1. I eat a LOT of food everyday and yet still constantly feel hungry. (Most foods eaten are white, i.e. white rice, white bread, white ugali. Yep, that about covers it). And I am grateful every day that I do not eat meat - there is nothing visually appealing about it.
2. I use an outdoor bathroom and shower.
3. I no longer have any privacy, and my possessions are communal.
4. I was so excited to have a lizard inhabitting my bedroom. They eat bugs!
5. Concerns of sanitation have nearly vanished. Sinks just don't exist for washing hands. I shower with half a bucket of water, so I have to carefully consider just how much soap or shampoo I will use because if I go overboard, I will wear it for the remainder of the day. On a good day, before dinner a pitcher with water and a bowl will be brought to me so that I can rub the dirt around on my hands. THEN, I eat with my hands!
6. I now wait in eager anticipation to see just how many people can fit on a daladala (the buses here). The actual seats accomodate 14 people tops. My record so far is 24 people, 3 chickens and a sack of potatoes! There were actually 4 people sitting on top of the lap of one poor girl.
7. My new motto is "Hamna shida" also known as "Hakuna matata" or no worries. I eventually learned that if you can't beat them, you must join them. Everything is on Africa time now (i.e. everything is always late, and you just don't let it get to you when things don't go as planned)
8. I no longer talk to people on the street. At first I felt very rude. Now, that concern has dissipated entirely! I know feel that if I don't know them, they are a stranger, and I will not talk to strangers.
9. Everything I own is dirty, and I don't think it will be possible for me to feel clean or fresh until my return to America.
More to come ;)
