First week over, now SAFARI weekend.

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I have pretty much finished up my first week here in Tanzania. Today I will attend my firt home visit to one of my students houses, he is unable to make it to school in the morning becasue of his disability. I do not know what to expect,but I know that I will gain much from this expereince, and hopefully I can make a good impact on his life. At school yesterday, I introduced my kids to a frisbee. They loved it, and surprisingly they were really good at it. Thier patience and eagerness to learn blows me away. Each child patiently waits for his/her turn to through the frisbee, and when they do throw it all of the children cheer as it soars. One student in particular really loved the frisbee, Godfrey. He must have played with one before, or he was just an insnae natural, but him and I actually had somewhat of a little game going. I hope that he will be able to enjoy that frisbee long after I am gone.
Yesterday was I long day for me, becasue of the sideffects that the malaria. I only take it once a week, but on those days I really feel tired and out of it, but I made through just fine, and by the afternoon I felt great; Just in time for the Orphanage visit. Up until yesterday I really think that I have been in somewhat of a schock...either that or I became emotionally numb to some of the morbid and depressing sights I have taken in, but for some reason my time at the orphange, playing with infants and toddlers kind of helped me process some things. It made me realize that, things are different here, simple as that. There is nothing that I can do to make that change, and to do so would be wrong. These people have been living like this for ever, and just because I think it seems bizarre or depressing it does not mean that it is to them. For the most part these people do not know anything different. So the best thing that I can do is accept the culture, add my two cents, and see what kind of reaction I get.

My time at the orphange was definitely the most difficult thing that I have had to do since I have been here. Seeing how alone these infants and toddlers are was really heart breaking yet it was really nice to come to them and make a difference in their day. We all just tried to give them all as much attention and love as possible, becasue truthfully they really will not get it else where; no parents and minimal staff, that just makes sure that they are alive, and THATS IT. I made a really good connection with one little girl in particular, she was so cute, and did not want to leave my side. It was so apparent that she was deprived of physical contact, because all she could do was grab a hold of you, and if you didnt push her away she would always come back. Leaving was even more difficult. A few outburst of tears from the children is what almost got me going, but soon they realized that crying would not get them anything, so it subsided. We said our goodbyes, and headed back to home-base. Later last night I really just tried to realax and sort things out, and I feel so much better about everthing, and cant wait for my up coming adventure.
My Safari will be through the Ngorngoro crater, and another natioanl part near by. We leave today right after lunch and come back sunday evening. I will be riding wild elephants in no time, haha. I suppose that is it for now.. More Later.

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