fields. School was just getting out and the kids were all heading out to play a game of soccer. They asked Jack and of course he said YES!

Wait until you see the photosÖ.just a field of dust with at least 80 kids watching on the sidelines. I took some great shots as well as a video clip. But canít upload photos - may try to do at least one, because the charge for internet is in part based on how much you upload/download. And I am not allowed to go online with my mini pc laptop - but Jack can with his Mac.

Jack scored the only goal for his team - you should have seen the kids all yelling and jumping up and down! He was a hero. 

He did end of getting a nasty cut just below his knee - self induced as he did a slide tackle! 

We went back to our house, he took a shower and we headed over to the nurses office so that we could clean it out properly. A little hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin and a big bandaid did the trick.

Then back to Neregire, the childrenís house that we are primarily helping in. It was bath time - the kids all take a bath, have a piece of bread, a hard boiled egg and then itís movie time! Yesterday was ìHidalgoî.

Back again at 6:15 to help with dinner, getting in pajamas, brushing teeth and then story time. I was so tired I was practically falling asleep during story time - and I was reading!!!

Said our good - nights and then headed back to our house for dinner - rice, beans, broccoli and guacamole - all made by our chef, Elias.. He makes everything from scratch and feeds us very well!

By this time itís pitch black. We have kerosene lamps in our room, the bathroom and in the living room/kitchen area so you can see a little. But it takes some time to get used to the darkness - you just can't see anything very well.