Week 8

Hello!
I can't believe its already week 8 of my adventure, I both feel like I've been here forever and that time has literally flown by. I have very mixed feelings about having less than 2 weeks left of living here. Its been incredible and I will miss all the children and people I have met so much, but I'm also looking forward to going home for the holidays and being with family.
This past weekend some of the other volunteers and I went to Dar, the capital city, to celebrate our "birthday weekend" we were celebrating Hannahs birthday, which was on saturday, and mine a week early. We wanted one night of "luxury" so we booked a room at the Holiday Inn, one of the nicest hotels in Dar, (funny right!?) And enjoyed the comforts of a big bed, air-conditioning, cable (11 channels) (we got to see 2 episodes of Oprah!), and a hot shower. It was a great night of doing absolutely nothing, followed by an amazing breakfast with cereal, fruit, toast, eggs, granola, pastries and other buffet things which was so exciting since everyday our breakfast is porridge, papaya, beans and hard boiled eggs. A perfect way to celebrate birthdays in africa with a little weekend treat!
Once back in Bagamoyo I began my weekly routine. For this weeks theme I chose family, so today I asked the children to draw pictures of their families and then we identified who each person was in english and sawhili. It was soo much fun, they drew the cutest pictures and they were all very engaged!
This afternoon I went to the orphanage to spend time with my little friend Subira. We read two books and did crafts with the younger children. I brought her some string, since she makes beaded bracelets and can then sell them to take money home. I've been trying to buy jewelry and bracelets from her so she gets the money, rather than stores around town. So today she taught me how she makes her favorite kind of bracelets, and its really hard! Its very complicated and hard to follow but she does it as if its no big deal. When I was leaving she handed me a little wrapped package, but when I went to open it in front of her she shied away and said I had to open it later. Inside was two bracelets she had beaded with my name, a picture of her, a little plastic flower, and an anniversary card(its the thought that counts right ;). The card just said to Jacqi love Subira. The gift was soo sweet, and I was so touched! It will be hard to say goodbye to her next week.

Tomorrow I return to the clinic for the disabled with Tuma! I'm sure I will have stories to share.

Love and miss
J
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