Making the most of Moshi

This is the best town, with something new to discover in every corner. My Swahili is improving every day, as is the English of the women and children I'm teaching. They're just so eager to learn and it's amazing just how much can be taught from something so simple as a picture book. These kids make fun by dragging each other around on potato sacks and drawing in the dirt with sticks, so to have a Mzungu teacher sit under a tree with them and spend an hour trawling the ten basic pages of a book illustrating "the Wheels on the bus" is nothing short of enchanting for them. We practiced colours and numbers and professions and animals, all while tricking them into learning with a song. Amazing.

I really have got lucky with my placement. My teacher Neema is nothing short of inspiring and is so happy to have us there. She treats us like an invaluable resource and constantly tells the class "one minute wasted with your teacher is a minute you'll never get back". A previous volunteer who also saw her unique magic has paid for English qualifications and she now works tirelessly to educate everyone in her poor village. Children in the morning, parents in the afternoon, and her family and friends at night. She never rests and on top of this has adopted an orphaned girl, has a baby and a 7 year old, and is only about 22 years old herself!

Last night was hilarious. Katie in the bunk above me, screamed when she found a lizard in her bed! Up I jumped in my undies, caught the (tiny little) lizard and saved the day! We were quite a sight, and my own doppelganger status to Bridget Jones was amusingly noted. We've also made a pact with Ryan and Daniel, two of the guys climbing Mt Kilimanjaro next week, that if they fail we will wax their eyebrows and underarms respectively when they join us in Zanzibar afterwards.

Daniel's the Mexican. We're having red green and white cotton culottes made for Mexican Independence Day (a big one apparently as this year marks 200 years of Independence and 100 years of Revolution) and trying to source the ingredients for our feast. Yes - 1 week out is the minimum needed for a fiesta like this!

I've also been asked if I'm interested in a job tour leading volunteers in Mombasa and I think the answer is a resounding YES!

Cuddles for my Harvey Bear - I miss him so so so so much. Unfortunately dogs are considered vermin here and are treated very badly. I saw a big group of little boys hanging a tiny puppy by it's legs and then dragging it through the dirt yesterday as it screamed. I got so mad and yelled at them! Our team leader said I could have bought it off them for a dollar and brought it back to the house so I've been sick with regret ever since. I hope that little puppy is ok.

xxx