Kiswahili

Finally had some uji for breakfast - it's a traditional food made from millet and is basically a brown soup texture (makes me think of watery cream of wheat). Also got to start our language lessons; greetings was our first topic because they are crucial here. People always greet one another, even when they are in a hurry. Neighbors are expected to always greet one another and if no greeting is exchanged, there is a problem between the neighbors. Even strangers will greet one another on the street - not just a head nod or "Hey"; they actually ask how you are. Granted, you are always supposed to answer with some variant of "good" but it is much more of an exchange than in the Western countries I've been too.

Paul joined back up with our group today after a day in Dar for x-rays. As expected, his ankle is just sprained so he is able to hobble around. Due to room arrangements, he ended up in the empty room in our house of girls - poor guy.

Today we were also led down the road to exercise on a large field. We played Frisbee for about 5 minutes before the soccer team/group was ready to play and we had to stop. A few people in our group joined the soccer game (Eric, Katie, Ghee, Glenn, then George) and the rest of us watched or played w/ the local children who were having a blast w/ the Frisbee and soccer ball. The soccer game took place on a field w/ no lines but understood boundaries; spectators (like us) are often within the boundary and must move when play comes thier way. The goals are outlines (2 posts w/ rope at the top between them) of goals with no nets to stop the ball from going into the cemetary or road.

At some point today, Eric broke out an electric game called Catchphrase. A bunch of us sat in a circle and played and the group grew as time went on. It was a game I'd never think to bring but it was a ton of fun.