Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!
I hope everyone has a great holiday! After days and days of debating on a costume this year I have decided to go as a superhero. This idea came about after being in my village for several weeks and realizing that my villagers seem to think I have the ability to do anything. I had a village meeting the other week where the village government announced to the ENTIRE village that I will be working in the schools, setting up pig raising projects, planting trees, building a dispensary, helping to finish the second primary school, starting a fish keeping project, and also bringing water...from the mountain. I first asked if I would be carrying that water on my head daily, or perhaps I would be provided a mule. Once I had a chance to inform them that I am actually here as a health volunteer and know NOTHING about raising pigs, planting trees, and providing a loving and safe environment for fish we started to talk more about things I can actually do. This really got me thinking though that people really have a lot of faith in my potential abilities. I decided that I'm either a superhero...or Jesus. Not quite having the costume for Jesus this year, I settled on being a superhero instead. There's always next year!
This past week I also discovered that I've been sharing my house with some delightful creatures as well...bats. Last Saturday night I was getting ready for bed and I called for my dog to come. When she didn't run in my room immediately as usual I went into the main room to get her. She was sitting on the ground staring at the wall right next to me. I looked at her confused, then looked at the wall and realized there was a bat just hanging out on the wall. OH MY GOD. I RAN into my room, shut the door, and took 5 to figure out what to do. Having absolutely NO experience with bats, I decided I shouldn't handle this issue by myself but it was too late to call anyone. Instead I opened the door slightly, grabbed my dog, slammed the door shut, put my suitcase and clothes in FRONT of the door (in case he turned into the Count and tried to bust in) and decided to wait it out until morning. As I was laying in bed listening to him fly around my house, banging into pots and pans, it suddenly dawned on me that the 'mice' I thought were living in my ceiling above my bedroom were actually bats. Good. The next day I woke up and ran to my friend's house to tell her what happened. She cracked up and sent her boyfriend back with me to investigate. I told him I thought the bat was gone, but he went to check anyway. He climbed INTO my ceiling and started giggling. There was some commotion and several minutes later told me to wait outside. As I was standing outside clutching my dog 2 bat bodies were thrown from the ceiling out the door.
The picture above is my hero...holding his 'catch'.
Let's see, I mentioned before that I tell everyone I'm going to have the most amazing garden here ever. People point to the dirt on my arms and legs and ask me if I was just working in my garden. I then tell them I haven't actually started my garden yet...I'm just dirty.
At church there is the cutest older gentleman who comes every Sunday wearing a three piece suite. He is one of my favorite people in the church. He's very quiet and usually sits in the back. Last Sunday he stood up and sang a solo. Everyone cheered and clapped! It was great!
Enjoy your candy! I'll be passing out ugali balls this year...mmm...delicious!

Love,

Cat

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach...well I'm screwed

So cooking's going well! The other day my best friend in the village wasn't feeling well and since she cooks for me practically everyday I thought I would return the favor. Bound and determined to have eatable rice and beans I started the jiko and got to cooking. To make both of these dishes you simply add water. Wait. Add more water. Wait. And when you've pretty much tapped out the village supply of water on one meal, you add one last bucketful of water, and wait. 4 hours later the beans were still hard and the rice had a crunch to it. Good. I can't wait until I move on to desserts. There is no WAY this could go wrong.

I was doing laundry the other day and came to a couple new revelations! First I've decided that REI has the most amazing underwear ever. Seriously. I want to give a shoutout the the makers of the 6-week, bacteria-resistant, easy clean, quick-dry underwear because it is a gift from God. I have never been so thunderstruck by a pair of underwear before! (I did, in fact, just use the word thunderstruck). It has EASILY cut my laundry time down from 2 hours of intense scrubbing, rinsing, and hanging to a mere hour and 50 minutes! I haven't even tested out its ability to be worn for 6 weeks without washing...but you needn't worry, that will come later! The other revelation I had has inspired me to write a book. While looking at my size Small t-shirts that have now grown to X-Large I decided that I am going to parallel David Sedaris's book Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim except that mine will be called Dress Your Family In Spandex and Lycra...because it's definitely needed here. Look for my book in stores next year.

Another product endorsement....Venus Razor. 2 months of leg hair growth. One razor. Smooth legs. Need I say more? I pretty much tell everyone here about this razor. I'm convinced at this point it can cut through anything. I'll test this theory out next time I'm chopping fire wood. I'm wondering if Gillette will send me free blades for this...just an idea.

Other update: I smell. I mean, there's just no way around it. I tried to feign that it wasn't me...but it is. I mean, it's not JUST me...but I'm definitely not excluded.

Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm....what else? I've been telling my villagers all about the amazing garden I'm going to have. I haven't actually started doing anything yet, but in my mind it will be incredible! I'm talking 12 foot tall corn stalks. Maybe I'll have a corn maze. This could get interesting. I'll be sure to post.

Hope things are going well back in the States! I'm sending in my absentee ballot and looking forward to the election!

-Catherine

I Am Paris Hilton

...and I wonder why they laugh...In my defense the neon green high heels are not mine.
The past few weeks have been pretty busy here. I’m teaching English now to the Secondary School to the Form 1 students (freshmen essentially). I really feel this is where I’m able to utilize my language skills and impress these students with fluency and grace. Usually I end up standing in front of the class staring at the students, begging them to answer my questions. I start by saying "Anyone?.....Anyone?" and eventually move on to "Bueller?...Bueller?" At least I make myself laugh. The students are really great though and starting to relax and talk more in class and ask me questions about the States. Most commonly asked question..."Is there ugali in America?"
Since I’ve been so successful in all the other aspects of my life I decided that I would add to my list of achievements and hone my culinary skills. I debated heavily which feast I would prepare…and I opted for beans. I figured beans couldn’t be that hard. Light a jiko. Put some beans in a pot. Add some water. Wait half a day. Done. I followed these steps religiously to ensure optimal bean cooking. Hours later I stirred the pot, added a little salt, and considered these things done. Piling them high on my plate of rice I took my first bite and decided that culinary school is not in my future. Even my dog wouldn’t eat my beans.So cooking isn't my specialty but I try to tell my friends here that I am an amazing cook at home with a microwave.
Life is good...:)