Chess and Camaraderie (Tuesday 6/16)

Like clockwork I woke up this morning to Paul knocking on my door. At this point I have some intuition as to when he’ll come wake me up as I’ll already be half awake by the time I hear him come to my door. I actually got a good night’s rest and felt good this morning! I prepared water for myself and had my regular bucket bath followed by getting ready and going to the office.

To my surprise, while brushing my teeth, I spit on the ground and found this!

Eli was already there when I arrived so I got straight to work. I’m organizing lots of materials I’ve found on the internet to put into a Google Classroom for teacher upskilling. I’m working on making a model classroom so others in the future can copy and add to the format of what I’ve created (still need to make the guide videos though!). Miraclin and Henry showed up as well which meant there was no teaching today as everyone is still recovering from their illnesses (Miraclin is starting to feel poorly). We all went to tea time and it was nothing out of the ordinary!

 Michael finally showed up and we all worked up until lunch. We had the regular meal of rice, beans, and cabbage (which I thought was fantastic today). 

Not wanting to go back to work immediately, Eli, Michael, Mr. Chesco and I played a bunch of hacky sacks. The game must be infectious as we managed to rope in Henry who hasn’t been in the best mood from not feeling well and Josea (Miraclin’s host). It’s always a blast to see how much fun everyone has trying to get a “sack” which occurs when everyone in the circle touches the hacky sack at least once. We played until someone drove their car and parked at the front of the office which subsequently meant that it was time for Michael to get to work. He’s had a lot of mechanic experience before coming here so it was fun to watch him walk around the car and diagnose issues. 

After spotting something that was wrong, he immediately got to fixing it and if the repair needed a part, he’d write it down. It all happened like clockwork! Everyone watched him for a bit before going back inside to the office. Typically I like to relax after eating so I’ll rest or do something on the computer for a bit before going back to work. However, this time around Henry asked me to play chess! I’ve never played chess before so he taught me the basics. It was a ton of fun to play and understand such a popular game. Frankly I’m not that good, but it’s fun to problem solve and think on your feet with the game. Henry always beat me of course! I played against Eli as well which was a close game as the last time he really played chess was in elementary school so our skill levels were a little closer than compared to Henry. I ended up not winning in any games but I got very close.

We all hung out some more when we all should’ve gotten back to work. I lacked discipline today and honestly just played on my computer until it was time to go home. When I say “play” I mean I used my computer to not work (I’ll read random stuff I think about or questions that I want the answer to)!  

That being said I’ll be locking in tomorrow for sure! Eventually Michael came in with a notepad of everything that was wrong with the vehicles. I didn’t know at the time, but he ended up looking and servicing three identical Toyota Rav-4s. He told me that working on these small cars is magnitudes easier than the stuff that’s wrong on the large trucks; I believe it. When you look under the hood on these Rav-4s, everything is right there in front of you, nice and simple. When I’ve walked by the large trucks, I don’t even know where to start looking or what anything does as it’s just a jumbled mess of cables, wires, and hoses!

Soon enough we all left the office (played some hacky sack before parting ways of course) and went back to our houses (I walked back alone). When I got back to the house, dinner was being cooked already! I had to make sure to ask Paul when the timetable for cooking dinner is as it seems like I’ve missed it once more and I want to learn! I should mention that whenever times are being discussed here, we use the word timetables. I assume it comes from some sort of British origin!

I hung out in Paul’s room and listened to music with him. I showed him some American music that I like to listen to and I think he enjoyed it! Dinner was eventually served and it was really good rice and beans made by friend John. It’s hard to communicate with John, but Paul tells me what to say in Swahili so we can communicate. It’s very hard for me to pronounce some of the Swahili words which means John gives me a confused look before just asking Paul what I meant to say.

We all hung out and relaxed some more until two other guys showed up. One of them spoke English, Emmanuel and we had a small conversation. I learned that the two guys are boda boda drivers (motorcycle taxi) and are there to take Paul and John somewhere. I never learn where they’re going as Paul won’t tell me or will only tell me something vague like “the village”. However I notice that he always dresses himself up and makes himself look nice before leaving. My guess is that they’re going somewhere to see girls but who knows!

I’m the only one left in the house and just bunker down. I brought the WiFi with me which allows me to blog easier (I don’t need WiFi to blog, but it allows for auto correct to work!) and watch a movie before going to sleep. Before I turn off the lights I make sure that the front door is not locked so I don’t get woken in the middle of the night like last night! Praying for a good night’s rest and a great day tomorrow! 

(photo of Paul’s house)