There is so much to write about, that I don't even know where to begin. The last few days have been quite full and amazing. I love it here. Even the spiders aren't bothering me as much. After the first night, I adjusted. (I slept with the lamp on the first night... Some of the kids found out about it and thus commenced the spider jokes. Haha.)

These kids will smile and laugh about anything and everything. One of the kindergartners, Esther, smiles bigger than any other person I have ever seen. She smiles with her entire mouth. And if she smiles for more than three seconds, she begins to giggle. I plan to post pictures of her tomorrow when I take them at the school.
The people here are so welcoming, friendly, and smiley, and I love them for it. They are so genuine. It's so refreshing, coming from the States. And when the kids sing, they SING. They know how to "rock the house." They also chant their lessons, LOUDLY. I love it.

I've hit it off with the kids I've met. A few of the boys invited me to join them Saturday morning to play baseball and football. It'll be awesome! Though... I can't run well in a skirt. They keep checking to make sure that I'm coming. And then one of the boys invited me to an all-boys' pj party. To which I replied, grinning, "Do I LOOK like a boy to you?" which set off a wave of giggles. They still tried to get me to come.

Today was my first day teaching. I've been scheduled for three classes a week at two different grade levels--kindergarten and Class 2. (They call them "class" instead of "grade.") I teach Reading for the kindergarteners (and help in the classroom for the other four hours) and Art and Reading for Class 2. I'm reading World History right now. After this week, there are two full weeks of school before their break, but school starts back in July, so I'll be able to teach again. (During their break, I will be busy hanging out with the kids and helping with G.A.M.E.S, which is like their V.B.S.) I'm very excited to have this opportunity. Lydia is on a similar schedule--she is teaching Art and reading for Class 1, and helping in the preschool class. We also attend devotions with the Rafiki staff at 7:30 in the morning, and we help in the library every day after school. I eat lunch and dinner at the common dining hall. The food is good. One of the common foods is this white... I don't quite know how to describe it, and I'm not sure how to spell the name. It's fluffy, very thick, and made of maize. It's mostly tasteless but good. They also have a green here that is very common called rape. (Yes, I know it sounds bad, but that's what it's called.) It's a bitter, good green.

The culture shock is surprisingly mild, even though it really is a completely different world here. I really don't have much jet lag, either. Really, the hardest thing to adjust to is having an entire table of kids stare at you as you eat. There are little things throughout the day that will surprise me or remind me that I'm no longer in the States. For example, I kinda forgot that the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. And when Irene went to pay for the airport parking, she was informed that they had no exact change. And the phrase "African time" is a reality over here. The village director got married last Saturday, and an hour-and-a-half into the wedding, he still had people coming in.

God has already been teaching me so much. He's been teaching me what things in life are really important--not the petty, infantile worries, like what people think of me and my personal appearance and my insecurities. I can't describe the wonderful, freeing feeling that accompanies this. I think as a teenager and technically an adult, I, and many others in my age range, are beset with these insecurities. Really, a lot of people are. It's very noticeable in America. And it defines us. And once something defines you, it begins to change you. And then it becomes the hamster wheel. Here, I am able to smash the wheel.
God is also teaching me not to take things like electricity for granted. We do have electricity at the village, but it goes out quite frequently. It usually only goes out for a few minutes, and there is a generator at the village, but it's still a reminder. I've also been doing devotions and praying much more again. It's so refreshing. God is teaching me to smile and laugh as I have never smiled and laughed before.