Tuesday didn’t start off the best. It was one of those days where you wake up knowing that you should just stay home and do nothing. I was woken up by my roommate, one of the secondary school teachers, telling me that there were sweet potatoes that I can boil and eat. Awesome!...but not at 6:30am. As I’m getting ready I hear the back door open. Anytime a Kenyan approaches a house they always yell out “Hodi!” to announce themselves. I heard no “Hodi”, but when I came out of my room I found the milk man…yep, a guy who brings fresh cow’s milk in the AM for my roommates, and he was about to pour milk into my “treated water ONLY” pitcher that he got off the table from inside my house. I quickly stopped him and gave him something else. Then, I reluctantly went into Malindi to run some errands. It was a very risky drive into town because the matatu driver thought it would be a good idea to race a huge bus to the next village. It’s a very bumpy, rocky, and uneven road mind you. Finally in town and my day gets a bit better. My last stop was to buy more paint for my house. After waiting for the hardware store to reopen after lunch (1.5 hours), I saw my friend the Hardware Store Guy, Hussin. He gave me a huge discount on the paint and brushes. He always treats me well and I’m sure it helps that I’m a girl, white, and can speak a bit of Giriama, so he enjoys my visits. He also gave me money for the tuk tuk (three wheeled golf cart looking thingy) ride to the stage. At the stage, I caught the bus that my conductor friend, Masudi, works on and he gives me free rides. The day was looking up! Back in Jilore, I rushed over to see the headmaster at school before he left. He looked over another proposal that I had finished and approved it. So, I emailed that off. Yay! I was so tired and beat from the day that I went home to go to bed early. Oh, but no so fast…..after I got done bathing, I came back into my room and found evidence of a rat eating a mango that I had on my desk! When I came into my room, it had scared him off, but that also meant that he was still in my room! So….I went on a hunt. I set a trap with a piece of mango as the bait and was about to set it up on the floor when I heard a sound from the window. On the window louvers was the sneaky bastard! I placed the trap on the window sill and I left the room, closed the door and just waited….it took about 10 mins for him to take the bait and SNAP! goes the trap. I was proud that my plan had worked, but then extremely grossed out because now I had to get rid of the body…yuck! Grossed out the whole time, I took trap (rat attached) outside. Finally! After all these events, I went to bed and ended such a rough day!
The next day turned out to be A LOT better! I was able to speak to the MP of Malindi at a fish pond opening and he said that money will be arriving in two weeks to start renovations on the dispensary. This means we’ll be receiving money for electricity installation, a new roof and painting inside and out to start the project! I also passed along the proposal for the resource center and he will be getting back to me next week about what he can donate. Sweet deal, it was a good day!
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