Hi Mom

Hi Mom,
Kenya is still great. The past couple days have been interesting. We had a market day where the entire time I swarmed by “the mamas” local Maasai women trying to sell me trinkets. They stalk you out and the only Swahili I know is Hapina Asente (no thanks)! It’s the most useful phrase ever except when I say that or ignore them they just hit me. Then I have to say cina pesa (no money)! It is really annoying and there is no possible way to describe the market.

Every day the past week we have had intense classroom work developing surveys and learning about the culture we are going to be working with. Luckily the classroom is open to the outdoors and there are always baboons I can watch. I love those baboons they are so silly! There is a cook here named Author and he hates the baboons. He tells us stories about how he was camping and he came back to his tent a baboon was sitting in his tent drinking his milk and eating his food. He is always chasing them and venting about how he hates them.

Yesterday we got a break from the classroom to go help with the Kimana Water Project. The goal of the water project is to make safe water available to the community. I was really excited it seemed like a cool thing to do. Little did I know we be doing rigorous manual labor with the natives. It was so intense my group helped build a canal. Our work consisted of filling wheel barrels with gravel, shuttling 5 gallon buckets of water, and mixing cement. From there we built the frame for the canal and filled it the cement. We had a lunch break at one point and all the Kenyans where just drinking tea so we gave them our lunches. From there we continued to work and somehow I threw my back out. It was terrible and still feels terrible I could not move and so I laid on my back and then in the fetal position to try and release some of the pain. The rocky ride back on the terrible roads was not nice.

I woke up this morning and still felt terrible so they took me to the local clinic. NICE they have really good health care here. Just kidding!! Luckily it was just my back and nothing invasive. The doctor gave me some intense painkillers and valium. BAHAHAHA! I feel so much better and I slept forever considering I didn’t sleep last night.

Hopefully my back will release and maybe I should do yoga like mom said. She is always right! Tomorrow we visit an orphanage. When I was in town at the clinic today I bought all the crayons at the local duka. I heard a rumor they love crayons, pencils, and pens. We are also visiting a women’s clinic tomorrow and going to another market. WOO can’t wait!!

P.S. Mom today I made everyone say one thing they were thankful for. I miss you!