la casa del rio oglan

my street, rio oglan


my house's fruit basket... i can't even name all of these


the planes overhead are so close, they set off car alarms

the light in quito is so, so spectacular

After a long summer of anticipation, I am finally in Quito.
My first few days here were spent at the Hostal Santa Barbara, reuniting with Pitzer friends, going through tedious orientations and adjusting to the altitude change. I've never been so winded after going up two flights of stairs or so drunk after una cervesa. But now that my red blood cells have doubled, I'm breathing easy and enjoying every moment in this city.
In brief....
My family is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Mi madre es Sonia, y mi padre es Diego. Tengo dos hermonos, se llaman Francisco, 13, y Juan Diego, 12, y un perro, Luke Skywalker. Perfecto, no?
I've only had one Kichwa (Quichua) class so far, but it was quite fun. Nukaka Camillami kani. Nukaka kuchillami kani. Nukaka Washingtonmantami kani. (My name is Camille. I am happy. I am from Washington). It's a very strange language....
La comida es muy muy rico! There are so many fruits I've never seen before and every morning I wake up to fresh squeezed juice.
I go to sleep and wake up to the sounds of airplanes directly over my head. It seriously looks as though they're going to crash into the buildings (I'll post a picture of this soon. Secretly really really terrifying).
Anyhow, I'm having a hard time putting together complete thoughts seeing as my brain is a little fried from all the Spanish. I've realized I know more Spanish than I thought, but being here reinforces how much more there is to learn.
Besos a todos, mas fotos y cuentas manana.

ke rata botswana

dios mio

today i leave for amsterdam... i don't want to go! saying goodbye to the little ones was hard, especially laone and ofentse (who i just found out is hiv +). more on the trip up north (what an adventure!) and my last days in tlokweng when i can get more reliable internet.

lots of love.

tlokweng, route 4

dumelang bomma le borra! i'm having a hard time focusing on anything but the thought of holding my little nephew... but i'll do my best.
last night we were blessed with some pula and had a little thunderstorm. it made me nostalgic for the intensity of east coast thunderstorms, especially the ones in celo, north carolina. thanks to the pounding of the rain, i had no trouble getting to sleep last night.
i think i drink about an average of 4 cups of tea a day, actually, i'm underestimating because its only 4pm and i've had 3 cups today. the US definitely needs to jump on the tea time break bandwagon...
tomorrow i leave for the north. i take a night train to francistown, arrive at 6 in the morning, catch a bus at 10 and arrive in kasane sometime friday afternoon (some say the trip is 6 hours, others say more because of the potholes and because botswana time works, well, differently). i have a feeling i'll be out of reading material by the end of this trip. once in kasane, we're supposed to stay with this woman named wame, who is arranging our day trip to victoria falls. she drives us to the zimbabwe border, someone else picks us up. we're planning on bringing some goods for bartering, like soap and food, considering zimbabweans don't use their own currency. crazy, huh? after vic falls, we'll either spend sunday in kasane or head back to francistown for the night. we'll see where life takes us...
today at s.o.s. was better than yesterday... quite frankly I think the little ones had used up all their energy fighting each other the day before. little laone is doing better, too. yesterday he was our special assistant, helping to hold up the picture books, pass out materials and collect plates... he found every little chore fun (i even caught him scolding his classmates for not listening and misbehaving...) he is absolutely glowing from the attention. goodness, i wish i could take him home with me.
alright, that's all the focus i've got in me right now. its far to sunny outside to be on the computer, anyways.
besos!

BABY!!!!!

On May 31, 2008 my sister gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Luca!!!!!!! I can't wait to see pictures, I've heard he is beautiful and, "has perfect hair" (not sure what that means). He will certainly be the best part about coming home.

More updates later, I desperately need a nap. The little ones were out of control today, way more tears and ninja kicks than usual.....

Lots of love, Salang Sentle.

PS. Madagascar and Botswana tied their match, 0-0 (also referred to as "nought-nought").

zebras

I'm finally going to see a football (soccer) game! The match is Botswana vs. Madagasgar.... GO ZEBRAS!!!!!