pigs for 15,000 shillings

In case anyone was wondering, a very pregnant sow expecting babies in about 8 days will set you back 15,000 kenyan shillings ($173 US dollars). I might mention that she is so big that she barely fits into the back of a van. I will also suggest that you NOT ride in the back seat with said pig pushing on the other side of your seat, since both the smell and sound effects are a bit troubling.

Classes began for the women's program today. I think at least a dozen women showed up and since we were accidentally locked out of the office, Peris and I crowded into the office of one of the women who heads the women's training and bead working. In the process of trying to push a watermelon seed onto a bracelet ring I managed to skewer my pointer finger to the point of bleeding. I was soon distracted from my finger by the sound of old Singer sewing machines whirring away in the adjoining room.

I wasn't able to go to work this morning and had to wait for a ride this afternoon to the Center since my intestines have decided that once again since they are in Africa, they have to freak out about one thing or another. Wishing I could figure out where my acidophilus ran off to. I'm hoping it's just a stomach flu or something since it's been accompanied by a pretty nagging headache and low energy levels. Despite being sick I feel so hopeful about how this internship could play out.

I've sent the contact info for Richard- whose training center in Rwanda was the focus of my thesis project- to both Samuel and Peris and they say that they plan to contact him. I'm really hoping it will be a useful relationship for both sides.

Yesterday Karanja, Shiro, Keith (can't remember his local name) and their friend and I all went swimming at a local pool. Only their friend Katya (?) sort of new how to swim. I attempted to teach them a few things but the pool was so crowded and they were pretty afraid and self-conscious. So we spent the majority of our time in the shallow end where the water only went barely past my knees. Just before we left, a Kenyan man almost drowned in the deep end and while struggling not to almost took a mzungu down with him. Some lady had to pull him out with the safety pole that had a circular cord around the end. So I'm suddenly really grateful for my ability to swim.

After swimming we trekked cross country to the center so that I could show everyone Simba's puppies. We walked and walked probably 3 miles on a dirt trail in the heat of the day and about 20% of the time we weren't certain we were going the right way. Karanja's friend started telling me about hyenas and snakes and I walked a little faster. We finally arrived at the Center and the puppies eyes had opened!!! Shiro and I decided that we liked the same one, a black and white one. And Karanja and I decided I need to bring Simba (the mama) the remaining camel milk from the house that was a failed experiment in broadening our horizons.

Tomorrow if I am well enough I will accompany Samuel to the construction company's future farm site for some planning discussions. I'm really liking the way that this process if feeling a lot like what I practiced in my permaculture design course. Where there is a client, they have ideas and money but want someone who can help them plan their ideas out and turn them into a reality. They were going to build a nursery to start seeds in last week so I'm anxious to see what they've done and if anything has sprouted yet.

On the ride home I bought 3 bananas for 10 shillings (about 11 cents) and wondered how the woman selling them could possibly make a profit from that little.