DJ Nice

I am sorry its been so long! I don't even know where to begin. I've settled into my place. It has been nuts. Like I've said before, I have a a HUGE family. Once I get one group to leave, the next batch comes in and I have to try get them to leave in broken SiSwati so I can take a bath. I painted my room white...creative, I know. I've been reading a lot and working in the clinic every morning. Everyday I am learning something. Somedays crawl...other days I can't wait to sleep. :) I walked 12 miles to my Kagogo center the other day (6 mi each way) and it was harder than I thought. I like walking, but in the mountains in the heat...it was difficult. People constantly stopping me to talk in Siswati or wanting to give me a ride. By the end of the day all I wanted was some water and to avoid conversations at all costs to avoid delaying my trip even longer. I stumbled into a store and bought a fanta. I guzzled it down while the teenage boys at the desk watched. I so badly wanted to smash the can on my forehead and let out a big burp since I had such an attentive audience. But I decided to place it in the trash can instead.

I am officially a volunteer. We had a swear in meeting and one of the King's wives came and made a speech. It was at the ambassador's house. It was great and two of my friends were elected to give the speech. One in SiSwait and the other in English. We spent the whole night before (nothing like waiting til the last minute) to write the speech. It was fun and after we all went out on the town (30 of us) and enjoyed each other's company. A few of us took a taxi and the driver insisted that I picked the music for the drive. I always confirmed that the music choice is what he wanted, so he called me "DJ Nice" and now some of the volunteers call me that. If he was handing out gangster names, I would have prefered something like "Ice" or "Slither"...I guess I'll settle for "DJ Nice". He just best be not callin' me dat on the streets.

I walked to the clinic the other day. I am the pharmacist actually. Scarey. I know. I also weigh babies and mothers. Its about a 15-20 min walk from my house. I take this simple dirt path straight there and pass the same homesteads each morning. I wave at the same people and use the same limited siswati everyday. Kids come outside to watch me walk past. I feel like I'm in a parade or something. Like I need shriners in go carts circling me while I throw out candy. Well, anyway, one morning in particular it was foggy. Real foggy. As I stumbled though the path squinting my eyes with my big puffy hot orange raincoat on, I saw a dog. A mean dog. Black, so it was wasy to see in the fog. As I got closer, we locked eyes. I gave him the look that says, "Touch me...and you die." I looked around for anything to throw as it began to bark. I found an empty fanta can as my ammunition...weak. As I slowly walked around the dog letting see that I wasn't scared, we continued to gaze into each other's eyes. Thats when it happened. Its like we had a connection. An understanding. A mutal respect. That's when I suddenly realized. So this is what Kevin Cosner felt in Dances With Wolves. When he would encounter that mysterious wolf and they had a respect for each other. Who knew that movie was so deep. It took me years to understand. A trip to Africa. I so badly wanted a Kevin Cosner voice to narrate my thoughts while I walked. When I continued walking, I looked back hoping the dog hadn't suddenly decided to attack and jump on my back, but to my suprise it was gone...and I didn't even get to say goodbye. haha

Anyways, I hope all is well. I don't have a lot of time but I miss you all and hope to hear from you soon. I love you guys! A lot.