Bling Bling

I apologize for not blogging yesterday, but them demon spawn I was teaching in the morning wiped me out. It was by far the worst they had been in 3 weeks. I had pencils whipped at my head, children giving each other bloody noses, and they all mocked me when I would yell at them. When I got back to the house, I fell asleep for the entire afternoon. I woke at 5, and got ready to go out to dinner and our dancing lessons. It was an alright night. We didn't do as much dancing as I hoped, but at least they had Coca-Cola at the restaurant.

This morning, I had a different attitude going into Faraja. I think I realized how much little time I have left, so I laughed at alot more. I feel like we haven't taught them much, and Kathryn and I always say we went on an expensive babysitting venture to Africa. Today, they were all angels, go figure, so I dropped the homicide plans that had been brewing from the morning before. I think that o matter how you slice it or dice it, I am just not a children person. Obviously, this discludes those that have personal meaning to me, like cousins and friend's kids and so on, but I don't care much for anyone else's.

After the orphanage today, we took a group trip to Arusha, a large city about an hour away. (By large city, I mean it has a stoplight. One of two towns in the whole country that boasts traffic signals.) We went to the Arush conference center, where the United Nations Internation Tribunal for the Rawanda genocides is taking place. We got to sit in court and watch the proceedings live for about an hour. I am completely uneducated about the whole matter, but found it fascinating. The man on trial today was a Minister of the Interior of Rawanda that ordered genocide killings of the Tutsis. The trial has been going on since November of 2004.

After that, we went shopping. FINALLY! I had been thinking about what I wanted to bring home to remember my trip, and I decided early on that I wanted a Tanzanite stone (their natural home being Tanzania, hence the name.) Our driver brought me to "the best" jeweler, and after looking at hundreds of stones, I picked "the best". I absolutely love it. It is the highest quality, and therefore looks nothing like you would find in America. I am hoping to eventually set it into a ring.

After the jewelry store, we stopped at a Massai market, and I got a ton of fun jewlery. I am going to miss bargaining when I get home. I'm finally getting good at it! We got home a little later and just had dinner, so I am going to shower and hop into bed.

I have two more days with the kids. Kat and I decided we are going to throw a party on Friday- which should be fun. We'll bring cookies and juice and the Burger King crowns (Thanks Aunt Jen!) I am going to try to have the PO Box opened tomorrow as well. Wish me luck!