With Love, From Neema: Just another week in paradise :)

sooo since my last update on Tuesday, quite a lot has happened! Tuesday evening, a group of med school students from England came to visit the orphanage and did checkups on all the kids-- weighed them, measured them, temperature, malaria checks, etc. It was AMAZING to have their help! On Wednesday, we went out to Uru to build for the first time since the car accident. WE GOT THERE AND BACK SAFELY :) Some volunteers from CCS came to build with us for a few hours and we are so so soo close to finishing all of the foundation and phase 1! On Thursday morning, Duy, Jordan and Rachelle left to go to Nairobi for a few days to relax and site see. While I have missed them, I have had the kids and the house all to myself so its been relaxing. I spent most of the day on Thursday teaching some of the students and reviewing what they learned this past term-- some of them were confused on the concepts they learned and so we did some practice problems. Thursday night, I had dinner with my friend Edward at this Chinese Restaurant which was surprisingly good. When I got home from dinner, Pendo was snuggled up with my teddy bear, as usual, asleep on my pillow. On Friday, Jonas, Lucky, and I decided to go on a little day trip into down... we walked there which was about a 30 minute walk--- I always enjoy walking with these boys-- our conversations are hilarious! As we were walking around town, I had Jonas holding one of my hands and Lucky holding the other. People in Tanzania drive so crazy and so every time a car would come by us, Jonas griped my hand a little tighter and pulled me in towards the curb as if he were protecting me from getting hit-- it was really cute. I couldn't help but smile every time he did it. They went with me to run some errands and to buy some beaded shoes that I need to bring back to America for people who asked for some. We found some GREAT pairs of shoes... the boys helped me pick them out. After a long day of walking and shopping, we went to Chrisburger for lunch. I know that the boys have been dying to eat a burger and they never ever ever get to have one because its too expensive but I really wanted to treat them so they ordered burgers for lunch and their smiles were soooooo priceless. I walked around to each of them and cut their burgers in half for them so they could fit it in their mouth. I felt like my mom for a minute---she always used to cut our food for us. Our waiter came over to talk to the boys and asked them what their named were. Then he said, "and what's your mom's name?" They replied "Neema" and for some reason, my eyes teared up... happy tears of course. After lunch, Lucky stood up in the restaurant and said "Ladies and Gentleman-- we are so happy today because our very special mommy, neema, brought us here. Thank you and please clap for her" I WAS DYING LAUGHING! it was the CUTEST thing I have ever heard. After lunch, we walked all the way back home. By the time we got home, we were exhausted. When we got home, helped mama remove the beans for their pods-- the beans grow on these vine things and we lay a huge pile of them on the ground and leave them there in the sun for a day or two-- the sun dries the plants out and makes the beans come out easily-- all you have to do is take a big stick and beat the plants over and over again and then you shake the plants and flip them around and do it again-- we did this for about an hour and then when you pick the plants up, all the beans are on the ground and ready to be picked up and sorted through. we have to remove all the mulch and dirt and rocks from the pile of beans first, which took a while. Pendo was adorable when we were hitting the plants... she kept barking at the sticks and then would run and lay in the plants and then chased her tail and ran around the house chasing the ducks and chickens and barking at them. She was so unbelievably hyper-- but so precious. I love watching her chase other animals because she thinks she is so much bigger and tougher and scarier than she really is. After we finished with the beans, we cooked dinner which was makande, which is corn and beans cooked together into this like soup thing. I actually really like it. there has been no electricity all week and so after dinner every night, Pendo and I go to sleep because there isn't much else we can do when we can't see anything. Yesterday morning, I woke up at 6:30 as always, did my laundry, walked to the market up the road with Pendo to bring back some food to cook for the day, and then took a shower. I did more math and English stuff with the kids in the morning for about 2 hours. After we finished studying, the kids played on this mound of sand we have sitting at our house right now. We were so hot and sweaty from running around and playing so I asked the boys if the wanted to walk down the road to the Keys Hotel and go swimming. My camera died and so I couldn't take any pictures but the boys swam in their little boxer briefs and wore little floatie things on their arms so they could swim... they were the cutest little things I have ever seen. After we finished swimming, I wrapped the boys up really tight in their towels, dried off their heads and layed them in the sun to warm up. The pool was freezing as always. After we all got dressed, we headed back home. We stopped to buy some roasted corn on the way-- while i was eating mine, one of my teeth chipped in the back of my mouth... weird. Its only a small chip but I was a little freaked out at first. Then Lucky and Jonas suggested that I fill the hole with a piece of corn or a little rock or something.... always coming up with the best ideas. After we got home, we ate dinner, looked at a map and talked about places we wanted to visit, and then went to sleep. This morning, I woke up early because Pendo was crying... Dogs aren't treated well in Tanzania and yesterday, Pendo was out playing and Mama thinks some mean kids might have thrown rocks at her or something... she has been in miserable amounts of pain all day and so I have stayed inside and sat on my bed with her for hours... I hate seeing her like this. She is walking funny and is having trouble moving. I am going to take her to the vet tomorrow. Anyways, there's my update for right now. Here are some pictures from the week.

Lucky, Jonas, and me playing on the sand mound

Ericki and Jasiri playing in the sand

Jonas and lucky with their burgers on the left and on the right, just a picture of their beautiful smiles

Left: Johny and I hard at work hahah

Right: the CCS volunteers and the construction workers

Top left: Johny and me building

Bottom left: Me and Hannah on the land-- she is a CCS volunteer whose placement was at Tuleeni for the past month. She is from West University and lives like 5 minutes from me hahah she left yesterday to head back to the states.

Right: Pauli and me on the land.