June 29 - First night in Selengo

Tonight I am writing from the floor of the Selengo feeding center director's office by candle light. This is Jayme's and my first night in the village.

Comfy beds, eh?

We were picked up at the Teethsaver's house at 9:30AM and driven up here after stopping at the grocery store to buy supplies for our host family and the home visits in the village. Once we got here, we were greeted by Jimmy, the feeding center director, and about ten energetic kids who had just gotten out of school.  They were excitedly shouting "Hello!" and chattering in Chichewa.  After unloading our things, we played with the kids for hours. They wanted the unzungu to play on the playground with them, kick the football (soccer ball) with them, follow them down to the well, anything.  At any one time, Jayme and I had two or more kids hanging on each of our hands. They were so sweet and excited! My only complaint is that it seemed like the only words they knew in English were "Hello," and "Give me -." I even had a little boy ask me to give him my ponytail holder. He didn't know the word, but he said "Give me" and then motioned like he was putting his hair in a ponytail. His head was shaved!

A little while later, the older kids came over after school.  The girls swarmed us, practicing their English with questions like "What is your name?" and "How old are you?"  They taught us to play ball and were better about using our names instead of just "uzungu."  

 This afternoon, Jimmy took us up into the villages for home visits.  Selengo is mountainous, so the hike was gorgeous! Oh my gosh, it was amazing. We even got to cross a creek! The home visits went really well.  Jimmy translated for us so we were able to communicate with the families.  They all wanted to take pictures with us. :)

Delivering our gifts of soap, salt, and sugar

Waving goodbye to kids who followed us out of the village shouting "Uzungu! Uzungu!"

This evening, before eating dinner and watching the World Cup on a tiny black and white TV that was powered by a car battery, Jayme and I saw the most stars we have ever seen before!  With no other lights, the stars looked brilliant and we were even able to see the Milky Way. Wow!