Two countries for the price of one!

So yesterday was our first non-program day! We started off by sleeping in until 7:15 and then hopped in the Land Cruisers to Oliotokitok. We hiked through a huge cornfield and down into a gorge between the Kenya and Tanzania border. I actually ate lunch on the Tanzanian side of the border:) Then we explored down the river for about an hour before going back to town to shop. My banda mate and I ended up getting a phone so we could chat with our families every now and then. Apparently any incoming calls are free (even if from out of the country). The fabrics in town were beautiful! Isobel, Ange, and I also ended up going into the fruit market to buy some mangos, passion fruit, and apricots. It's the season for mangos! Then it began to pour. Since the short rainy season was pretty non-existant, I hope the long rainy season, which is right around the corner, happens. We all got in the cars and headed back to Kimana to play soccer with the secondary school down the road. Even though it was raining, we rode with the windows down. It was so nice not to have dust flying up in your face! When we got back to campus we all put on our game faces and walked down to Kimana Secondary School. It is a boarding school for both boys and girls. We played soccer...and we lost...they were even going easy on us. When I came out to take a break I ended up talking to a group of girls about school, family, and what we want to be when we grow up. They wanted to be lawyers, family physicians, radio broadcasters, tour guides, broadcast journalists, teachers, scientists... I can't wait to go back and hangout with them. This one girl Ester is a hoot!

Today we had our Wildlife Ecology class in the field. We were up on top of this little mountain. The view of Mt. Kili was amazing. During class 3 little boys decided to come up and see the wazungi (white people). One of them came up and started playing with my watch because I was making reflections on the rocks whenever I moved my hand. Then we came back and had 2 more classes. I ran 6 miles to finish off the day. Oh yeah! We got water heaters installed! They only work when we have electricity...so 4 hours a day we have hot water.

Friday is our first safari day! I am really excited. We go to Amboseli National Park so I should see a few elephants:) Then we have our first community service day on Saturday and another Non-Program Day on Sunday! Also the duka opens on Friday...so we get CANDY (I sound like the kids in the village).

Friday I should have some exciting stories!