real time?

In two weeks today I will be home. I told myself that the two-week point was when I could start getting excited about it. Seven hours time difference between here and Ontario is a big, hollow gulf of time. I don't like it I tell ya! Plus, my family is on the West coast so we have 10 hours in between us. I feel like I'm living in an alternate reality or some dimension in a vacuum. Speaking of which, my apologies for all the emails I've yet to answer. The availability of internet access seems to worsen by the day. But that's okay cause it's almost time to come home!

It's hard to even imagine sitting face to face with friends and family. Today I saw North American t.v. and caught a clip of a grocery store. It will be so weird and wonderful to buy vegetables from Loblaws instead of off the side of the road. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts au lieu de live chickens. Wow.

It's been raining in Mwanza this week quite a bit and I couldn't be happier. The days are floating by at a nice pace. Last night Kivulini welcomed their newest intern: a girl named Rita from Aurora. Who knew? She'll be taking my room once I'm gone but is now living in the back of the legal aid office downstairs. It's great to have another Canadian around.

This morning I went to check out Buswelu Primary School. Western Heads East is facilitating a partnership (really pen pal relationship) between it and Tecumseh school in London. Myself, Kulwa and Jimmy (2 men from Kivulini) got up at the crack of dawn drove over completely flooded roads into the rural outskirts of town. I received a warm welcome from the teachers and headmaster and was shown around the school. A complex of less than 10 classrooms holds nearly 1,000 students. In one small classroom there were about 60-70 students and the headmaster said, "Oh, where is the rest of the class today? Must be the rain." There were only a few desks in each room and Jimmy commented, "Dallas, do you notice that the boys take the desks while all the girls are on the floor. This is not something I like to see."
The students, despite the poor conditions of the school, were in high spirits. They crowded around me, shaking my hands, playing with my hair and even bowing. Tanzanian children have amazing manners. They are raised to be able to receiev guests from the age of 4!

I'm going back next week to take drawings and books from Tecumseh school. I'll also be arriving with school supplies and lots of toys that I picked up at a dollar store before coming. Any time I've had a chance to work with kids here has been incredibly rewarding. If I came back it would definitely be to work with the education system in some way.

There is quite a bit I want to do before embarking on the ridiculously long journey home. I hope I can do it all, but I also hope time continues to move quickly. I'm ready to live my life in real time with loved ones at last!