getting comfortable

we're settling down ok now that we're not traveling so much. i'm getting used to the meal routine and the bucket bathes. tomorrow, we get our first shot at doing laundry at the lake.

yesterday was our first day on the farm. we only do around 2 hours a day in the morning, before it gets super hot. so far, we've been planting lots of kale. droves of dragonflies swarm around us, but the other bugs aren't that bad--it's the hippos that are the menace. they come out at night and dig up the sweet potatos. the farmers sleep in grass huts on the fields so they can scare the hippos off with metal cans hanging on the trees. on monday, the farmer is taking erica and me on a boat to see where the hippos sleep during the day. i asked him if we could eat one, but he said we'd need a gun and a wild park guy's approval. fair enough.

yesterday, after our labor, i tried to buy a papaya off the farmer, so now he brings us lots of papayas every day after work. it's fantastic. i'm no longer worried at all about having enough food. all day, we feast on papayas and avocados and pineapple. we've started eating more regular meals too, but the dinner is a bit late to suit me. we've been having it around 9 or 10 pm, which is essentially my bedtime, but i guess it does take a lot longer to prepare food over an open flame. food is delicious though. one night we had telapia and catfish stewed in a tomato/onion broth, and the other night we had potatos and cabbages mixed in with rice. yum. for lunch, we had ugali--a sort of corn bread--with fulu, which is lots of small, salted telapia cooked with tomatoes and onions and spices. once again, delicious.

i've noticed that i've started talking like a third grader, that is, simply. apologies if it's interfering with my blogging abilities.

70% of this region's population is HIV+. that's the highest in kenya, which has the highest in the world. it's hard to believe this when i look at people. everyone seems extremely healthy and tall and well built. ken's grandmother is over 80 yrs old (obviously, SHE doesn't have HIV), but her back is really straight, she has good teeth, and she can still dance at church. other old people i meet seem in equally good shape. also, the children here are amazing. ken's youngest brother sullivan is 3. he can run barefooted across the yard with the most sure-footed stride of any 3 yr old i've ever seen--no tottering for that young fella. he can also drink hot tea out of a grown up cup and entertain himself for hours on end. stella, a 7 yr old aids orphan, looks after sullivan. she washes him in the mornings and brings him his sweater when it gets chilly at night. she also does a good portion of the housework. we've seen lots of other kids that are barely 5 taking care of younger sibs of 1 or 2. children rarely cry or make much noise at all. it seems like the ones who don't know how to talk just don't talk. they toddle amongst the older children mutely in their small blue sandles.

yesterday, erika broke out the frisbee (legitimately whamo) and started a session of 500 that lasted a good hour or two. we would throw high releases or push passes and a herd of ~5 boys of varying ages and heights would scramble all over each other to throw the disc back to us. i saw some pretty good roundhouse and back kicks break out. one kid especially liked to hold another kid's leg to keep him from going anywhere. he must've learnt this from herding goats. we've seen similar maneuvers from shepherds amongst their stock. most of the time, the "catch" degenerated into an all out pile on--always amusing to watch from a distance. also, there were some very athletic catches in the air while other kids hung on to shoulders and head (even if they did get stripped of the disc immediately upon landing). plenty of kids got hit in the head with the disc in the mayhem, but the reaction was always surprised laughter (kind of a "silly me, i wasn't paying attention") and never a cry.

during this intro to frisbee, i bought a whip from a vendor for 200 shillings (it was a retooled car tire), and all the kids had a crack with it. i'm glad to report that no one has lost an eye.

in the afternoons, we're supposed to work in the community computer center, but the blackout yesterday meant we could do whatever. gerald took us to a field on a motorcycle (in itself interesting--ever ridden 3 on a bike before?), and gave us lessons. i found the gas really sensitive so i stalled the thing a couple of times. lots of fun though. i hope we can go often. by the way, gerald is the kid with a crush on erika. we've gotten lots of marriage proposals along the way (mostly from people who want green cards or see us as cash cows), and i'm not sure gerald is much different, but we will probably see him every day for the next week and a half, and he's already asked erika to go to a bar with him, so he may be the most awkward to deal with. still, i'm glad it's not me (i generally have the good excuse of being engaged though. thanks jon for getting on that horse).

this is getting long, so so long for now (and thanks for the fish). remind me to talk about the hand out culture sometime.