Weekend

This weekend we helped out around the house. We washed our clothes in buckets and hung them out to dry. Apparently we didn't do a very good job of wringing out our clothes, though because our host mom took them all down and rung them out again so that they would stop dripping. We walked around the neighborhood, and very near to our houses are two huge mining holes. All around the top of the hole, women sat with huge piles of rocks and a hammer, breaking them into pieces all day in the sun for only $2 a day. I felt very thankful that that was not my job. What a horrible way to spend ones life, but it is major industry, and many are employed to do this work.

We learned how to make chapati pancakes, and at night we had a talent show. All the kids did an act, from singing and dancing to storytelling. Hannah and I wrote a story about a giraffe bigger than Mount. Meru, and I acted it out, making scary faces, juggling things, and walking on my hands. We were a big hit.

Then, Sunday before the sun had risen, through complete darkness we walked through the banana fields on small dirt paths, the light slowly beginning to pour through the tops of the trees. Our family is Catholic, and so we went to the first mass. We were the only white people there, and apparently last week Hannah had to introduce herself in front of everyone. There was lots of singing and clapping and standing up and sitting down, and it was a beautiful sight to see so many people gathered together so early to share their thanks, beliefs, worries, and prayers.