Expectations

I thought I might have a go at this blog since my all of the keys on my keyboard appear to be working and the internet is only 3 times slower than at home. This is Megan, by the way. Things are slowly settling into place. We have a long daily routine that begins with a 1 1/2 hour commute to the Village and usually ends with a visit to the internet cafe before we dala-dala back to our hostel. Wednesday's begin with 2 hours of sports/gym for the kids. In other words, there are 2 soccer balls to share amongst 58 children, lots of hopscotch and Michelle's adapted version of 4 square. I can't forget to mention the young, innocent face of one of the children that found amusement in peeing over the cement wall. Apparently, that's the same anywhere in the world. I am happy to finally be teaching. Michelle continues to be my guide and teaches the first grade class. I either teach with her or teach the small groups that need special attention.

This morning we had a meeting with our volunteer program ground coordinator (VPGC), Pastor, the orphanage director, the orphanage director's husband, Michelle, Lindsey and Morgan regarding our volunteer duties. It sounds like a nice plan, to have everyone sit around and get on the same page, however, there are a lot of unsovled problems and political issues that I do not care to be involved in. I do not know what our VPGC and the orphanage director spoke about prior to the meeting, but the orphanage director set foot on the defensive which did not make for an open conversation. We were basically told that we can not give our donations to whoever we want to and when we give our donations to the kids, we must take pictures and give them to the orphanage director and our volunteer program. What if I just want to give a kid my shirt without any strings attached? All in all, things have gotten better, but the expectations of this trip and reality are very far apart. I have faith that all of these experiences will build character and be beneficial even though I may not feel it at the time.

Positive Points
+ We now know how to spot a dala-dala thief. Do not change places on the dala-dala when they ask, it's just a trick to steal. Or, you could just watch Michelle. If she has her metal water bottle out and ready to hit an attackers hand as it gets too close to anyone's valuables then you should hold on to your money!
+ The kids have been wonderful. The first grade class is so fun to work with. Michelle and I love analyzing the kids and discussing their different personalities. There are some things that can be done regardless of the language barrier. My heart tends to fall for the shy, quiet kids although I would completely miss out if the class clowns and bossy princesses did not exist.
+ Does anyone else find it ironic that our electricity in the hostel goes out every night since we left our mud hut that didn't have any electricity?
+ We are going to Moshi this weekend to visit Mitch, Jake, their brother Ocsar, and some waterfalls in Moshi National Park.
+Michelle's homesickness is weakening:) Maybe it's because she found out it was possible to adopt a child from Tanzania - watch out Evan!! Musa's pretty cute!