This morning I saw that Francesca had corn flakes and I got so excited. I said, “I love cornflakes.” So this night when I got home, Mama Teiko handed me a bag and inside the bag was….Cornflakes! I was so happy. This literally made my entire day. I love this family. I’ve realized lately how much of a mother Mama Teiko has become. She is worried about my health, doing nice things for me, making sure I’m well fed and happy. It’s so wonderful. Every day she makes me Moringa tea and doesn’t let me go to work until I drink it. Francesca and me are also having cute conversations like sisters. Today there was a big event going on in our square outside the house and she offered to borrow my camera while I was at work so she could take pictures and videos for me. I, of course, said yes. It was so nice of her.
Today in the square was a celebration for the one week of President Mills death. Celebration doesn’t have the same connotation as it does at home. They aren’t happy that he died. But still they will have gatherings and parties. So many people from all different surrounding districts came, all wearing red and black, to listen to music, and just hang out under big tents, in memory of President Mills. They were selling pictures of him, and even made a type of throne for him with his photograph seated in his place. There were so many people. Black represents mourning and red is the color of battle. They are fighting because they are in an emotional battle due to the sadness that they are facing. The symbolism behind a lot of things here is incredibly meaningful.
So my day went like this: I woke up early, ate so much baby food cereal, waited for my tea, drank my tea, finished my book about zen, didn’t get ripped off by the cab driver, still arrived to work late like usual, labored in the fields, and then relaxed. The field is looking so nice now. There are no more sticks or garbage. The land is all turned up and the plants are growing to be very big. So much progress for that field in just a few weeks.
Cynthia told me today that when she gave birth to her third born, she got a boil on her breast. When they removed it, it hurt a nerve that goes all the way to her back. She has had back pains ever since. We worked hard. I used a machete to weed the plants. It was pretty fun. Aya said that Drew called her from the airport and that it made her cry. That made my heart feel warm inside. I am leaving some of my pants here for her because she asked me for them every time I came to work wearing them. I bought them for working on the farm, and she will continue working on the farm, so why not? I also brought Kofi and Aya bread today because bread is not sold in the town that they live in. They live too far away for the bread truck to come to them. I got home from work to a lot of people all partying outside of my house (the funeral ceremony). Then I made my way over to the ProWorld house for our weekly meetings. We had a meeting about human rights and the fact that being diagnosed with AIDS will cause people to be shut out of society. People will not work with them or let them live in their house, often because they think that they can catch it just from sitting near you or talking to you. This of course depends on the location in which you live. Others even believe that AIDS is caused by evil spirits and that if you go to a priest and then fast for 40 days, it will go away.
After this meeting, we all sat around and I got to use the internet for a long time, looking up books for school, etc. We did not go out to eat because some of the volunteers were cooking us dinner. It took forever to be ready, but I am very used to waiting for things here. The dinner was so good. We had fish, rice, corn, watermelon, and some vegetables cooked with spices. I ate so much of this, even two servings of rice. Afterward I was still hungry. On my way back I stopped and picked up some chocolate cookie crackers. Starting to feel at home here, I am now sitting in my room and am going to eat some cornflakes with hot water and milk powder! I love it here because everything becomes exciting and makes me happy. Even eating real cereal, despite the fact that I have no real milk, sounds great. Cornflakes made my day. The fact that they went out of their way to buy me cornflakes really made my day, actually.
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