Salemia – Greeting

When I go up to the orphanage, I keep being asked where my friend is and when I will bring her. Uma and I went there today but there was a bit of miscommunication and Sr. Valentina was at the hostel across from my school. We waited an appropriate amount of time during which we had tea with a snack (full breakfast really) and Uma was able to meet some of her future students (she’ll be teaching all 4 forms of math). So as not to be rude, we went up to see Fr. Magnus who was happy to see us. He served us shots of a sweet Spanish wine (it was only ~11:00) and talked about things like the Benedictine missionary history in Tanzania. As we left, he lent me a book he wrote (since I can read German).

Although Uma had to go home to bake the dough she had rising, I decided to stop at the hostel to say “hi”. Sr. Valentina was working on the 2010 income and expenses report with another sister and (I think) a priest. With the sister, I learned what a liability is (loan given or received). They made me stay for lunch and the priest explained to the other sister that it can be useful for foreigners to know what is going on at the hostel and where the nuns live because they can explain it to people back home. Don’t worry, just as I am not here prosthelytizing, I will not ask you to send money here. Well, we finished up the meal with a papaya so I was able to get a couple of seeds. Sr. told me to start it indoors and transplant it so I’m hoping I will soon have a papaya tree.

When I got back to the school (aka across the dirt road), I tried to get the key to the computer room to use the computer. My headmaster wasn’t home and his wife and house-boy could not find the key I needed. Even when she called him, he had her give me the keys to the old (& broken) locks that I returned yesterday. Oh well, it gave me a chance to play with his 5-year-old daughter. While I waited for them to try to find the key, Anna and I messed around slapping each other’s hands.

I’ve had my kitty a scant month and couldn’t get it to use the basin I bought to go to the bathroom. One would think he would be used to going outside but he won’t; I’ve been thankful for the concrete floor. Turns out he wouldn’t use the basin filled with dry grasses but used it right away when I put soil and crushed (mud) bricks in it. I didn’t have to train him, he just started using it. Yay!