Banjika First Day
Hey Everybody!!
It's Sammy (Sam) and Kegg (Eleanor)! Today was a chiller day than yesterday. We got to sleep in at our new hotel in Karatu. We woke up and had breakfast at 9 am, which was omelets, sausages, toast, fresh fruit, and Nutella (which reminded us of home). All the hotels we've stayed at have had buffet-style meals, which allows us to try all the different traditional foods they offer. After that, we did a World Leadership School activity at 10:30, where we discussed different likely scenarios that we would encounter during the homestay part of our visit. The main goal of the activity was to recognize that we will be stepping outside of our comfort zones and to identify solutions. After that, we got our uniforms for the Banjika School. Then we took a 20 minute drive to the school where we spent time meeting the students that we'll be staying with (we don't know specifically who yet). We had lunch with the students as we got to know them. We played games, talked about school, and helped each other with our languages. We spent two and a half hours with them and then had to say goodbye because they had an exam to take. While we were there, we showed them the items we bought at the markets yesterday. Specifically, Cole bought a hand carved stick by the Makonde tribe, who originally came from Mozambique, but fled due to civil war. The students at the school thought Cole massively overpaid for the stick and we all laughed about it. We got back to the hotel and had some downtime until 5:30, where we swam and played basketball, football, and cards. We really enjoyed this rest time because the last couple days were really intense. We did another activity at 5:30, and had dinner at 7. After dinner, we relaxed around the firepit for a bit, and now we're going to bed. All of us are missing you loads, but we're having a lot of fun! Good night!
Sam and Eleanor (Congratulations on graduating Elliot!)
Cow-related joke of the night: What did the farmer say to the calf?
It’s pasture bedtime.
Editors' note: the first day at Banjika was unbelievable. These pics are nice, but we are trying to upload some videos, too. The girls quickly played games, and the boys talked with their host boys about sports and music. There were tons of smiles.
Check out the boys in their new school uniforms!
