Back to America

So I am back at home! Good ol' Indiana. I was thinking that last post would be my final post, but me and the other volunteers talked a lot about how it would feel to come home, so I thought I'd write a bit about my first day in America. Throughout the day I noticed things that I was able to do, or things that I haven't done in a long time. So here is my list of things I was aware of on my first day:
1. I had real choices for my clothes! I got excited to pick out what I wanted to wear (of course I ended up in sweatpants... but still nice to have a choice)
2. I thought about what I wanted to eat/was able to cook for myself
3. I drank milk for the first time in 3 months
4. I sat on comfortable chairs/couches
5. I washed my feet and they STAYED CLEAN
6. I drove!
7. I had about 5 pieces of fruit throughout the day. It's definitely a food group I really missed while being away (we had a banana once every few weeks for breakfast, but other than that there was no real fruit). 

There it is. 7 things I have noticed in the last 24 hours that I don't think I ever really thought about before

In London!

I remember my first blog entry, when I was sitting right here in London airport. I remember feeling like there was SOO much to do. It's weird sitting here again with the whole thing being completely over.

Leaving yesterday was really hard. I'm going to miss the kids, the country, the workers at the feeding center, the fellow volunteers and my whole adventure. But I'm excited to get back to cell phones, my own computer and hot showers! It's a weird mix of emotions, but I'm not surprised that I'm torn.

I thought I would share a few lists that Lisa (the other volunteer) suggested I write for myself. It's nice to put some perspective on everything.

Things I'll miss:
THE KIDS
Mini bus rides: such independence and good people watching!
The weather
The volunteers- especially insightful conversations with Lisa
Amarich- our cook/den mother
Feeling helpful
Figuring something out without using any verbal communication
Seeing the monkey eat our compost!
Feeding center conversations
Not being cell phone/internet whipped

There are a few more lists that I want to share, but my time on the internet is about to run out! It's so expensive here...

I will continue with the lists in the United States! Crazy. Also, I am wearing jeans for the first time in 3 months. The other volunteers/workers said I looked very different and couldn't believe I even had them. It's weird to think they've only seen me in skirts, especially since my mom's first reaction when she saw me was "weird! you're wearing a skirt!" Definitely different worlds..

KENYA

Well it is going to be very tough for me to describe this trip. Very tough. I hadn't really thought about it ahead of time because I was so focused on seeing my MOM that I couldn't think about anything else. But I will try to give the trip some justice:
   We were staying in Samburu National Reserve. We stayed in a small "camp" that had 6 tents. Compared to the other lodges around, this is VERY small. We were one of 4 guests for the first few days, and for the last few we were by ourselves! It was really nice to have something so personal. The camp was great, but obviously the REAL highlight were the animals. Everyday we went out in the car and drove to look for different animals. We ended up seeing 25 different types! We also saw all 5 of the species that are only found in that part of Kenya AND we saw all 3 types of cats (leopard, cheetah, lion).
   It definitely felt like a much needed vacation and it was so so nice to catch up with my mom. In order to not bore, I will write our Top 5 Favorite Moments:
  5. Monkeys! They were everywhere at camp and we watched them every morning over breakfast.
  4. Meeting the owners, Oria and Ian. They started the camp (Elephant Watch) to be together with an Elephant research center that Ian works at. They have done some amazing things and we were very lucky to spend some time with them.
  3. Elephants! First, being so close to a HUGE male that we could touch him (terrifying but so cool) and watching them at the waterhole. They're so interesting!
  2. Lions! We got within 3 feet of lions. And then we saw them mating, twice! It was pretty amazing. I felt like I was watching a documentary, but I was close enough to touch the animals...
 1. We saw something that NOBODY at the camp had ever seen before: a badger eating a tortoise. It was over a few days that we saw the attack and the actual eating and it was pretty amazing. Our guide googled this behavior and he couldn't find any research on it! So, we might have seen something groundbreaking...

Alright, so there is the quick summary of my Kenya trip. I will hopefully post some pictures soon onto Facebook. Now, my mom is in Ethiopia until Saturday and she's going to the feeding center with me! I'm really excited to show her around :) Yesterday she met the kids! Amazing to have her here

KIDS

Earlier this month I sat down and wrote a short summary of each kid
here. Given that there are 15 kids, and I wrote a paragraph for each
one, it was a pretty long document. I wanted to post something similar
but not the whole thing, since that is BORING for anyone who doesn’t
know the kids or doesn’t really care. Instead I thought I’d give a
short progress report of where the kids are academically and talk
about the 3 groups we’ve put them in.
   In general, the kids are doing really well with English and Math.
They all know their letters (with the exception of one girl, who I’ll
talk about in a bit) and they know the sounds of every letter. When we
start to sound out a word, they all know which letter it should be. A
few of them have progressed this to short reading. For math, they are
all doing vertical addition (a double digit over another double digit)
and many of them have begun carrying the one. A few have started long
subtraction (with carrying a ten over. Like for 52-25). Overall, we’ve
seen a lot of progress. We also do a lot of vocabulary and the kids
know a lot of animals, foods, clothing, shapes, colors, etc. in
English. We also go over what day of the week it is every teaching
day, so the kids have begun to understand the concept of yesterday,
today, tomorrow.
  When we started in January, we realized how big of a spread the
kids’ abilities were, so we decided to split them up into three groups
for part of the day. Not only does it break up the day for the kids,
but A LOT of learning occurs because it is so individualized. In the
highest group are 5 boys: Aseminow, Tariku, Bakalu, Dawit and Hailie.
These boys work with Peter and have covered a lot. They doing short
“spelling bees” and also have been trying to read. Peter also covers
some more difficult topics, such as geography, with this group.
  The middle group is currently working with Lisa (from New Zealand).
The kids are: Bahilu, Yosef, Sinknesh, Hanna and Danny. Lisa has been
focusing a lot on letter sounds with this group and going over what we
teach in class. She often goes over the days of the week and clothing,
food, etc.
   The lowest group is my group. Included are: Bezawet, Hanok, Arafat
and Sara (and now, Hiwat, which I’ll get to). My group started off a
bit behind and we reviewed the difference between b, d, p, q. They
have gotten that down and we have been reviewing consonant sounds
(which they are good at) and now are doing vowels. Vowels are REALLY
hard but they are starting to understand. We also go over things from
class and spelling. I have tried to get them to sound out and read
3-letter words, but so far not too much success.
  The last girl, Hiwat, was receiving one-on-one with Julie in
February. Now that Julie has left we are pulling Hiwat out during big
group times and doing a one-on-one session and she is in my small
group during that time. Hiwat is very far behind. She’s definitely the
youngest kid (we guess she’s 5 or 6) and is still figuring out her
letters. Without one-on-one we are afraid she’ll just slip through the
cracks. Julie made progress with her and she now knows A-I. Hopefully
we can get her through the whole alphabet and understanding concepts.
   So there is my very short summary of the kids and what they’re
doing. As a group we try to introduce something new every week, and
this week we are tackling questions. They know a few (Where are you
from? How are you? What is your name? etc), but we want them to
understand what a question is and how you ask it. Always a challenge
around here!