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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Hand gestures

There is a hand gesture here that I am having a hard time getting used to.
In the USA when we hold up a hand and open and close it, it means "bye-bye" or "hello". The same gesture means "come here" to the people here. I have had a couple of misunderstandings because of this.
A couple times people have been trying to get me to come over to them, and I have simply waved back thinking they were saying hello. They kept waving at me, now frusterated and probably thinking, "no, I want you to come here!"
At school the kids say goodbye to the teachers before leaving for the day. Sometimes the kids will wave goodbye at me (by waving their hand side to side) and without thinking I will wave back by opening and closing my hand. This is confusing to them because they are trying to leave to go home, and I seem to be calling them to come back to school!
I know in my head what this gesture means here, it is just hasn't become like a reflex yet.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Hooray for flip-flops


There are certainly some difficult things about living in Africa, but I try to count my many blessings. One thing I love is that I get to wear flip-flops here all the time, everyday. Even the doctors and nurses in the hospital wear them!
I went on a long walk the other day and got a couple of blisters, but I am hoping that soon my feet will be tougher and I can walk anywhere in my sandals.
I brought nice Brazilian flip-flops here with me, but cheap ones can be bought at the market for just over a dollar.

School


Here is a picture of me with some of the boys from the kindergarden that I help in. Every Friday we have a time outside under some mango trees at the school where we have singing, dancing, and lesson.