Spoke too soon.

"Hey look, I've been eating things without washing my hands first and I don't really care anymore. Maybe I'm getting used to living real life." (*laughs*)

...

So.

This was Tuesday afternoon, right after walking home from a long day at school, and I bought an orange on the street which is what prompted me to say this. . . . . . Here is an excerpt from my journal the next day:

Today I was sick. Very sick. Nausea, vomiting, the works (trust me). . . definitely from something I ate. All I've been able to stomach is plain bread and tea. . . and even that doesn't go too well. Recently, Harun has been trying to get me to text in only Swahili and today we had a short conversation. With my not-so-excellent skills, I explained "siendi Arusha shuleni. mimi ni mgongwa." (I am not going to Arusha School. I am sick person.) He brought me some herbs to make tea, literally a bowl of huge green leaves to be boiled in water. Mama Guta came to check up on me and she's just such a warm person. She left me saying "God cure you. . . you understand?" with the biggest smile on her face. "Ndiyo," I replied, "na Asanta Sana" (Yes, and Thank You).

She laughed some more since I used Swahili and closed the door behind her. Harun is Guta's son, by the way. He's about my age (I believe) and does a lot for us. When Harun came over to give me tea, we talked for hours (maybe?) because I told him that I felt worse when I was alone because I'd have nothing to focus on except my uneasy state. Here is another part of my journal entry that day:

My favorite thing is the pace of life here. Even when we're spending 7-hour days at the school, the downtime between classes is great. And during the downtime we talk. We talk about all kinds of things. School, relatives, languages, history, religion, music, dancing, cooking . .. . just all sorts of things, and it's all so much less superficial it seems. I don't feel like having a conversation is a chore, it's just genuinely engaging.


So, I got sick and learned my lesson (it wasn't FROM the orange...I don't think I could bare to part with those delicious things) but it really wasn't all that bad. The time spent talking to the people around me is what got me through.