October 17th 5:49 pm (UTC +1:00)

Ok, so I don’t need the universal time code, but it’s fun to use it in some way. I tried cutting it out today and it just felt like something was missing. Also, from what everyone says my posts are very interesting and I’m kind of looking forward to going back 8 months from now and reading through everything. There is so much going on it’s just hard to take it all in. Anyway, kuisay (greeting, sounds like coo-shay) today was a good day. Tom and I took a walk this morning at about 8:30 while all you American peoples were sleeping away at 4:30 in the morning. It was nice, we wandered a back path past the primary school and then circled around and passed through Kamakwie 2 into 1 before returning to the hospital. We ran into Saidu on the way up from Kamakwie and he walked back to the hospital with us and we talked some. We got back to the house to find two pickens(kids) sitting on the porch. I got to know them a little because they walked to church with us and sat with us. The one is Andrew and the other was Abdul, different from the one that comes around to Tom’s house all the time. They are great kids and by the end of the service they decided they like me a lot and were all over me, leaning on me, resting on me. Which was ok, except for the fact that it’s so hot here! Haha. We went to the what is referred to as the Wesleyan mother church in Kamakwie. It’s the biggest and has some power, probably solar, but they have a sound system and fans in the ceiling to help try to keep the people cooler. And tons of windows all thrown wide open. Anyway, the service was nice, a lot of it was in English but hard to understand anyway because they were very passionate about the service. They raised their voices and yelled occasionally and were just very into it. They are very passionate during worship too. They sing at the top of their voices and move and clap it’s a very passionate worship unlike what I’ve seen in all the churches at home I’ve been too. It’s, to use my favorite word of the month, overwhelming, especially because it’s so warm. Another thing I’m trying to get used to is the smell. It’s not that they are particularly unclean but without the use of deodorant, well… you can understand right? There were a good number of people packed into the building too… I tried to ignore it as best I could, I mean, I was in church, but it’s kind of distracting. After church Saidu introduced me to some of his friends. I can’t remember them, as much as I struggle with names at home I’m really having trouble here, between the number of people I meet and everyone looks the same at first. I mean it, all the boys keep their hair cut short so you can’t really identify them from behind and until I see them a few times their facial features just don’t stick with me. Saidu came back with us from church and I visited with him some, but we kept getting interrupted by the Asher’s cat patches, whom I affectionately have dubbed satan, because he is evil. Not really, just very annoying, a big troublemaker. He keeps escaping from the back porch no matter what we do to try and contain him. I had to use a bunch of duct tape to patch a hole in the screen on the porch. We’ll see how well that holds. I talked to Saidu some and eventually age and birthdays came up, would you believe that Saidu, who is 20 years old, has never had a birthday. He knows his birthday which I guess is more than some can say. He told me his birthday is May 4th and I promised we would have a birthday for him before I leave, because it’s just a shame that he has never celebrated the day of his birth. I didn’t do a whole lot after that. I rested for a while because I wasn’t feeling well, mostly due to the heat. We had oranges for dinner, and here they have a strange way of eating them. They peel the outer layer off with a knifw, but not all the way to the fruit, just enough to remove the whole outer skin but have some of the skin left around the fruit. Then they cut off one of the ends and squeeze the orange and just suck the juice out of it. Apparently there is a small risk of getting a parasite from the outer skin if you aren’t careful about how you eat the inside of the orange. It’s not a very attractive way of eating the fruit I must say, what with all the making of faces and the sucking noises, haha. So, I know a lot of you like reading my daily blog but I must inform you that I am leaving tomorrow morning to go with Tom to Freetown to retrieve his wife Karen who is getting in tomorrow evening. I’m exciting for her to come because Tom keeps telling me that she is such a good cook and so I’m kind of excited. Tom has been doing a good job of preparing meals and such so if he feels the need to apologize for how bad his food is his wife must be a great cook. Haha. He asked me if I wanted to stay here or come with him. I feel kind of bad because since I’m going with him I’m going to miss three days of teaching but I just don’t know if I’m ready to be here without Tom. The Mahrs are here and they have offered to let me eat with them if I stay here but it’s the whole family of them and I feel a little awkward intruding. Also, I’m just excited to get to meet Karen, by meet I mean get to know her. I know I have a long time for that but with as much as Tom has referred to her coming I don’t want to wait till Wednesday evening. Additionally I would like a chance to see Freetown without all the other distracting emotions. So, while you wait with bated breath for my next post, I will be recording the things I see and any experiences I have so that I might share them with you.

Blessings from Africa
Ryan Brooks