DAY #7

Another build day. The first house is getting done really quickly but we are all concerned about the quality of the cement blocks. The local men are not as patient as Mary with them and are not doing the dry/wet down/dry method to dry them and they are very brittle. Just picking them up to move them breaks them...they can't hold their own weight! We didn't have any problem at Mary's. The women are still being shunned by the local men and our basic working task is to pick up the broken pieces of cement blocks that are scattered around the site. Oh and we're also allowed to sweep (we use a tree branch to do that...works pretty well!)

Carolyn and Martha are still pretty much on lunch duty. Its a big thing because they have no way to preserve the food. So a run to the market everyday is needed. Our lunches have been made up of rice, a little chicken, lentils, some greens and maize (they call it papa). The first time I saw the papa I thought that it was mashed potatoes...oh, I was so wrong! Its a favorite dish for the locals but it basically tastes like raw and unflavored cream of wheat...but a little worse.


Thabiso eating papa (maize)

None of us could handle it the day that was all we had to eat. We begged Carolyn and Martha to try to convince the women to cook rice for us...it worked. The greens (we're not sure what kind) were picked from their little garden, washed (love that dirty water...oh Boston you're my home) and cut.





The family's kitchen was outside. It was made up of a bush of sorts that went around the area, leaving an opening to walk in and out. The cooking was done on a fire with two large pots and a tea kettle. The first day we were there this was our biggest shock. It was hard to wrap you mind around it coming from our world of indoor kitchens. I mean, sure we go camping and stuff but this is their real kitchen, and boy do they work wonders in that kitchen!


Tana, neighborhood boy, Thabiso and Eva

Thabiso, who we nicknamed Bruno, because he would beat up the other kids and if they retaliated in any way he would just burst out crying. He was always eating (picture of him eating maize)...he was one of our favorites.

Oh, and I have to mention Bones!!! Bones is a homeless dog (there are tons of them!) that was at Mary's house the first day. It was cold that first morning and she was curled up at the doorway to Mary's original house and she was shaking like mad! When one of the workers went over to get some tools that were located by where she was laying he made a motion to kick her and she growled with her teeth bared. The locals hate these dogs and just kick them, throw rocks at them, anything to get them to go away. The man didn't kick Bones though thank goodness but we now knew why she was growling so much at him. I nicknamed Bones Bones because thats what she was, bones with fur. Claude and I took a vow right then and there to smuggle some breakfast foods, bread from our tea times and some lunch over and feed it secretly to Bones. If we were caught the locals would hate us because they hardly had any food so their thoughts would be, why would we be feeding a useless dog instead of giving the food to them. We weren't able to get close to Bones the first day for obvious reasons but little by little she is warming up to us and we can see the brightness in her eyes when she sees us approaching.


We love Bones!

Random note: My nose has been bleeding lately with the dry air. I'm not use to it being so dry...my hair is pretty darn straight too which is very surprising because it's always curly.

Today Richard, Carolyn, Patricia and Chris went to an orphanage. We all couldn't go so we made a card and put money in the card and it was presented to the head of the orphanage. Because I was the "team artist" I drew my little Eli Elephant on the front of the card. Richard and Carolyn told me that the children LOVED the elephant drawing and was so happy to see it. I wish I could have gone to visit the orphanage but it just wasn't possible. Its probably for the best though because I would have tried to take some kids home with me. :)