Kuku

Hello!!
I'm sorry it has been so long since I've written, but last week I ran out of internet time before I got a chance to write on the blog. Things with my homestay have been so great! My mama is only 23 and speaks okay english, which makes things a lot easier. She is so sweet and demands that I eat at pretty much every time of the day. Yesterday she did my laundry for me while I was at school. I have a 9 month old brother named Daniel who has the prettiest eyes. he doesn't smile too much, but just stares at you with his dark eyes. He's a lot of fun and is very easy to handle - he hardly ever cries and you can just plop him on the floor and he's entertained. Most of the time he spends his day strapped to the back of my "sister" Zanura who is 16. Zanura is not actually my mama's daughter.. I'm not quite sure how she's related ... but she lives at the house. Her work ethic is incredible. She pretty much does all the cooking, cleaning, fire wood chopping, takiing care of Daniel and Davedy - while my mama and baba work in the duka (shop) that they have. Zanura doesn't know any english other than "yes" and I'm not really sure why becasue she goes to school and all her friends seem to know more english. but i think a lot of times she doesn't go to school because she needs to stay home and work. But we still manage to get along.../ she laughs at me whenever I speak swahili to her (even when its right). My baba is 35.. and i don't see him too much - if he's not working in the duka, he's off in arusha buying supplies for the duka. yesterday i guess he was just at the bar all day. thats how it is here - the women do pretty much all the work except if it involves money. but my baba is really nice and speaks pretty good english. Finally, I hgave a 3 year old brother named Dave(d)y. He is hilarious. He has this smile that is just infectious. We don't understand much of anything each other says.. other than when he calls my name and I say his in return. But that doesn't seem to matter much... Davedy seems quite taken yesterday. The other night I was laying in bed reading (I have my own room) getting ready for bed.. and Davedy bursts in balling because he wanted to sleep with me but baba wouldn't let him. We ended up letting him fall asleep with me in my bed and then carrying him to h is room. All in all I really like my family... and I'm glad to be styaing with them. Sometimes being in Bangata is a little... intense because its a small village and wazungu (white people) are not exactly common so we get started at all the time. When I walk to school (or walk anywhere) little kids yell mzungu at me. It was kind of harmless at first, but turns out its not the most polite term. My mama yelled at someone the other day for calling me a mzungu in front of her. The other evening I was hanging out with some kids at Mama Nunu's - which is where we have class... and these little boys that always poke their heads over the wall and yell at us... started throwing things. First sticks, then rocks. One hit my friend Torrey in the head. I mean he wasn't seriously hurt or anything... but sometimes I'm not entirely sure how welcome we are in Bangata. I guess it just takes some getting used to being stared at all the time.
So I guess I'll give you a little idea of what we do each day. In the morning I wake up and have chai (tea) and bread before walking to school. We have swahili class from about 8:30-10:30, when we break for chai and biscuits. Then we have class again until 1:00 when we have lunch. Swahili is going really well - its a pretty easy lanugage to learn, and Ireally feel like I can communicate with people. But having a mama that speaks some english is still very nice. After lunch we have the afternoon free and we usually hang out and do homework. Its really our only chance to be together during the week... so we usually hang around there until around 5:30 or so. Then we walk back home and I have more chai, and my mama usually makes me a snack. I do some socializing with the family and homework, until dinner at around 8:30/9.. then hang out for a little bit before bed.
Last weekend there was a wedding essentially in my backyard that I got to go too. Earlier in the day before the wedding started, Davedy dragged me outside and kept saying the work kakei (cake) and i thought he was going to show me the wedding cake. Then we turned the corner and there was a goat being skinned at roasted. Turns out at weddins their "kakei" is mbuzi (goat). On sunday the wanafunzi (students) got together and went on a hike to anearby waterfall. At one point we got stopped by some men with machetes and had to bribe them to let us pass. It was interesting... they are supposed to charge us if we are residents of Bangata, which we are, but since we were white, they figured they could stop us. The waterfall was really pretty, but unfoprtunatley we couldn't bathe in it or take pictures because we hadn't bribed enough for that.
We shower our of buckets here so some water pressure would have been greatly appreciated.
on sunday we are leaving to go on a week of safari to taragarie national park, after which we will return to our homestays for a week. i'm really excited for safar because it will give us all a chance to hang out together a lot more (which like i said we don't get to do too often). Also on sunday right before we go my friend Kelsey and I are giving the first of our Ecological Concept Lectures (ECs). All the talks consist of 2-3 students giving an hour long lecture about a specific topic to the group. We are talking about the savanna ecosystem. I'm a little nervous but also excited becuase we have a lot of neat things to talk about. It will be really nice when its over too becuase this week has been very busy with work... and then I'll get to relax a little on safari.

well, i have so much to say, but i'm not sure if this blog with up load if i type for much longer. this morning we went to a food market in arusha. i've never seen so many bananas in my life. one minute it would smell amazing, and then next you would have to hold your breath to keep from gagging. I bought two maembe (mangoes) for 200 shilings (about 15 cents - total) and a parachichi (avocado) for 200 shillings. sooo yummy!!
Turns out I can actually recieve mail too (we have an address) although I presently don't remember what it is and neither does Rusty who's sitting next to me...
I'll be back in town again on Saturday, so more updates then. Hope all is well, and please send me updates about your lives!!!
baadaye (later)
Rachael