Happy Monday

Happy Monday, sorry I have neglected to send you an email for a while but I have been busy with Kimberley and SCANN, at the moment is taking a lot of my brain and physical presence.

I have been asked to arrange a performance for some visitors who are coming at the end of February, this isn’t too big a problem other than the boys who did poi last time I was here and were left with their poi to practice with have in fact lost the majority of them.  This means that I have to madly produce not only performance poi for the show but also practice ones and the sewing machine has been transferred to Scann for the sewing lady.  I now have to run backwards and forwards to SCANN to do the sewing in sessions. Together with trying to get the boys together for practice which is a nightmare as they are at school all week and Saturday mornings and don’t return until I have left for the day.  At weekends they are all at the moment madly taking part in football as it is the major game of the moment, actually it is so popular here that it is difficult to think of it being any more popular!

Yesterday, (Sunday 31/01/10), Kimberley and I went to SCANN in the afternoon after I put up a notice asking the boys to be present for Poi practice…… only 2 appeared after a lot of searching for them, followed by another one later.  There should have been 10!  I put the instruction DVD on in the computer room and let them coach from that as they were very rusty, I then sent them outside to practice.  Kimberley and I sorted the boy’s medical cards and did a stock take on the meds whilst they practiced.

After we had finished we went out side to watch how the boys were getting on, and it wasn’t bad at all, Pius Tomia was the strongest so I asked him to coach the smallest boy Davey who was struggling a bit but had so much enthusiasm.  Pius is a shy boys who is very self conscious so boosting his ego to get him to help the younger boys really worked to encourage his self-esteem, he actually smiled!

We left SCANN happy that we had accomplished something even if it was the medical things that needed to be completed! The boys had had a good afternoon and it was getting overcast with the threat of rain.  We headed into town on a piki piki (motorbike taxi) both of us on one, quickest way to travel but not always considered to be the safest!  We went to Guava Café for dinner as I had decided not to cook (it was Sunday after all)!  We had a lovely peppered steak and chips with soda a nice treat from spending a long time lighting the jiko and cooking!  Before we left we popped our heads into the Guava Lounge where we had been the night before it was packed as there was a major game of football about to start on the huge projector TV screen!  We decided not to stay as it would have been a crazy football mad night!

On Saturday, I went early to SCANN to do the clinic, leaving Kimberley at home to chill. It was a busy morning as not only was I sorting out the clinic, I was overseeing the sewing lady and the bicycle repair man had come to check over the old bicycles that had been left is such disrepair for a long time now!

I was split in 3 trying to keep everyone happy and sorted but I managed and was exhausted by the end of it. Mid afternoon I headed into town for shopping and to the Opticians with one of the older boys to collect his glasses (which weren’t ready!) I had decided to take Stephen Kuria with me as he is the boy who I feel is dyslexic but I wanted to check his eyes before I go any further.  The optician was absent so it was a wasted trip that requires me to go back this afternoon (joy)!

After my day running around I returned home rested, Kimberley had had a nice day reading and relaxing. We cooked dinner and headed into town to have drinks at Guava Lounge (where I occasionally work for drinks, social life and a free taxi home).  We sat and chatted with Ben who owns the place and had a couple of drinks, the bar became very busy and the staff behind the bar was getting decidedly bogged down so I stepped in, chatting to Kimberley who now sat at the bar.  As the even drew on it became manic and Kimberley stepped behind the bar and helped washing the glasses so that I could concentrate on serving. Kimberley lasted until 2.30am when I decided it was time to go home, Ben called us a taxi and we left, it was a crazy night but we enjoyed it and Ben was so drunk!  Apparently the bar stayed open until 4am, the other staff members were shattered.

The weather is not being kind to us, we haven’t had rain in about 3 weeks (although I am not counting). The crop of maize that was growing nicely and was to be shielded from the birds with my invention of the maize socks is now shrivelled and wasted by the sun, not even the birds would get anything from that.  I am still watering the tomato plants in the morning and evening and my kitchen garden containing courgette, coriander and carrots, although I don’t think they will last much longer with the heat of the sun beating down on them. As for the flowers, they looked so good but are now dry and very sad looking, but I can’t supply water for them when there is no rain as we may end up with more rationing if it continues.

Kimberley and I have a few trips planned and will let you know as they happen, we are going along nicely, not working to a timetable doing what suits us on the day.

This morning my toilet pipe decided to spring another leak and I had to compromise with wrapping plastic tightly round the pipe to keep the seal tight……. Something else to get looked at.  Wouldn’t mind but only just replaced the pipe!!!!

Ok well, will love you all and leave you know as have to get ready to head to SCANN and then the opticians!

Love and hugs.

Susannah