I Bless The Rains Down In Africa...

The rainy season is upon us!

Yesterday there was a short rain while we visited a village called Parakuyo Mgudeni (I'll talk more about Parakuyo later). I thought it was just a fluke, but it rained all morning today. The natives assure me it was no fluke and it will probably rain every day until I leave! And let me tell you... when it rains, IT RAINS! Huge giant mutant water wads that come crashing down physically killing the giant mutant bugs. I found 10 dead millipedes today, death by liquid impact. And the water already broke my Blue Cross Blue Shield Umbrella! But that's OK, the rain is also a blessing because it really cools the earth down. It is like my perfect summer temperature. Meanwhile everyone else is shivering in their long sleeves and sweaters. Sister Meredith was actually so cold she moved from her study cabana to the inside classrooms. It is roughly 75/80 degrees. If this is too cold for them now, I would hate to see them in June during their winter. It probably gets down to 65 degrees... geeze, I hope they don't get hypothermia. (yes I'm being snarky)

But yesterday we visited the village Parakuyo Mgudeni. It started off like any other village visit. Arrival - gawking children - SIT DOWN - tea and fried dough - waiting around - start service. But during one of the choir performance a women had an evil spirit posses her! She started screaming and hitting the people around her. She then flopped on the floor and started writhing in pain. It took 6 people to pin her down and carry her out of the church. After that the service resumed, but from my seat by the window I was able to see the exorcism. She went on screaming, hitting, and writhing for a good 15 minutes. The people around her tried to control her and started to pray over her. And then... it was gone. Mid-flail she just stopped, got up, looked around confused, and asked what was going on. She honestly didn't know what had happened. They explained to her that she had been possessed and brought her back into the church. After that she was fine- she sang in the choir, had communion, and bought some soap at the auction. Now I was very skeptical of things like possessions before I came but this looked REALLY REALLY GENUINE! All I can say is that the mind is a very powerful thing and the spirit is a very powerful force. The image of her crying, screaming, and hitting her children and friends around her will stay with me for the rest of my life.

After the service the auction went great. I bought a gift for my friend Michelle (you'll have to wait 3 months to find out what it is Michelle... sorry). The meal was really good. We, once again, had to eat with our hands. I'm getting pretty good at it, and I only dropped about half my meal this time. The first time I ate with my hands, in Choza, I barely got any food into my mouth.

Well that's about all that has happened the past few days. I had a great Swahili lesson this afternoon and I'm looking forward to tomorrow!

Low: After the morning rain it heats up and the humidity increases. By about 4:00 I die a slow, painful, moist death. Ironically, all the African's take off their sweaters and enjoy the weather.

High: Even though I have passed the "honeymoon" phase of my trip (where absolutely EVERYTHING seems magical and wonderful with unicorns and rainbows and kitten kisses and lollipops... etc) and I sort of fell into the depressive reality phase, I'm still doing pretty well. I'm able to focus on Swahili and keep a pretty positive attitude. But I honestly couldn't do it without all your support. Thank you so much for the e-mails, blog comments, facebook chats, letters, everything! Keep em coming! Love ya!