Rafiki means friend

And so far that has been the best part about the trip. I have met locals on the street who have become our rafikis because it talk to them everyday. I have met people within my program who are from all over the world… Sweden, England, Canada, Holland, Germany.. And many more. We have met doctors, nurses, children, and vendors on the street. Every person has a different story, and sometimes a different language.

On Wednesday our program did a medical outreach at a hospital. There doctors gave out information about women’s sexual health to a group of women from different villages. It is amazing how little they know about safe health practices. After the doctor talked to them, mostly in Swahili, we broke into groups and answered their questions. It was hard because a lot of the women didn’t speak English but we did our best to explain different things.

On Friday, we had a dirty day. Literally. A group of volunteers from project abroad got together and we went and painted a school. It was freezing! I know. It may seem crazy to you, but it is actually kind of cold here, especially when it rains. We painted the outside of the building all day and in the end it looked pretty good.

After that was done Jenn and I really had a great Friday the thirteenth… Just wait you’ll see… On our way to the restaurant where our friend was waiting we got completely lost in the city. Not gonna lie I was terrified. I hate getting lost in Philly and I was lost in a foreign country… Hapana Asante! (It means no thank you). Eventually we figured the direction we were going in and made our way to the restaurant. Then when we were finally settled down to eat we noticed that Jenns bag was missing! That’s right missing! What the hell? Some very skilled person had taken it while we were eating. I still can’t believe we didn’t notice it! The good news is Jenn and I don’t actually keep anything valuable in our bags so the person was probably more pissed than anything when they found a map and some hand sanitizer in her bag. After that catastrophe we decided to call it a night and take a cab home. Last night was the first time that our home stay felt like home to me.

Today was another adventurous day. We met some friends, rafikis, at the shoprite and took a dala dala to a snake park! It was really cool… Mom you would have hated it! Haha I even got to hold a snake. It was there that I made friends with the monkey!! We rode camels too!!! It was awesome! And a little scary but still awesome 🙂 after that we went to a museum that had a lot of shops and art. I kind of felt like I was on a vacation today! Don’t worry Ginny, I will post all of the pictures!

Now here I am waiting with Jenn for a can at the Internet cafe. It’s hard to believe it’s been a week here! The time is flying by! In my short time here so far I think I’ve learned a valuable lesson… A smile is universal… When you are in a place where people speak a language other than your own, sometimes all you can do is smile… So do it and I’m sure that you will have a new Rafiki!