Ok, so here are some not-so magical updates:
1. Rosetta Stone is awesome... but Swahili is hard! Seriously. There are too many consonants together in a row, and it is not instinctive for English speakers to say. For example, "mw" is a very typical blend. The word dog is "mbwa" and man is "mwananume" (wa-muh-new-may). Practice makes perfect. Rosetta Stone has this microphone thingy that you speak into, and they grade your speech. After a few minutes of red sad faces, I totally rocked the green smiley face!
Ok I'm done being a spokesperson for Rosetta stone. Except for this: Mwanamume na mwanamke katika gari. (The man and woman ride in the car!) Yesssss.
2. I have been looking at GoodWill for skirts, and I found this one that would be very heinous in the United States, but is AMAZING for Africa. I was with my friend Julie (whose parents were missionaries in Kenya for a while) when we spotted it. Picture this:
Imagine the traditional colorful intricate African patterns, but rather than bold colors, see pastels. And small jingle bells on the drawstring. It is so incredibly awesome/ugly. I also found another skirt, but it's nothing to write about.
3. I'm pretty much BFF with the pharmacist at Tom Thumb now, since we have talked possibly a dozen times about my medication and shots and stuff. I came back this week for shot #2. I don't think they train you in how to give shots in pharmacy school because ow. I got my malaria medicine, and I think it is in the biggest prescription bottle in America. Literally, it is 8 inches tall. There are 150 horse pills inside. In a week and a half, I finally get my 3rd round of Hep A&B shots.
4. I watched the opening day ceremony of the Olympics with my friend Sarah, and she made olympian-esque food: American fried pickles, Chinese chow mein, and French brownies ala mode. And Sangria. The Chinese really had the coolest ceremony ever! We watched the entire thing, including the entrance of all 200-something countries. The Americans looked way classy in their Ralph Lauren, but I was much more excited about Tanzania!!! I cheered and yelled "Jambo!" at the TV. Hopefully they heard me.
5. I also went shopping for flashlights today. When the sun goes down, it will be very dark in my hut, but I also had to think about power/batteries. I got a crank flashlight that is super cool. You crank for 1 minute, and it gives 30 minutes of light; no batteries needed! I also got a lantern thingy for my hut at night to read and stuff. I'll need to bring some extra batteries for that.
Next on my shopping list: A water purifier water bottle!
I leave in three weeks.
Week 1: Spent at camp (Aug 10-16)
Week 2: Moving and tying up loose ends in Dallas. (Aug 16-24)
Week 3. Spending time with family in Houston. (Aug 25-29)
Miss you already!
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