Fabric Fiasco

Monday, June 10^th

           

            Today I woke up around 5:40am because I was freezing cold. The “winter” season is starting to really show here. My nose was frozen when I woke up and even Liz said she was freezing last night, which means it was cold because I am always 5 times colder than she is. We both got up and got ready for breakfast. I was so happy this morning at breakfast because they brought the crepes back! Crepes here are really just rolled up thin pancakes but they are so, so great. A lot of us have been craving them the past week because they have not been putting them out. We even asked about them yesterday and I think that’s a possibility of why they were out today, haha. After breakfast we left for the schools. We only teach Monday-Wednesday this week and then we are heading to Lake Malawi for the last part of the trip. I was under the impression that we were teaching a full day on Wednesday but we actually are only in the classroom with the kids for about 30 minutes, which means tomorrow is the last full day with them. I cannot fathom the thought of waking up and not being able to see their perfect faces! I love them all so much in their own unique way but there are a few of them that really have a hold of my heart.

First is little Kelvin. Kelvin is without a doubt the smartest kid in the class. He shines so bright and I can see him doing such wonderful things with his life. He walks in every morning with that smile that just captures your whole self. Kelvin is also so loving to all of his classmates. He religiously sits next to Chisomo, who is the girl with Down syndrome in the class. I love looking down at both of them talking and seeing those special moments that will stay with both of them for the rest of their lives. Kelvin is also one of those boys that I just find to be very cool. He’s intelligent, friendly, and has compassion towards others; I’m not sure there could be a better combination. Next is Alex. I don’t really know Alex’s personality too much but he is always willing to try in class. I can’t get the questions out fast enough before he shoots his arm in the air. The best part of it all is that he’s only right about 50% of the time but he never lets that get to him. I love seeing that he doesn’t have fear to fail and only thrives to be a better version of himself. Then there’s Teleza. Oh my, is she a handful. This little girl has so much personality packed into that little body it’s unreal. Her facial expressions just crack me up; they are so full of sass. She was the student from a while back that I saw on the walking trail who was running circles around me and just enjoying a life full of giggles. I love to make little sassy faces at her from across the room and she just gives them right back like we’re best friends. I mentioned Beauty from the very first day and still from that day her and I have never exchanged words but I still love her so much. Her little posture with those gorgeous, large brown eyes have such a way of grasping my full attention. She probably thinks I’m weird because of how much I stare at her but as long as she knows that I think she’s wonderful, that’s all that matters. Then there’s Chisomo, Brian, Promise, Lafiki, Gift, Osman, Ruth, Omega, Devi, and so many others that I never want to leave. It’s so weird to think that after Wednesday, I’m not going to know what they’re doing or where they’re headed. Dr. Kelly said that it’s possible to follow the success of a child but sometimes it’s really hard. I just pray that God takes them and keeps them safe. They are such wonderful children who have taught me so much in such a short time of knowing them.

Liz and I reviewed nouns, verbs, and adjectives today in class and they did amazing! It was so reassuring to see that the lesson from Friday stuck with them over the weekend. During break time I brought out my camera and the kids went CRAZY. It’s hard to get a picture with any of them because they all just jump and climb on top of you. It’s actually really great but I just want a million pictures of their sweet faces. They usually give us hugs as they leave for break and that also turns into mass chaos. I feel like a celebrity because they are all literally pushing one another to get to me first; that’s a love no one else will ever be able to compare to. Honestly, all of us single girls here have decided that this type of love is better than any love Nicolas Sparks has ever written about…but really.

After class with our precious angels we headed over to our class at MIE. Dr. Kelly had to run a few errands so class today consisted of doing planks to work off all of the peanut butter we've been having and watching The Wedding Planner off of Jackie’s computer, best class ever. After that we walked over to the Demonstration school to be picked up by the bus. We then headed to downtown because we only have today and tomorrow to get anything we want before we head out for Lake Malawi on Thursday. I have been on the lookout for this specific fabric to bring back home and I found something so similar to it in the Market. There is this fabric store that we have been going to and I wanted to find something different, so I was so excited when I found the fabrics from the market. The only thing is that this fabric was more than twice the price and half the quantity as the ones from the store we usually go to. I tried hackling with the lady (even walked away to see if she would go down) and it was no use, she was so stubborn with her price. Liz and I finally walked away two times from her because we thought her pricing was ridiculous. Right after we walked away I was instantly regretting not getting it so we turned back around. I was pretty much begging the lady to go down but she was so set on her price. I finally gave in because I wanted it so bad but I let her know that I was really upset about it, in a polite way though, no worries. When we finally came back to buy it the third time I told her that she was breaking my heart by not negotiating better but she didn’t seem to care. At least I’ll have a pathetic story to go along with my beautiful fabric.

After that, Liz and I went up to The Wall so she could find some Chief’s chairs for herself. One of the first days I was here I saw this friendship circle statue piece that I thought would be cute since my Mom had one a while back and to this day the man still tries to negotiate a price with me. I didn’t even show that much of an interest in it but he still remembers after all of this time; I was so impressed due to the 25 different faces on this trip. As I was walking away he told me that he liked my North Face backpack and he was willing to trade with me, haha. In my mind I was thinking absolutely not. I was told that if we take some old shoes or bags that they will negotiate more on items or just trade their items for ours, might have to look through my stuff.

After The Wall, Liz and I made the hike back up to Annie’s. We found Amy upon our arrival and just hung out the rest of the night. We were so happy to turn on the TV to see The Emperor’s New Groove was on! Disney on African television is so much better than Disney on American television, fact. Tomorrow we are showing the class the movie Finding Nemo and having a picture day with them! Pray for our sanity and us as we whip those cameras out in front of them, haha. I cannot wait to capture all of their little faces on my camera and share with you all how beautiful they are!

Until then,

xoxo