Settling In

Mambo,

Africa. I'm still not quite here yet. Maybe a few more days and it might sink in. I'm getting along with all of my volunteer compadres pretty well. They are all so different than what I imagined but in a way that's even cooler. I ended up going to the orphanage that day and it was amazing. 80 kids in a space that could comfortably fit a family of 4...maybe. It was dank and musty and while I was visiting I could feel my throat get scratchy and my nose start to run. I've got a flu (or as I like to call it back home, a cold). Of all the things to get I mean I figured Malaria, Diareha, maybe even Typhoid, but a cold? That was about 238th on the list. Thank god I brought the small n, small y, big fucking Q. Thats right nyQuill has been saving me. Another thing that has been saving me is THIS COUNTRY.

I'm at ease a little more every day. That conversations that I have and things that I see are unbelievable. The trip to the orphanage proved to be too much on my knees which for those who don't know have torn ligaments in them. I'm now working closer to the house that I'm staying and I'll be at the orphanage on the weekends. Working in a developing country has it's ups and downs and unexpected too. the key is to seriously go with the flow. I understand now how important it is to stay open and I will understand it more as my time rolls on.

We haven't had running water since I got here. No shower, no problem. Those of you who know me know that it's a rare thing when I've showered on consecutive days and laundry isn't much of an issue either. Maybe for my compadres but not me. We eat some far out food here, some stuff I've never even heard of, but thank god I grew out of that whole picky eating thing. The food is great. I started work today at a nursery school close to home. The children are so unbelievable. They touch my skin and my beard may be as interesting as what I'm teaching. They are so intrigued by it. I let them do that and hang on me and touch me and I guess someone else would feel overwhelmed but the funny thing is, in some weird way, I feel like it's a blessing straight from God. I feel like I'm blessed to be here doing my part.

Last night my compadre Lesley from the U.K. told me of her day and how it had not gone so hot. She talked about wanting to do so much and that for all she's done (and she's done so much) that it felt like she hadn't made a dent. She logged on to her e-mail and got a message from her pastor and then logged on to her prayer site and in 10 minutes was feeling better already. When we were talking I was trying to think of an analogy. The one that I thought of was that if Africa is a mountain and to get better, that mountain must be covered with snow, we must concentrate on being our own snowflakes. Covering a mountain or even a tree with one snowflake is impossible. It takes millions of snowflakes to do this, but that doesn't mean that anyone of the snowflakes is insignificant. Sometimes we want to cover more ground than is possible and we lose sight of the fact that we are just one. I told her to concentrate on being your own change and peace and that would make all the difference. I'm doing the same. All snowflakes come from above and rest on the mountainside and from here, I can tell you, the view is amazing.

Salaama,

Nathan