Nina hamasisha kuhusu UKIMWI!

Hello again from Babati! Orientation is coming to a close in 2 days, and we've gotten a lot done. One of my favorite things yesterday was a panel with HIV+ speakers from Babati who also provide care for HIV patients. It helped to remind us of why we're really here.

I have made good friends with the other volunteers and teaching partners, and it's crazy that in two days we'll be split up into different villages (though I'll have 4 or 5 others living in the same village).

Today we picked up the skirts we had made out of kangas and kitanges. This was particularly exciting because they were custom made for us, with fabric we chose, for the equivalent of about $8 per skirt. One of mine is a Barack Obama skirt, with Obama's face on the front, and two maps of Africa, one on each hip. Above his face it says "Hongera Barack Obama", and across the bottom it says something about him bringing peace to the world. I also have one with zebras and one that's a little more fancy with a pretty purple pattern.

Our cook for orientation, Mama Sia, takes very good care of us. She always tries to pile food onto our plates even when we try to pull the plates away. She usually cooks ugali, which is like a thick cream of wheat - like substance, or rice, and there is usually a serving of beans to go along. Vegetables are usually spinach or cabbage. We sometimes have this thick bread called chapati that is like a thick oily tortilla. One night I had chips miai (probably misspelled), which is like a french fry omelette. I am a fan. With all of this food, though, it's good that we are walking a lot too. Not eating meat has not really been a problem. Meat is so expensive here that it is rarely the main course. There are three volunteers who are vegetarians, and we've been told it should be okay with our homestay families.

Walking down the street, kids usually yell "mzungu" at us, as if we were unaware that we are white people. Our Swahili teacher told us to respond with "mafrica", but it feels a little funny to me to yell "black person!" My favorite response is "Eco wapi?" (where?).

One of the teaching partners has fallen ill with malaria, and it is a sobering reminder that we need to be careful. However, our new favorite phrase regarding African humor is "malarious". As in, is that funny? No, it's malarious.

I'm not sure I'll make it back to the internet cafe before I leave Babati, so if I don't have an entry for a little while don't worry, I will on my first weekend trip.