It is Friday!!

Another week is over! Crazy. So this week was good—I did more language therapy stuff this week. A lot of it was interacting with kids through play and songs with the other clinicians. I really fell in love with a couple of little boys in Haven 3, the Haven where the babies with HIV, TB, and other health problems stay. Their names are Matt and Bennett. They each have their own personalities and they just click with mine. We have good times. Every afternoon I end up going over there to play with them specifically. I like encouraging them to get pumped up and talk to me.  I taught one to say Anna today! AWESOME! They are incredibly cute!

I think I have already posted about a typical week for me, and I will say that this week was pretty typical. I had been a little down after being sick again on Sunday, but after Tuesday I felt a lot better and was loving everything more.

I can’t remember if I have mentioned singing with Webster or not…so I will elaborate. Well, Webster is one of the two night watchmen that guard our houses throughout the evening into morning. One night last week, a small group of us was chatting with him and he taught us a song in Tonga. He liked it so much he made us sing to our group. Well then everyone liked it so much that Webster started “singing practice” with us every evening. Since then, we have learned—and quite nicely perfected—a couple of songs. He is really good at teaching us and he really enjoys it. It’s been fun. We have often sung some of these songs with the aunties and the kids at the Havens during the day. I think it is a beautiful statement to our willingness to form relationships among the people here. It is just a simple way to stop trying to impress—if you will—our own songs from our own culture upon them and humble ourselves by joining theirs. One of the aunties always sings with us and it is awesome to see her not only to that but to also open up to us in other ways. She invites us to help prepare the toddlers’ lunches and she sits with us during our time with them. Her name is Beatrice and I am sure you will see pictures and hear more stories of her.

Tomorrow some of us will go into town to pick up things we need, but it will also be a free day. I need to go to the Havens and prepare for gathering research for my capstone project on development. So I am sure I will start that tomorrow or Sunday. I also hope to take some pictures and maybe video of the place we are staying. I have lots of documentation of the kids and some from our trip here, but not a lot more.

 Right now the power is out for the third night in a row—it has been going out only at night lately and about an hour after dinner. So, we are sitting around with headlamps, flashlights, etc…playing games, chatting, watching movies, whatever. That’s just how it goes.

I will be posting this once power is back!

Love.