"I have got to get someone to look at all this fungus!"

Recently

Ahh, fungus on my arms, a constant sore throat, ringworm, fleas... yep, you guessed it... I am spending a lot of time with Image Village's children. And believe me there is no shortage of them. I think probably 75% of women at child bearing age will have or already have had a child while I have lived there. Mama Lau is pregnant, William's wife is pregnant, Osmond's wife is pregnant, Stan's wife is pregnant... The list goes on. Anyways, I play with kids that are already born. I hold their grubby hands, they sneeze on me, they wipe their noses on my shirt... and I take it all. I ignore that clothes smell like pee and don't think about what I might be catching. I pick up kids who are crying, spin kids by their arms, have huge coloring parties, have skipping races down our main street. Since I am the only adult that gives any child an iota of positive attention, I have gotten pretty popular in Image. Shouts of "Brieeeee!" follow me everywhere.

Kimulimuli seems to being doing better. He is now subsisting on a diet composed of avocados (his wishes, not mine.) We had a huge party because Puce butchered a pig. Image villagers get meat so rarely that it calls for a party. Anyways, I brought Muli some of it and he wanted none of it. Probably making him the most spoiled cat in Africa. I can't believe that I was even able to turn my cat into being a vegetarian!!!!

A noise in the night... not animal, not just the house shifting, distinct footsteps.... Really? Again? I reach the bedside table and curl my fingers around my huge Tanzanian machete. I am prepared this time. The footfalls in the grass pass under my window, from the sound of the crickets and where the moon is I would guess that it is about two am. The footsteps continue on. I begin to breathe again. I giggle a little bit at myself. What is a girl like me doing prepared to use a machete? Would I actually be able to use it on a person? I maybe have changed more than I thought in Tanzania. Still, because I am a wimp, I take the machete and a blanket to my living room couch where I sleep for the next week. Almost two years in and I still let myself be afraid here, I hate that I am not tougher. I try to do the math of the hundreds of nights I have spent in my village and the fact that I have only had an incident once. What is the probability it will ever happen again? I don't know because I have never been good at math. :-) I admit to William that I am scared again. Has he heard anyone talk about breaking in? He assures me, "Brie you are safe here. Everyone is respecting you. If something happens we will just do what we did before. You scare him away and call me." Which is true, everyone is "respecting" me. I tell Felix, my village chairperson who I LOVE, that I am scared again. He says, "Hamnashida, Brie, Usijali." Literally: Not a problem, Brie, don't mind. Felix calls a meeting with my guards and asks them to be extra vigilant. Turns out one of my guards went on a pee break on that side of my house and just took the back way to walk around. I was afraid of my own guards. I am an idiot.

I spent a good part of one day watching a soap opera with half my village on our tv. It was originally in Spanish and then dubbed in English. Then I translated where need be into Swahili. It was maybe the stupidest show I have ever seen, however, I love watching tv with my villagers. They are so shocked and surprised by anything that happens. They find the wrong things hilarious and because Tanzanians have a verbal sound for every reaction, tv watching is never a quiet or individual type thing.

I read one of the best books that I have ever read this week (actually it all took place from Friday evening to Saturday evening). It is called "Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: Story of an African Childhood" by Robyn Scott. It is about a family from New Zealand, where the parents decide to move to Botswana. The oldest child writes the story of her family's adventures. It was brilliant. Read it and let me know if you do! I actually cried at the end, not because it was sad, but because I didn't want it to end. On a side note, if you know my parents you are bound to see similarities between her parents and my own. They are vegetarian. The dad is always giving his kids little pieces of wisdom, trying to get them interested in whatever project he is working on, and the part where he is dissecting a puff adder, I couldn't help but think about my Dad and the koi. The mom is a jack of all trades type, with knowledge about everything. She home schools her kids and sees everything as a learning experience. She is very into natural medicine and healing. (Mom- she even uses Rescue Remedy on all their pets like you do!) At the end of the book, I missed my family more than ever. If you know my family than give my parents, sisters and brothers all a big huge from me!