day 4.

well.. today was only a half day at joyspring,
i felt sick last night and even more this morning
i had some pills my mom packed but this one kind wasnt labelled..
none of the other ones were ones i needed to take and the internet wasnt working so i just winged it and took a blue pill haha
(thankfully it was the right one -- i looked it up online when i got home)
but we ended up going home early
apparently i have a low fever amoung other symptoms. nothing major
the nurse mom prescribed bedrest
she said im not allowed to go to the school tommorrow because i had a fever
but i think by tommorrow i will feel fine, we will see..

but im taking the bed rest as an opportunity to write in here,
as a side note, please ignore all my grammatical errors in this blog, i know that i should be using capitals and saying "Elise and I" and all that, BUT i am rebelling for a while against the system and just typing ..

So yesterday i taught a bit in standard four (grade 4) by myself. because exams are coming up before break, most of what the kids are doing is review. i wrote questions on the board and they copied and answered. i marked the books this morning and some of the answers are very cute, i will have to tell you all about them when i get home.

everyday the school feeds all the children. usually we have rice and these split yellow bean things or wheat stuff with the split yellow bean stuff... haha the teachers say its not actually very kenyan food BUT i ALSO found out the government provides all the food for the kids everyday! i was impressed. sometimes the kids bring a little something from home, like chipati (kind of like a pita but better) Oh, the kids also get porridge in the morning during tea time.

Some of you may know that before i left for kenya i had a new found love for chai tea. (the starbucks kind) So i was REALLY happy when i found out, everywhere, at every school they have "chai time" for their first break. of course it tastes different then starbucks but its still pretty good. usually its made with milk, but yesterday and today there was no milk so it was just "black tea" so .. chai tea made with just water. ALSO if you have ever tried tea that i drink at home it is VERY sweet, but here.. i think their tea is even sweeter then mine, so its pretty intense.. The nurse momma thinks that maybe thats how i got sick, because if you arent used to the water here, and its not filtered, you need to boil it for like 15 minutes before using it, but it probably wasnt boiled that long at the school. its hard sometimes to figure out what you should and shouldnt eat. i dont want to be rude or make the school feel bad so its hard to say sometimes..

LAST THING ummm from some of the things being said i think that i should tell you a little about HIV/AIDS here. contrary to popular belief it is NOT that easy to get HIV/AIDS
the easiest way and most common way is through sex
next is blood exchange.
now when i say blood exchange it does NOT mean if i have a small paper cut, and a little blood gets on me, that i will get it, it is VERY VERY VERYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY unlikely to happen, i would need like a HUGE cut to get LOTS of blood on it. there are also pills here for if you have come into contact with potentially hiv/aids fluids you can take them and it somehow protects you.
anyways i just want to say it is not something anyone needs to worry about.
Africa is usually seen as an HIV/AIDS country, and while it does have a very high percentage of the victims LETS NOT FORGET that it is also in our countries, what people dont realize is its spreading everywhere.

Heres some interesting stats:
Between 40,000 and 50,000 Americans become infected with HIV every year. Half of them are between the ages of 13 and 24. That means at least two teenagers and young adults in this country are infected with HIV every HOUR of every day.
Remember, one in 250 Americans is HIV positive; only one in 500 knows it.

so believe me when i say this is not only a problem here, it is quickly becoming a worldwide problem.
but thankfully for the most part, if you are not sexually active and don't inject drugs, you don't need to worry about contracting HIV.
i dont know how comforting that is, BUT the point is.. it is not really something i need to worry about, not anymore then anyone else at least..
well..
on that note..
ill probably add a bit tomorrow, maybe some pictures, because i imagine ill be bored..