Who needs an alarm clock when you have roosters?

I got to talk to my parents last night, albeit briefly, but it was so nice to have a little slice of home. I have a phone here now and although it's a little touch and go it's at least a little life line. Calling the States costs about 50 shillings (almost $1) per minute but I can receive calls for free and international texts are only like 10 US cents for me to send. So if anyone misses me enough to get an international phone card I would love a quick hello (0735005012) but you'd have to look up the country code because I can't remember it of the top of my head. I have lots of numbers on me so I'll send out some texts later on. The generator gives us electricity in the "big hut" from about 7:30/8:00 till midnight so I charge everything then, and to my surprise there's even tv so we keep up with the news and watch music videos that are usually about 5 years old.

I'm getting the hang of what is known as "African time". If someone says they will pick you up at 7am it means anywhere from about 7:30 to 9:30. No one is really in a rush anywhere. If a mtatu takes 3 hours longer than you expected and breaks down or stops so the toller can buy oranges no one really seems to mind. (Mtatus deserve at least a whole entry. They're fascinating. It's really only them in great numbers on the roads but roads don't really have lanes and as mentioned before are half washed away usually. So they just speed along and weave through the countless bicycles, pedestrians, and craters, honking at whatever is in their way. They don't like to move unless they're completely full so whenever someone gets off you have to find someone to get on, hence why it can take hours longer. But I digress) It's just a laid back environment to a ridiculous degree.

The class this week is about an hour away from Kabula (my town) and it's going better than I could have hoped. Day 1 is an introduction to the disease and basic awareness, 2 is the immune system and what happens to it, and today was preventing mother to child transmission as well as condom usage. Sex is quite taboo here, and a lack of communication plays a large roll in the rapid spread, so there were a lot of of very shy giggles, but everyone was very receptive to it and continue to have really good questions and dialogue. I'm sure there will be weeks where the class isn't as open but so far so good. Tomorrow is a session on society and reacting to the disease and day 5 focuses on counseling, testing, and being supportive/supported. Two other girls and I caught a mtatu back to Bungoma (a two hour hot sticky smelly bumpy stop every few meters ride) and indulged in some chicken curry lunch. Meat is a luxury we don't often get. Breakfast is tea and bread with either jam or peanut butter or whatever you want to buy for yourself. Lunch is usually rice and cabbage or kale, and dinner is just an elaborated lunch usually with either lentils or potatoes. Chapati, a flatbread of sorts, is to be looked forward to and rumor has it tonight is the night! A few of the volunteers bought some chickens at market the other night and made a wonderful pineapple chicken concoction. I am constantly eating mangoes... they are completely amazing here.

I reflected on my frustration with the medical conditions and was able to be a bit more level headed the next day. It is difficult, and diagnosis with such little information is a very challenging , and a limited access to medication must be hard but it the people that I'm meeting are so committed to doing everything they can with what they have that it's truly inspiring. I'm trying to soak up as much as I can from them, drowning them in questions. It really is forcing me to think outside of the box, think of anything to do to improve quality of life. There is a group here working on a water purification system, a previous volunteer is here buying land to start a farming project, one med student upon leaving here is going to a clinic on the Thai/Burma border who is in desperate need of doctors. I am surrounded with people who are absolutely committed to change and it is contagious. I find myself ignorant on so much more than I could have imaged and there is no shame in it; it is humbling and it is such a great opportunity if I embrace it to grow beyond my wildest dreams.

I woke up around 2am last night and after a half hour debate on whether I could hold it and fall back asleep, I went to use the toilets. Nighttime is a dark like I've never seen. It's the kind of dark where you can blink for as long as you please and chances are your eyes still won't adjust. So I ran outside and was hit with the most beautiful night sky. It was a perfectly clear night, around 73 degrees, and every star in the sky was turned on. Then one of the farm cats rubbed against me and scared me so badly that I was lucky I had already used the toilets.